Growth | Power of Now - Eckart Tolle (1997)

🐵 I. One-sentence book summary:

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual guidebook that encourages readers to live in the present moment and access a deeper level of consciousness in order to find inner peace and spiritual enlightenment. Along with 'New Earth (here is my post on this book),' this is another book I have been gifting to my close friends and acquaintances who want some 'secular' and 'non-religious' introduction to meditation, mindfulness, and healing. This book also reminded me of Plato’s world of Forms (IDEA). I expanded my thoughts/comments further at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter One: You Are Not Your Mind

• You are not your thoughts, emotions, or ego, but the awareness that is aware of them.
• The mind is a useful tool, but it can also create problems when it runs on autopilot and you become identified with it.
• Examples: You may believe that you are your thoughts and emotions, but you can observe them as they arise in your consciousness. You may also notice that your mind often replays past events or worries about the future, which can cause anxiety and stress.

Chapter Two: Consciousness: The Way Out of Pain

• Pain is often caused by your mind's resistance to what is happening in the present moment.
• When you become aware of the present moment and accept it as it is, you can experience inner peace.
• Examples: You may have experienced physical or emotional pain that you tried to avoid or resist, which only made it worse. By bringing your attention to the present moment and accepting it as it is, you can experience a sense of peace and relief.

Chapter Three: Moving Deeply into the Now

• You can access the present moment by becoming aware of your breath and your inner body.
• By focusing your attention on your breath and your inner body, you can let go of your thoughts and enter a state of stillness and presence.
• Examples: You may have tried meditation or mindfulness practices that involve focusing on your breath or body sensations to help you become more present. By doing so, you may have noticed a greater sense of peace and clarity.

Chapter Four: Mind Strategies for Avoiding the Now

• The mind often tries to avoid the present moment by either dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
• The mind creates a false sense of self that is separate from the present moment, which causes suffering.
• Examples: You may have noticed that your mind often replays past events or worries about the future, which can cause anxiety and stress. By becoming aware of these patterns, you can begin to detach from them and access the present moment.

Chapter Five: The State of Presence

• Presence is a state of being where you are fully engaged with the present moment and free from your thoughts and emotions.
• When you are present, you experience a sense of peace, joy, and connectedness with everything around you.
• Examples: You may have experienced moments of presence when you were fully engaged in an activity, such as listening to music or watching a sunset. In those moments, you may have felt a sense of peace and joy.

Chapter Six: The Inner Body

=> this is the chapter that details how & specific tool/technology to connect with 'inner peace' and what people mean by 'stillness' in mindfulness and meditation practices. It invites us to deepen our connection to the inner body as a way of accessing the power of the present moment and unlocking the potential for healing and transformation within ourselves. By becoming more aware of the subtle energy field that underlies the physical body, we can tap into a deeper sense of aliveness, presence, and wholeness.

• The inner body is the physical and energetic aspect of your being that can be felt as a sense of aliveness or vitality within your body.
• By becoming more aware of the sensations in your inner body, you can anchor yourself in the present moment and access a state of stillness and peace.
• The inner body is a powerful tool for overcoming the limitations of the mind and connecting with a deeper level of consciousness.
• You can cultivate awareness of your inner body through practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and yoga.
• Examples of sensations you may experience in your inner body include warmth, tingling, or a feeling of energy or vibration.
• By focusing your attention on these sensations, you can begin to disidentify from the mind and the stream of thoughts and emotions that can pull you out of the present moment.
• The inner body is a portal to the unmanifested, or the realm of pure consciousness, that lies beyond the limitations of the physical world.
• In addition to being a tool for presence and awareness, the inner body can also be used as a tool for self-healing and transformation. By directing our attention to areas of the body that are holding tension, pain, or trauma, we can bring awareness and compassion to these areas and begin the process of releasing and healing them.
• Examples of practices for accessing the inner body include body scan meditations, mindful movement practices like yoga or tai chi, and simply taking a few moments throughout the day to focus on the sensation of the body

Chapter Seven: Portals into the Unmanifested

=> During the healing process, people often say 'raise your vibration.' If you have been disconnected from your 'heart' or have a broken heart, then this is a great anchor point to understand how to get to a higher vibrational state of being, which often is described as 'joy,' 'stillness,' and 'bliss.'

• The unmanifested is the realm of pure consciousness that exists beyond the world of form.
• You can access the unmanifested through portals such as nature, beauty, and inner stillness.
• Examples: You may have experienced a sense of awe and wonder when observing a beautiful sunset or a majestic mountain. These experiences can serve as portals to the unmanifested and help you access a deeper sense of presence and connection with the world around you.

Chapter Eight: Enlightened Relationships

• dominate, and compete with others.
• An enlightened relationship is one in which both individuals are committed to being present, non-reactive, and compassionate towards each other.
• To cultivate an enlightened relationship, it is important to recognize that the other person's ego is not who they truly are.
• Beyond the ego lies a deeper, more authentic aspect of their being that is connected to the same universal consciousness that underlies all of existence.
• By recognizing this deeper aspect of the other person, we can create a space for love, understanding, and mutual growth in the relationship.
• In an enlightened relationship, both individuals are committed to working through conflicts and challenges in a way that is non-judgmental, non-reactive, and focused on finding a solution that is in the best interest of both parties.
• Examples of enlightened relationship practices include active listening, practicing empathy, and communicating in a way that is honest, compassionate, and non-blaming.

Chapter Nine: Beyond Happiness and Unhappiness There Is Peace

• True peace comes from being present and accepting the present moment as it is, rather than constantly seeking happiness or trying to avoid pain.
• The mind creates the illusion of time, which can cause anxiety or regret about the past and worry or anticipation about the future.
• To experience peace, we must let go of the mind's attachment to time and focus on the present moment.

Chapter Ten: The Meaning of Surrender

• Surrender means letting go of resistance to the present moment and accepting what is.
• Resistance to the present moment creates suffering, while surrender creates inner peace.
• Surrender does not mean giving up or becoming passive, but rather acting from a place of peace and acceptance.

💯 II. Key takeaways:

1. The present moment is all there ever is: "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life."
2. The mind is a tool, but it is not who you are: "You are not your mind. You are the awareness that is aware of the mind."
3. Inner stillness is the key to accessing a deeper level of consciousness: "Stillness is the only thing in this world that has no form. But then, it is not really a thing, and it is not of this world."
4. Suffering arises from identification with the ego: "The ego could be defined simply in this way: a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment."
5. True spiritual enlightenment is the realization of your essential nature as consciousness: "The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I Am."

Did you have any favorite chapter? For me, Chapter 7. Portals into the Unmanifested reminded me of what Plato said. If you studied political science like me in university, you would remember this! 😊 Thanks for reading this far. I had a lot of fun visiting my memory lane down the road all the way back to my university time.

Plato's philosophy suggests that there is a realm beyond the physical world, where eternal and perfect Forms exist, and that knowledge of this realm is necessary for true understanding and wisdom.

Plato believed in the existence of a world beyond the world of sensory experience, which he referred to as the world of Forms (or Ideas). In this world of Forms, he believed that there were perfect and eternal archetypes of all things that exist in the physical world. This is the word ‘idea’ we use today comes from. It is the ultimate theoretical perfection, which I tried to find so desperately until recently.

Plato believed that the world of Forms was a realm of unchanging, eternal, and perfect entities that were more real than the physical world. He saw the physical world as merely a shadow or copy of the world of Forms, which was the true reality. According to Plato, the physical world was imperfect and transient, whereas the world of Forms was perfect and eternal.

Plato believed that knowledge of the world of Forms was necessary for true understanding and that this knowledge could be gained through philosophical inquiry and contemplation. He saw the role of the philosopher as one who could access the world of Forms through reason and contemplation and then use this knowledge to help others understand the true nature of reality.

Plato developed his philosophy over a number of dialogues that he wrote, which are considered some of the most important works in Western philosophy. The concept of the world of Forms is a central part of Plato's philosophy and is discussed in several of his dialogues, including the Republic, Phaedo, and Phaedrus.

The most popular and well-known analogy was used in the Republic. In the Republic, for example, Plato describes the world of Forms as a realm of eternal and unchanging entities that exist beyond the physical world. He uses the allegory of the cave to illustrate his point, where people are chained to a wall in a cave and see only the shadows of the outside world. In this allegory, the shadows represent the physical world, while the objects that cast the shadows represent the world of Forms.

In the Phaedo, Plato discusses the nature of the soul and argues that the soul is immortal and exists before and after death. He also suggests that the soul can access the world of Forms through philosophical inquiry and contemplation.

In the Phaedrus, Plato discusses the nature of love and beauty and suggests that they are both related to the world of Forms. He argues that love and beauty in the physical world are imperfect copies of the perfect Forms that exist in the world beyond.