When you remember that you are a soul in a body? … The Power of Now book was written by Eckhart Tolle and published by Hodder Australia in 2004. The book consists of 235 pages and is divided into ten chapters which are based on Mind, Consciousness, Spiritual Enlightenment, Strategies of Mind, State of Being, Inner Body, Enlightened Relationships, Happiness and Peace, Meaning of giving up straight.
When you remember that you are a soul in a body?
The author used a simple question-and-answer pattern to arrive at different concepts and conclusions. Neutral terms were used by him for ease of understanding. The book is clearly written with the message that there is a way out of pain and distress and enter into peace and harmonious life.
This particular book was written for people who are still searching for answers regarding the purpose of living in this material world and who find it difficult to achieve spiritual enlightenment. The main aim and purpose of the book are to inculcate the dimension of “apparition conscious” among humans because it is the ultimate satisfaction in human life to be self-aware and to realize a deeper “inner self.” It focuses on the critical task of human transformation in a spiritual direction, and of reducing or completely eliminating suffering from people’s lives.
The author attempted to work on “self-determination” and “inner peace” by giving detailed examples regarding inner body awareness, a sense of inner freedom, and letting go of mental and emotional resistance to “such” present moments, and current situations. He also provided examples that can have life-changing effects and take them to another level of self-awareness.
Chapter 1: You are not your mind
In this chapter, the author explains that the greatest step that man takes in his journey is to know that he is not thinking and that there is a higher superpower, to come out of the limits of his mind and this step is able to increase awareness of strength. The author also mentioned that you should always take your awareness to the present moment so that you are fully conscious.
The present moment hardly exists, because we are used to the past, present and future are the most important, but what about “now”, the author also talks about the deep and reflexive transformation of human consciousness and how to break free from the mind to enter into a happy state to enjoy life.
Chapter 2: Consciousness: The Path to Freeing You from Pain
The author is a spiritual teacher who focuses on the fact that our minds are noisy, and thus a reason we don’t understand ourselves. It acts as a catalyst for radical internal transformation. He also emphasized the direct relationship between acceptance of the “now” and freedom from suffering. The more accepting you are in the present moment, the freer you will be from suffering and pain.
The present moment is all that a person has and he must always remember this in order to alleviate his suffering. The most important thing that was said in this chapter is that the secret in life is to die before you die.
Chapter Three: Going Deep to Now
When you are present in the present moment, you will find peace and comfort (don’t run after the future and don’t cry over the past), the power of awareness of the “now” is what determines your future and you should not be attached to the results. You should know that inner happiness and peace do not depend on success and failure, neither on the job, nor abilities, nor individual skills, nor relationships, nor your financial condition. Be aware of the silence in the things around you and know that time is a major cause of your suffering.
Chapter Four: Mind Strategies to Avoid Now
Persistent desire is the source of suffering and pain. If you find yourself not feeling happy, take responsibility and choose from the following three options:
- Remove yourself from your current situation.
- Completely change the situation.
- Fully satisfied with it.
No matter how much you achieve and reach external things, you will never be completely satisfied. What wait? The author stated that it is a choice that means that you want the future and not the “now” because you want what you don’t have. There is no problem in trying to improve your life and develop yourself but the problem is using that as the basis for your life or definition of yourself.
Chapter Five: The state of being
The words refer to the truth. One must first understand that the mind is made up of two parts; Part conscious and part unconscious, and in order to reach a period of enlightenment we must use the conscious part of the mind, but it is difficult to get yourself out of the unconscious part, in which many of us live. One of the factors that help us in this positive transition is that a person tries to ask himself, what is the next idea? What will I think? And then any person will be silent for a moment thinking about the answer to this question, this time that a person takes to think is really the moment of moving from the unconscious part of the mind to the conscious positive part.
Chapter Six: The Inner Body
You must not fight against your outer body because it is you and because it protects your immortal inner body. To regain your true self-awareness should start with your mind. The delusion that you think that “you” is your outer body and mind.
Chapter Seven: Gates to the Unmanifested
Death is painful for those who neglect the reality of illusion. Moving away from the culture of neglecting all that is real, such as death. You will arrive at your truth by feeling, not thinking. There would be no enlightenment if there was no illusion.
Chapter Eight: Enlightened Relationships
True salvation is freedom from suffering, freedom from the past and the future. Most people believe that material things will make them achieve true happiness. Judging things in the sense of being a thinker should be abandoned. Get rid of the idea of being a judge, meaning the mind is not a judge and its thoughts are not accompanied by ready judgments.
Chapter Nine: Behind happiness and unhappiness lies peace
Inner peace is not built on conditions, and you must not show resistance to life in order to be lighter than the burden of life. Nothing on earth can give you happiness because true happiness comes from within. The author gave an analogy to the lake, that the lake encounters many different external kinds of weather and sees it moving while the depth of the lake remains still.
Chapter Ten: The Meaning of Surrender
The mind always tends to the known because the unknown is dangerous and you can neither know nor control it, so the mind conflicts with the present moment “now”. The present is the key. When you reach it, the past loses its control over you. Life is the greatest teacher.
live in the moment
Eckhart Tolle’s flawless book makes it a comprehensive handbook and study material for all those who really want to know what it means to “live in the moment”.
A lot of basic motivating information and ideas are linked together in such an effective way that one can easily connect, understand and realize the importance of concepts such as creative use of the mind, enlightened relationships, impermanence, and life cycle. He used symbols for readers like “ƒ” as a symbol to stop and think deeply.
It makes readers practice spirituality within themselves. It’s more like a mental exercise for readers. Being “selfish” can be horrific and how it destroys our current lives is a clear message.
