Thread: Has anyone read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle?

Yes! But I have spent more time listening to he's lectures. What he is teaching is pure self-awareness, so im fully convinced that it will help boosting lucid dreaming. I would really like to recommend Jiddu Krishnamurti, since you like Eckhart Tolle. I actually feel that J.Krishnamurti made some even clearer explanations of awareness than Eckhart do, even though I really like Eckhart Tolle too.

Originally Posted by DreamyBear

Yes! But I have spent more time listening to he's lectures. What he is teaching is pure self-awareness, so im fully convinced that it will help boosting lucid dreaming. I would really like to recommend Jiddu Krishnamurti, since you like Eckhart Tolle. I actually feel that J.Krishnamurti made some even clearer explanations of awareness than Eckhart do, even though I really like Eckhart Tolle too.

That's great, then this book is even more helpful than I thought. Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely check it out.

What is a "silent gap of the mind"?

What is a "silent gap of the mind"?

It's no thought.

I started reading it a few months ago and while I liked the purpose of it, I couldn't get past how the material is presented. His writing style, in my opinion, came of as kind of pretentious and I couldn't get more than halfway through the book before stopping. The way he uses some of the definitions of things throughout the book just did not seem very clear or intuitive to me and ended up confusing me more or making me have to go back and reread parts so I could understand something better later on that could have just been written in a better way. I do like the idea of it though and I think that the skill taught in it is a good one to learn and could have be beneficial for lucid dreams, but I just think there are other sources (possibly like what DreamyBear suggested, I'd like to check that one out too) out there that could get the idea across more succinctly without all the unnecessary wording. If anything probably the first few chapters are enough to get the gist of it but after that it felt like repetitions of what was already said or just pointless filler.

Originally Posted by Fuzzman

I started reading it a few months ago and while I liked the purpose of it, I couldn't get past how the material is presented. His writing style, in my opinion, came of as kind of pretentious and I couldn't get more than halfway through the book before stopping. The way he uses some of the definitions of things throughout the book just did not seem very clear or intuitive to me and ended up confusing me more or making me have to go back and reread parts so I could understand something better later on that could have just been written in a better way. I do like the idea of it though and I think that the skill taught in it is a good one to learn and could have be beneficial for lucid dreams, but I just think there are other sources (possibly like what DreamyBear suggested, I'd like to check that one out too) out there that could get the idea across more succinctly without all the unnecessary wording. If anything probably the first few chapters are enough to get the gist of it but after that it felt like repetitions of what was already said or just pointless filler.

That's ok, his "style" is not for everyone, as with most things. I'm sure you can find someone whose style fits you.

I read this book recently! One of the best books I have ever read in my opinion. He said a lot of things that I have heard before but out of some reason it had not clicked before but this time it did. I am trying to live in the now, but it is hard but I keep trying.

Originally Posted by DreamyBear

It's no thought.

(From mimihigurashi's first post):


"observe thoughts, observe your mind. As soon as you do that, if you do it right, it creates a silent gap of the mind"

How could observing thought create no thoughts? It doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by Bobblehat

(From mimihigurashi's first post):


"observe thoughts, observe your mind. As soon as you do that, if you do it right, it creates a silent gap of the mind"

How could observing thought create no thoughts? It doesn't make sense.

It does. The observer and the mind are two different things. The observer is silent, the mind is noisy. When the former observes the latter, the latter becomes quiet. That's the silence of no mind/thoughts.

Best book ever!! Well... I like more his other book "A New Earth", it's easier to begin with, buth both are the most valuable gems I have ever read!!. His books were the very first thing that changed my life completely. I don't think he's pretentious, I thought some of it at first... and I remember I also was against some things I read, but that was the time I was completely submerged on thoughts... unconscious. When my vision of life changed 360°, (which happened in a brief moment of closing his book to contemplate the landscape) I took his book again and every word was the most loving teaching of truth/love whatever you like to call it. Since then I began to search for those things and began practicing being the observer of thoughts. Looking backwards it was thanks to all of it that suddenly I noticed I was having lucid dreams very often, it was not in my list to have LD's but they came with it.

Ooh - just started and am intensely interested - I am very much reminded of certain things, I have read and thought before.
I hope I will not soon come to a point - wouldn't be the first time with books - when I loose "faith" in the thinking of the author and can't/don't want to follow - but this looks like something potentially very valuable to me.

Edit update - I read about half of it yesterday and I'm still convinced of it!!
That takes some doing from a book, which brings and elaborates on quotes from all major religions and uses terminology, which I tend to be a bit allergic to, when used in ways, that I perceive as empty of defined content in the users mind.
He does clarify very comprehensively, though, and it makes sense.
Concerning confusion with definitions - I was delighted about some of his re-definitions and/or putting together aspects, which tend to be separated in in my understanding weird ways.

The Power Of Now

Thanks for bringing that up!
smile.gif

This book was the first step in the changing of my life. 4-5 years ago i think, my dad one day just shows up with his book and gives for me to read. Was one of those meant to be moments. Just picked it up and started reading where he claimed the ability to not think anything, which i thought impossible at the time. Started doing meditation with every break in the book, something i had never done before as well and at one point the thoughts instantly stopped. I was completely amazed, felt all my other senses significantly improve and found that I could stop my thoughts whenever I wanted. I ended up forgetting about it, or occasionally enjoying the silent when I remembered. But now after lucid dreaming has come to my life I feel is one of the most essential 'technique' to use. I mostly only DILD now as I just know i'm dreaming at lot of times.

I also believe that it's the right mind to have in life in order to just enjoy things in general I guess. Would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Yeah - I have come across, what he writes before - this witness state - as in watch your thoughts and feel into your body for the manifestation of emotions.
But he has a way with words, which is phenomenal. It's as if truth seeps from this book directly into understanding.
His writing resonates with what I think already and extends it, which gives a certain feeling of elation - a sign in my experience, that I am on to something special.

There is on the one hand the stilling of the mind - and on the other this conscious watching.
What I liked especially is sneaking up on thoughts - like a cat watching a mouse-hole for the first thought, that shows up.
And you notice, you are indeed something, which can watch and wait for something other than that something, which produces the thoughts.
It's actually so, that you wait for a certain while - an other approach to inner stillness, than concentrating on breath or feeling your whole body as an energized, living thing. Which he of course also teaches.

And - maybe it's coincidence - but I did some meditation on his text as well - not with every § sign - I will go back a second time, once I'm through - but I did, and some of the classical meditation with aiming to stop the inner dialogue - and - tadaa - LD last night.

Well - more than 2/3 of it and still not disappointed!!
Quite the opposite, indeed!
There are so many things, I'd like to cite over here!
I just chose something, because it really made me pause to consider it more deeply, right now.
Like he suggests, you should do when his § appear..

HAVE DEEP ROOTS WITHIN

The key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your inner body - to feel it at all
times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life. The more consciousness you direct
into the inner body, the higher its vibrational frequency becomes, much like a light that grows
brighter as you turn up the dimmer switch and so increase the flow of electricity. At this
higher energy level, negativity cannot affect you anymore, and you tend to attract new
circumstances that reflect this higher frequency.

Now this is one of the passages, where I recognize a pattern in expression, which I have come to associate with mild to wild nonsense.
Here not, taken in the whole context, though - what he talks about is clear to me and makes sense.
Such a passage in the first place - just triggering such an association, without further interpretation this or thus - is rare, though.
I have really found something to take home, so to speak, from this chapter on roots within the body:

If you keep your attention in the body as much as possible, you will be anchored in the
Now. You won’t lose yourself in the external world, and you won’t lose yourself in your
mind. Thoughts and emotions, fears and desires, may still be there to some extent, but they
won't take you over.

Please examine where your attention is at this moment. You are listening to me, or you
are reading these words in a book. That is the focus of your attention. You are also
peripherally aware of your surroundings, other people, and so on. Furthermore, there may be
some mind activity around what you are hearing or reading, some mental commentary. Yet
there is no need for any of this to absorb all your attention. See if you can be in touch with
your inner body at the same time. Keep some of your attention within. Don't let it all flow
out. Feel your whole body from within, as a single field of energy. It is almost as if you were
listening or reading with your whole body. Let this be your practice in the days and weeks to
come.

Do not give all your attention away to the mind and the external world. By all means
focus on what you are doing, but feel the inner body at the same time whenever possible.
Stay rooted within. Then observe how this changes your state of consciousness and the
quality of what you are doing.

Whenever you are waiting, wherever it may be, use that time to feel the inner body. In
this way, traffic jams and line-ups become very enjoyable. Instead of mentally projecting
yourself away from the Now, go more deeply into the Now by going more deeply into the
body. The art of inner-body awareness will develop into a completely new way of living, a state
of permanent connectedness with Being, and will add a depth to your life that you have never
known before.

It is easy to stay present as the observer of your mind when you are deeply rooted within
your body. No matter what happens on the outside, nothing can shake you anymore.
Unless you stay present - and inhabiting your body is always an essential aspect of it -
you will continue to be run by your mind. The script in your head that you learned a long
time ago, the conditioning of your mind, will dictate your thinking and your behavior. You
may be free of it for brief intervals, but rarely for long. This is especially true when
something "goes wrong" or there is some loss or upset. Your conditioned reaction will then be
involuntary, automatic, and predictable, fuelled by the one basic emotion that underlies the
mind-identified state of consciousness: fear.

So when such challenges come, as they always do, make it a habit to go within at once
and focus as much as you can on the inner energy field of your body. This need not take long,
just a few seconds. But you need to do it the moment that the challenge presents itself. Any
delay will allow a conditioned mental-emotional reaction to arise and take you over. When
you focus within and feel the inner body, you immediately become still and present as you
are withdrawing consciousness from the mind. If a response is required in that situation, it
will come up from this deeper level. Just as the sun is infinitely brighter than a candle flame,
there is infinitely more intelligence in Being than in your mind.

As long as you are in conscious contact with your inner body, you are like a tree that is
deeply rooted in the earth, or a building with a deep and solid foundation. The latter analogy
is used by Jesus in the generally misunderstood parable of the two men who build a house.
One man builds it on the sand, without a foundation, and when the storms and floods come,
the house is swept away. The other man digs deep until he reaches the rock, then builds his
house, which is not swept away by the floods.

Originally Posted by Rodrodrod

This book was the first step in the changing of my life. 4-5 years ago i think, my dad one day just shows up with his book and gives for me to read. Was one of those meant to be moments. Just picked it up and started reading where he claimed the ability to not think anything, which i thought impossible at the time.

I'm very sure this is a really powerful book, it just appears on the right moment. Let me tell you the way I discovered it. I've posted part of the story somewhere here in DV, but the thing is that I was having the worst part of my life, pleading the universe for answers, I exiled myself in a magical place (mayan wild territory) where one of my friends lives with her grandma, the first day I saw a shooting star and my wish was "please, I need mind clarity", not in an spiritual way, I was completely ignorant of the existence of consciousness, ego, etc, I asked it because I wanted to solve a problem I had . What I received in response was a lot more than I expected. Some days later, I was sent to check the level of water in a tank and I saw from the corner of my eye something blue that shone for a moment, like a momentary sparkle. I went to see what was there... and there it was, "The power of now" book. Since it came to me in that strange way, I took it as a signal for reading it, and then, my life changed

Mmh - these effects are such a wonderful thing, when they happen - some synchronicities do also present themselves in ways that you can gain an unexpected insight - I know, how these things can feel like destiny or something magical - they do to me too.
But I ultimately believe, that it is our brain detecting or even creating patterns for us according to deeper, unconscious motives.
Bit like a dream, which encodes stuff in symbolism - works irl too - per attention and perception choreographed by something deeper than the thinking and emotion-generating mind.
Great story, kilham!

Those moments are indeed amazing, whatever the reason behind them I'm so glad they exist. Perhaps we like to give meaning to things too much sometimes though, I know I certainly do.

Was it this book that said that when you are waiting for someone and they are late and apologize for making you wait, to reply "I wasn't waiting, I was enjoying myself"? Don't remember if that was from here but just remembered this as I was reading some posts and how much i enjoyed this idea when I first encountered it.

For anyone interested that have not watched the film 'peaceful warrior', I'd say that its a closely related to this book.

Beautiful movie!! I've just seen it last week. I highly recommend it!!

Originally Posted by Rodrodrod

Those moments are indeed amazing, whatever the reason behind them I'm so glad they exist. Perhaps we like to give meaning to things too much sometimes though, I know I certainly do.

We all do - and I believe this was - and is still - useful for survival.
If you hear a pattern in the rustling of the grass for example, a pattern like a predator tends to cause with his sneaking - you should better err on the side of caution - to later find, it was the wind.

Same with hunting and finding and collecting things - a few mislead conclusions - or even really many - are less unfortunate than missing rare and highly nutritiously valuable berries and nuts or prey.
We are in a way pattern-seekers by nature.

Edit: I give up - almost ..
I wanted to say something, and can't get it right - about states of heightened pattern awareness and meaning creation via unconscious attention drives - and now I can't quite grasp, what I mean myself..

Originally Posted by Rodrodrod

Was it this book that said that when you are waiting for someone and they are late and apologize for making you wait, to reply "I wasn't waiting, I was enjoying myself"? Don't remember if that was from here but just remembered this as I was reading some posts and how much i enjoyed this idea when I first encountered it.

Yes - it was.
I just read the spoilered passage, and had an intimate experience of understanding:

Spoiler for Emptiness:

SPACE
Just as no sound can exist without silence, nothing can exist without no-thing, without the
empty space that enables it to be. Every physical object or body has come out of nothing, is
surrounded by nothing, and will eventually return to nothing. Not only that, but even inside
every physical body there is far more "nothing" than "something." Physicists tell us that the
solidity of matter is an illusion. Even seemingly solid matter, including your physical body, is
nearly 100 percent empty space - so vast are the distances between the atoms compared to
their size. What is more, even inside every atom there is mostly empty space. What is left is
more like a vibrational frequency than particles of solid matter, more like a musical note.
Buddhists have known that for over 2,500 years. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form,"
states the Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things
is emptiness.

The Unmanifested is not only present in this world as silence; it also pervades the entire
physical universe as space - from within and without. This is just as easy to miss 'as silence.
Everybody pays attention to the things in space, but who pays attention to space itself?
Space has no "existence." "To exist" literally means "to stand out."
You cannot understand space because it doesn't stand out. Although in itself it has no existence, it enables
everything else to exist. Silence has no existence either, nor does the Unmanifested.
So what happens if you withdraw attention from the objects in space and become aware
of space itself? What is the essence of this room? The furniture, pictures, and so on are in the
room, but they are not the room. The floor, walls, and ceiling define the boundary of the
room, but they are not the room either. So what is the essence of the room? Space, of course,
empty space. There would be no "room" without it. Since space is "nothing," we can say that
what is not there is more important than what is there. So become aware of the space that is
all around you. Don't think about it. Feel it, as it were. Pay attention to "nothing."

As you do that, a shift in consciousness takes place inside you. Here is why.
The inner equivalent to objects in space such as furniture, walls, and so on are your mind objects:
thoughts, emotions, and the objects of the senses. And the inner equivalent of space is the
consciousness that enables your mind objects to be, just as space allows all things to be. So if
you withdraw attention from things - objects in space - you automatically withdraw attention
from your mind objects as well. In other words: You cannot think and be aware of space - or
of silence, for that matter. By becoming aware of the empty space around you, you
simultaneously become aware of the space of no-mind, of pure consciousness: the
Unmanifested. This is how the contemplation of space can become a portal for you.
Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing, the same nothing. They are an
externalization of inner space and inner silence, which is stillness: the infinitely creative
womb of all existence. Most humans are completely unconscious of this dimension. There is
no inner space, no stillness. They are out of balance. In other words, they know the world, or
think they do, but they don't know God. They identify exclusively with their own physical
and psychological form, unconscious of essence. And because every form is highly unstable,
they live in fear. This fear causes a deep misperception of themselves and of other humans, a
distortion in their vision of the world.

If some cosmic convulsion brought about the end of our world, the Unmanifested would
remain totally unaffected by this. A Course in Miracles expresses this truth poignantly.
"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."
If you remain in conscious connection with the Unmanifested, you value, love, and
deeply respect the manifested and every life form in it as an expression of the One Life
beyond form. You also know that every form is destined to dissolve again and that ultimately
nothing out here matters all that much. You have "overcome the world," in the words of
Jesus, or, as the Buddha put it, you have "crossed over to the other shore."

The way he conceptualizes at times - not yet sure, whether I might go on even further down the line to claim, that he as well carries a bit of religious delusion in his thinking - as far as it goes - I am still not really disturbed by his religious references.
Rather looks like bridges he put up for the religious, to find understanding in them - to find an echo or reflection, which might foster understanding.
I was trying to find back an example, which was borderline - couldn't find it (at least not fast) and left it be.

What is more important - muuch more - is that I had a brief period of emptiness epiphany upon reading the above passage.
I spontaneously made a break after 2/3 or so of what I cite above - and experienced myself as essentially empty Being.
His way with words is the cause for this - also his instructions - not that I never heard the like before.
This empty silent space is that which is tunnelled by the ego tunnel of naturalistic philosopher Thomas Metzinger, I guess - got to check, what he has to say - he wrote on meditation as well.

Originally Posted by Rodrodrod

For anyone interested that have not watched the film 'peaceful warrior', I'd say that its a closely related to this book.

Originally Posted by kilham

Beautiful movie!! I've just seen it last week. I highly recommend it!!

Thanks - I got the Warrior for tonight - and Winter's Tale is in the cinemas now - will watch them both.
smile.gif

Something very beautifully put as well I'd like to share:

The Mind's I: Chapter 2: On Having No Head

Hi all-that-once-were in this thread!
I share your excitement for Eckhart Tolle!
I discovered his books a few years ago, listened to the audio-book versions of them (more than once each - and liked particularly the second one) and any other material from him that I could find!
What I very much liked in him - apart from the teaching itself - was his way of making abstract concepts simple and obvious. He was an ex-western-minded scientist experiencing ancient-eastern wisdom firsthand and converting it our language and way of understanding! It was simply an amazing experience at the time and it was exactly what I needed - at that particular point in my life - as I was transitioning from being a faithful Christian to discovering the fundamental flaws of faith and searching my own way to the truth - and what he said, just made intuitive sense to me - I was amazed (and still am)!
Btw his teaching was one of the 4 major discoveries-experiences that changed my life. The other 3 were practicing lucid dreaming (realized the illusion of reality), remote viewing (realized the connection of everything, the illusion of time, and the existence of parallel realities) and the law of attraction (uncovered the waking reality as a subjective experience)!

I just downloaded this and will give it a look. I have a lot of mindfulness books in my reading queue, and I'm currently working through "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life," by Jon Kabat-Zinn, I highly recommend it. It's very approachable and straightforward.

Another great one in order to go deeper into concentration and focus/attention (which I think is essential for lucid dreaming, both in LD entrance approaches like WILD, and in maintaining the dream itself while it's happening) is "The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind Paperback" – by B. Alan Wallace. It has some chapters discussing Dream Yoga day and night practice, as well.

Originally Posted by SearcherTMR

Hi all-that-once-were in this thread!
I share your excitement for Eckhart Tolle!
I discovered his books a few years ago, listened to the audio-book versions of them (more than once each - and liked particularly the second one) and any other material from him that I could find!
What I very much liked in him - apart from the teaching itself - was his way of making abstract concepts simple and obvious. He was an ex-western-minded scientist experiencing ancient-eastern wisdom firsthand and converting it our language and way of understanding! It was simply an amazing experience at the time and it was exactly what I needed - at that particular point in my life - as I was transitioning from being a faithful Christian to discovering the fundamental flaws of faith and searching my own way to the truth - and what he said, just made intuitive sense to me - I was amazed (and still am)!
Btw his teaching was one of the 4 major discoveries-experiences that changed my life. The other 3 were practicing lucid dreaming (realized the illusion of reality), remote viewing (realized the connection of everything, the illusion of time, and the existence of parallel realities) and the law of attraction (uncovered the waking reality as a subjective experience)!

Hey. That's one of the things I like about him too, he makes this easy to understand, whereas other teachers kinda confuse me at times. I didn't know he was an ex-western-minded scientist, that's pretty cool.
So you were a Christian too, huh. For how long have you been a Christian? Because I'm surprised you were so open minded to even give these things a chance, let alone understand them. I've seen a lot of Christians demonize Eckhart Tolle, sadly, I think it began especially after he appeared on Oprah and got 'famous', they say he's leading people away from Christ and stealing wisdom from the Bible and such nonsense, even though Tolle has quoted Jesus and the Bible numerous times.
I don't know much about the law of attraction, it makes sense from a frequency perspective, but I'm still kinda skeptical, I guess because I never really clearly experienced it. Those other 3 things are awesome though, I looked into them a lot, really cool stuff, life-changing even.

p.s. I should've listened to you when you said not to change anything in Raduga's technique if it works! >_<

Hi mimihigurashi!
Yes, he was on an academic career and he expected to find wisdom in his professor's knowledge...until one professor that he admired, committed suicide...
That was a shock for him, but not the life-changing one that came much later.
About myself, I was raised as a Christian and was quite faithful until my 20s. At some point, I suspected that the Christian world-view was flawed and that led me to research, which led me to completely reject the Christian theory. That was not easy, regarding that my family and relatives are still hardcore Christians...
So, at that point, I knew that this world-view was wrong, but I was left with multiple hard-to-answer questions, and I had to find the truth from scratch now. I started researching different theories and that led me to explore Lucid dreaming, OBEs and near-death experiences in my search to find clues about the human nature and fate. At this point I discovered Eckhart - and of course, my Christian background was no problem in understanding the reality of his message...
About Christians blaming him... that's what they always do when something is even slightly different from their beliefs - and that's what I did for years.
Moreover, Eckhart's quotes from the Bible are not for hardcore Christians - they won't change their minds. They are for open-minded people, to realize that his teaching is in fact the same with all ancient masters - no matter how their teaching was distorted in the passage of time...
About the 4 experiences that really changed my life, I am talking about first hand experiences. I had already done I lot of reading and researching, but experiencing something firsthand is quite different. I mean, I had read about lucid dreaming and OBEs but my first lucid was actually an amazing experience: WOW! This is SO real!
Same about the others: I had read statistics proving that remote viewing is real, but when I first did a remote viewing session with a future target and then I saw the target that I had drawn... I was mind-blown! I will never forger this ....
A similarly exhilarating experience was when I first changed sth from my reality with just my believing that it will change... this is sth you cannot prove to anyone... You can only experience it for yourself. And when you do, it's life changing!
So, we are going off-topic again