There is just no ending to the suffering of humankind. Some suffer from failure, some from heartbreaks, some financially, some dread life itself, some suffer from an existential crisis, and whatnot. You cannot blame them for having these thoughts because every single human tries to evolve by taking lessons from their past mistakes. But in the process, they forget to live the moment to the fullest and fail to make the utmost utilization of the present time. The more you think about your past mistakes, the more you get entangled in the endless wheel of suffering.
It’s fundamental human nature to dwell on the past. But in doing so, their visions get blurred, and they cannot see the ray of light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s not about the past only; people tend to think about the future a lot. The future is not something that can be predicted perfectly through calculations, people have a hard time accepting that, and they become depressed, causing their demise.
Therefore, some questions need to be answered, what to do in these types of situations? How to deal with the past? How to not worry about the future too much?
Well, the book “Power of Now” by German writer Eckhart Tolle answers all these questions to you through a spiritual conception of life.
We, here, bring you an exquisite short whole-book summary of this spiritual guide.
Book Details
| Original Title |
The Power of Now |
| Author |
Eckhart Tolle |
| Edition Language |
English |
| Publisher |
Namaste Publishing (1997)
New World Library (1999) |
| Genre |
Self-help book |
| Pages |
124 pages
Paperback, 229 pages |
| Size |
2.5 MB |
| Format |
PDF |
| First Published |
1997 |
The Power of Now PDF
THE-POWER-OF-NOW
A Brief Overview
Eckhart Tolle had a rough and turbulent existence, punctuated by several episodes of profound despair, but he achieved serenity overnight, literally.
The work is directly inspired by the writer’s own life. The writer dealt with a severe depressive, troubled, and problematic life for a significant portion of his life. These touches of melancholy made him question what he was doing wrong in his life. Occasionally, he found out that the scattered thoughts of his mind were holding him back.
He somehow was able to shake out those needless thoughts and got rid of his worrier self. He found himself at peace by focusing his soul and mind in the now, the present moment.
The book fundamentally explains how you can reduce unnecessary pain and suffering by focusing your mind on the present moments rather than dwelling in the past or overthinking about the future.
The book acts as a spiritual guide to help people focus on their present selves and gift the readers with some valuable lessons about life.
What we learn from the book
Lesson 1
Life is just a collective sequence of present moments:
It’s true that we humans evolve by learning from our past mistakes and aspire to be better selves by thinking about the future. But regret and anxiety are the most dangerous enemy of progression. We regret or suffer from anxiety about the future because of how our mind works. Our mind continuously keeps thinking about only two things- the past and the future.
Take for example that – you are supposed to take a train somewhere, and for photography, you are getting late, and you need to leave for the station as quick as you can, what will you think then? “crap! I need to hurry, and you become anxious. That anxiety can cause you to leave any of your essential camera lenses behind!” and Bingo! Anxiety wins. Your purpose for traveling just got ruined.
In this situation, Eckhart suggests that the past is nothing but the present moments that have passed away, and the future is only a collection of present moments that has yet to arrive.
The writer suggests, living only in the present moment can give you salvation from depression or anxiety.
Lesson 2
Sufferings are the result of resisting the past:
The fundamental principle of happiness lies in accepting the facts about the past and accepting yourself for who you are.
Stoicism says the only pain you suffer is the one you make yourself. Eckhart, in his book, in a way, agrees that as he thinks, pain and sufferings come from resisting the past and from the undying urge to change the past. By fighting history, we create fake scenarios where we choose alternative decisions and become happy and the absence of that happiness, in reality, causes us pain.
Again, Eckhart suggests that we only live in the present, and there is no smartness in worrying over things you can’t change. Instead, you should focus on the present and make sure that the same mistake never happens again.
Lesson 3
Ways to get rid of pain:
Eckhart suggests two rules for getting rid of the pain and suffering:
- Stop judging your feelings and impulses: The human mind remains active, constantly thinking about unnecessary stuff like what you could’ve done better, what should’ve been done differently, yadda yadda! Sometimes you hear some voice advising you to do things their way. The author suggests just listening to those voices and not giving any heed to them or not jumping into accepting them.
- The quantum Zeno effect: It claims that you may freeze it in its current condition by constantly studying or observing a system. Does Eckhart suggest that you need to continually ask yourself what your next thought will be? In this way, you might stop the process of needless thinking and focus on the subject that matters.
The message of Eckhart Tolle is simple: living in the present moment is the only way to genuine peace and enlightenment. To quote Eckhart Tolle – “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
Now, start reading the book immediately and ponder the word NOW, and get ready to be dazzled.
