I read this after reading Steve Pavlina’s entry on “The Power of Now”. Steve’s entry, while good, is not exactly an accurate description of the book’s contents, but rather how the content of the book remained with Steve and manifested in his life. The book is still an interesting read, for the content, your personal reaction to it, and the entertainment value of Eckhart Tolle’s pompous writing style.
On one hand, I’ve read some Zen materials and they were a bit too far out of my range to fully understand and apply or even consider. This book presents the same ideas–Zen for dummies. For some reason the content of this stuck, mostly likely because it’s the same point repeated over and over for 200 pages. I’ve gotten some value out of considering the difference between “life” and the trappings of life, my “life situation”, on a more daily basis. Individual reactions to the book are interesting, particularly given one of the main tenets of the book, which is that any resistance to the suggestion of disidentifying with your “life situation” (your ego’s doing) is put up by your ego to defend itself.
On the other hand, for over 200 pages, you’re subjected to an obnoxious writing style and illogical presentation of the content. While Tolle received his enlightenment after sitting on a bench, he knows how to teach you to achieve it without spending 2 years full-time at the park. Tolle frequently sounds impatient, having to teach to such unconscious beings the simplest of lessons. More frequently, however, he sounds like a nutjob with a theory. Is there much of a difference between Gene Ray and Eckhart Tolle, except that Tolle’s book has been featured on Oprah and the NY Times bestseller list and has sold 2 million copies?
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Zen for dummies. That’s good. Tolle’s Power of Now reminds me of Breathless. So after you’ve acted on Now, then what? Pavlino’s answer is be happy, do a blog (and solicit donations). Suckers are born every minute and lots of them watch Oprah. P. T. Barnum did a better show.