The Power of Now

The bad news first: Eckhart Tolle’s Practicing the Power of Now suffers by comparison to other, similar books I’ve read lately (Alan Watts and Pema Chodron, I’m looking at you). The question and answer format he uses throughout can have the (presumably unintentional) effect of coming across as patronizing, and the joviality (Watts) and kindliness (Chodron) are missing. Additionally, the writing itself is frequently less accessible and a demands an intensity of focus (Tolle would undoubtedly argue a ‘presence’) and a level of interest I didn’t always feel. And, because it has to be said, it’s hard to take advice from a man who decrees menstruation can (should?) become a joyful and fulfilling time. Yes, seriously: “Menstruation will then become not only a joyful and fulfilling expression of your womanhood, but also a sacred time of transmutation.” (WTF? Where did this come from? Why is this even here?)

That said, there’s plenty of good to be found here, particularly in the form of highly practical, concrete advice for focusing on the present, assuming responsibility for one’s life and choices, and the tangled nature of life such that “good” and “bad” are often tightly twined. (Do you truly know what is positive and what is negative? There have been many people for whom limitation, failure, loss, illness, or pain in whatever form turned out to be their greatest teacher. It taught them to let go of false self-images and superficial ego-dictated goals and desires. … Whenever anything negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it, although you may not see it at the time.” So everything in life happens for a reason, even if we’re sometimes blind to the reason, or unable to discern it for many years hence. No wonder I liked this book, criticisms aside. But I digress.)

Tolle is consistent in advising that, whatever one is doing, one lean into it, starting with posing the question early, “Is there something that you should be doing but are not?” and then advising the reader “Get up and do it now. Alternatively, completely accept your inactivity, laziness, or passivity at this moment.” It seems so simple and so obvious, but confronting the slippery notion of “should” head-on was one of my favorite aspects of the book.

Like Watts, Tolle wants his reader to proclaim their life with gusto, writing, “Speak up or do something to bring about a change in the situation – or remove yourself from it. Take responsibility for your life.”  In case readers missed it the first time (and admittedly one of Tolle’s more grating habits is his tendency to reminder readers that he has, in fact, been over this before), another passage declares, “Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find you’re here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences. No excuses.” 

Somewhat perplexingly, especially for such a slim volume, the writing alternates between thick knots (I still don’t get the Manifested and Unmanifested nonsense but maybe that’s just me), and astounding simplicity and clarity of direction. For example: “If the overall situation is unsatisfactory or unpleasant, separate out this instant and surrender to what is. Ask yourself, “Is there anything I can do to change the situation, improve it, or remove myself from it?” … Focus not on the one hundred things that you will or may have to do at some future time but on the one thing that you can do now. … If there is no action you can take, and you cannot remove yourself from the situation either, then use the situation to make you go more deeply … into the Now…when you enter this timeless dimension of the present, change often comes about in strange ways without the need for a great deal of doing on your part. Life becomes helpful and cooperative.” It’s seems so simple, this idea of not allowing oneself to go too deep into the weeds, or to make sure that the trees are still visible within the forest. Yet, it’s  actually the opposite of the issue so frequently raised of “not being able to see the forest for the trees.” To which Tolle might say, good – without those trees there would be no forest.) In any event, it’s a great reminder that when you’re lost, it’s the individual trees along the path that will lead you to the trail, not the contours of the full forest.

Speaking of being lost, Tolle may accept that not all who wander are lost, but perhaps a goodly number of those who wander his way were, are, or (despite his extortions against worrying about the future) expect soon to be so. “Acute unhappiness can be a great awakener” he tells his reader, also reminding them “You must have failed deeply on some level or experienced some deep loss or pain to be drawn to the spiritual dimension. Or perhaps your very success became empty and meaningless and so turned out to be failure.” Or both – ouch.

Not to fear, though, for Tolle also wants his reader to remember that all they “ever have to deal with, cope with, in real life – as opposed to imaginary mind projections – is this moment. Ask yourself what “problem” you have right now, not next year, tomorrow, or five minutes from now. What is wrong with this moment? You can always cope with the Now, but you can never cope with the future – nor do you have to. The answer, the strength, the right action or the resource will be there when you need it, not before not after.” It’s the step-by-step guide for those who need more than simply “breathe.”

Obviously a book titled The Power of Now stresses just that, and in fact, in these ruminations Tolle is at his best in terms of straightforward writing that captures and holds attention and feels purposeful. “. No negativity. No psychic pollution. Keep your inner space clear.” … “If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it’s no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.” As Tolle might say, we’ve been over this before: everything in life happens for a reason, even if the entire reason is for you to learn from a particular mistake. Don’t blow the opportunity presented by the moment.