The phrase The Power of Now can have a few meanings but they are all closely related to each other.
It has all started in 1997 when Eckhart Tolle has published his first book – ‘The Power Of Now’.
Till today it has been sold in millions of copies around the world and translated into over than 30 languages.
The term ‘The Power of Now’ nowadays refers not only the title of the book. The book became #1 New York Times bestseller for a reason – it carries a deep life changing message.
“The Power Of Now’ has now another meaning – it is the name of a bliss that many readers have felt for the first time during the lecture of this book.
Many people have simply awaken during the lecture and have felt the pleasant inner peace that comes along.
People who have already crossed that line refer to this state as “The Power of Now” and this is essentially what The Power Of Now is about. It’s about discovering the life from new. The life free from all the suffering and mind boundaries.
You may be surprised now if you have never heard about this before. That is completely normal – most of the people felt the same way before reading this book.
You may be confused by the name ‘The Power of Now’ as well, as it is hard to categorize it in any field known to you before. It is even a mistake to try to categorize it in the first place. It’s a journey that better to begin open minded and without and prejudgments. Don’t pay attention to the words and the names for the moment. Let me explain you briefly what can you expect.
Today Eckhart Tolle is considered as one of the biggest spiritual teachers of our times that has already made a significant impact on our planet.
Possibly he haven’t discovered anything new as it was all said in the religions and beliefs that we knew before.
The one big difference is that he passed the message in a way that the world started to awaken.
Again, don’t try to compare The Power Of Now for the moment to anything you know or you have heard of before – that’s exactly what can stop you from discovering this amazing new field of consciousness, that your are now closer to, than ever before.
Religions, yoga, mindfulness, spiritual books – they all carry a message that can possibly overlap / be close to ‘The Power of Now’ but what matters most, is that this book and its meaning can bring you the “aha” moment, and if you will start to practice “being present”, it can improve your life in many different ways – from getting better at work, to a spiritual awakening.
The benefits of being in the now (practicing mindfulness) are astonishing.
What it actually means to experience The Power Of Now.
Being present (being in The Power Of Now) means to stop the thinking mind and be fully present in the moment.
Most of the people in this world are in a loop of compulsive thinking that hardly ever stops. Your mind is a very noisy machine that is producing thoughts practically all the time. Compulsive thinking became such a natural state for us that we don’t even realize that we are in that state.
There is a voice in our heads that seem to live its own life and we don’t really have control over it.
That implies very often that we are basically trapped in our own minds and constantly returning thought patterns.
What is even more bizarre is that we don’t even like many of our thoughts but we still can’t stop producing them.
One of the biggest “aha” moments is when you start to see this duality. If you don’t like your own thoughts, then who is the one who don’t like these thoughts?
And that is usually one of the most important realizations at the beginning – the moment when you realize that you are not your mind – that there is a field of consciousness beyond the mind, that allows you to observe your own mind.
The Power of Now (book) tells you how to stop the compulsive thinking.
You can take back the control over your mind.
It is already a great freedom.
But that is as well only the beginning.
The moment when you will become fully present (shortly we will get to how to do it), opens a lot of doors for you.
You will not only achieve inner stillness and take control over your mind, this is also usually a moment of awakening and enlightenment.
The state of presence itself will also simply bring you inner peace. It can be deep and pleasant state. Some people call it a bliss that they never felt before. These moments of deep presence can be very brief in the beginning but eventually they will get longer.
So how to get into The Power of Now?
There are a few gateways that take you into presence.
Your own body is the best anchor that can root you in the presence.
Try to feel your own body from within, feel its energy.
If this is difficult for you in the beginning, you can simply start from feeling your hands. The energy within them. You should feel how almost immediately your mind is becoming more still and the thinking process stops.
Stay there, feel your body (or your hands) and just observe the occasional thoughts that may come (and let them go if they will come).
Stay rooted in the presence – remember to focus on feeling your body.
There are more gateways that you can use.
One of the very powerful portals is looking for the silence among the sounds. There is always some dimension of silence around you.
All the sounds are coming from a background of silence. Look for the silence among the sounds. It takes you into the present moment.
Another gateway can be feeling your own breath. Observe your own breathing. Follow your breath – in and out.
There is one more powerful gateway that you can use. When you will learn to feel your body (your hands / you can also focus on your breath), try to wait for your next thought.
Observe your mind as a rabbit hole. Wait for the next thought to appear. When it will, just let it go. During this exercise, try to stay in touch with your body to stay present.
It is a powerful practice.
It will help you to stay in the present moment for a longer time, not letting your mind (compulsive thinking) to take you over.
There are more portals that you will discover with time. I doesn’t mater which one you will use as long as it takes you into the NOW.
One crucial thing that you should remember – practice being present. Without practice it won’t happen. Mindfulness (being present) is more a skill than a knowledge. You won’t free yourself from your mind by staying in your mind.
Use the portals described above to get into the NOW and practice staying there.
Here’s a short video reminder that describes how you can practice The Power Of Now:
If this sounds intriguing for you I strongly recommend you to read or listen to The Power Of Now.
If you have heard the term Mindfulness before – it means basically the same as ‘being present’.
Mindfulness was for a long time an underestimated term as people didn’t essentially understand how to get to that state and how to practice it. For a long time it was more an ideology than practice and the practice is an essential part of it.
There’s another article about practicing mindfulness on this website, you can find it here.
Eckhart Tolle himself doesn’t use the term Mindfulness as he doesn’t use many more terms due to their devaluation over the years.
Again, don’t pay attention to the words and terms as long as you understand / feel the essence – what does it mean to be present and what is The Power Of Now.
In 2009 Oprah Winfrey did a series of online video events sharing awareness about Eckhart Tolle and The Power Of Now with the world. Here’s the first video where Oprah and Eckhart are talking about what is The Power Of Now.
The power of now! This is very great to know of or learn about. One thing I learned well is the fact that one cannot stay in the mind and expect to free the mind. That is my takeaway from this post. Feeling the presence of the now and being in the moment requires being physically present and bringing the mind to being in the present too. Practising to feel the body and hand especially would be a new technique that I will incorporate to my daily living. Thabks
Thank you, I’m glad that you will incorporate this into your daily life. It’s a must to read a book, a blog or a video to awaken and pas the enlightenment moment but to really be able to return into presence and throughout that to your inner calmness and peace you have to practice. The mentioned portals will help you to get there. Thanks for stopping by and your insights.
Wow the Power of Now is good stuff, living a busy life as I am due to work, I never actually stopped to think and focus on my own body’s aura let alone the sounds when in silence. It really does feel like the energy is all around even though they’re not visible and somehow there’s a faint similarity to the Secret which I had the pleasure of reading years ago back.
I was wondering though, how long do people take to finally get that “aha” moment? 😀
Hello Riaz, regarding the “aha” moment – it comes when you read an article or a book like the mentioned one. The bliss is coming at the beginning for a very short moment but with time you are getting into the state of the deep inner peace more easily. When you get through the “aha” moment everything starts for you. You realize that you were living inside your mind which is only a tool to exist in the world but not the essence of life. You start to observe your own mind and you see the bigger picture. You open your eyes.
Everyone thinks and learning the power of now might be a daunting task but if one takes it seriously, one can learn to lobe in the present and stop the thoughts. Finding the silence in the noise is also a good way to find the power of now. I think i need to get this book seeing that it can help in all ramifications of life. This is an eye opener and I’m glad I read through.
Hi Henderson, yes the book opened already many eyes around this World. I agree with what you said. Practicing the Power Of Now doesn’t have to be a boring task, in fact it can be the most exciting thing you ever did 🙂
This is the first time I’m hearing about “The Power of Now”, but from the your post I’ve understand the importance be not living in the past and living in the present. I’ve had problems both at work and at home because I still have some issues affecting me which have happened in the past. I’ll look for the book and get more understanding about living in the present.
Hi Dane, if you haven’t read the book there is a free pdf online. You can find it in Google. I really encourage you to read it. To make you more enticed I urge you to read the small introduction to it, it’s here on this website: The Power Of Now – Book summary
Hi Greg, I had to smile and smile while reading your article “What Is the Power of Now'” because I had been reading that book (over and over), for a total of 2 years. I wanted to ‘absorb’ it into my spirit. Even when I knew that there was another book that Eckhart Tolle had written (A New Earth), I didn’t feel that I was ready to move onto that book until late last year.
I am now reading ‘A New Earth’ for the second time and also handwriting it into a journal. This helps me ‘realize’ the words better. You did a brilliant job of sharing the message of ‘The Power of Now’ and I feel sure that many folks who have not read the book yet (are there many left on the planet who haven’t?) will want to get a hold of a copy after reading your post. I know that there are college professors introducing it to their students, but it’s popularity really skyrocketed after that episode of the Oprah Show.
Thanks for helping to spread the word Greg! My favorite portals are the ‘art of inner body awareness’ and ‘surrender’. And of course, practicing Presence in the Now. My favorite Eckhart Tolle quote is:
“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
Thanks again!!
Sue
Hi Sue 🙂 That’s great that like-minded people are reaching out to me like you just did. The Power Of Now became my bible even though I’ve read A New Earth and many other books but this one is special. Even ‘A New Earth’ for me does not carry this magic. The Power Of Now surely does. I agree that Oprah shared this book with a wider World but many people just read it like any other book and didn’t experience the awakening part, and that’s a shame. I think there is one key to feel The Power Of Now – you have to try and practice it.
After reading this article and listening to the included video, I felt like the inner me was awakened. It is like meditating while not meditating. I have always been a deep thinker but I never attributed it to anything meaningful. But books like this help center my being and I am at ease with the energy that flows through me and how much bigger it is than the noise around me. Thanks for further strengthing my belief in myself.
Thank you for your comment. That’s great that this article showed you the way to your inner self. And yes you are right – it is a way of meditation. In fact it is a constant mediation on the go. Any the benefits of it can be great. It is not so easy at the beginning due to so many distractions and the noisy mind but with time it really works.