Power of now

[scratchet]

Hi would be interested to hear people's views on the book power of now, by tolle.

I have been meditating on and off for some time but to be honest I've found the methods taught by the 8 week course are not as useful as they were when I originally started.

This book has really kicked started things for me. I seem to find it easier to be present by simply trying to be present, rather than by watching my breath. When I try to be present by watching each moment I find I start to notice my breath or sensations in my body. Its almost like the opposite of the methods taught on the 8 week course. Or maybe I've misunderstood? Don't know if this makes sense to anyone. Would appreciate others views and experiences.

[JonW]

Hi scratchet,
It's some time since I read The Power Of Now which, as far as it goes, is a decent distillation of spiritual practice/tradition. I wouldn't describe it as a book about mindfulness though and, if memory serves, Tolle doesn't use the word 'mindfulness' in the book. It's more a book about spiritual awakening.
I'm not really sure what you mean by 'watching each moment'. There's so much going on in each moment. We use the breath (or body parts, or sound etc.) as anchors to ground our attention. Perhaps you mean that you use the sensation of being present as your anchor.
Either way, it's great if it works for you. But I'd be careful not to fall into the trap of mindfulness becoming a cerebral practice. This isn't about the idea of being in the moment. It's learning to be with whatever experience arises in the moment, non-judgmentally.
Also, it's worth remembering that we don't come into the moment expecting the moment to be a certain way - blissful etc. We meet each moment as it is, whatever it is presenting, pleasant or unpleasant.
If I was recommending a mindfulness book, I'd suggest something by Jon Kabat-Zinn rather than Eckhart Tolle. Kabat-Zinn's teachings all feed back into practice. Tolle throws the net out much wider and there's nothing wrong with that, per se. I'm just not convinced that Tolle is a particularly good route into mindfulness, that's all. And I'm really not sure if he's your man if you are looking for ways to maintain practice which, for many people, is the challenging bit.
But let us know how you get along.
Cheers,
Jon

[scratchet]

Thanks for your reply Jon, very helpful. You are right I tend to use the present to ground me. For example, kids are screaming at me and I’m late for work. I just stop, think about this exact moment warts and all. For some reason I feel a release in my legs and stomach, I notice my breath a little bit too. I don’t do anything else for a moment or two. Then almost definitely there will be a steady flow of negative thoughts, which I acknowledge but purposely ignore. When I get lost in thought, I do all I can to get back to the present I don’t seem to find it useful to anchor to my breath, unless I am so wound up there is no other option.

That would be my interpretation of tolle’s methods. Of course I am not saying that is what I do every Time, far from it! That is my ideal, and it seems to work for me (so far)

Personally there is a lot of mysticism in his book that puts me off, but for some reason his explanation of the pain body, and future and past, seems to strike a chord with me . I know jkz explains similar concepts, but tolle seems to have a more combative attitude towards negative thoughts, whereas with jkz it is more gentle, which may be good for some people, but for me I’ve found it better to say something like....

Ah, here’s a negative thought, I’ve think I’ve met you before, I’m going to invite you in, but if I decide that you are no use to me, I’m going to politely ask you to leave. You are not going to ruin my day. Bye.

Before I read this book, I found myself being too gentle with negative thoughts, inviting them in to stay for a while, but I found this seemed to cause even more ruminations.



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