The Power of Now - A Precious Book on the Journey of Awakening
Perhaps we have heard plenty of advice from famous authors and masters about living fully in every present moment. It has been heard until the ears are worn out, but you know what? This is the very truth that most of us forget every day, ignore, flee from, or reject because we are busy swaying between the shadows of the past and the illusions of the future, between desire and hesitation, between seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
We think we are burning with passion in the present until suffering pays a visit; only then, when we do not know how to face and overcome it, do we realize we never learned how to live in the Now.
Therefore, today, we will once again clarify and penetrate this truth, giving you more perspectives for reflection and more motivation to truly begin learning how to bring this truth into your life through a very famous book titled The Power of Now by author Eckhart Tolle - a renowned master who has experienced spiritual awakening, author with the book A New Earth and Stillness Speaks.
This book has been published in over 50 countries and translated into more than 30 different languages, selling over 10 million copies and helping millions of readers realize and transform themselves, creating a new wave of awakening in the 21st century.
Reading it will help you open a revolutionary path from within yourself, liberating you from the invisible shackles of the mind, pulling you out of the whirlpool of time to step into every rhythm of the present breath. Ultimately, it reveals a source of deep joy that lies beyond all the ignorant pleasures followed by the suffering of material life.
From here, you can live the rest of your life with a growing awareness; you will realize that human existence is essentially like participating in a game - once you grasp how to play, you can play better, play in mindfulness, and conclude with peaceful contentment. Now, I invite you to explore this book with Reading To Heal!
If you would like to reflect more deeply on its teachings, you may also enjoy reading our collection of insights in The Power of Now Quotes: Timeless Wisdom from Eckhart Tolle, where the most powerful lines from the book are gathered for contemplation and daily inspiration.
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What is Living in the Present?
A gentle reminder that life only unfolds in the Now.
First, we need to understand what it means to live completely in the present moment. According to the author, it is when you live without being dominated by psychological time, focusing only on what you are doing with an attitude of observation without judgment or resistance.
Psychological time here is understood as the time of the past and the future; it is a time that is not real but merely an illusion appearing in our minds - one is the passed present, and the other is the present yet to come.
What Prevents Us from Being Present?
Living in the Now is simple to say but oh so difficult to do. It is difficult because there is an extremely powerful obstacle: the intellect. We all acknowledge that human intellect is wonderful and useful; it can learn and accumulate knowledge, solve problems, adjust emotions and behaviors, build relationships, and we all need the intellect to improve our lives.
However, throughout this process, we have accidentally allowed our intellect to control and dominate our lives so strongly that we eventually lose control.
The author states that your intellect should only be present to perform its specialized tasks as mentioned above; at all other times, it is completely unnecessary.
But most of us mistakenly believe that this intellect is who we are - inseparable and unstoppable - because if it stops, we feel we will lose ourselves. In the end, the intellect repeats idle thoughts over and over, continuously consuming your energy like an addiction that cannot be escaped.
In psychology, this is also referred to as "rumination," which causes a person to constantly increase levels of stress, anxiety, helplessness, and stagnation as they get stuck in their problems, eventually leading to various psychological disorders.
You see, from its position as a tool to serve us, the intellect has now become the master that dictates and dominates us. We are almost unable to stop the thoughts in our heads by ourselves; they cause you ultimate affliction, yet you do not realize it because you are so used to this suffering that you consider it normal.
We Must Lose Ourselves
Try sitting quietly for one minute and observe your mind; do you have any way to turn off the endless stream of thoughts in your head? Too difficult, right? Even a few seconds is too difficult.
What could be more painful than being possessed by the mind without realizing one's status as a slave? But perhaps this is a reality that must be accepted; we are all raised and live in such a way - there could not have been a different beginning. From the start, we have all been disconnected from our true Being, so we give birth to an illusion of an "ego" from within. This ego is very lonely and fearful, so it tries even harder to separate itself from the world around it to protect itself and stay safe. And the intellect is the ego's protective tool.
However, as the master Osho once said:
we must lose ourselves just as a fish is forced to leave the ocean to truly understand the ocean.
The fish must move away from the deep blue water and feel the absence to realize the beauty and vastness of the sea, and then find a way to return. Similarly, humans need to lose themselves, taste suffering, and be tossed about in life before finding a way to escape the patterns that imprison them, thereby rediscovering the deep meaning of existence.
This truth is also like the three levels of human life realms. The first realm is "seeing mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers" - initially, we see life through a pure nature, through the eyes of a child.
The second realm is "seeing mountains no longer as mountains and rivers no longer as rivers" - as adults, we see life through a subjective will full of turmoil, competition, comparison, seeking, and calculation, making it hard to escape.
But if one can practice changing their perception, they can elevate themselves to the third realm: "seeing mountains once again as mountains and rivers as rivers" - returning to nature, returning to the original purity, where the heart is left only with the clear moon and cool breeze.
Each of us, upon reaching a certain stage of maturity, needs to gradually shed the dominance of the intellect and cut off the tools that nourish the ego to connect with our true selves. Otherwise, for a whole lifetime, we are stuck in a realm of unreal, distorted illusions - seeing mountains no longer as mountains.
So, how do we see mountains as mountains again? That is by learning to live in the Now. But how can we live fully in every moment of the present when it is too hard to let go of the past that created us, and too fearful of uncertainty if we do not calculate for the future? How can we use the intellect when necessary and rest in silence the rest of the time? How can we let go of the ego when, until now, it has been everything to you?
The Power of Now will answer these for you!
Liberation by Bringing Body and Mind Back to the Present
Mindfulness begins when we let go of excess and return to simplicity.
Initially, many people will not understand what the voice in their head is, and it is even harder to understand how the emotions within are separate from who you are because we identify so deeply that we have merged into one.
The mind never agrees to stay still in the present; it either drags you back to the past or pulls you toward the future. Consequently, you also lose touch with your body; you cannot truly be present with your physical form.
Bringing the Body Back to the Present Moment
First, bring your body back to the present moment. In everything you are doing, be aware of your inhalation and exhalation. Then, with every footstep, feel the contact of your body from your feet to the floor, the tension in your thighs, and the rhythmic harmony of your body. When you eat, feel the contact of the food in your mouth, its impact on your taste and smell, and the sensation of the food going down...
Start with the simplest, easiest things in life to bring your body completely into the Now. You have surely heard this advice many times, but most of us only listen for fun without seriously implementing it or failing to resist temptation.
You need to know that if you cannot feel your body, you will not feel what is in your heart. So, try to start with the body. Relax the body as much as possible when you are free by moving freely, such as dancing, playing wholeheartedly like a child, or walking frequently with bare feet on the ground to feel the breath from your own soles. Every morning when you wake up, smile and feel the life still flowing in your body.
However, note that you should not try to multitask every day. For example, walking while listening to an audiobook. This might seem like a very logical combination that saves you time, but to learn how to truly dwell in the Now, we should not combine things like that.
Because when you walk but your mind is spinning with the content you are hearing, the sensation of the body at that time will be greatly limited. Furthermore, focusing on your steps will conversely distract you from the content you are listening to; you cannot receive it fully.
Try to do only one thing at a time and focus solely on that. Let go of the excess and become fully mindful.
The more deeply you feel the body, the more every cell in you seems to awaken. And you know what? Most diseases creep in when you are not truly present in your body; therefore, the more you bring consciousness back to the "home" of your body, the better you will protect it - not only healing illnesses but even slowing down the body's aging process.
Practicing Observing the Stream of Thoughts in the Head
Awareness is the quiet space behind every thought.
Next, stay alert and observe the thoughts and feelings within you. Another great name, Krishnamurti, once said: "The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence."
Therefore, this is the main goal we need to achieve: observing and perceiving without evaluating, complaining, or resisting.
For example, while doing something, a thought pops into your head: "Should I buy those clothes?", "It would be great if I won the lottery now to pay off all my debts," "I wonder if my child is being good or crying at school today?".
Initially, when you first practice observing, you will find the thoughts very vague; it is as if a thick mist in the mind makes it hard to see anything. But persist in maintaining alertness to observe; gradually, you will break through each layer of mist and see the thoughts pouring in like waves.
But identifying thoughts is not for solving problems related to them, because you will see that all those thoughts either relate to an unchangeable past or are vain hopes for the future, while you yourself are in the present. You cannot solve them or deal with any future problem. Just as you can only breathe in the Now, you cannot breathe for a future moment.
That is why you are still deluded and still feel suffering. As Lao Tzu once said:
"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
Condense your life into this moment only. Regardless of how messy or problematic your life situation is, in this very moment, you are still at peace. Tomorrow's problem is not a real problem; even the problem of 10 minutes from now is not real - only right now is real.
This is not you trying to avoid your problems, but the way for you to best solve all difficulties if they come to you. Because when you can be present with your moment more, your intuition will develop further, and you can solve problems more effectively and wisely.
Why is that? Because when you frequently focus on the present, the thoughts in the mind will gradually settle, reducing the power that binds you. The interruption in the flow of thoughts will create an increasingly large gap between thoughts, like gaps of blue sky appearing more as the clouds drift further apart.
This absolute stillness gap is called the "no-mind gap" - the quietest state of the mind where consciousness is alert and clear without a single stray thought, and intuition works powerfully when you have many no-mind gaps.
The no-mind gap is also where you feel a faint joy radiating from deep within you; it is a feeling of extreme leisure and freedom, a state of "no-self" merging into one with the universal Whole. And this is the essence of meditation.
In summary, bringing body and mind back to the present is learning to live in mindfulness. Continuously practicing this will be the first step for you to unlock awakening within yourself.
Frequently ask yourself if you feel happy and comfortable with what you are doing. If not, change the way you do it by putting all your attention into it. Even if it is boring or laborious, once you no longer have resistance in your heart, all worries and discomfort will dissipate; joy and serenity will begin to creep into your soul, and the fruits of your work will blossom from there.
Returning to the Present to Dissolve Inner Pain-Bodies
Humanity believes it has too much suffering but does not realize that most of that suffering is unnecessary - meaning we are bringing suffering upon ourselves.
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The first self-inflicted burden is holding onto the past pain-body.
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The second self-inflicted burden is not being present with the pain of the Now.
When you are constantly absent from the present, every painful emotion you experience will leave a part of itself to accumulate more pain within you. The present pain merges with the past pain already there, getting stuck together in the mind and creating a cycle of suffering for you, giving birth to diseases from the physical to the spiritual.
The pains from the past are childhood pains created by the ignorance of the world you were born into, influenced by the people you grew up around.
It could be pain from an unhappy family, parents addicted to alcohol, physical or verbal violence, sexual abuse, poverty, being orphaned, divorce...
Everyone will have it more or less in their heart, and most still carry it until now. When anything happens - like the birth of an intimate relationship, having a child, a material or spiritual loss, or experiencing life's pressures - these pain-bodies are stirred up within you to be fed more energy and extend their own existence.
In many people, the pain-body is so thick and heavy that just a thought or an accidental word from someone is enough of a condition for the old pain to rise. It can make that person uncomfortable, but it can also make them collapse; more dangerously, it can cause a person to lose severe control, leading to violence, harming others, or self-destruction.
Many people think, "I am not originally like that; it's just because life isn't as intended, because of incidents, because of this person or that person that I became like this." In reality, it is not caused by anyone or any circumstance, but because they themselves did not have enough awareness - they were not aware of the past pain-body buried deep in their hearts, so they allowed that pain-body to use the circumstances to wake up and powerfully dominate their actions and life decisions.
Do you wonder why some people fall into a situation of betrayal but accept the truth while choosing to forgive the other party, leaving and liberating themselves, ready to face the difficulties and upheavals of a new life; while others live in hatred, seeking revenge or torturing both others and themselves without being able to escape?
The great writer Hermann Hesse wrote:
"Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go."
Awareness constitutes a person's choice. The more one knows how to let go, the more awakened their awareness is; thus, the more you can be aware of your past pain-body, the weaker its dominance will be, and the more you will master your ego and your life.
So, the first thing you need to do is look back at the past once to know which pain-body you are clinging to. Look at the living conditions and lifestyle of your parents until now, and the psychologically influential events of the past; you will discover behavioral patterns that repeat old sufferings in the present. Regarding this, if you want to learn more, please refer to the book Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child, which Reading To Heal has introduced.
Next, you need to identify when the old, deep pain-body stretches and wakes up. To identify it, you must bring yourself completely to the present to have enough clarity and alertness to recognize it. It will not appear naturally but will use some circumstance to rise simultaneously.
For example, when being criticized, betrayed, rejected, losing money, being sick or in an accident, or simply when raising a child... Notice the feelings - they could be melancholy, irritation, hot-temperedness, anger, excessive suspicion, recklessness, malicious thoughts, resentment, gloom, hatred, the feeling of wanting to destroy everything...
You need to understand that pain is only the shadow of the ego within you; what it fears most is the light of consciousness. It can never overpower you when you are truly present right there. And at that moment, just be aware that suffering - both old and new negative feelings - is there; accurately identify your emotion, name it, and accept its presence but do not think about it, do not judge or analyze it, and do not identify with it to feed it more energy. It will gradually disappear.
For example, when you are criticized by someone, your mind will start spinning with anger. If you do not keep yourself alert to observe this anger, you will easily react negatively immediately with angry, bitter words, only to continue coiling yourself into a tighter bond of both old and new pain.
Instead, at that time, just listen to the criticism; accept the true words and quietly correct yourself; as for the wrong and attacking words, listen, accept, and then let them go - do not identify, do not speculate, and do not try to find reasons to cause more fatigue.
Just persistently dwell in the Now and patiently be a silent witness. As long as you maintain alertness and always watch, any discomfort or pain will eventually be transformed.
Note that sometimes you will also encounter resistance due to the stubbornness of identifying yourself with the unhappiness of the past. For example, when you have the urge to complain and lament about past pains to others, at this time, you also just need to recognize that it is a manifestation of resistance. Once again, focus on the pain, illuminating it with the consciousness of the present. Always remember that the Now is the reality; let the past die in every moment of the present with your total presence.
Awakening from the Illusory Dream of the Future
The future, for each of us, seems to contain a salvation, the fulfillment of something, or the expectation that the future will soothe a present that is not as intended.
Do you remember? When we were small, we often wished to grow up very fast to be free to do what we wanted like adults. In university, we longed for time to pass quickly to graduate early and go to work to make money. When we had a stable job, we longed for a house, a car, and a private family home to fill the loneliness of being alone. When we had children, we hoped they would grow up quickly so we could rest and enjoy. In old age, we hope for enough health to be with our children and grandchildren longer.
Every dream of a future as expected is precious and worth striving for, but if we continuously attach our lives to those expectations, using them as conditions for happiness and constantly using the present as a stepping stone to reach a goal, we are living in an illusion.
More accurately, it is living as if not living. The writer Camus used the image of "living like a dead person" to describe this reality. No matter how beautiful a future you paint, it is only a projection of the intellect that is not real; everything is borrowed from the present.
Do you ever ask yourself if you are satisfied with your present, or must there always be some obstacle or goal to overcome and complete before you can feel secure and satisfied? In reality, you have overcome many obstacles already - was the result afterward that you truly lived satisfied as you initially told yourself? Or, before you could be satisfied, did other obstacles appear? So, when will this chase end?
Perhaps not even until death, because the expectation after death is a world without pain. Life needs goals, plans, and calculations to improve, but there is no need to use them to bind yourself. Goals and plans only need to be like a lighthouse; occasionally, you look up to know you are going in the right direction, then immediately return to the footsteps of the present.
Remember that the quality of consciousness in the present moment - meaning the degree of your presence in the Now - is what decides what you will have in the future. If you cannot truly be content with what is in the present, no matter what you achieve in the future - wealth, fame, power, or many experiences of pleasure through luxury goods - there will still be an endless, meaningless void within you that cannot be filled.
The Dalai Lama once said:
"There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live."
Live more for today. Awaken from the illusory dream of the future; it is not real.
You only need to return to reality more; the future will take care of itself.
Overcoming Fear to Truly Experience Life
The author of The Power of Now says that when you sit alone, walk, eat, or talk to others and you cannot be present, then when you encounter difficulties or loss, you also cannot face them in awakening.
For a person who is already deluded, they will become even more deluded when facing difficulties. An awakened person will become even more awakened. It is in the face of challenges and adversity that a person's state of consciousness is clearly seen. Therefore, practicing the cultivation of clear consciousness daily is very necessary.
Frequently observe what is happening within you and, most importantly, maintain an attitude of non-resistance toward life, difficulties, challenges, and events. The more you resist, the more stressed and exhausted you become, and everything gets worse.
Wise sages through the ages have taught the importance of accepting reality. As Lao Tzu once said:
"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."
Only by unconditionally accepting all external world events can one have a deep experience, overcome suffering, and see the meaning of one's own existence. This requires you to overcome your own fears: fear of difficulty, fear of conflict, fear of illness, and fear of death.
When Facing Difficulties or Events
Like losing money, losing a job, debt, or losing a loved one, you all need to learn to accept these events unconditionally. Unconditional acceptance means not complaining or resisting, not being dissatisfied or struggling with negative blame; no matter what, you should not pollute your heart.
Simply put, it is learning to let go. If money is lost, accept its departure. If a person is gone, accept that it was their time to go. If a job is lost, let it be; when one door closes, another will open. This is not showing passive weakness; this is the way for you to lean into the flow of life.
As Jon Kabat-Zinn once said:
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."
Leaning into the flow of life will help you overcome difficulties more gently. This attitude of acceptance will give you a clear perception like a headlight shining straight through the thick fog of difficulty to see the path you will continue on.
When losing a job, for example, you do not blame the company, the boss, or the customers; you do not lament your unlucky fate or criticize your incompetence. You accept this with a calm attitude. This is a challenge to see your shortcomings and an opportunity to find a more suitable path.
Similarly, when your current job makes you weary but it is not yet the time you can leave, also learn to accept it completely. Do not create internal resistance; you will only be more miserable and confused, and you will never see the way out.
When you do it in acceptance and mindfulness, the no-mind gap will give you the sharp intuition to know when you can leave and where you need to go. Just as author Eckhart Tolle peacefully accepted his circumstances even when he was once penniless, he still left for the place his intuition told him to, and indeed, the future took care of itself.
In Relationships
Every judgment is a mirror. Awareness begins within.
Learning to accept the differences in everyone, especially those next to you, is a way of living without letting the ego dominate.
The ego only likes the feeling of being superior to others, so it always judges, criticizes, lectures, rejects, and belittles others to satisfy its own deluded perception. It likes to change others to satisfy some subtle need; it likes to play the victim so it doesn't have to take responsibility for itself.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh said a sentence that makes everyone self-reflect:
"Being aware of a small shortcoming in oneself is much more useful than being aware of thousands of shortcomings in others."
And the author of The Power of Now says: "When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself."
Therefore, in any relationship with anyone, always observe the egoic nature within you that always wants to manifest; self-reflect on the reactions and emotions of the ego, thereby learning to listen sincerely, respect, and put yourself in others' shoes to gain understanding and compassion.
From your own clear awareness, you will see that through the eyes of the ego, a violent person is a despicable person, but through the gaze of awareness, that person needs love and help because they have accumulated too much suffering that it overflows everywhere. It is not easy to reach such an awareness, but as long as you are always present, the awareness in you will grow. Without presence, any communication will become a stage for the deluded ego, and the relationship will only get worse.
Learning to Accept Physical Sickness and Disease
Illness is an unavoidable part of a human being; everyone will eventually get sick. But illness will not be a problem for a person who always dwells completely in the Now. Only those who cling to the good side of impermanence and avoid the other side fear illness.
The more you fear, the more you dare not face it; the more you dare not face it, the larger the fear grows, so when it becomes a reality for us, we are very shocked, very collapsed, and the more we lose our awareness, the more we use all our remaining strength to resist the illness. Everything becomes even worse.
So, remember the author's words that it is precisely in acceptance that you will find peace. Illness can become a great teacher helping you realize the fragility of life and the value of each present moment.
It is the crack where light shines into you - the light of awakening. Or as Michael Singer, author of The Untethered Soul and Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament, once wrote: "If you are patient, any bad thing will eventually pass."
Go through every moment and experience its depth even when it is the worst thing in the world. Life looks long but, looking back, it is fleeting - only a few decades. Everything belonging to the mundane will pass through space and time. So, do not waste a single moment while you are still in this form.
The Truth About Awakening
Throughout the process of internal human transformation, you will eventually feel that you can transcend all the inner turmoil - a sense of self-mastery when you can be independently separate from what you witness, observe, and experience. That is total freedom, called enlightenment or awakening.
Heading toward awakening or enlightenment is the only path that helps you find yourself and gain a source of deep, fulfilling, and long-lasting joy that lies outside the mere repetition of seeking pleasure and avoiding the pain of the ego.
But when talking about enlightenment or awakening, many people think it is a mystical, supreme state that ordinary people cannot reach, or some even mock it, mostly believing that each of us cannot touch the path that the Buddha attained.
Then you are underestimating yourself again. Everyone has enlightenment available within them; it is just a choice of whether to step toward it or not.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh said that enlightenment is always present; small enlightenments will gradually lead to great enlightenment. If you breathe in and realize that you are alive, that you can touch the miracle of being alive, then that is also a form of enlightenment.
And author Eckhart Tolle also reminds us that the Now is the key that opens the door to liberation, achieving freedom for all of us. Your freedom is in your hands, and you do not need to trade your current life for freedom; you do not need to set aside your livelihood, but rather be wholehearted in every step, keeping yourself alert so as not to be controlled by the ego, not letting the boundaries the ego builds become barriers to your freedom - that is you walking step by step on the path of enlightenment.
The Power of Now is an extremely meaningful book that helps you find yourself and live a truly free life. If you have never read this book, you should experience it once. If you have already read it, read it again frequently to remind yourself to return to the present moment.
May you have each small enlightenment to gradually attain the great enlightenment.
