Recorded at a rare five-day gathering led by Eckhart Tolle, here is a special opportunity for those familiar with his work or hearing it for the first time to transcend the finite world of fluctuating thoughts, ambitions, and fears, and touch their true essence. This all-new program includes insights into: entering the Now through the portal called "allow", how to use the "inner body" and sense perceptions to find a peace that exists independent of conditions, expanding the space between thoughts for a deeper experience of the Now, and much more.

Spoken simply, with his hallmark warmth, humor, and compassion, here is Eckhart Tolles full presentation of a beautiful way to live that arises through Realizing the Power of Now.

Book Description
An unabridged recording of an Eckhart Tolle retreat.

The Power of Now snapped me out of the seeker's mode and woke me up to the truth of my being and the ocean of peace of that's already and always within "me" - it's all I or anyone who is ready will ever need if they are ripe to accept the invitation to return home to one's being. Once that invitation has been accepted and the various portals to now are explored it will be seen that every life situation is another invitation to return home and to deepen presence. That's where Realizing the Power of Now comes shining through with tremendous clarity, not only for understanding but for what's most important, the actual experience of being/now/presence.

This is a full-blown retreat and each successive tape takes you a little deeper until at one point near the end Tolle leads you masterfully to unplumbed depths of being. Those who are familiar with his speaking style will understand when I say that he has a way of pacing his words and phrases so that one who listens simply drops into the gaps between them and is left in pure being/pure awareness until another phrase pops you back into the phenomenal world, and then back into being.

It reminds me of how a wick gets repeatedly dipped in paraffin thus creating a candle. If you want a candle with some substance to it you must keep dipping it - if you want a life that shines brightly keep dipping into the now. At some point the listener will realize that even while engaged in the phenomenal world pure being has shifted to the forefront of awareness. At first this may simply be the act of simply listening, listening without internal comment/judgement. Gradually this pure being will be seen to accompany you during all activity. It always was there of course, but now it becomes self-evident and so it is realized that your real essence IS the power of now.

Realizing the Power of Now should satisfy those who have listened to some of his abbreviated tapes and were disappointed because they didn't get the whole thing. I have to shake my head when I read those sorts of reviews, as if the amount of content determines one's ability to drop into now/presence. This mindset completely misses what Tolle is getting at. The same can be said for his brilliant Stillness Speaks. All mindsets must be dropped. There are no "mental nuggets" missing to be who you are. Now is literally beyond the mind and once that's seen you will laugh at your previous efforts to rely on mental understanding to live a happy and peaceful life.


A Fantastic and Rare Treat for Realization and Inner Peace   April 19, 2004
 45 out of 45 found this review helpful

This is a powerful and incredibly mind opening set where you will be taken on a journey into what has been blocking you, and how to transcend "egoic" patterns in order to become one with the NOW moment, so you can live in peace.
I absolutely love listening to Eckhart's teachings, because he is real, humble, genuine, and his wisdom profoundly enlightened.

If you can't attend his teachings in person, this is the next best thing! Highly recommended for the genuine impact this will have in your life. Listen carefully, and take it all in. Once you do, you will "become the watcher" of your habitual thoughts, and the pain that your ego pulls you into, without your realizing it. After listening to this set, you should be well equipped to transcend that egoic state, and live with the true joy and peace you deserve NOW.

If you click on "Audio Download - Audible" above, you can download the set for $9.95 from Audible (which is in partnership with Amazon) right into your Windows Media Player. It's well worth it either way. This set will genuinely have a profound impact on your life.

Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of Know Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Wholeness, Radiance & Supreme Confidence and Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE


Like Krishnamurti with a sense of humor   May 11, 2004
 30 out of 31 found this review helpful

Wow. I am 44 and was blown away by reading Krishnamurti many years ago. But that was pretty much it...a sense of having my mind blown while I was reading Krishnamurti but didn't seem to take much away from the reading other than a memory of having my mind blown. Admittedly 20 years have passed and I am not the same person, but Eckhart seems so much funnier and practical. I just kind of bliss out listening to him and get the sense that I am being transformed. Even if I'm not (which I doubt) it is such a pleasure to listen to. Suddenly life loses all seriousness.


Contrived and insipid   March 18, 2005
 27 out of 46 found this review helpful

Let me say right away that I found "Realizing the Power of Now" much less inspiring than "Even the Sun Will Die" by the same author. And it is definitely not the complete programme of lectures of a week-long retreat since many concepts handled by Tolle in the course of his speeches have never been explained before.

What you will find here is a quite commonsensical mixture of Zen quotes, Christian meditations, all too predictable recommendations to be aware and to accept "what is" and jokes about human silliness, all of this interspersed with the sound of Bali bells, supposedly meaningful silences, outbursts of noisy laughter and the heavy sound of E.T.'s breathing.

Somehow I find that E.T., whose books I have all read and studied, has been corrupted by the enlightenment industry or the "enlightenment club". I have a feeling that he is now increasingly playing a role and trying to conform to people's expectations about what a spiritual teacher should look and sound like. His slow manner of speaking seems terribly contrived, almost calculated to create a state of hypnosis in his hearers. There is affectation in everything he says.

I found the content of "Realizing the Power of Now" boring, shallow and repetitive. If you really want to follow E.T., I recommend "Even the Sun Will Die" instead. "Even the Sun Will Die" is an interview with Tolle made on September 11. In it, Eckhart develops a number of rather profound ideas and relates his own adventure. It is much more interesting than this insipid stuff for mass consumption about awakening.

I recommend Jiddu Krishnamurti, who is both a profound "thinker" and a delightful English prose writer (read his "Commentaries on Living"). But no matter who your "teacher" is, I think it is essential not to accept anything just because he says it. All teachings are dangerous and misleading because words are by definition misleading. As St John of the Cross said, our two most fearsome enemies are the devil and...our spiritual director!

Well said, Juan...



A refreshing view!   April 14, 2004
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

The content of these CDs has been covered pretty well in other reviews, so I'd just like to add my personal opinion.

This was my first introduction to Tolle and I confess, by the end of the first CD I was completely lost. So then I got the book, and did the two in tandem. Once I understood the basic concepts from the book, I quickly discovered that I preferred the CD retreat. So I guess my point is: if you're unfamiliar with Tolle, this is not the place to start. But it's a powerful supplement if you are.

BTW, I purchased the audio download from Audible and made my own CDs (a LOT cheaper, and easy to do. the link should be up above somewhere under "other editions." )

Curator, AfroAmericanHeritage dot com