The Power of Now

A while back, someone recommended I read Eckhart Tolle’s renowned work, The Power of Now. At the time, I was curious about the ideas this person hinted at, but it took me a while to circulate the book into my reading list. Now, after reading it, I can say its central thesis ties in nicely with what mystics such as Richard Rohr have been writing about for decades. Namely, mindfulness begets absolute presence, and vice versa. Without being fully in the present, suffering begins to take hold of oneself (or one’s parts, to use IFS nomenclature). The mystic branches of most religions affirm this notion, yet Tolle’s messaging for this idea seems to have found the strongest footing in the West. With modern neuroscience studying the impact of mindfulness practices on the level of gamma waves present in one’s brain, it’s becoming more widely accepted that how one approaches the present moment can shape both their mind and body (as if the two could be Cartesianally compartmentalized).