The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment 

- Eckhart Tolle

Are you someone who is into spirituality or is interested in it? Are you struggling in your life with your past memories or future apprehensions? Have you been into deep pain and feel stuck in your life? Then this is the perfect book you should be reading.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”

The book is written by Eckhart Tolle, who at 29yrs transformed after going through immense turmoil. This book is all about harnessing the power of now, being present in the moment, renouncing all worries and thoughts about the past and future, and concentrating only on the present, i.e, the given moment. He also explains in detail about how this simple strategy could help one to lead a trouble-free life; a spiritual onset.

This book is in the form of conversations or answers to questions on how to handle or practice being in the present or living at the moment to relieve ourselves out of the drama and misery that we have been accustomed to.

“...the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whatever form. Both are illusions.”

Since it is in a question and answer format, it clarifies all the doubts that we may get when while being introduced to this new concept of living in the present / now.

The book starts by explaining how we are not the mind and how we identify ourselves with the ego, which is the root cause of most problems. The succeeding chapters talk about consciousness, the origin of fear, the pain body, and how to utilize the power of now; which is the way out of pain.

“As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most simple action.”

One other method to get into consciousness is by observing the inner body; a practice simple yet efficient as explained in the book. The strategies that the mind adopts to avoid being in the present to boost the ego are also explained.

There is an exclusive chapter about how to transform a relationship into an enlightened one and how to handle problems arising in the relationship by being present in the now.

“What a caterpillar calls the end of the world we call a butterfly.”

It also explains the other methods through which unmanifested or consciousness could be reached like getting deep into the body, silence, space, etc. The book ends with a brief explanation of what it means to surrender; accepting the now, transforming mind energy to spiritual energy, transforming illness into enlightenment, what to do when a disaster strikes, how to transform suffering into peace, etc.

“Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender”

The best thing about the book is it shows you a different perspective of life, how to perceive pain and transform it, how to change any adversity to our benefit, and awaken ourselves. It's a good read if you are interested in getting to know about spirituality.