The Power of Now

Back in 1998, after 19 years of meditation and spiritual practices, I came across a book, and a teacher, that were to profoundly change the course of my life forever. The book was The Power of Now and the teacher was Eckhart Tolle; a gentle and unassuming man who's simple and powerful pointing to the reality of what we are, shifted my life in ways that continue to this day.

Prior to meeting Eckhart in a series of intensives that I did with him over a three year period after reading The Power of Now, I had been what can only be described as a 'professional seeker', having spent years trying to figure out who I was, and where this elusive state of 'enlightenment' could be found. Despite having a so-called guru for over 10 years, I was still no closer to the truth than I had been when I first started my path. In this state of frustration, I had given up all hope of ever finding the elusive state of peace that all of my teachers had said was possible.

Then, into the middle of this confusion and frustration, dropped The Power of Now and Eckhart Tolle. In this simple yet profound book came the teaching that opened me up to what had always been true, yet never truly seen; EVERYTHING I was looking for was already available HERE and NOW, in the present moment. In fact, for the first time, I truly understood that there is only NOW; that the past and future, which my mind (the voice in the head) told me was where I would find myself, was in fact, an illusion.

I saw clearly that there is no past and future; there is only ever NOW, and that my whole life has unfolded in the present moment. Even more importantly, I began to see clearly that who I had believed myself to be all of these years; the mental stream of thoughts that continuously play in the head, was not who I was. The truth of who I am as awareness, the silent, still watcher of thought, began to reveal Itself as who I am, and always had been. To know myself, all I had to do was be HERE, in this moment, and make the focus of my life the only space that I will ever truly inhabit; the Here and Now.