Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now is amazingly silly in places, but occasionally it's also rather thoughtful. The basic theme: be here now. In Chapter Two, for example:

Accept — then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.

Observe your feelings, Tolle counsels, but don't identify them with your self. "Don't judge or analyze. Don't make an identity for yourself out of it. Stay present, and continue to be the observer of what is happening inside you. Become aware ... of 'the one who observes,' the silent watcher. This is the power of the Now, the power of your own conscious presence."

And don't get angry or frustrated when you have to wait. From Chapter Four:

... many people are waiting for prosperity. It cannot come in the future. When you honor, acknowledge, and fully accept your present reality — where you are, who you are, what you are doing right now — when you fully accept what you have got, you are grateful for what you have got, grateful for what is, grateful for Being. Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity. It cannot come in the future. ...

Tolle concludes, "So give up waiting as a state of mind. When you catch yourself slipping into waiting . . . snap out of it. Come into the present moment. Just be, and enjoy being. If you are present, there is never any need for you to wait for anything. ..."

So try to ignore Tolle's asides on energy fields, his musings on "why women are closer to enlightenment" because of collective cosmic consciousness, mystical menstrual flow, etc. Just be, now and here.

(cf. PresentTension (2003-06-16), Wherever You Go, There You Are (2008-10-26), Roadside Distractions (2011-04-30), ...) - ^z - 2011-12-14