The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

In The Power of Now, Tolle writes for a broad audience; while anyone could understand his work, it holds the most appeal for people who are open-minded and individualistic about spirituality. Readers who are familiar with some aspects of Eastern religion and philosophy, such as yoga, tai chi, Taoism, and Buddhism, will readily understand many of Tolle’s terms and references. Indeed, The Power of Now caters especially to Westerners who are curious about Eastern philosophies and religions and how they can enhance their lives with Eastern teachings. America’s counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s embraced, appropriated, and popularized various aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism, disseminating some of their ideas and aesthetics into the broader culture. In many ways, Tolle’s book is a continuation of that tradition, as it synthesizes many Buddhist and Taoist teachings and views Buddha and Lao Tse as spiritual authorities but fuses their ideas with Western religion. Tolle’s deep respect for ancient religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism may help make his arguments more palatable to readers of different faith backgrounds. However, his penchant for equating myriad faiths as ideologies that offer the same teaching will appeal mostly to secular people who want to embrace aspects of different faiths or spiritual figures without engaging in traditional, organized religion.

While this work claims to offer profound spiritual insight, including discussion of the ultimate nature of reality and the universe, it still fits into the self-help genre. Tolle’s format of questions, answers, and sermon-like passages helps the work feel conversational and directed meaningfully toward the reader. He includes questions from students that build the feeling of a dialogue between pupil and teacher and may reflect the reader’s own thoughts. While Tolle clearly considers himself a spiritual authority, he stresses that people should not pledge themselves to any guru or distract themselves with over-analysis about their psyche. This reaffirms to the reader that this is truly a “self-help” book, as Tolle preaches that people can help themselves by using the tools he lays out.

Tolle’s work was discovered by Oprah Winfrey, who enthusiastically embraced it as part of her book club in 2000. It soon became a bestseller and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for many years, making Tolle a household name. Its success prompted Tolle to write a follow-up book, A New Earth, several years later.

Some critics praise The Power of Now’s approach to mindfulness and appreciate Tolle’s plainly worded explanations of Buddhist philosophy. Others like that he respectfully advances the Christian message in a new way. On the other hand, Tolle’s work is also criticized by those who feel that it is meaningless and confusing or that he relies too much on Eastern philosophies and doesn’t offer any original ideas. Regardless, The Power of Now cemented Tolle’s reputation as a spiritual teacher who draws on ancient religions to create a guide to enlightenment for the modern reader.