For me, this book was transformative. I hope it can be so for others.
I recall from a past conversation that you weren't a fan. It's pretty simple stuff really and he's not reinventing the wheel, as AlderaanDuran mentioned it's pretty well taken from Buddhism.
I have times in my life where I am more easily able to turn off my internal dialog and be present than others. I can't imagine being able to do so at will. For someone like me, it takes a lot of work to "watch the thinker," but his book helps. It works for me.
I've read it. Very good book. While not directly related to Zen, it has a lot of common interest. The whole "Why wait, do it now if it's bothering you and it won't bother you anymore" mentality.
The fact that all we will ever have is the present moment is liberating.
It's a fantastic read and it certainly borrows from many teachings/disciplines including Buddhism/zen.
I'm going to start listening again while running.
- The fact that all we will ever have is the present moment is liberating.
That is pretty much the underlining of all Buddhist disciplines. Tolle makes it very western friendly, but it's the truth. You have now, or you have nothing. You live for the future, you throw away today. You worry about yesterday, you throw away today. And on and on.
The past is the past and the future is uncertain, and the future will be awesome as long as you're productive in the now. I loved that book. I read a lot of "self help" books before landing on Buddhism/Zen, but the ideas Tolle presents are near identical.