Power Of Now > A New Earth

[EckerTolle]

Everybody always talks about The Power of Now.

Is it so much better than A New Earth?

[Webwanderer]

I liked PoN better, but some rave about A New Earth. Whatever brings clarity is the best for any given reader I would think.

WW

[kiki]

I also think The Power of Now is better. My favorite, however, is the audiobook version of Stillness Speaks. The reason for this is because, for me at least, the structure of the book very naturally leads to deep clarity if it is simply listened to without struggling to understand it. Let yourself rest in the frequent pauses and at some point mind chatter stops and you are just awake and aware.

[EckerTolle]

I wondered why nobody else mentions Stillness Speaks. I read it 50 times. It always gets me on a cloud. It is my weapon against the world.

Gotta try the audio book.

I currently listen to a mix of PoN, ANE and a bunch of Paul McKenna. Oh yeah and Dr Wayne Dyer. Does that make me a snitch?

[vivianamis]

I too enjoyed The power of now more than A new Earth. I felt that Tolle spoke way too much on the subject Ego in A New Earth.

I was talking about ego to a dear friend of mine awhile back. I told her that ego was just another name for Satan/the devil. Her reply was that she did not believe in Satan or a devil, which I was glad to hear, but why are we believing in ego?

Ego to me is the belief in a separation from God, yet the separation never happened.

[Webwanderer]

Ego to me is the belief in a separation from God, yet the separation never happened.

Sharing my take here. While ego contains a belief in separation, it is also a construct of unique assumptions that creates a perception of a finite human identity. What makes it unique is the kind of experience a belief in this kind of identity generates over a sense of unqualified conscious being. Consciousness and being requires no labels to support its presence, only an openness to experience life and conditions without judgment.

WW

[DavidB]

I loved both The Power of Now and The New Earth. I still love to listen to both of them from time to time.

I got the impression that ANE was a followup to TPN, elaborating on a few things from TPN that might have generated a few questions from readers.

Both books are wonderful resources though in their own right, both full of wisdom and peace.

[smiileyjen101]

Both books are wonderful resources though in their own right, both full of wisdom and peace.

As are all things.

Can you hear the mountain stream?
A Zen master was walking in silence with one of his disciples along a mountain trail. When they came to an ancient cedar tree, they sat down under it for simple meal of some rice and vegetables. After the meal, the disciple, a young monk who had not yet found the key to the mystery of Zen, broke the silence by asking the Master "Master, how do I enter Zen?"

He was of course, inquiring how to enter the state of consciousness which is Zen.

The Master remained silent. Almost five minutes passed while the disciple anxiously waited for an answer. He was about to ask another question when the Master suddenly spoke. 'Do you hear the sound of that mountain stream?"
The disciple had not been aware of any mountain stream. He had been too busy thinking about the meaning of Zen.

Now, he began to listen for the sound, his noisy mind subsided. At first he heard nothing.
Then his thinking gave way to heightened alertness, and suddenly he did hear the hardly perceptible murmur of of a small stream in the distance.

"I can hear it now," he said.

The Master raised his finger and, with a look in his eyes that in some ways way was both fierce and gentle, said, "Enter Zen from there."

The disciple was stunned. It was his first satori - a flash of enlightenment. He knew what Zen was without knowing what it was he knew!

They continued on their journey in silence. The disciple was amazed at the aliveness of the world around him. He experienced everything as if for the first time.

Gradually however, he started thinking again. The alert stillness became covered up again by mental noise, and before long he had another question.

'Master,' he said, 'I have been thinking. What would you have said if I hadn't been able to hear the mountain stream?'

The Master stopped, looked at him, raised his finger and said, "Enter Zen from there.'
A New Earth p 238

[KittyCathy]

I liked A New Earth better, but, I supose it's only because this was my first book.

[Enlightened2B]

I read A New Earth in 2012 when I first found this forum. I didn't completely finish Power of Now until last spring. Both books were incredibly powerful. But, I felt A New Earth had a greater impact on me at the time I read it because it was more relate-able to my life at the time.

I've been listening to 'Stillness Speaks' audio book that someone sent me and I find that this too is an awesome book.

[Rob X]

It may have something to do with which book you read first and how it relates to where you are at. I read TPON in 2001 and the experiential pointers to direct present seeing really hit the spot - I could sense the genuine deep realisation in the words. I wasn't as keen on the pain body stuff and the focus on the mechanics of ego. I read ANE the week it came out in 2005 and found it a bit of a let down as it seemed to emphasise the parts of TPON that I wasn't so keen on. Stillness Speaks is a great little book of pointers and not a bad place to start.

[DavidB]

I wasn't as keen on the pain body stuff and the focus on the mechanics of ego.

All of Tolle's teachings essentially prepare us to work on the pain body, which is the emotional element of the ego. This emotional element is the source of suffering.

Our pain-body reactions are doorways of transformation. It's possible to begin to identify the triggers that set off your pain-body. This, in fact, is the most important work you can do. -- Tolle

[Webwanderer]

All of Tolle's teachings essentially prepare us to work on the pain body, which is the emotional element of the ego.

This is good stuff. Emotions are indicators of the quality of our alignment with our true nature. Our true nature is born of Source Itself and is always unconditionally loving. Emotional pain is the friction of negativity or dis-alignment with that unconditional loving essence. Dis-alignment is caused by our demands that conditions be different and our judgments of right and wrong. Alignment is regained through acceptance of what is and letting go of those demands and judgments.

That is not to say one cannot work toward preferential change, only that there are better ways to see what is other than condemnation. Emotions guide us in our perceptual approach if we see them as such guiding elements. When we become adept at aligning thought and feeling life blossoms.

It seems that Tolle agrees.

"Our pain-body reactions are doorways of transformation. It's possible to begin to identify the triggers that set off your pain-body. This, in fact, is the most important work you can do." -- Tolle

WW

[DavidB]

Yes indeed, working with the pain body is the most powerful transformer of consciousness. The pain body becomes (ironically) our ally in this process.

I recommend "Living the Liberated Life and Dealing with the Pain Body" if anyone hasn't yet listened to it.

[Rob X]

I wasn't as keen on the pain body stuff and the focus on the mechanics of ego.

All of Tolle's teachings essentially prepare us to work on the pain body, which is the emotional element of the ego. This emotional element is the source of suffering.

David, the source of suffering (in the context of spirituality) is misidentification. It is mistaking our true nature - the creative ground of existence - for this finite, contingent, temporal expression, the body-mind. The great sages throughout history invite us to investigate this. If working on emotional/unconscious aspects of the body-mind's personality is helpful in this investigation then it's no bad thing. I thought that there was a little too much of this type of emphasis in ANE, but that's just me. If it works for you (and I'm sure many others) then that's great.