The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment    Compare

“Mindfulness meditation (focusing on the present without critical thought to what happens) benefits your wellbeing to the point of ecstasy and reduces stress”

Read that? There I just saved you 224 pages and 16.29 bucks cause that is the amount of goodness in this whole thing.

Basically Tolle picked up a bit of something developed and perfected in the east (specifically in Buddhism and Hinduism) and talks about it like it just came to him in an epiphany.

The truth is mindfulness meditation has been around for centuries and even in the western world there has been wide acceptance of the psychological advantages of it at least 10 years before Tolle.

The problem is not only does Tolle not acknowledge the true experts in this field; he also doesn’t go that deeply into specific practical techniques to achieve this state of mind.

And when he starts to diverge from mindfulness meditation, that’s when it gets plain bad.

Not only will he give the usual meaningless incomprehensible and confusing mystical babble that will only distract you from the good part; he will plain and simply give you bad advice concerning the search for happiness, like saying that belief that you control your life is an illusion that brings pain.

This goes complete in opposition to the proven concept of Self-Efficacy from positive psychology (which is one of main academic sources for dating skills research by the way); which posits that one of the important factors to happiness is the belief that one as the capacity to complete tasks and achieve goals.

He also makes a bogeyman out of your mind and thoughts which will probably just make you get stressed out like T0rch did. But on that topic I suggest you see S. A. Martin-Nunez’s review at Amazon, he also gives a list of more appropriate books if you are interested in this.

But my suggestion (especially if you want to spare time and money) would be to check out the wiki page for “meditation” and “research on meditation” to get an overview of the types and benefits of meditation and choose which would be better for you; then just Google it and you will probably find good free advice on techniques to develop it.

As for its [meditation (not this book)] applicability to dating skills I would say it is a titanic addition to your inner game (and also a good thing to show off knowledge about), but if you want specifics, you get (happiness, relaxation, emotional balance, self-esteem, reduced depression and anxiety which does wonders for those with approach anxiety; increase in, self-control, perceptual sensitivity and empathy which in turn leads to greater social intelligence and also increase in awareness which help pick up the subtle cues of the social world not to mention a diminished need for sleep which gives you more time to game. This is of course not mentioning all the health and intelligence boosts. (And yes all of these benefits have been scientifically documented).

Aside note for people like spoonybard:
I would probably define myself similarly to him but you have to keep an open mind especially for eastern stuff; yes they often babble with mystical hocus pocus, but sometimes there is truth in their teachings. What I suggest is you check what scientific research has come up about the subject you want to check out and then go on from there.

Also they (eastern philosophers) often talk in hyperboles and parables so don’t take their words too seriously. Yes you are your mind but what he meant is you are not your current thoughts so don’t give them too much credit.

I could go on about how it’s understandable why people overrate this book given it does bring a glimpse of amazing stuff we westerners are not usually familiar with, along with other comments, but I’ve written quite enough already

Finished this one a few days ago.

Will help improve game.

Will help you find inner joy - as opposed to the mind created pleasure and pain.

An absolute must read for EVERYBODY.

One point, tho: Some of the concepts I understood because I had watched the tolle videos on YouTube. I'd say watch the videos first because I know for a fact that some revelatory points Tolle makes would not have sunk in so deeply had I not watched the videos first.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOK!

I took a look at this because everyone seems to hype this book.

My thoughts:

It's in the same section of the bookstore as stuff on "crystal healing" - strike 1.

Subtitle of the book contains the words "spiritual enlightenment" - strike 2.

I couldn't get through the first chapter. Too much "spiritual" mumbo-jumbo. "You are not your mind" - of course i'm my mind, what else would I be. There's no such thing as a spirit. All that is "me" is electrical impulses in my brain, which is just a very complex computer.

As a rational skeptical materialist atheist, I find this book useless.

this is what I needed the most,I've read the "power of now" and applied it in my life about one month ago and I did'didn't have any clue about "state" and stuff . I was in the moment and suddenly everything has changed , I didn't know what it was then,but I got better dramatically in my spirit ,game ,work ,everything . you just have to experience it .

This book has helped my game maybe more than anything.

One of the best best books I've ever read

just skimmed over the parts where it got a bit spiritual etc. god references could have been excluded - i'm not religious, but you dont have to be to get the core values of the book.

but yeah this book is awesome, if only for the simple concept which it teaches:
the past is gone, you cannot relive it in glory or rehash your past troubles therefore they cannot affect you - the now is all you ever have, no problems can affect you in the now - the future is not here yet so you cannot worry about it.

I got this book a while back and read the first few chapters. The stuff Tolle lays out is mind blowing, and I remember feeling good reading it. The next day though, I remember being is a sort of torpor all day, worrying if I was in the now or if my ego was "in control". The concepts themselves are strong, but its not something to think too much about.

Also, even though some of this stuff may help you with women, I wouldn't call this a pickup book. If you follow Tolle's ideas (namely forsaking the body and senses for the spirit) to their logical conclusion, one of the things you would have to do is stop pursuing women.

So in conclusion, I'd say this book has some good concepts, and the first few chapters can give you a feel for a few things you may want to work on. However, I don't think you can fully implement some of his ideas unless you actually commit to a serious lifestyle change.

This is a great book I read many years ago. It had a big impact on my happiness and awareness level, and I guess on the success of my career as well (it got me much more focused on my goals). I guess you could say it improved my pick up also indirectly by making me more a more happy, successful person.

This is a good book to "become a better man", which can only help with women.

It's my #1 favorite book of all-time. Not even close.