Beyond the Power of Now

Book excerpt: Eckhart Tolle is perhaps the most popular spiritual guru in the world. His books have topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and his core teaching-achievement of liberation via the power of Now-has become the "guiding light" of the New Age movement. But according to L. Ron Gardner, author of Beyond the Power of Now, there is a problem-a big problem-with Tolle's core teaching: Tolle never explains what, exactly, the power of Now is. Is it the same thing as Hindu Shakti or the Buddhist Sambhogakaya or the Christian Holy Spirit? Tolle doesn't say. He continually refers to the Bible and Jesus in his book, but, shockingly, never once mentions the Holy Spirit and how it relates to the Power of Now. L. Ron makes it clear that the true Power of Now is the Holy Spirit, which is the same divine Light-energy as Hindu Shakti and the Buddhist Sambhogakaya. He explains and extolls the true power of Now and castigates Tolle for failing to identify and describe it. To some, Eckhart Tolle is a New Age visionary, describing a "new earth" that can materialize if mankind, en masse, awakens to the power of Now. But according to L. Ron Gardner, he is simply a histrionic ranter full of empty rhetoric. Throughout this book, L. Ron continually points out, from different angles, the folly of Tolle's New (or Now) Age chimera and describes the social system that represents mankind's sociopolitical salvation. Beyond Tolle's teaching about the power of Now and rhetoric about a "new earth," L. Ron takes the renowned guru to task on virtually every subject he addresses. Most significantly, he rebuts his arguments that: 1) emotions can be trusted more than thought; 2) time is a mind-created illusion; 3) psychological time is insanity; 4) the present moment is the Now; 5) the "inner" body is the direct link to the Now; 6) your cells stop aging when you live in the Now; 7) women are spiritually more evolved than men; and 8) animals such as ducks and cats are Zen masters. Eckhart Tolle's teachings are replete with erroneous ideas, and L. Ron Gardner exposes the major flaws in his principal arguments while providing readers with integral solutions.