Ania's books

First of all, I must say I'm very much into all kinds of self-help books as well as new age stuff. I'm a believer! I read avidly all about OBE, reincarnations, karma, mindfulness, meditation practices and I try to make use of what I read in my everyday life. So, of course, I was looking forward to this book, especially as it was recommended to me by people whose opinion I value.And my oh my, wasn't it total deception. I made it until about half of the book when I realized I really could take no more of this rubbish. Mr Tolle preaches his "wisdom" (which is not actually his at all) with a condescending, "I-know-it-all" attitude. He is the only one enlightened (of course). We are all only to listen to his truths and follow on a "as is" basis. No thinking of your own is allowed. Actually, thinking is bad for you, so should be used sparingly anyway. If you disagree with any of his points, he just haughtily replies that "you don't understand", "this cannot be accessed with your mind" etc etc. He regularly reminds you that you are the one belonging to the horrible human species that kill millions of others. I agree with that - but I wonder why he thinks of himself as someone who is above those ugly humans? What, is he so much of a "Being" now that his ancestor's sins don't concern him? The next step will be to call him God and bring him your money because it's too materialistic for you anyway :) And actually it's not a joke - when you see how many people aggressively defend his "great teachings" and attack anyone who does not agree about the "incredible spiritual value" of this book... well, does that remind you of something?The basic ideas of this book - being in the now, not dwelling too much on your past and future, not giving too much power to your thoughts - are of course all highly relevant. But there are plenty of other books delivering the same message in much better style. Tolle is repeating the same things over and over again, mixing them up with bits and pieces of various religions and teachings. All that he had to say could be said in a couple of pages. But then again, writing a whole book is much better because you get to sell it to a lot of people. And although time may be an illusion, money for sure isn't ;) Do yourself a favour and read something else if you want to learn the power of now. A collection of simple meditations made me feel much more present and at peace than this boring mumbo-jumbo.