Hello Sukh and welcome to IQ :)

Yes, that's a great book and it will help anyone who's attracted to it to understand their ego-self, awareness and consciousness. Prior to reading that book in 2004 I had been reading a lot of J. Krishnamurti's work since 1991. I see a lot of similarities in the works of those two authors.

I've read 'The Power of Now' three or four times, every couple of years, and each time I read it I got more from it, because my knowledge and understanding had evolved during the interval. Once you've read and really understood the messages you will change the way you think, believe and act, otherwise you haven't understood it.

For instance, I am no longer able to participate and interact with others who are lost in their pain bodies. I have compassion for them and if the opportunity arises I will point certain things out to them, as I know that simply changing one’s mind results in a change of one's personal reality. However, I refuse to enter their world of pain because it serves no one. They, as their ego-self, only want to prolong their pain and suffering and I’m no longer in the market for that kind of existence...

If it resonates with you, Eckhart Tolle's other main book, 'A New Earth' is also a must read and re-read. That book dives deeply into the pain body. Really, there are many who would benefit from reading those books as many people seem to be in a lot of pain. This can easily be evidenced by reading many of the posts on this site :)

I'm not reading much these days as I started writing in 2009 and am incorporating many of the ideas, facts and truths from those and other books and many of my own ideas into my writing. I’m all about integration and not separation.

Dear Sukh,

It truly is a transformational book and to live in the now is a lot better than just reading about it. Please do get "A New Earth" and if at all possible listen to the "A New Earth" webcasts of Oprah and Eckhart Tolle. There are 10 all together and they can be downloaded for free from the Oprah show. Each webcast is aprox. one and a half hours long. They are excelent and explain each chapter so you can learn a lot more.

To live in the now is truly amazing for the more you are able to be present and aware of the now you simply can't worry about problems of yesterday and tomorrow. Do I live in the present all the time? No, but I do so some of the time which has made me a happier person.

The being the now part of the teaching is really helpful and being the "observer" is the part I work hard at . There are many similarities to J. Krishnamurti's work. The being non-judgmental is not that easy as it sounds because we are trained from birth to identify everything and give it a label and by doing this (labeling, identifying) we judge and don't really just observe.

The Power of Now,

by Eckhart Tolle

Chapter Two
CONSCIOUSNESS: THE WAY OUT OF PAIN:
Let me summarize the process. Focus attention on the feeling inside you. Know that it is the pain-body. Accept that it is there. Don't think about it - don't let the feeling turn into thinking. Don't judge or analyze. Don't make an identity for yourself out of it. Stay present, and continue to be the observer of what is happening inside you. Become aware not only of the emotional pain but also of "the one who observes," the silent watcher. This is the power of the Now, the power of your own conscious presence. Then see what happens.

J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life
The problem now arises of the observer and the observed. The observer says, "I am empty; I don't like it" and runs away from it. The observer says, "I am different from the emptiness." But the observer is the emptiness; it is not emptiness seen by an observer. The observer is the observed. There is a tremendous revolution in thinking, in feeling, when that takes place.

peace

Reading the book is helpful, and as others have said above, reading over multiple times enforces the message. However, as you say, "living it" is really the aim (if there is one). There's a couple of powerful pointers in the book, such as repeatedly going back to being aware of the body in the present moment during the day. Or becoming aware of "portals" such as sound, space etc. during the day. It is really about breaking the mental habit of being lost in thought rather than living in the present moment.

like i said before one should meditate and understand those veils of the mind and put them to rest. i know that is deep meditation and not everyone wants/have time/are able to do it. well it come with practice and experience. like everything in life. you have begun to walk put a feet in front of the other one and today you are happy about it. it is like that with everything. experience and enjoy.

I just started reading this book. The interresting thing is that I have discovered these things myself over and over. Every time I applied these findings to my life, since it was only my own thoughts and not anything I was taught or had support in, I would soon forget when I allowed other people's words, and my perception of other people's thoughts to influence my thoughts. I do find it exciting to read these books that remind me of or confirm what I have discovered on my own. I trust that now that I have all these resources that agree and remind me of this, I will be able to keep my awareness.

Whenever I observe the thinker, as Tolle describes, the thinker usually stops thinking.

I noticed that Tolle's thoughts on spiritssounds a lot like mine as I discussed in another question.