The Power of Now, is “a restatement for our time of that one timeless spiritual teaching, the essence of all religions” – Religions “have become so overlaid with extraneous matter that their spiritual substance has become almost completely obscured”, they have become “to a large extent … divisive rather than unifying forces” and become “themselves part of the insanity”.

Tolle writes that “the most significant thing that can happen to a human being is the separation process of thinking and awareness” and that awareness is “the space in which thoughts exist”. That “the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it”.

At the core of Tolle’s teachings lies, “The transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet”.

In his book A New Earth, Tolle defines the term “ego” as an “illusory sense of self”, based on one’s memories and thoughts. He also uses the term “pain-body”, which he defines in A New Earth as “an accumulation of old emotional pain”.

Getting Free of Mind from Doug Wilson on Vimeo.