Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle
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Book Reviews of Stillness Speaks
Book Review: ...And a Little Flower Shall Teach Them.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I attended a flower show at the mall a few months ago, I had one of those mystical insights that sometimes come out of nowhere. As I stood there immersed in the beauty of roses of all colors and descriptions in a total state of peace and calm, it occurred to me that I was hearing the language of flowers, that they were communicating something so deep and still and profound it could not be put into words.Imagine my delight a few weeks later to see the title of Tolle's new book "Stillness Speaks" and to read these passages from the chapter on Nature: "Notice how present a flower is, how surrendered to life...Have you noticed how deeply peaceful it is? How it is surrounded by a field of stillness? The moment you become aware of a plant's emanation..that plant becomes your teacher." Reading this was, as the saying goes, a case of deja vu all over again. Or rather for me another case of deja vu for a similar experience had occurred before I read "The Power of Now." Here once again was Eckhart, the master of spiritual language perfectly describing what had happened to me.
Needless to say I am a huge fan of Eckhart Tolle. His books articulate those mystical experiences and so much more in a way that draws you into them and opens up endless possibilities in your life. If you are patient and give consciousness time to work, subtle and miraculous changes take place in your life. They happen so quietly you hardly realize it until one day you find yourself wondering, like waking from a dream, Whatever happened to that old "me" and the way I used to be?
I suspect reviewers who found fault with this book either didn't read the introduction carefully or aren't yet ready to live in the state of consciousness it describes. This book with its short, compact sayings says so much in so few words you have to be receptive to the message in order to get it. It is like those other spiritual volumes, Tao Te Ching and The Gospel of Thomas, powerful in expressing the deepest spiritual truths, but puzzling to anyone still too ego-bound and mind-centered to be open to those truths. Like those works it is also a book to read and re-read. To savor and meditate on and let it grow in you.
If you have been curious enough to read these reviews, the deeper part of you that is your True Self knows what this book is about and wants you to be aware of it.
Be open as you read it. Let the miracles happen.
Book Review: Those seeking more knowledge will be disappointed
Summary: 5 Stars
This book will not make you more knowledgable. Rather, if its message reaches you, it will make you less certain about what you think you know. Let me explain why this is a good thing.If you consider yourself to be on the spiritual path, it is extremely important to ask yourself what your real motivation is. Do you have a desire to attain to the ultimate bliss? Do you want to feel more secure? Do you want to feel like you have life all figured out? Watch out. If you are still desiring (as most of us are), even if you are desiring something spiritual, you will never attain it. The basic requirement is to be without desire. I don't know about enlightenment, because like most people I still have desires, but I have noticed that when I surrender to life instead of desiring something more, I am much more peaceful and happy.
Oftentimes people start a spiritual search in order to gather more knowledge; they want to formulate a belief system and find "facts" to back it up. This gives a false sense of security, and if you examine it closely, you will realize it is false because all belief does is suppress doubt. If you really know something, belief is unnecessary. Do you have to believe in the sun or the air? There is no need.
The Power of Now will give you much more information to cling to than this book, which is probably why many readers prefer it. The Power of Now is an excellent introduction to Tolle's message and will help you to understand this book better. However, Tolle has wisely made it more difficult to reduce his latest book to a system of beliefs. Instead of knowledge, which is borrowed information, Tolle gives readers their own eyes to see. If you are tired of reading ABOUT living in the moment and are ready to TRY IT OUT, this book is an excellent place to start. I also highly recommend Osho's Book of Secrets, a collection of 112 meditation techniques fully explained.
Let me close by quoting Tolle:
"Do you need more knowledge? Is more information going to save the world, or faster computers, more scientific or intellectual analysis? Is it not wisdom that humanity needs most at this time?
"But what is wisdom and where is it to be found? Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions."
Book Review: awakening is not so cheap
Summary: 5 Stars
Gee! So many critics to this book. What a shame! Then again, if awakening was so cheap that you could find it in a book, there'd be a lot more enlightened people. A "good" book can only point you back to yourself. There is nothing of value in the book itself. If you liked Mr Tolle's previous The Power of Now and it gave you a glimpse of another dimension to life, and you're thinking a follow-up would really nail this "enlightenment thing" for you, of course you'll come away disappointed with this book. The disappointment is built-in to your EXPECTATION and HOPE that some future book or event can transform your life. At the very point of looking to the future for your enlightenment, looking to the next moment, the next book, the next guru, you miss this moment, you miss what is, as it is, the very thing you seek. Preceding all this anyway is the assumption that you even need to be enlightened. Where you are, however you are, is what is, the divine expression; whether awakened or not, happy or sad, whether on a spiritual or material journey, everything is as it is. There is nothing you can do but SEE this. "We", "you" and "me" are simply the awareness behind the seeing of our life drama unfolding in all its manifestations. If you see, that's what is; if you don't see and are frustrated by not seeing, that's what is too - all divine.It may be the case that this book might not be the most appropriate as an introduction. I tried reading [another book] many moons ago and it came to nothing. Like the [other book], this book's sutra-style presentation perhaps is not the most conducive invitation to awakening for most people. Perhaps the immense power of this book is more apparent when something is already stirring within you. Otherwise, it may tie you up in frustrated thinking. I would recommend the following book before Stillness Speaks: [another book]. You can only get it from Amazon UK. To me, this is the single most clear and concise book about awakening. For me, this book ended the "path" to awakening that I felt books like [another book] and similar books laid down (although all these books stress there is no path). This is the book that really brought home the fact that there is no path! It may well be the last book you ever read. Also recommended is [another book], another radical and immensely powerful perspective to awakening. These 2 and Stillness represent my favourite books.
Book Review: The Still Self in Tolle's Prose--Detailed Review.
Summary: 5 Stars
Stillness Speaks is a concise delivery of what the experience in Stillness is when put to words. Tolle's book this time is written in a kind of Zen like prose. A true economy of words, just the bare expression and simple flow of the quiet Spirit of life that is underneath (and through)the life of form.I've read some of the negative reviews that people have written and would like to briefly address the common theme. It seems that people are having a very difficult time accepting a book of so little words and content.
I understand that if you are searching for a 'fix it', self-help type book, this book will be a big disappointment to those. In this book, Tolle is now expressing his theme of Presence, that he so thoroughly covered in The Power of Now, in a more deeper manner, through...Stillness. The book can be seen as a meditative experience through reading. For those that object to the economy of words, you can read any serious, well respected spiritual text and you'll find that richness and simplicity. Look at Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, Gospel of Thomas, Jesus' Parables and Zen writings to name a few things. Great sages like Ramana Maharshi, when asked questions would often not even reply and just sit in silence in front of you, making you go deeper within yourself beyond mental modifications.
If you really crave more content, Tolle has many helpful tapes/videos available with lectures that discuss spiritual growth and all it's aspects in an extremely thorough fashion with quite a lot of content. (Go to his website for a long catalog of materials)
Please remember, Tolle's teachings are about dissolving your false, mind made self, not self improvement (especially in some pop pyscology kind of way!). That might be a bit tricky for some to comprehend, but that is where the difference lies in Self-Realization & self-help. Tolle is not a self-help guru, his teachings point towards deconstructing the false self you've too closely misidentified with---the source of all your psycological suffering.
Read this book with a Zen-Like mindset and you might enjoy it.
The other issue people had was the cost of the book. I might go along a bit with that, I do feel the publishers did overprice the book by at least a few dollars and have taken advantage of Tolle's popularity. However, it is still an interesting book and I did find it worthwhile.
Book Review: Enlightened People Have a Bright Flame
Summary: 5 Stars
Enlightened people dispel the darkness around them. They live more prosperously, with less stress, consider every difficulty an opportunity, and are open to new learning. This time of year is the perfect time to look over the past year and ask yourself the important questions: "Did I take time to grow spiritually, bettering myself with reading and stimulating conversations? Am I continuing to answer the questions that really matter? Did I share whatever good things I found with others, to encourage them in their quest?" We are all candles, and sometimes I have felt my flame only softly glowing, instead of brightly radiant. I am now house-bound and not able to get around. If it wasn't for reading and personal growth, and the ability to share and participate with others through the phone and internet about the things I am learning, I would go nuts! For me, books are a key to happiness. There are many people in my situation who feel life is not worth living anymore. I have seen that spiritual health, and being in service to others in some way (even if just by sharing good information) is the key to balancing whatever else is happening in your life. That's why I am sharing some of my personal favorites with you (I'll try to keep you updated as I read new ones), words that helped me heal and fan my flame bright again! I also placed this particular review under one of the books I have read and appreciated.
1. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (how even the little things we do can affect changes in people's lives, and by doing them, affects ours too)
2. Psychic Gifts in the Christian Life by Tiffany Snow (tools and training to access our God-Spots for supernatural gifts, has great stories about healing, afterlife, NDEs, helping FBI on 9-11, etc)
3. The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp (helps to ease the fears of facing a blank beginning and opening the mind to new possibilities)
4. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (accessing the deepest self by living in the present time)
5. 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender (actually good tasting recipes that will help you keep your physical balance, at least after the holidays!)