Customer Reviews

Stillness Speaks: Whispers of Now

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

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."

The negative posts here tell far more about the reviewers than about Eckhart Tolle's Stillness Speaks.

Perhaps his wondrous words are written in a style so simple and elegant it far exceeds their level of understanding?

Like many, I was eagerly awaiting this book. It wasn't worth the wait. If you have read The Power Of Now, read or listened to other materials by the author, or have even a passing familiarity with advaita/nonduality/awakening/presence, etc. etc. etc., then you've taken in everything that is in this book many times over. It has the feel of something that was quickly slapped together by the author and/or publisher to cash in on the success of The Power of Now. And as such, it lacks the very thing that made that book so fantastic (and an outright publishing phenomenon)..........the sense of Presence! You could feel it flowing from every page of T.P.O.N., but it is nowhere to be found in this small volume. And even taking into consideration the outrageous increase in the cost of books, 17 dollars for this one is way too much. I love Eckhart Tolle and feel that he is an absolutely incredible teacher/author. But you'd never know it by this book. I realize that this type of subject matter doesn't lend itself well to being expressed verbally or through the written word and this book certainly attests to that if nothing else. But Mr. Tolle did a terrific job of writing about this topic in his first book (as have many others), so we know it's possible. He doesn't pull off the same thing in Stillness Speaks. He repeatedly makes the point that stillness and silence are what are important, but unfortunately you end up paying 17 dollars to read a book that points out the fact that words aren't neccessary to this Understanding and can even stand in the way. He should've heeded his own advice and just remained silent this time. Maybe posting the short "reminders" in this book on his website would've been a nice gift to all the readers who bought The Power Of Now and made him a very wealthy man. I certainly don't mean to imply that he's in it for the money. In the world of "spirituality", the author is the real deal... which is rare in itself. But everyone who not only purchased his first book, but did their best to put his teachings into practice in their lives, deserved better than this as a follow up.

I read a lot as I imagine quite a few people here do. That being said, this is probably the most important book I've read in a decade or more. This book helped me work through some spiritual struggles I've been involved in for some time. It really can point you away from concepts, beliefs, etc. to a true and solid spirituality that actually works in your life.

Having become disillusioned with the many belief-based spiritual paths available today, I began a search for something much more vital and experiential several years ago. In the process, I've done both a lot of reading and a lot of experimenting. I think Eckhart Tolle is able to articulate ideas that are literally "mind-blowing" better than any author I've read.

We all need our mind "blown" on a regular basis. By that I simply mean we need to be pointed beyond the mind of concepts and beliefs. It is my humble opinion that real spirituality cannot be reduced to words, beliefs, and concepts. That's my ego trying to hold on to control and predictability. Eckhart does a masterful job in gently guiding us away from all those conceptual dead-ends.

Get it. Then read it, then re-read it, then re-read it, etc. etc.

I give it 2,344,277,797.5 stars

This is the most wonderful text for meditation, each paragraph is awakening and deeply THERE. Simply pick it up in a bookstore, read any paragraph, you'll want it. This is better than the Power of Now, seems impossible that the previous reviewer read it. I prefer this over the Vedas and the Sutras I've studied for a lifetime. Being speaks to the soul that can hear.

Although I expected this book to be like "The Power of Now", it takes a different approach. I do like "The Power of Now" better but Eckhart Tolle uses some very interesting "first & second person" ways to communicate some important messages to the reader in this book. It is refreshing in that way. I recently felt a little saturated with books regarding mindful living and the present moment and have began to search beyond that (though I may have lost the present moment by doing so). To my surprise, I found an excellent book called "The Ever-Transceinding Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is a tremendously enlightening book for those of us who are not completely in the present moment all of the time but are on our way to learning how to get to a stage of life where we are able to stay close to this state for extended periods of time. I would recommend it to everyone seeking further development in this area of life. Good luck in your quest!

A great compilation of many brief but potent statements, grouped according to categories (nature, relationships, Egoic self, etc...). They point to deep experiential learning that is possible. Few books are as capable as this one of producing deep learning to the open and calm reader. Simply excellent! It is also worth noting that this book can and should be read many times because the teaching will become bigger as you are more prepared from your experiences with the material. Another masterpiece of a book that can help you greatly in this area of personal investigation is "Effortless Wellbeing" by Evan Finer. They both have the ability to teach deeply, in a concise way, by pointing the direction and letting you learn. Highly recommended!!

I love this book because it puts you back in touch with your source. From the quality of stillness, we know what is true. I have been a meditator for 15 years, and found some new understanding here. I recommend this book and another book which changed my life called Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self. Optimal Thinking gave me the power to let go of what is out of my control and make the most of everything in my control. Silence and optimization is the perfect combination!

If you are new to Eckhart Tolle, I would suggest 'The Power of Now' and the wonderful 'Realizing the Power of Now' as introductions to this amazing material.

Personally, after studying Mr Tolle's work for several years I got to a point where no more explanation was really necessary. I think he would say that it's essentially a simple message, but it can be difficult for it to get through our years of habitual and continual mental chatter.

Once you finally find that quiet place, a wonderful little handbook of 'signposts' like 'Stillness Speaks' is really all you need to help get back in that quiet place when you lose it.

I highly recommend this book to those who have experienced for themselves the stillness that Eckhart tries to help us find in ourselves.

Great stuff!

Through my experience I have found that when I am desperately looking for answers a book will come along that shows me a way out of my currently turmoil. Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now and Stillness Speaks, articulate softly and lovingly an alternative paradigm of experiencing life. He is able to lead the reader to the state of present moment awareness through his words which both teach and enlighten. Truly a master teacher/mystic.