Andrew on Spirituality and The Power of Now

I shy away from most things that claim to have a basis in spirituality. Religion, for example, seems absurd to me and I'm always slightly amused when someone from a mainstream religion like Anglicanism looks down upon a less widely followed religion like Mormonism or Scientology because they are equally ridiculous to me.

I do, however, believe that spiritual concepts can be employed by skeptics, however some people have the tendency to take things too far. For example I used to practice Aikido, a Japanese martial art translating to "The way of harmony". Central to Aikido was the concept of "ki" (or "chi" in some other martial arts) which is an intangible energy that can be focused into blows, movement balance etc. I didn't take this literally and I never believed that a successful dispatch of an opponent was the product of anything other than simple mechanics; however visualising ki running though my and my opponents bodies gave me new insight into the movements as well as aiding relaxation and peace of mind. Some people will take this further believe it is more than a useful psychological mechanism, while this is not harmful to their Aikido I think they are ceasing to be rational and may develop unrealistic expectations of what ki can really achieve or become lost in ceremony.
Another example is meditation. While I do not meditate I imagine that devoting time to relaxation and breathing could relieve stress or focus though in a better direction, however I think that most pragmatic individuals avoid such practice because of the association with "out of body experiences" and spirituality.

While I was in India I was reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle which I originally heard of on Tyler's blog (the "evil" pickup artist from The Game). In late night, beer fueled discussion with my spiritual traveling buddy (what up Matt ;)) I asserted that I didn't think the Power of Now was spiritual which was met with an incredulous silence followed by ferocious debate. He later showed me the front cover smugly pointing out "The Power of now: a guide to spiritual enlightenment". I was surprised. I had simply not registered this. I had perceived the text as a series of logical descriptions about mind and consciousness and suggestions on how we should focus our thoughts. Anything vague or spiritual had been regarded as a psychological mechanism and the thesis had seemed sensible.

I get the feeling that the person who would buy this kind of book would be "more in touch with their spirituality" (hmmmm), so perhaps this is why this aspect has been promoted on the front cover. I do, however, believe that this book can be broken down into a few core concepts and I think the term "spiritual" is misleading and verging on redundant. I was pleased to discover that such a break down of the thesis exists on Wikipedia.. of which I will present my own adaptation:

(1) You are not your thoughts
Tolle challenges Descartes' famous quote: "I think therefore I am" claiming that the core description of one's self cannot be expanded beyond "I am". Your conciseness exists independently of mind/thoughts, although I would argue that both exist as electrical signals within your brain.
Your mind is a useful tool when used effectively, but it can also bombard you with negative unhelpful or irrelevant thoughts.

(2) Only the present moment exists
Ok..

(3) Accept the present moment

Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your life

Don't resist what you can't control, don't wallow in self pity that things haven't gone as you hoped, accept things as they are and take action to rectify things if you need to.

(4) Observe the pain body
Observe how the mind produces negative thought patterns. Rather than identifying with them, observe how irrational and unhelpful they are.

I think that's quite simple and accessible to skeptics. Apparently this is very similar to Zen Buddhism, which I learned from several reviews accusing Tolle of plagiarism.