"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle - as an Aspie

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This discussion is to ask if any other Aspies have read the subject book and their thoughts and my conclusions on how it could benefit an Aspie like myself.

I recommend the book if you are an Aspie. I read it before I had any clue that I was an Aspie, a few years ago and while I tried to apply its teachings I didn't realize that I had greater barriers to overcome than others.

At the risk of oversimplifying, the essence of the book is to teach people about the voice in their head (which is a form of "thinking") and how to ignore the voice, limit the amount of thinking you do, and separate thoughts and the voice from your identity. So, now that I'm pretty sure I am an Aspie, what I have figured out is that this is much more difficult for me because that voice is particularly strong. And perhaps also, without the voice in an Aspies head, and without all the thoughts running rampant all the time, there seems to be complete emptiness. Whereas for most others, and according to Tolle, there is an entire universe out there to experience sans thinking, sans the voice.

I was absolutely blown away by the book whereas others that are N/T were kind of like, "Yeah, I knew all that stuff, its kind of obvious". For me it was something so profound and unexpected, and mostly counter-intuitive.

So, if you are an Aspie and you chose to read this book you can get a lot out of it. What you can learn to do is to at least learn to watch yourselve when you are letting the voice and your thoughts overly dominate your life. In these situations you need to step back and observe the voice and what it wants, maybe even laugh at it occasionally (even if you give into it).

As an Aspie, most of the time the voice and the dominant thoughts will still win (because as an Aspie, I always trust the voice and the thoughts out of habit) but as long as one is aware that this is what is really going on, one can probably limit the damage.

Yes, I've read it. I think basically he's talking about being aware of how much our minds are engaged in monkey mind chatter that serves no useful purpose (which I somewhat disagree with, I think mental noodling can lead to innovation). Think about how much your mind spends in it's idle time either reliving the past or anticipating the future and rarely being engaged in the here and now. When you can get to that point, where you are just "aware" and not only not thinking about the past or the future but also not having any mental commentary on the present but simply experiencing it, it's a surprising feeling.

It sounds like homicide! Sometimes the voice can sound anxious but I can control it. I do tell it to shut up a lot but as a writer I think telling the voice to stop would be killing a part of my creativity. Also, I have ADHD and turning off the chatter is almost impossible.

Actually, it's more like being fully alive. Thinking like an animal perhaps? He acknowledges that being in this state at all times is not doable or advisable. Thinking about writing would not be an example of what he's talking about. He's talking about washing the dishes and spending all your mental energy with monkey mind chatter and not noticing the beauty of the bubbles.

As a recovering thought addict, I endorse this type of product and/or service.

I am only half way through the book now, and i think the connection to my mind was somewhat shattered already before i began reading through mediation and self development forums. But in the book its explained in a way i have never seen before. I was thinking this topic would be about how aspies would have an easier time making use of this book, since we are supposed to have a more logical aproach to the mind and emotions. The way i see it is that this would tend to give aspies a head start into being a watcher of yourself, instead of getting dragged along by your mind and emotions which seems to be the stereotype of nt's.

To me it seems highly unlikely that the things eckhart talks about are common sense, its more likely that this is the response from a person who cant grasp what the book is about someone who is strongly identifying with their mind.

I´ve read the book, and I think, just like with anything else, it´s a matter of balance. For me this wasn´t a new concept; I had read other spiritual books where they talked about "mindfulness", and living in the present rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. I think it´s possible to take this book too literally though. Maybe this is a personal thing, but there are times when dwelling on something from the past- going over and over an experience in my head- can help me to process the experience better, to understand better what really happened, to possibly learn from it, and then to ultimately let it go. It´s like a circular thought process that ends in catharsis. Of course, "dwelling" in the extreme is also psychologically unhealthy, and at some point one has to let go. I hope I can make the point I´m trying to make clearly- I don´t mean one *should* dwell unduly on past events either- I just mean that sometimes my brain seems to need to think about something, and it does so automatically, and my trying to "control" my brain away from that to stay in the present doesn´t seem to do any good. So, though I do agree with some of what he writes, and the idea of "mindfulness" is a good one, I think one can not be this way all the time, and there is nothing inherently "bad" about not being this way either.

Another for instance: I am very often inside my own head while doing mundane tasks. Why do I need to concentrate on the joy of washing the dishes while I´m doing that? What´s wrong with daydreaming? I´ve washed dishes so many times, and I don´t find it particularly interesting anyway, so why can´t I be thinking about my choreography while washing dishes? Maybe I´ll get a great idea while doing some mundane task- (this often happens. In fact, the physical repetition of doing something like that can often help my brain to think of solutions to problems, or get creative ideas).

There are also times when it is simply nicer to escape from the present. Last year, I was terribly ill and for much of that time my life was hell. My way of dealing with it was by going out of my reality, and going into a fantasy world. I think our minds do some of the things they do because it helps us to cope.

Someone tried to apply the book to something I'd already been doing on my own for awhile. I don't know. I'm wary of applying books to what I'm doing because words can sound the same but mean opposite things.

Moog: thanks for posting the article. I read it, and I found the thread about it interesting. (I never saw that thread, otherwise I would have joined).

I found the article rather simplistic. First off, it sounds like a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" kind of situation. Were the people´s minds wandering because they did not enjoy the tasks they were doing? Were they "in the present" when they were performing activities they loved, so therefore they were happy? When they were not enjoying the tasks they were doing, did their minds wander: and were they "unhappy" because they would have preferred to do something else? In fact, is it a natural human response to daydream a bit when life in the present is tedious or unpleasant?

I wonder if people who are unhappy, generally, tend to daydream more, precisely because they are unhappy with their lives? I think this is how I react, as I´ve said. For this reason, one cannot assume that "daydreaming makes one less happy": I think daydreaming is a coping mechanism one uses WHEN one is unhappy- (not only then, of course). Maybe it´s just easier to be more mindful when one is happy to begin with?

I also had the feeling the article was implying "daydreaming doesn´t accomplish anything, only actions do". But there are times when humans are in difficult situations, and there is nothing that can be done. Sometimes, a little daydreaming has given me the strength to get up another day, and get on with my life during the difficult times, rather than wallow in depression. I, personally, DO find daydreaming productive, and often very stimulating, which is probably why I defend it so much!

I agree with you that thinking too much during more challenging tasks is counter-productive. I´m not very good at multi-tasking either, so it does me good to concentrate on what I´m doing.