The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Tolle revisits his recommendation to meditate by paying attention to the “entire inner energy field of the body” (129). He claims that it will feel “liberating” to connect with what he refers to as the “Unmanifested” or “Being within all beings” (130). He claims that the “Unmanifested” is the source of chi, which in Eastern philosophy is the inner body’s energy field. In this view, directing some of a person’s attention to this inner body allows one to maintain a “portal” to the “Unmanifested” and, therefore, become a source of connection between the external world and God (132). Tolle argues that while people encounter the Unmanifested each night during sleep, it can serve as a liberating force only if it is experienced “consciously” (133). He argues that the Unmanifested is the “truth” to which Jesus referred in his famous quote, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (133).

The other main “portal” is living in the Now, which Tolle argues is also an inherent part of being able to experience the inner body. Another portal is to “surrender,” or give up all psychological and egoic resistance to the present moment.