unypl:
“The Power of Now,” by Eckhart Tolle
Borrow I Read
I was walking behind him, absentmindedly looking as he wheeled his cart along the platform. He slowed down and I was about to pass him by when I noticed that his cart was painted with the titles of Eckhart Tolle’s books. So I went beside him and said hello. He stopped and turned fully towards me with a smile that seemed as if he had already been smiling. I told him that his cart had caught my eye, that I was wondering about it. He splayed his arms out wide in the air, sighed, still smiling, and said, “This. This is my work of gratitude. I painted this with my gratitude. I needed to show it.” He showed me each side of his cart, each one painted like the cover of another book by Tolle. Then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Years ago, I was another man. I was a man who suffered.” He took his hand off my shoulder and put it on his heart. “I had lots, lots of pain,” he said. Just then, the noise of an incoming train disrupted our conversation. We stood there just looking at each other, and he kept his hand on his heart the entire time. When it became possible to talk again, he said, “But now, I’m free. I found “The Power of Now” in the library, I read it there and I was free.” He pointed at his cart and said, “My belongings are inside. This is my mobile home. I’m free. In every moment, I’m free.”
