It was my sister who first suggested I listen to the podcast I Can’t Believe it’s not Buddha by Lee Mack and Niel Webster. I’d always liked Lee Mack from his appearances on Not Going Out and Would I Lie to You.
The podcast, according to Amazon, finds Lee and his friend Neil taking their first (often clumsy) steps on the road to Nirvana. From picking which type of Buddhism to follow, to contemplating what a woodland creature would say to you if you asked it the time; Lee and Neil explore the principles and practices of Buddhism in a way that spiritual practice has never been explored before… Possibly for very good reason.
It came about because they had both read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and because the pandemic had brought to a halt all their work. The pandemic brought about an explosion of podcasts and this was one of my favourites, a light-hearted look at Buddhism by two friends just starting out on their spiritual journey.
The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages.
The basic idea behind the book is that you are not your mind and to find the real truth of existence, you have to free yourself from your mind. We consider ourselves as separate from the world around us and enlightenment is simply being at one with existence. Buddha said that life is suffering and that enlightenment is an end to this suffering because we free ourselves from the illusion that we are separate from the universe which surrounds us. Tolle says that enlightenment, or the truth, is already within us, we simply need to open the box.
The book is essentially a series of questions and answers from the many lectures and workshops that Tolle has given over the years and does not subscribe specifically to Buddhism or any other religion but quotes the Bible and the Quoran revealing the true meaning behind misunderstood texts.
I would highly recommend The Power of Now, even if you are not actively seeking spiritual enlightenment. I believe that it is beneficial for anyone to read this book and am confident that anyone who opens their mind to what Tolle is saying will find themselves living a calmer happier life.
M J Dees 