Tolle’s The Power of Now Brought to Life within Steinbeck’s The Pearl

I finished two books recently and would highly recommend both.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle I have mentioned previously here. There’s also a wonderful review from Enlighten Next magazine found here.

I then moved on to a literary work, with fascinating and perhaps not-so-coincidental illustrations of Tolle’s assertions from The Power of Now.

Sunday and Monday I read The Pearl by John Steinbeck. It’s a very succinct and rich novella that focuses on oft surprising battle between good and evil that can arise from instant riches. It’s actually used, or has been used, in classroom teaching at some level. For I have a used copy, obviously heavily marked up with teaching insights.

The copy I read also includes notes and suggested questions for the education professional. Here’s an excerpt from the notes.

In the book, Kino, the poor pearl diver, finds his great pearl and suddenly sees in its marvellous lustre all the things it can mean for him, his wife, Juana, and their son, little Coyotito. But his good fortune pitches him in the midst of a hostile world, in which the pearl buyers try to cheat him, the doctor seeks to steal his treasure, and the darkness, warm and friendly hitherto, explodes into violence against him. When he flees he is trailed by trackers as relentless as bloodhounds, and when Kino attacks his enemies, tragedy comes with bewildering suddenness and force, leaving for bright hopes nothing but a despair too deep for words.

And another excerpt from the notes:

So the artist probes the central mystery of life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope, with which humanity, if it’s wise, must learn to live.

I found it fascinating as Kino moved to and from what Tolle describes as the “egoic state”, operating from or identifying with the mind, and also to and from what Tolle describes as simply “being present”, being in the now. Steinbeck only briefly takes us into the mind and thoughts of Juana, and so we don’t see revealed her inner struggle between presence in the now, and time-based fear or sadness focused either on the past or the future.

For Kino however, his mind takes over the moment the pearl enters his hardened hands. An otherwise very present, very now-oriented human being is transformed into Tolle’s “egoic state,” his mind racing almost constantly between a future of incredible promise and a future of evil misadventure. Save for brief instances, after the pearl, Kino is only truly present when in physical battle.

I highly recommend both books. Enjoy!