Netflix has the “ratings for you”, where they take what ratings you gave to other movies and try to guess how you would rate a movie you haven’t seen. A 5 to you, might be a 1 to me.
When reading amazon reviews, I read a couple 5’s, and if they don’t include good reasons, I read a couple 1’s. Often I find the more reasonable people in the 1’s.
Here’s and interesting 3 star one. This guy also said Tolled doesn’t mention that his ideas aren’t new, aren’t his own. He doesn’t reference the practices from India that he talks about.
Also, Tolle has this really terrible habit of making simple mindfulness much more mystical than it actually is. It's a little misleading. And he makes the mind sound Evil with a capital "E." He should have emphasized more strongly that it is not our thoughts and emotions, but our relationship to them that is the problem. There is no "pain body," only bad habits learned over a lifetime. Why the need to make is so mysterious and magical?Here's a 1 star
The Power of Now offers nothing new. Anyone who has done even a minor amount of research on spirtuality and wellness knows the values of living in the moment, not dwelling on the past or the future. Focusing and being totally aware of what is going on all around you, enjoying nature, etc, etc, its all been written about before. What people are really looking for is how to get there, how do you do it? This book instead focuses almost exclusively on what it is like. The author repeatedly states the importance of letting go of your ego and yet also repeatedly mentions how very few are enlightened (LIKE HIM!).My guess is, the 5 star ratings are coming from people who haven't read much else.