Born Ulrich Tolle in 1948 in Lünen, Germany. A difficult childhood between Germany and Spain, then a brilliant academic career — University of London, research scholar at Cambridge — and severe, lifelong depression.
At twenty-nine, in a London flat, he had a sudden and apparently irreversible shift in consciousness. He could not function in the academy afterwards. For two years he mostly sat on park benches. Then, slowly, he began to speak to small groups about what had happened.
The Power of Now (1997) grew out of those talks. A New Earth (2005) became an Oprah Book Club selection and introduced millions to present-moment teaching. He lives in Vancouver. The practice is the same one he described on those benches.
The Power of Now
The book that introduced millions to presence as a spiritual practice. Deceptively simple.