Getting in touch with the true self (which is not the mind) and becoming ‘present’ (rather than living in the past or the future) are surely good aims. Many forms of psychotherapy have similar aims. For instance, cognitive therapy tries to treat these issues by addressing distorted thinking patterns directly, debunking them and replacing them with rational patterns. I like Tolle’s idea of going further than this, of disidentifying from the mind and eventually taking control of it.

Of course these ideas are not in fact Tolle’s. They’re as old as the hills and can be seen in many ancient meditation traditions. What Tolle has done is repackage them, dust them off a little and present them in a slightly more palatable form for modern minds.

But as you rightly point out, he’s not done the best job in this regard. Stripped of the pseudo-science, religion and poor articulation, I think the book could do much better. I have often wondered why no one has attempted a re-write, in fact I’ve often thought about doing one myself. What I suspect, however, is that, despite Mr Tolle’s pontifications about paths of non-resistance, he would not hesitate to launch a mammoth copyright case against any threats to his sacred cash cow.