The Power of Now was first published in Canada in 1997. With hardly any publicity, its reputation spread rapidly through word of mouth. Copies disappeared from bookstores as fast as they arrived, and many people reported that this was indeed a book that had changed their lives. Two years ago, New World Library published an edition in the United States, and as its fame continued to grow, it soon began appearing on bestseller lists. And justifiably so. Very seldom do I say this is a book everyone should read, but Eckhart Tolle's book truly deserves such a recommendation.

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The Power of Now stands out because it is not based on some model or understanding of the mind, and does not depend on the writings or sayings of others. It is based on Eckhart Tolle's personal experience of awakening. When he was twenty-nine, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and changed the course of his life. Confronted by an unhappy and deeply fearful self, he found himself spiraling into despair. Suddenly his mind stopped, and he felt himself falling into a void. He heard the words resist nothing as if spoken from the center of his chest. Allowing himself be drawn into the void, the fear disappeared and so did his normal sense of identity.

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The following months he spent in uninterrupted peace and bliss. He had discovered an inner sense of being that he realized he always had, but had never known because his mind was making too much noise. The next few years he devoted to understanding, integrating, and deepening this inner transformation. And as he began to realize the full value of this shift in consciousness, he began counseling individuals and small groups, showing them how to free the self from the enslavement of the mind, and how to maintain that freedom in daily life.

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This book is drawn from that work. The conclusions he reaches touch on one of the core themes of the perennial philosophy the value of being in the present moment. This, says Tolle, is the essence of enlightenment. There is nothing new about that. But what really attracted me to Tolle's book is that he takes the art of being present and brings it down to earth in very simple language and examples and, most significantly, suggests a variety of ways which he calls portals by which we may reconnect with the now in our daily lives.

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One portal that I found particularly valuable was awareness of that which he calls the inner body. This might be loosely described as experiencing the feeling of aliveness, or being, within one's own body. Becoming aware of this formless feeling of inner vitality brings the attention back to the present moment. There are no concepts in this awareness, no worries about past or future, just the experience of what is. You cannot, says Tolle, be in your body without being intensely present in the Now.

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The book is based on questions from students and his responses. This is an unusual style, and one that could result in a flat and unstructured book, but here it seems to work. In addition, every page or so, there is the suggestion to pause, be still, and feel and experience the truth of what has just been said. This I found particularly valuable. When it comes to inner transformation, most of us already know much of the theory. To actually change the way we experience and relate to the world, we need to digest the ideas and make them a spiritual practice. Tolle encourages us to do that at every stage. As a result, it took me three weeks to read and inwardly assimilate this book, but I finished with a much clearer feeling of the self.

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Peter Russell is an IONS Fellow, and is the author of Waking Up in Time and From Science to God. His website is called The Spirit of Now, and can be accessed at www.peterussell.com