An undergraduate professor of philosophy once asked his class: "What is the most important thing you have?" Answers ranged from health to family, a home, ... The answer he was looking for was "this moment". This moment is the only thing we really have. It is where life takes place. The past is a shadow, it has no substance. The future is a dream, a projection, a fantasy--everything but a reality.

The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, (1999) may just as well have been called, Zen for Dummies. The concept is so simple--life takes place NOW, but it does need explanation for those of us who are/were used to doing things the "unconscious" way. Lamenting the past, and projecting imaginary futures, and letting life pass us by.

Tolle explains the process of *Being Present*, without doctrine, without ritual. No complications inspired by the mind or ego. Just the principle of *self* as the observer of the mind. Self as the Being. The self *in-joy(ing)* life.

Thank you Dr. Applebaum (SUNY New Paltz, 1996)for starting me on the path to a new, happy life!