Kevin's Reviews > The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

It's essentially Buddhist teachings about being in the present moment, rather than being a slave to your mind and emotions, mindfulness, and letting go of your resistances and desires for either the past or future and change. Some people get attached to the past, whether it's "longing for the good ole days" or unfortunate events and painful upbringing that you feel has shaped your identity and must be told as "your" story and held on to consistently. Some people get attached to the future, always "waiting" for a set of conditions to be met, before they think they can be happy. "If only x and y would happen, then z would happen, and then I would be happy and fulfilled." This book is about letting go of the past, and not worrying about the future. The "now" is the only thing that is real, and it is where we need to be present, rather than living in our minds on (what the author calls) psychological time.

The author won't identify his stance as Buddhism, but if you're familiar with Buddhism, it won't be anything really new, but it is packaged and phrased a bit differently, and is another person's perspective on all of the issues.