You're welcome, @reewritesthings!

I went to visit a friend last night, and she just bought "The Power of Now," so we're going to make a study of it on a weekly basis, the better to "get" the concepts on a deeper level.

I've introduced Byron Katie's "Loving What Is" to her as well, so we may do that next.

Marek has listened to both audio books, and told me that a few days ago, in keeping with Eckhart Tolle's teachings, he told his conscious mind that he was going to meditate, so it could take some time off, as it would simply be bored. And he said he had one of the best meditations in his life, without his monkey mind constantly butting in with unneeded thoughts.

Who knew it was so simple?

As for meditation, I highly recommend it, and can say without hesitation that it has helped me immeasurably in my life. It may well have saved my life, more than once.

I started meditating when I was seventeen, thanks to a class I took with my mom, and in addition to allowing me a place of calm within the proverbial storm, it has also given me the ability to gain a more realistic - and helpful - perspective than anything else I've tried. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Jose Silva, of The Silva Method, initiated a study in the 1960s, where they got a group of people to meditate on peace at specific times over the course of a month or so. Sure enough, the crime rate in their city dropped measurably over that period of time.

They did another, with the cooperation of NASA, where they got a group of people to meditate on slowing the orbit of a satellite, again at a specific time, and once again there was a measurable change.

The human mind is far more powerful than we've been led to believe, especially when we work together. ;-)