"Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" gets me out of my clanging, noisy head. When I find myself worrying a lot-- "The bus is going too slowly," "I should have called so-and-so sooner," "I shouldn't have agreed to . . . "-- the stories in this book pull me out of my mind, and focus me on where I am, and what I need to do in the present.

This week, I read it on the bus to work, and actually was more productive -- and more present to all the situations at hand. I noticed that more of my colleagues shared their work with me, and asked me for help, probably because I wasn't thinking about the "next" thing I should be doing.

In the past, I've been a skeptic about words like "enlightenment"-- but I find this book to be simple and honest. It's arranged into different categories, like "Helping Yourself/ Helping Others" and "Upsets," so that when I find myself with a particular worry, I flip open to the category that speaks to me.

I really love this book. It conveys principles of enlightenment in lovely, often very moving, stories. It's great because at the end of each story I feel I've been given a little slice of enlightenment. I can relate to each of the tales (even better because they're all true!) and I think this is such a perfect, gentle and informative way of learning the secrets of how to be happy.

I really enjoyed reading Ariel & Shya Kanes' new book "Being Here"
Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. The two words that came to mind after reading this book is "Simply Divine". The book is easy to read and like a bottle of wine divine. I really liked the chapter: Buy a Ticket.... In this chapter the Kanes' are having a conversation with their assistant who was upset. She had broken up with her boyfriend and was disappointed in herself that things hadn't worked out. She badly wanted another boyfriend and yet she was NOT dating.

The Kanes' very eloquently tell a story to their assistant about someone who wanted to win the lottery but did not buy a ticket. This was so simple yet very profound. How many times have I wanted something and fretted over not having it, only to see I hadn't bought a ticket!!

Like the Kanes' other books Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformationand How To Create a Magical Relationship I felt totally refreshed after reading this book.