How many books do you read in a lifetime where you can say this book is capable of truly changing a person's life? How many books truly impact you in a unique way unlike any other you might have read. This author, and this book are in a class by itself. Simply put, I RELISHED reading this book.

I am a student of technology. Medical technology is a field where I have considerable expertise. In my work with heart disease, I have come across literally thousands of sufferers where there is no scientific reason why the disease is present. This is true for victims of heart attacks also. These people have perfectly normal Cholesterol levels, yet the disease is ravaging their bodies.

One of the few explanations left is STRESS, and the individual's inability to deal with stress in their daily lives. Jon Kabat-Zinn takes you through the joys of meditation. On every page, he intrigues the reader by coming at him from a position that you will rarely encounter if ever in a book.

It is clear that the author is at peace with himself, and the world. His ability to achieve this state in the context of our culture is extraordinary. Listen to the flow of his words, the cadence, and the poetry. "...Make more of your ordinary moments notable and noteworthy by taking note of them. This also reduces the chaos and increases the order in the mind. The tiniest moments can become veritable milestones. If you were really present with your moments as they were unfolding, no matter what was happening, you would discover that each moment is unique and novel and therefore, momentous."

His words are beautiful, and moving. You will absorb this book intellectually and unconsciously. You will become a better person for having read it, and what could be more meaningful than that. Read it yourself, absorb it, and share its delights with others.

We have all heard that there are no second acts, and life is not a dress rehearsal. We have all been given a limited allotment of time on this planet to do with, as we will. This author shows us, indeed forces us to reflect on how we have chosen to used that time. For those suffering from stress-induced illnesses like heart disease, you must consider employing the meditation techniques that this author introduced to this country many years ago. We are talking about potentially saving your life, and slowing down the insidious progression of disease.

Mr. Kabat-Zinn can show you the way to change your life. He cannot force you to drink from the well. The choice is yours, choose wisely, and just sit back and enjoy the experience of reading every word in this marvelous book that we can all be grateful that he has written for our benefit.

Richard Stoyeck

I am a child of the 60s counterculture and a young adult of the 70s New Christian Right reaction... integrating both has been my personal work ever since...

Jon Kabat Zinn's teaching of mindfulness in this long yet simply helpful book is at the heart of my own healing and continuing recovery from the dysfunctional penchant for scapegoating inherent in totalist thinking, of the left or the right.

"It is in our very nature as a species to learn and grow and heal and move toward greater wisdom in our ways of seeing and in our actions, and toward greater compassion for ourselves and others," writes Kabat-Zinn.

That potential, its realization here and now in my own life, and in the lives of others is the ground for healing distraction and for cultivating wisdom.

Before buying this book I read the title, subtitle, blurb on the back cover and all the wonderful endorsements written by all the well known people. And they talk about scientific rigor and science, healing, the planet, the mysteries of the body and such. No where, in any of it, was the word "meditation."

I know that the authors "thing" is the joy of meditation. I agree, meditation is wonderful. But as I already know this, I didn't need to buy a 600 page book to tell me about those joys, I'm already aware of them. The title/subtitle/blurbs/etc. lead me (or more accurately, mis-lead me) to believe that the author had written about something else. Intrigued by what this could be, I bought the book. And found that it's nothing more than 600 pages on the joys of meditation...which, as I said, I'm already aware of.

Here's what I found very odd---there is a title, a subtitle, a back of the book blurb, and two pages of endorsements praising a 600 page book on meditation and not once did anyone use the word "meditation." I'm usually not a cynical person, but I get the distinct impression that this was deliberately done to increase sales. I suspect they felt that if they came out and said this was a book on meditation that people like me who are meditators, and all those not interested in meditation, wouldn't buy it. But by carefully "hiding" what this book was truly about, they'd get more buyers.

While it is a great book on meditation, I didn't need or want another book on meditation, so I was bored and upset that I got suckered into buying it.

And the other reviewers are right, the author is long winded and rambling. Parts of it are not an easy read. I've read whole pages that were irrelevant and pointless and wondered why an editor allowed them to stay.