Dear Mr...... I live in Melbourne. Read your book--honest, bold, revelatory, trail-blazing. I read much of Tolle and some of Chopra. I like the way you have described your observations--they are sharp and insightful. I am a Zen person and must have read Lao Tze's Tao -te-Ching 50? times ( my forthcoming book is on Tao leadership). Every person finds their own way in their journey towards self-discovery and self-awareness. The path is a very hard one--it calls for so much patience, humility and determination. You mention happiness as a skill--so true. What is so fascinating about Zen and Taoism is that it's an achievable art. Happiness-gurus overstate their case, they exaggerate, they prescribe what they regard as THE ANSWER--- that's not true...and you have rightly written about their loss of cool, that they also exhibit impatience and dislike in stressful situations, that they self-aggrandise. There is no perfect person on earth--even saints have their faults. Teachers must have humility, compassion, selflessness, tolerance and goodwill----self-effacement I regard as the highest virtue being immensely affected by Taoism and Confucianism. Yes, I live in the moment but my focus and attentiveness could never be the same or unencumbered. But I do succeed in some measure. He who wishes to meditate must come in purity of heart---he can't meditate if his heart and feelings are not right. He needs to self-abandon, lose himself, feel as a child in the vast expanse of possible 'being', to be one with a Higher Reality or Consciousness....the letting-go is the route...My small book IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ZEN--THE PATH TO A CALMER AND HAPPIER LIFE released in Melb in 2018 has sold quite well. For an unknown hobby-writer, I am more than gratified and have thanked my publisher for their faith in me. It has accepted my Tao leadership book for release later this year---many lessons are in the same vein as found in Zen--after all, Taoism is the mother of Zen. Someone wrote that Zen is the greatest discovery since the Enlightenment. It has permeated every sphere of thinking and living. I read Thomas Merton's SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION some 50 years ago and continue to read him though I am not a Catholic (I don't have a religion being a humanist--agnostic?). Merton was so enamoured of Zen that he edited a work of Zhuangzi, the most eloquent follower of Lao-tze. The Vatican was very concerned as it was afraid he might abandon his original faith. But he didn't---his love of his faith even grew! Now we have Zen-Christians, a phenomenon that testifies to the universality of faiths and beliefs. I am sorry to have written so much. Once again, thank you for your wonderful book. Please drop me a line--I can learn from you. Being a composer, musician and singer, I find it easier to find my 'peak moments' when I am into it. With my deep esteem and sincerest wishes.