Books released today experience good or bad sales numbers depending on one factor and one factor alone: Critics’ words. Unfortunately, if a critic gives you book a bad review—depending on who the critic is and where he or she is published—your book has little chances of succeeding. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, written by Eckhart Tolle, was on the lucky end of a good review by none other than Oprah Winfrey, courtesy of her magazine, O in 2000. The book was first released in 1997.

The Power of Now has been a very well-received book over the past 11-plus years, making it to the New York Times Bestseller list and being published in 33 separate languages. Needless to say, Eckhart’s tale is an international hit. His book focuses mainly on the promotion of spirituality as a concept and not any one particular religion or tradition. It’s this all-encompassing look at the spiritual realm of one’s self that has propelled the book to great heights. Instead of dealing with Buddhism or any one religion, as most spiritual books do, The Power of Now is accessible to anyone from any walk of life.

The book has been called “rare” by critics, in that it “creates a unique experience in readers.” This experience has been changing lives since the book first hit the shelves. Eckhart is considered a contemporary master who is not affiliated with any particular doctrine. It’s this broad worldview that allows Tolle to examine the whole of humanity and the relation with human and other worldly spirit. The most appreciated aspect about the book is that it’s unpretentious in its rhetoric. The simple and straightforward language is as comforting as it is informative.

To date, The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies around the world, and the proverbial word-of-mouth still keeps Tolle’s masterwork on many top-seller lists around the globe. Eckhart’s main point in the book is that there is no greater moment than the one we’re living in right now. The past is gone, obviously, and the future’s moments are categorically uncertain. Thus, the only moment in your entire life is the moment you’re experience right now. A simple premise, no doubt, but this pearl of wisdom has been a revelation to millions.

Throughout the book, Eckhart explains how working on the “now” in your life can make you a better person both physically and mentally. The ultimate goal is to bring the reader a more fulfilled and authentic life.

The format of the book is very unique. Instead of continuing on with the motivational rhetoric, the book presents a question-and-answer format that repeatedly pauses to allow the reader to take the words in and respond to them on a deeper level. The Power of Now is a culmination of ten years of working with small groups and gaining insight into the true power of the present moment and its relation with spirituality. The end result is a riveting book that should be on anyone’s “to-read” list.