Pearce

Wayne Dyer's Excuses Begone offers a way to improve your life as well as those of the people you know and meet. So often authors write many words without an actual method to follow. Dyer offers a method to make change for the good happen in your life. He lays it out clearly. An example, "if you have the choice, be kind, rather than right". Overall this work is a very enjoyable mix of spiritualism and rational realism that can be applied immediately. It is well worth several listens.

This book could have been titled 'How To Get Past Dysfunction and Live Life'. The author explains how dysfunction, small or large, in your life creates skewed perceptions. He explains how to get past these issues without having to dig up too many. He informs that it is okay to be a male, to have needs, and how to go about satisfying and meeting those needs. And, how important it is to satisfy those needs. All this done while being an integrated and responsible man. When he says 'no more mr. nice guy', he means no more whining and manipulation. He means direct effort with clarity for what it is that you truly desire, including sex, career, hobbies, vacation, etc. Excellent book.

Eckhart Tolle has achieved a peaceful state of being. Along with that he has achieved personal success. It would seem that Eckhart, on occasion, has made errors in certain statements regarding Buddhism. One, that I recall, was how Buddhism prejudices women. I'm not sure where Eckhart got this from but Shakyamuni allowed women to join his monastic. His own aunt became a nun. He, in my opinion, makes other errors regarding Buddhism. Another oddity was his teaching of a new movement on Earth, that is, humanity finally becoming enlightened in a big way. The human condition, to me, seems anything but enlightened, nor is it headed this way. I thought that maybe he knows as this sort of thing is what he does for a living. At the end of the listen he is interviewed. The interviewer must have picked this up too as she asks Eckhart the very same question. She is also doubtful of humanity becoming enlightened. Eckhart responded that it may just be that he is thinking this because he sees so many people that seem to be making a change for the better and that maybe humanity on a whole is not really becoming any more enlightened, peaceful, etc. This, I believe, was an honest answer from Eckhart. I do believe he has attained a certain level of enlightenment and this listen is pleasant if nothing else. His popularity, at least in part, seems to come from his simple, peaceful way. Namaste!

There is some good advice in this listen. It's just that I prefer a different delivery format. The format is in the style of a younger up and coming professional that meets an older already successful professional who passes his knowledge on to the eager newcomer. The author states it is a fictional story at the beginning. It is also a little dry in the delivery.

This listen was fairly interesting but I wonder about the accuracy. The author made errors in assumptions of Buddhism. This leads me to believe the possibility exists that he may have made similar errors in other assumptions of other ancient and not so ancient teachers in this book, say, Lao-tzu, etc. Basically, teachers that I know not much about. Which then casts doubt on this book's credibility. This is too bad because this book is orderly. I wonder if the proper experiential research was done in order to be accurate. I believe though, that the writer's intent was to be as correct as possible. Regarding Buddhism, of which I've studied, it seems to me that he misunderstands at least some of Buddha's teachings. The author says Buddha is wrong or only partially correct because Buddhism teaches that happiness comes only from within and that one must stop clinging to material things. I believe the author missed the intent of Shakyamuni's teachings. That is, if you wish to transcend suffering or get beyond some sort of unease or discomfort in your life you must teach yourself not to cling to these uncomfortable positions. Does this take effort? You bet. Buddha taught that there are ways that this can be done. One is the three fires -let go of greed, hatred, and delusion. There are other ways Buddha teaches to do this as well. What Buddha intended was much like what modern brain science today teaches -that you can change your life by changing your thoughts. Likely the Buddha didn't realize that brain neuronal pathways can be altered but in effect that is what's happening when we consistently change our thoughts until we are no longer bothered by the 'monkey mind' (or maybe he did know this). Meditation is a great way to do this. The other error is stating the mythological or embellished story of the birth and life of Siddhartha Gautama and using that as a reference to make a point shows the author's lack of experiential knowledge.

It's always interesting to listen to niche people converse or be interviewed. Malcolm Gladwell has written some interesting books. That's why I downloaded this free conversation. I found both these guys deeply enmeshed in what they do by the nature of their conversation. There are a few tips if you are an inspiring writer too.

Gary V does a great job of explaining where he came from, where he is now, and how he got there. That is, he describes his success and states emphatically that you can do it too. He tells his story and that's what I want to hear, the businesses he starts, his family, etc. Then I know where he's coming from. He lays out a solid blueprint, that, depending on your genes (your personal bias, or your 'personality'), determines how you can succeed. For example, he states, if you are not shy and can get in front of a camera and sell your product, niche, idea, business, etc, then there's certain ways of accomplishing this. If you are shy then you can still accomplish your goals and be successful. You may be good at the written word or you may be good at audio, or other. Then you use these qualities to your advantage. He also describes the various methods or 'vehicles' such as facebook, twitter, blogs, etc to popularize your product, business, etc. As well, there's a lot of pointers regarding what you should do to be successful, that is, do the right thing. For example, when he personally drove a case of wine to a lady that had placed an order and it couldn't be delivered the usual way. This is the right thing to do. Overall an excellent and interesting guide.

This is a good listen simply for the fact that the author has narrated himself. You the listener gets a good feel for the nerd that he was and, basically the nerd he becomes. That is, a nerd that learns how to get inside a woman's head and turn her into sexually desiring a nerd. I say nerd because Neil Strauss tells of the silly outfits, wigs (he's bald), and more that he did to accomplish his goal. If you can imagine a bald, short, skinny, pasty white guy in a dread locks wig that has learned to walk the walk with women and score you'd call him a nerd too. This guy learns to overcome his fear of women and that's the difference. It's comforting to know that a man can do such. Overall, a really good listen.

I was surprised to discover the advice in this audio to be as practical as it is. Leil Lowndes makes a valid point in that there are women out there that are interested in you and you must recognize the signals they show in order to connect with them. The returned confident smile as a response to eye contact or a smile is the biggest thing to get you in the door. The bad part of this audio is the dated, almost corny, phrases used by Leil. Her straight forward, researched backed advice offsets this concern. A very good purchase overall.

This was the best introduction to Buddhism I've yet read or listened to. Lama Surya Das does a great job explaining in modern day terms and with straight talk the four noble truths and the noble eight-fold path to enlightenment. I've read several books regarding Buddhism now and by far, to me, this work has been the best. He has a unique and inspiring way of teaching. When it comes to the meditation practices his voice is very soothing. So much so that I'm looking for a guided meditation CD by this teacher. I look forward to reading more of this author's work.