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Waking Up
- A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
- Narrated by: Sam Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’ new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.
From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds. Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives - and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.
Waking Up is part seeker’s memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris - a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic - could write it.
Editor's Pick
Heathens need mindfulness, too
"Sam Harris’s non-religious approach to spirituality is brilliant, exhaustingly researched, erudite, and controversial—and in my opinion, necessary. This is a listen for those of us who are deeply critical of organized religion but also long for respite from the daily, existential anxieties that keep our days stress-filled and our nights fitful. Sam takes tried-and-true mindfulness practices, strips them of everything but their essential, non-hooey components, and painstakingly combines them to create the only approach to meditation that’s ever worked for me."
—Sean T., Audible Editor
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In Living in a Mindful Universe, the New York Times bestselling author of Proof of Heaven and The Map of Heaven shares his insights into the true nature of consciousness. Embracing his radically new worldview, he began a committed program of personal exploration into non-local consciousness. Along the way, he met Karen Newell, who had spent most of her lifetime living the worldview he had only just discovered was possible. Her personal knowledge came from testing various techniques and theories as part of her daily routine.
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An update on what's happened since Proof of Heaven
- By Diana on 10-23-17
By: Eben Alexander MD, and others
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50 Spiritual Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This unabridged guide to the literature of the spirit surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications - everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
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useful as review or starting point
- By connie on 01-03-09
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Essential Spirituality
- By: Roger Walsh MD PhD, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Roger Walsh M.D.#Ph.D.
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
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Based on more than 20 years of research and spiritual practice, written by a man who is both a spiritual practitioner and award-winning scientist, Essential Spirituality shows how you can apply the seven practices central to all the world's major religions in your daily life. Filled with stories, myths, case histories, prayers, and practical advice, this extraordinary work has the power to change your life.
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Highly recommended
- By Mark on 05-13-04
By: Roger Walsh MD PhD, and others
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Buddhism Plain and Simple
- By: Steve Hagen
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The observations and insights of the Buddha are practical and eminently down to earth, dealing exclusively with awareness in the here and now. Buddhism Plain and Simple offers listeners these fundamental teachings, stripped of cultural trappings that have accumulated around Buddhism over the past 25 centuries.
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Thrilled this Is Finally an Audiobook
- By Asha Ember on 01-28-17
By: Steve Hagen
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A New Earth
- Awakening Your Life's Purpose
- By: Eckhart Tolle
- Narrated by: Eckhart Tolle
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new one. In illuminating the nature of this shift in consciousness, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into this new consciousness. We will come to experience who we truly are and learn to live and breathe freely.
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A Realized Being Shares In Person...a rare find.
- By Mr. Word Sponge on 12-05-09
By: Eckhart Tolle
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The Road Home
- A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path
- By: Ethan Nichtern
- Narrated by: Ethan Nichtern
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Do you feel at home right now? Or do you sense a hovering anxiety or uncertainty, an underlying unease that makes you feel just a bit uncomfortable, a bit distracted and disconnected from those around you? In The Road Home, Ethan Nichtern, a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, investigates the journey each of us takes to find where we belong.
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How can you pass this up?
- By Amy Minutillo on 04-08-16
By: Ethan Nichtern
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Super Mind
- How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation
- By: Norman E. Rosenthal MD
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The noted research psychiatrist and New York Times best-selling author explores how Transcendental Meditation permanently alters your daily consciousness, resulting in greater productivity, emotional resilience, and aptitude for success.
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Infomercial
- By Amazon Customer on 11-22-16
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Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Before it was a religion, a culture, or even a system of meditation, what was Buddhism? On Buddhism Without Beliefs, celebrated teacher, translator, and former Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor takes us back to the first years after the Buddha's awakening to reveal the root insights of Buddhism hidden beneath centuries of history and interpretation.
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Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
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Siddhartha's Brain
- Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment
- By: James Kingsland
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Framed by the historical journey and teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha's Brain shows how meditative and Buddhist practices anticipated the findings of modern neuroscience. Moving from the evolutionary history of the brain to the disorders and neuroses associated with our technology-driven world, James Kingsland explains why the ancient practice of mindfulness has been so beneficial to and so important for human beings across time.
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An Excellent Book.
- By Ken Beller on 06-26-16
By: James Kingsland
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Mindfulness for Beginners
- By: Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Narrated by: Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
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What if you could profoundly change your life just by becoming more mindful of your breathing? According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, you can. What if "paying attention on purpose and non-judgmentally" could improve your health? Again, according to Dr. Kabat-Zinn, it can.
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Profound
- By ArtC on 03-05-10
By: Jon Kabat-Zinn
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"Telling The Truth...
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the examined life
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the examined life
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Relatable, reachable, familiar
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Clear Explanation of How the Mind Works
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Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, who marvels at how little work some of their colleagues get away with doing, who despairs at the antisocial behaviour of their teenagers, who can't understand how lovecheats can handle multiple extramarital affairs, who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa and the giant bag of crisps, who struggles to control their mood when morons cut them up on the M4 or who makes themselves thoroughly bitter by endlessly comparing themselves to others - well, this book is for you.
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Wonderful, secular explanation of Zen ideas
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Spirituality for Badasses
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Chasing Excellence: A Story About Building the World's Fittest Athletes
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CrossFit trainer Ben Bergeron has helped build the world's fittest athletes, but he's not like other coaches. He believes that greatness is not for the elite few; that winning is a result, not a goal; and that character, not talent, is what makes a true champion. His powerful philosophy can help anyone excel at all aspects of life. Using the dramatic competition between the top contenders at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games® as a background, Ben explores the step-by-step process of achieving excellence and the unique set of positive character traits necessary for leveling up to world-class. The mindset and methodology that have produced some of the greatest athletes in the world's most grueling sport can work equally well for golfers, lawyers, artists, entrepreneurs - anyone who's willing to commit totally to becoming better than the best.
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Great if you love crossfit, good if you don't
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Outgrowing God
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In 12 fiercely funny, mind-expanding chapters, Dawkins explains how the natural world arose without a designer - the improbability and beauty of the "bottom-up programming" that engineers an embryo or a flock of starlings - and challenges head-on some of the most basic assumptions made by the world’s religions: Do you believe in God? Which one? Is the Bible a "Good Book"? Is adhering to a religion necessary, or even likely, to make people good to one another? Outgrowing God is a concise, provocative guide to thinking for yourself.
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No new ground is covered.
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Ham: Slices of a Life
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In 16 brilliantly observed true stories, Sam Harris emerges as a natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but with a voice uniquely his own. Praised by the Chicago Sun-Times for his "manic, witty commentary", and with a storytelling talent the New York Times calls " New Yorker - worthy," he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure episodes from his own colorful life. What better place to find painfully funny material than in growing up gay, gifted, and ambitious in the heart of the Bible belt?
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mrorbitman
- By John on 11-30-15
By: Sam Harris
What listeners say about Waking Up
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- World Peace
- 09-11-14
I don't completely agree. BUT THAT SAID...
What made the experience of listening to Waking Up the most enjoyable?
BOTH spiritual folks AND skeptics need to read this book.The skeptics need to acknowledge the elephant in the room that there is a real phenomenon of expanded consciousness that needs to be studied from a scientific perspective before being dismissed out of hand. And the spiritual folks who don't understand the potential science of "spiritual" consciousness and who think science is an enemy of a spiritual expansion of consciousness... those folks ALSO need this gentle slap to the back of the head. Because spirituality is actually closer to science than it is religion.The reason I love this book is that... as a formerly religious guy who left religion for the contemplative approach to spirituality, I was able to meditate myself into an experience of a complete endogenous 5MeO DMT flush in my brain that catalyzed the dramatic consciousness shift we typically call "spiritual enlightenment". It changed my life. So I'm a completely spiritual guy who is coming into scientific understanding of spirituality from the spiritual side. Sam is simply coming from the other direction, but into the same arena where science meets "spirituality", and they actually coexist happily.While I'm not sure if I agree with Sam that free will is entirely an illusion, I really respect Sam for his open mindedness as a scientist to start to acknowledge something that science has ignored for years out of fear of how to deal with it; subjective experience and subjective data. Subjective experience as seen through a malleable mind is what creates our entire human existence. Therefore the sciences of explaining humanity and our universe should start reflecting this truth, and Sam addresses that elephant in the room eloquently and honestly. Simply put, we DON'T have all the answers to the expanded conscious existence that seems to be beyond the regular operation of brain that we call "spiritual" and that has spawned every major religion on the planet. And it IS rather ridiculous when the religious or new age woo-woo folks start making leaps into trying to link to the quantum sciences to explain their crazy theories about God or consciousness and the phenomenon of consciousness expansion beyond the regular operation of the Default Mode Network in the brain. But there IS something beyond the DMN. We CAN change our brain rhythms and form and function of the brain (and thus consciousness) through our conscious will. That is empirical fact as it has been presented via peer reviewed published studies on plasticity. So we simply need to admit we're at a place where we can neither prove nor disprove how consciousness and shifts in consciousness work, and move to understand the phenomenon with careful and skeptical study on the matter.Yay for Sam! Great book!
What did you like best about this story?
I really enjoyed Sam's no-nonsense perspective.
What about Sam Harris’s performance did you like?
His honesty and open mindedness in discussing what lies beyond waking consciousness from a scientific perspective.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
The film tag line for this book should be; "...written by an intellectual bad-ass."
Any additional comments?
I'm not sure who needs this book more; the religiously atheist folks who deny any potential for non-local consciousness out of hand before even considering the data... or the religiously woo-woo spiritual folks who have no clue that science is focusing in on the things we call "spiritual" and is actually suggesting there is a scientific basis for some of the phenomena we call "spiritual" (but with caveats attached which can help us understand our "spiritual" existence better).
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133 people found this helpful
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- Jeffrey
- 09-12-14
An Excellent and Inspiring Listen
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I have been a big admirer of Sam Harris's books for some time now. Many of his previous efforts have hinted at the kind of exposition found in Waking Up, and I have eagerly awaited the release of this book as a consequence. I wasn't disappointed. To the contrary, and I can only say this about a handful of books I've read in the past few years, it has truly inspired me. Waking Up gives sober, practical, and yet highly compelling accounts of how we can approach the issues of consciousness and spirituality without the burdens of organized religion and all the toxic baggage it entails. Harris gives a scientific as well as journalistic/experiential account of how the "ego," the subject, the "I" that pervades Western consciousness is an illusion that is a basic source of unnecessary mental anguish in our modern lives. He then walks us through his own journey through several meditating traditions and their transformative effect on his life. Each section of the book is captivating, and truly inspires you to set out on your own journey.
As a secular guy who is deeply troubled by religion, this is precisely the kinds of book I have been looking for. Highly recommended.
What about Sam Harris’s performance did you like?
Sam Harris is an excellent writer and speaker. His prose is always elegant and concise. His narration is the same -- no nonsense, subdued, yet confident. It is a very engaging listen.
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91 people found this helpful
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- ML
- 12-04-14
Some good stuff, but too much is in attack mode
Any additional comments?
I’ve been a meditator for 40 years, and so I appreciate Sam’s work to bring his sharp intellect and clever writing skills to demonstrating meditation’s key to uncovering true spirituality. However, I feel that Sam takes too much pleasure (and time in this book) in destroying other people’s perspectives to reach that goal. Those other perspectives may in fact be wrong, but I think the same goal can be reached without so frequently going on the attack. When someone is in attack-dog mode for so much of a work, I begin to doubt his balance, and so the rest of his discourse, and rather toss the whole thing aside as the ravings of someone with a chip on his shoulder. Too bad because there is some very good stuff scattered about this book.
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56 people found this helpful
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- C. Rosky
- 05-21-16
A Thicket of Views?
The author reads a little too quickly, especially during the subtler passages on neuroscience and consciousness. These are nuanced ideas; the mind needs a moment to digest between long clauses, and especially sentences. I tried slowing the speed, but the tone was awkward.
The subjects addressed of the book were fascinating: comparisons of east and west religions, meditation techniques, psychedelics vs mindfulness practices, the implications of split brain research, the limitations of both science and faith traditions. And the author is clearly dedicated to the practice of understanding consciousness. He has clearly practiced hard, thought deeply, and read widely. That is much to applaud.
Personally, I don't disagree with anything that the author says. I do wonder, however, how the author reconciles his argumentative tone, and his apparent preoccupation with labeling some ideas and traditions as "false, stupid and dangerous," with the principles of acknowledging the limitations of one's own knowledge, and of nonattachment to beliefs and opinions.
At times I was reminded of the Buddha's saying: "One who is free does not hold views or opinions. ... But those who grasp after views and opinions only wander about the world annoying people." In this sense, I can imagine people being annoyed by this author.
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44 people found this helpful
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- Mark
- 06-08-15
Some parts were tough going
Normally I race through Sam’s books, but this one had some sections with hardcore neuroscience and very subtle philosophy about the self that I really struggled through. The last few chapters were so excellent — his demolition of near-death experiences and his discussion of the role of drugs in reaching states of bliss were especially good — that I’m going to have to read this again sooner rather than later. And parts were so mind-blowing that I can’t stop thinking about them: Like how people who have the two halves of their brains separated will answers questions differently depending upon which side is asked the questions. The hard part for me to get: There is no self, only consciousness. And the book’s bottom line: Spiritually transcendent states are not unusual among humans; they are natural and can be cultivated with simple, straight-forward steps without recourse to religion (which comes with the baggage of superstition) or drugs (which can cause bad trips or physical problems). Grade: A-
Narration: I always prefer when Sam reads his own books. He's not the greatest narrator but he understands his own words best and conveys them well.
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- Tim Q.
- 09-11-14
A superb narration of a great book
Would you consider the audio edition of Waking Up to be better than the print version?
Sam is an excellent speaker, and the audio version comes across more like one of his great talks, not a robotically narrated text.
What did you like best about this story?
This is not just yet another book on meditation---it's not only on meditation, and it's not a self-help book---at least in any traditional sense. Unlike most of the former, it's strictly rational and does not give any concessions to any sort of religious accommodation, and unlike the latter it does not give a "30-Day Program to Become Happy" or anything of this sort---although it does discuss practical points. You can look at it as an invitation to look inside our minds, and to use this rational introspection cut through the illusions which are, at the end of the day, the source of our unhappiness.
Any additional comments?
If you are new to the whole meditation thing, I can recommend to first read "10% Happier" by Dan Harris (no relation to Sam). It's a very different, lighter/entertaining book (the audio version is fantastic), but it should serve as an excellent introduction to "Waking Up".
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- Bryan Lovelace
- 09-12-14
Highly Recommended
Would you consider the audio edition of Waking Up to be better than the print version?
Both are great.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Waking Up?
Dr. Harris talks about what happens to a person's sense of "self" when the corpus callosum has been cut. This part of the book blew my mind. The book was full of these moments for me.
Have you listened to any of Sam Harris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have listened/read most if not all of his books. I like the way he writes and reads in the case of audio books. I like them all and I like them for different reasons.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
From beginning to end, I found myself stopping to review different sections of the book just to make sure I understood it's implications, or to review specific sections repeatedly so I can remember and talk about them later. I know it's a good book when I'm motivated to do this kind of thing.
Any additional comments?
Highly recommended.
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- Gary
- 09-13-14
Self reflection only gets you so far
The hard question is "what is consciousness". In the past we had Leibniz's monads and Descarte's homunculus unsatisfactorily explaining consciousness. 'Cogito ergo sum' gave western thought the mistaken impression that there is a single self inside the brain. The author suggests another path for understanding the hard question namely gaining self awareness (of our non-existence) through meditation from which one can discover the illusion of the self which leads the individual to 'enlightenment' and the realization that the 'self' does not exist.
The author puts his spiritualism without mysticism in to context by reasonably looking at how we think about thinking and gives the listener just enough names of the brain parts without overwhelming the listener, and all the time supporting his path to self understanding by learning to first deny the self.
In the end the author thinks that the denial of self leads to a greater understandings about who we are and that a guru or some selective use of drugs will help the listener achieve enlightenment and lead to a more ethical person with greater appreciation for life. As for me, I think I'll continue learning about the universe by looking outside of myself and use reason, coupled with empirical data (induction) and properly constructed models and seek enlightenment that way and not get a guru or use drugs and spend too much time thinking about denying myself through meditation and self reflection.
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- Tanyush
- 09-12-14
A lot of insights, great performance
I always like audio performance of Sam Harris, his voice is calm and confident.
As for the book itself I'm totally admire his insights, thoughts and analysis.
I must admit though that some of his ideas may sound quite revolutionary for unprepared ears. Anybody would take much more from the book if he listens to it with open mind and heart.
I would totally recommend the book to anybody who is looking for spiritual growth, free from bias, misconception or heresy.
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- Mark Best
- 09-16-14
Extremely Helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This book has changed my life. It showed me my own neurotic thoughts are not unique to me but just a function of the brain. The guided meditations are the only ones I have ever found helpful. Read this Book!
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