The Practicing Mind

Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life

By: Thomas M. Sterner

Narrated by: Thomas M. Sterner

Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Present moment awareness is an essential ingredient in life if one expects to experience any degree of authentic peace and contentment. It has been acknowledged for centuries as the cornerstone of spiritual awakening in all traditions of Eastern thought. In the West, however, it is still a relatively unrecognized concept for living.

The Western mind is always restless, never content with the moment. Its internal dialogue is always firing off thoughts filled with emotional content and pulling the individual out of the present and into the past or future. But individuals raised in Western culture are becoming increasingly aware of their overall sense of mental exhaustion, their lack of discipline and their inability to focus on demand. They are willing to expend the energy necessary to experience inner peace and a quiet mind that is waiting to follow the direction of their will. They are realizing that the endless struggle to fulfill the insatiable appetite of instant gratification is fruitless and tiresome at best. They are ripe for a new path in life and eager for a new set of instructions.

This is the purpose of The Practicing Mind. It comprehensively deals with helping the individual understand exactly what present-moment awareness is, how we are raised in a manner contradictory to this, and how we change our mindset to make this a part of our daily living. This book is accessible to listeners of all philosophical backgrounds. Regardless of your perspective, you will find the book's insights most compelling.

©2012 New World Library (P)2014 Thomas M Sterner

This book is for everyone as a casual, deliberate, or reread.

The thoughts brought forth by this book are interesting and potentially life changing. At first I was skeptical because I realized I was listening to a deep-thinking professional piano repairman about how to live my life. But, I was pleasantly surprised by deep messages, meaningful examples, and intelligible citations to both history and psychology.

This is a great short book to read when one is struggling in the famous "rat race" Bob Marley sang so passionately about. It is not limited to those who want to change though. This book helps remind us of where our true center is in life and how to refocus on it. That is almost always a valuable reminder to have in life.

I would recommend this book as a casual read, deliberate read, and a reread. I know I will pick it up again one day to be reminded of its strong message.

Practical tips to focus on the process.

Easy to follow with great practical advice that can be applied to everyday life. Biggeat takeaway "The problem with patience and discipline is developing each of them requires both of them."

Will go back and listen to it again.

Helpful but repetitive

The information and teaching in the book were incredibly helpful in my everyday life. I felt as if it was repetitive and that the author was having a somewhat difficult time reading it. These
were both slight annoyances to me, but the info is worth a listen.

Did the change the audio recording?

I love this book. I've listened to it about 10 times.

Am I crazy or did they record a new audiobook? It sounds different, and it's odd to listen to. It sounds more professional, but since I listened to the old copy so many times this new one is hard to digest.

Am I crazy?

A grreat book

Very practical and not preachy...it tells what we already know but in a different better way.I want and will read many more times without feeling guilty that my progresses seem so miniscule

truly a 5 star book

the book contains one of those lessons and practices in life that if you use, it can drastically improve your results. I.e. if you do certain activities e.g. most types of work, studying and learning in a slow, steady and sure way without distraction, you'll get more stuff done and get better results in a shorter amount of time overall.

Mindfulness

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I like Sterner's tips on how to become more mindful. I think he builds his guide with wonderful stories that tie in wonderfully with the progression of the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There were not many characters, so I would say primarily the author/speaker.

Which character – as performed by Thomas M. Sterner – was your favorite?

There were not many characters, so I would say primarily the author/speaker

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, I did not.

Great read!

Loved it, would recommend to anyone who is looking for a practice to better their lives.

A Great Lesson

I've heard many of these ideas before in other books, but I enjoyed very much the perspective of the musician/instrument technician of Mr. Sterner. Highly recommend!

awesome book

made some excellent points that are applicable to Everyday Life and everyone will find useful