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The Seat of the Soul  By  cover art

The Seat of the Soul

By: Gary Zukav
Narrated by: Gary Zukav, Maya Angelou (preface), Oprah Winfrey (preface)
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Publisher's summary

With the same extraordinary skill that he used to demystify scientific abstraction and the new physics, Gary Zukav, the award-winning author of The Dancing Wu Li Masters, here takes us on a brilliant and penetrating exploration of the new phase of evolution we have now entered.

With lucidity and elegance, Zukav explains that we are evolving from a species that pursues power based upon the perceptions of the five senses, external power, into a species that pursues authentic power, power that is based upon the perceptions and values of the spirit. He shows how the pursuit of external power has produced our survival-of-the-fittest understanding of evolution, generated conflict between lovers, communities, and superpowers, and brought us to the edge of destruction.

Using his scientist's eye and philosopher's heart, Zukav shows how infusing the activities of life with reverence, compassion, and trust makes them come alive with meaning and purpose. He illustrates how the emerging values of the spirit are changing marriages into spiritual partnerships, psychology into spiritual psychology, and transforming our everyday lives. The Seat of the Soul describes the remarkable journey to the spirit that each of us is on.

©1989 Gary Zukav (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"[Zukav's] high-minded synthesis is something more than old wine in a new bottle." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A remarkable treatment of thought, evolution, and reincarnation." ( Library Journal)

Featured Article: The Best Spiritual Audiobooks for Finding Fulfillment


In our everyday lives, we are obliged to continually juggle a long list of priorities: advancing our career, taking care of our family, keeping in touch with friends, staying active in our community, and tending to our physical health. With such a litany of concerns, it can be difficult to find time to work on our spiritual lives. Since there's no perfect time, why not simply take a breath and begin to focus on nurturing your soul and spirit?

What listeners say about The Seat of the Soul

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A True Spiritual Classic

Listening to Gary Zukav calmly explaining his views on spirituality, you would never guess that he was once a Green Beret serving in Vietnam and, by his own confession, a former sex addict (listen to his very honest Miboso interview at his website, www.zukav.com). And yet here is a man who realized that facing enemies out in the jungles of Vietnam and sleeping around with women were actually ways to avoid facing his inner enemies of fear and insecurity. Here is a man who changed from an angry soldier trained to kill into a quiet, gentle human being trained to love. Anyone who has seen him on Oprah (where he was introduced to most of us) has witnessed his gentleness and humility.

Gary's personal journey is an example of what he believes humanity is experiencing as a whole: we are beginning to realize that controlling other people and outer circumstances cannot bring us true happiness and fulfillment. We are also beginning to acknowledge that dimensions of reality beyond the five senses exist, and that we interact with those dimensions. To sum up, we are transforming from five-sensory humans into multi-sensory humans. "The Seat of the Soul" is a personal guide to that transformation.

A summary might go like this: your soul picks aspects of itself that desire growth and healing, and then incarnates into a physical form having those aspects. You then draw to yourself people and experiences that awaken the unhealed parts of you and provide opportunities to consciously change your choices. When you stop making choices from fear and instead choose to act in love and trust, you experience healing and growth on your spiritual path. Paying attention to your emotions and your intuitions is very important in this process, as well as honest analysis of your intentions in every situation. And you always have help available in the form of nonphysical guides and teachers.

The book is well-written, and I found Mr. Zukav's reading to be perfect: calm and clear.

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153 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent , incredibly well explained.

If you could sum up The Seat of the Soul in three words, what would they be?

precise insight

What did you like best about this story?

truth

What does Gary Zukav bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

multiple examples

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

intense reaction, so happy to listen to it , have listened 3 x and still there's more to get.. incredible insight to the soul.. this is a keeper to listen to time and time again..timeless journey !

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • X
  • 11-28-12

Self-help in a 6 hour lecture

What made the experience of listening to The Seat of the Soul the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed that the author performed this reading. He placed stress and understanding where it needed to be in the reading. I enjoyed the lessons to be learned about myself.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

His tone and peacefull, not forceful method of teaching.

Have you listened to any of Gary Zukav’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I broke this reading into 6 one hour nights (one week) to absorb and process while not overloading at one setting and losing the points that were made.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book will bring about a paradigm shift in you

This book was amazing. I have yet to do the study guide although I've listened to it and plan to print the study guide out. The book itself though is DEEP!! You really have to hit pause and think about the things that are being said. This book is one of those that can change your life and leave a lasting impression on all the people who know you.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A few hundred books in one

I’ve read over a 100 books regarding spirituality including several versions of the bible and the ‘Dead Sea Scroll’. Here is a summary of all these books into one place. This book can seem very heavy for those who haven’t read any other books or are willing to look at themselves. I recently left my job and when asked why I simply said that spirit was guiding me. I then spent three months going through a lot of trials. In the end I ended up with a new job where I was truly happy and the lessons have served me beyond words. I learned to see the path I was meant to be on including have compassion to others while understanding that we can’t know the real reason of others suffering!

I do disagree with the author on the statement that scientist have proven that while is all colors and black is the absence of all colors. My Native American teacher told me to take all the colors of the rainbow and mix them together and I got black. No matter how you try this test with colors you always end up with black. You can ask any 1st grader this as they’ve learned it.

With this in mind I will still recommend this book to people to read as I learned new information here I can apply.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Transformative Read

What did you love best about The Seat of the Soul?

The forward by Dr. Maya Angelou. It created intrigue for what was next to come.

What did you like best about this story?

That each chapter segued seamlessly into the next. The chapters were perfectly structured.

What three words best describe the narrators’s voice?

CURE FOR INSOMNIA

What insight do you think you’ll apply from The Seat of the Soul?

Operating with compassion ties us all together better.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed it so much, I ordered "Spiritual Partnership"

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Struggled to Grasp

I completely agree with the Law of Atttaction, heart connection, and vibrational energy; however, I struggled to grasp the concepts of karma from past lives, let alone past lives. I really wanted to like this book, but the farther along I got in this audio reading, the more challenged I felt in comprehending it.

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14 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

....that part about Dolphin souls reincarnated?

Somewhere at the beginning was a chapter on INTENTIONS and the splintered personality; that section was good.

However, to get there...you had to listen to A Lot of monotone repetitive speech about Karma and reincarnation. The basis of which is the same you would find on wikipedia: souls are reincarnated to fulfill their purpose or unfinished business from past lives. Can be hard to swallow, but the suggestions from the intention chapter are good and food for thought.

I listened a little more and the reincarnation speech came back three-fold. Then he started talking about dophins' purpose and what they want out of life (seriously)....how does he know? Did he speak to one? Maya and Oprah - what the heck?

I'm so lost I can't go back and search for meaning in his dribble. Cheers to the people that are so moved by the entire book but most of it reads like the rantings of a teenager on an acid trip that is expelling his/her enlightenments.

I got through 5 hours. I can't do anymore. RETURNING.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gary give timely, logical, loving advice

Would you listen to The Seat of the Soul again? Why?

I have listened to this book twice now and have gotten a lot out of it both times. I heard and understood things the second time that I did not the first. It is my guess this will be true for the next time I listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Seat of the Soul?

So much of was important.

Which character – as performed by Gary Zukav – was your favorite?

There were no characters but I found his way of reading the book quite comfortable to listen to for long periods of time.

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

I had a profound reaction.

Any additional comments?

This the type of book will fall into your hands when you are ready for it. I read it a couple of years ago and find that this time

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Learned so much

When I first started the book i got to about half of it and loved it, then got a little tired of it and couldn't understand very much, maybe was not the right time, few months passed and then tried it again, just finished it and loved it, now, I was ready for the lesson!!
You have to find the right moment for it! I would listen to it again for sure and keep learning more!
The only thing that didn't like is that the last chapters he reminds you every time to go to his web page for exercises but after the 3rd time it gets annoying!

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