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

Publisher's Summary

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.

Most of us believe that we live in only three states of consciousness: wakefulness, sleep, and dreaming. But there is so much more. In Super Mind, clinical psychiatrist and bestselling author Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, shows how the incredibly simple daily practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM) can permanently alter your state of mind during the routine hours of waking life - placing you into a super-mind state of "cosmic consciousness" where you consistently perform at peak aptitude.

In his most ambitious book yet, Rosenthal shows how TM is more than a tool for destressing or for general wellness. It is a gateway to functioning physically, emotionally, and intellectually at levels we never knew we could attain. Written in Rosenthal's trademark style of restraint and intellectual carefulness, Super Mind explores how we can aspire to so much more than we ever thought possible.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2016 Norman E. Rosenthal (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Too much of the "spend the 1k for the course"

Lots of good informations about meditation but too much of a "spend the 1k for the TM course and you'll be happy" propaganda... it would have been a 5 stars book if it wasn't that full of pressure in favour of the really expensive organization.

Infomercial

This is an infomercial - not a book. Please share with your readers ahead of time that they will not be learning the practice. This felt misleading. I am still interested in finding a teacher but had no idea that this was not shared at all until hours in to the book.

Misleading Title

The words "How-To" in a book title generally signify some type of practical instructions are forthcoming. After about 30 minutes, the author informs the listener that there will be none.

This book is not a "how-to". Rather, it appears to be a book which supports the IDEA of ™ as valuable/useful.

Infomercial not a book

I am a fan of meditation including transcendental meditation. I thought I could learn something from this book. Alas, to my disappointment this book is simply an exercise in name dropping of famous or accomplished people who use TM. You can get a better understanding of that by seeing the same people talk TM on you tube. Almost all of the research presented is based on subjective responses to questionnaires. While the author admits his bias he carefully choses examples that favor TM and goes so far as rigging the game by the examples he choses for other forms of meditation. I repeatedly found myself annoyed to disraction by such a thinly hidden agenda. If audible would allow it I would give it a zero rating.

Author says he won't teach you about TM, HONESTLY.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Stealing ANYBODY ELSE'S work worth 4-5 stars.

Has Super Mind turned you off from other books in this genre?
If you can't trust a peddler of BS, what kind of BS peddler can you trust?

What didn’t you like about Dan Woren’s performance?
How well the performer read the book: slightly above average.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
PTSD.

Any additional comments?
Don't Waste Money Buying This Book. If You Already Have, Bury The Shame Deep. Unfortunately, you can't burn this one.

Narrator has strange emphasis and cadence

The content is great but the narration takes away from the overall impact. I found myself imagining the text spoken differently. I'm not sure why, but the narration made this very serious and interesting content seem more silly.

10 hours of infomercial

What would have made Super Mind better?

Change the title to "Testimonials: The big book of TM Anecdotes." Or write something actually instructional.

Would you ever listen to anything by Norman E. Rosenthal, MD again?

That seems unlikely

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Not sure anyone could make that much testimonial interesting, but I found the reader tedious.

Benefits for everyone!

I wanted to take a few moments and talk about my experience with TM. My story goes back to the mid 80s, when I was a freshman in high school. I don’t recall where I first heard of TM, but somehow I ended up at an introductory lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I remember him saying that students are better able to concentrate and retain information and that thought excited me. However, my mother, who suffered her entire life with mental illness was very much against me doing anything “non-catholic” and refused to let me take the training. After the lecture, I shook Maharishi’s hand with tears of disappointment running down my face. He asked me what was wrong and I told him, “my mom won’t let me learn to meditate”. He simply smiled and said, “then it is not your time to learn”.
Fast forward to 2019: I’m a homeless, disabled veteran with PTSD. I haven’t slept more than three hours in a night because of recurring nightmares. However, I’ve always kept a job, always had my dogs, always read and studied, and always desired life to get better. My dogs and I have been sleeping in a filthy storage shed since January: quite a feat in Alaska. There were quite a few days where I was in the depth of despair, hungry and ready to end my life just to stop the suffering. Since January, I’ve had a deep spiritual yearning. I think I’ve had that my entire life, but it grew in magnitude considerably at that time. I guess when you reach your lowest point, you can only look up. I’ve always been a veracious reader, consuming well over 200 books per year. I’ve read hundreds of books on sales, business, personal-development, etc. One day last month, I was reading a book and the author used the phrase, “it’s not your time to learn”. Immediately I was transported back in time to the mid 80s and my conversation with Maharishi. I remembered TM! A quick Google search took me to the TM.org website. I filled out the form and found out that there was an instructor an hour away. After submitting the form, I watched every TM video on YouTube and read, “Strength in Stillness” by Bob Roth; and, “Supermind” by Norman Rosenthal, M.D. Finally, I was contacted by the TM teacher, Barbara. We met at a local grocery store and I shared a little bit of my story. She told me that she had time that afternoon to begin my training and I needed to bring fruit and flowers. I searched the small grocery store and found a beautiful bouquet of flowers and then headed to the produce area, looking for the perfect fruit. I finally spotted a cluster of grapes that resonated with me and proceeded to checkout. Arriving at Barbara’s apartment, she began a beautiful ceremony of thanks to Guru Dev and then gave me a word that would change my life. She instructed me on how to use my mantra and then led me through my very first meditation. The first thing that I noticed was that my hearing had become extremely acute. I think I could have heard a pin drop a block away. Then I noticed that I was smelling things that I hadn’t noticed before. In the minutes that followed the meditation, as I was attempting to open my eyes, I noticed that they had become sensitive to the light and it took a few minutes for them to adjust. I thanked Barbara and then drove back to the storage unit. That night, I slept five hours with no nightmares! The following morning, I awoke feeling groggy, but pushed myself to get up and meditate. For over 25 years, my back, shoulders and feet have been in constant agony. But I suddenly realized that the pain in my shoulders was gone and the other pains were lessened. I did my morning meditation and then headed to work. Without the intense pain, I was able to concentrate much better. I also had a much higher than usual energy and alertness. That evening, I met Barbara again for my second session. Again, a marvelous experience where I experienced “colors” flashing before me. That night, however, I was unable to sleep. I felt too awake and alert. So I used that time to read more about TM. The third evening, I again met with Barbara and we meditated together. Afterwards, I again slept the entire night with no nightmares. I woke and did my morning session, went to work and then one final meditation with Barbara. Today is my fifth day of meditation using the TM technique. My energy level is amazing, my shoulder doesn’t hurt at all. My back and foot pain have reduced about 40%, my alertness is unreal. I’ve even noticed that my condition of homelessness isn’t bothering me the way it used to. I seem to be filling with hope and witnessing improvements in life that I know will only get better. Today, my boss even commended me for catching some mistakes that he had made at work. And the biggest miracle of all - I was smiling today! I highly recommend finding a TM teacher and starting a regular twice daily routine of TM. Imagine owning a Ferrari your entire life, admiring its beauty and power daily: then one day someone hands you the keys and teaches you to drive it. Your entire life, you could have traveled a breathtaking speeds, but you were unaware of what that machine was capable of doing. That has been my experience with TM. Don’t wait another day, learn to drive that Ferrari and find out what it’s capable of doing!

Title is misleading

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

the title "how to boost performance" was a bit misleading as the whole book focused on scenarios and examples of how wonderful this type of meditation really is, without actually telling you how to do it. It kept stressing that you need to see a specialist to get the full experience.

What could Norman E. Rosenthal MD have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Actually given some details and steps on how to start preparing for this type of meditation.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I wasn't particularly enthralled by the narrators approach. For some reason I was pretty annoyed with the fact that he would change the pitch of his voice when quoting female or male examples.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The thing i kept hearing is my head was, "get on with it, let me hear something new" I found this book quite redundant. Takes a few examples of transcendental meditation and looks at it from a few different perspectives, but really was the same thing being repeated. Additionally, there were numerous time were i felt like they were trying to sell me meditation and to make me go to a "specialist" I'm already interested in this meditation, I don't need additional motivation to read into it. In fact i might have demotivated me in some aspect

Any additional comments?

If you going to write a "How to" book, make sure to include the "how to" part. This book felt, to me, redundant, sales orientated, and over intellectualized.

No Valid Information Shared

What a waste of money... This book is just as useless as Transcendence... No instruction on meditation... Just stories on how others benefit from meditation...