Awakening: Exposing the Voice of the Mosaic Mind

I have struggled for years with MY SELF! LISTENING TO SELF DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS! TRYING TO MAKE DECISONS! FRUSTRATING EMOTIONS! MIS-READING INTO OTHERS EMOTIONS! INSECURITIES! Dr. Waller's book told me how to "stop the madness"!! (If I may use the old saying!!) I feel so set free!!! I grasped his concept of "Awakening" so fast...and literally, began using "it" the day the book arrived! I HAD to talk to him, not believing it was as SIMPLE AS HE MAKES IT SOUND. He uses real dialog from therapy clients as well as solid scientific facts about how our brains are conditioned from a YOUNG age!! I highly recommended this book. I wish I would have know about this technique YEARS ago. I could have saved soooo much time and money. THIS concept could put traditional therapy out of practice!! Then again, there could still be those out there that THRIVE on DRAMA and TRAMA!! NOT ME!! :) I look forward to his other books! Lisa Awakening: Exposing the Voice of the Mosaic Mind

This is a terrific book for anyone interested in meditation and/or psychology. Dr. Waller's method of witnessing thoughts appears to be a shortcut or alternative route to the spiritual development (and ultimately self realization) that many practices teach is only avaialbe through meditation. I would recommend reading Waller's "The Dance of the Lion and the Unicorn" first as it provides a lot of background information that is discussed in this book.

Mark Waller is a beacon for change within his profession. From therapy to awakening, this cutting edge book is a direct, intimate pointer for those truly ready to awaken and end suffering. ~ Katie Davis, Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment

I found this book The Awakening to be one of the best books I have ever read. As a social worker, we are trained to analyze people's problems, challenge them, utilize theories such as cognitive behavioral or family systems. In fact, during job interviews, many ask what theory I belong to. If I said, " Witness Transformation" and listening to my thoughts, they would never in a million years understand. Dr. Waller takes the time to explain, educate, and make sense of how our brain reacts to certain situations. This is a must read book by any clinician and a must read book for anyone suffering from what I call "inner demons" It's not something that transforms right away because our brain has been conditioned to fall into what Dr. Waller refers to as the drama of our life's problems. This does take practice, but this book was excepetional because I could always turn back to it and remember what I was supposed to be doing, instead of fighting the drama.

Although the first couple of chapters start out somewhat slow and cover familiar territory, the following chapters come alive as Dr. Waller uses the latest brain research to illustrate how our everyday perceptions (including the multi-hued "voice" in our head) are continuously being colored by the conditioned and reactionary limbic system. He later links the capacity for awareness (i.e., the ability to silently witness the voice/thoughts) to the prefrontal lobes, and presents a simple method for learning to rest in this witnessing consciousness. He also presents good case studies and testimonies of clients who have been taught this simple but effective method (Witness Thought Therapy), and the results seem to be very effective. Essentially, he outlines his research in a way that makes this witnessing consciousness fairly easy to rest in, without having to resort to years of extensive meditation practice. What makes witnessing so effective is that it allows us to be aware that the conditioned mind (i.e., the voice we hear in our heads continuously, programming, emotional reactions, etc.) is not us. It allows an effective disidentification with habitual patterns so that the "automatic feedback loop" of the limbic system is broken, allowing fresh awareness to penetrate problematic patterns and for true freedom to emerge. Having practiced meditation for some time, I found my ability to rest in witness consciousness quite improved as a result of reading this book, so that it was easier to recognize the voice in my head as the result of the emotional conditioning of the past. The information in this book has really served to help me know my true Self, and thus let go of habitual, conditioned patterns. As a psychology student, I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially psychologists, therapists and professionals.