The Art of Living Consciously

Consciousness is our basic tool for successful adaptation to reality. The more conscious we are in any situation, the more possibilities we tend to perceive, the more options we have, the more powerful we are — perhaps even the longer we will live.

Living consciously means seeking to be aware of everything that bears on our actions, purposes, values, and goals — and behaving in accordance with that which we see and know.

Practiced consistently, mindfulness is an orientation, a discipline, a spiritual commitment.

In this book, Nathaniel Branden takes us into new territory, exploring the actions of our minds when they are operating as our life and well-being require — and also when they are not. In this book, Branden clearly illuminates what mindfulness means:

– in the workplace (what does it mean to work consciously?)
– in the area of romantic love (what does it mean to love consciously?)
– in child-rearing (what does it mean to parent consciously?)
– in the pursuit of personal development (what does it mean to participate consciously in the process of one’s own evolution?)

One of the book’s most exciting ideas is that of the spirituality of reason, which invites us to rethink our assumptions about both rationality and spirituality.

The practice of living consciously invites us to rethink many of our beliefs about our everyday activities, about morality, about life in the Information Age, about God. Today we are exposed to an unprecedented amount of information and an unprecedented number of opinions about every conceivable aspect of life. We are thrown on our own resources as never before — and we have nothing to protect us but the clarity of our thinking. “The Art of Living Consciously” is an operating manual for our basic tool of survival. It is also a call to the best within us.

In this new book, Nathaniel Branden examines in unprecedented depth what it means to live consciously — from the most intimate areas of life, to the workplace, to the social/political arena. One of the most exciting ideas he introduces is that of the spirituality of reason. This is an operations manual for our basic tool of survival — the mind — and a summons to the best within us.