The Interior Silence
My Encounters with Calm, Joy, and Compassion at 10 Monasteries Around the World
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The Interior Silence
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Sands
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By:
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Sarah Sands
About this listen
A journey around the world to find tranquility, quiet the mind, and understand the power of silence.
Suffering from information overload and unable to sleep, acclaimed journalist Sarah Sands tried countless strategies to de-stress, only to find temporary relief. Searching for something different, something lasting, Sands went on a quest to uncover ancient and proven wisdom for a happier, quieter, and more compassionate life. In this insightful and beautifully written book, Sands takes us along on her pilgrimage to ten monasteries around the world.
In the remoteness of these sacred spaces, Sands observes a hidden knowledge held by monks and nuns—what she calls "the interior silence." Renouncing the material world, their inner concentration buoys them in an extraordinary weightlessness and freedom, an oasis of reflection. Behind the cloistered walls, Sands too finds a clarity of mind and an unexpected capacity for solitude.
From a Coptic desert community in Egypt to a retreat in the Japanese mountains, discover another way of being - moving from appetite, envy, and anxiety to compassion and appreciation. The ultimate remedy for a digital age in which everyone is talking, and no one is listening, this book reminds us of the importance of silence and the power of stillness.
Beyond Mindfulness: The trendiness and explosion of books on meditation and mindfulness does not always solve our modern-day stressors or our fight-or-flight existence. The Interior Silence goes beyond new-age mindfulness to offer traditional wisdom from monks for quieting the mind and embracing simplicity.
Discover Ancient Wisdom: For spiritual readers and wisdom seekers, The Interior Silence takes you directly to the root of these ancient practices, learning from monastic life around the world.
For Armchair Travelers: For listeners who enjoyed The Geography of Bliss, anyone who enjoys learning about new places and cultures, or for those craving a trip, this book will take you to the countryside's, deserts, and mountains of Japan, France, Egypt, Greece, and more.
Digital audio edition read by the author.
©2021 Sarah Sands (P)2021 Chronicle PrismListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Henry Shukman
- Narrated by: Henry Shukman
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 137
This is the story of how a meditation practice gave Henry Shukman a context for integrating a sudden spiritual awakening into his life and how his depression and anxiety were gradually healed through this practice. In sharing how he grew into a Zen teacher, Shukman demystifies Zen training, casting its profound insights in simple, lucid language. Along the way, One Blade of Grass guides listeners on a journey of their own, into the hidden treasures that contemplative practice can reveal to any of us.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Boring
- By Elvis on 09-10-20
By: Henry Shukman
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The Art of Travel
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Nicholas Bell
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4 out of 5 stars 155
Aside from love, few actvities seem to promise us as much happiness as going traveling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs, and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel, few people seem to talk about why we should go and how we can become more fulfilled by doing so.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Dull, suggestions for better alternatives
- By J. Natael on 08-07-13
By: Alain de Botton
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The Seven Storey Mountain
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Sidney Lanier
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,440
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,222
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,213
The Seven Storey Mountain is the extraordinary spiritual testament of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a man who experienced life to its fullest in the world before entering a Trappist monastery. By the end of his life, he had become one of the 20th century's best-known and beloved Christian voices. This autobiography deals...not with what happens to a man, but what happens inside his soul.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Letter to Audible
- By Victoria A. McCargar on 08-06-17
By: Thomas Merton
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The Art of Solitude
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 176
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned 60, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great idea, mediocre execution.
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-20
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The Innocents Abroad
- Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,470
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,308
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,307
In June 1867, Mark Twain set out for Europe and the Holy Land on the paddle steamer Quaker City. His enduring, no-nonsense guide for the first-time traveler also served as an antidote to the insufferably romantic travel books of the period.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Twain's Hidden Gem
- By Cynthia Franks on 05-08-12
By: Mark Twain
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The Amur River
- Between Russia and China
- By: Colin Thubron
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
The Amur River is almost unknown. Yet it is the 10th longest river in the world, rising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific. For 1,100 miles, it forms the tense border between Russia and China. Simmering with the memory of land-grabs and unequal treaties, this is the most densely fortified frontier on Earth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bleak
- By Amazon Customer on 11-03-21
By: Colin Thubron
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Death Comes to the Village
- Kurland St. Mary Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: Catherine Lloyd
- Narrated by: Susannah Tyrrell
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Major Robert Kurland has returned to the quiet vistas of Kurland St. Mary to recuperate from the horrors of Waterloo. However injured his body may be, his mind is as active as ever. Too active, perhaps. When he glimpses a shadowy figure from his bedroom window struggling with a heavy load, the tranquil façade of the village begins to loom sinister....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Starts slowly, gets better
- By TabithaD on 02-16-24
By: Catherine Lloyd
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Small Graces
- The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life
- By: Kent Nerburn
- Narrated by: Kent Nerburn
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives. In 20 elegant pieces, writer, sculptor, and theologian Kent Nerburn celebrates the daily rituals that reveal our deeper truths. Through the exploration of simple acts, Small Graces reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul, honors the body, and engages the mind.
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5 out of 5 stars
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worth every minute spent listening
- By Jory on 02-25-18
By: Kent Nerburn
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Tales of Wonder
- By: Huston Smith
- Narrated by: Michael McConnohie
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Huston Smith, the man who brought the world's religions to the West, was born almost a century ago to missionary parents in China during the perilous rise of the Communist Party. Smith's lifelong spiritual journey brought him face-to-face with many of the people who shaped the 20th century. His extraordinary travels around the globe have taken him to the world's holiest places, where he has practiced religion with many of the great spiritual leaders of our time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Takes of wonder for sure, by a wonderful man.
- By Dr. D. Brian Austin on 04-03-19
By: Huston Smith
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Walking the Kiso Road
- A Modern-Day Exploration of Old Japan
- By: William Scott Wilson
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4 out of 5 stars 44
Take a trip to old Japan with William Scott Wilson as he travels the ancient Kiso Road, a legendary route that remains much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. The Kisoji, which runs through the Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps, has been in use since at least 701 CE. In the 17th century, it was the route that the daimyo (warlords) used for their biennial trips - along with their samurai and porters - to the new capital of Edo (now Tokyo).
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4 out of 5 stars
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Definitely recommended
- By John S. on 06-28-16
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At the Eleventh Hour
- The Biography of Swami Rama
- By: Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Ph.D.
- Narrated by: D. C. Rao Ph.D.
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 100
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
On the surface, this is a biography of an accomplished seeker who mastered the practices of yoga and brought a system for understanding the mysteries of body, mind, and spirit to students in the West. But, like the life of Swami Rama, this audiobook offers more than a sequence of astonishing events. As you read the stories of authentic guru-disciple relationships Swami Rama had both with his master and with his own students, you will see how the spiritual wisdom is transmitted through generations. This book also serves as a guide to advanced practices of yoga and tantra not commonly understood in modern times.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thought provoking and insightful
- By Hari on 03-24-15
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Exile and the Kingdom
- By: Albert Camus
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
From a variety of masterfully rendered perspectives, these six stories depict people at painful odds with the world around them. A wife can only surrender to a desert night by betraying her husband. An artist struggles to honor his own aspirations as well as society's expectations of him. A missionary brutally converted to the worship of a tribal fetish is left with but an echo of his identity. Whether set in North Africa, Paris, or Brazil, the stories in Exile and the Kingdom are probing portraits of spiritual exile, and man's perpetual search for an inner kingdom.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So good!
- By Christopher A. Douglas on 10-24-24
By: Albert Camus
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Cave in the Snow
- Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment
- By: Vicki Mackenzie
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton, Vicki Mackenzie, Tenzin Palmo
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Story5 out of 5 stars 177
This is the story of Tenzin Palmo, the daughter of a fishmonger from London's East End who became a Tibetan nun. After meditating for 12 years in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, she became a world-renowned spiritual leader and champion of the right of women to achieve spiritual enlightenment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Audio version is best format for this book
- By Mark on 06-11-17
By: Vicki Mackenzie
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Heartwood
- The Art of Living with the End in Mind
- By: Barbara Becker
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story5 out of 5 stars 41
When her earliest childhood friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Becker sets off on a quest to immerse herself in what it means to be mortal. Can we live our lives more fully knowing some day we will die? With a keen eye toward that which makes life worth living, interfaith minister, mom, and perpetual seeker Barbara Becker recounts stories where life and death intersect in unexpected ways.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The author’s compassion
- By Amazon Customer on 04-16-24
By: Barbara Becker
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Brigid of Kildare
- A Novel
- By: Marie Benedict
- Narrated by: Terry Donnelly
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
Rich in historical detail, Heather Terrell’s mesmerizing novel Brigid of Kildare is the story of the revolutionary Saint Brigid and the discovery of the oldest illuminated manuscript in the annals of the church, a manuscript that contains an astonishing secret history. Fifth-century Ireland: Brigid is Ireland’s first and only female priest and bishop. Followers flock to her Kildare abbey and scriptorium. Hearing accounts of Brigid’s power, the church deems her a threat and sends Decius, a Roman priest and scribe, on a secret mission to collect proof of Brigid’s heresy.
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1 out of 5 stars
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this says by Marie Benedict.
- By coach on 01-19-21
By: Marie Benedict
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An Altar in the World
- A Geography of Faith
- By: Barbara Brown Taylor
- Narrated by: Barbara Brown Taylor
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 444
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 376
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 376
From simple practices such as walking, working, and getting lost to deep meditations on topics like prayer and pronouncing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see. Something as ordinary as hanging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of devotion if we pay attention to what we are doing and take time to attend to the sights, smells, and sounds around us. Making eye contact with the cashier at the grocery store becomes a moment of true human connection.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sorry Audible.
- By Evert on 07-19-13