Awake at Work: 35 Practical Buddhist Principles for Discovering Clarity and Balance in the Midst of Work's Chaos [Paperback]

Michael Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 2006

When we think of work, we often think of drudgery, frustration, and stress. For too many of us, work is the last place in our lives we expect to experience satisfaction, fulfillment, or spiritual growth. In this unique book, Michael Carroll—a meditation teacher, executive coach, and corporate director—shares Buddhist wisdom on how to transform the common hassles and anxieties of the workplace into valuable opportunities for heightened wisdom and enhanced effectiveness. Carroll shows us how life on the job—no matter what kind of work we do—can become one of the most engaging and fulfilling areas of our lives.

At its heart, Awake at Work offers thirty-five principles that we can use throughout our day to revitalize our work as well as our understanding of ourselves and others. Carroll invites readers to contemplate these slogans and to use them on-the-spot, in the midst of work's chaos, to develop clarity, wisdom, and inspiration. Along the way, Carroll presents a variety of techniques and insights to help us acknowledge work, with all its complications, as "a valuable invitation to fully live our lives." In an engaging, accessible, and often humorous style, Awake at Work offers readers a path to rediscovering our natural sense of intelligence, confidence, and delight on the job.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carroll, a businessman and graduate of a Buddhist seminary, brings the sitting cushion into the boardroom with this collection of teachings designed to illuminate the power that mindfulness—"being somewhere completely"—can have at work. By surrendering to the moment, one becomes "alert, open, and unusually skillful," and in this way, Carroll asserts, "our work actually becomes our spiritual path." In brief, accessible chapters, Carroll expounds some 35 slogans designed to be both fodder for meditation and mnemonic devices for when that particular message can help the most, during an opportune moment at work. Many of the slogans are catchy, and their teachings are pointed and easy to recall: "Welcome the tyrant" helps one to disarm a cranky boss; "Avoid idiot compassion" reminds one to eschew giving merely superficial help. But other slogans are more obscure and their teachings more convoluted: "Study the six confusions" and "Extend the four composures." Carroll relates the spiritual principles to practical business settings—such as cherishing the "small boredom" of an elevator ride—and casual readers will gain some helpful tips for handling their professional lives. Yet for the uninitiated, Carroll's simple mindfulness slogans may appear merely simplistic, leaving the slogans' greatest impact for those who already have some experience with—and faith in—the practice of mindfulness training.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"If you're thinking about really showing up for the tens of thousands of hours you'll spend working during your life, you'll want to read this book."—Shambhala Sun

"One of the best books ever written about practicing spirituality on the job."—Spirituality and Health

"Highly recommended."—Mandala

"Refreshingly practical and down to earth."—The Beacon



"A revelatory book that brilliantly applies Buddhist principles to the life of work and vice versa."—Warren Bennis, University Professor, University of Southern California, and author of On Becoming a Leader


"Michael Carroll does not just write about being awake at work; he has lived that awakening, thoroughly and inventively. His adaptation of Buddhist mindfulness to the complexities of modern employment is a singular and valuable accomplishment, giving us pithy exhortations and detailed instructions for being awake and aware in every workplace situation."—Lewis Richmond, author of Work as a Spiritual Practice

"An invaluable guide to surviving—and thriving—in today's demanding business environments. I've drawn on Michael's brilliant and wise advice for years. Now everyone can benefit from his wealth of insight and experience."—Deborah Dugan, president, Disney Publishing Worldwide

"A truly unique book. The wisdom that has been developed in two very different realms—that of business and spiritual practice—join together to create much richer insight and wisdom. Given the struggles of these times, these teachings are extremely important."—Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (February 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590302729
• ISBN-13: 978-1590302729
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.7 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Injury Prevention

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Applying Practical Spirituality at Work May 28, 2007

By Dr. Richard G. Petty VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Most of us spend a third of our adult lives at work, and for many it is not much fun. It becomes something that we do to pay the bills, rather than being a fulfilling activity in which we can be fully engaged. Even for people in the professions that require a lot of thinking, work often becomes a bit of a hindbrain activity that people can do in their sleep.

For the last three decades I have been asking three questions:
"Why do so many people sleep walk through life?"
"Would they thank us if they woke up?" and
"What could we do to help them wake up?"

The author of this important book helps provide some answers. He founded Awake at Work Associates, a consultancy that specializes in helping organizations and individuals apply mindfulness awareness in the workplace, to help both recover balance and well-being in work. Michael Carroll is both a practicing Buddhist who is an authorized teacher in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and has over two decades experience in human resources in several large companies. He teaches mindfulness meditation at the Omega Institute, New York Open Center, and the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia.

Michael encourages us to explore our relationships to work and his book is full of practical and uplifting suggestions that are grounded in his work in meditation.

One good example is this: he points out that if we are going to be awake at work, we need to understand how we fell asleep. In Tibetan Buddhism, meditators study the six confusions or "mindsets that describe how we imprison ourselves at work." He then applies these six confusions in the workplace:
Work as drudgery
Work as war
Work as addiction
Work as entertainment
Work as inconvenience
Work as a problem

As he says, "recognizing that we, not work are imprisoning ourselves is critical if we expect to discover well-being in our livelihoods." So he provides precise ways of "letting go" of the imbalances that work can introduce into our lives by cultivating authenticity and a right code of conduct.

He also describes a practice that he calls "enrichment," that can be used to used to resolve conflicts. The idea is that in an adversarial situation, we should not try to defend our own truth or position, or to find some way in which we can benefit, but to act with good will to produce an outcome that is mutually beneficial. This is more than just trying to find the win/win in a situation: it is a broader concept that goes beyond personal gain to try and find the greater good. This may sound like something easier said than done, but the book contains good advice on how to attain this.

What I particularly like about this book is that it is an exercise in practical spirituality. A spirituality that we visit for an hour or two a week may be fine for some people, but the real value of a spiritual life is that it can be something that can inform all of our actions, from education, to work, sex and politics.

Highly recommended.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Meditator's Guide to the World of Work June 30, 2005

By Milarepa VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It's unfortunate that a great book like this one receives negative comments from two previous reviewers because it's clear that both readers completely misunderstood the concept and purpose of this book. This is not a book about dealing with "difficult people" and it's not a "New Age" blend of "groovy" ideas. It's also not "practical" in the sense of being yet another foolish book with a list of 7 steps you can apply at work tomorrow so you can take over the company. This book is about the application of real spiritual practice in the environment of work. It's about learning taking Buddhist meditative disciplines from the meditation cushion and applying them in the real world.

If there were a flaw with this book I think it would be that in order to really understand what the author is talking about, the reader would need some understanding of the principles of meditation. Better yet, the reader would be a meditator.

If you are interested in learning how to translate your spiritual and/or meditative practice to the work place, this is an excellent guide. This is a book about long-term practice, not quick fix. This isn't a book for everyone.

Buddhist practice and meditation has been around for something like 3,000 years, why this ancient and noble practice is described as "New Age" is beyond me.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So Good I've Worn Out Two July 17, 2006

By K. L. Hanson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was a godsend for me. I read a section of it EVERY morning before I go to work. I've worn out two copies and just ordered more. If your job gets under skin in any way, shape or form, do yourself a large favor and get this. And by the way, you can swap the word "work" with "life" and the wisdom becomes even broader. GREAT BOOK.