This Sounds True Audio Learning Course from poet, philosopher, and bestselling author Mark Nepo delivers a multidimensional and masterful probe on the art of staying awake, being present, and holding nothing back. This "ordinary art" requires intention and constant spiritual practice but the rewards are abundant — a meaningful life of passion and zest. There are 8 CDs (eight hours and 23 minutes) which speak to the heart. Nepo shares his own poetry along with wisdom of great spiritual teachers and writers down through the centuries.

To give you a sampler of the breadth and depth of material covered on Staying Awake, here is a list of the themes on the first disc: listening to life, the inner experience, returning to reliable truths, the fall into life, the soul's calling and the call of the soul, the sanctity of experience, alone and together, within you I find me, the wisdom of strangers, experience opens our compassion, the gifts of paradox, and love at first seeing.

We were happy to discover new slants and fresh approaches to some of Spirituality & Practice's core 37 spiritual practices — listening, compassion, enthusiasm, faith, grace, teachers, transformation, joy, attention, and being present. Mark Nepo is a wise, brilliant, humble, and imaginative guide to matters of the heart and the soul. As a cancer survivor, he knows that every human hardship, suffering, and pain can open the door to new possibilities and personal transformation. He admonishes us to stay awake so we do not miss the beauty and the bounty of life's special surprises.