Entering the Mind of the Tracker: Native Practices for Developing Intuitive Consciousness and Discovering Hidden Nature
J**R
A definite read!
For anyone seeking to understand and become a part of the natural world, way beyond the experiences of a modern camper or hiker. I have always suspected the presence of more than I had learned during my years in the woods, and this book opened that door...
A**R
Beyond Just Looking at Tracks
This book is one to keep going back to. Such an enjoyable read. Great storyteller. I learned so much about animals and how to really get in the right mindset of the animal and its story. Highly recommend
L**A
stands out
I enjoy books on tracking. Paul Rezendes, Charles Worsham, and Tom Brown, Jr., for example, all have books out, that are good. Tracking is what native peoples do, when they aren't able to pursue accounting. It is a fascinating language to learn. This book stands out over any other book on tracking I've read. The stories are beyond anything I've seen before. You really get a handle on tracking, with this book. Well, well worth the read, for me at least. Tracking is a useful metaphor for many things in life. Sun Tzu's the Art of War is read by many non-warriors, as the advice it offers is useful in many other fields. I would rank this book, in its way, with the Sun Tzu Ping Fa, the Art of War, or even Musashi's Book of Five Rings. This is something I expect to read and reread, for pleasure, and for learning. Sublimely excellent.
M**.
This one is not really like any of them
I have spent years studying tracking; have read several books on the subject. This one is not really like any of them. There are no pictures of tracks, no charts or measurements, no hard fast rules. What is in here are stories. Stories that teach you to be the creature being tracked. The imagery is vivid and rich, and completely compelling. This is just as much a book on story telling, and using story telling as an effective teaching tool. This book brings life and connection into all the other tracking books you will ever read
N**N
Interesting Book that can open up some new ideas
When I bought this book I wasn't sure what to expect. A tracking manual, a new-age guru nonsense book, or what. I'm pleased to say that it was a book full of interesting stories that, with a little re-reading, can open up you mind to possibilities you may not have considered before reading. The main theme of the book seemed to be that you really have to be a part of the moment and your surroundings in order to fully partake in the track, that life is tracking, and that tracking is ingrained in our very being, much like our animal kin. We're all trackers.The only downside in my opinion, was that it could be a little confusing sometimes, especially when dealing with the authors vocabulary, as when he says "native" he uses the term as if it has the same meaning as Hunter-Gatherer. Not a big deal, but if you don't figure that out in the beginning of the book, then you might be a little confused throughout the whole thing.
B**N
A bit too ego centered
I bought this book a good long while ago and finally finished it. I have to say that it wasn't my favorite tracking book. While it had a good amount of wisdom in it, it seemed as if the author is very ego centered. He spent a great deal of time pointing out how slow everyone else was and how wise he is. Often he did not follow his own advice of living in question. Without even looking he knew all the answers and was amused how the other people in his stories didn't. Living in question is the exact opposite of this. It is the ability to say "I don't know" and then following the trail in a question, not with "I know everything without looking." He also tends to cut down any tracking style other than what he thinks is correct. He states at one time that scientific tracking cannot answer the same questions his intuitive tracking does. Yet the questions he poses can all be answered in the scientific method and be known to be correct instead of just what comes from the imagination. Intuitive tracking has its place and often can help a person out when their scientific tracking skills are not up to the task, but it is not more important nor more correct than scientific tracking. Also, not all human brains work the same. Talk with an engineer, a sculpture, a Veterinarian with an open mind and you will often see they simply think differently than each other. There is not a wrong way or a right way, we each fill in the holes left by the other way of thinking. We NEED these differences to survive. Mocking these differences shows a lack of understanding. Some people just can not think like an artist, but the way they do think can save lives and create worlds different than the artist's mind can. Not better, not worse, just different.Now those of us who do live with the wilds tend to not have the greatest of people skills. I certainly am a good example of this. So I often give those of us a break simply because the best teachers are often the ones that lack the basics in human interaction skills. After all, if we worked well with all people we probably wouldn't go out into the wilderness so much. However, how this author writes tends to lead me to believe that he thinks a bit too highly of himself, a danger many guru type people fall into. This may not be the case in real life, but that is how his writings comes across.Having said that, if you cut out the ego stroking part of the book (which is about 2/3 of it) there is wisdom here. 3 stars because there may be people out there who think tracking is just looking at a track and thinking that's all there can be to tracking. For those people, this book can be very basic in helping them to open up a new way of looking at the sign all energy leaves behind.
J**R
A Valuable Book
Very enjoyable and informative book. The lessons in it are at times subtle and not as direct as some may be accustomed to. It might not appeal to someone who is looking for more of a step by step "how-to" manual on tracking. But for someone who is looking to reach deeper into tracking and go beyond simply identifying a mark in the mud, this book can be a valuable resource.
B**.
Very good book
This is a very fun book to read. Well written. A lot of this is lost in people who enter the wilderness. Must have book for someone wanting to develop a connection with the wild
I**K
Five Stars
good book
B**W
An awesome book !
That's not a tracking guide book nor an animal-prints' encyclopaedia.Not the kind of book that would have its place in your backpack while walking about in Nature.But definitively a book to have read and re-read before going to sleep or in your out-doors hammock.Plenty of short stories in which you can pick up very good universal tips.An "Indian way" of seeing Mother Nature.
J**T
Three Stars
An interesting perspective on tracking...it does as the title suggests.