Books
Opening Yourself
The Psychology and Yoga of Self-Liberation
AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON AND SUMERU
- Calm the mind and tune into your inner sense
- Deepen authentic presence and see through self-illusions
- Open yourself to the natural ease and wonderment of being
The human predicament is such that we continually strive to fill an inner sense of wanting that afflicts us throughout our lives. The recurring sense of inner discontent arises as the desire for something less (bad) or more (enjoyable) than what is happening just now!
We repeatedly find ourself at odds with others, the world, and most painfully of all, with ourself. All our efforts to get to a better there and then always fail sooner or later, for the simple reason that we can only ever be here and now. Buddhist and radical Existential psychology see through this dilemma. They each recognize there is an essential wholeness to human being that is lost to everyday consciousness.
The first part of this book presents how, in the course of normal human development, consciousness divides. In early childhood, a separate sense of self congeals as we construe ourself as a being apart from being as such. However, the self we identify as, and constantly strive to fulfill, promote and defend, is nothing but a chimera, a self-construct no more real than an image in a mirror. Ironically, it is the pain of this basic separation that gives rise to the lifelong longing for wholeness. Respecting the existential intelligence of our discontent, it becomes possible to reclaim awareness from being lost in its own projections, and tune in to the undivided presence that allows this to happen.
Respecting this dizzying truth, the book’s second part presents a contemplative yoga approach to free ourself from self-illusions. This integrates the skilful means of experience-near therapy, Buddhist meditation and the nondual wisdom of Dzogchen – the highest Tibetan yoga – in the service of opening ourself to the fluid, luminous nature of who we truly are rather than who we merely think we are.
In the service of broadening the range of psychological inquiry and deepening the reach of spiritual realization, this book offers a practical guide for therapists and therapy clients, Dharma teachers and truth seekers. It proceeds by tuning in to innate intelligence, in order to see through self-fabrications to the unfettered freedom, ease and ecstatic lucency of being as such.
The I of the Other
Mindfulness-based Diagnosis and the Question of Sanity
Since any therapeutic relationship begins with getting to know the mind of an Other, it is appropriate that a holistic revisioning of psychology begin by considering the knowing we refer to as “clinical diagnosis.” This involves debunking experience-distant psychiatric diagnosis (DSM), and presenting a relationally-robust, experience-near alternative to the knowing of other minds.
This book is the first to apply a Buddhist informed mindfulness-based approach to psychological assessment. It is also the first application of the Phenomenological method to clinical psychodiagnosis. These two cutting-edge approaches are intertwined in a way that contributes to the emerging cross-cultural, integrative trend in Psychology.
A section on the Question of Sanity proceeds beyond both phenomenological research and much of the current “Mindfulness-Based” literature, which is largely technique-focused, presenting a foundation of Buddhist & Existential nondual wisdom upon which contemplatively-robust psycho-, somatic, and energy-based therapy practices can be grounded.
Listening from the Heart of Silence
Nondual Wisdom & Psychotherapy, Volume 2
Listening from the Heart of Silence refers to a quality of listening that is nondualistic in being both spacious and extremely intimate. It comes from and points to the silent, lucid openness of being – what can be called the Heart.
When we listen from the heart of silence, we invite healing on the deepest level, welcoming everything just as it is. This is as true in our ordinary relationships as it is in the specialized relationship between therapist and client. Once the heart of silence is fully recognized, our lives begin to move from the inside out with greater honesty, love, spontaneity and power, radiating out like concentric circles on the surface of a pond. Our lives increasingly embody our deepest truth.
All psychological suffering is ultimately rooted in misunderstanding the nature of who we truly are. The vital current of nondual wisdom implicit in the world’s great spiritual traditions directly addresses the origins of the sense of lack and separation that are the basis of human suffering. This book is an anthology exploring the rich interface between authentic spiritual understanding and depth psychology.