Buddhist Geek Daniel Thorson recently spoke with Ron Couch on practice and life. More info of Mr. Couch can be found below the video.

Buddhist Geeks - Practice and Life: Ron Crouch

Streamed live on Oct 12, 2013

The following is from Ron Couch's website, Aloha Dharma, in the "About" section.

Who is Ron? 

I am a psychologist living in Hawaii who teaches meditation. I am a new dad (that picture is of me and my little boy), and a pretty ordinary guy. If you met me at a party you wouldn’t think that I teach meditation at all. I’d be the guy eating nachos and drinking a beer - I don’t wear beads or talk in mystical ways – that sort of thing is just tied up with ego anyway. I called this site Aloha Dharma partly because I wanted to emphasize how relaxed and open the teachings can be, you don’t have to be conversant in Pali or have been on a lot of retreats to learn meditation and even become enlightened.

Wait – did he just say enlightened?

Yes – enlightened. I was drawn to my teacher because he openly explained that enlightenment happened to him and how he did it. That practical no-nonsense open spirit informs my teachings too. While in many meditation and contemplative communities it is an unspoken rule that you don’t openly discuss where you are on the path (or even where the teacher is on the path), I am comfortable breaking with this tradition because the benefit is tremendous for students in terms of their confidence and higher expectations.

So what does Ron actually teach?

I teach insight or “Vipassana” meditation. There are several techniques for doing this, but the most useful one is the “noting” technique. Meditation with noting means that the practitioner literally makes a “note,” either silently or aloud, of what they are experiencing in that moment. As the meditator begins to master this practice there are specific states and stages that they go through. These are the insight stages or “nanas” and concentration states “jhanas.” My job as a teacher is to help students navigate through these parts of the path.

Ron’s Bio

I started meditating around 2002 for reasons that I can’t remember. I think I saw some people on TV doing it or read an article about it. I had read a few Buddhist books before this and was really interested in the intellectual aspects of it, but hadn’t really put it into practice. I was living in Alaska, and during the long dark winters there the meditation gave me something to do with my time and helped me to shake off the restlessness of cabin fever. For a number of years (perhaps 3) I continued in a spotty way, just doing it to relax. It worked. I felt better and could handle stress with more ease.

At some point I got involved in a Sri Lankan temple in Washington DC, where I had moved to start college. As a volunteer project I was teaching the monks conversational english, and started taking meditation classes and going to Dharma talks. Getting ever more involved, but not in a purposeful way. It just happened. Eventually I even went to Sri Lanka and meditated in a monastery for a couple of weeks. I learned to meditate by concentrating the mind on the breath to the exclusion of all else.

It was around this time that I began to have more mystical type experiences: lights, exciting feelings running around my body, tingling, tickling sensations around the third eye area… I was hooked! Problem was, I had no idea what was happening. It was just about this time that I moved to Chicago to go to grad school, and lost contact with my monk friends.

For a few years, during breaks from studying and research, I prowled the internet and book stores trying to figure out what was happening to me when I meditated. I was now meditating regularly, and experienced the lights and other fireworks daily. It was like I was living a secret life. Mild-mannered grad student by day, mystical cosmonaut by night. I didn’t share any of this with anyone (who would believe me?) and I was really hungry to know more. To my surprise most of the books I found on meditation had nothing in them about what I was experiencing. Sometimes authors would speak of “light” or other things, but it was impossible to tell if they were speaking metaphorically or if they were referring to my experience. It was pretty disheartening and invalidating. After all, if none of these big name meditation gurus were describing what I experienced, how important could it really be?

Finally I ran across a description of the Jhanas. That sent me into a fit. I found a small number of authors who explained that symptoms like the ones I had were a prelude to entering into “Jhana.” They explained that there are eight Jhanas that meditators access in order and that these are the blissful states that progressively clarify the mind and set the conditions for enlightenment. I read everything I could and became a big fan of Ajahn Brahm, Ayya Khema, Leigh Brasington, Bhante Gunaratana, Tina Rassmussen and Steven Snyder. I still am a big fan. I became convinced that what was happening was that I was getting strong access concentration and that I was beginning to experience a “samadhi nimita” which is the sign that you are about to enter the first jhana. For about three years I tried and tried to get first jhana. I concentrated my butt off. Still, all I got were lights and a few fireworks. No jhana.

Then, when I was listening to the Buddhist Geeks Podcast I heard a meditation teacher explain that he knew for certain that “ordinary people can get enlightened… because it happened to me.” He went on to explain that he did it through following the insight meditation techniques and the maps laid out in the progress of insight. The teacher’s name was Kenneth Folk, and I was shocked that he claimed enlightenment. I was also blown away that he did it with a technique I had never even tried. I had heard of vipassana, but hadn’t really given it a sincere try. By this point I felt so stuck in the mud that I was willing to try anything to make progress. I sent Kenneth an email and asked if he would teach me. My first real teacher.

With the guidance of a teacher I learned that along with the jhanas, there was another roadmap of the path to enlightenment called the “nanas”, or stages of insight. While there were eight jhanas, and I couldn’t access the first one, there were sixteen nanas, and by sincerely applying the technique I accessed the first four right away. In addition, I learned that the map didn’t end at the nanas. The first 16 nanas comprised the first section of four larger sections, or “paths”. According this map, also known as the “four path model”, once a person has worked their way through the fourth path, a shift in perception takes place, a deeply profound shift, and this shift is enlightenment. Under the guidance of a teacher, I navigated the traditional insight stages and found that they are real, and the end of the path is real too.

Susan Piver - Start Here Now: Beginning a Meditation Practice — A Free Webinar

On April 10 (Wednesday) from 1 pm to 2:15 pm EDT (Show in my Time Zone), Buddhist teacher and author Susan Piver is offering a FREE introduction to Beginning a Meditation Practice. Susan is the author of How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening Your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy, and Joy, The Wisdom of a Broken Heart: How to Turn the Pain of a Breakup into Healing, Insight, and New Love, and many other books.

She is a wonderful, compassionate teacher - if this is a class you can use, sign up now.

START HERE NOW: BEGINNING A MEDITATION PRACTICE — A FREE WEBINAR

I became a Buddhist and started practicing meditation in 1995. 10 years later, I became a meditation teacher. First as a student and now as a teacher, I have seen over and over again how helpful, important, and profound this simple practice is. I feel so strongly about this that in 2011 I started The Open Heart Project, an online meditation community. Currently, around ten thousand people sit down to meditate with me every day. Throughout all of these experiences, I’ve learned what the most common questions are and about the obstacles we all encounter–and their antidotes. I want to share some of this with you during this 75-minute free webinar. I hope to hear your questions and offer helpful answers!

TOPICS

• What is meditation?
• What is it not?
• The most common misconceptions
• The obstacles we all encounter and how to overcome them
• A review of the various styles and how to choose the one that is right for you
• How to begin–where, what, how long, how often?
• Where to go for support
• And whatever you’d like to bring up.

Attendance is actually limited (seriously!) so please sign up now. Many people are interested in meditation but don’t know where to begin, so I expect this will fill up fast. It will be recorded. I hope to see you there!

REGISTER NOW

The Power of Forgiveness - Gina Sharpe (Tricycle)

As much as I like this article and I think it is good to practice forgiveness when we can, I am not convinced that it is always the best choice. Gina Sharpe quotes Jack Kornfield: “Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past.” I like this perspective, but I might exchange the word "forgiveness" with "acceptance." For many of us, acceptance is giving up all hope of a better past. And that is a good place to begin.

This comes from Tricycle's Wisdom Collection.

The Power of Forgiveness

Our ability to forgive allows us to meet suffering—our suffering as well as the suffering of others—with a kind heart.

by Gina Sharpe

Forgiveness is not simple. When we have been harmed, hurt, betrayed, abandoned, or abused, forgiveness can often seem to be out of the question. And yet, unless we find some way to forgive, we will hold that hatred and fear in our hearts forever. Imagine what the world would be like without forgiveness. Imagine what it would be like if every one of us carried every single hurt, every single resentment, all the anger that came up, when we felt betrayed. If we just kept that in our hearts and never let it go, it would be unbearable. Without forgiveness, we’re forced to carry the sufferings of the past. As Jack Kornfield says, “Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past.” In that sense, forgiveness is really not about someone’s harmful behavior; it’s about our own relationship with our past. When we begin the work of forgiveness, it is primarily a practice for ourselves.

Maha Ghosananda, a Theravada monk who was known as “the Gandhi of Cambodia,” used to lead dhammayietra (“pilgrimage of truth”) walks in the early 1990s, after peace accords ending the civil war between the Khmer Rouge and the new Cambodian government had been signed. When Maha Ghosananda died in 2007 at the age of 78, an obituary in The Economist detailed his experiences walking through Cambodia after the war: He often found war still raging. Shells screamed over the walkers, and firefights broke out round them. Some were killed. The more timid ran home, but Ghosananda had chosen his routes deliberately to pass through areas of conflict. Sometimes the walkers found themselves caught up in long lines of refugees, footsore like them, trudging alongside oxcarts and bicycles piled high with mattresses and pans and live chickens. “We must find the courage to leave our temples,” Ghosananda insisted, “and enter the suffering-filled temples of human experience.”

Now, though the Khmer Rouge had outlawed nostalgia, had razed the monasteries and thrown the mutilated Buddha statues into the rivers, old habits stirred. As they caught Ghosanada’s chant, “Hate can never be appeased by hate; hate can only be appeased by love,” soldiers laid down their arms and knelt by the side of the road. Villagers brought water to be blessed and plunged glowing incense sticks into it to signal the end of war. . . . He could not stay out of the world. Rather than devoting himself to monastic scholarship, he built hut-temples in the refugee camps.

Maha Ghosananda built those temples even though he was told by the remnants of the Khmer Rouge that if he dared to open these temples he would be killed. As thousands of refugees arrived at the temples, Maha Ghosanada handed out dog-eared photocopies of the Buddha’s Metta Sutta:

With a boundless heart

Should one cherish all living beings:

Radiating kindness over the entire world,

Spreading upwards to the skies,

And downwards to the depth.

This story is a powerful reminder of what forgiveness can do. Maha Ghosananda’s family was wiped out by the Khmer Rouge, and during their reign Buddhist monks were labeled as social parasites. They were defrocked, forced into labor fields, or murdered: out of 60,000 monks, only 3,000 remained in Cambodia after the war. But despite all that he had suffered during the Khmer Rouge regime, Maha Ghosananda was able to find forgiveness in his heart.

Forgiveness releases us from the power of fear and allows us to see kindly with a wise heart. First, we need to understand forgiveness: then we learn how it is practiced, and then how we may forgive ourselves and others. The Buddha said, “If it were not possible to free the heart from entanglement and greed, hate, fear, and delusion, I would not teach you or ask you to do so.” The power of forgiveness releases us from the power of fear. Our practice of lovingkindness can be enhanced by our practice of forgiveness, because it allows us to see with kind eyes and to rest in a wise and peaceful heart. In any moment, we can learn to let go of hatred and fear and rest in peace and forgiveness—it’s never, ever too late. But in order to cultivate a truly loving and kind heart, we need to develop the practices that cultivate and strengthen forgiveness and the natural compassion within us. Our ability to forgive allows us to make space for our ability to meet suffering—our suffering as well as the suffering of others—with a kind heart.

Forgiveness does not gloss over what has happened in a superficial way. The practice is not about planting a smile on our face and saying, “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” It’s not a misguided effort to suppress our pain or to ignore it. If you’ve suffered a great injustice, coming to forgiveness may include a long process of grief and outrage and sadness and loss and pain. Forgiveness is a deep process, which is repeated over and over and over again in our hearts. It honors the grief and it honors the betrayal. And in its own time, it ripens into the freedom to truly forgive. And if we look honestly at our own lives, we can see the sorrows and pain that have led to our own wrongdoing. We’re not just victims; sometimes we also need to be forgiven. And in this way we can finally extend forgiveness to ourselves and hold the pain that we have caused in the heart of compassion. Without such mercy we would live in isolation or in exile.

As you do the following forgiveness practices, let yourself feel whatever small or large release there is in your heart. Or if there is no release, notice that too. And if you are not ready to forgive, that’s all right. Sometimes the process of forgiveness takes a lifetime, and that’s perfectly fine. You can unfold in your own time and in your own way. We’re not trying to manufacture some kind of feeling, so if all you can muster is the understanding that harm was done, that’s perfectly okay. Emotions will come not because we force them to but because they’re there, because they’re an expression of some deep feeling inside. So if as a result of the harm, there were ways in which your heart closed or your feelings closed, you can acknowledge that too as part of the harm. Whatever you feel, you feel. And whatever you don’t feel, you don’t feel. Forgiveness is an attitude of welcoming and inviting and spaciousness rather than some emotion that we pump up in our bodies and minds and hearts.

We practice with the faith that as we do the repetitions, the body, mind, and heart learn. That’s the beauty of these practices, we learn that we’re not in control of the fruits of our practice, but we are in control of how we do the practice—whether we do it with patience and diligence and determination and wisdom and effort and energy. We’re not in control of how it then manifests in our life. We’re not trying to make anything happen, because in the trying to make something happen, we will miss the beauty and the delight of what does happen.

~ Gina Sharpe is a cofounder of New York Insight Meditation Center, where she currently serves as the guiding teacher, and a core teacher at Insight Meditation Society in, Barre, MA.

Image: After Attar's 'The Conference of the Birds' V, 45 inches by 45 inches, watercolor/paper, 2006. © Francesco Clemente. Courtesy: Mary Boone Gallery, New York. 

* * *

Forgiveness Practice

This practice of forgiveness comes in three parts: forgiveness from others, forgiveness for ourselves, and forgiveness for those who have hurt or harmed us. This is not a coercive practice, so if we feel that we don’t want to ask for forgiveness, then we don’t have to. If we think we can’t forgive ourselves, we can sit quietly and see if there’s any small, even tiny little opening in our hearts that can allow just the smallest amount of light to come in. And if we feel that we can’t extend forgiveness to others because we think that something is completely unforgivable, then we can know that too. During this practice we reflect on whatever resentment or bitterness we’re holding onto and how that is working in our own hearts. And if you think that there is just a tiny little amount that you can forgive, then that’s fine too. This is a deep, unfolding process that can take a lifetime to work through.

You may not want to take on the largest thing that you’ve not been willing to forgive up to now, but maybe you can address some small offenses. Let your heart get some exercise in forgiveness. You want to start with something that isn’t quite so overwhelming and allow the heart to begin to exercise. It’s like exercising a muscle in our bodies. We don’t start with the 500-pound weight. We start maybe with a couple of small barbells, and we work with those to get the muscle going. And then eventually it may be strong enough to take up heavier and heavier weights. In the same way, with forgiveness practice, you may want to start small.

Sit comfortably and allow the eyes to close and the breath to be natural and easy. Let the body and the mind relax. Feel your connection to the earth. Breathe gently into your whole body, especially into your heart.

As you’re breathing, feel all the barriers that you’ve erected and the emotions you’ve carried because you haven’t forgiven yourself or others. Let yourself feel the pain of keeping your heart closed.

Forgiveness from Others

As you are breathing into your heart and feeling any hardness there, repeat silently to yourself, “There are many ways that I have hurt or harmed others. And I remember them now. Ways that I have betrayed, abandoned, or caused suffering, knowingly or unknowingly, out of my pain, fear, anger, or confusion.” Let yourself remember and visualize the ways you have hurt others. See pain that you may have caused with your own fear and confusion. Sense that you can finally release this burden and ask for forgiveness. Take as much time as you need to picture the memory that burdens your heart. And as each person comes to mind, just gently say, “I ask for your forgiveness. I ask for your forgiveness.”

Forgiveness for Ourselves

To ask forgiveness for yourself, repeat silently, “Just as I have caused suffering to others, there are many ways that I have hurt and harmed myself. I have betrayed or abandoned myself many times in thought, word, or deed, knowingly or unknowingly.” Let yourself remember the ways that you have harmed yourself. And extend forgiveness for each act of harm, one by one. “For the ways that I have hurt myself through action or inaction, out of fear, pain, and confusion, I now extend a full and heartfelt forgiveness. I forgive myself. I forgive myself. I forgive myself.”

Forgiveness for Those Who Have Hurt or Harmed Us

To extend forgiveness to those who have hurt or harmed you, repeat, “There are many ways I have been harmed by others, abused or abandoned, knowingly or unknowingly, by thought, word, or deed.” Picture the ways you have felt harmed. Remember them. We’ve each been betrayed. Let yourself remember the ways that this may have been true for you, and feel the sorrow you have carried from the past. And now, sense that it’s possible to release this burden by extending forgiveness gradually as your heart is ready. Don’t force it; every harm does not have to be forgiven in one sitting. The point is to exercise in a very small way something that you think you are ready to forgive right now. Gently repeat to yourself, “I remember the many ways that I have been hurt, wounded, or harmed. And I know that it was out of another’s pain, confusion, fear, anger. I have carried this pain in my heart long enough. To the extent that I am ready, I offer you forgiveness. You who have caused me harm, I offer my heartfelt forgiveness. I forgive you.”

These three practices for forgiveness may be gently repeated until you feel a release in your heart. For some great pain you may not feel a release. Instead, you may experience again the burden or the anger that you’re holding onto. If that is the case, then you can just touch this softly. Be forgiving of yourself for not being ready to let it go, and move on.

Sonnabend Lecture: Jon Kabat-Zinn - A More Mindful Society Might Depend on Us

The topic of this talk by Jon Kabat-Zinn (A More Mindful Society Might Depend on Us) is interesting in light of Congressman Tim Ryan's new book, A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit (more on this below).

A mindful nation, or a mindful society, however we want to phrase it, does depend on us - on you, me, and the neighbor down the street who may be an evangelical Christian. But having a religion does not prevent one from learning to be mindful, and with mindfulness comes greater compassion and empathy. Imagine . . . not that there are no countries, or religions, no heaven or no hell . . . rather, imagine a world of mindfulness and compassion.

Am I the change I want to see in the world? Are you?

Sonnabend Lecture (2011) by Jon Kabat-Zinn - A More Mindful Society Might Depend on Us: Embodying Our Beauty and Our Wholeness in Our Lives and in the World 

Uploaded by lesleyuniversity on Oct 17, 2011

 

Dr. Kabat-Zinn is founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at UMass Medical Center, which has served as the model for mindfulness-based clinical intervention programs at over 400 medical centers and clinics nationwide and abroad. He drew hundreds of people to Lesley University's Brattle Campus Monday, October 3, 2001, to deliver the Sonnabend Lecture, guiding the packed audience through an exploration of Mindfulness, followed by a meditation exercise. Dr. Kabat-Zinn's visit coincided with the launching of Lesley's new program in Mindfulness Studies.

The bi-annual Sonnabend Lecture invites a distinguished practitioner in the field of human services to work with Lesley's students and faculty, and enrich the academic community.

A week or so ago, Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., wrote about Ryan's new book (of which she saw an advance copy) on her blog at Psychology Today.

What Mindfulness Can Do For the Nation

A radical proposal to infuse psychology into government

Published on March 27, 2012 by Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D. in Fulfillment at Any Age

 

 

Psychologists often dream of a better world in which our field's discoveries are applied to society's major problems. If Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan has his way, the dream will become reality. Not to overstate the case, but Ryan's proposal that everyone becomes more mindful could help the United States tackle and overcome some of our greatest challenges.

 In his book, A Mindful Nation, Ryan lays out a relatively straightforward plan in which by practicing mindfulness, we as individual citizens can improve our mental and physical health, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, reduce crime, improve our educational systems, and help our military enhance their performance.  A bold proposition? Yes. However, he builds the case starting with a simple first step—that the practice of mindfulness can help each of us can improve our internal awareness of our bodies. Once we've passed step one, we'll be more likely to take steps that will make us more effective and capable citizens, and that will create the momentum for a series of changes in how well we can perform, our physical health, our relations with others, and our interactions with the environment.

To learn the details of Ryan's plan, you need to read the clear and easy-to-follow arguments Ryan provides in the book. You'll also be able to learn about Ryan's visits to the psychology labs of notable researchers in the mindfulness field. Here, I'll summarize the gist of his proposal and share the highlights of my recent phone interview with the Congressman.

Let's look at the first step-the practice of mindfulness.  The term "mindfulness" precisely conveys its essence: "Mindfulness means being relaxed and aware of what's going on in our own mind. It means calmly paying attention to what we are doing, without being pulled into regrets about the past or fantasies of the future. It's our capacity to fully focus on what we're doing." Sounds easy, doesn't it! However, in our multitasking world, simply slowing down and paying attention to your inner experience rather than your many iGadgets, may seem impossible.  Proponents of mindfulness don't expect you to stop everything you're doing and focus on your inner thoughts all of the time, just for a few minutes at least once a day.  It's not much of a sacrifice considering the value you gain in improved perspective on the tasks facing you in your job, home, and community.

There's plenty of research to support the value of mindfulness.  From eating a healthier diet to getting more enjoyment out of your day, that inner focus can benefit you in a multitude of ways.

Mindfulness is becoming an integral component in cognitive psychotherapy for anxiety, mood, and addictive disorders. The key to mindfulness in psychotherapy is that individuals focus on their total experience, even if that experience includes negative thoughts. Rather than trying to fight the content of those thoughts, in mindfulness therapy, people learn to accept all their thoughts, even the negative ones. The key is to become aware of your inner state in a non-judgmental fashion. If you can accept your negative thoughts, so the theory goes, you will have less emotional distress.

Reducing stress is one of the major advantages of mindfulness in improving physical as well as mental health. I resonated strongly with Ryan's proposal that mindfulness practice could help us reduce our healthcare costs. By thinking about what's going on inside you, Ryan argues, you'll be more likely to seek medical care at the first signs of an illness rather than after it reaches crisis levels. You'll recognize your high blood pressure spikes, your racing heart, and even chest pains that can bode the first sign of a heart attack. What's more, you'll be more likely to take advantage of preventative strategies as well. Your inner focus will help keep you from putting as many unhealthy foods into your body and will motivate you to get out and exercise. By reducing your emotional distress, you'll also reduce the unhealthy levels of stress that can wreak havoc on the major organ systems of your body.  If we could all take these steps, we could reduce our dependence on those expensive and often harmful medications that themselves create more health problems.  This is an area where, clearly, the actions of each of us can improve the future of society as a whole.

Ryan also proposes a radical restructuring of education to bring mindfulness into the classroom.  Because mindfulness requires no great sophistication, children can readily learn its techniques. A mindfulness curriculum, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is already being implemented, promoted by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning in Chicago, among other organizations.  It goes without saying that helping children to focus their attention through mindfulness can improve their classroom performance, ability to learn and—as a side benefit—their relationships with their fellow students. You don't have to be a child to benefit from mindfulness training. Researchers have found that college students who are constantly on social media during lectures have lower grades than those who focus on their instructor (Junco & Cotten, 2012).  

Ryan's proposal that mindfulness can help our environment is also compelling.  Rising gas prices are causing us to pay more attention to our driving habits but if the past is any indication, as soon as gas prices dip again, or as we become habituated to more pain at the pump, it's likely that we'll go back to our gas guzzling ways. Mindfulness practice might help to battle that inclination by getting us to think, for example, about whether we need to take each and every trip we make to the store and how we can more efficiently get to work or school. That's one place to start, and building from there, we can also use mindfulness in a larger sense to become more conscientious about our approach to the environment in general.  Think twice, in other words, before you toss that plastic container into the trash instead of the recycling bin. Or better still, don't use throwaway plastic containers at all!

Applying mindfulness to enhancing the performance of the military, Ryan cites the success of Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT, or M-Fit). Not only can this lower the stress associated with combat exposure, but by training our soldiers in mindfulness, they can perform more effectively in their roles on the battlefield, a "force multiplier." Mindfulness helps improve cognitive functioning, particularly working memory. When you're thinking about what you're doing, your physical performance will be that much more effective.

Ryan devotes a chapter specifically on the science of mindfulness.  Although throughout the book he describes the empirical basis for his proposals, this chapter provides useful additional support. He places considerable weight on a finding from neuroscience known as the "left shift," which is what happens in the brain when we engage mindful thinking.  The increased activation of the brain's left frontal regions is associated with more positive emotional states and could, theoretically, account for the reduced distress we experience when we practice mindfulness.

After having the opportunity to read a pre-release version of the book, I was thrilled to learn that Congressman Ryan was willing to speak to me about his work. I was particularly eager to ask him about his vision of mindfulness as a grass-roots movement. At the end of each chapter in the book, Ryan lays out strategies that individual citizens can implement to bring the mindfulness revolution to work for improving our country, community by community. Ryan feels strongly that it's important for mindfulness to take hold at this level, so that we start the long-term process that can eventually bring about the lasting change he envisions.  I asked him straight out, however, whether he thought that maybe it was time for the mindfulness movement to take hold of our gridlocked federal government. I agree that we as individuals need to take responsibility by adopting the mindful mindset. However, can't Congress jump start the process a little bit (or a lot)? What about mindfulness workshops or—even better—a bipartisan Mindfulness Caucus?  Perhaps if our nation's leaders could model the benefits of mindfulness, ordinary citizens would feel encouraged enough to take action at the local level.

Of course, as Ryan pointed out, "Congress is a reflection of the country; we're elected by the people. If the people are demanding a more mindful, thoughtful long-term approach to our problems they'll demand that our current representatives are more mindful and concerned about the long-term."

Yet, one could still argue (as I did) that with the big money lobbying groups influencing our publicly elected representatives, how can individuals hope to be heard as we make our plea for greater mindfulness?  I pushed pretty hard on this question, but Ryan once again had a well-thought out response. As he pointed out, each one of us can be a "lobbyist," but our voice is particularly likely to be heard when we band together. He cited several cases to support this argument, including a recent anti-collective bargaining referendum in Ohio that failed due to the joint voices of police, fire, teachers, nurses, and public employees.  If lobbyists with 5 or 10 K signatures from a district go to DC and say "My people want this," that can counterbalance the money and the influence of the big-money lobbyists.

It's pretty exciting to read such a well-reasoned argument about how psychology can become the basis of a new social movement. It's also pretty amazing to read a politician's book that uses terms such as "meta-analysis" and cites the Journal of Applied School Psychology.  And my frontal lobes shifted all the way to the left when, in our phone interview, he talked about the amygdala. 

Ryan is definitely onto something.  His goal in writing the book is to get mindfulness to be a topic of conversation: "Once you start seeing this as the solution to the problems you begin the implementation process." For all of our sakes, I hope this process starts soon!

Follow me on Twitter @swhitbo for daily updates on psychology, health, and aging. Feel free to join my Facebook group, "Fulfillment at Any Age," to discuss today's blog, or to ask further questions about this posting.  

Reference:

Junco, R. (2012). Too much face and not enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 187-198. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.08.026

Secular Buddhist Podcast - Episode 105 :: Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche :: Living Fully: Finding Joy in Every Breath

Great discussion - Ted Meissner speaks with Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche about his new book, Living Fully: Finding Joy in Every Breath.

Quote:

“We should examine and question our preconceptions, and be daring enough to explore new and unfamiliar terrain.” — Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche

Episode 105 - Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche :: Living Fully: Finding Joy in Every Breath
Feb 24, 2012

The Secular Buddhist Podcast with Ted Meissner
 

Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche
Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche joins us to speak about his new book, Living Fully: Finding Joy in Every Breath.

Hi, everyone. I’m recording this introduction while attending the Wisdom 2.0 conference in California. This is the second of the “W20″ conferences, next month is the tenth annual International Scientific Conference, April is the inaugural International Symposia for Contemplative Studies, and then of course we’re looking forward to attending the second Buddhist Geeks conference in August. All of these are linked on the calendar on the SecularBuddhism.org website of course, but the point is our practice is growing. It’s finding new and vital ways to change people’s lives outside of traditional settings, opening the door for others who may otherwise not find the same wonder of this practice, that we do.

Buddhism is not just for Buddhists. When we use the term “Buddhism” in this context, we mean the practice, not the religion. This is sometimes a very difficult concept to convey, and sometimes a very difficult concept to accept. There are people in the monastic tradition, however, who not only understand that, but do their very best to share this with others.

Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche is the spiritual guide of Shyalpa Monastery in Kathmandu, the founder of the Tibetan Refugee Children’s Fund, and the head of Ranging Yeshe, Inc., a nonprofit that organizes teachings and retreats throughout the United States. Buddhafield, in Millerton, NY, is the future site of the Center for Enlightenment and Rinpoche’s seat in the US. He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Wesleyan, and the Naropa Institute. He lives in Nepal and New York.

So, sit back, relax, and have a nice Lapsang Souchong tea. Special thanks to Patrick Taggart, one of our listeners who suggested this tea on FaceBook, who wrote, “I always feel that its smokiness resonates perfectly with the feeling of a rainy evening.”

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Web Links

• Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche
• Living Fully
• Wencheng Gongzhu International Foundation

Music for This Episode

Chikuzen Shakuhachi SeriesThe music heard in the middle of the podcast is from the Chikuzen Shakuhachi Series, Volume 1, courtesy of Tai Hei Shakuhachi. The tracks used in this episode are:

• Track 6 :: Esashi Oiwake

~ Ted Meissner is the Executive Director of the Secular Buddhist Association, and host of the SBA's official podcast, The Secular Buddhist. His background is in the Zen and Theravada traditions, he is a regular speaker on interfaith panel discussions, and is interested in examining the evolution of contemplative practice in contemporary culture.

All in the Mind - Practice makes perfect?

On this week's All in the Mind, Natasha Mitchell speaks with psychologist K. Anders Ericsson on his theory that with enough deliberate practice (10,000 hours) we can learn nearly anything.

Practice makes perfect?

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The virtuoso violinist, star surgeon and super sportswoman - could any of us become the best of the best? Daniel Coyle toured the world's famous talent 'hotbeds' in search of secrets. Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson says with enough 'deliberate practice' - 10,000 hours of it, he argues - anything's possible. But does that trump 'natural talent'?

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Guests

Dr K. Anders Ericsson
Conradi Eminent Scholar
Professor of Psychology
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
http://www.psy.fsu.edu/faculty/ericsson.dp.html

Daniel Coyle
Author and contributing editor for Outside magazine
http://thetalentcode.com/author/

Jacqui Cooper
Former world champion aerial skier
http://jacquicooper.com/

Further Information

Jacqui Cooper ski-jumping at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Publications

Title: The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born It's Grown
Author: Daniel Coyle
Publisher: Arrow Books, 2009

Title: The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance
Author: Ericsson, K. Anders; Krampe, Ralf T.; Tesch-Rer, Clemens
Publisher: Psychological Review: Vol 100(3), Jul 1993, 363-406.
URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/50947539/Ericsson-et-al-Role-of-Deliberate-Practice-in-Acquisition-of-Expert-Performance

Title: Toward a science of exceptional achievement: attaining superior performance through deliberate practice.
Author: Ericsson KA, Nandagopal K, Roring RW.
Publisher: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Aug;1172:199-217.
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1196/annals.1393.001/abstract

Title: From the Guest Editors: How Do Experts Learn
Author: A. Mark Williams and K. Anders Ericsson
Publisher: Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2008, 30, 653-662
URL: http://www.castonline.ilstu.edu/smith/405/readings_pdf/expert_rdngs/how_experts_learn_1.pdf

Title: Cognitive functions of the cerebellum explain how Ericsson's deliberate practice produces giftedness
Publisher: High Ability Studies; Vol 18, No 1, June 2007, pp89-92
URL: http://positivedisintegration.com/Vandervert2007.pdf

Title: Deliberate practice and expert performance: defining the path to excellence
Author: Paul Ward, Nicola J. Hodges, A. Mark Williams and Janet L. Starkes
Publisher: London: Routledge (2004)
URL: http://hkin.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/hodgesn/msl/docs/ward_chap.pdf
In A.M. Williams and N.J. Hodges (Eds.), Skill acquisition in sport: Research, theory and practice (pp. 232-258).

Title: Tracing the Development of Athletes Using Retrospective Interview Methods: A Proposed Interview and Validation Procedure for Reported Information
Author: Jean C K. Anders Ericsson, Madelyn P. Law
Publisher: Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 1. (March 2005), pp. 1-19.
URL: http://areas.fmh.utl.pt/~arosado/Repositorio/ficheiros/LONGTERM/Ref7.pdf

Title: Success is all in the Mind
Author: Shelley Gare
Publisher: The Australian newspaper, January 24, 2009.
URL: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/success-is-all-in-the-mind/story-e6frg8gf-1111118649674

Presenter: Natasha Mitchell

Producer: Maria Tickle/ Natasha Mitchell

Roya R. Rad - 6 Practical Meditation Tips

Roya Rad has been posting frequently at Huffington Post - this usually means the person is promoting a book or some other material, but I do not see a listing for any books. Very cool, I admire that.

6 Practical Meditation Tips

by Roya R. Rad, MA, PsyD 

Self Knowledge Base and Foundation, A non-profit dedicated to public education

Meditation is the art of focusing on a single point, your quiet place within. Of the thousands of thoughts going through your mind every day, each one of them trying to grab your attention. Meditation helps you calm them down, and then you can focus on what really matters. In addition, meditation can be a reminder that all the feelings, emotions, thoughts and behaviors are originating from you and your view of life, not so much the other way around.

Research backing the many benefits of meditation is strong. Meditation can help people physically, emotionally and mentally. It is just the matter of getting it into the routine of life and practicing it until it becomes natural.

At the end, be patient with the process of meditation, since like any other skill, this will take some time to master. Make it a formal practice, and it will only get better. Start with breathing and work your way up. Also, don't forget to have a purpose when you are meditating. Purpose makes you engage easier and motivates you more. Be ready to get a little frustrated in the beginning, and deal with the frustration if it hits you. And don't forget to have a little faith.

Here are some tips that may help you make meditation a practical part of your life...

These are her tips - go to the article to read more about each.

• Find What Meditation Style Works For You
• Make Meditation A Formal Part Of Your Life
• Mix And Match
• Find A Set Spot For Your Meditation Time
• Use Your Senses
• Open Your Mind

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche Leaves Life of Comfort to Become a Wandering Monk

Wisdom Quarterly ran this story about the well-known Tibetan Buddhist teacher Mingyur Rinpoche and his decision to leave his role as a "rock star" monk behind, returning to the old tradition of being a wandering monk. I had not heard about this, or if I had, it somehow did not register.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (b. 1975) is a meditation teacher in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He is the youngest of three sons of Tulku Urgyen (a highly respected teacher). He had a bestselling book (The Joy of Living) a few years ago and last year he released Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Wisdom. He has a monastery in India and has established Tergar, an international teaching and sangha organization based in the United States.

Tergar has a "center" here in Tucson - and Rinpoche has been here to teach a few times I believe, at least one of which I was able to attend. I found him humble, very intelligent, and also quite funny. He exuded a calm that I would love to embody.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Mingyur Rinpoche was living comfortably with a retinue of attendants. He was in high demand as a teacher and admired by developed world devotees in particular, for his interest in the scientific implications of meditation -- specifically its effect on brain function and the nervous system. He already had 10 years of solitary meditation retreat behind him and Tibetan Buddhist aficionados were impressed with his personal qualities.

But Mingyur Rinpoche was not content to rest on his laurels. Nor was he interested in becoming yet another celebrity guru, living in luxury and spoiled by the adulation accorded to important lamas. One morning in June this year his attendants knocked on the door of his room at his monastery in Bodhgaya, India, and when there was no response they went in to find it empty – except for a letter explaining that he had left for an indeterminate period to become a wandering yogi, meditating wherever he alighted in the Himalayas.

"He took no money, and no possessions," explained his brother Tsoknyi Rinpoche. "He didn't take his passport, his mobile phone, or even a toothbrush."

In his letter Mingyur Rinpoche said that from a young age he had "harbored the wish to stay in retreat and practice, wandering from place to place without any fixed location." He advised his followers not to worry about him, assuring them that in a few years they would meet again. To this day no one has any idea of his whereabouts and he has not been in touch with his family.

Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice - Make your life and practice one

WISDOM NECTAR: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice
trans. by Ron Garry
A Tsadra Foundation Series bookmore...


Dharma Quote of the Week


At all times, do not lose courage in your inner awareness; uplift yourself, while assuming a humble position in your outer demeanor. Follow the example of the life and complete liberation of previous accomplished masters (siddha). Do not blame your past karma; instead, be someone who purely and flawlessly practices the Dharma. Do not blame temporary negative circumstances; instead, be someone who remains steadfast in the face of whatever circumstances may arise.


In brief, taking your own mind as witness, make your life and practice one, and at the time of death, with no thought of anything left undone, do not be ashamed of yourself. This itself is the pith instruction of all practices.

Eventually, when the time of death arrives, completely give up whatever wealth you possess, and do not cling to even one needle. Moreover, at death, practitioners of highest faculty will be joyful; practitioners of middling faculty will be without apprehension; and practitioners of the lowest faculty will have no regrets. When realization's clear light becomes continuous day and night, there is no intermediate state (bardo): death is just breaking the enclosure of the body.

If this is not the case, but if you have confidence that you will be liberated in the intermediate state, whatever you have done in preparation for death will suffice. Without such confidence, when death arrives, you can send your consciousness to whichever pure land you wish and there traverse the remaining paths and stages to become enlightened. (p.58)

--from Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche's Heart Advice trans. by Ron Garry, a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications

Wisdom Nectar • Now at 5O% off
(Good until September 23rd).

Hokai Sobol - The Three Pathways of Awakening

Via Buddhist Geeks, Hokai Sobal is teaching what appears to be an excellent class called The Three Pathways of Awakening. At $50 for the six-week course, this is an excellent opportunity to study with an integrally informed Buddhist teacher.

The Teacher

Hokai Sobol is a practitioner in the Shingon esoteric tradition of Japanese Vajrayana as taught by the Acarya, Venerable Jomyo Tanaka. Having learned from many sources, Hokai is most interested in the core principles of practical Dharma, and their reframing in the context of emergent spiritual culture. He lives and works in Rijeka, Croatia, while also teaching online. Personal website: http://hokai.info

The Three Pathways of Awakening

Developing a Post-Traditional Buddhist Practice with Hokai Sobol

This 6-week virtual course will offer you a fresh approach to working with the three classic Buddhist pathways of body, speech, and mind. We will emphasize combining the conceptual and the experiential in the context of open-ended inquiry with fellow practitioners.

We’ll explore the basic ways that body, speech, and mind are used as pathways to deep awareness, especially from the perspective of Vajrayana practice. With each aspect of teaching and practice there will be ample opportunity for us to inquire and reflect. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and contribute during the course.

Post-traditional means not based on deference to traditional, established frames of reference. Therefore, we don’t do something just because others have done so in the past. We become increasingly reflexive and aware of the way we imbue our actions with purpose and meaning.

Main Features

Practical methods include:

• Creating a customized personal practice
• Generating awakened intention
• Training sustained attention
• Basics of mudra, mantra, and imagination
• Creative and receptive modes in meditation
• Integrating formal practice and everyday life

Overview of course content:

• Introduction to Buddhadharma from a post-traditional perspective
• Pathways of body, speech, & mind
• Importance of having a clear view
• Your role in emergent Buddhism

Format & Timing

This 6-week class begins on Sunday, May 1st and ends Sunday, June 5th. Each Sunday class starts at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern time and runs for 1 1/2 hours. For those who can’t make it to every class a high-quality recording of each session will be made available and sent out to the entire group following the class.

Each session will include guided and interactive practice sessions, mini-presentations on various topics, and plenty of time for questions and discussions. We’ll be using an advanced teleconferencing system called Maestro Conference. This system allows us to do more organized discussions and small-group breakout sessions to add more interactivity. All you need is a telephone line or VoIP line and a place to sit!

Prerequisites

We do expect that you have general knowledge of Buddhist teachings, and some experience with meditation practices, but otherwise this is open to all interested, beginning and more experienced equally.

Cost: $50 (Limited to 50 people)
Dates: May 1st - June 5th (Sunday)

Tags: Buddhism, education, dharma, Integral, Hokai Sobol, Buddhist Geeks, The Three Pathways of Awakening, teleconference, emergent Buddhism, post-traditional, perspectives, practice

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - Practice is working with what is most difficult, our daily lives

WONDERS OF THE NATURAL MIND
The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet
by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
fore. by H.H. the Dalai Lama
more...

Dharma Quote of the Week

Attaining realization is not such a long path once we become able to integrate all our movements of energy in our practice, because then every action is governed by presence and becomes a step on the path and an expression of virtue.

Practice is not only sitting in meditation, reciting mantras, or chanting. It is the application of practice in daily life that is most difficult, working with our energy in every life situation, with every sense perception, with every person we meet, whether we want to encounter that person or not.

--from Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, fore. by H.H. the Dalai Lama, published by Snow Lion Publications

Wonders of the Natural Mind • Now at 5O% off
(Good through January 7th, 2011).

Tags: Buddhism, books, Practice, dharma, Wonders of the Natural Mind, The Essence of Dzogchen, Native Bon Tradition, Tibet, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Dalai Lama, Snow Lion Publications, daily life, practice, difficulties

Tags: Buddhism, books, Practice, dharma, Wonders of the Natural Mind, The Essence of Dzogchen, Native Bon Tradition, Tibet, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Dalai Lama, Snow Lion Publications, daily life, difficulties

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu - Dharma practice in lucid dreams

DREAM YOGA
AND THE PRACTICE OF NATURAL LIGHT
by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
ed. & intro. by Michael Katz
more...

Dharma Quote of the Week

Many of the methods of practicing Dharma that are learned during waking can, upon development of dream awareness, be applied in the dream condition. In fact, one may develop these practices more easily and speedily within the Dream State if one has the capacity to dream lucidly. There are even some books that say that if a person applies a practice within a dream, the practice is nine times more effective than when it is applied during the waking hours.

The dream condition is unreal. When we discover this for ourselves within the dream, the immense power of this realization can eliminate obstacles related to conditioned vision. For this reason, dream practice is very important for liberating us from habits. We need this powerful assistance in particular because the emotional attachments, conditioning, and ego enhancement which compose our normal life have been strengthened over our many, many years.

In a real sense, all the visions that we see in our lifetime are like the images of a dream. If we examine them well, the big dream of life and the smaller dreams of one night are not very different. If we truly see the essential nature of both, we will find that there really is no difference between them. If we can finally liberate ourselves from the chains of emotions, attachments, and ego by this realization, we have the possibility of ultimately becoming enlightened.

--from Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, ed. & intro. by Michael Katz, published by Snow Lion Publications

Dream Yoga • Now at 5O% off
(Good through December 10th).

Tags: Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, Dharma, practice, lucid dreams, Buddhism, books, dreams, Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light, Michael Katz, Snow Lion Publications, Dream Yoga

Why gratitude isn’t for wimps

Turns out that cultivating a lifestyle of gratitude is harder than simply wanting to do it - via Futurity, a news outlet for university research.

Why gratitude isn’t for wimps

Psychologist Robert Emmons says his 10 strategies can help anyone cultivate a more grateful approach to life. But he warns that the exercises are not for the "intellectually lethargic." And he stresses that gratitude is incompatible with feelings of victimhood or entitlement, or with the inability to recognize one's shortcomings or to admit one is not self-sufficient. "Far from being a warm, fuzzy sentiment, gratitude is morally and intellectually demanding," he says. "It requires contemplation, reflection and discipline. It can be hard and painful work."

UC DAVIS (US) — A research team studying the positive effects of daily gratitude says it can change people’s lives—but it takes mental toughness and discipline

The payoff, however, can be significant.

Compared with those who dwell on daily hassles, people who take time instead to record their reasons for giving thanks exercise more regularly, complain of fewer illness symptoms, and feel better about their lives overall. They also feel more loving, forgiving, joyful, enthusiastic, and optimistic about their futures, while their family and friends report that they seem happier and are more pleasant to be around.

“Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change people’s lives,” Robert Emmons writes in his book Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. The book outlines 10 strategies for cultivating a feeling of thanksgiving throughout the year.

Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, and Michael McCullough, a psychology professor at the University of Miami, are gathering a large body of novel scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences for human health and well-being.

“Scientists are latecomers to the concept of gratitude,” Emmons says. “Religions and philosophies have long embraced gratitude as an indispensable manifestation of virtue, and an integral component of health, wholeness, and well-being.”

Gratitude was unexplored terrain for psychologists when Emmons began studying it in 1998. His first research subjects were students in his health psychology class at UC Davis.

Then, the professor assigned some students to write down five things they were thankful for each day and others to record five complaints. Three weeks later, the grateful students reported measurable improvements in psychological, physical and social well-being compared with their complaining classmates.

Since then, Emmons has conducted variations of the experiment in dozens of other study populations, including organ transplant recipients, adults with chronic neuromuscular disease, and healthy fifth-graders.

“We always find the same thing,” he says. “People who keep gratitude journals improve their quality of life.”

Emmons says his 10 strategies can help anyone cultivate a more grateful approach to life. But he warns that the exercises are not for the “intellectually lethargic.” And he stresses that gratitude is incompatible with feelings of victimhood or entitlement, or with the inability to recognize one’s shortcomings or to admit one is not self-sufficient.

“Far from being a warm, fuzzy sentiment, gratitude is morally and intellectually demanding,” he says. “It requires contemplation, reflection, and discipline. It can be hard and painful work.”

Here are Emmons’ evidence-based prescriptions for becoming more grateful:

• Keep a gratitude journal. Write down and record what you are grateful for, and then when you need to reaffirm your good lot in life, look back on the journal.
• Remember the bad. If you do not remind yourself of what it was like to be sick, unemployed, or heartbroken, you will be less likely to appreciate health, your job, or your relationship.
• Ask yourself three questions every evening. Fill in the blanks with the name of a person (or persons) in your life. What have I received from ___? What have I given to ___? What troubles and difficulty have I caused ___?
• Learn prayers of gratitude. One Emmons suggests in his book from the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh: Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky. I join my hands in thanks; for the many wonders of life; for having 24 brand-new hours before me.
• Appreciate your senses. One approach: Practice breathing exercises.
• Use visual reminders. For example, Emmons has a refrigerator magnet in his home bearing this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery … today is a gift.”
• Make a vow to practice gratitude. “Swearing a vow to perform a behavior actually does increase the likelihood that the action will be executed,” the psychologist notes.
• Watch your language: It influences how you think about the world.
• Go through the motions. Research shows that emotions can follow behavior.
• Be creative. Look for new situations and opportunities in which to feel grateful, especially when things are not going well.

Though he practices these techniques, Emmons acknowledges that maintaining an attitude of thanksgiving is hard work even for him.

“Most psychologists study what they’re bad at,” he says.

However, his long study of the subject has convinced him that Cicero had it right centuries ago. The Roman philosopher ranked gratitude as the chief virtue, parent of all the others.

The work is supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

More news from UC Davis: www.news.ucdavis.edu/

Tags: Why gratitude isn’t for wimps, Futurity, Thanks!, How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Robert Emmons, Psychology, gratitude, Practice, books, UC Davis, morally challenging, intellectually demanding