We are both deeply grateful to Toni Burbank, our acquiring editor at Bantam and one of the publishing industry’s all-time greats, who welcomed this book with her hallmark enthusiasm and warmth. Beyond offering feedback on our initial drafts that significantly strengthened the material, she was a friend who offered heartfelt support. Danielle Perez carried the manuscript onward to completion, asking intelligent and insightful questions with a perspective that opened the door to a broad readership. She went beyond the norm in including us in the process, willingly responding to our ongoing requests and suggestions. Her vision and careful attention to detail at every point allowed the book to become all we had hoped it might be. We also appreciate and share Danielle’s love of canine companions. Stephanie Tade, our agent, had unwavering faith in our proposal and landed it swiftly and expertly in the hands of our dream publisher. She embodies what this book is about—joy, compassion, caring, and integrity.
We are deeply grateful to Danna Faulds, who graced this book with her beautiful and profound poetry. Wise and heartful, her poems capture the essence of the teachings and elucidate the steps that awaken joy. We also thank Dr. Rick Hanson for his brilliant intellect and kind heart. Even in the midst of his own book deadlines, he offered careful feedback on our neuroscience references and was always forthcoming with an impressive mental index of resources. Jack Kornfield read an early draft of the manuscript and offered feedback that steered the book in the right direction. Joseph Goldstein answered some critical questions as we grappled with fine points about the nature of reality that ultimately went the way of non-being in the text. Fred Goldsmith and Ed Gerstenhaber did meticulous readings of the manuscript and offered insightful comments from welcome and needed perspectives. Jane Baraz read every chapter, sometimes in several drafts, always making useful suggestions, even at the eleventh hour.
James:
It gives me great happiness to express my appreciation to everyone who made this book possible. I want to begin by saying that from the start this book has been a collaborative effort—a fruition of thirty-three years of friendship and ongoing conversation into the nature of true happiness. I first met Shoshana on my second meditation retreat in 1976. Overwhelmed and feeling not a little self-pity with a mountain of lunch pots to clean, this fellow retreatant came up to me whispering in an angelic voice, “Would you like some help?” I gratefully said yes and I’ve been benefiting from her help and support ever since. It was Shoshana who first encouraged me to write this book. In working together, she not only skillfully helped me clarify my ideas every step of the way, but also contributed her decades of spiritual wisdom and writing expertise. Although writing a book is not easy, the process for me included many moments of true joy and deep gratitude for our co-creation.
The Awakening Joy course, which the book is based on, has come about through the amazing grace and dedication of an extraordinary team, starting with Gretchen Thomas, whose technical know-how and incredible generosity helped take it from a small group of participants to an online course that has reached thousands. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to cover it. Deep bows to Mary Helen Fein, who created a fabulous website that’s both engaging and easy to navigate. Jane Baraz’s wisdom, judgment, and hard work have consistently steered the course in the right direction. Kate Janke, course coordinator, has brought dedication and her natural radiance to make the participants feel welcome and part of something special. Gratitude to all the other behind-the-scenes people who’ve made the course a success: Deborah Todd, Andy McGuire, Nathan Friedkin, Jill Goodfriend, Deborah Henry, and Shoshana Cole. Northbrae Community Church and especially Bob Davis gave us our home.
A big thank you to my special Joy Buddy Patricia Ellsberg, whose Big Love comes through her guided meditations, inviting participants to directly experience the various course themes. Musicians Eve Decker, Betsy Rose, Jennifer Berezan, and Melanie DeMore bring wisdom and inspiration to their music and allow everyone to experience the joy of song. I’m grateful to the stellar lineup of speakers—happiness experts, neuroscientists, and wisdom teachers—who bring to life the points I’m trying to convey. Special thanks to Rick Foster and Greg Hicks whose book How We Choose to Be Happy originally inspired me to create the course and was a valuable resource for the earlier courses. Deep appreciation to Rick and Greg, as well as all the other presenters at the Awakening Joy course in Berkeley, many of whose words are included in this book: Sylvia Boorstein, Rick Hanson, M. J. Ryan, Dacher Keltner, Marci Shimoff, Catherine Ingram, Anam Thubten Rinpoche, Jack Kornfield, Paul Ekman, Carolyn Hobbs, Guy Armstrong, and Dan Clurman.
I feel tremendous appreciation to all the people who have participated in the Awakening Joy course these last six years, and a special debt of gratitude to those who so generously shared their words and stories.
I am so blessed to have the friendship, wisdom, encouragement, and support of my teaching colleagues at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and am grateful to Spirit Rock, including the staff and Board, for being the beacon of consciousness that it is.
My main spiritual teachers and benefactors, Joseph Goldstein and Ram Dass, put me on the road to real happiness and have inspired and guided me since 1974. I pay homage to the Buddha for showing a way to end suffering and to the highest happiness. My undying gratitude to Neem Karoli Baba, who has guided this project from the beginning.
The sincerity and support of the Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley inspires me to find something useful to say every Thursday night. Special appreciation to Giedra Gershman, Joyce Rybandt, Nancy Benson-Smith, Ross Smith, Gay Gale, Joyce Kelley, Suzy Sloka, Jim French, Ernie Isaacs, Janet Keyes, Jennifer Braun, John Porter, Jenya Zellerbach, Isabella Wilk, Mac Lingo, Dave Seabury, and Hime Levine for their incredible support. Also, great thanks to the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and Rev. Heng Sure, for their gracious hospitality all these years.
I’m so grateful to the Dedicated Practitioner Program groups I lead for their ongoing wisdom, encouragement, and support as well as to all the Community Dharma Leaders who help me feel a part of a large network of people who have taught so many to discover deep peace and freedom for themselves. A big thank you to the group of young dharma mentors I have the privilege to guide—Alexa Ouellett, Anthony Rodgers, Kate Janke, Erin Hill, Oren Sofer, Aline Prentice, and Will Henry—part of the next generation who will share these principles so skillfully and touch so many people in the coming years.
Thanks to Daveen and Alan Fox and Lynn and Henry Moody, who generously provided me space to write. Sylvia Bell-Tull spent many hours transcribing and Janet Keyes organized my earlier writings, which were the foundation for much of this book and the Awakening Joy course. Thanks to Adi Bemak, Steven Newmark, and Toni Burbank for encouraging me to find my own voice. Special thanks to Catherine Ingram, Tara Brach, and Anna Grete Mazziotta for being there during some hard times.
Selma Baraz, Susan Baraz, Tony Baraz, Adam Baraz, and my beloved Pal gave me all the support and love I could want. And finally, to the love of my life, Jane Baraz, who, through thick and thin, has been with me every step of the way: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Shoshana:
I am deeply grateful to James for the joys and challenges we have shared in creating this book, which has been a rite of passage for both of us. Through thousands of hours on the phone, hundreds of emails, and dozens of hours side by side, we have shared not only the work but the ongoing story of our lives. Thank you for climbing the mountain together and for your sincere dedication to living with an open heart, and inspiring me to do the same. It has been an honor and a gift to help make the Awakening Joy course available as a book, and to discover that it absolutely works. During the course of this work, James’s “other half,” Jane Baraz, has in so many ways offered her understanding, wisdom, and insight. I am grateful for her mind and heart, and for our deepening friendship.
The love of friends and family has been my support and fall-net throughout this process. Elias Alexander willingly shared his mother with yet another book as he passed through his final years of childhood and emerged as an amazing young man. I am deeply grateful to Laurinda Gilmore Graves for her steady friendship, fierce support, and for always returning my calls. Sypko Andreae and Carolyn Shaffer conspired to feed me nutritious meals at critical times and in so many ways were there, including mini-celebrations along the way. If not for Carolyn, our dear dog would have spent many more endless hours lying in my office while I worked, only dreaming of running through meadows. My heart is filled with gratitude for the joy and constant love of that beautiful creature, Buddy-gi, and for her profound teaching as she graciously let go into death. Stephanie Phillips and AvYitz supported us both with such care during her long passage out of life.
Deedie and David Runkel rescued me and the book by putting us up in one of Anne Hathaway’s cottages during a very tricky time. Deedie’s waffles at the finish line also helped a lot. Kay Lynne Sherman opened her home, her garden, and her heart, and has been a perfect Findhorn housemate. My “sister” Lolly Roy has, as always, understood at the most profound levels. A special thanks to all the rest of Elias’s godparents, including my godbrother Jerry Roy, my godsister Amy Fates, Sypko and Carolyn, G. and R., Ted and Laurinda, Max Lan, and Barbara and Arnie Meyer, for carrying my son while I carried this book. Enduring thanks to Janet King for her enormous wisdom and constancy, right up to the end, and to Norma Burton who walked me through the valley to the light. And to my mother, Carol Susan Berry, who is an inspiration and guide.
Special thanks to the members of my fiction and nonfiction writing groups, who understood and supported all those cancellations, listened with such gentle care, and brought food and chocolate when most needed. My soul-sisters of the word: Susan DuMond, Lori Henriksen, Carol Hwoschinsky, Alissa Lukara, Maggie McLaughlin, Deedie Runkel, Carolyn Shaffer, and Jodine Turner. I am also grateful to the Rogue Valley Peace Choir, the beloved Ensemble, and the late, great Dave Marston for the nourishment and remembrance of song. So many others deserve gratitude, including Nancy Bloom, Linda and Manny Cohen, Ted Graves, Connie Toth-Berindei, and special mention goes to Carly Newfeld’s son Joss Mulligan who passed a sleepless night on the couch while the final chapter was being hammered out over the phone in the next room.
Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to those who have offered the clarity and wisdom of Buddhist philosophy and practice, including that triple gem many years ago—Jack, Joseph, and Sharon—and especially S. N. Goenka, who untied the boat and set it moving. What a joyous gift to be alive.