Chapter 19

Checking Out Ten Inspirational People

In This Chapter

Introducing people who inspired me – and who can inspire you

Gaining wisdom from mindfulness experts

In this chapter I introduce you to ten inspiring people from the world of mindfulness. They’re personal favourites of mine who ‘held my hand’ on my way to becoming more mindful. Narrowing the list down to ten was difficult, but I chose people who left a wonderful footprint in my heart: some of them know that they did so and others don’t.

In many ways, this chapter is an homage to all the people who supported and encouraged my journey into mindfulness. I hope you discover some future mindfulness friends to encourage and guide you, too.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Spreading Mindfulness and Peace

Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Teek Nut Hun) is a Vietnamese Zen master, scholar, poet and peace activist. He’s published more than 85 titles, 40 of which are available in English. His first text of importance on mindfulness is entitled The Miracle of Mindfulness. It was originally written as a letter from exile in France to one of the monk brothers who’d remained in Vietnam.

The school that Hanh had founded in Vietnam in the 1960s was intended to help rebuild bombed villages, educate children and set up medical stations for both sides engaged in the conflict. The letter encourages and supports the brothers to continue to work in a spirit of love and understanding. It reminds them of the essential discipline of mindfulness, even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.

When Hanh was writing the letter in Paris, to where he’d gone in exile after receiving threats on his life, several supporters from different countries were attending the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation. Naturally, Hanh thought that people in other countries could also benefit from reading this letter. He suggested that the translator (an American volunteer) translate it slowly and steadily, in order to maintain mindfulness; thus, only two pages a day were translated. Hanh encouraged the translator to be aware of the feel of the pen and paper, of the position of his body and of his breath in order to maintain the essence of mindfulness while doing this task. When the translation was completed, it was typed and a hundred copies were printed on a tiny offset machine squeezed into the delegation’s bathroom.

Since then, that little book has travelled far. It has been translated into several other languages and distributed on every continent in the world. Prisoners, refugees, healthcare workers, psychotherapists, educators and artists are among those whose life and work has been touched by The Miracle of Mindfulness (Random House, 1991).

Denied permission to return to Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh spends most of the year living in Plum Village, a community he helped to found in France (www.plumvillage.org). Check out Chapter 20 for more on this lovely place. Plus, you may want to read another Hanh book, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (Rider, 2008).

The Dalai Lama: ‘My Message Is Love’

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, was born in a small village called ‘the roaring tiger’ in 1935. His parents were farmers and he had 15 brothers and sisters, 9 of whom died young. He was just 3 years old when he was chosen to be the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama. First he was taken to Kumbum Monastery where he lived a rather sad life, not understanding what had happened to him or what was expected of him. In 1940 he moved to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, where he was enthroned as the spiritual head of his nation and his family were given a farm nearby.

His life was planned out for him. He needed to study twice a day for a total of two hours and then was allowed to play, but from the age of 13 he had to do the same duties as any adult monk. The topics of education he covered included healing, Sanskrit, philosophy of religion and languages.

His Holiness is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He repeatedly points out that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture and religion. He appreciates his role because it gives him the opportunity to benefit others.

Recently, in January of 2013, the 'Mind and Life' conference (www.mindandlife.org) met for the 26th time, where scientists and Buddhist scholars discuss topics such as meditation and its effects on the brain. The Dalai Lama attends the conference every year and this year he donated $1,000,000 for essential research and activities.

See Chapter 11 and consider checking out these books for more about the Dalai Lama: The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Inner Peace (Harper Collins, 2002) and Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium by Tenzin Gyatso (Little, Brown and Company, 1999).

Jon Kabat-Zinn: Mindfulness in Medicine

The molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn had a vision, which came into his awareness while on a retreat. He pondered whether mindfulness could be applied to the secular environment of medicine and psychotherapy. The answer was a resounding yes! He developed mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in the 1970s at the Center for Mindfulness in Massachusetts (check out Chapter 1 for more on Jon and MBSR).

His goal was to make the Eastern philosophical teachings and meditations available as life-enhancing skills for everyone. He saw his calling as connecting meditation and medicine, by offering people the chance to reconnect to their lives through the simple act of being, and letting go of doing, for brief periods every day. When you gain insight into what you truly are (whole, complete and good enough) you often experience a deep sense of freedom and healing. In short, by accepting yourself and your lot just as it is, you remove a lot of the causes of suffering. Like the Dalai Lama, Kabat-Zinn says ‘my religion is kindness’, a notion he follows in his teachings, books and engagement with others.

You can find out more in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books, Full Catastrophe Living, 15th edition (Dell Publishing, 2006) and Wherever You Go, There You Are, 6th edition (Piatkus Books, 2006).

Ram Dass: Expressing Gratitude

Richard Alpert was originally an American professor of psychology (see www.ramdass.org). He set up the Hanuman Foundation (www.hanumanfdn.org) in 1974, which shows people how to embody and celebrate love and service to humanity. Every day, he said, can become a spiritual, special practice. He emphasises the importance of gratitude, because it connects people to one another and offers mutual support. He believed a truly grateful life would bring peace and harmony.

Appreciation feels good and shows you how every person on the planet is connected. Discovering how to appreciate every single thing that happens as a potential source of insight and growth is the key ingredient of a joyful existence.

Dass wrote a great book called Still Here: Embracing Ageing, Changing and Dying (Riverhead Books, 2001) in which he explains how caring for his sick father repaired their early unhealthy relationship. When you’ve lived for half a century or more, it becomes difficult to ignore the subtle changes in health and appearance that occur with age, and facing these themes discussed in the book with awareness is important for everyone.

He invites you to have gratitude and concern for others and believes that true freedom can only be achieved through accepting dependence on others. His book Be Here Now (Crown Publications, 1971) is the one that perhaps best describes his transformation and new outlook on life, and you can read more of his work in Grist for the Mill (Celestial Arts, 1995).

Eckhart Tolle: Living Moment to Moment

Eckhart Tolle was born in 1948 in Germany and now lives in Canada. His best known books are the The Power of Now and A New Earth, which are written in English. In 2011, Watkins Review named him the most spiritually influential person in the world. Tolle shares that he suffered from depression, until he experienced at the age of 29 an ‘inner transformation’. He travelled around thereafter being unemployed, ‘in a state of deep bliss’, before becoming a spiritual teacher.

The bestselling The Power of Now (Hodder), which was first published in 1997, shows how you can find a way out of psychological suffering. The more you find out how to be fully present and interact wisely with others, the more you experience loving relationships and true purpose in life. The Power of Now and A New Earth had sold an estimated three million and five million copies respectively in North America by 2009. In 2008, approximately 35 million people participated in a series of ten live webinars with Tolle and television talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Tolle has never identified himself with any particular religion.

At a two-day retreat in Findhorn, Scotland (a great place that I discuss further in Chapter 20), he talked about meditation and how mindfulness was a useful way to truly connect to the now.

Melissa Myozen Blacker: Teaching Mindfulness

Melissa is a Zen priest in the US. She studied anthropology and music and later did an MA in Counselling Psychology. Since 1993 she’s worked at the Center for Mindfulness, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. With her husband David, she formed a Zen community called Boundless Way Zen.

She shares that mindfulness-based stress reduction (a forerunner of MBCT; see Chapter 1) is a beautifully designed and secular approach to help you fall ‘awake’ to your life. People who’d never considered going to a Zen centre before can benefit in a life-changing way from being introduced to meditation.

She says that to focus on being fully awake and grounded are maybe the most important principles to engage with in the work of mindfulness. She’s a wonderful and inspiring teacher.

To find out more about Melissa Myozen Blacker, check out her book (written with James Ishmael Ford), The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan (Wisdom Publications, 2011).

Buddha Maitreya: Living the Path

Buddha Maitreya (check out www.buddhamaitreya.co.uk) was born and brought up in Japan. While attending a meditation course, he experienced something particularly intense that he calls 'enlightenment'. In this moment, 'he saw the absolute perfection and beauty intrinsic in all things and all beings, the essence of life'. He completely dedicated his life there and then to becoming a meditation teacher.

Maitreya completed an MA degree in Buddhist Theology and then left Japan, spending time in Thailand, India and Nepal. In England, he based himself in Nottingham, creating the Pure Land centre in 1973 (you can find out more about it online, at www.buddhamaitreya.co.uk/garden.html). Pure Land is one of the most beautiful gardens in the UK and is praised in many garden tours and guides. Even if you don't want to discover meditation, you can simply spend a mindful day in amongst nature there.

The serene garden contains traditional Japanese garden elements such as water, golden carps, bridges and bamboo, blended with a ‘dash of English plants and elements’. The result is a perfect example of ‘East and West in radiant harmony’.

Buddha Maitreya has published a number of CDs with meditations, such as Perfect Relaxation and Meditation with Maitreya and Nature's Heart, available online at www.buddhamaitreya.co.uk/shop.html.

Rick Hanson: Examining the Mindful Brain

Rick Hanson (www.rickhanson.net) is a fantastic teacher of neuropsychology and of how meditation affects the brain. I first met him six years ago via Skype after he'd given the most amazing lecture on the physiological changes in the brain due to long-term mindfulness meditation. I eventually invited him to present as the main speaker at a conference I organised at the University of East London, entitled 'Mindfulness and Well Being: from Spirituality to Neuroscience' in 2009. He'd just finished his first book The Buddha's Brain, in which he explains how contemplation and meditation can form and shape your brain to such an extent that it can deepen and improve your relationships, help you stay calm when you're facing a 'storm' and experience a life of more confidence and purpose.

Meanwhile, Rick has been busy and published another book called Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (New Harbinger, 2011), in which he presents 52 powerful yet down-to-earth ways to strengthen your own brain and enjoy a more adventurous life. Also, you can sign up to receive his free monthly newsletter Just One Thing (New Harbinger Publications).

Rick travels to Europe once a year and I recommend that you attend his lectures if you can! He manages to explain neuropsychology in such a wonderful way and you don’t need to be an expert to understand it.

Jenny Ronayne: Studying Autism

I first met Jenny some 20 years ago, shortly after my own son was diagnosed with autism: she’d set up the Lewisham Autism Support Group. She was an inspiration. She studied psychology and her intention was to discover more about this fascinating subject: she hoped to undertake research in the field, disseminate information and raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Our paths crossed again when I started lecturing at the University of East London and Jenny, who’d taught me so much, was suddenly a student of mine. For her MA thesis, she looked at how mindfulness interventions may help people with ASD reduce anxiety.

In addition, she has founded an organisation called ASPECT: Autism Spectrum Counselling and Training. ASPECT (www.aspectcounsel.co.uk) offers in-house training and consultancy to organisations such as schools, Local Education Authorities and charities. She's currently interested in combining mindfulness techniques with a behavioural therapeutic approach, and is developing a research project to investigate whether this is effective in reducing anxiety levels in individuals with ASD.

Kristin Neff: Focusing on Self-Compassion

When I met Kristin recently, it was like a meeting of souls: as in my case, her son has autism too. Plus, I'd lived in the Far East and she'd travelled to Mongolia five years before with her son to try and find healing. The Horse Boy is the story that describes their journey, and how it affected her and her son deeply (see www.self-compassion.org).

Kristin is a wonderfully committed researcher, writer and lecturer, and her main focus is self-compassion and, of course, mindfulness. She became interested in Buddhism in the late 1990s and has been practising meditation ever since.

While doing her post-doctoral work, she decided to conduct research on self-compassion, a wonderful concept that hadn’t been examined by empirical research up to then. With her colleague Chris Germer at Harvard, she recently created an eight-week programme on self-compassion skills called ‘Mindful Self-Compassion’. In 2011 she wrote a book on the same topic: Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind (Hodder & Stoughton).