by Mark Coleman
pleasure: consumer culture and maximization of, 261; dissatisfaction with, 117–19, 260; grasping after, 66–67; life dedicated to, 260; reactivity to, 8–9
pleasure-pain polarity: awareness of, 65, 67; equanimity and, 214; exploring (practice), 67–68; inner, 64–65; as polarity, 213; reactivity to, 65–67; in the world, 63, 64
polarity, 213–15
pollution, 256
Poonja-ji (Advaita Vedanta teacher), 150–51
poverty, 176, 231
Practice of Letting Go, The (practice), 128–30
praise-blame polarity, 213, 214–15
preferences: mindfulness of, 132–33, 134–35; mindfulness practices, 135–37; nonattachment to, 133–34; reactivity to, 65–66; in relationships, 239–40; as unavoidable, 245
prejudice, 88, 114, 252
presence: to awareness, 168, 169–70; balanced, 214–15; death and, 165–66; embodied, 17–19, 69
present, the, 104, 107–8
present moment awareness: abiding in, 169–70; as human condition, 4; impermanence as wake-up call for, 45, 60–62; self-centeredness reduced by, 244–45; sensory experience and, 108, 273–74
projection, 85
proliferation, 79–80
Protecting What We Love (practice), 286
purpose, life of, 260–61
racism, 88, 114, 159–60, 176, 268–70
Radical Acceptance in Relationship (practice), 240–41
Ram Dass, 236
reactive nervous system, 184
reactivity: awareness of, 68, 127–28, 129–30; to criticism, 140–41; freedom from, 7–11; letting go of, 125–26; mind and, 68, 78–79; mindfulness and, 127–28, 238–39, 262–63, 279; negativity as result of, 158; other people triggering, 223; to pain, 36–37; to pleasure/pain waves, 65–67; in relationships, 237; stress caused by, 190
reading, 161
reality: labels mistaken as, 152; perceptions mistaken as, 87–88; thoughts mistaken as, 83, 107
Recognizing the Judging Mind (practice), 100–102
Reflecting on Causality (practice), 162–63
refugees, 252
relationships: causality and dynamics of, 161; challenging nature of, 235–36; childhood relationship dynamics mirrored in, 237–38; conflict in, 199, 236; dissatisfaction with, 119; emotional triggering in, 185–86, 236; inner critic and, 199; instability of, 212; preferences in, 239–40; radical acceptance in (practice), 240–41; reactivity in, 237
renunciation, 211
repression, 211–12
resilience, 7
resistance, 36, 37
responsibility, shared, 285
rest, 30
Rilke, Rainer Maria, 70, 235
road rage, 182
Roman Catholic Church, 113
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 91
Rumi (Sufi poet), 139, 205, 240
rumination, 244
sadness, 19
Salt March (1930), 253–54
San Francisco (CA), 228–29, 261
Sapiens (Harari), 254
sarvodaya (welfare of all), 259
Sarvodaya Shramadana movement, 259–60
sati (recollection; remembering), 4
scarcity, 222, 264
“School Prayer” (poem; Ackerman), 285
Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, 235
Seeing through Perceptual Distortion (practice), 89–90
self, sense of: at birth, 139; body and, 69–70, 71–74, 145; changing nature of, 140–43, 145, 154, 277; felt, as fixed, 139–40; letting go of, 156; mindfulness of, 142, 153; mindfulness practices, 142–43, 154–56; nature and dissolution of, 276–77, 278; scientific research on, 150; as thought, 150; views/beliefs about, 115. See also identity
self-awareness, 114–15, 159, 161, 184, 237, 239, 249, 262
self-care, 246
self-centeredness: attunement to others as antidote to, 246–48; examining (practice), 248–49; meditation and, 243–44, 262, 279; mindfulness and reduction of, 244–45; nature as antidote to, 276; self-care vs., 246; shifting to service from, 259–60, 261–64; societal prevalence of, 243; as unavoidable, 245–46
self-compassion: components necessary to foster, 191; developing (practice), 194–95, 230–31; during emotional pain, 190–91, 193–95; identity and, 153–54; for inner critic, 200–202; loving awareness as source of, 190–91; loving-kindness for developing, 202; vulnerability and, 177
self-hatred, 50, 176, 198
self-identity, 92–94
self-image, 152–53, 183
self-judgment, 9, 176, 191, 197–202, 204–5. See also inner critic
self-kindness, 191
self-talk, 197–202. See also inner critic
self-worth, 99, 198
Seligman, Martin, 260
Sensory Awareness Walking Practice, 23–24
sensory experience: awareness of, 166, 170–71; body and, 146; dissatisfaction with, 119; embodied presence in, 20–25; as impermanent, 22–23, 119; in nature, 20, 273–74, 277; present moment awareness and, 108, 244–45; walking practice for, 23–24
separateness, 251–55, 261, 283. See also interconnection
service: consumer culture vs., 260, 261; happiness and, 261; interconnection and, 261; leaders exemplifying, 261–62; methods of, 264–65; mindfulness and, 279–80; mindfulness practices, 266; purposeful life and, 260–61; shifting to, from self-centeredness, 259–60, 261–64
service organizations, 265
sexual orientation, 270
Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol, 167–68, 171
shadow, 33–34
Shaw, George Bernard, 279
Shifting from Judgment to Kindness (practice), 201–2
“should have,” 101
Siani, Carmelene, 50–51
sickness, 30, 120–21, 148, 175–76, 179–80
Siddhartha Gautama, xvii
Simons, Daniel, 268
simplicity, 275–76
sleep, 30, 166
snorkeling, 282–83
social media, 92–93, 95, 97, 260
social status, 183, 268, 270
social work, 246–47
Softening into Loss (practice), 208–9
species extinction, 231, 256, 281, 282
“spiritual bypass,” 126, 212
spiritual traditions, 260, 265
Sri Lanka, 259–60
stress: aging and, 50; causes of, 158–59; as human condition, 225; identity attachment and, 153; reduction of, 43–44; vulnerability to, 179–80
success-failure polarity, 213
suffering, 78, 123
suffering, freedom from, xix
Sufi literature, 71, 240
suicidal thoughts, 198
suicide, 260
Sumedho, Ajahn, 165
superiority, feelings of, 92, 95, 98–99
surrender, 36–37, 53–54, 178
Switzerland, 261
Syed, Adnan, 106
Syrian Civil War, 252
Taoism, 79, 135
Tao Te Ching, 262
Tassajara (Zen monastery; CA), 255–56
teaching, 246–47
technology, 161
Teresa, Mother, 227
Thailand, 73
therapy, 246–47
thoughts: anticipatory, 35; awareness of, 78, 80–81, 166, 171; causes of, 159; conditioned, 85–86, 158, 270; critical, 97–102; daily numbers of, 79; identification with, 148–51, 155; “I” thoughts, 150–51, 154–55; labeling, 83; letting go of, 125–26; mindfulness and, 80–81, 106–7; mindfulness practices, 82–83; personality as, 152–53; process of, 149–50; proliferation of, 79–80; as reactive, 78–79, 158; as reality, 83, 107; self-awareness and, 114–15; self-centered, 248–49; suicidal, 198
Tibetan Dzogchen tradition, 168
time: the future, 103–5; measurements of, 107; as mental construct, 103, 105; mindfulness practices, 108–9; mystical view of, 104; the past, 105–7
Time magazine, 150
tolerance, 217–18
transience, 42. See also change; impermanence
tribalism, 251–55
Turning Suffering Inside Out (Cohen), 33–34
Tutu, Desmond, 227
Twain, Mark, 50, 79
Understanding Dissatisfaction (practice), 122
“unfairness,” 215–16, 217
United Nations, 255, 261
United Nations World Happiness Day, 261
universal statements, 101
unmindfulness, 166–67, 169–70
Utah, 276
vegetarianism, 282–83
views/beliefs: attachment to, 114, 132, 133; identification with, 149; inner critic and, 114; mindfulness of, 113–16; mindfulness practices, 116; about others, 114; about permanence, 115; personality as, 152–53; power of, 111–13; about self, 115; unconscious, 112, 114
vipalasa (perceptual distortion), 86
vulnerability: attuning to (practice), 178–80; change and, 43; comparing mind and, 92, 95–96; ego-identity structure and, 94; generosity and, 263; heart as site of, 176–77; as human condition, 176, 179–80; inner critic and, 102; kind attention to, 177–80; sickness and, 175–76; social, 179; of wildlife, 283
walking meditation, 6, 23–25, 157
warfare, 176, 231, 252
Watson, John, 225
“We Protect What We Love” (author’s Facebook page), 284
“When Death Comes” (poem; Oliver), 59–60
wisdom, 7, 8–9, 11–12, 135, 282
work, 212
work ethic, 29
Working with Triggers (practice), 186–88
world: curiosity about, 23–24; as illusion, 85; mindfulness and, 12; pleasure/pain waves in, 63, 64. See also bias; interconnection; nature; relationships; self-centeredness; service
worry, 103–4, 105, 276
worst-case scenarios, 8, 9
“would have,” 101
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 49
wrinkles, 52–53
xenophobia, 268
youth culture, 50, 58
Zen Buddhism, 107, 111, 133–34, 262
About the Author
Mark Coleman is an inner and outer explorer who has devotedly studied mindfulness meditation practices for over three decades. He is passionate about sharing the power of meditation and has taught mindfulness meditation retreats worldwide for the past twenty years. Mark is a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Mark likes to share the fruits of meditation with wider audiences, so he founded the Mindfulness Training Institute, through which he has brought mindfulness programs to companies and the nonprofit sector across North America and Europe. Through the Institute, Mark leads professional mindfulness teacher trainings in the United States and United Kingdom annually. Mark is also a trainer for the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, developed at Google, and teaches in its teacher trainings.
Mark is an unabashed nature lover, and through his organization Awake in the Wild, he shares his passion for integrating mindfulness, meditation, and nature. He leads wilderness meditation retreats from Alaska to Peru, taking people on inner and outdoor adventures. Through Awake in the Wild, Mark also leads yearlong meditation-in-nature teacher trainings in the United States.
Mark is the author of Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Your Inner Critic and Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery. He holds an MA in clinical psychology and draws on his extensive experience in working with people and organizations as a coach and consultant.
Mark lives in Marin County, California, and enjoys spending his free time in nature, hiking, backpacking, biking, and kayaking.
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