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    • From Suffering to Peace Q and A with Author Mark Coleman

      Like yoga before it, mindfulness is now flourishing in every sector of society. It is a buzzword in everything from medicine to the military. In the new book From Suffering to Peace: The True Promise of Mindfulness, author Mark Coleman, who has studied and taught mindfulness meditation for decades, draws on his knowledge to not only clarify what mindfulness truly means but also reveal the depth and potential of this ancient discipline. Weaving together contemporary applications with practices in use for millennia, his approach empowers us to engage with and transform the inevitable stress and pain of life, so we can discover genuine peace — in the body, heart, mind, and wider world. We hope you will enjoy this Q and A w/ Mark about the book.

      Tell us about your book From Suffering to Peace and what inspired you to write it.

      I wrote the book after having taught mindfulness in a variety of places for the last twenty years, from meditation centers to Fortune 500 companies, in healthcare, United Nations, schools and prisons. Given that, I feel like I have a unique vantage point to talk about how mindfulness is growing and impacting every sector of society.

      In addition, I have been concerned about the popularization of mindfulness and the over simplification of what is in essence a very rich and deep practice, path and tool. I wanted to share the depth and potential of mindfulness from the context of the original tradition (Buddhism) – that it is a path and practice that leads to wisdom, insight and true inner peace.

      How do you define the word mindfulness?

      Simply put – Clear Awareness. Knowing what’s happening as its happening. Present moment attention.

      Longer definition: A non-reactive awareness of our mental, emotional, physical and environmental experience with an attitude of curiosity and care that develops insight and understanding.

      The subtitle is From Suffering to Peace is “The True Promise of Mindfulness.” What are the main benefits of mindfulness?

      Many. Inner peace. Non-reactivity. Self-awareness. Unhooking from negative mental and emotional patterns. Insight into oneself and reality. Capacity for empathy and compassion. Grounded embodied presence. The ability to meet the pain of life without creating any suffering around it. Development of equanimity, acceptance, and balance. Inner joy and happiness.

      What is embodied awareness and how can we begin to develop it?

      Embodied awareness is attention that is grounded and centered in the body. This is most easily understood by watching a professional modern dancer move. They are fully in their physical experience.

      Talk to us about dissatisfaction and how mindfulness can help us deal with it.

      Mindfulness gives us the clarity and discernment to discover first hand, moment by moment that everything in this world is impermanent and as such, it is ultimately dissatisfactory. When we see that, we stop expecting things to fulfill us that can’t, because we know they will change and fade. Dissatisfaction comes from expecting that which is transient to last and give us the lasting satisfaction we all seek. Mindfulness helps us unhook from that painful pattern.

      You say in the book that letting go happens through the process of letting be. How so?

      Some things in life we can let go of quickly – a negative thought, an impulse. However there are many things that we can’t just let go of. Physical pain, strong emotions, grief, and bigger life issues like the stress of our job, for example. So first we practice letting be, which means that we allow and accept and understand what is happening, like the grief for the loss of a loved one. Over time when we are able to fully be with something without reactivity, letting go often happens by itself.

      Tell us about how mindfulness can help us manage triggering emotions.

      Mindfulness is a key tool for working with triggering emotions. It gives us the self-awareness of knowing what is happening in our mind, body and heart, which is where triggers arise from and are felt. The more familiar we are with the intensity of our physical experience when triggered, or the more we are able to feel and tolerate intense feelings in our heart and see how our thoughts are often exacerbate by our triggered response, the more capacity we have to deal with such triggers

      What is self-compassion and what are the three components that are necessary to foster it?

      Self-compassion is the ability to take care of yourself with kindness, particularly when you are struggling. The three components are shifting from self-judgment to self-kindness, that suffering is universal so you aren’t alone, and developing mindful self-awareness

      Can mindfulness help us become more kind? If so, how?

      Mindfulness wakes us up to the human predicament that life is challenging, complex, and not easy. The more we are present to our own struggles, with care and understanding, the more empathy and compassion we can feel for others when they go through similar hardships of their own. Mindfulness also helps us see that kindness brings happiness and peace to the heart

      What do you most hope readers will take away from your book From Suffering to Peace?

      That mindfulness is within them and that they can develop awareness that leads to profound insight, well being, and peace.

      Mark Coleman is the author of From Suffering to Peace, Make Peace with Your Mind, and Awake in the Wild. He is the founder of the Mindfulness Institute and has an MA in clinical psychology. Mark has guided students on five continents as a corporate consultant, counselor, meditation teacher, and wilderness guide. He lives in Northern California. Visit him online at MarkColeman.org.

      Excerpted from the book From Suffering to Peace. Copyright ©2019 by Mark Coleman. Printed with permission from New World Library.

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    • DOUBLE VISION: CAN AN ATHEIST BE PSYCHIC?

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      I’m having trouble accepting my feelings or connections with spirits and all that is on the other side of the “veil.” You see, I really don’t have a religion or believe in all that the Bible says. To me, it’s a fascinating story, as are “Lord of the Rings” and Harry Potter movies. I’m feeling like what I experience of spirit is all in my head because I don’t believe in the Bible. Can spiritual connections happen for atheists? – Shawna

      Dreamchaser:

      Shawna, what does the Bible have to do with spirits and the other side? Lots of people do not believe in the Bible, but they believe in everything that is. The Bible is a book written some 2000 years ago by men who believe in the Christian faith founded by Jesus Christ when he walked on earth. If one is not a Christian, then odds are that one does not believe a lot of things that are in the Christian Bible.

      For example, if one is of the Jewish faith, one does not believe anything about Jesus being the Messiah. Every religion has its own belief system. We are most definitely talking about religion when we talk about the Bible. When we talk about spirits and the other world, we are speaking about the universe and all that is in it which have nothing to do with religion.

      Many people do not believe in God. I know very few people who feel that God is this white-haired caucasian man sitting on this big gold throne with light coming off him. I personally feel that God must be a woman if I am created in God’s image. In any case, “God” is energy. The energy that you feel inside that steers you from making wrong decisions, or tells you to stop and say hello to someone who looks sad, or makes you stop to look at beautiful flowers in a field as you pass. All of that is “Christ consciousness” or God. One thing that the Christian Bible says that I unequivocally believe is the phrase “God is love.” Since love is energy, God must be energy.

      I heard a quote and used to have it posted on my Psychic Chat page (for you old timers). It says:

      “Religion is for people who believe in hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there.”

      You can be incredibly spiritual without being religious. Spirituality is about you and what you believe and what fills you up and what makes you feel good, providing you are harming no one else in the process. There are no edicts or laws in spirituality. You can look at the ocean and be filled with a sense of wonder, awe, peace, joy and balance, without having to think that God made it. The fact that you feel all those things is enough. You can also have paranormal experiences. Reasons for why it is there vary from religion to religion and person to person. Let go of the fear that if you allow yourself to “go there” and experience that world, you will be converted to some type of religion. It is so not that way! Enjoy these experiences and open your heart to what is.

      May you find the peace you are seeking

      *****

      Astrea:

      Most Jews and Christians who treat the Bible as a guideline, albeit a wonderful one. The Bible gives us a historical look at the way our faith grew and developed in the old times. It shows us about God’s love. Just because you don’t belong to an organized religion or believe literally in the Bible doesn’t mean you are an atheist.

      Many people feel as you do: That the Bible is a very valuable storybook, but isn’t the true and only word of God. There are some very outdated and impractical ideas there, and most Christians believe that our faith is growing and changing with humanity’s growth and change. We evolve in God’s love. There are no set rules for experiencing the love of God.

      I stopped believing that the Bible was more than a holy book when I was about six. At that point I began to discover other religions and other holy books, and my faith grew and expanded. While the Bible, the Koran, and other holy teachings are valuable to us as sources for lessons on how we can treat one another better, they are just that: Books of lessons about life, and stories about things that happened long before we were born into this incarnation. They survive because they continue to hold some value for humanity.

      If you were actually an atheist, you wouldn’t have any reason to try to communicate with spirits. That would be your imagination, because a real atheist doesn’t believe that spirits exist. How could you feel something that isn’t real to you? An atheist wouldn’t even be asking the question you ask. If you can have a spiritual experience, then you believe in something, because God is in all of those, one way or another. Atheists believe that there is one life and that when you’re dead, that’s it: You’re dead, and there is nothing that goes on or continues.

      When a spiritual connection happens, it’s a given that the person it’s happening to believes that it can happen. Whether you’re imagining this communication or not isn’t the point. The point is that you think you’re doing it, either when you are or after it happens, so you should decide what your beliefs really are. So what if they don’t fit into the format of some organized religion, Christian or otherwise? It’s not necessary to believe in the Bible to believe in God. God is individual to all of us, and lives in each of us, whether we want to admit it or not. A personal God doesn’t come from just any book. God comes from your heart, your soul, your self, and your feelings. All Gods are one God.

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