The Place of Mindfulness in Healing and the Law He's Good, I'm Not Kidding You
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98 RESHAPING THE LAWYER'S IDENTITY 99 He didn't spend time stroking my ego; he did whatever was 5 necessary to help me out I was so needy and he gave me support and affirmation. The Place of Mindfulness in Healing and the Law He's good, I'm not kidding you. He just has this special dimension. He has a feel for people and great compassion for his clients, in addition to tremendous credibility with Leonard L. Riskin other lawyers. Sa many more things come with [him] than just the legal stuff. "Walking anywhere with friends, especially uphill, is an occasion for silence," writes Stephen Butterfield, who was suf- The lawyer these people are talking about, john McShane, who prac- fering from a serious lung disorder. tices family and criminal law in Dallas, describes himself as a healer. He is a I cannot walk, talk, and breathe at the same marvelous example of what is possible, both because he succeeds so often time. Every gram of oxygen must be used for in making a difference in clients' Jives and because he is highly successful in locomotion. There is nothing left over. every sense of the word, including financially (which is important for Superfluity must go. This becomes an amaz- lawyers who fear that the cost of alternative ways to practice law is ing metaphor in my life, in my mind. What is penury). One of the clients above -"He's good, I'm not kidding you" - is superfluous? Anger that freezes into resent- T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oil magnate who is CEO of Mesa Petroleum, ment, jealousy, greed, gossip, ego-clinging, and who has, over the years, engaged the services of whole armies of pretense, embarrassment, any form of fixa- lawyers. tion, running after pleasure, the discursive What keeps Pickens loyal to McShane? It comes down to feeling seen thought that maintains the story line of and heard, not as a powerful and fabulously wealthy businessman, but as a "me"- these things are very costly in terms of fellow human being. In truth, a relationship like that requires far more than the amount of energy it takes to keep them just attentive listening. It requires empathy, compassion, acceptance, and going. They are what conversation is mostly respect. A Jot of people would call that love. (McShane is quite willing to about. I cannot take in enough oxygen to sup- acknowledge the Jove he feels for his clients.) port them anymore except by holding McShane spends a lot of time working with other lawyers to help completely still and doing nothing else. When them understand what it means to be a lawyer/healer. "People will say, ·My the oxygen is diminished below a certain God, why would a client hire someone with this touchy-feely approach to point, you must choose absolutely between the law1'" he says."The answer is, it makes sense. It resonates with a deep feeding all your mental bloodsuckers and tak- universal need for healing." ing care of your true business. You cannot 1 afford to keep them around as pets. What an opening. What a discovery follows from that simple realization. Could I ever afford it? Can anyone? What made me think that I could not let go of this expensive baggage before now? .. ..... -......--· 100 RESHAPING THE LAWYER'S IDENTITY THE PLACE OF MINDFULNESS 101 As lawyers and law teachers, we routinely face the same breath exercise, but this time, when you become aware that the dilemma as Butterfield, though in a less intense form: how to mind has wandered, notice where it has gone; then return your take care of our "true business" when the mind is constantly attention to the breath. To the extent you are able to do this distracted by "superfluity." Notwithstanding the popularity of exercise (and it often is very difficult for people unpracticed in multi-tasking, at any one moment our attention can have only meditation), you probably will have noticed a very wide range one object. Of course the attention can jump around, which of thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions. In addition, you allows us to think we are dealing with many things at once. But may have observed that many of the thoughts were about you, in the very moment that I am focused on my own interests, I and they concerned making things better for you, say getting cannot focus on the interests of another - say, a client or stu- more pleasure or avoiding pain - physical, emotional, finan- dent or colleague. cial, relational. This reality becomes a problem because we frequently can- You might have noticed, too, that many of these thoughts not control the focus of our attention. And this is due to at were grounded on stories you tell yourself about yourself, sto- least two qualities of the human mind. The first is that the ries that maintain the sense of identity, or "me."2 Sometimes I human mind wanders - almost incessantly; as a result, we have tell myself "stories" about myself. My internal voice tells me, trouble keeping our attention where we want it to be. If you for example, that I am competent (or not) as a teacher, writer, have any doubt about that, think about a time you were read- lawyer, mediator, father, husband, tennis player, member of ing a book or a case and, after a few pages, realized you had no the community. That certain people, or certain kinds of peo- idea what you had read. Your eyes covered the words, but your ple (such as Republicans or Democrats or conservatives or mind was elsewhere - on a beach in Hawaii, in a supermarket, liberals or athletes or intellectuals), like me, or do not like me. in the bleachers watching a baseball game. Or try this exercise: That I believe in certain specific values, or do not. And so on. Get into a comfortable seated position and close your eyes. As Stephen Butterfield said, the vast majority of our internal Bring your attention to the breath. Specifically, focus on either and external dialogue concerns these stories and tries to main- the sensation that the breath makes when it enters or leaves the tain them. So we worry about anything that threatens our nostrils or the sensation of the rising and falling of the belly sense of competence or security or lovability, 3 and about with each in breath and out breath - whichever is easier to improving our situation, or not allowing it to worsen. notice. After you become comfortable with that focus, begin These characteristics of the human mind put us frequently counting the breaths. Count up to ten exhalations. When you in a state of "mindlessness," which, in the words of Harvard reach ten, or go past ten, or lose track, begin again at one. Do psychology professor Ellen Langer, "means when the light's on this exercise for five minutes. but nobody's home." 4 One dominant feature of mindlessness I know many smart, educated, disciplined people who is that we are mentally dwelling in the past or future most of have trouble reaching ten even once. the time. So we miss much of the present. Obviously the more Not only do we have trouble keeping our attention where distracted the mind, the more poorly we perform virtually any we want it to be, but - and this is the second of the qualities I activity. If our mind is distracted, we cannot pay attention to mentioned - we often are not aware of where our attention is others - including clients and other lawyers - or to ourselves. focused, so we cannot readily control where it goes, or when, The distracted state itself produces a good deal of anxiety. In or how long it stays there. For an illustration, try resuming the addition, the distracted mind is more likely to succumb to ---- '' . .,. 102 RESHAPING THE LAWYER's IDENTITY THE PLACE OF MINDFULNESS 103 habitual patterns of perception and behavior. Thus, for and without judgment, to whatever is going on in the mind and instance, the distracted lawyer is more likely to treat a plaintiff body.7 A person cultivates the ability to be mindful in silent in a personal injury case as if he were a hypothetical or stereo- meditation (usually sitting, but sometimes while walking, lying typical plaintiff; out of habit, in other words, this lawyer, down, or standing), then seeks to deploy it in everyday life, instead of working from genuine curiosity and compassion to including professional practice. Although mindfulness medita- learn what this client really needs, would assume the client tion is an ancient practice developed by the Buddha some wants only to maximize his monetary recovery. The distracted 2,500 years ago, in the West, practitioners of a variety of reli- lawyer will therefore be less able to discover and help heal the gions - including Christianity and Judaism - use it as well. In wounds associated with conflict. addition, it is commonly taught and practiced in secular And, of course, she will be less able to implement many Western society. Many training programs are available for the . -' of the healing-inclusive approaches to law and conflict resolu- general public and for special groups such as athletes (includ- tion - such as collaborative law, therapeutic jurisprudence, and ing the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls under coach holistic law. For many lawyers, each of these approaches Phil Jackson), corporate executives (e.g., at Monsanto), medical requires employment of new ways of thinking - new paradigms patients suffering from chronic pain or stress, and medical, of lawyering. And this, in turn, entails the ability to be "pre- nursing, and college students.8 sent" with others, which must be based on being "present" In recent years, mindfulness meditation has been intro- with oneselC To achieve such presence, the lawyer must be 1· duced to the legal profession through programs designed for ,I,.