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Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Effortless Mindfulness Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine Mental Health Through Awakened Presence promotes genuine mental health through the direct experience of awakened presence—an eff ortlessly embodied, fearless understanding of and inter- action with the way things truly are. Th e book off ers a uniquely modern Buddhist psychological understanding of mental health disorders through a scholarly yet clinically useful presentation of Th eravada, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Bud- dhist teachings and practices. Written specifi cally for Western psychothera- peutic professionals, the book brings together traditional Buddhist theory and contemporary psycho-neuro-bio-social research to describe the conditioned and unconditioned mind. Th is in-depth exploration of Buddhist psychology includes complete instructions for psychotherapists in authentic yet clinically appropriate Buddhist mindfulness/heartfulness practices and Buddhist psy- chological inquiry skills. Th e book also features interviews with an esteemed collection of Buddhist teachers, scholars, meditation researchers and Buddhist- inspired clinicians. Lisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP, is a private practice psychother apist in Los Gatos, California. She specializes in mindfulness psychotherapy and Buddhist psychology and is a certifi ed Somatic Experiencing practitioner. Lisa trains clinicians in the application of mindfulness interventions and practical Buddhist psychology and is trained in Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Th erapy (MBCT), and Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Lisa has been a dedicated yogic and Buddhist Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 meditation practitioner for almost four decades. For more information on the material presented in this book please visit: www.awakenedpresence.com. More information on Lisa’s private practice can be found at: www.lisadalemiller.com This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Effortless Mindfulness Genuine Mental Health Th rough Awakened Presence Lisa Dale Miller Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 First published 2014 by Routledge 711 Th ird Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Lisa Dale Miller Th e right of Lisa Dale Miller to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereaft er invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miller, Lisa Dale. Eff ortless mindfulness : genuine mental health through awakened presence / by Lisa Dale Miller. — 1 Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mental illness—Alternative treatment. 2. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. I. Title. RC480.5.M535 2014 616.89—dc23 2013040167 ISBN: 978-0-415-63731-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-63733-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-08465-6 (ebk) Typeset in Minion by Apex CoVantage, LLC Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 To my precious teachers (listed in order of their appearance in my life) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Barbara G. Walker Jack Kornfi eld Phillip Moffi tt Venerable Ajahn Sumedho Tsoknyi Rinpoche Mingyur Rinpoche Anam Thubten Rinpoche Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Contents Foreword xiii ANAM THUBTEN RINPOCHE Foreword xv RONALD D. SIEGEL Acknowledgments xvii Introduction xviii Abbreviations xx 1 Start From Where You Are 1 Here We Are 2 So What Brings You Here, Now? 3 A Few Truths to Embrace 4 It Is Human to Resist Pain and Seek Pleasure 4 It Is Human to Desire Happiness 4 It Is Human to Not Know the Diff erence Between Pain and Suff ering 5 Recognizing Life’s Inherent Unsatisfactoriness 5 Th e Roots of Buddhist Psychology 8 How Is Buddhist Psychology Relevant to a Western Psychological Sensibility? 9 Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Stepping Onto the Path 14 Th e First Noble Truth of Suff ering 15 Th e Th ree Kinds of Unsatisfactoriness 16 Dukkha-dukkha 1 6 Viparinama-dukkha 1 7 Sankhāra-dukkha 18 How Does Suff ering Absent Us From Our Lives? 18 viii Contents Does More Presence Always Equal Less Suff ering? 18 How Does Awakened Presence Change Our Relationship to Life’s Ups and Downs? 19 2 Know the Conditioned Mind 20 What Is Conditioned Mind? 20 Early Buddhist Source Materials 21 Early Buddhist Teachings on Conditioned Mind 22 Dependent Origination 23 Ignorance 24 Volitional Formations 25 Sankhāra/Samskāra and Karma in Early Buddhism 26 Consciousness 29 Mind and Matter 30 Six Sense-Bases 30 Contact 31 Feeling 32 Craving 34 Kama-tanhā 3 4 Bhava-tanhā 3 4 Vibhava-tanhā 3 5 Th e Need to Fix; the Need for a Fix 35 Th e Neuroscience of Tanhā 3 6 Clinging 37 Becoming 38 Birth 38 Aging and Death 39 Contemplation of the Four Refl ections 39 3 The Conditioned Mind and Mental Health Disorders 44 Th e Way Th ings Were and the Way We Are 44 Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Dependent Co - arising: Childhood Trauma and Psychophysical Maladies 46 Conditioned Mind and Specifi c Mental Health Disorders 48 Depression and Anxiety 48 Th e Polyvagal Th eory 49 Emotional Dysregulation Is Trauma Symptomatology 50 Bipolar and Schizophrenia 52 Substance Use Problems 52 Contents ix Mental Proliferation: Its Calculations and Miscalculations 54 Papañca and Stress 55 Mind Wandering and Rumination 55 Normalizing Papañca 5 6 Narrative Focus: Recognizing the Inner Story 56 Th e Second Arrow 57 Th e Inner Narration Th at Is Untrue and Self-Destructive 58 Experiential Focus: Being With Th e Actuality of Experience 59 Benefi ts for the Body 60 Practices to Develop Presence in the Here and Now 60 Orienting 60 Just Hearing 61 Resting in Physical Sensations 61 Noting the Feeling Tone of Experience: Pleasant, Unpleasant and Neutral 63 4 Know the Unconditioned Mind 71 Revisiting Consciousness and Awareness 71 Unconditioned Mind 73 Attention and Attending 74 Psychotherapeutic Attention 75 Recollecting and Attentional Balance 75 Mindfulness: Defi ning Our Terms 76 Focused Attention Meditation 76 Samatha : Th e Gift of Stillness 78 Ānāpānasati : Cultivation of Samatha and Vipassanā 79 Mindfulness of Breath Meditation 8 0 Ānāpānasati Group One: Knowing the Prāna -Body and Flesh-Body 81 Th e Five Hindrances 84 Ānāpānasati Group Two: Working With Vedanā : Pīti and Sukha 8 5 Knowing Pleasure and Displeasure From the Inside 86 Ānāpānasati Group Th ree: Working With Mind 89 Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Not-Self , Part 1: Th e Phenomenological Self 91 Th e Genesis of an ‘I’ 91 Th e Illusion of an Enduring Self 92 Recognizing the Knower and the Known 93 Ānāpānasati Group Four: Knowing Truth 94 Th e Mahāyāna Project 96 Historical Overview 96 Th e Bodhisattvic Ideal 97 x Contents Th e Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras 98 Seeing Th rough Subject/Object Duality 98 Form Is Emptiness; Emptiness Is Form 99 5 Know the Fully Awakened Heart 102 Embracing Humanness 102 We Are Imperfect Beings 102 Kind Recognition 103 Empathy: Feeling Into the Experience of the Other 104 Th erapeutic Attunement 105 Empathy Fatigue 106 Lovingkindness: Th e Joy of Generating Well-Being for Self and Others 106 Th e Self-Hating Western Psyche 107 Lovingkindness Meditation 108 Biased Love: Th e Near Enemy of Mettā 109 Hatred: Th e Far Enemy of Mettā 109 Lovingkindness Meditation Instruction 111 Compassion: Responsiveness to Human Suff ering 113 Compassion in Buddhist Psychology 114 How to Begin: Compassionate Recognition of the Diffi culties of Human Life 115 Referential Compassion (Attached or Reasoned Compassion) 116 Compassion Meditation for Self and Loved Ones 116 Pity: Th e Near Enemy of Karunā 118 Cruelty: Th e Far Enemy of Karunā 118 Compassion Meditation for a Diffi cult Person 119 Th erapeutic Compassion: Skillful Compassionate Care 121 Compassion for Trauma 122 Clinical Compassion Protocols 124 Non-referential Compassion 125 Tonglen Meditation 127 Altruistic Joy: Rejoicing in the Happiness of Others 128 Muditā Meditation Instruction 129 Downloaded by [New York University] at 02:06 15 August 2016 Equanimity: Unconditioned Impartiality 129 Equanimity Meditation Instruction 130 Bodhicitta 131 6 Know Spontaneous Awakened Presence 137 Emptiness Redux: Madhyamaka and Yogācāra 137 Nāgārjuna 137 Madhyamaka 138 Th e Two Truths 138 Contents xi Yogācāra 139 Th e Th ree Natures 140 Psychotherapeutically Recognizing Constructed Reality 141 Cutting Th rough Wrong View 141 Not-Self , Part 2: Th e Multi-layered Empty Self 143 Madhyamaka and Not-Self 143 Yogācāra and Not-Self 144 Th e Eight Consciousnesses 144 Ālaya - vijñāna : Th e Buddhist Unconscious 145 Mano-vijñāna : Mere ‘I’ 146 Klistamanas : Reifi ed ‘I’ 146 Self-Cherishing and Narcissistic Wounding 147 Th e Ego Tunnel 148 Tathāgatagarbha