Beth Ann Mulligan - The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: Discovering the Buddhist Teachings at the Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Written with disarming candor and clarity, this book takes the reader on an intimate journey through mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), the gold standard of mindfulness training. The author seamlessly reveals both the compassionate heart of MBSR and core teachings from Buddhist psychology that underlie the program. If you want to understand mindfulness training more deeply than ever, this wise and generous book should not be missed!

Christopher Germer, PhD, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

An invaluable companion for anyone taking a mindfulness-based stress reduction course. It makes the teachings of MBSR come alive in a deep, meaningful, and easy-to-understand way. Highly recommended!

Kristin Neff, PhD, associate professor in the department of educational psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, and author of Self-Compassion

As a medical professional, Zen practitioner, and teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), Beth Ann Mulligan is able to weave together different perspectives to illuminate a path toward greater health, happiness, and freedom. This book has the power to transform our individual and collective lives.

Shauna Shapiro, PhD, professor at Santa Clara University, author, speaker, and mindfulness consultant

What a gem of a book! Beth Ann Mulligan leads us, with her many years of experience in teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and even more years of being a dedicated Dharma student, intimately through one eight-week MBSR course, chock-full of wonderful people, stories, and insights. She weaves into this the Dharma teachings as they show up in the classroom, without ever being mentioned in there. She makes the invisible visible and understandable for us, so we can teach MBSR and other mindfulness-based classes from a place of deeper understanding. This is a must-read for all MBSR and mindfulness-based intervention teachers, and anybody else curious about how the Buddhist teachings are informing modern mindfulness.

Christiane Wolf, MD, PhD, certified MBSR teacher, adjunct faculty of the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, director of MBSR programs and senior teacher at InsightLA, vipassana and mindful self-compassion (MSC) teacher, and coauthor of A Clinicians Guide to Teaching Mindfulness

A wise and openhearted invitation to the teachings of modern mindfulness and Buddhism. Beth Ann Mulligan tells stories and offers the teachings that arise directly from our human experience, showing how the path of modern mindfulness parallels the ancient teachings of Buddhism. Weaving these two streams, Beth offers us a way of finding freedom right in the middle of the challenge of our lives. Down-to-earth and inclusive, this book is a wonderful introduction to mindfulness-based stress reduction and the basic teachings of Buddhism.

Roshi David Dae An Rynick, author of This Truth Never Fails

Beth Ann Mulligans wise, clear, and compassionate writing brings the ancient teachings of the Buddha to life as she describes her lived experience of teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction. The authenticity, integrity, and vulnerability that she shares in her stories and teachings offer us an intimacy with what it means to be fully human. This beautiful book has touched my heart deeply and enriched my understanding of the roots of mindfulness-based programs. It is a true gift, a shining pearl in the growing field of modern mindfulness.

Diane Reibel, PhD, director of the Mindfulness Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, coauthor of Teaching Mindfulness, and coeditor of Resources for Teaching Mindfulness

This beautifully structured, wise, and compassionate book takes us behind the scenes of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) class for an insiders view. Beth then offers in-depth teachings from the Buddhist tradition that underlie MBSR. Most importantly, Beths years of personal meditation practice and teaching shine through; the writing is infused with both theory and a deep experiential knowing. It is sure to be a seminal work for students and teachers of mindfulness alike.

Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at UCLAs Mindful Awareness Research Center, and coauthor of Fully Present

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Authors Note

In the stories of the participants in this book, all names and identifying features have been changed. In many cases they are composites of several people. The confidentiality of all participants has been honored and maintained.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2017 by Beth Ann Mulligan

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Jess OBrien

Edited by Ken Knabb

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

To Hugh Columba ONeillYou shine your goodness on everythinglike the sun.

And to the peace of all beings everywhere, without any exception.

Beth Mulligan lives in three worlds. As a medical professional, she functions as a healer and companion to people in physical distress. As a Zen practitioner, she has committed herself to discovering the illuminating truth that lies hidden in the midst of this mysterious life of birth, suffering, and death. And as a teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), she teaches ordinary people to find a new relationship to their physical, mental, and emotional suffering.

In this book, Beth finds a way to show us how her three worlds interconnect. Through stories and teachings, she brings us all into her own heart-mind as she teaches an eight-week MBSR program, all the while living her life in the mountains and desert and working as a physician assistant in a busy medical clinic. Like all MBSR teachers, she avoids the use of explicit Buddhist teachings and language in her guidance of her MBSR students. But in her writing, she lets us see her mind and helps us understand one of the primary roots of MBSRthe classical teachings of Buddhism.

I first met Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1992, when I was a young mother and wife, a psychotherapist, and a student of Zen. I hadnt been able to find a way to combine these different aspects of my life up until that point. Sitting in Jons MBSR class at the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, Massachusetts, I found myself in tears. He had discovered a way to touch the hearts of all the people in the class who had come seeking some kind of a fix for their troubles, which were many and varied. I was lucky to find a home at the Clinic, teaching MBSR classes. Under Jons successor as executive director of the Center for Mindfulness, Saki Santorelli, I eventually became assistant director of the Clinic and a director of the professional training program, guiding professionals to learn to teach MBSR.

When Beth came to the Center to take one of these teacher trainings, I immediately recognized the depth of her practice, her capacity to bring everything to her learning, and her endearing lack of pretense. Beth doesnt put on airs or act like she is anything but a regular person. This quality comes through vividly in her book.