Ed Shapiro - Be the Change: How Meditation Can Transform You and the World

BE THE
CHANGE

How Meditation Can Transform
You and the World

ED and DEB SHAPIRO

New York / London
www.sterlingpublishing.com

To Debs mother, Anne, and to our teachers.
May all beings be happy!

STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered
trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shapiro, Eddie, 1942
Be the change : how meditation can transform you and the
world/Ed and Deb Shapiro.
p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-4027-6001-3

1. Meditation. I. Shapiro, Debbie, 1953-II. Title.

BF637.M4S515 2009

158.12dc22

2009013194

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

2009 by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing

c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6

Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services

Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 1XU

Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia

Design and layout by Debbie Glasserman

Manufactured in the United States
All rights reserved

Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-6001-3

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at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

by Robert Thurman

The very purpose of our life is to be happy. There are two kinds of happinessone that mainly comes from physical comfort and another that involves the mind. Obviously, of the two, mental comfort is superior and more influential. We can see this in our own lives because when our mental state is calm and happy, we can easily put up with small physical discomfort or pain. On the other hand, when our minds are restless and upset, the most comfortable physical facilities dont make us happy.

Since our state of mind is so important, the question arises whether we can train or improve it. Over a very long time, human beings have developed ways to shape the mind; we usually call these methods meditation. Generally speaking, there are two types of meditation. Analytical meditation mainly employs reason. Another kind of meditation simply involves placing your mind at a certain point, without changing it or undertaking any investigation, letting it rest on that single point.

Meditation is an important instrument for shaping or transforming our minds. As a simple Buddhist monk, I have meditated for a long time. As I have gotten older, I have noticed that, even though many problems I have to deal have become more serious and my responsibility for them has become greater, my mind is nevertheless calmer. But dont get the impression that meditation needs to be a religious subject; simply training the mind is a kind of meditation and, while simple single-pointed meditation doesnt necessarily lead to firm convictions, analytical meditation is much more effective in achieving this.

By and large, the mind always looks out critically and deals with external events, but rarely bothers about itself. Therefore, we have to give it new instructions. Up to now, you have dealt with whats going on outside; thats well and good, but now the time has come to explore within and find out more about the mind itself. In doing so, we also have to make an effort to restrain the way our thoughts follow memories of the past and speculations about the future. We need to find the space between such thoughts, which, like the water deep in the ocean, remains clear and undisturbed even though there may be waves on the surface. This is one way to look at the mind itself; its not easy, but I think it is worthwhile to try.

In this book, Ed and Deb Shapiro have gathered together the thoughts and reflections of a wide range of people with a variety of experiences in meditation. Anyone interested in meditation should not only read what these people have to say, but also try it out. If you like their suggestions and they are helpful to you, use them; if they arent, disregard them. Treat this book as you would a cookery book. You wouldnt merely read recipes with approval; youd try them out. Some youd like and would use again. Like cookery, meditation only makes sense if you put it into practice.

July 17, 2009

HH the Dalai Lama

Nobel Peace Prize recipient

Thank goodness Ed and Deb have so beautifully enfolded the fits of all the fascinating individuals in this book within the moving stories of their own lives and transforming experiences! In this living book, Ed and Deb have masterfully woven the many voices into a symphony; the insights and stories harmonize and contrast with each other in a marvelous rich flow that is both calming and energizing, creating a single collective yet selfless voice.

Reading this book is itself a powerful meditation. Without even trying, you effortlessly go deeper into the best places of your mind and heart, by flowing along page-by-page, teacher-by-teacher, insight-by-insight. You will find you are naturally developing mindfulness as you read the words written here and share in the thoughts and lives of these beautiful people, who are honestly and vividly reaching out to you by telling their stories and revealing their insights, their practices, and their performances regarding meditation.

The great mystics of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were all blown away when they found nirvana or the kingdom of God within. We need not think they are so far beyond us. All of them patiently told us we could find our true purpose, discover our real meaningfulness, and actually enjoy happiness. And all of them provided us with methods to move us toward these goals. We can, must, and will be the change we long to see the world enjoy! We can recover from helpless addiction to externalities, impermanent possessions, distracting entertainments, and disappointing preoccupations by turning on our freely intuitive intelligence, tuning in to our deepest hearts through mindful meditation, and dropping out of despairing self-centeredness into the embrace of the lovingness of creation!

In saying this, I make no pretense of having realized more than a hint of all that is possible for us, the wonders we were born to enjoy; I do not claim to have won the super prize of enlightenment yet in this life! But I know by sound inference that each one of us will, sooner or later, experience the bliss of awakening to our authentic selves. When we do, it will be like coming home, a realization that we always already knew this place.