By Diane Chrestman, LCSW, DCEP, Author of Zenergy Mindfulness: The Intersection of Buddhist and Energy Psychology for Mental Health and Wellness. Website www.authentic-life.net.

Meditation and mindfulness are two mental health treatment modalities that fall under the umbrella of Buddhist Psychology. But there are many more. Buddhism could be re-designated from a world religion to a theory of psychology. Core teachings of Buddhism helps us understand and alleviate suffering. Sounds like psychology to me!! Buddhist psychology assimilates easily into psychotherapy to help clients have insights regarding maladaptive emotional, cognitive and behavioral patterns, and how to respond to these conditions more skillfully to reduce our pain and suffering.

I evolved into a Buddhist Psychotherapist through the years because I find that Buddhist teachings are easy to understand and provide effective treatment planning. The insights into the nature of a human being, with our ever changing, and often irrational thoughts and feelings is relatable. Our irrational minds and emotions may not be easy to fix, but at least we have understanding and wisdom about said irrational minds and emotions.

As we develop insights about our problems we learn how to respond in an adaptive manner as opposed to maladaptive manner.   I also appreciate Buddhist psychology because it expresses our experiences through the lens of a human being as opposed to a lens of clinical diagnosis and pathology.  There is a place for the clinical lens. The brain is an organ after all and while there is still much uncharted territory, scientific research is helping us to understand the field of psychology with greater precision. However, when a client comes to therapy, at least in my practice, most of the time it is because life has become unmanageable. These clients benefit, in my opinion, more from the insights of Buddhist psychology than a diagnosis from the DSM-V, and the treatment modalities that follow. Buddhist informed interventions might be entirely the wrong approach for the client who is so ill that they require stabilization from a mental health emergency clinic. A more clinical approach, such as psychotropic medication might very well be more effective treatment option in life or death circumstances.

A very important aspect of the clinical process is the treatment plan, which defines how a client can begin making small changes to emotional, behavioral and cognitive patterns in order to reach the treatment goals. Change begins by cultivating different responses in real time, in the real world, and very importantly, when those real-world triggers (think demanding boss, critical partner, unreliable friends) arise in our mind and heart.

I have used many Buddhist teachings to assist clients. Some of the teachings that are easily translated into a treatment plan include:

Right Action– Instead ofengaging in conditioned maladaptive thinking, behavioral or emotional patterns, investigate different behavioral patterns that support beneficial outcomes. Does the action you are considering supports wisdom, understanding, peace, and flexibility?  If the action creates more suffering, ignorance, rigidness or is immoral, perhaps change course.  A treatment plan may include one minor change that can be made the next time life seems unmanageable and we are triggered into repeating maladaptive responses. Instead of those old patterns, ask what is the right action? What encourages and cultivates a sense of peace and well-being in your heart and mind and in your environment.  Right action could start with something as simple as changing an aspect of non-verbal communication such as the tone of your voice to sound less aggressive or sitting up taller to convey more assertiveness.

Right Effort –Maladaptive emotional, thinking and behavioral patterns have usually been habituated for years with thoughts and actions. There is a web of neural connections that support the habits that are hurting you. Those connections can be broken, but it does take time and effort. What is the right effort to change a habit? This depends on many factors such as your personality, your motivation, and your support systems. An element that is contained in any growth process is an ability to tolerate discomfort. When an urge arises, we must stay with the discomfort as opposed to run from it. This is right effort. Our attachment to maladaptive patterns is very often supported by the ego. The more we think and believe “I am this or that”, “I deserve/don’t deserve this or that”, “I can’t this or that”, the ego is evolved. The ego is sneaky and cunning and often cultivates maladaptive patterns in a way that is unconscious to the conscious mind. That is one benefit one may realize from meditation. They begin to see these subtle manifestations of the ego and how it shapes our deepest sense of self.  

The Nature of Impermanence – Everything is impermanent including our thoughts, emotions, health, beauty, job, position, reputation and relationships. Sometimes the nature of impermanence results in sudden, life changing experiences.  At other times conditions are changing at an imperceptible slow pace. My personal favorite is to see the impermeant nature of my likes and dislikes. My likes become dislikes and my dislikes become likes. What we like and dislike constantly conditions states of clinging and longing or frustration/anger/aversion. How can we apply the insight of impermanence benefit mental health? The awareness of impermanence helps clients to learn to tolerate discomfort. Unhealthy behavioral, emotional or cognitive responses are driven by likes and dislikes. We desire something because we like it. If we can see the urge as an impermanent condition of “liking”, we distance ourselves from the urge, and the habituation becomes less intense.

Ego– Buddhist Psychology and Western Psychology view the ego very differently. In Western psychotherapy the therapist strives to identify and change aspects of the client’s ego or sense of self. The therapist assists the client to sculpt the egoic sense of self to adopt healthy self-concepts. In Buddhist Psychology, the task is more aligned with an attempt to annihilate the ego. The premise is when there is no longer ego, there is no longer suffering. That is because our ego is the fountain from which clinging and aversion flows. If we can stop the constant flow of clinging and aversion, we are free from suffering. This is not to say we will not have preferences. We recognize our preferences but distance ourselves from the perception that our preferences are conditions for our joy and peace.

Be in peace, Diane

By Stephen Chong, M.Ed., author, speaker and business consultant

Has not enough been written about ‘Leadership’ already?  You might have thought that most people, properly inclined, would have already studied, assimilated and implemented the many words of wisdom pertaining to the multi-faceted aspects of leadership conundrums.  Perhaps? Well, perhaps not.

Today, trusted leadership is much harder to attain in an environment that is typified by the impatience that characterizes the era of instant gratification – just like the Queen song – “I want it all and I want it now!”

Good leaders, however, understand and appreciate that there are consequences (good and bad) for their actions and like master chess players consider the future many moves ahead.

I have highlighted in my recently released novel; the consequences of actions taken in the lives of ‘everyday’ people and explored the consequences of those actions across time, generations and from a spiritual perspective.

Now, I am fairly certain that there has not been a lot written (if any) to describe leadership through the prism of spirituality or what happens after we pass on.  So, let’s look at the leadership conundrum from this (unique) perspective.

Leadership, whilst given many definitions, is fundamentally about what people (aka employees, clients/customers) will follow. What people believe is that which they will follow – all men/women want to believe, but very few can follow a dream – even a true one. But they will follow a man/woman with a dream.

Now, if I were a betting person, I would hasten to say that the consequences of a life well-lived can be found in the abundance of some things and the absence of others. Virtue is a prime example.

As a leader, I would want my many employees to work with and follow me because I was able to demonstrate an ability to act fairly and without prejudice or bias.

I would want them to follow me when I ‘led from the front’ and was ‘accountable for my actions’.  On the flipside, I would be loath to reflect actions of deception, where clients or customers were misinformed, mistreated or deceived.

Sadly, there have been many recent examples where virtue has been severely wanting from our so-called leaders of industry and community.

As a leader, many people follow by virtue of the trust they place in you.  After all, people’s livelihoods are at stake. They each have families and financial responsibilities to uphold.  If the trust they place in you is misguided the consequences of loss can be profound.

Trust is a treasured elemental to the leadership matrix and can only be earned not enforced.  They believe you – believe in you.

As a leader, I would not expect to get everything right.  Trust requires that others have confidence in your intentions.  Better, therefore, than being ‘right’, ‘strong’ or ‘competent’ is preparedness to be vulnerable.

Trust requires that we have confidence in each other’s intentions and have no reason to be protective or careful.  Trust is the foundation of great relationships (aka teams) and trust is the basis upon which all good teams (relationships) are built.  I would hasten to add that this applies both to employees and customers/clients alike.

In Bodies of Consequence, my main protagonist was an ex-sniper, WWII veteran, who had to experience the consequences of his actions in the hereafter.   He had to endure the consequences of his life and the choices he made under the duress and horror of war.

Ultimately, it told the story about the consequences of our actions on earth that go beyond the deeds themselves – and impact on people and situations that may never have been considered.

As a leader of men and women, whatever my system of belief, I would want to ensure that my own story was underwritten by both virtue and trust and that my legacy among the many that followed me was told in a story with a smile by those who placed the same in me.

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Stephen Chong’s applauded book, Bodies of Consequence is now available for purchase on Amazon, local bookstores (ISBN: 978-0-6484579-1-6) or from the website  www.stephenchong.com.au.

1. What are the larger universal themes of this book?

Empathy — that uncovering the motivations of others and gaining their perspective not only brings about your own growth but expands your world.  You become more in touch and gain agency over your choices by taking other points of view into account.

Context — we’re each a part of a larger whole, of forces that affect us knowingly or unwittingly.  That can be said for any character in your story and it’s up to you to find out what their framework is, so you know how much is personal, psychological, or contextual.

Self-acceptance — to need others approval more than your own creates an imbalance and a loss of contact with who you are and what matters to you.  Keeping your moral compass means listening to yourself without expectation to conform and accepting that message.

Intuition — it’s more than a little voice in your head, it’s a way of absorbing the world.  Although intuitive impressions are just a part of the lineup, they’re sometimes the most reliable gage of all–provided we’ve not stuffed them down in favor of rationalizing.

Grace — a state of grace means releasing, not harboring your anger in order to enforce a sense of self-righteousness.  It means reconciling and reaching a truce both with yourself over your supposed shortcomings and with others over theirs.  It means sacrificing your ego to gain peace and not have regrets. It prepares you for the next stage, whatever it is.

2. In what way has your experience led you to question your own identity?

My presuppositions had little or nothing to do with the identity I discovered through the reunion experience described in this book.  While I had been busy constructing a persona, a certain core congealed into original state, that only intensified through these events.  Finding out what and who I was not helped me focus on what I believed.  No one can give you your identity. It’s a consensual relationship with the world and your history.  When you understand your identity, you gain insight into your destinies and how to get there.

3. What about your story makes it so important today?

There’s a huge emphasis on our differences now, what separates us and what we represent predominating who we are in humanity.  The existential questions we face require that we come together, though we’re less sure every day how to do that. Negotiating means keeping the big picture front and center, that of the greater good, and that entails retrieving the positive in each situation, holding a light to progress, and not retreating into negativity.

4. How do you define the concept of family in your memoir? Has this definition changed for you?

Family is an emotional commitment that exists outside of any usual parameters of biological relationships and yet includes those, too.  Previously I thought that finding biological family was essential. And that remains true. But family is not zero sum. There is an abundant overflow of emotion for family so that ‘real’ or ‘blood’ can exist in the same space as ‘acquired’ or ‘blended’ or ‘adopted.’  Commitment both voluntary and involuntary, is the ingredient I would describe as forming families. Mine extends to adoptive, biological, and blended family, whose meaning transcends relationship.

5. What has writing this memoir taught you about empathy and relinquishing your anger?

Relinquishing anger was for me an exercise in mindfulness, and that exercise had to become a practice until it was internalized and the waves of anger passed.  Writing allowed me to see how obsessive I was about my anger, how intent I was in maintaining it, as if it were a part of my identity. That layer was shed-able.  Writing about my anger transformed it into an object to deal with, instead of an internal component. But as part of being human and fallible, so anger, too, is cyclical in nature, though each cycle shortens or has less capacity to derail whenever it comes around.

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For more information about Diane and her new book, please visit http://dianedewey.com.

By Lori Morrison

Almost ten years ago, in the middle of a volcanic lake in El Salvador, I was struck by a mysterious light beam during a late-night walk. After three hours of being unconscious, I awoke to realize that all of my perceptions of the world had changed. I had left my ordinary reality and was now living in a non-ordinary reality. After a few stays in mental hospitals, believing I had lost my mind, I realized that I had instead been given a gift and joined a rare group of people that call themselves “lightning shamans”. This was an even stranger story as I was a left-brain entrepreneur that had been in the boardrooms of wall street and then a successful business woman throughout Central America, far from the tenants of indigenous teachings. After receiving this gift, I was able to interact with the spirits of animals, along with a multitude of other mysterious beings from other worlds that I could see, hear and communicate with.

As a result of this experience, for several years, the spirits of four jaguars began to converse with me, along with Mayan ancestral priests, who would become my spiritual teachers and guides. They arrived on the night of my fifty-second birthday, an important date for the Mayan culture, to initiate me into a whole new purpose in this lifetime. I later learned that these jaguar spirits are often called Power Animals, guides that bring knowledge and power to human beings to support our earthly walk. I dove deep into researching to see if others had a similar experience and I realized that it is a richly woven practice among a variety of cultures of the world. Power animal spirits are also important allies for shamans. They are their guides and healers from the spirit world. Also, when an animal appears in the physical world it has a lot of meaning that can enrich our lives and expand our awareness.

I wrote this book because I wanted to share my findings about Power Animals and their importance to humanity. I had many questions to answer like, what meaning did different animals have for the Egyptians? Many graves have humans buried with a variety of animals, why? What did the Mayans believe when a hummingbird appeared? What messages did the Navajo medicine men receive from the animal spirits? There was a vast and hidden world that I wanted to discover, so I put on my Indiana Jones hat and headed off into the spiritual meanings of Power Animals.

My main source of information were symbols left by a variety of ancient cultures. I also found rich resources through art history and spent a lot of time watching videos of the animals in the wild. How did they react? What was their skill and power? Lastly, through intention and purpose with my new-found gift, I was now able to go to a multi-dimensional place where the spirits of Power Animals reside, and I asked them to share their wisdom with me for my book. They brought through me amazing and profound messages for humanity. The teachings at times were astonishing. I found myself immersed into an animal kingdom school with very original perspectives about living on earth.

What was an interesting discovery was learning that when a child is born into an indigenous community it is believed to be accompanied by its Power Animal. A ritual is performed through dance and celebration for the purpose of integrating the power of the animal into the child’s heart chakra normally orchestrated by a shaman. This connection is intended to keep the child safe as it will be its companion through life. Later in life, if a child has experienced a traumatic experience, the shaman will often do a retrieval and reinstate its energy back into the child to overcome any weakness. In the modern world Power Animals can be called upon like guardian angels, protectors and beings that raise our level of consciousness.

Through the use of scalar energy made famous by Nicolas Tesla, I have combined this cutting-edge technology with ancient practices to create a program where with a person’s birthdate and birthplace I can scan their energetic field to see what Power Animal was present with them at birth. This allows me to perform a modern version of this ancient practice. Combining this with my own skills, it has reached an incredible level of accuracy and validation.

With the launch of the book, I have given interested readers the opportunity to find out what their Power Animal was at birth. I now offer this service on my website and the book then gives them the insight as to the powers and the awareness of this relationship. Readers who have signed up for this “high tech” power animal retrieval have often been astounded when their Power Animal is revealed. With one client, the scan revealed that a sparrow was her Power Animal. This was an emotional revelation since she had a tattoo of several sparrows on her body thus removing years of questioning why she chose a sparrow. Another reader was scanned, and it was determined that her Power Animal was a cougar. In this case it was validation of many dreams she had through her life about cougars, and why a friend insisted on giving her a painting of a cougar years ago that she has hanging over her bed. These stories and more continue to validate the sometimes subtle and unknown ties we have to the animal spirit world.

Writing this book also brought me a wealth of knowledge about myself. It was often a whirlwind of messages from a Power Animals perspective of how unusual they see the humans view. From Mongolia to Machu Picchu I found that Power Animals have always been a part of our collective understanding and existence, yet with so little connection to nature, it has been lost to us. My goal was to find it again and bring it back to its loving form so that once again humans could reunite with their Power Animal and reconnect to the meaningful messages that are brought to us from their world.

About the Author:
Lori Morrison is the author of The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals (March 2019). She is a best-selling author, inspirationalist and mystic. She is part of a rare breed of lightening shamans who have received a spontaneous awakening of shamanic knowledge. Lori first journeyed into the shamanic underworld in 2010 where she found the spiritual realm of Power Animals. Her teachers were Mayan Ancestors who took her through a two year initiation with the spirits of four Jaguar. Her later intimate connection with Lion, given to her by a Haitian shaman has been an extraordinary experience and has enhanced greatly her healing powers. By merging and forming a sacred relationship with animal spirits she is able to support her clients with insight and change through her cutting edge shamanic counseling practice in Sedona, Arizona where she resides. For more information, please visit https://lorimorrison.com and follow Lori on Facebook and Twitter.