Going on Being: Buddhism and the Way of Change

Can you remember the childhood feeling of living happily moment to moment, without intrusive aims or fears? Psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott called it the state of "going on being." Bestselling author Mark Epstein sees a similarity with the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, of just watching the mind and body without holding on or pushing away. Epstein excels at finding the similarities between Buddhist meditation and psychotherapy, and he is in top form in Going On Being. Offering an autobiographical account of his own gradual discovery of this nexus, Epstein tells of his encounters with such luminaries as Ram Dass, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield, ruminating on them and then showing how his insights shed light on his work as a psychoanalyst. Ultimately, he finds that psychoanalysis can function as a kind of interpersonal meditation, helping the patient see aspects of the self that are hidden behind habitual ways of reacting to the world. Going On Being shows that, if done well, psychotherapy can offer some of the same benefits as Buddhist meditation. Eureka! --Brian Bruya

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• Going to Pieces without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
• Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
• What the Buddha Felt: A Buddhist Psychiatrist Points the Way to Uncommon Happiness
• Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective
• The Trauma of Everyday Life
• Mindfulness: Six Guided Practices for Awakening
• 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works
• Teachings of the Buddha: Revised and Expanded
• Abiding in Mindfulness, Volume 1: The Body