From Mindfulness to Heartfulness | Free Book
Millions have found mindfulness to be a powerful practice for reducing stress, enhancing attention, and instilling tranquility. But it can offer so much more—it can transform you, make you more fully awake, alive, and aware of your connection to all beings. In Japanese, the character that best expresses mindfulness, 念, consists of two parts—the top part, 今, meaning “now,” and the bottom part, 心, meaning “heart.” Using stories from his own life as the son of an Irish father and a Japanese mother, a professor in Japan and America, a psychotherapist, a father, and a husband, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu describes eight “heartfulness” principles that help us realize that the deepest expression of an enlightened mind is found in our relation to others.
“He shows us through stories and practices how to expand our contemplative lives from being self-focused to being inclusive, connected, compassionate, and responsible . . . Each story is a jewel, opening the heart. He connects heartfulness to social justice, leadership, and education and offers simple, direct instructions for seven heartful practices.” —Mirabai Bush, author of Walking Each Other Home (with Ram Dass)
“Resonant with Stephen’s kindness, heartfulness, and wisdom and filled with excellent exercises and practical guides, this lovely volume will be a friend and guide to all those intent on creating and sustaining thriving lives, workplaces, relationships, and communities.” —Dan Barbezat, Professor of Economics, Amherst College
In The Press
“From Mindfulness to Heartfulness is a rare gem—beautifully written,
deeply engaging, and filled with valuable and authentic teachings
about practical and spiritual paths toward balance and understanding.
As Murphy-Shigematsu embraces his vulnerability, he opens up to and
reflects upon his life stories, and that can inspire us to do the
same—encouraging us toward knowledge and understanding. Just what is
needed to bring the increasingly popular mindfulness approach back to
its reality core—the blending of heartfulness with mindfulness.”
—Richard
Katz, PhD, Professor Emeritus, First Nations University of Canada, and
author of Indigenous Healing Psychology
“Through tender
teaching stories and an insightful narrative, Stephen
Murphy-Shigematsu shows us the ways we can weave together mindfulness
and compassion into what he terms heartfulness. As master educator, he
leads us through the stages of heartfulness from vulnerability and
connectedness to acceptance and gratitude. This is an important book.
I heartfully recommend it to all who want to join their own personal
journey of self-discovery to selfless service and the care for
others.”
—Arthur Zajonc, Professor of Physics Emeritus,
Amherst College, and former President, Mind and Life Institute
“This
book has the potential for radical change in the way we live together,
and I loved reading it! Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu takes us
beyond mindfulness as it is often currently taught—as an instrument
for cognitive changes like focus, attention, or stress relief—to the
truths of the gentle, appreciative, nurturing heart. He shows us
through stories and practices how to expand our contemplative lives
from being self-focused to being inclusive, connected, compassionate,
and responsible. Immense heartfulness shines through every story he
tells, drawing on experiences from teaching children and college
students to being with his dying grandmother to his own biracial
childhood. Each story is a jewel, opening the heart. He connects
heartfulness to social justice, leadership, and education and offers
simple, direct instructions for seven heartful practices.”
—Mirabai
Bush, Senior Fellow, The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, and
author of Compassion in Action (with Ram Dass)
and Contemplative Practices in Higher Education (with Daniel
Barbezat)
“This powerful book is full of love and intimate
wisdom. Full of rich stories and deep guidance, it is also a map of
the human heart and the best in all of us.”
—Roshi Joan Halifax,
PhD, Abbot, Upaya Institute and Zen Center
“Resonant with
Stephen's kindness, heartfulness, and wisdom and filled with excellent
exercises and practical guides, this lovely volume will be a friend
and guide to all those intent on creating and sustaining thriving
lives, workplaces, relationships, and communities.”
—Dan
Barbezat, Professor of Economics, Amherst College
“A
profound and wise book written by a respected colleague and friend . .
. this book humbly reminds us that mindfulness without the
heart is lacking and shows the way to live our lives with
awareness, compassion, and responsibility.”
—Frederic
Luskin PhD, cofounder of LifeWorks, Stanford University, and author of
Forgive for Good
“I couldn't put this book down! Dr.
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu's From Mindfulness to Heartfulness is a
profound exploration in heartful connection with ourselves and others.
Through moving storytelling, Murphy-Shigematsu offers several integral
components to cultivating a heartful way of being. Drawing on examples
from his college teaching, his many talks to corporations and public
audiences, and vulnerable moments from his own life, Murphy-Shigematsu
illustrates what this heartful journey might look like—he is in it
with us. He models the vulnerability heartfulness calls for,
exploring the fraught experience of living a biracial identity in the
racial contexts of both the United States and Japan. The insights that
result offer a model of compassionate transformation that are
applicable in a variety of contexts, including social justice,
education, health care, corporations, and community work.
“This book is accessible, mesmerizing, and practical, offering both
deep insights to ponder for days and practical tips to enact right
now. It promises to become a classic mindfulness resource.”
—Beth
Berila, PhD, RYT 500, Director, Women's Studies Program, St. Cloud
State University
“Master listener Dr. Murphy-Shigematsu
demonstrates his attunement to the needs of a multicultural and
stress-filled world by distilling wisdom stories from a range of
perspectives to illuminate the holistic dynamics of heartfulness. His
intimate stories exemplify how to live with heartfulness. They inspire
and empower us to heal through a mindful awareness that plumbs the
personally and socially transformative power of heartfulness.”
—Paula Arai, PhD, Associate Professor, Harvard University, and
author of Women Living Zen and Bringing Zen Home
“The focus
is not on how you can reduce stress through mindfulness but on
teachings that sensitively and carefully show us a valuable way that
humans can live good lives.”
—Roshi Nanrei Yokota, Enkaku-ji Zen
Temple Master
“A moving testament and sharing of the
lessons learned from the author's grandmother, the daughter of a
samurai, who taught him the art of living with heartfulness. The book
is the distillation of many years of searching for authenticity,
making peace with his vulnerabilities, exploring his connectedness
with others, and finding his unique purpose in life. I am deeply moved
by his stories of integrating the American and Japanese values and his
insights on achieving mindfulness. The exercises in the book are a
helpful guide for us to find our own meaning in our lives.”
—Reiko Homma-True, Professor Emerita, Alliant International
University
“Murphy-Shigematsu, through vivid and insightful
storytelling, shows how our connections to our ethnic and cultural
heritage can guide and enrich our search for both enlightenment and
social justice. The beautiful stories here bring vivid color to
the practice of mindfulness that may seem like a world of whiteness in
which race and culture are dismissed as worldly distractions on the
spiritual journey.”
—Satsuki Ina, PhD, filmmaker,
psychotherapist, and community activist
“Dr.
Murphy-Shigematsu's book offers an insightful new perspective on
practicing mindfulness to cultivate heartful interconnections instead
of just using it for stress reduction. This book is a timely and a
much-needed intervention/response to corporate mindfulness. Using
cultural and personal stories, Dr. Murphy-Shigematsu offers a moving
narrative account of cultivating compassionate wisdom by opening our
heart to listen to stories in and around our lives. The book is
moving, wonderful, and heartfelt and an excellent guide to fully
engaging in life with our heart.”
—Ramaswami Mahalingam,
Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
“Wisdom of the heart. Murphy-Shigematsu's gentle
storytelling deftly illustrates a compassionate centering to the
mindfulness movement sweeping across the country. In sharing the
wisdom of his grandmother, he reminds us that outward-focused love and
compassion are the complements to inward-focused peace and clarity.
Significantly, this recentering is developed through stories that are
cross-cultural and intercultural, illustrating how heartfulness
provides compassionate pathways for navigating increasingly diverse
societies. A valuable book.”
—Anthony Lising Antonio, Associate
Professor of Education, Stanford University
“In a society
where supposed ‘intelligence' is measured by a person's ability to
analyze and compute, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu reminds us that the
depth of our humanity is more than a number, an algorithm, or a test
score. In a powerful story only he can tell, Stephen shows us a
workable path that crosses cultures, boundaries, and identities that
stitches a broken world back together.”
—Jeremy Hunter, PhD,
Founding Director, Executive Mind Leadership Institute, Peter F.
Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management
“Mindfulness
has become a contemporary cliché, all too often taken far from its
roots to be practiced in ways that exemplify the very problems of
solipsism and disregard it was meant to transform. Encouraging us
instead toward heartfulness, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu returns us to
the importance of presence, empathy, and compassion. With humor,
humility, and vulnerability, he guides us back toward thinking of how
we might live, work, and act together in diverse and inclusive
communities.”
—Jeff Chang, author of We Gon' Be Alright
“Murphy-Shigematsu
is a master of storytelling. By artfully weaving together personal
threads of his bicultural upbringing with accessible spiritual
practices informed by Buddhism and modern psychotherapy, he becomes
our friend and Sherpa, guiding us to reaching our highest human
potential. Heartfulness is a life-changing philosophy of life,
intended to heal not only individuals but communities at large.
Reading this book will make you a better person.”
—Isabel Stenzel
Byrnes, hospice worker and coauthor (with Anabel Stenzel) of The Power
of Two
- Title: From Mindfulness to Heartfulness | Free Book
- Author: Steven
- Created at : 2024-10-24 02:19:44
- Updated at : 2024-10-26 20:55:00
- Link: https://novels-ebooks.techidaily.com/210544149-9781523094578-from-mindfulness-to-heartfulness/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.