In 1979 Jon Kabat-Zinn popularised the Buddhist practice of mindfulness when he revealed that it could alleviate depression. Now the highly acclaimed thought leader and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thupten Jinpa Langri (known as Jinpa) teaches us to take the next step. He shows us that compassion correlates strongly with happiness, stress reduction, a sense of purpose, better health and a longer life.
Self-compassion is the overlooked key to achieving our goals. Yet many of us resist compassion, worrying that if we are too compassionate with others we will be taken advantage of and if we are too compassionate with ourselves we won't achieve our goals in life. We can actually fear compassion.
Using the latest science, psychology (from contemporary Western and classical Buddhist sources) as well as stories from others and his own extraordinary life, Jinpa shows us how to train our compassion muscle. Jinpa's programme derives from a remarkable course in Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) that he developed at Stanford University Medical School. Much like Jon Kabat-Zinn's landmark Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme, CCT has already had profound effects on the many participants. Thupten Jinpa is the perfect guide to achieving a greater sense of wellbeing.
Author Biography
Thupten Jinpa is a former monk and holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where he also worked as a research fellow. Jinpa has been the principal English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama for over twenty-five years and has translated and edited numerous books by the Dalai Lama, including the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium, Beyond Religion and Transforming the Mind. Jinpa is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal and Chairman of the Mind & Life Institute, which is dedicated to promoting collaboration between the sciences and contemplative knowledge, especially Buddhism. For more information visit http://ccare.stanford.edu/ or follow Jinpa on Twitter (@ThuptenJinpaLa).
