Going On Being: Buddhism and the Way of Change--A Positive Psychology for the West
Written by Mark Epstein
Narrated by Mark Epstein
4/5
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About this audiobook
Before Mark Epstein became a medical student at Harvard and began training as a psychiatrist, he immersed himself in Buddhism through experiences with such influential Buddhist teachers as Ram Dass, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield. The positive outlook of Buddhism and the meditative principle of living in the moment came to influence his study and practice of psychotherapy profoundly. Going on Being is Epstein's memoir of his early years as a student of Buddhism and of how Buddhism shaped his approach to therapy, as well as a practical guide to how a Buddhist understanding of psychological problems makes change for the better possible.
In psychotherapy, Epstein discovered a vital interpersonal parallel to meditation, but he also recognized Western psychology's tendency to focus on problems, either by attempting to eliminate them or by going into them more deeply, and how this too often results in a frustrating "analysis of analysis." Buddhism opened his eyes to another way of change. Drawing on his own life and stories of his patients, he illuminates the concept of "going on being," the capacity we all have to live in a fully aware and creative state unimpeded by constraints or expectations.
Mark Epstein
Mark Epstein, M.D. is also the author of Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective and Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart. A psychiatrist and consulting editor to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, he lives in New York City.
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Reviews for Going On Being
108 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Totally loved this book. Made mindfulness and meditation feel way more in reach for me.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing stories wishing the book with great teachings. Incredible book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mark Epstein’s explanation of Buddhist philosophy’s insights on mental health and making progress during therapy are brilliant: compassionate, empathetic, practical.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Dr. Epstein clearly know much about Western psychotherapy but he also tries to speaks with the same authority about Buddhism and makes such fundamental errors right from start he loses all credibility.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I frankly couldn’t tell if this audiobook was the abridged version or the full version. But it apparently didn’t matter too much either way. It appears to be primarily an essay on Mark Epstein’s journey to integrate his Buddhist practice with his career as a psychotherapist.
Epstein appears to practice some combination of Zen Buddhism and mindfulness meditation. He tells about his early forays into Buddhist meditation and the mentors who helped him to understand his practice.
He also talks about the theory of going on being, and how this relates to his view that psychotherapy needn’t necessarily focus only on fixing people’s problems, either by eliminating them or by “going deeper into” them. Sometimes it is enough just to understand the problem and to know that you can live with it. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you want to understand Buddhism from a western prospective, this book it’s definitely a must. What’s great about this book is the fact that there are different point of views not only from Buddhist, but from western psychologists as well. There are plenty of real life experience examples, which makes it easily understandable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Combines a memoir of his own journey as a student of Buddhism and psychology with a powerful message about how cultivating true self-awareness and adopting a Buddhist understanding of change can free the mind.