This little book is the product of a collaboration with Hor Tuck Loon of Malaysia, the designer. It is a collection of 100 excerpts from Full Catastrophe Living, set against Tuck Loon’s original graphics. It is meant to be both an introduction to the essence and spirit of mindfulness as a practice and a way of being for those new to mindfulness, and also as a highly accessible source of gentle reminders for those hoping to deepen and enliven their lives in the face of stress, pain, and illness. The quotations are meant to evoke reflection and practical shifts in both attitude and action that can change the quality of the moment, the day, and one’s relationship to experience. There actually is a way to let everything become your teacher, to let life itself, and everything that unfolds within it — the “full catastrophe” of the human condition in the words of Zorba the Greek — shape your ongoing development and maturation as a human being, no matter how old you may be when you first come to it. Countless individuals have followed this path to greater sanity, balance, and well-being, often in the face of huge stress, pain, illness, uncertainty, and sorrow. With the enormity of stress, pain, and turbulence that we are presently experiencing as a society and as a planet, including persistent social and racial inequities, threats to democracy and to the well-being of the planet itself, never has there been a better time to cultivate mindfulness in both stillness and in action.
Whether you are trying to learn greater patience, cope with a persistent pain condition, deal with the enormity of the stress and personal challenges that we are presently facing, improve your relationships, including with yourself, or free yourself from various destructive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, these deceptively simple meditations will remind you that you have deep interior resources to draw upon, the most important of which is your capacity for attention and the awareness that attending mindfully gives rise to. This can only happen in the present moment, another profound resource for healing with which we are often sorely out of touch. Regardless of your age, or whether you are familiar with the healing potential of mindfulness, this book can help you to honor, embrace, learn from, and grow into each moment of your life — no matter how challenging. (From the jacket flaps)