Listening from the Heart of Silence / Edition 1

by John J. Prendergast, G. Kenneth Bradford

Overview

Listening from the Heart of Silence: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, Volume 2 is a companion volume to The Sacred Mirror. It expands and deepens the groundbreaking dialogue begun in The Sacred Mirror.

The title Listening from the Heart of Silence refers to a quality of listening that originates prior to the duality of the one who listens and the one who is heard. It is a listening that is global, spacious, and paradoxically (to the mind at least), extremely intimate. It comes from and points to our homeground in silent, lucid openness - what some have called the Heart. When we listen from this heart of silence, we invite healing on the deepest level, welcoming everything just as it is. This is as true in our ordinary relationships as it is in the specialized relationship between therapist and client. Once the heart of silence is fully recognized, our lives begin to move from the inside out with greater honesty, love, spontaneity and power, radiating out like concentric circles on the surface of a pond. Our lives increasingly embody our deepest truth.

All psychological suffering is ultimately rooted in the misunderstanding of who we really are. The vital current of nondual wisdom implicit in the world's great spiritual traditions directly addresses the origins of the profound sense of lack and separation that are the basis of human suffering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557788627
Publisher:	Paragon House Publishers
Publication date:	06/01/2007
Series:	Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy Series
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is an adjunct assistant professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies where he has created and taught a class on Transpersonal Counseling Skills for over a decade. He is the author of "The Chakras in Transpersonal Psychotherapy" in the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (2000), and co-author (with Krystal, S., Krystal, P., Fenner, P., and Shapiro, I. and K.) of "Transpersonal Psychology, Eastern Philosophy and EMDR", in Shapiro, F. (ed) EMDR As An Integrative Psychotherapy Approach: Experts of Diverse Orientations Explore the Paradigm Prism, American Psychological Association Books (2002). He has taught a number of workshops for therapists on "The Energybody in Psychotherapy" and "Transpersonal Dimensions in Psychotherapy: Presence, Resonance and Inquiry," and co-organized and presented at the Conferences on Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy. He has been in private practice since 1985. He began Transcendental Meditation in 1970 and later taught it; traveled to India on three occasions to be with various teachers including Ammachi, and spent fifteen years with his primary teacher Jean Klein, a European sage who synthesized elements of Advaita Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism. He currently studies with Adyashanti.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Toward an Embodied Nonduality: Introductory Remarks   John J. Prendergast   G. Kenneth Bradford     1
Spacious Intimacy: Reflections on Essential Relationship, Empathic Resonance, Projective Identification, and Witnessing   John J. Prendergast     35
From Neutrality to the Play of Unconditional Presence   G. Kenneth Bradford     55
Intersubjectivity and Nonduality in the Psychotherapeutic Relationship   Judith Blackstone     77
Mystery, Mind, and Meaning   Dorothy S. Hunt     99
Listening and Speaking from No-Mind   Peter Fenner     121
Nonduality: A Spontaneous Movement "To" and "Fro"   Kaisa Puhakka     151
Experiencing the Universe as Yourself: The Nonduality of Self and Society   David Loy     171
Walking the Talk: The Principles and Practices of Embodied Spirituality   Mariana Caplan     181
Healing from the Heart: Embodying Nondual Wisdom   Penny Fenner     197
Nondual Wisdom and Body-Based Therapy   Sheila Krystal     217
Nondual Awakening: Its Source and Applications   Timothy Conway     231
Selected Bibliography     255
About The Contributors     265

What People are Saying About This

Roger Housden

"This book is at the same time a delight and strong medicine: a multi–faceted exploration of the relative and the absolute in the context of the therapy room, in language that manages to clarify rather than obscure this most subtle of subjects."––(Roger Housden, author of the Ten Poems series; Seven Sins for a Life Worth Living, and editor of Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems)

Stephan Bodian

"This exceptional anthology reflects the deepening confluence between timeless spiritual wisdom and Western psychological understanding. Bringing the spiritual insights of Zen, Tibetan Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta to bear on the practice of psychotherapy, the authors demonstrate how genuine nondual spiritual realization naturally applies itself in the therapeutic encounter. Most impressive is the fact that these are not religious scholars, but dedicated realizers and teachers whose work with students and clients is both healing and enlightening."--(Stephan Bodian, MFT, psychotherapist, dharma teacher, and author of Meditation for Dummies and coauthor of Buddhism for Dummies)

David Lukoff

"This is a 'where the rubber meets the road' exploration of the interface of psychotherapy with Zen, Advaita Vedanta and Dzogchen and other nondual approaches. This book serves as an excellent resource for therapists interested in bringing more spiritual awareness into their clinical practice."––(David Lukoff, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Co–president of the Association of Transpersonal Psychology)

Paul J. Roy

"In a world where the clutter of noise dominates -- in education, in politics, in family dynamics, in global relations, and in our hearts -- the call to attend to, and to find healing from, the deep silence within is refreshing and most welcome. In a sequel to The Sacred Mirror (2003), John J. Prendergast and G. Kenneth Bradford have again brought together an impressive group of therapists and healers to reflect on nondual wisdom and psychotherapy. They have succeeded in presenting a series of reflections, teachings, and case examples of the power of nondual wisdom within the psychotherapeutic process. And they have succeeded in presenting a work that does, indeed, bring the reader to a place of Silence that is at once instructive and inspiring.
(T)his volume represents a significant contribution to the profession of psychotherapy and brings together many ideas and approaches that will undoubtedly benefit both therapists and clients. Do not, however, 'get through' this book. Read it in a meditative way. Listen to it. Allow it to bring you to the heart of silence."--(Paul J. Roy, Ph.D., Academic Vice President at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Journal of Transpersonal Psychology)

Kirk Schneider

"This is one of the best transpersonal guides to being, of which I am aware. Both professionals and clients will benefit from this volume's acute evocation of mystery-and its startling power to heal."––(Kirk Schneider, PhD, editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, author of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Leading Edges in Theory, Research and Practice)