Table Of ContentBE THE
CHANGE
BE THE
CHANGE
How Meditation Can Transform
You and the World
ED and DEB SHAPIRO
New York / London
www.sterlingpublishing.com
To Deb’s mother, Anne, and to our teachers.
May all beings be happy!
STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered
trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shapiro, Eddie, 1942-
Be the change : how meditation can transform you and the
world/Ed and Deb Shapiro.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4027-6001-3
1. Meditation. I. Shapiro, Debbie, 1953-II. Title.
BF637.M4S515 2009
158.1’2—dc22
2009013194
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016
© 2009 by Ed and Deb Shapiro
Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6
Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes,
East Sussex, England BN7 1XU
Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia
Design and layout by Debbie Glasserman
Manufactured in the United States
All rights reserved
Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-6001-3
Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-6001-3
For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and
corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales Department
at 800-805-5489 or
Contents
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Foreword by Robert Thurman PART I |
THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL
1. Changing Me, Changing Us
2. So What Is Meditation?
3. How We Got Here
4. The Only Way Out Is Within
PART II | TRANSFORMING FROM THE INSIDE OUT
5. Growing Roses Out of Compost
6. We Belong to Each Other
7. The Pearl in the Oyster
8. Blossoms Ripening into Sweet Fruit
PART III | TRANSFORMING US TRANSFORMS THE WORLD
9. Off the Cushion and into Life
10. We Are Not Alone Here
11. Silence in the Boardroom
12. Contemplative Activism
13. Can Meditation Change the World?
14. We Are the Change We Are Looking For
PART IV | PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
15. Doing It
16. Sitting Meditation
17. Sounding Meditation
18. Moving Meditation
Contributor Bios
Acknowledgments
Foreword by His Holiness
the Dalai Lama
The very purpose of our life is to be happy. There are two kinds of happiness—
one that mainly comes from physical comfort and another that involves the
mind. Obviously, of the two, mental comfort is superior and more influential.
We can see this in our own lives because when our mental state is calm and
happy, we can easily put up with small physical discomfort or pain. On the other
hand, when our minds are restless and upset, the most comfortable physical
facilities don’t make us happy.
Since our state of mind is so important, the question arises whether we can
train or improve it. Over a very long time, human beings have developed ways to
shape the mind; we usually call these methods meditation. Generally speaking,
there are two types of meditation. Analytical meditation mainly employs reason.
Another kind of meditation simply involves placing your mind at a certain point,
without changing it or undertaking any investigation, letting it rest on that single
point.
Meditation is an important instrument for shaping or transforming our minds.
As a simple Buddhist monk, I have meditated for a long time. As I have gotten
older, I have noticed that, even though many problems I have to deal have
become more serious and my responsibility for them has become greater, my
mind is nevertheless calmer. But don’t get the impression that meditation needs
to be a religious subject; simply training the mind is a kind of meditation and,
while simple single-pointed meditation doesn’t necessarily lead to firm
convictions, analytical meditation is much more effective in achieving this.
By and large, the mind always looks out critically and deals with external
events, but rarely bothers about itself. Therefore, we have to give it new
instructions. Up to now, you have dealt with what’s going on outside; that’s well
and good, but now the time has come to explore within and find out more about
the mind itself. In doing so, we also have to make an effort to restrain the way
our thoughts follow memories of the past and speculations about the future. We
need to find the space between such thoughts, which, like the water deep in the
ocean, remains clear and undisturbed even though there may be waves on the
surface. This is one way to look at the mind itself; it’s not easy, but I think it is
worthwhile to try.
In this book, Ed and Deb Shapiro have gathered together the thoughts and
reflections of a wide range of people with a variety of experiences in meditation.
Anyone interested in meditation should not only read what these people have to
say, but also try it out. If you like their suggestions and they are helpful to you,
use them; if they aren’t, disregard them. Treat this book as you would a cookery
book. You wouldn’t merely read recipes with approval; you’d try them out.
Some you’d like and would use again. Like cookery, meditation only makes
sense if you put it into practice.
July 17, 2009
HH the Dalai Lama
Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Foreword by
Robert Thurman
Thank goodness Ed and Deb have so beautifully enfolded the fits of all the
fascinating individuals in this book within the moving stories of their own lives
and transforming experiences! In this living book, Ed and Deb have masterfully
woven the many voices into a symphony; the insights and stories harmonize and
contrast with each other in a marvelous rich flow that is both calming and
energizing, creating a single collective yet selfless voice.
Reading this book is itself a powerful meditation. Without even trying, you
effortlessly go deeper into the best places of your mind and heart, by flowing
along page-by-page, teacher-by-teacher, insight-by-insight. You will find you
are naturally developing mindfulness as you read the words written here and
share in the thoughts and lives of these beautiful people, who are honestly and
vividly reaching out to you by telling their stories and revealing their insights,
their practices, and their performances regarding meditation.
The great mystics of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were all
blown away when they found nirvana or the kingdom of God within. We need
not think they are so far beyond us. All of them patiently told us we could find
our true purpose, discover our real meaningfulness, and actually enjoy
happiness. And all of them provided us with methods to move us toward these
goals. We can, must, and will be the change we long to see the world enjoy! We
can recover from helpless addiction to externalities, impermanent possessions,
distracting entertainments, and disappointing preoccupations by turning on our
freely intuitive intelligence, tuning in to our deepest hearts through mindful
meditation, and dropping out of despairing self-centeredness into the embrace of
the lovingness of creation!
In saying this, I make no pretense of having realized more than a hint of all
that is possible for us, the wonders we were born to enjoy; I do not claim to have
won the super prize of enlightenment yet in this life! But I know by sound
inference that each one of us will, sooner or later, experience the bliss of
