Sanity We Are Born With

More and more mental health professionals are discovering the rich tradition of Buddhist psychology and integrating its insights into their work with clients. Buddhist tradition teaches that all of us are born with what Chögyam Trungpa terms "basic sanity," or inherent goodness, health, and clear perception. Helping ourselves and others to connect with this intrinsic ground of sanity and health is the subject of this collection of teachings, which the author gave to Western psychologists, psychotherapists, and students of Buddhist meditation over a number of years.

The Sanity We Are Born With describes how anyone can strengthen their mental health, and it also addresses the specific problems and needs of people in profound psychological distress. Additionally, the author speaks to the concerns of psychotherapists and any health care professionals who work with their patients'' states of mind. The collection includes teachings on:

   • Buddhist concepts of mind, ego, and intelligence, and how these ideas can be employed in working on oneself and with others
   • meditation as a way of training the mind and cultivating mindfulness
   • nurturing our intrinsic health and basic sanity
   • guidance for psychotherapists and health professionals
"Chögyam Trungpa (1940–1987)—meditation master, teacher, and artist—founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom. ""Chögyam Trungpa was the first Buddhist master to present Buddhism in a psychological language that spoke directly to the Western mind. This highly recommended volume, which brings together his penetrating views on Buddhist and Western psychology, will be of great interest to psychotherapists, students of Dharma, and anyone who is concerned with the relationship between the native sun of awakened wisdom within us and the psychological clouds that obscure its light."—John Welwood, author of Towards a Psychology of Awakening