Q: In your last book, you provided an overview of Tibetan Buddhist teachings and explained how they apply to our Western culture. Now, you draw from many of the world's religions to show people how to build a personal spiritual life. Don't you run the risk, in combining elements of different spiritual traditions, of watering-down the truth?

Some people might disagree with my approach, thinking it makes spirituality too convenient, too easy. But I think that, as Westerners living in a multicultural world, our having a spirituality that incorporates the different dimensions of our experience is a good and significant option. America is, after all, the great Melting Pot, and so many of us grow up in families, neighborhoods, and communities that can be described as "mix and match." So, by definition, our spiritual tastes are going to be eclectic, and a spirituality that combines elements of several traditions makes sense to us. It feels authentic and true to who we are because it reflects our experience. And having a more open approach to matters of the spirit doesn't mean that serious practices and values will be left out or sacrificed because they appear too difficult. We can still make an authentic spiritual journey.

Q: What does creating a personalized form of spirituality involve, and why is doing this so important to Americans today?

In this postmodern era, people don't just want a belief or understanding of divinity. They want a direct religious experience, some kind of special spiritual event. They want to be able to touch, feel, weigh, and know things for themselves, and they want to explore and understand themselves as well as the universe with all its mysteries. They feel the need to put together a spiritual life that involves their becoming intimate with themselves and with the divine, and to find ways to integrate spiritual values and practical, pragmatic practices into everything they do. They want to find a tailor-made spirituality that fits them and allows them to fulfill their spiritual potential, instead of just buying off-the-rack, ready-made dogma passed down by tradition or family.

Q: With the frantic pace of modern life, it's easy to neglect one's spiritual life. How can people structure their days to make time to connect with the sacred?

That's really the subject of my book, which is about how to create a spiritual life from scratch, using the elements, tools, and resources that are already around us. Connecting with the sacred doesn't require that we retire from the world, or go to a cave in the Himalayas or to the desert in the Holy Land. It means making our spiritual life a priority and integrating it in our day-to-day existence, and not just on the Sabbath. That's why I recommend making the time each day for a morning prayer, or meditation, or spiritual study session. I recommend applying in daily life enlightened principles like being more mindful and kind and unselfish at work, and having a sense of humor. And also doing inner-work like therapy and introspection, and paying attention to exercise and diet so we live a more healthy, sane, and loving life that awakens our connection to the sacred.

Q: What advice would you give people who want to connect with their spiritual lives but don't know where to begin?

There's an old saying,"The path begins right beneath our feet." It doesn't mean we have to look down; it means we have to attend, to pay attention to where we are and what we're looking for in life. It means we should look into ourselves and at our motivations, and raise our sights, spiritually speaking, and try to connect with the bigger picture. We can begin to do this in any number of ways: by slowing down a little, by simplifying our lives, by taking a vacation or sabbatical, or by devoting half an hour every day to our true selves - our transcendent selves. Making time in daily life for personal prayer, journal writing, or meditation allows us to connect with the sacred right here in our own life. Because if it's not here, it's nowhere. The Good Book says, "The Kingdom of heaven is within." And Buddhism says nirvana can be found in the here-and-now. So, we have to begin right where we are, and that's the good news. The bad news is that it's so obvious and close to us that we might overlook it. Attention is the essence of the matter - attention and openness.

Q: Are there activities in daily life that naturally encourage and cultivate awareness of the sacred?

Definitely. Usually we think of religious activities as being explicit - going to church, or praying, or reading scriptures, or doing good works and serving the poor. But daily life presents us with so many opportunities for accessing the sacred dimension of our experience. Connecting with nature through gardening or through taking walks; connecting with beauty and the mystery of being through art - these are activities that awaken that spirit of the transcendent, which is also immanent in things around us every moment. Lighting candles, creating altars or sacred spaces in our homes or gardens - this is spiritual homework that helps us sacralize our daily life. The simple act of loving our children, our pets, our mates, our work, of caring for our world and for future generations, learning to love life - this is connecting with the sacred. So, too, exercise and relaxation and joy help us connect to the inner-spirit, what some call our "inner child" and I'll call our "little Buddha" inside that's just wanting to grow up and come out.

Q: For those who have never practiced meditation, please describe the chief benefits of this spiritual practice.

Meditation, in all its forms, has a lot of innate benefits for the mind, body, and soul. It's been shown to reduce hypertension, high-blood pressure, and migraine headaches. It's good for relaxation and stress management, and it helps us to become more clear, centered, and focused. It's good for concentration and training our attention span. And it's great for the spirit and soul because it awakens us, opens our hearts, and helps us learn to accept things and to let go of our tight grasp on that which is slipping through our fingers. We can't control the winds of our karma, or conditioning, or everything that's going on in this world - but we can learn how to sail more skillfully through life. And meditation and mindfulness help us be more aware and conscious so that we can discern the deeper principles and laws of the universe and live in tune with them, happily and without conflict.

Q: What other spiritual practices and rituals can people apply in their everyday lives?

One thing people can do, even if they don't believe in God or any religion, is pray. In my book, I include a chapter of peace prayers, healing prayers, and centering prayers that are meditation. People can also do yoga, fasting, chanting, exercise, or martial arts that train our minds and bodies and help us to awaken and be more healthy and balanced. They can perform simple rituals like lighting candles, or placing flowers on an alter or a dining room table in a spirit of reverence and offering. They can do spiritual reading, whether scriptural texts or the mystic poets, or they can write a haiku poem or create a spiritual notebook. Cooking food with love, serving others, and taking care of our children and families and communities - these are also all spiritual practices and meaningful aspects of a humanistic, spiritual way of life.

Q: Can one follow, by oneself, the practices and rituals described in your book, or does one need to have a personal spiritual teacher?

Having a spiritual teacher can be helpful, just like having parents in life can be exceedingly helpful. But even if one is an orphan, one can still grow up and have a fulfilled life. It's a little harder, but one can still do it, and maybe that adversity makes one stronger. So while my books are geared toward those people who don't have personal spiritual teachers in their lives, I do discuss the benefits of developing a practice with a spiritual teacher or an elder - as well as how to find and relate to one.

One of the most important things I learned from my own Tibetan teachers is that sacred traditions are built around the experiences of individual men and women who have had direct mystical experience of the spiritual path. I discovered that there were guides and teachers who were able to provide spiritual road maps, pointing out pitfalls as well as shortcuts. Experienced teachers can help seekers understand these maps and develop and grow along the path. We can learn from their experience, and they can inspire us along the way, and model how to live a beautiful, loving, and spiritual life. Today, there are many authentic spiritual teachers who walk their talk and live in the truth. It's not just something that Jesus did or the Dalai Lama does.

Q: Does one have to give up one's job, family, or friends to achieve enlightenment?

Not at all. It's true that a spiritual journey almost inevitably begins with a decision to renounce or change dramatically a certain way of life. But that decision involves inner change and transformation, and is less about changing your environment or letting go of people or things. So you don't have to walk away from responsibilities, friends, or families, or shave your head and go live in a distant land. But you may have to give up something even more dear to you - your cherished attachment to your ego and opinions, and to the unexamined beliefs and assumptions that you've inherited from family or from society but that may not be fulfilling you. Doing this may be hard, but it's something you can do right here without renouncing your life.

Q: What is the Buddhist concept of rebirth? How does it apply to our daily lives?

In Buddhism, the doctrine of rebirth describes a belief in innate spirit, which constantly evolves and changes, retaining its essential nature as it passes through various manifestations or incarnations. So one dimension of rebirth is that we don't just begin when we're born and end when we die. Another dimension is that personal, individual rebirth applies not just to the afterlife, but also to here-and-now, moment-to-moment existence. We have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves continuously, and we do. Our mind is constantly changing; each cell in our body changes every seven years; every out breath we make is a little death, and we are consequently reborn every instant. Understanding the true meaning of the concept of rebirth allows us to accept the inevitability of change. It teaches us to let go of the things we can't hang on to, and it enables us to understand that we all have the capacity - in this lifetime - to become representatives of that which is good, wise, and mindful, and in so doing to help these things be born again and again in others.

Q: How does the concept of God apply to Buddhism?

When we talk about our experiences of the divine, we don't all use the same vocabulary. Sometimes we use the same words and mean different things; sometimes we use different words and mean the same thing. Buddhism is not a theistic religion, but rather a way of life and an ethical, psychological philosophy of awakening. So, in theory, Buddhism does not deal with theology, or God as creator or eternal being. But while one hears little or no reference to the word 'God' in Buddhist countries such as Tibet, one does hear a great deal about concepts that Western religions associate with a belief in the divine presence: infinite wholeness and all-inclusive completeness; refuge and protection; being at one with oneself and with the universe; compassion; and unconditional, deathless, divine love. And some Buddhist teachers - even Eastern, traditional monks - do use the word 'God' to help us understand that the Ultimate in Buddhism and the Ultimate in theistic religions may just be two sides of the same thing and are not necessarily that different.

Q: Some people see spirituality and therapy as being at odds. Is it possible to integrate psychotherapy and Buddhist meditation?

Yes. The goals of psychotherapy - bringing insight, realization, freedom, and less suffering - are highly compatible with the main thesis of Buddhism. One-third of the Buddhist canon of old concerns psychology and psycho-philosophy - how to understand the nature of the mind, its consciousness, and its workings. So psychotherapy and Buddhism are very congruent practices; and particularly in America there has been a mutually beneficial cross-fertilization between the two approaches. Many Western Buddhist teachers I know are practicing therapists and psychiatrists. And conversely, many therapists, psychiatrists, and healers today are practicing Buddhist meditation. Even if they're not Buddhists per se, they're doing mindfulness meditation, which is also taught in hospitals and other situations without a Buddhist overlay.

Q: You're a self-described "Jewish boy from Long Island" who has studied and practiced Buddhism for nearly thirty years. Looking back at your own spiritual journey, do you think that it is in some way representative of contemporary religious experience in America?

In some ways my experience is unusual in that I've dedicated my adult life to Buddhism, and I've spent much of my time in Asian monasteries, ashrams, and retreat centers. But my own spiritual path is also rather typical of religious experience today in that it's eclectic, questioning, includes Western and Eastern styles of education, and engages the life of both the mind and the heart. When you talk to spiritual seekers in America today, you discover that many of them are attending their religion of origin on Saturday or Sunday, going to yoga class on Monday or Tuesday, to therapy on Thursday, and so on. All these practices are very complementary, and they help people to feel better and live more wisely and productively, to have a more loving and joyful life. In the end, we are who we are and we find our way home, and that's the beauty of the spiritual path today. It gives us the flexibility to try different things and to create a spiritual life for ourselves with the resources that are already around us. We live in the land of plenty, and in the information age it's all there for us. We only have to seek it.

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