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"Joan Halifax is a clearheaded and fearless traveler and in this book...she offers us a map of how to travel courageously and fruitfully, for our own benefit and the benefit of all beings." -From the foreword by Rebecca Solnit
Standing at the Edge is an evocative examination of how we can respond to suffering, live our fullest lives, and remain open to the full spectrum of our human experience.
Joan Halifax has enriched thousands of lives around the world through her work as a humanitarian, a social activist, an anthropologist, and as a Buddhist teacher. Over many decades, she has also collaborated with neuroscientists, clinicians, and psychologists to understand how contemplative practice can be a vehicle for social transformation. Through her unusual background, she developed an understanding of how our greatest challenges can become the most valuable source of our wisdom-and how we can transform our experience of suffering into the power of compassion for the benefit of others.
Halifax has identified five psychological territories she calls Edge States-altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement-that epitomize strength of character. Yet each of these states can also be the cause of personal and social suffering. In this way, these five psychological experiences form edges, and it is only when we stand at these edges that we become open to the full range of our human experience and discover who we really are.
Recounting the experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians, parents, and teachers, incorporating the wisdom of Zen traditions and mindfulness practices, and rooted in Halifax's groundbreaking research on compassion,
Standing at the Edge is destined to become a contemporary classic. A powerful guide on how to find the freedom we seek for others and ourselves, it is a book that will serve us all.
List of contents
Foreword by Rebecca Solnit
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Edge States
Vast View
Interdependence
Futility and Courage
1. ALTRUISM
I. At the High Edge of Altruism
Self, Selfish, or Selfless?
Forgetting the Self
II. Falling over the Edge of Altruism: Pathological Altruism
Help that Harms
Healthy or Not?
Fire Lotus
Altruism Bias
III. Altruism and the Other Edge States
IV. Practices That Support Altruism
Practicing Not-Knowing
Practicing Bearing Witness
Compassionate Action
V. Discovery at the Edge of Altruism
The Wooden Puppet and the Wounded Healer
Love
2. EMPATHY
I. At the High Edge of Empathy
Somatic Empathy
Emotional Empathy
Cognitive Empathy
Take a Knee
Throughout the Body, Hands, and Eyes
II. Falling over the Edge of Empathy: Empathic Distress
Empathy Is Not Compassion
Empathic Arousal
Emotional Blunting and Blindness
Between Gift and Invasion
III. Empathy and the Other Edge States
IV. Practices that Support Empathy
Deep Listening
Stewarding Empathy
The Practice of Rehumanization
V. Discovery at the Edge of Empathy
3. INTEGRITY
I. Standing at the High Edge of Integrity
Moral Nerve and Radical Optimism
Living by Vow
II. Falling over the Edge of Integrity: Moral Suffering
Moral Distress
The Pain of Moral Injury
Moral Outrage and the Stickiness of Anger and Disgust
Moral Apathy and the Death of the Heart
III. Integrity and the Other Edge States
IV. Practices That Support Integrity
Expanding the Circle of Inquiry
Vows to Live By
Practicing Gratefulness
V. Discovery at the Edge of Integrity
4. RESPECT
I. Standing at the High Edge of Respect
Respect for Others, Principles, and Ourselves
Two Hands Together
Washing the Feet of Others
Water Is Life
II. Falling over the Edge of Respect: Disrespect
Bullying
Horizontal Hostility
Internalized Oppression
Vertical Violence
Power With and Power Over
Stripped of Dignity
Angulimala
Causes and Effects
III. Respect and the Other Edge States
IV. Practices that Support Respect
The Drama Triangle
The Five Gatekeepers of Speech
Exchanging Self with Other
V. Discovery at the Edge of Respect
5. ENGAGEMENT
I. At the High Edge of Engagement
Energy, Involvement, Efficacy
The Gift of Busyness
II. Falling over the Edge of Engagement: Burnout
Who Burns Out?
Addicted to Busyness
Drinking the Poison of Work Stress
III. Engagement and the Other Edge States
IV. Practices That Support Engagement
Work Practice
Practicing Right Livelihood
No Work Practice
V. Discovery at the Edge of Engagement
Play
Connection
6. COMPASSION AT THE EDGE
I. Survival of the Kindest
Science and Compassion
II. Three Faces of Compassion
Referential Compassion
Insight-Based Compassion
Non-Referential Compassion
Asanga and the Red Dog
III. The Six Perfections
IV. Compassion's Enemies
The Arithmetic of Compassion
Falling In and Out of Compassion
V. Mapping Compassion
Compassion Is Made of Non-Compassion Elements
VI. Compassion Practice
Practicing GRACE
VII. Compassion in the Charnel Ground
Harrowing from Hell
The Magic Mirror
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the author
Joan Halifax; Foreword by Rebecca Solnit
