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| photo: Robert Mann | |
In 1985, Fleet Maull was sentenced to 25 years without parole for drug trafficking. Maull made a commitment to eliminate negativity from his life and to use his education and talents to accomplish something of value during his time in prison. In addition to creating one of the first inside-prison hospice programs in the world while incarcerated at a maximum-security prison, Maull created two national organizations--Prison Mindfulness Institute and National Prison Hospice Association. Maull is a senior teacher in both the Zen and Tibetan meditation traditions, executive coach, social entrepreneur and creator of the Radical Responsibility philosophy and program. His new book is Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose, and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good (Sounds True, May 14, 2019).
On your nightstand now:
Man Up by Bedros Keuilian: This is an easy-to-read prescription for embracing what I call "radical responsibility," written by someone who has both failed and succeeded, and who built his success from scratch having arrived in the U.S. penniless with his parents.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson is another very clear exposition of the approach I call "radical responsibility." Mark's irreverent approach really gets the psychology of success across in a very readable way.
The Science of Meditation by Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson is a very clear exposition of the state of the research on mindfulness and meditation. Goleman, a veteran science writer/psychologist, and Davidson, a preeminent neuroscientist, chose only the most rigorous studies to include in their in-depth survey of the scientific literature on meditation and its impacts.
Principles by Ray Dalio: he is perhaps the most successful wealth manager and investor on the planet who has built teams that perform at the very highest level in a very competitive industry. He knows what he's talking about.
The Guru Drinks Bourbon? by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse: Dzongsar Khyentse is an unapologetic voice taking a stand for the genuine Vajrayana Buddhist approach to awakening and the critical role of the guru or vajra master in that tradition. He is refreshingly candid and unconcerned with political correctness.
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt: I haven't started this one yet but have listened to many podcast interviews with Haidt, who is an unapologetic voice for reason, critical thinking and free speech.
American Prison by Shane Bauer is a tour de force chronicle of the sad and tragic history of imprisonment in the U.S., which has led to the morally indefensible phenomenon of mass incarceration.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island filled my childhood imagination with awe and adventure, and surely led to my lifelong fascination with boats and all-too-short career as a charter boat captain in the Virgin Islands.
Your top five authors:
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche: One of the most influential Buddhist teachers and spiritual geniuses of the 20th century, who radically changed my life for the better.
Dr. Rick Hanson: He distills some of the most important discoveries from current neuroscience into extremely practical tools and practices any of us can use to enhance the quality of our lives and relationships. As a longtime clinician and Buddhist practitioner, he skips the hype and focuses on genuine human and spiritual evolution and development.
Daniel Siegel: One of the best writers making sense of the dramatic evolution in our understanding of the human brain, mind, psychology and behavior.
Jack Kerouac: A great writer and the preeminent voice of the beat generation, which laid the ground for the counterculture revolution that shaped the latter half of the 20th century.
Hunter S. Thompson: Another great writer who keeps us all honest and sufficiently irreverent--the Charles Bukowski of journalism.
Book you've faked reading:
Ulysses by James Joyce--a must-read I just couldn't get through but convinced myself I had to read it... one day. I actually do have a fondness for everything Irish and would love to find the time to do this classic justice.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa: I have read this book countless times and return again and again to read and contemplate passages or whole chapters. Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the true spiritual geniuses of the 20th century and a powerfully evocative and deeply psychologically informed teacher. You cannot read more than a few sentences in this illuminating and poetic book without stopping to mull them over and contemplate or wrestle with the author's insights. The editor must have really struggled in selecting the pull quotes at the beginning of each chapter, as there are countless sentences which stand on their own for their brilliance and wisdom.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Unf*ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop: The title and cover art are evocative, and the book is packed with practical wisdom for getting out of our own way and actualizing our lives.
Book you hid from your parents:
I didn't bother. My parents were not that interested in what I was reading and weren't particularly close-minded. My mother was an artist and very open-minded. My father was just busy running a business. I also had four siblings, so the five of us were a lot to keep track of.
Book that changed your life:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chögyam Trungpa awakened me to the power of the path of warriorship based on the ancient Shambhala teachings; it continues to serve me well as a basic manual for my spiritual path and life for all the reasons stated above.
Favorite line from a book:
"The essence of warriorship, or the essence of human bravery, is refusing to give up on anyone or anything." --from Chögyam Trungpa's Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
Five books you'll never part with:
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness: These three are all by my principal Buddhist teacher, Chögyam Trungpa; they're basic manuals for the Mahayana and Vajaryana Buddhist path and serve as both ongoing inspiration and touchstones for my spiritual life and journey.
Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche is a classic exposition of the Buddhist path from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective by one of the truly legendary Tibetan masters, a guide one can depend on unequivocally.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo, translated by Francesca Fremantle: We are all going to die, and I would like to be as prepared as possible. I have worked with these teachings with Buddhist hospice patients approaching death, with my beloved late Buddhist partner, Denise, during her three-year journey with terminal cancer, and as my ongoing study personally, both for the purpose of attaining a deeper understanding of life and as preparation for awakening in the dying process and beyond.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is the first book in, or prequel to, Tolkien's beloved Lord of the Rings series, where one can totally suspend disbelief and enter into another world, a fantastical world embedded with deep meaning for our own lives--the classic hero's journey told with aplomb, humor and just plain fun.