Mindrolling – Raghu Markus – Ep. 262 – The Hurdles to Happiness with Dr. Mitch Abblett

Mindrolling - Raghu Markus - Ep. 262 - The Hurdles to Happiness with Dr. Mitch Abblett

Dr. Mitch Abblett shares a conversation with Raghu about the hurdles that get in the way of our happiness and cloud our awareness.

Mitch Abblett, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and consultant with a private practice. He speaks and trains nationally and internationally on the applications of mindfulness for enhancing professional and personal communication patterns. The author of several previous books, he has been the executive director of the Institution for Meditation and Psychotherapy and was for 11 years clinical director of Manville School at Judge Baker’s Children’s Center at Harvard University. Learn more at drmitchabblett.com.

Show Notes

Finding Happiness First (Opening) – Mitch shares the circumstances that led him to find his path of contemplative practice and to integrate mindfulness-based therapy into his work as a psychologist. He shares the moment when he realized that to best serve and heal others that he would have to do the work on himself first.

“As a therapist, I learned about this mindfulness-based therapy and I quickly realized that if I am going to help others then I really have to turn this on myself and really explore it for myself, which led to my own journey of meditation. I had to get with my own patterns, particularly fear and anger.” – Dr. Mitch Abblett

Overcoming Conditioning (6:24) – Dr. Abblett shares a story found in his newest book, The Five Hurdles to Happiness, around his experience of applying a mindful approach to caring for his own child whose special needs provide a unique challenge. He and Raghu talk about the importance of self-work and the lessons that karma has to teach us about getting free of our habitual patterns.

“Karma seems like a taboo thing with all this baggage in the West, but to me, it is really straightforward. It doesn’t have to necessarily be beyond the realm of physics, in fact, it’s genetics and conditioning. There are patterns that show up in us and if we relate to them mindlessly then the conditioning just rolls and continues when the context cues it. As a therapist, I am dealing with karma every day.” – Dr. Mitch Abblett

The Five Hurdles to Happiness (18:10) – We take a look at Mitch’s reinterpretation of the five hinderance to awareness from traditional Buddhist practice that he explores in The Five Hurdles to Happiness.

“All five of these were traditionally taught to monastics, and that it is important if you want to continue along the path of awakening to encounter each of these body/mind states that will hinder your ability to see clearly.” – Dr. Mitch Abblett

Karma and Reincarnation (34:45) – Is belief necessary when it comes to the reality of karma and reincarnation? Raghu and Dr. Abblett share their perspectives around the aspects of karma that involve continuity and reincarnation. They talk about methods of practice that allow us to cut through our conditioning and the habitual patterns that hinder our awareness.

Raghu speaks with Robert Thurman about facing reality, transforming our reactivity and understanding karma on Ep. 239 on the Mindrolling Podcast

      

Art via Karen Payton