photo by Lara Herscovitch

Tell us a little about your background, how you came to your current work.

I’ve always been interested and curious about the natural world. When I was a teenager, I went through a number of tests to determine possible career paths. The tests suggested I work with the environment, with nature. My parents said, ‘well that’s fine, but first become a doctor; then you can do whatever you want.’ My grandfather and uncle were doctors, and I was interested in science – so it wasn’t so difficult for me to do that. I finished medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

My career in medicine was long and varied. I did residencies in anatomical pathology, laboratory medicine, and blood banking at New York University Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, and Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I did research at the National Institutes of Health Institute for Aging. I was on the faculty of Yale’s Department of Pathology and Department of Laboratory Medicine. I was a Pathologist and Blood Bank Director at the West Haven VA Hospital Laboratory and later Director of the Yale Health Plan Laboratory. I also co-founded a for-profit specialty laboratory, that I am no longer a part of, still listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

After working in the medical field for many years, I found myself uninspired and unhappy, and wasn’t sure what to do next. One of my friends, a pediatrician at the Yale Health Plan, was friends with Jon Kabat-Zinn, who created a program of mindfulness-based stress reduction. Kabat-Zinn was giving a talk at the Yale Psychology department, which my friend and I attended. The presentation showed the scientific results of his work with people who other doctors had ‘given up on.’

Jon’s background was in scientific research. He was also practicing yoga and meditation. He was working at the Massachusetts Medical Center and felt that yoga and mindfulness could help patient’s suffering. He convinced the administration to let him try mindfulness for stress reduction. He did interviews and tests of patients before and after the intervention of what he called mindfulness-based stress reduction. The favorable results were dramatic and significant. His documenting the results in a secular and scientific format legitimized it within the medical community and beyond.

I was very interested and wanted to learn more about mindfulness and meditation. Jon suggested I go on a meditation retreat, and I did: a seven-day silent meditation retreat in Barre, Massachusetts.

What was that like?

It was quite difficult, actually. I had no experience with sitting for long periods of time, and found it could be quite painful. The regimen was “sit, walk, and don’t talk;” meals were silent. It was my first time recognizing what they call “monkey mind;” my mind kept jumping all around despite my attempt to concentrate. The only time we could talk was in small group sessions with a teacher. That was very moving; people talked about their difficulties, their suffering, and trying to address them.

It was hard to know what I should be doing, how to meditate the right way. My normal approach to learning is to sit in the front row and work hard to ‘get’ it. It was striving. That was definitely the wrong approach.

Why wrong?

Because if you’re striving to get somewhere, to some different state of mind, you’re ignoring or resisting the state of mind you’re actually in. Noticing what is actually happening is the important thing. It’s not like reading a book or listening to a lecture and then knowing how to do it. It’s a practice. It’s learning about how the mind actually works. It’s a deep encounter with your own mind and body. If you want to build your physical strength, you’re not going to do it by reading a book. You have to work your muscles. And if you want to learn about yourself through mindfulness, you have to practice it. Trying to force the practice gets in the way of the practice. Things come when they will. You need to be patient and steadfast.

Clearly you decided to keep learning about mindfulness meditation.

Yes. Although that first retreat experience was difficult, I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. I kept going back to retreats, I was also interested in teaching and went through Jon’s Teacher Development Intensive program at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society at the Massachusetts Medical Center.

What was it about teaching mindfulness meditation that drew you?

Well, for two reasons. The practice was something that spoke to me; and you teach what you need to learn. I saw changes in myself that were helpful, and I wanted to share it with others who might benefit.

What were some key moments in your own meditation learning curve?

This practice requires a lot of patience; usually things don’t happen quickly. After my first encounter, which was difficult, I was still intrigued. I wanted to explore cultivating compassion, generosity, kindness; all of it was of interest.

I remember one time I was on a retreat, in a beautiful setting, with forest all around. I was sitting on a porch, and I began to realize how deluded I was in thinking certain things would bring me happiness. Hedonic things, accomplishments, reputation – I was in that world, in academia. When I saw that all come together, I just broke down sobbing. I knew I needed to work on these things, work on figuring out what I wanted and needed.

On another retreat, I was sitting at dusk looking around at the forest, and the stars were coming out. I could see the stars through a pine tree. For some reason, it struck me in a very emotional way. I thought, there are stars in the pine tree, and I felt them as together, not separate. It was a very powerful moment of seeing things connected and whole. Intellectually, it’s obvious to me that things are interconnected. The elements forged in the cores of exploding stars are part of us. Without them, life wouldn’t exist. The environment is a part of us and what we do to it we do to ourselves; what we eat becomes a part of us. There’s an understandable sense of separation, but it’s really an illusion. I have an intellectual understanding of that – but in the moment when I saw the stars and the pine tree as one, it was a deeper emotional understanding. It faded away, but it still stays with me. Whenever I see a stone that sparkles, or the snow sparkling, or the dew sparkling on the grass, it reminds me.

At a certain point I decided to go out on my own, doing mindfulness meditation teaching in groups and one-on-one, then I added in environmental work. I found what they call ‘a calling.’ Something that’s important to me, and that’s worthwhile sharing with others in whatever way I can.

Bringing you back to that original career advice.

Yes. In general, I was aware of the things that were happening with the environment. Basically, human activity is impacting the earth in a dramatic way. They were talking about climate change in the 1980s and even earlier, but the noticeable signal that it was happening was not clear, like it is today. Now we see major hurricanes, floods, storms, coral reefs dying, mass extinctions. Back then it was not as obvious. I was looking for something to do to help protect the environment, and got a job as Coordinator of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Partnership.

A few years later, I formed my own nonprofit organization called The Watershed Partnership. We work collaboratively with other organizations to create positive change that helps environmental and human health. We worked to ban the use of toxic lawn pesticides, and were successful in banning their use statewide at elementary and middle schools and daycare centers. State Senator Ed Meyer was a huge help. He was told by a vet that his dog got liver cancer from walking on golf courses, which use those same toxic pesticides.

We have to live in a way that recognizes our interconnections with things, and honor and respect that; see it in a way that is not about us controlling everything, but living in harmony with things. Greed, ill will, and the delusion of our separateness is a dangerous thing. It has in some sense always existed in the human being; but to realize that we are part of the earth and part of each other would be a revolution in the way we interact.

Have you been able to combine your two callings?

Yes, I’ve been practicing and teaching mindfulness now for over 22 years. I have also been doing programs that combine mindfulness and environmental issues. One was “Mindfully Living on the Earth,” and another was “Our Common Home” based on Pope Francis’ Ladato Si Encyclical. Mindfulness practices are transformative, and we need a transformation to recognize and embody our deep interdependence with the earth and with each other. This is why I teach at retreat centers like Mercy By the Sea in Madison and am now working with others to get mindfulness practices incorporated into the schools in Guilford.

What is your meditation practice like these days?

I practice every day in the morning. I generally get up around 5 or 6am, prepare my breakfast, do a little exercise, and meditate around 30-45 minutes. I still do a lot of reading, and go to retreats, to learn more.

The terms mindfulness and meditation are thrown around a lot. How do you think about them; are they always connected?

Mindfulness is available to us at any time whatever we’re doing. Meditation is a practice that enhances our ability to be mindful, and live as a full human being.

There are four basic things in meditation: mindfulness, concentration, kindness, and compassion for ourselves. Mindfulness is paying attention in a way that looks at things clearly and impartially. Meditation is an exercise that strengthens our ability to be mindful. Mindfulness during and after meditation allows us to see more and more clearly what causes unnecessary suffering. You’re not labeling them as good or bad, you just notice the phenomena of thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. Concentration helps you see more clearly what arises. I have found that self-knowledge is not always good news. Compassion and kindness helps to weaken and dissolve those unsavory things that we observe in ourselves.

Mindfulness meditation is not a religion, though it can certainly be practiced in the context of a religion. It’s not only about keeping your eyes closed and sitting on the cushion for an hour, it’s about paying attention, noticing what’s going on with a sense of impartiality, and doing it with kindness and compassion.

What are the benefits of meditation?

Today with functional magnetic resonance imaging we can see that it actually changes how your brain operates. Certain aspects of the brain – the prefrontal lobes for example – are strengthened and increase your ability to see negative thoughts that come into our mind like worrying about the future, and regretting the past. You can see those things a lot faster, and calm yourself down. You can catch unhelpful reactions more quickly.

Because meditation helps us be calmer it reduces stress. This in turn reduces blood pressure, strengthens the immune system, and allows the body to function more efficiently.

How has meditation changed your own life?

Significantly. I’m much calmer than I used to be. Not that I don’t lose it sometimes, but usually I can get over it much faster than I used to. Instead of days of being in a bad mood, now it’s minutes, or an hour at the most. When I’m in a bad mood now, sometimes I’m smart enough to meditate. And it really makes a difference, really calms me down. I’m more accepting of things as they are; I know that I can only do what I can do, put it out there, and not be as attached to the results. I’m not perfect at it, but, I’ve realized what the really important things are for me.

I’m taking an online course right now at Yale called “The Science of Well-Being.” The research shows that things that enhance our well-being are acts of generosity, acts of kindness, exercise, and being involved in things that we enjoy and that employ our strengths and values. It’s not how much money you make, it’s not about fame or beauty.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to try meditation?

Bring an open, curious mind. The best time of day to meditate depends on your life. Start with five minutes a day. Find a place where you will be undisturbed. Get a timer, or download an app. There are great apps with guided meditations you can listen to and follow. Notice your breath flowing in and going out – this is helpful because it helps your concentration. You’ll probably notice that your mind wanders all over the place. And the harder you try to control it, the worse it gets. Have patience. Come back to the breath, feel the breath. Your mind will drift away – when you realize it, that’s a moment of mindfulness. Bring it back to the breath – not with criticizing yourself, but with a pat on the back.

When the thoughts come, you can notice and explore them, or come back to the breath, it depends on the circumstances. Allow your thoughts and feelings to be there, see what arises from it. Don’t try to get anywhere, but just look with interest at what is coming up. Striving for concentration doesn’t help, it creates tension. Let thoughts go gently and with kindness. And keep at it. The ability to redirect your mind is a really key development that will serve you in your life and work. If you keep at it, you will feel a sense of settling down, of calmness.

What do you recommend to us, in each of these six categories:
  • Reading – Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go There You Are
  • Listening – Notice if you’re really listening or thinking about what you want to say
  • Eating – Really pay attention to the taste, texture, aromas, and color of the food
  • Watching – Be selective with what you watch; notice its impact on your state of mind
  • Laughing – It’s good to laugh but not at someone else’s expense
  • Wildcard – Try Meditation!

To get in touch directly with Jerry: waterpartnership@sbcglobal.net

Jerry often teaches mindfulness meditation at Mercy By the Sea Retreat & Conference Center in Madison, CT. His next programs are Saturday, October 27, 2018, and Saturday, December 1, 2018.

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