The realm of emotion is one of those areas where Buddhism and Western psychology are often thought to be at odds: Are emotions to be valued, examined, worked with as signs leading us to deeper self-knowledge? Or are they something to be ignored and avoided as soon as we recognize them? Rob Preece feels that neither of those extremes is correct. He charts a path through the emotions as they relate to Buddhist practice, showing that though emotions are indeed skandhas (elements that make up the illusory self) according to the Buddhist teaching, there is a good deal to be learned from these skandhas, and paying attention to their content contributes not only to psychological health but to deep insight into the nature of reality. He draws on his own experiences with emotions and meditation, through his training in both Tibetan Buddhism and psychotherapy, to show how working with emotions can be a complement to meditation practice.

Feeling Wisdom: Working with Emotions Using Buddhist Teachings and Western Psychology, Rob Preece, Shambhala, 2014, 192 Pages, $15.95

Rob Preece met both the work of C.G. Jung and Buddhism while at university studying psychology. A period of travel then led him to Nepal where, in 1973, he met his teachers Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1976, he helped found a Buddhist centre in the UK for his Tibetan teachers where for four years he studied intensively the foundations of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1980 he returned to India and was in retreat for much of the next five years above Dharamsala. While in India he received teachings and tantric empowerments from H.H. Dalai Lama, Song Rinpoche, Lati Rinpoche and many others. He has also received dzogchen teachings from H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, then head of the Nyingma tradition. In 1986 Rob trained as a Jungian based psychotherapist. Today his one-to-one work focuses on spiritual mentoring, combining his experience of both Eastern and Western approaches. Since 1985 Rob has led meditation retreats in the UK, Europe and the US. His teaching work bridges the Tibetan tantric tradition and Western psychology bringing the Tibetan tradition into contemporary life. He is an experienced thangka painter and a keen gardener and lives in the UK with his wife and two sons.