Gary Gach joins Scoop and Jon to discuss Buddhism, mindfulness, writing and translation. We also discuss his latest book, PAUSE BREATHE SMILE – Awakening Mindfulness When Meditation Is Not Enough.

Gary is currently a mindfulness coach, and has been hosting a weekly mindfulness practice group for 10 years. He’s also author of nine books including the bestselling Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buddhism. His work has appeared in a dozen anthologies and hundreds of journals and magazines, including Christian Science Monitor, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Huffington Post, The New Yorker, Yoga Journal, and elsewhere.

He was inspired by Alan Watts’ writing, and later connected in Los Angeles with Paul Reps, author of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. He moved to San Francisco and learned zazen (Buddhist meditation) from Dainin Katagiri.

He eventually established his root lineage with Thich Nhat Hanh.

With his latest book, Gary presents a full framework of mindfulness instruction inspired by his long history and experience, which began with a mystic vision, a realization that everything is connected, when he was eight years old. He later learned that his realization had was described, in Buddhism, as dependent co-arising. He now calls it inter-being, about the interconnection and inter-penetration of all things.