What Is Not and What Is: Cultivating Peace of Mind and Inner Freedom; An

David Fisher invites us to create our own roadmap for life's journey. For any of us feeling trapped by our own thought habits, this gem of a book offers concrete practices for us to get better acquainted with our humanity and to cultivate benefit for ourselves and our fellow humans. There are many approaches to mindfulness and meditation (in the world) and I have often found myself, in the hopes of mastering my thoughts and suffering less, flitting from one to the next, without really landing until now. David's book offers a process of active learning with the practices in each chapter assisting in tailoring a nourishing personal practice. I have become more aware of my own habitual patterns of thinking and am more able to let these go if they are not of benefit . . . the beginning of inner freedom. As a social worker, I would urge helping professionals to work with this book as a means of cultivating equanimity as an antidote to burnout and vicarious trauma. Gisele Benoit, MSW

David Fisher was born in England in 1936 and emigrated to Canada in 1958. He has had a deep and on-going interest in communication and language since 1966 when he worked with Inuit on Baffin Island. He attended university in the 1970's and 80's and was granted degrees in Social Work and a Ph.D. in Psychology. He has studied the inter-relatedness of language, personality, relationships and spirituality since 1981. He continues to provide counseling to individuals and couples and lead a small meditation group. On most days he manages to do at least some gardening. He lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia. He and his former wife, Kyra, have two children, Petra and Adrian. David and Kyra maintain a warm friendship.