ABSTRACT
Inquiring Deeply grew out of my compelling personal desire to understand how to blend Buddhist mindfulness and relational psychotherapy into an integrative approach to working with psychological problems. I knew intuitively that there was wisdom in problems and opportunities for growth contained within them. I loved the Buddhist metaphor of the lotus flower with its roots in the mud growing toward the sunlight, and I could see for myself that problems always seemed to point exactly where I needed to look and reveal what I most needed to see. Early on in my meditation practice, I recognized the profound truth that this very moment is the perfect teacher, as Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron famously said (Chodron, 1997).
