Naikan
Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection
Naikan is a Japanese word that means 'inside looking' or 'introspection'. A more poetic translation is "seeing oneself with the mind’s eye."
Drawing on Eastern spiritual and psychological traditions, Naikan is a unique method of self-reflection for cultivating self-awareness, gratitude, empathy, and a path for moving forward in our lives. Naikan began as a spiritual practice in the Buddhist tradition and is now recognised by psychologists as an effective tool for helping people navigate the path of personal relationships, addictions, and other mental health challenges.
This edition commemorates the 20th anniversary of this influential work’s first publication. Author Gregg Krech, now after 30+ years of teaching Naikan, shares the depth of his experience with essays, parables, poems, quotations, and recommended reflection exercises, and includes new material on relationships, a 7-day practice program, and an updated appendix for counselling professionals.
The unique structure of Naikan illuminates truths that we may otherwise overlook and that can have a dramatic impact on our understanding of life, our relationships, and our daily experience of being alive. More than a philosophy, Naikan is a deep and transformative practice that can open us up to a different understanding of how we have lived and where to go from here.
Gregg Krech is the author of five books on Japanese Psychology, including The Art of Taking Action (2015), which has been an Amazon bestseller for five years. His books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Romanian. Gregg has spoken in international venues to audiences that include mental health professionals, Zen students, hospice volunteers, staff of domestic violence centers, employees of Fortune 500 companies, crisis center staff, Yoga students, Buddhist monks in Thailand, and university students. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio and in numerous magazines including Tricycle, SELF, Counseling Today, and The SUN, where his interview on Naikan was that issue’s feature story. Gregg was selected to do an on-demand video retreat by Tricycle, a prominent Buddhist magazine. He is a member of the North American Naikan Society and editor of the journal Thirty Thousand Days: A Journal for Purposeful Living. He has been conducting retreats and online courses on Japanese methods of psychology for 33 years at the ToDo Institute in Vermont, where he currently lives, writes, and teaches.
