I left my previous sangha of 20+ years in late 2021 to found Serenity Sangha. Several of my students at the time requested that I put in writing a number of my more relevant dharma talks. Thus, the writing of Practical Dharma became my COVID project! The book covers a number of topics and reflects my bias toward secular Buddhism, a Buddhism freed of metaphysical themes. The emphasis is on the practical and pragmatic teachings of the Buddhism, combined with modern psychology, which I believe offers the greatest likelihood of reducing our suffering on a day-to-day basis.

We all suffer. No one in this life is spared.

Yes, life is also rich, wondrous, joyful, mysterious, and exciting. But that's another book!

While the extent of one's suffering may differ in intensity and quality, it cannot be avoided. We suffer externally due to life circumstances but most of our suffering is internal, hidden, and private. Why is this true and what can we do about it?

Much human suffering is inevitable—sickness, loss, old age, and death. With what a brilliant young man discovered 2600 years ago, in what is now Nepal, we can understand the causes of our suffering and change our relationship to our suffering and, thereby, reduce it.

My practice of Buddhism has been positively life-changing in ways I could never have imagined. I cannot express how deeply grateful I am for the radical transformation in all aspects of my life since embracing Buddhist practice. My study of Buddhism over the years has convinced me that though he lived over 2600 years ago, the Gautama Buddha was the greatest living psychologist the world has ever known. His understanding of the human condition's vast complexity has been unrivaled by anyone since that time.

Simply put, the dharma consists of the path that the Buddha taught to reduce suffering. The Buddha purposely avoided metaphysical and unknowable ideas and focused on practical teachings which lead to the end of suffering.

The dharma offers specific tools beyond modern psychotherapy to deepen our connection to ourselves and others, find joy and wonder in our lives, and reduce our suffering. The Buddha's teachings are ancient but they apply to our daily lives whatever the circumstances. Practical Dharma is just that—useful and relevant—no matter what your life situation. To support the creation of more happiness for ourselves we need to focus on the positive in our lives, not just what is wrong. If we fail to take advantage of the tools of Practical Dharma, actively and intentionally, we will continue our dysfunctional patterns resulting in persistent suffering.

Throughout I refer frequently to the practice by which I mean the implementation of the combined and overlapping tools of the dharma and modern psychology, the integration of which I call Practical Dharma.

My book is a narrative compilation of thirty of my best-received talks on aspects of Buddhism that I have offered to my students over the years. In addition to practicing Buddhism for 30 years, I have been teaching Buddhism and Buddhist practice for the past ten years since completing an intensive 2-year Buddhist teacher training program. I practiced as a clinical psychologist for over 44 years, during which I worked in many inpatient and outpatient settings including many years in full-time private practice and as an adjunct professor at four universities. My work provided me with many opportunities to explore and address human suffering.

Over the years of my profession as a psychologist, I learned and refined a range of methods to help my patients manage their symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, which improved the quality of their lives and relationships. But elements were missing which left both me and those with whom I worked feeling incomplete about the therapeutic outcomes.

When I undertook the study and practice of Buddhism, I knew I had discovered the missing elements of my clinical work. The combination of a modern psychological theory and the ancient teachings of the Buddha fit together like a lock and key. Practical Dharma has resonated strongly with my meditation students over the years.

Buddhist teachings added a spiritual element to my clinical work. But most importantly they added a larger, more spacious, context for understanding the human experience, especially that of suffering which was not always available in my therapeutic work. Most schools of psychotherapy offer to alleviate suffering which is an impossible goal. Practical Dharma aims to change our relationship with suffering while acknowledging its inevitability.

My aspiration and primary motive for teaching Buddhism and Buddhist practice are to share the wealth of the teachings that I have experienced in my own life. For ten years until early 2022, I was president and a senior teacher in a large Buddhist community. In 2022 I started a small group at the request of some of the members of my former community. I am pleased that my teachings continue to resonate with my current group of students, many of whom asked me to commit them to writing. Thus the idea for this book was born.

This is not a book on formal Buddhism or psychological theory, nor is it an attempt to be complete in exploring either approach. Instead, it offers selected tools that provide practical and accessible guidance on improving one's life. It attempts to present the more salient and pragmatic of the Buddha's core teachings, augmented by the methods of modern clinical psychology, as I have integrated them over the years in both my psychotherapy practice and my own life.

Regarding the application of the tools and techniques of Practical Dharma: We all have busy lives and often it is all we can do to make time for daily meditation practice. We do not have time to focus on the nature of reality or other digressions into the esoteric aspects of Buddhism. Nor will doing so change our dysfunctional personality patterns—the unhealthy or unproductive ways in which we suffer. We must address our patterns directly. For example, I may be someone who always blames others for my unhappiness—I am unwilling to accept my contribution to my suffering. Or, I am someone who often flies off the handle in the form of temper outbursts at others. These are the type of recurring tendencies that Practical Dharma addresses.

I am a pragmatist. I want to know what works and how to apply it. Together, Buddhist teachings and modern psychology offer a hands-on approach to addressing the things that sustain our suffering. What drew me to a specific approach to psychology and Buddhism is that they provide prescriptions to reduce our suffering and live more joyfully in the gift of this life. Alone, Buddhist practice may not affect the shift I am talking about. Combining the dharma with the methods of modern psychology creates a broader framework for addressing these patterns.

When I practiced psychotherapy, I often treated people who developed deep insights into their dysfunctions but never implemented those insights to change. They could not make their lives and relationships work because they would not confront their dysfunctional relationship patterns. They understood where they habitually ran into problems with others, such as reflexive defensiveness or being highly controlling, yet they failed to take the steps available to change. As a result, they made little or no progress in alleviating their suffering or that of those around them. If we do not use the insights and tools at hand to inform our patterns in daily life, what are we achieving other than possibly stress reduction?

Embracing Practical Dharma in our lives is no quick fix. It is effortful, challenging, and requires a strong commitment. We in the West want instant transformation and instant gratification because we are culturally impatient. Practical Dharma is not that path. There is no quick fix for the struggles we face in our lives. Relief does not just fall in our lap. We must cultivate it, work at it, and pursue it as it is an active, engaged, ongoing process.

Practical Dharma is not psychotherapy. Nor is it a substitute for psychotherapy when it is indicated. Nonetheless, the dharma combined with modern psychology offers specific tools to deepen our connection to ourselves and others, find joy and wonder in our lives, and reduce our suffering. If we fail to, with intention, implement the tools of Practical Dharma we are spinning our wheels.

The Buddhist path is an active, engaged one. It is not passive, where transformation happens simply from meditating every day. We must work at it daily with intention. It requires patience because progress on the path is incremental. The path is a challenging one with no panacea but the rewards are immense, as has been confirmed in my life.

Topics addressed in Practical Dharma include: Buddhism 101, Buddhism 102, Meditation, Impermanence, Noticing, Suffering, Ego, Reactivity, Desire, Anger, Relationships, Regret, Anxiety, Patience, Judging, Gratitude, Death, Grief, and Putting It All Together.

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Jeffrey C. Fracher, Ph.D., a retired Clinical Psychologist, was in practice as a clinical psychologist for 44 years in New Jersey and Virginia. He has practiced Buddhism since 1992 when he took the lay precepts, committing to the Buddhist path, in the Sangha of the late Thich Nhat Hanh.

In 2013 he completed a 2-year Buddhist teacher training program at the Meditation Teachers Training Institute in Washington, D.C. He was a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville for 10 years, where he was also president of the IMCC Board of Directors, before his retirement in early 2022.

In 2022, he founded Serenity Sangha of Charlottesville, a far-reaching virtual community of Buddhist practitioners which emphasizes Practical Dharma, the synthesis of modern psychology and ancient Buddhist wisdom.

Jeff, a native Virginian, lives in Charlottesville, VA, with his wife of 50+ years, Kay, and his two beloved rescued Golden Retrievers, Kaiya and Khema. He has two adult sons, Eli and Luke. In addition to leading Serenity Sangha, he is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia. He is a volunteer bereavement group facilitator at the Hospice of the Piedmont. He also serves on the City of Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board.