Richard (Rick) Avery, LCSW, started meditating about 35 years ago when he realized “the pursuit of happiness” as he understood it was only making him more unhappy. In his journey to understand his and others’ heart/minds, he has been fortunate enough to have been a psychotherapist, organizational consultant, and clinical instructor for the past 45 years. He is also a Certified Compassion Cultivation Trainer of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) program associated with Stanford University and now under the auspices of the Compassion Institute. In addition, he is an Assistant Professor, Clinical Faculty, Department of Psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.