A heartfelt guide for meeting difficult times with mindfulness, compassion, and courage—from a psychotherapist and Buddhist practitioner who learned from her own crisis.
Features explorations of the three types of fear and practices to transform into opportunities for personal growth.

This heartfelt guide transforms challenging times into surmountable journeys that we can emerge from by learning how to work with—rather than against—fear. Drawing from traditional Buddhist teachings on the bardo, a Tibetan word most often associated with the period between death and rebirth, Buddhist practitioner Susan Gillis Chapman offers guidance for those times when life seems to turn upside down. Amidst such difficulties—whether it’s navigating the end of a relationship, a health scare, or other unexpected challenges—the fearful mind tends to panic. But Chapman, informed by her years working as psychotherapist, skillfully intercepts our uncertainty to show how we can let go of assumptions and allow something new to be reborn.

Using personal examples from her own bardo crisis—navigating a cancer diagnosis during the pandemic—and offering contemplative prompts for inner-reflection and meditation practices throughout, she demystifies the main kinds of fear people experience and reveals how to meet them with love. This powerful resource will help restore equilibrium when life feels chaotic, and what’s more, uncover truly transformative opportunities for personal growth in even the most difficult circumstances.

Susan Gillis Chapman's profile page

SUSAN GILLIS CHAPMAN is a Buddhist teacher, retired couples and family therapist, and former faculty-member for Karuna Training. After the publication of her first book,The Five Keys to Mindful Communication, in 2012, Susan began teaching extensively in Europe and North America.

Her Buddhist training began fifty years ago when she became a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1974, After his passing, she studied with Thrangu Rinpoche, who directed her to complete the Kagyu three-year retreat at Gampo Abbey. He later appointed her to be Drupon, or retreat master, for another six years. In her years at the Abbey, she began a mentoring relationship with Pema Chodron that continues to this day. In 2012 she was appointed as an Acharya to the Shambhala Community by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. She retired in 2020 when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

Susan's new book, Which Way is Up? uses stories from her cancer journey as examples of how to bring loving kindness to the fears that arise in a life-crisis. As the book launches in the summer of 2024, Susan is rebuilding her health and teaching part-time. Mostly, she's enjoying life with her husband, Jerry, in Burnaby, British Columbia and their cat, Ziji. Susan's close family includes three sisters, her adult son, Sheehan, and two stepdaughters, Sarah and Autumn.

“When Susan received a diagnosis of cancer during the isolating years of the Covid pandemic, she was able to draw on her years of Buddhist training for support. In this book, she shares the insights and practices that sustained her in dealing with the initial shock of the diagnosis and throughout the challenges of treatment. Susan structures her book around the teachings of bardos, or what she calls times of ‘rude awakening.’ Her book is unique in its straightforward discussion of fear and the power of compassionate wisdom to move through fear to healing. It is a great resource not only for cancer patients but for anyone going through an abrupt or startling transition in life.”
—Judith Lief, author of Making Friends with Death

“Forged by the fires of direct experience, and buttressed by decades of deep meditative practice, this is a profound and practical journey of the heart crafted by a spiritual warrior. Susan Chapman deftly translates the Buddhist teachings on the bardo into language you can understand and immediately apply to the challenges of life. If you want to learn how to transform obstacle into opportunity, this book is for you.”
—Andrew Holecek, author of Reverse Meditation

“This book is like a wise old friend accompanying us in the most difficult of times. Susan Gillis Chapman goes right to the heart of our deepest fears, sharing her own story in a way that sheds light on our greatest moments of suffering and invites us to allow the journey to be transformative. She offers clear practices and insights that serve as signposts to guide the reader through difficulty with compassion and fierce love.”
—Hala Khouri, author of Peace from Anxiety

“With a warrior’s strength and a mother’s tenderness, Susan Chapman takes us on her cancer journey, from the paralyzing grip of fear to the open expanse of love, framed by the traditional bardo teachings. This is a compelling book.”
—Irini Rockwell, author of The Five Wisdom Energies

“In this tumultuous age of global uncertainty, Which Way Is Up? invites us to dive deep down into our collective heartbreak in order to resource from the fertile and regenerative depths of meditation practice. Susan Gillis Chapman offers steadfast compassion, grace, clarity, and a generous invitation for growth. She supports the reader each step of the way, as she offers the medicine of seeing and perceiving more clearly, from the heart, as an alternative to feeding fear, reactivity, and overwhelm. She invites us to come home to peace with our ever-changing world and human experience and to move from a fear-based response to freedom of the heart.”
—Deborah Eden Tull, author of Luminous Darkness

“Enlisting the basics of contemplative psychology, Susan guides her readers into embodied listening, the discovery of innate bravery, and the capacity to strengthen compassion in the face of real challenges. This book offers compassionate wisdom—directly from the heart—and will benefit anyone undergoing groundless times.”
—Melissa Moore, author of The Diamonds Within Us
“When Susan Gillis Chapman received a cancer diagnosis during the pandemic, she drew on her Buddhist training to help her cope. In Buddhism, a transitional period of radical change is often called a bardo. It’s easy to lose our footing in these destabilizing moments of crisis, says Chapman, but they’re our greatest opportunity for growth. Chapman draws on various traditional Buddhist teachings and practices, including tonglen, which involves dissolving the barriers between ourselves and others.”
—Lion’s Roar