Shinzen Young is a Vipassana meditation teacher and was ordained in Japan as a monk in the Shingon tradition. He has studied and practiced extensively in other traditions, including Zen and Lakota Sioux Shamanism. Shinzen leads meditation retreats throughout North America and has helped establish numerous mindfulness centers and programs. He also consults widely on meditation-related research, in both the clinical and the basic science domains. In this talk from the 2013 Buddhist Geeks Conferenc...
Jul 28, 2015•21 min
Kate Johnson is a yogi and meditation teacher in NYC where she teaches yoga and mindfulness meditation to high school students in public schools. A student in the Vipassana meditation tradition, Kate completed the year-long Training Immersion Program at The Interdependence Project, graduated from the Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation teacher training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and returned from a three-month retreat at Insight Meditation Society in 2013. In this episode taken from the 2013 ...
Jul 28, 2015•22 min
Lisa Ernst is an artist and meditation teacher in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She leads the One Dharma Nashville Community that draws from the wisdom traditions of Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan Buddhism. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Lisa discusses the various facets of working with spiritual questions as part of a contemplative path. She describes her own experience first working with koans in the Rinzai Zen tradition, and then applying that questioning process in her Vipassa...
Jul 28, 2015•27 min
Rohan Gunatillake is the creator of buddhify, the mobile mindfulness app for modern life, and the co-producer of Sync, a program that’s helping cultural organizations in Scotland have a more progressive relationship with technology, technologists, design and designers. In 2013 he was appointed a trustee of the British Council, a large scale NGO which promotes Britain internationally through work in the arts, education, and English language training. In this episode Rohan joins host Vincent Horn ...
Jul 28, 2015•35 min
Megan Miller is a technology researcher and entrepreneur from the San Francisco Bay area. After working in editorial and digital roles at National Geographic Adventure, New York Magazine and Popular Science, Megan became regarded as an expert in digital media innovation, appearing frequently as a TV talking head and speaker at events like CES and SXSW Interactive. In this episode taken from the 2013 Buddhist Geeks Conference, she speaks about digital distraction and how it affects human behavior...
Jul 28, 2015•23 min
Diane Musho Hamilton is a Zen teacher and conflict mediator. In this episode she joins host Vincent Horn to explore some of the themes from her first book Everything is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution. Starting with a description of her early life and education, Diane talks about her introduction to the practice of conflict resolution and how she became the first Director of the Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Utah Judiciary. The conversation then turns to the co...
Jul 28, 2015•42 min
Mikey Siegel is a meditator & technologist known for his work in projects like BrainBot & HeartSync. He is a pioneer in a field that he calls “Enlightenment Engineering”—the science and technology of facilitating the heightened states of consciousness long described by contemplative and spiritual traditions. In this episode taken from a recent BG TV episode of Contemplative Technology, hosts Vincent Horn and Mike Redmer speak with Mikey about the current state of contemplative technology...
Jul 28, 2015•35 min
Lodro Rinzler is a meditation practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. His latest book is Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You’re Hungover Again. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Lodro talks about the book and his new project The Institute for Compassionate Leadership, a leadership training and job placement organization that utilizes mentoring, meditation, traditional leadership skills training, and Obama style community o...
Jul 27, 2015•27 min
Mark Oppenheimer is an essayist, reporter, critic, and one of the United States’ leading investigators of religion. His new book, The Zen Predator of the Upper East Side, is an investigation of the decades of sexual scandal surrounding Japanese Zen teacher Eido Shimano. Mark joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the book and the impact his writing has had on the Zen community. Mark reports a brief history of the situation, they discuss the conditions that led to the problems, and they examine why t...
Jul 27, 2015•40 min
Dr. Jay Michaelson is the author of five books and two hundred articles on religion, sexuality, law, and contemplative practice. His new book is Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism, and the Next Generation of Enlightenment, published in October, 2013. In this episode, Jay joins host Vincent Horn to discuss his new book, which explores the evolution of Buddhism. Jay describes his personal interests in writing Evolving Dharma, as well as the value of the topic to wider academia. The conversation...
Jul 27, 2015•30 min
Willoughby Britton and Daniel Ingram continue their conversation with hosts Emily Horn and Kelly Sosan Bearer to discuss helping people through the experience of the contemplative Dark Night. To begin the second part of their discussion, Daniel describes the characteristics of Dark Night experience he has seen in the Dharma Overground community and the cycles many people experience. Emily asks whether compassion practice is a common tool to use when in the Dark Night stage. Willoughby and Daniel...
Jul 27, 2015•24 min
Willoughby Britton and Daniel Ingram join hosts Emily Horn and Kelly Sosan Bearer for Geeks of the Round Table to discuss helping people through the experience of the contemplative Dark Night. Willoughby starts the conversation by reporting the latest updates on the rebranded Dark Night Project, now called “The Varieties of Contemplative Experience”. The group then moves on to discuss helping mindfulness practitioners through episodes of the contemplative Dark Night, how mental disease does and ...
Jul 27, 2015•33 min
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is an author, scholar, and Futurist most recently concerned with contemplative computing, the effort to use information technologies in ways that help one focus and be more creative, not fractured and distracted. In the second half of this interview with host Vincent Horn, Alex talks in more detail about his book The Distraction Addiction and it’s central premise of how to engage with technology in a contemplative way. Alex describes the research involved in writing the boo...
Jul 27, 2015•25 min
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is an author, Technology Forecaster, and Futurist who applies the tools of the historian to predicting our future technology. His book, The Distraction Addiction, and blog, Contemplative Computing, are about how to use information technologies and social media so they’re not endlessly distracting and demanding, but instead help us be more mindful, focused and creative. In this interview with host Vincent Horn, Alex talks about his career as a Technology Forecaster and Futur...
Jul 27, 2015•32 min
Chris Dancy is an information systems expert, a self described data exhaust cartographer, and widely known as “The Quantified Man”. His work in the Quantified Self (QS) movement has been documented in Wired and on TechCrunch, Bloomberg TV, and BG TV. In this episode, taken from the new BG TV show Contemplative Technology, hosts Vincent Horn and Mike Redmer are joined by Chris to explore the relationship between the Quantified Self (QS) movement and the deepening experience of selflessness, or eg...
Jul 27, 2015•50 min
Douglas Rushkoff is the author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, as well as a dozen other bestselling books on media, technology, and culture. In this episode, Douglas joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the book Present Shock and the underlying concept that “present shock” is the human response to living in a world where everything happens now. Douglas describes how he formed the concept of “present shock” through explorations of psychedelics, tai chi, and chronobiology, and how the...
Jul 27, 2015•45 min
Meditation teacher Kenneth Folk joins Vincent Horn, Emily Horn, and Kelly Sosan Bearer to conclude a Geeks of the Round Table discussion on a recent Wired article, Enlightenment Engineers, that profiles Kenneth and the Buddhist Geeks as part of the developing meditation culture(s) in Silicon Valley. The group talks about Ken’s plan to enlighten the Illuminati with a Meditation Trojan Horse, whether or not there is a “right motivation” for maintaining a meditation practice, and how this all relat...
Jul 27, 2015•24 min
In this episode taken from a Geeks of the Round Table Google Hangout, meditation teacher Kenneth Folk joins Buddhist Geeks Vincent Horn, Emily Horn, and Kelly Sosan Bearer to discuss a recent Wired article, Enlightenment Engineers, that profiles Kenneth and the mindfulness culture in Silicon Valley. Emily opens the conversation by asking, “Does meditation really make you more productive and wealthy? And is it a way to get ahead?” The group explores these questions and discusses how variables in ...
Jul 27, 2015•20 min
David Passiak is a former religion scholar turned technology entrepreneur who has spent nearly 20 years working at the intersection of disruptive innovation and traditional conceptions of community and wisdom. David is author of Red Bull to Buddha: Innovation and the Search for Wisdom and also the forthcoming The Disruption Revolution: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the New Rules of Leadership. In this conversation David and host Vincent Horn discuss the book Red Bull to Buddha and the cycles...
Jul 27, 2015•42 min
Teachers Sofia Diaz and Trudy Goodman continue this episode of Geeks of the Round Table with host Kelly Sosan Bearer by exploring the Feminine aspect of spiritual practice from a female teacher’s point of view. The women begin by discussing qualitative differences in teaching approaches between female and male teachers, and Trudy talks about the more intimate approach she uses when teaching. Using Mother Teresa as an example of a female spiritual leader who supported many but found difficulty in...
Jul 27, 2015•26 min
In this episode taken from a Geeks of the Round Table Google Hangout, Sofia Diaz and Trudy Goodman join host Kelly Sosan Bearer to discuss Feminine Practice and its connections and distinctions to the masculine principle in spiritual practice. Kelly begins by asking: what is feminine practice and what is its distinction from other practices? Sofia describes feminine practice as being the devotional, feeling part of practice as compared to the masculine insight and contemplative part, though both...
Jul 27, 2015•31 min
Ken Mcleod is one of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today, known for his ability to explain difficult and subtle teachings. In the conclusion of this conversation on the “Truth”, Ken and host Vincent Horn compare and contrast various approaches to spiritual development and some hidden pitfalls one might encounter. Vincent begins by asking a fundamental question of the search for the “Truth”: by whose authority? The two then discuss some helpful qualifiers when searching for a spiritual...
Jul 27, 2015•25 min
Ken Mcleod is one of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today, known for his ability to explain difficult and subtle teachings. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Ken takes on one of the most difficult topics to pin down: the “Truth”. They begin the conversation by examining the supposition that the path to enlightenment is ultimately to find the “Truth”. Vincent talks about how his early efforts in practice were rooted in the need to find the “Truth”, and how his motivations and...
Jul 27, 2015•25 min
Tony Stubblebine is interested in meditation, app development, and behavioral design. He’s brought all three interests together in his latest project, a habit building app called Lift. In this conversation over Google Hangouts, Tony and host Vincent Horn discuss the merits and potential shadow side to behavioural design. Tony describes how he became interested in the science of behavioural design and how that led him to create Lift as a way to bring a social aspect to building positive habits. T...
Jul 27, 2015•35 min
In this interview, host Vincent Horn speaks with Dr. Ronald Purser–professor of management at SFSU and an ordained Zen Buddhist teacher in the Korean Taego order. They explore Ronald’s research on organizational mindfulness, mindfulness in corporate settings, and how Buddhist philosophy can inform organizational theory and practice, with a particular emphasis on exploring the limitations and shadow-sides of the mindfulness movement as it moves into the business context. Episode Links: College of...
Jul 27, 2015•36 min
David M. Levy is a professor of technology in the Information School (or iSchool) at the University of Washington. Since 2006 he has offered a course called “Information and Contemplation”, a course on mindfulness in the Digital Age. In this interview with host Vincent Horn, David talks about his early rejection of zen meditation practice and how he came back to it later through a study of calligraphy. They talk about a National Science Foundation funded study David created to observe the effect...
Jul 27, 2015•37 min
Ramez Naam is a computer scientist who spent 13 years at Microsoft, leading teams working on email, web browsing, search, and artificial intelligence. He’s the author of several books including Nexus, a science fiction thriller set in the near future when humans are linked mind-to-mind by an experimental and illegal nano-drug. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Ramez describes his inspiration for the book and it’s narrative of collectivism and mind-to-mind connection through technology...
Jul 27, 2015•26 min
Mike Redmer is a freelance UX designer and mindfulness coach. His most recent project, the ReWire App, is part of a growing field of technology designed to assist the end user in attaining greater degrees of concentration ability and contemplative awareness. In this second part of their conversation, host Vincent Horn discusses with Mike the subtleties of contemplative design and the current state of contemplative technology. Vincent relates details of his experience with some of these technolog...
Jul 27, 2015•28 min
Mike Redmer is a freelance UX designer and mindfulness coach. His most recent project, the ReWire App, came out of a desire to utilize technology to make mediation more effective and engaging. In this first part of a conversation with host Vincent Horn, Mike shares his motivation for creating Rewire and the ways he hopes it can help people develop in meditation. He also describes how he approached designing the app, the improvements he made in the second iteration, and how Shinzen Young’s practi...
Jul 27, 2015•23 min
Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community in Crestone, Colorado. In this episode Reggie and host Vincent Horn conclude their conversation by discussing the recurring cycle of conflict between “authentic lineages” and “institutional lineages” in the world’s religions. Reggie describes the personal toll this conflict had on his teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and how many unorthodox teachers have found themselves threatened and restricted by...
Jul 27, 2015•32 min
