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The Buddha taught that there are five hindrances or obstacles to realizing enlightenment. These obstacles are commonly referred to in Buddhist teachings as “The Five Hindrances” of desire, aversion, disinterest, agitation, and indecision. These mental states are considered to be obstacles because they keep us from being mindful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Buddhist teachings and concepts often challenge us to think differently about life. They challenge us to question the stories we’ve come to believe about ourselves and about reality but perhaps none more than the idea of stepping into groundlessness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Buddhist teachings are always pointing inward. When we put these teachings into practice, we are learning to look inside ourselves and to understand ourselves a little bit better than before. In this episode, I will discuss an experience I had last week where I ended up having to trust my own inner compass over the advice of my GPS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The three poisons of hatred, greed, and ignorance, can be thought of as the root source from which all unskillful actions arise. In this podcast episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of the three poisons and how we can use this teaching to develop a more skilfull relationship with the greed, hatred, and ignorance we encounter in our own lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The ultimate authority in your life is YOU. If you're familiar with the Kalama Sutta, you're aware of the teaching to analyze things against your own experience and to be cautious about relying on external sources for authority. Knowing this, why do we still care so much about external authority? In this podcast episode, I will talk about the idea of ultimate authority. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There is a famous quote in the Zen tradition that says “If you meet the Buddha, kill him”. This quote is attributed to Linji a prominent zen master. What does it mean? How can this teaching help us in our day to day lives as we seek to be less habitually reactive? In this episode, I will discuss this koan and dig deeper to see if we can all apply this teaching to our own lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is the state of radical okayness? There is a very clear message that seems to permeate through many of the Buddha’s teachings, that is, the importance of getting to know yourself, knowing your own mind. I believe that when we learn to look past our own stories and narratives we have about ourselves, others, and life, we begin to experience a state of radical okayness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is the audio recording of an interview I did with Shirin Peykar where we discussed the topic of mindful parenting. Shirin works with parents who are trying to be more mindful. Parenting is difficult at times and it's easy to find ourselves reacting habitually in the midst of the chaos. In this episode, Shirin will share some fantastic ideas and insight about mindful parenting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We seem to really struggle when it comes to having conversations about difficult topics. Are we listening with the intent to understand the other person or are we simply assessing to determine what team the other person is on? Are they team "us" or team "them". In this episode I will discuss the idea of listening to understand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sometimes we fail because we try too hard, other times because don't try hard enough. The trick is to find the right balance, the space in between, the space that is often referred to in Buddhism as The Middle Way. In this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of the Middle way in terms of space and time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this podcast episode, I will discuss some of the exercises and introspective questions that I believe can lead to a more mindful way of living. These are exercises that are published in the new book "The 5-Minute Mindfulness Journal." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The essence of many of the Buddha's discourses and teachings can be found in the Eightfold Path, often referred to as the Path of Liberation. It is not a path we walk only once or in a particular order. It's meant to be a guide for specific areas of life in which we can experience and discover the nature of reality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If Buddhism were to be summarized in one key teaching, that teaching would be about the nature of dukkha (suffering/dissatisfaction) and the cessation of dukkha. There is a fundamental unsatisfactoriness and stress that we all deal with in life. In the next 3 episodes, I will discuss the core Buddhist teaching of the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and some helpful practices we can all work with to deal with the dissatisfaction that arises from time to time in life. This is part 1 of 3. H...
The tale of many tales is the story we have about ourselves and the story we try to ensure that others have of us too. What are some of the stories you have about yourself? How attached are you to these stories? Does that attachment cause any self-inflicted suffering to arise? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Life is not fair, it's true! But is that really a problem? In this podcast episode, I will discuss the monkey reward experiment where one monkey was given cucumbers and another was given grapes and the result of that decision. I will also discuss the idea of sitting with discomfort. If you can sit with discomfort, you can do anything… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In a reality that is continually changing, our views are limited in space and time. The result is that we are essentially the blind leading the blind. In this episode, I will discuss the teaching of the blind men and the elephant and share 5 tips for people who are in mixed-belief relationships (we all are). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Suffering arises when we want things to be other than how they are. Where there is hope, there is fear and where there is fear there is hope. They are like two sides of the same coin. When we feel uneasy, we get restless, we want to change something about ourselves or others, we hope things could be another way. Having no hope can be the start of a radical form of acceptance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
"I think of mindfulness meditation as almost a rebellion against natural selection...Natural selection sets our agenda, and Buddhism says, 'We don't have to play this game." In this episode, I will discuss the concept of embracing rebellion as a form of living more mindfully. I will also clarify a couple of things from last week's episode. I hope you enjoy this topic! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What does it mean to be patient with ourselves, others, and life? How do we practice patience? Is Mindfulness practice for everyone? These are a few of the questions and ideas I will explore in this podcast episode. I hope you enjoy this topic and I hope some of this information may be beneficial to you in your day to day lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This podcast episode is the audio of a recent interview I did on the Everyday Buddhism podcast with my friend Wendy. If you enjoy this podcast episode, check out the Everyday Buddhism Podcast on your favorite podcasting app or visit everyday-buddhism.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If we're practicing non-attachment, how should we approach things like goals and relationships? Should we avoid such things? I don't think so. Goals are great and so are relationships. So how should we approach goals and relationships in the context of non-attachment? These are the ideas I will explore in this podcast episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What Moves Us? Why do we fear rejection? Why are we so motivated to want to belong? In this episode, I will discuss the 5 core social motives of Belonging, Understanding, Control, Enhancing Self, and Trust as presented by Susan Fiske. I will also correlate the idea of the core social motives with some Buddhist concepts and ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, I will share an audio clip that's gone viral where some people hear the word "yanny" and others hear the word "laurel". I will also discuss 6 tips to help us be more mindful of how we communicate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
At any given moment, we’re all acting upon what has been set in motion by others. A central teaching of Buddhism is that we can pause and break the cycle of reactivity. We can learn to be more skillful in how we contribute to the never-ending web of causes and effects going on all around us. In this episode, I will discuss the notion of breaking the chain or reactivity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, I will discuss my personal views about having a Guru/teacher. In order to learn something new or to develop a new skill, it can be helpful and wise to have the guidance and advice of a teacher but it can also become detrimental when we create a dependency on that teacher. The Buddha compared his own teachings to a raft that when no longer needed, should be left behind. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Buddhist teachings often talk about "being with our emotions" or learning to "sit with an emotion" but what does that really mean? What does that look like in our day to day lives? In this episode, I will discuss a recent experience I had with sitting with sadness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this podcast episode, I will discuss my newest book and I will share some of the specific Q&A's directly from the book. Presented in a practical Q&A format, No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners is the most clear-cut introductory guide to understanding the essential concepts of Buddhism and how they relate to your daily life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this podcast episode, I will discuss how the attitude of "never enough" can lead to a form emotional abuse that we inflict on our selves. I will discuss the idea of how letting go of the unhealthy views, ideas, and beliefs we have of ourselves can lead to a form of liberation where we are finally vulnerable and free to fly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Have you ever felt the strong urge to capture the experience you're having and then to share it with others? We do this with movies, books, restaurants, and of course ideas, opinions, and beliefs. In this episode, I will discuss the joy and pain that often arise when we try to share our experiences and how that joy/pain doesn't have to take away from the original experience itself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Buddhist approach to forgiveness is about changing our relationship with the reactive patterns that run our lives. It’s a form of introspection that allows me to understand my reactive patterns and then, more importantly to change my relationship with those patterns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
