Are you setting goals for yourself but can’t seem to finish them? In this episode, we explore one of the major reasons why we can’t seem to finish the task we started, the concept of decluttering and creating space in your life to achieve your state of Zen. Don’t miss this episode!
In today's episode, we will be interviewing stand-up comedian Brendon Lemon who is also a proponent of Zen and Stoic philosophy. Don't miss this episode!
Are you someone who has a packed schedule yet feels like you're not really "doing" anything? Do you purposefully wear your "busyness" as your badge of honor? In this episode, we will discuss the importance of finding clarity and direction because if we don't know where we're going, no matter which direction we put our sails, no wind is favorable.
In this episode, we're going to be discussing the Chinese proverb "If you are always giving, then you will always have." I will be telling the story of how a homeless man named Paul taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life.
Important Quotes: “We are a meaning-seeking species. We tend to process events in light of what they mean to us. We make a value judgment: Is it good or bad in the context of my life? And it is a human habit to infer deliberate intention to events in self-referential ways.” - Ralph Lewis “Our guilt festers and turns into shame. It becomes something horrifying and gross and must be concealed and defended from anyone who would otherwise expose it. And it’s this hiding that ultimately hurts us. Bec...
Important Quotes: "All the difficulties you have in zazen should not take place outside your mind. Your efforts should be kept within your mind. In other words you have to accept the difficulty as not being other than what you are. " -Shunryu Suzuki Roshi “Dogen Zenji was enlightened when he heard his master strike and say to the disciple sitting next to Dogen, "What are you doing? You have to make a hard effort. What are you doing?" That effort is Zen. That effort is to observe the precepts. If...
Important Quotes: “Buddhism is about liberating the mind. To accomplish this, the Buddha taught his path of morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). ” “A life grounded in morality is a life free from restlessness and remorse as a result of regret.” “Just as in the entire Buddhist path, when it comes to the precepts the Buddha emphasises the underlying intention. This does not mean that you can invoke ignorance or inattention to justify misconduct. You cannot say that you knew...
Important Quotes: "The goal of practice is always to keep your beginner’s mind. Our original mind includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient with itself. You should not lose your self-sufficient state of mind. This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything." -Shunryu Suzuki “There is another way—a middle way, between too much and not enough confidence. This Go...
Important Quotes: “The Buddha compares being afflicted with bodily pain to being struck by an arrow. Adding mental pain (aversion, displeasure, depression, or self-pity) to physical pain is like being hit by a second arrow. The wise person stops with the first arrow.” - Bhikku Bodhi “When we’re upset we tend to make events seem more harmful or threatening. Cognitive therapists describe this as “catastrophizing”. The Stoics question how unbearable pain is by asking themselves whether they’re capa...
Important Quotes: “For can you find me a single man who cares how he does what he does, and is interested, not in what he can get, but in the manner of his own actions? Who, when he is walking around, is interested in his own actions? Who, when he is deliberating, is interested in the deliberation itself, and not in getting what he is planning to get?” -Epictetus “Hear Epictetus: No one can rob us of our free choice. We must, says he, hit upon the true science of assent and in the sphere of our ...
Important Quotes: “Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us with terrifying clarity, exactly where we’re stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we are.” -Pema Chod...
Marcus Aurelius Quotes: “When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances, revert at once to yourself and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep on going back to it.” “Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren’t packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human- however imperfectly- and fully embrace the pursuit that you’ve embarked on.” “Pride and outwar...
Marcus Aurelius Quotes: “How easy it is to repel and wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility.” “Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.” “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” References: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu0xDtK3g3Q...
The Lion and the Boar An Aesop's Fable On a summer day, when the great heat induced a general thirst, a Lion and a Boar came at the same moment to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of a mortal combat. On their stopping on a sudden to take breath for the fiercer renewal of the strife, they saw some Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one which should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, sayi...
Brandon is a certified Corporate Based Mindfulness Trainer through Potential Project, Dually Certified Mindfulness Coach with the ICF & IAC, he also holds certifications on Proper Ethics and Ethical Conduct when teaching mindfulness courses by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. He is the founder of Modern Mindfulness, China’s largest mindfulness community with over 8,500 active members and 1,000 active members in Austin, Texas. Brandon has also founded and manages The China Trainer’s Community, China’s lar...
“The philosopher’s school is a doctor’s clinic: you should not go there expecting pleasure but rather pain.” – Epictetus “Philosophy does not propose to secure for a man any external thing. If it did (or if it were not, as I say), philosophy would be allowing something which is not within its province.” -Epictetus “Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others.” -Seneca "This is therefore to say that the transformation of human consciousness...
“Reason gives each side time to plead; moreover, she herself demands adjournment, that she may have sufficient scope for the discovery of the truth; whereas anger is in a hurry: reason wishes to give a just decision; anger wishes its decision to be thought just. … The sword of justice is ill-placed in the hands of an angry man.” — Seneca "You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger." -Buddha "Say to yourself at the start of the day, I shall meet with meddling, ung...
We’ve all felt the deep existential fear of death before. Sometimes it makes us feel alone, afraid, and even lost. Imagine what life would be like if you could be at peace with your own mortality, so much so you could actually enjoy a strawberry in the face of death itself. The fear of death and lack of presence is where suffering persists. Those who learn to truly become present are those free from the burden of the fear of death, and thus can truly live. “We really shouldn’t be here at all. Co...
Music instagram.com/2.weeks.notice instagram.com/drone_phonetik https://2weeksnotice.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/2_weeks_notice https://open.spotify.com/artist/0YU0zQW5R8hehPzbBy9W8s Clothing: @yeet.stuff https://yeet-stuff.com/
In this episode, I share a disorienting experience I am currently going through and think through it in real-time over the podcast, using Zen, Stoic, and Zen Stoic principles to bring myself back to my center.
In this episode, we explore a lesson from Marcus Aurelius on how to deal with the worst parts of our fellow human beings.
In this episode, we discuss a Zen story that highlights the importance of emptying our minds as it relates to learning and growing.
In this episode, we explore, the belief trap! Most of the time in life, we do react to our actual experiences but rather what we believe about them. This creates unnecessary noise in the mind and disturbs your inner peace.
“Limiting one’s desires actually helps to cure one of fear. ‘Cease to hope … and you will cease to fear.’ … Widely different [as fear and hope] are, the two of them march in unison like a prisoner and the escort he is handcuffed to. Fear keeps pace with hope … both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present.” -Seneca
In this episode, we discuss a Zen Story about how working hard could actually slow you down!
Ulf Schwekendiek is the Founder and CEO of Centered, a productivity app that helps users Flow through their Tasks 30% faster. Prior to Centered, Ulf was part of the product engineering teams of Apple/Siri, Autodesk, Postmates, Descript, Detour, Ditto & Groupon. Ulf earned his Masters in Integrated Digital Media from NYU. After leaving Postmates, Ulf took a moment to reflect on his work and how he accomplished it. He devoured books, blogs, and videos to better understand how to improve his pr...
In this episode, we explore a quote from Seneca to help us better prevent the experience of burnout.
In this special multi-part episode, we dive into Zen Stoic Philosophy and how it can be practiced to create unshakeable inner peace in everyday life.
In this special multi-part episode, we dive into Zen Stoic Philosophy and how it can be practiced to create unshakeable inner peace in everyday life.
In this episode, we discuss how to be like water and how to have a mindset that allows you to better flow with life.
