Buddhist Geeks

On this episode I had the great pleasure of speaking with Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, Roshi Joan Halifax.  One of my previous guests, Raghu Markus, recommended I speak with her as part of the Meditating on Psychedelics series, and so that's where the conversation began.  I think it's fair to say that by the end of our discussion it had expanded out quite a bit to include broader questions about the relationship between contemplation & action, and how the Mahayana emphasis on bodhicitta requires that we integrate our understanding with contemporary issues, of which psychedelics is just one.Memorable Quotes"I wouldn't say that I'm ambivalent with regards to hallucinogens, I'd say I'm discerning." - Roshi Joan Halifax"I have a lot of respect for entheogens.  I have more respect for my mind." - Roshi Joan Halifax"I want to live in a country that loves our children, more than they love our drugs." - Roshi Joan HalifaxEpisode LinksUpaya Institute a

In this episode I'm joined by one of my favorite productivity writers, Tiago Forte. Tiago is part of a new generation of productivity thinkers, whose exploring new ways of working in the digital age. I've found his writing both refreshing and insightful, and when I discovered that he also has a serious interest in meditation & spirituality I knew I'd have to invite him onto Buddhist Geeks.The first part of our dialogue explores Tiago's background and work, and then we get into the relationship between network thinking, productivity paradigms, and different types of meditation.Memorable Quotes"You can't understand a paradigm from within it." - Tiago Forte"What we can borrow from, network metaphors, telecommunications, the theory of constraints, mindfulness & meditation, to make the way the world is going into an opportunity instead of a threat?" - Tiago ForteEpisode LinksTiago Forte (https://www.fortelabs.co)"The Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer"Design Your Work" by Tiago ForteBuilding a Second Brain

In this episode we speak with meditation teacher & author Michael Taft about his experience of meditating on LSD. Michael describes himself as someone who has likely done more LSD than anyone you've ever known, while also being a hardcore meditator, a skilled teacher, and one of the more high-functioning & well integrated adults that you're likely to meet.In addition to discussing the potential dangers and downsides of using LSD, Michael also shares his unique experience of the 3 characteristics of the LSD experience, Impermanence, Suchness, & Meta-Rationality, each of which mirror what can be found through Buddhist meditative training. Memorable Quotes:"For this stuff to be powerful it has to be powerful." - Michael Taft"It's like opening a door in your mind you did not know is there." - George HarrisonEpisode Links:

This week we speak with Albert Grabb, an LA-based radiologist & meditator, who was one of the 1st legal participants in a Johns Hopkins study of seasoned meditators using psilocybin (aka "magic mushrooms").See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

In this episode we speak with author, podcaster, award-winning journalist, and dharmic psychonaut Erik Davis about the intersection of psychedelic practice & culture with dharmic practice & culture. Episode Links: - Become a Buddhist Geeks Patreon - TechGnosis - Expanding Mind Podcast - "Zig, Zag, Zen" - Dharma Protectors - Erowid - Cognitive liberty See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

During the 2nd part of my conversation with Raghu Markus, director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation, we speak about the powerful fusion of bhakti (devotion) practice and more traditional Buddhist meditation practice. Episode Links: - Rick Doblin’s Psychedelic Studies - Ram Dass- Be Here Now Network - SHARANAGATI: The True Meaning of Surrender from the Bhakti Yoga TraditionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Raghu Markus lives in Asheville (my hometown) and is the executive director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation, the same organization that runs RamDass.org. Raghu traveled with Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert) in the 70s to India and studied with the Indian guru Neem Karoli Baba. There he also met Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, & Lama Surya Das, who all became lifelong friends. During this first part of our conversation Raghu & I met up at a local tea shop and spoke about psychedelics. I hadn't expected to discuss this topic with Raghu originally, but it made sense given his connection with Ram Dass as well as his own journey through the psychedelic 60s & 70s, so that's where our conversation began. I hope you enjoy the lively stories and reflections that Raghu shares about his time with Ram Dass, Neem Karoli Babi, his father, as he explored spiritual practice and psychedelics side-by-side as a young seeker. Episode Links: Ram Dass Be Here Now Network"Be Here Now" See Priv

In this episode we speak with Dr. Douglas Osto, author of "Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America". Episode Links: - Become a Buddhist Geeks Patreon - Douglas Osto- “Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America” - “Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars” - “Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics” - 'She didn't know what was real': Did 10-day meditation retreat trigger woman's suicide? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

The intention of this series is to gain a deeper understanding of the relative merits and dangers of the mixing Buddhist contemplative practice and ritualized psychedelic use. Episode Links: "Meditating on Pyschedelics: What Camp Are You In?" See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Buddhist Geeks is stirring from the state in-between lives. It looks like a rebirth is eminent.Episode Links:- www.buddhistgeeks.org- The Buddhist Geeks Death Poem: https://goo.gl/w9csbSSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei is a maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer, and founder of Center for Transformative Change. She is the author of "Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation". Sensei williams joins host Vincent Horn to continue the current series on ethics in a talk about race, love, and liberation. They address race and class in American capitalism, the construct of “whiteness” as a social form of ego structure, and how Buddhism provides the tools to uncover entrenched social structures and implicit bias. Episode Links Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei TransformativeChange.org @zenchangeangel Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and LiberationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Stephen Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. He is the author of "Buddhism Without Beliefs" and most recently has written "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age". In this entry to the Buddhist Geeks series on ethics, Stephen joins host Vincent Horn to consider what it means to secularize Buddhist ethics. They discuss the process of removing early Buddhist ethics from its early Indian metaphysics, and between the ethical practice laid out by early Buddhism and more Western versions of ethics. They finish by discussing the metaphysical faith of secularism, in particular the role that rationalism & individualism play in this translation project. Episode Links: StephenBatchelor.org http://www.stephenbatchelor.org/ "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age" by Stephen Batchelor http://www.amazon.com/After-Buddhism-Rethinking-Dharma-Secular/dp/030020518X "Syntheism: Creating God in the Internet Age"

EMMA SEPPÄLÄ, Ph.D is Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Emma joins host Vincent Horn to share the science behind compassion. She describes the current state of compassion research, and she and Vincent discuss the effects of unbundling mindfulness, compassion, and ethics in a capitalist society. Episode Links Emma Seppala - http://www.emmaseppala.com The Happiness Track - http://www.emmaseppala.com/book/ @emmaseppala - https://twitter.com/emmaseppalaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

James Hughes is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and the author of "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future". Continuing in our series On Ethics, James joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the ethical frameworks that underpin our social systems. From economics and social justice to conservative vs liberal values, to a newly emerging technoprogressivism, James and Vincent deconstruct and explore various ethical operating systems. Episode Links: James Hughes on Twitter - https://twitter.com/citizencyborg "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future" - https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Cyborg-Democratic-Societies-Redesigned/dp/0813341981?ie=UTF8&qid=1165506115&sr=8-1&tag=instforethiin-20 Technoprogressive Declaration - http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/tpdec2014 BG 077: Transhumanism and the Authentic Self - http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2008/06/bg-077-transhuman

David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer and Buddhist practitioner. He blogs on several sites including the hypertext book Meaningness.com. In part two of a conversation on ethics with David Chapman and Vincent Horn, the discussion continues to explore a series of blog articles that David wrote on the theme of “Buddhist ethics”. They consider the usefulness of tantric ethics, examine Western Buddhism in context of Robert Kegan’s 5-stage developmental psychology model, and they speculate on how Western Buddhism might move into a next stage (stage 5: reconstructive postmodernism) of development. This is part two of a two part series. Listen to part one “Buddhist Ethics is a Fraud”. - http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2016/04/buddhist-ethics-fraud/ Episode Links: Meaningness.com David Chapman on Twitter “Buddhist ethics” is a fraud by David Chapman https://meaningness.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/buddhist-ethics-is-a-fraud/#summary Consensus Buddhism and Mindful Mayo Robert Kegan https://www.gse.harvard.

David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer and Buddhist practitioner. He blogs on several sites including the hypertext book Meaningness.com. Beginning a season of episodes on the theme of ethics, Vincent Horn welcomes David to explore a series of blog articles that David wrote on the theme of “Buddhist ethics.” Together they question some long held secular, leftish beliefs about Buddhist ethics, they explore the distinction between morality and ethics, and they examine how Buddhist ethics are practiced in the modern age. This is part one of a two part series. Memorable Quotes:“Shakyamuni Buddha, 2,500 years ago, taught exactly the same ethics that was only rediscovered in California 30 years ago. He was a feminist, and sexually liberal, and environmentally conscious, and anti-racist. So great, we've got this religion that completely validates all the correct ethical positions and it's 2,500 years old.” - David ChapmanEpisode Links: Meaningness.com - http://meaningness.com David Chapman on Twitte

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In the conclusion to his conversation with host Vincent Horn, Roland provides more details on the Hopkins Meditation Study, Vincent shares his personal story of psychedelic experimentation, and they discuss the risks and benefits of mixing meditation practice with the psilocybin experience. This is part two of a two part series. Listen to part one "Meditating on Mushrooms". Episode Links: - Hopkins Meditation Study - "The Trip Treatment"- Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In this episode Roland describes his research into the medicinal uses of psychedelics. He explains his history in the field, his current research around psychedelics and meditation, and he extends an invitation to the Buddhist Geeks audience to consider becoming a part of a meditation on psilocybin study at John Hopkins. This is part one of a two part series. Listen to part two "Psilocybin: A Crash Course in Mindfulness". Episode Links: - Hopkins Meditation Study - "The Trip Treatment" - Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Caroline Contillo is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, & writer. In the conclusion to their conversation, Caroline and Vincent Horn examine the rewards and perils of storytelling in our daily lives. They share the concept of mindfulness as a Reality Tunnel and consider what happens when we forget that mindfulness is also part of a larger story that influences what reality is.This is part two of a two part series.Listen to part one "BG 375: The Story of Things as They Are".[ http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2015/12/bg-376-the-mindfulness-reality-tunnel ]links- Caroline Contillo on Twitter [https://twitter.com/spacecrone]- Space Crone [ http://spacecrone.com ]See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Caroline Contillo is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, & writer. She joins host Vincent Horn for a free flowing conversation about mindfulness, science fiction, and the human penchant for telling stories. Together they make connections between mindfulness and story-telling, and examine the way that mindful practice can uncover certain kinds of “reality tunnels”, while introducing its own unique story line.This is part one of a two part series.Listen to part two "BG 376: The Mindfulness Reality Tunnel".[ http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2015/12/bg-376-the-mindfulness-reality-tunnel ]links- Caroline Contillo on Twitter [https://twitter.com/spacecrone]- Space Crone [ http://spacecrone.com ]- "The World is Made of Stories" [ http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/world-made-stories ]See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe