In this episode, we begin by speaking about George’s most recent trip to a Vipassana 10-day meditation retreat. We spoke about the point and purpose of a 10-day silent meditation retreat within the Vipassana tradition, and explore the ideas that surround the motivations for doing so. We also discuss some of the parallels between psychoanalysis and the theory behind the practice of Vipassana meditation, especially on the notion of thinking being less a source of autonomy, but something that is habitually driven by instinctual or unconscious forces.  The point of Vipassana, as it turns out, is disclosed as a method for dislodging or uprooting these habitual and unconscious ways of conceiving of ourselves, our lives, and the stubbornness of our complexes or “sankharas” of thought and personality. We then discuss what Vipassana is in terms of its aspirations and aims, how it is fundamentally non-denominational, offers a “direct” path to finding transcendent reality through a process of introspection, as well as the concept of dhamma as nature which we are asked to observe and befriend in meditation. We conclude the discussion by noting that the discipline doesn’t offer a “solution” for every human problem, but a tool to make the problems that life is heir to easier to bear and less prone to causing us misery and suffering.  

In this episode, we deep dive into some questions about meditation after the Vipassana style. The questions range from ones concerning what the technique promises to do for you viz. judgment free observation of one’s sensations, how it compares to other styles of meditation, and how it also jibes (or doesn’t) with much of what passes as “spirituality” from within the self-help and self-development spaces. A discussion of the “negative” emotions and how Vipassana encourages sitting with them to get through them develops as the concept of what enlightenment is on this understanding arises. The notions of impermanence, the place of death in life, as well as some observations from philosophy and psychoanalysis are peppered in, as we strive to find some sort of accord between a multitude of differing perspectives.

In this episode, we catch up with the lives of our co-hosts, from George’s new indie rock band project, “Dear Left Brain,” to James' upcoming shoulder surgery and the supplements he'll be using to help his recovery from a labral repair. The discussion then veers to cultured foods and the question of one’s “gut instinct,” the challenges of discerning genuine intuition from blind emotional reaction, and the difficulties inherent to selling the right to hard labor within the context of James’ business as an online fitness provider. We end with questions concerning authenticity versus attachment, the need for survival versus the need for authenticity, and the way in which the disembodied nature of our current augmented reality can skew everyone’s perception of what is of genuine value.

In this episode, the topic of George’s history with his meditation practice is explored in light of the contemporary and common parlance language of “intuition,” “trusting your gut,” “vibrational energy” and other such cliches. To what extent, the question is posed at first, does having an actual spiritual practice or discipline help to remedy the troubled and troubling ways in which people casually or commonly justify their choices on the basis of the former ideas?  The conversation takes a turn to the human problem of authenticity vs. attachment, and how this ends up being a perennial issue, given how the course of likely everyone’s development puts these two aspects of our lives at odds to some degree or another. From there, George delineates what it was that brought him to meditation as a serious, daily practice, from the early childhood fantasies he entertained of learning super powers (like astral projection and levitation), to the truth of the transformation he’s been able to achieve through meditation: one that has little to do with outward manifestations of power, but everything to do with the power one can gain over one’s self by learning to attune attention inward. We then discuss some common threads shared between psychoanalytic theory and the precepts of insight / Vipassana-style meditation, in an effort to bring the two praxes into dialogue.  To what extent can a meditation practice be an effective tool for making the unconscious conscious, and helping to dissipate our complexes and neurotic symptoms thereby? Is this a kind of “auto analysis” that can have effects that are akin to therapeutic interventions? What role does attention being paid to the body play in terms of realizing the results of this style of meditation, and why is the body such an important fact, concept, and/or signifier in its own right with respect to meditation? Want the answers? Find them inside!

In this episode, the topic of truth is broached as we explore questions to include the following. What sort of a duty to reveal the truth does the government have to the populace? Does civilization inherently require or mandate a kind of censorship? What is the nature of objective truth? Do we have unmediated access to it? Are there certain truths that the general public are better off not knowing? And conversely, is it wise or beneficial to conceal certain ideas or lines of thinking that may or may not be true, but which could have a pernicious influence on the public welfare? Topics from the influence of the news media and the arts, school shootings and the Columbine Massacre, all the way to the Coronavirus pandemic come into play. In spite of intense but respectful disagreement, we reconcile on a promissory note to continue the discussion.

In this episode, George and James get into the topic of self-acceptance and the relationship between it and meditation. James begins by recounting the history of his own refusal and consternation towards the notion, as verbalized to George many years back, and the context in which this refusal arose. After years of the discussion having been put on the back burner, James discusses the precipitating event that led him back to rekindling friendship with George, at which time the discussion of the need for self-acceptance arose. Threads about the necessity of self-acceptance for functional romantic relationships, as well as the intense barriers to the same that come up on account of developmental trauma, are all discussed, both personally and in the abstract. The episode ends with a nod towards the journey of meditation as a means of fostering and enhancing self-acceptance, with the paradoxical goal of the same being the non-identification of self with what we take to be our normal every day sense of self.

In this episode, James delves more into the question of what humankind is in relationship to nature by considering the phenomenon of paleolithic era (stone age) cave paintings. George asks the question as to what the sudden onset of language and communication might be owed to, subsequent to this. A speculative answer is provided by the concept of evolutionary need that forced the homo sapiens to become truly wise in the sense of conscious and aware, with the cave paintings being pointed to as a kind of protolinguistic precursor to language. The discussion of the need for images to gradually become mollified into symbols capable of conveying abstractions is explored in further depth, with the conclusion that man’s self-elevation above nature through the technological prowess inscribed by and in the earliest forms of art is at one and the same time the condition and cause of his alienation from (mother) nature. The question of how to properly come back to this more primordial and originary condition, of how to heal within ourselves the adverse consequences from our separation from nature – especially as technology has only advanced into more and more complex, unnatural and disembodied forms – comes to the fore by the end of the discussion.

In this episode, George and James go back and forth interviewing one another about their respective backgrounds, as a primer on why they’ve come together for the podcast. George inquires into the eclectic nature of James’ personal and professional life, as a fitness provider for tactical professionals, as well as someone with a graduate level education in philosophy and psychoanalysis, and an ex-Mormon with an ethnic Armenian father. The questions of finding a home, belonging to something, and also needing to bring something good to bear on community come to the foreground. When it’s James’ turn to interview George, the discussion passes from George’s own unique background as a former childhood actor turned spiritual seeker, with an emphasis on how early adverse experiences and traumas have shaped George’s own unique disposition, spiritual practice and perspective on life, relationships, and other matters.

What is our relationship to nature and what should it be? We begin this talk with the question of what nature is, and how we are, as the most minded / mindful creatures, are ourselves an extension of nature. But what difference does it make for us to appreciate and/or understand ourselves, as human beings, as extensions of nature? After a winding discussion about the relationship between Nature and Spirit, George advocates for the position that human beings need to grasp themselves as phenomena of Nature, and alludes to the possibility of human “mindedness” as something that is inherently or natively maladaptive or neurotic vs. the way in which other animals cope with their environments. From there, the discussion launches into the dimension of culture, symbols and language as being the unique province of human existence, versus that of the pure instincts of creatures and other living forms. George then offers up the importance of being in and around Nature as a condition to finding higher forms of mindful and/or mindedness, and notes how it seems no coincidence that silent meditation retreats are typically done out in nature. The inquiry turns back to James when George points out the hobby of spearfishing, wherein the need for using metaphor and story to describe our encounters with Nature (particularly the ocean) becomes palpable, especially in terms of the need to find an unmediated, unspeakable, tangible connection with Nature as the primordial, ambivalent Mother, who both gives life and takes it away as she sees fit. The discussion then goes to the Buddhist concepts of craving and aversion, and how when we are at one with Nature and “riding the wave,” we aren’t possessed of these compulsive (and perhaps unnatural) forms of mindedness. We then move to how the condition of distinctively human suffering is also the condition of us living in better harmony with nature, by means of harnessing our powers of self-reflection and mindedness to become more mindful, especially when it comes to confronting and accepting the natural constants of change and impermanence. We then turn to discussing how suffering brought on by craving and aversion can help us to come back to the every day, natural reality of our physical bodies, in the form of mindfulness meditation and other practices of inhabiting one’s body and nature, which itself can be curative of that self-same suffering. 

In our inaugural episode, we discuss questions surrounding the current crisis of the pandemic, especially as they relate to the human need for connectedness, love, authentic expression. Not surprisingly, this leads to a critical discussion regarding the many substitutes, corruptions and illusions of the same that we're especially prone to now. The discussion leads to a surprising result: the shift to electronic connection that the crisis has required of us raises age old questions about love, human worth and the meaning of life that are hard to contemplate, but always worth confronting. How can we find what's true, real, and worth holding onto, in this maze of images and appearances, when real contact has become something fearful or forbidden? What does the present circumstance reveal about our own reluctance for true relationships, and the causes and consequences of holding that posture? Find out inside!