Overview

Today I share a brief story about a lesson taught to my son and I by Teacher Heron, and encourage us to turn to the Natural world in order to absorb Her deepest lessons.

Chapters

* 00:00 Introduction: Nature as Teacher

* 02:25 A Meditation Lesson from a Heron

* 06:21 Small Moments, Many Times

References

* 01:33 American Transcendentalism, Wikipedia

* 01:40 Emerson’s Nature (PDF), Project Gutenberg

* 02:42 Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon

* 06:35 Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Tergar

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Prefer watching on YouTube? View it here → C5 ~ Bridge Kiley

Overview

Today, I speak with psychotherapist, writer and teacher Bridge Kiley. We discuss Internal Family Systems, relational practice, trauma, and connection in the therapeutic process, as seen through the IFS lens of internal multiplicity.

Chapters

02:20 IFS & Multiplicity10:50 Needs & Shame17:55 Approaches to Suffering22:20 The Importance of Real Connection27:00 Polarizations30:40 Bridging the Thinking Mind and Feeling Body39:55 Holding Experience, Childhood Trauma46:00 Exiles and the Unconscious52:26 Limitations of Individualized Healing1:01:0 Self Connection & Self-Leadership

References

02:20 Internal Family Systems (IFS), IFS Institute42:04 Leslie Petruk, Psychology Today42:55 Protector Parts, Therapy With Alessio

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

**Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

In this essay, I look at the rise of Global Techno-Feudal Brahmanism and its dissociated relationship with the social body and earth. I offer thoughts on individual practices and collective reform I perceive as necessary to overcome the chronic deterioration of basic universal human rights, and cultivate a sustainable society capable of supporting deep practice and progress.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Practice is Political02:05 A Story About Motivation & Ownership05:12 Rise of the Techno-Brahmins07:08 Plato & Democracy08:52 Ignorance & Evil10:56 Practice as Remedy12:48 The Caste Body15:46 Becoming Hungry Ghosts19:12 Systems of Collective (Dis)empowerment31:13 Metrics of Social Success & Universal Human Rights35:45 An Appeal to Practice

References

* 02:00 The French Revolution, Wikipedia

* 04:41 The Man Who Ruined Your Life by Xevi, Youtube

* 07:08 Plato’s Republic (PDF), Science the Earth

* 12:28 Bhagavad Gita 2.50, Thrift Books

* 13:50 What is India’s Caste System, BBC

* 17:28 Wealth Shown To Scale, Eat The Rich

* 17:54 Hungry Ghosts, Wikipedia

* 19:38 The USA Electoral College, Wikipedia

* The Three-Fifths Compromise, Wikipedia

* 21:30 Family Offices, Wikipedia

* 22:48 Food (In)security in the USA, Economic Research Service

* The Richest Real Estate Billionaires in America 2023, Forbes

* 23:35 Ranked Choice Voting, RCV Resources

* Jiddu Krishnamurti:

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

In this essay, I propose that we move away from conversations, languaging, and activities that could fall under the umbrella of “doomsday prepping,” and instead shift/reframe our views and efforts as practices of cultivating individual and collective resilience, cohesiveness, wellbeing, togetherness, and resourcing as we navigate profoundly disruptive times of global change.

Chapters

* 00:00 Introduction

* 04:20 Epistemic Humility & the Zen Farmer

* 08:55 Stress & Interdependence

* 13:35 Resilience & Seasonality

* 20:15 Micro-Tribes & Collapse

* 31:45 Taking Support In Practice

* 39:00 Cultivating Trust & Ease

* 46:50 Regionalism & Plurality

References

* 16:15 American Transcendentalists

* Ralph Waldo Emerson (The Essential Writings of RWE, Thrift Books)

* Henry David Thoreau (Walden & Civil Disobedience, Thrift Books)

* Margaret Fuller (The Essential MF, Thrift Books)

* 17:25 Classic Texts

* The Iliad & The Odyssey, Thrift Books

* The Ramayana, Thrift Books

* The Bhagavad Gita, Thrift Books

* 30:35 Crossing the Rubicon, Wikipedia

* 35:45 Essay #2: Art & Authenticity, MTCSD

* 44:50 Essay #3: Hope & Nihilism, MTCSD

* 49:05 “I went to the woods because…”

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Prefer watching on YouTube? View it here → MTCSD C4: Dr. Broderick Sawyer

Overview

Today, I speak with Dr.Broderick Sawyer about skillfully navigating relationships and egoic attachments, practices for cultivating attention and compassion, sex and sexuality, working with the energies of emotion, masculinity, shame and trauma.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction 04:45 Working with the Ego 06:45 Relationship & Emotion13:15 Sexual Energy & Celibacy 20:40 Working with Emotions26:15 Sex, Porn, Sublimation33:50 Masculine Strength37:30 Authenticity & Attachment44:50 Shame & Pathology53:00 Radical Blamelessness1:02:00 Attention & Compassion1:09:55 Practice & Accountability

References

00:0004:45 Ego, Wikipedia07:20 Black Theology, Wikipedia15:55 Brahmacarya, Wikipedia1:02:05 Hinayana, Wikipedia1:04:35 Sangha, Wikipedia1:06:05 Mahayana, Wikipedia1:06:15 Vajrayana, Wikipedia

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

**Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

Today, I speak with practitioner, educator, musician, and clinical psychology PhD candidate Dan Grossman, who specializes in the study and research of somatic experiences in psychedelic-assisted mental health treatment. We discuss topics in psychedelic practice, including epistemic hygiene and false insight, somaticism and embodiment, trauma, and healing.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 02:20 American Yoga Foundation

* 12:35 Gestalt, Wikipedia

* 16:40 Autoimmune Conditions, NIH

* 16:42 Allostatic Load, Wikipedia

* 17:15 Wilhelm Reich, Wikipedia

- Character armor, Somatopia

* 21:40 The Body Keeps The Score, ThriftBooks

* 37:35 Reggie Ray, Dharma Ocean

* 58:50 Epistemic Hygiene

* 59:15 Non-Specific Amplifiers

* 1:03:20 Marpa & Milarepa, Karmapa

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design, and fact check to the best of my ability. All ideas presented, writing, music, editing, and choices around creative direction are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Prefer watching on YouTube? View it here → MTCSD C2: Clare McBee

Overview

Today, I speak with clinical social worker, activist, and Dharma practitioner, Clare McBee. We discuss the importance of integrating spirituality and an anti-oppression lens in clinical care, making meaning of suffering, refuge and unbearable compassion.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 03:40 Anti-oppression, The Anti-Oppression Network

* 11:45 Internal Family Systems (IFS), IFS Institute

* 12:30 Non-Ordinary State of Consciousness (NOSC) , Center for Mindful Psychotherapy

* 14:30 Bodhisattava, Wikipedia

* 15:30 Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), Psychedelic Therapy Boston

* 19:55 Sangha, Wikipedia

* 21:15 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), EMDR Institute

* 24:10 Stan Grof, Wikipedia

* 25:30 Tara’s Daughters by Roslyn Dauber, Letterboxd

* 30:00 Tibetan Nuns project

* 34:00 Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker, Thrift Books

* 46:45 Tian Dayton, Relational Trauma Repair

* 48:00 Dukkha, Wikipedia

* 50:40 Hungry Ghosts, Wikipedia

* 51:05 Awakening from the Daydream by David Nichtern, Thrift Books

* 1:01:45 Nangpa, Rigpa Wiki

* 1:05:45 Lama Rod Owens

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design, and fact check to the best of my ability. All ideas presented, writing, music, editing, and choices around creative direction are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

In this essay, I suggest we move away from treating hope as a noun and begin relating to it as a verb. I introduce the ideas of outcome-based decision-making versus alignment-based decision-making, and discuss their application in navigating the detrimental effects of capitalism, and the nihilism it both produces and derives its sustenance from, along with the four horsemen of hedonism, boredom, cynicism, and individualism.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 3:35 Caminante, No Hay Camino, Antonio Machado

* 9:30 2025 Federal Poverty Levels, Pan Foundation

* 10:20 Jet Emissions from Davos Conference

* World Economic Forum, Wikipedia

* Private Jet Traffic, Visa HQ

* Opinion Piece by Gary Byrnes, Linkedin

* Greenpeace Report, Greenpeace

* 11:30 Meat’s Environmental Impact, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

* 17:15 Obama & The Myth of Black Excellence by F.D Signifier, Youtube

* 19:00 Nihilism and Capitalism, Wikipedia

* 22:35 Burnout in Healthcare Workers, PubMed Central

* 23:25 Self-Efficacy, Wikipedia

* 23:40 Learned Helplessness, Wikipedia

* 23:45 Moral Injury, Wikipedia

* 26:55 Monoculture, Wikipedia

* 34:40 Cognitive Dissonance, Wikipedia

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.

Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

I sit down with Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and Harvard Divinity School’s Multi-Religious Initiatives Coordinator, Jonathan Makransky, to talk (and laugh) about all things practice-related.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 6:30 Ethan Nichtern

* 15:40 Teachers (Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, HH The Dalai Lama)

* 28:25 Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche

* 28:35 Erik Pema Kunzang

* 29:25 84,000.org

* 41:25 Teachers (Lama Rod Owens, Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Casting Indra’s net)

* 42:50 Dzongar Khyentse Rinpoche

* 45:55 Rime movement

* 49:50 Green Tara

* 50:15 Tara’s Triple Excellence

* 52:45 Precious Human Life

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

In this essay, I open a conversation about the importance and urgency of cultivating creative practices in order to connect and preserve what makes us human in the age of AI. I argue that all of us are artists intrinsically, and encourage shared responsibility in co-creating the world we wish to bring into existence.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 10:15 This is Water, David Foster Wallace

* 11:15 Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson

* 12:15 “Dharma,” Wikipedia

* 12:35 When Love Comes To Light (Gita 3.35), Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor

* 13:45 “Aesthetic,” Etymonline

* 19:30 Bhagavad Gita (2.50), Ahymsin

* 21:35 The Creative Act, Rick Rubin

* 26:50 Compilation by Popsi Narasimhan (1.12), Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.

Overview

In this introductory video essay, I open the conversation about contemplative practice as I view and experience it, centering attention/awareness and the role of the breath as foundational for developing greater agency over our attention and lives.

Sources & Further Reading*

* 1:30 “Practitioners, I know not one single thing more intractable and harmful than an untrained mind.”

* AN 1.31-40, accesstoinsight.org

* AN 1.31-40, buddha-vacana.org

* 3:15 Monoculture, Wikipedia

* 3:30 Sādhanā, Wikipedia

* 4:20 Three Gates, wisdomlib.org

* 5:10 Neuroplasticity, Wikipedia

* 6:55 Samsāra, Wikipedia

* 9:15 Avidyā, Wikipedia

* 10:00 MN 19, Dvedhavitakka Sutta, accesstoinsight.org

* 12:45 Mindfulness, Wikipedia

* 15:45 Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, kagyuoffice.org

* 17:25 Perfection Pāramitā, Shambhala

* 18:30 Wisdom & Compassion, mindworks.org

* 24:10 Upaya, Wikipedia

* 26:20 Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran, Thrift Books

* 35:25 Prāṇāyāma, Wikipedia

* 36:35 Ānāpānasati, Meditation on Breathing, accesstoinsight.org

*I support the democratization and crowdsourcing of knowledge, and I regard platforms such as Wikipedia as valid and valuable repositories of human knowledge that help balance academic gatekeeping of epistemic authority. I also value rigorous fact-checking and common sense.Disclaimer: I use AI to assist with research, learning, and systems design. All ideas, writing, music, editing, and creative choices are my own. I believe these technologies should support and enhance our creativity, not replace it.