Another Finger

Send us a textTopics Discussed:MeditationGenerosity CompassionMindfulnessEfficiency DOGEPeople Mentioned:My FamilyBob MarleyTrumpMuskBooks to Consider:Nexus - Yuval Noah HarariMoney, Lies and God - Katherine StewartResurrecting Jesus - Adyashanti

Discussed in this episode:Topics:ThinkingJudgmentAttachmentResistanceMindfulnessMeditation People:Marcus AureliusLao TzuJesusThe BuddhaAlan WattsShakespeareRelated Books:Meditations - Marcus AureliusTao Te Ching - Lao TzuAlan Watts - The BookFalling Into Grace - AdyashantiLoving What is - Byron KatieThe Art of Living - Thich Nhat Hanhhttps://www.anotherfinger.comEmail: support@anotherfinger.comFree month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

Be mindful in all that you think and do.“When you follow a leader, consider what would lead you to withdraw your support.If the answer is nothing, your integrity is in jeopardy. Your highest loyalty belongs to principles, not people.No leader deserves unconditional love.Commitment is earned through character.”-Adam GrantGrant is the host of the WorkLife and ReThinking podcastsHe has authored several books including Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (Viking, 2013) ISBN 9780670026555Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (Viking, 2016) ISBN 9780525429562Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. with Sheryl Sandberg (Knopf, 2017) ISBN 9781524732684Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know (Penguin, 2021). ISBN 9781984878106Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things (Penguin, 2023). ISBN 9780593653142

Topics discussed:Connections and synchronicities.Non-attachment, non-resistance, non-judgment.Mental suffering, depression. Happiness and acceptance.Books mentioned:The Art of Happiness by Howard C. Cutler M.D. and The Dalai LamaFalling Into Grace by AdyashantiBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthyLinks:Free month of Waking Up, my meditation app of choice: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4tshttps://www.anotherfinger.comEmail: support@anotherfinger.com

The New Year, with the darkest days of winter just behind us, is a great time to Begin Again. Don't give up!

This episode I decided to share some of my favorite books I read or listened to in 2023.Here's a list of all the books mentioned in this episode.Fiction:Tenth of December - George SaundersLiberation Day - George SaundersA Swim in a Pond in the Rain - George SaundersNorse Mythology - Neil GaimanPhilosophy:The Creative Act - Rick Rubin The Wisdom of Insecurity - Alan Watts.Be Water, My Friend - Shannon Lee Pure Meditation - Pema ChodronMeditations - Marcus AureliusLetters from a Stoic - SenecaHow to be a Stoic - Massimo PigliucciA field guide to a Happy Life - Massimo PigliucciThink Like a Stoic - Massimo PigliucciDiscipline in Destiny - Ryan HolidayStillness is the Key - Ryan HolidayThe Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday Courage is Calling - Ryan HolidayThe Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu, Stephen Mitchell TranslationThe Art of Living - Thich Nhat HahnPolitics and Political Theory:What's Our Problem? - Tim UrbanThe Cruelty is the Point - Adam SerwerPoverty, by America - Matthew DesmondGhettoside - Jill LeovyThe Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace - Jeff HobbsCharter Schools and Their Enemies - Thomas SowellParenting:Bringing up Bébe - Pamela Druckerman How to Raise Successful People - Esther WojcickiIt. Goes. So. Fast. - Mary Louise KellySociology:Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall KimmererThe Myth of Normal - Gabor Maté MD and Daniel MatéA Hunter-Gatherers Guide to the 21st Century - Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Account Right Now - Jaron LanierDeepfakes - Nina SchickThe Art of the Good Life - Rolph DobelliThe Good Life - Robert WaldingerIrreversible Damage - Abigail ShrierPageboy - Elliot PageOne excellent book I accidentally left out was yet another great on from Michael Pollan,  The Botany of Desire. https://www.anotherfinger.com Email: support@anotherfinger.com  Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

With the New Year upon us, many of us have embarked on the old tradition of setting New Years Resolutions. We do a little inventory on our lives and determine to change what we don't like about ourselves, our behaviors or environment. We'll try to ad that which is missing, or subtract that which is useless or harmful in one way or another. In general, I think this self reflection a good thing to do. But why limit it to just once a year?Donate:https://www.anotherfinger.com/category/all-products Email: support@anotherfinger.com  Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

Lo and behold, Santa delivered this episode directly to your device while you were sleeping! What a sneaky and jolly good fellow.Christmas itself has changed more than my opinions about it. As I get older, and now have a child of my own, my relationship to this holiday continues to change.https://www.anotherfinger.com Email: support@anotherfinger.com  Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

I couldn't decide what to title this episode so as not to give it all away. There were several good title contenders: Doobie Dilemma, Doobie Dunce, Kush Core, Cannabis Coma, Cannabis Creep, Cannabis Corpse, Moderate Mary, From  Mary to Buddha, Taking the Bud out of Buddha etc. the list could go on and on. Ultimately, I decided on Cannabinoid Android for the fun of it. In this episode I discuss some of the things which have been both a help and a hindrance to me over the years and what I plan to do about it.Stay to the end, I've got something new up my sleeve. https://www.anotherfinger.comEmail: support@anotherfinger.comFree month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

The big news is revealed. Plus, how do you pull yourself out of a creative funk? What have I been doing since my last recording? Just the act of freely expressing oneself, even if only to oneself, is extremely liberating. If you stick with it until the steam subsides, you just might get to the root of the issue. Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgCover Art: Rory Jenkins  Email: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comSocial Media: Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr @Sh4rkH4ts

Recorded on August 3, 2023, the third anniversary of the podcast. This episode sat untouched for nearly 4 months before I edited it. This episode is a bit of a three year recap, some things I've noticed, learned, and would like to change. Why has it taken 3 and a half months to edit this episode? We'll talk about that in Episode 25. Stay tuned.Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6Xg

She is here! The light has emerged out of the darkness.All things are held in a state of balance. Picture the Chinese symbol of Yin Yang. Equal parts black and white, which chase one another in a circle infinitely. They coexist. They are intertwined. Not a single thing is exempt from this. There is a dark side to everything light, but there's also a light side to everything dark. There is always a positive with a negative. We see it in electrical currents.. We see it in the breath, the in flow and out flow as the heart pumps blood throughout our bodies. These energies exist in every single atom with electrons and protons. These atoms make up the entire existence of everything. Nothing is exempt. So why should we be surprised when this constant up and down manifests throughout our lives?

These are my final words as a childless man. Our baby is due to be born this week and I am equally excited and nervous. I just want to do good by this human being. Also, some big news is revealed at the end. Stick around.

New logo artist:Rory Jenkinsemail: l3m0nsh4rk@gmail.comInstagram @Sh4rkH4tsTwitter @Sh4rkH4tsTumblr@Sh4rkH4tsEp 20: J is now 20 weeks pregnant! We're halfway there… to the beginning. Plus, fiction. I've been reading it, and enjoying it!

Our choices have determined much of our life. Choose wisely.Happy Holidays!Give well, receive well. Be mindful of your Resolutions this year.

A brief review of my experience my first 7 day silent retreat with Refuge Recovery and Noah Levine. I encourage you to find a retreat and enjoy it. Go deep.

About to walk in to a week long silent retreat. This will be my first retreat of any kind. Excited to see what's on the other side.Also... there is some Big News in here, but you must listen to learn.

This is a call to use mindfulness as we vote this election cycle. There are ideas for healing our great division in the U.S. This is also a plea to treat others with kindness, love, and respect. If you're interested in finding common ground, and you'd like to have an open and honest discussion or you believe I am missing some information which you have access to, feel free to reach out. Email me at support@anotherfinger.comMuch Love.

Vacations are interesting things. They are like little life microcosms. In most instances we attempt to vacate our regular lives, jobs and responsibilities. Yet we find pretty quickly that we cannot escape ourselves. Sometimes in an attempt to be free of stress for a short time, we end up creating a lot more of it through our planning and expectations. We make a plan and we want to stick to it. A lot of the time we go into them having certain expectations of people, locations, experiences and accommodations. In my case on this trip, much like the beginning of life, I didn't choose where I was going or who I was going with. As I was invited on this trip, it was a bit easier to sit back and enjoy the ride. I decided that I would use this vacation to practice mindfulness. To be present, and to be okay with what is in every moment. Quoted in this episode is a passage from Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. WeissFree month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifA

A few years ago I was having a difficult time in my mind. My life on paper was great, but I was constantly being bombarded with thoughts of inadequacy, meaninglessness, and unimportance. I had heard the founder of Headspace, a meditation app, in a radio interview some months earlier and had downloaded the app upon his promise of making life a little bit better if I dedicated at least five minutes a day to mindful meditation. I wasn't able to find even 5 minutes to try this app out that had sat unopened on my phone for two or three months, until one day when I was finally fed up with my minds constant chatter. I put in some headphones, opened the app and started the 5 minute animated introduction. This is how I stumbled upon a daily mindful meditation practice. Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifA

Don't cheat yourself. Learn to enjoy every moment. Learn to be present in the now. If you can make these slight shifts in your mental attitudes you will regret nothing. You will have lived life to its fullest. The quality of your life will meet exactly the quality of your attention now. If you choose to rush through, that's what you'll get. If you choose to be annoyed, that's what you'll get. If you choose to hate, dislike, distrust, that's what you'll get. The energy with which you choose to live your life is the energy you're putting out into the world and the world will respond in kind. Like finds like. Catch yourself when you get caught up in poor attitudes, reframe the situation and do what you need to do with gratitude, compassion and love. Learn what life has to teach. This is how to lift yourself and everything around you. This is the real revolution. But only you can make the choice, one moment at a time. In the words of the late great Ram Dass, “Be here now.”www.anotherfinger.com

 I have been asked to record a few guided meditations from some of you who listen, so here is the first of them. This is a meditation from Noah Levine's Refuge Recovery World Services' (RRWS) program. I highly recommend the book; Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovery From Addiction to anyone struggling with addictive behaviors of any kind. Thanks to my good friend who lent his copy to me. I'm forever grateful. From the back the book:"Refuge Recovery is a Buddhist-oriented, nontheistic recovery program that does not ask anyone to believe anything, only to trust the process and do the hard work of recovery. In fact, no previous experience or knowledge of Buddhism is required.  Recovery is possible, and this book provides a systematic approach to treating and recovering from all forms of addictions. When sincerely practiced, the program will ensure a full recovery from addiction and a lifelong sense of well-being and happiness."NOAH LEVINE, M.A., has been using Buddhist practices to recover from addiction since 1988. He is the founding teacher of Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. Visit the author online at www.refugerecovery.org and www.againstthestream.org.

We know little to nothing about all of what is going on around us at any given moment. It is natural for us to want to make sense of the world, just spend some time with a curious child and you'll see this natural tendency. Our desire for knowledge may take us further from the Eternal Tao, that which cannot be named. Perhaps this is because we begin to divide and categorize and label everything we see. We then create self and other, believing that we are separate.Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifA

Meditation is itself a practice in doing not doing. While it is true that meditation is an action which we perform, what we are really doing is absolutely nothing. This action of non-action can be difficult for many people to accept, especially in the west, where we have a difficult time just sitting and doing nothing.Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifA

Free month of Waking Up: https://dynamic.wakingup.com/shareOpenAccess/d5251aApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-finger/id1526096210Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cMYCxrGf3brRjQvj6SBvJ?si=Cle2fGlwQkqXr5GpXsN6XgYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifAAlan Watts has an analogy to life, or of living life rather, to that of dancing or playing music. He jokingly and rhetorically points out that the purpose of music is not the end of a composition. If it were, he says, the best composers would be the ones who played the fastest, who arrived at the end the quickest. We don't go to a concert to see one final crescendo, one final crashing note. We enjoy the play of the music as it goes along. Likewise when we dance, the purpose is not to arrive at some specified point on the floor. The point of dancing is to dance. Life therefore is a playing of the music, the dancing the dance, and there is no point on the dance floor upon which we are supposed to arrive.

Today I wanted to point out some of the basic insights we might gain from meditation. Mainly the insight of impermanence. When we pay close enough attention, we can see that all things come and go, and we are not exempt from this truth. Our interests, our stuff, the weather, our feelings, even our knowledge and fears. Everything is subject to change. In reality this is what makes life enjoyable and interesting. There is simply nothing that impermanence doesn't touch. Some might say that impermanence is the only permanent truth. So how can meditation help us to see this and live our lives accordingly? https://www.anotherfinger.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCQfLN0PW4J8KkFr86y8lifA

I ended the last episode with the famous quote of MLK “I choose Love, for Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  I feel it is a good time, being Valentine's Day and all, to explore this quote and  talk about love, though somewhat indirectly. Love is a transforming, healing, and generous skill which has the power to transform our lives and the lives of those around us, though it is often hard to love freely and openly. We all know this, so what is it that keeps us from loving? Though I rarely speak in absolutes, I agree with Alan Watts when he says “We must love”.

With the passing of yet another great leader and teacher, one may ask: Where are the greats of today? Is it our inability to pay attention long enough to anything worthwhile that is keeping greatness from emerging? Put another way, have we, because of our current inattentive habits, forced the great minds and rhetoricians to stuff their wisdom inside a fortune cookie or a tweet? Can we find within us the capacity for nuance? What can we do to expand our capacity for understanding?https://plumvillage.orgIn honor of our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, please consider donating to his monastery.Also, read The Art of Living.

At times we can be like children obsessing over the latest toy, forgetting every toy which has preceded it, forgetting that this toy will surely go the way of every other past toy; that is fun for a time, until it breaks, wears down, or more often than not, we lose interest and another toy enters our consciousness and promises to finally make us happy. It is quite okay to seek, and to find and to enjoy the things of this world. What is more important is that we ask ourselves “what is the motivational force behind our seeking and wanting?”.www.anotherfinger.com

It is the time of year for giving. Let's give well.http://givewell.orghttp://plumvillage.apphttps://www.anotherfinger.com

This Thanksgiving, let's come together with love and save the planet through mindfulness!Dedicated to Lucius, Jezebel, Mowgli and all the animals you've ever loved more than anything in the world. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/https://www.anotherfinger.com

In this episode we talk about what it might mean to live happy in a mindful, selfless way. It is quite possible to be happy within yourself. You don't need things to be happy, in fact those things often obscure our happiness.

We truly have a choice as to where we apply our attention. We can use it to create a new, better reality for ourselves. At the moment we may be unconsciously using it to create unease and mental suffering, as we’ve seen. If you think that external factors are the cause of your internal pain, you are not entirely incorrect. It is not the thing itself which is causing you pain, it is the application of your attention to this external source, which is causing you pain. Your input, that which you’re paying attention to, is affecting the output, that which you are feeling. The old adage, garbage in, garbage out, is quite true.Recommended Meditation Apps:Waking Up with Sam HarrisHeadspace10 Percent Happier

If it is true that we are unhappy when things don’t go as we expect them to go, then it makes sense to look at our expectations more closely. We should figure out what importance they have in our lives and see what role they play and whether or not they are necessary. If they do cause us to be unhappy, then we should be able to trace back their source and even eliminate some of them.Meditation Apps:Waking Up with Sam HarrisHeadspace!0 Percent Happier

This is a podcast about taking mindful awareness off of the cushion and applying it to your daily life. We will be discussing many ideas in episodes to come but this introductory episode is simply an attempt to layout the framework through which all subsequent episodes will be viewed. The lens of mindful awareness.Suggested meditation apps:Waking Up with Sam Harris is my daily "go to" with a great introductory course and a lot of lessons as well as other meditations teachers and styles. Excellent.Headspace is also a great app. It's very beginner friendly. I started with this one and haven't gotten too far into it. But it is definitely worth checking out.10 Percent Happier is also a pretty good one with features and lessons from many of the best and most respected teachers.