Love & Understanding

In this episode, John speaks with Tomer Duwek, an Israeli American artist and Zen monk.You can find Tomer's art at https://www.tomerduwek.comHe is also on Instagram and Facebook.

A conversation with Loch Kelly about healing, spiritual development, and non-dual mindfulness.Loch Kelly is offering John's listeners a special discount code for the Mindful Glimpses App, available here: https://mindfulglimpses.com/specialoffer/Loch Kelly is the creator of the new groundbreaking meditation and wellness app, Mindful Glimpses. An award-winning author, psychotherapist, and nondual meditation teacher, Loch is also the founding director of the nonprofit Effortless Mindfulness Institute. Loch has master's degrees from both Columbia University and Union Theological, where he won a traveling fellowship to Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. There, he trained with some of the great meditation masters of the modern era. Informed by modern neuroscience and psychology, Loch teaches Effortless Mindfulness, an ancient form of nondual meditation. His nondual mindfulness discussion on Sam Harris's Waking Up app was the most-listened-to audio of the year. Loch has co-taught with IFS-Founder Dick Schwartz and collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn, and NYU to study how awareness training can enhance compassion and well-being. He also worked as a community mental health professional in New York City for over 30 years. Loch is known for his unique practical methods and warm sense of humor. He has a talent for leading people to their true nature, which he frames as the next stage of human development. In the Mindful Glimpses app, Loch introduces Effortless Mindfulness through simple yet advanced micro-meditations. These short meditations open the door to well-being, clarity, and compassion. Mindful Glimpses weaves together ancient nondual practices, cutting-edge psychology, and neuroscience research.

Listen to the trailer for the podcast Love & Understanding, hosted by John Driggs.

In this episode, through his own personal struggle, John explores some skillful reflections to help us work through anger, fear, and distrust.

In this episode, John speaks with Ben Painter, the co-founder of Whole School Mindfulness, an organization dedicated to funding and placing Mindfulness Directors in schools.Interested in getting mindfulness in your school:https://wholeschoolmindfulness.org

In this episode, John shares a personal reflection on gratitude.

In this episode, we'll continue our exploration of the question of good and evil by examining Plato's political and moral theory of tyranny. We will then contrast this to the political theory of Athens, under the leadership of Pericles, which we learned about in the last episode titled "Who Decides What Is Right & Wrong?".

In this episode, we will explore the foundation of our morality. We've seen how the Greeks came to better understand the physical world, as well as things like happiness. But we haven't asked if and how we can come to better understand our own morality. How do we know what is right and wrong or good and evil?

In this episode, John explores the topic of friendship. In his commitment to meet death for a year, one of the main insights he has gathered is that, when we imagine ourselves looking back on our lives from our deathbed, what matters most is our relationships. He then reflects on one of his most influential relationships.

In this episode, we explore the self. First, we'll examine the self through a conceptual investigation. And then, to end the episode, we'll look directly at our own experience to see who or what knows.

In this episode, we'll continue our exploration of epistemology by seeking to understand the nature of concepts or universals. Primarily, we'll wade through Aristotle's epistemological response to Socrates and Plato to unravel the dangers of seeking certainty.

In this episode, we will continue our exploration of epistemology, meeting the ancient Greeks who invented the first formal tradition or school of reason.

In this episode, we'll explore how our problems and questions, our wonder and curiosity, open the door to our ignorance - the first step in knowledge creation. Once faced with our ignorance, we'll discover that the only thing we can do is guess - we must create an answer or a solution.

In this episode, we'll begin exploring the foundations of knowledge, our epistemological bedrock. What do you believe and how do you know it to be true?

In this episode, John explores dukkha, or dis-ease and unsatisfactoriness, in more depth. Then, John introduces the Buddhist practice that opens us to this dukkha and, ultimately, frees us from it.

In this episode, John shares a meditation from his free online course titled The Space of Possibility. Until you ask the question, "What is my life, or my being, in service to?" where is your freedom? Clearly comprehending your motivations and intentions, together with mindfulness, is the key to freedom.www.spaceofpossibility.org

In the first half of this episode, John talks to his partner River about her recent name-change from Deborah to River and the consequences of this decision. And in the second half, John and River each open up about the sexual abuse they experienced as children and how they have come to find compassion for their abusers.

In this episode, we'll take one more spin around the wheel of wisdom - around the Buddha's Noble Eight Path.

In this episode, John first discusses how our livelihoods fit into the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, and then he goes on to discuss his own business - his future plans and promises to you, his audience.

In this episode, we'll explore the role of concentration in the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.

In this episode, we explore how mindfulness fits into the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.

In this episode, we'll explore how virya, or effort, fits into the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.

In this episode, we'll explore two approaches to awakening - sudden and gradual.

In this episode, I express my commitment to meet death formally for a year. I express some of my own personal struggles with loss and grief, and explore how mindfulness and honesty can help transform that loss and grief back into love.

In this episode, we will continue exploring our actions as they relate to the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. More specifically, we will explore the precept - to abstain from taking what is not given.

In this episode, we continue our exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path by opening to our actions in the world.

In this episode, we will continue our exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, exploring in depth how our speech affects our hearts and our minds.

In this episode, we will continue our exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. More particularly, we will enter the second of three arenas of training along this path, training in virtue, which consists of training our speech, actions, and livelihoods. Today, however, we will focus only on the first element - our speech, exploring what it means for our speech to be truthful.

As we continue our exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, today we will explore thoughts of compassion, and how we can cultivate compassion to become the default response to suffering.

In our exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, this episode, we will explore thoughts of metta, or loving-kindness.

Continuing our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, in this episode, we explore thoughts or intentions of renunciation.

Today, as a part of our continued exploration of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, let's move into the second set of exercises in our wisdom training, exercises in thought. Remember, in an effort to transform the suffering in the world, the Buddha created a path, the Noble Eightfold Path, which can be broken into three arenas of training: (1) a training in wisdom, (2) a training in ethics, and (3) a training of the mind.Thought and worldview compose this first arena of training — wisdom. So, when training our thoughts, the goal is wisdom. It is to cultivate thoughts that align with the Dharma, that align with truth, that align with reality. It is to cultivate thoughts that lead to peace, love, happiness, and freedom.Okay, so what kind of thoughts align with the Dharma? What kind of thoughts lead to more peace, love, and happiness? What thoughts lead to a state of ease and spaciousness and timelessness? What thoughts will set you free?Let's consider some practical ways to train our thoughts in pursuit of wisdom.

To help train our perception, it may be useful to bring into awareness what Buddhists call the Four Great Hallucinations of Perception, since we likely fall into these traps at times and become agitated and dis-eased. They are:1. The Hallucination of Permanence. How often do you take that which is impermanent to be permanent? Is your reaction to this question one of denial? Remember, knowing the truth of impermanence intellectually isn't the same as living according to this understanding.2. The Hallucination of Beauty. How often do you mistake beauty for lust, for wanting, for desire? Do you find yourself sexualizing bodies, placing beauty in the perception of a body, rather than in the divine nature, the divine light, that sits at the foundation of the being across from you? Don't get me wrong, the human body is beautiful. Just don't lose your Love glasses. (Guys, I'm mostly talking to you.)3. The Hallucination of Happiness. Take a look at the world's literature, look at our pop culture, at our movies and shows, at our social media networks, at our advertisements, and it's pretty clear that most of us mistake suffering for happiness. We continually chase that which is unsatisfying in hope of finding lasting happiness, in hope of embodying lasting peace and satisfaction. We take a hit of pleasure and almost immediately find ourselves wanting again. ‘Why can't I fill this hole?' we ask ourselves before moving onto the next hit. Remember, wanting itself is not happiness. It is in fact what brings dis-ease and agitation.4. The Hallucination of Self. Last but not least is the deeply conditioned perception of self — taking what is not self to be self. How often do we find ourselves identifying with our bodies, with our personalities, with our thoughts, stories, or beliefs, with our race or gender, with our feelings and emotions? Or, another common identification, even among those who may have many years of meditation under their belt, is the identification with knowing itself, with awareness itself, even though we see the changing nature of all things. Be careful of putting a wall around that which is unbounded and unformed, unborn and undying, that which is free.

Today I want to pick up where we left off, continuing our exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path. So, just to recap, in my last article, A Way To Transform Your Suffering, I expressed that the Eightfold Path provides us with a means or a foundation and framework to support us in our pursuit of peace and freedom. And it does this by encouraging us to listen to and live in harmony with the Dharma — with Truth, Reality, Law, Nature, Life, God, etc.More specifically, I spoke about one of these eight folds, our worldview and understanding, which I mentioned takes shape naturally as a part of the human experience, because it is this worldview that acts as our operating system, it is this worldview that navigates us through the terrains of existence, that moves our lips and our limbs. It is through this worldview that we come to know ourselves, the world, and our place in it. It is our worldview that shapes our entire lives, that shapes our entire experience.Today, then, because this first fold is so important in our pursuit of peace and freedom, we're going to continue exploring it in a bit more depth. And we'll do so through the window of perception, which together with thought constructs our entire understanding and model of the world, or experience.

A useful philosophy contains more than a collection of words. The words must be made flesh. They must be lived. They must be embodied, felt, and experienced.Today, then, I will pick up from where I left off with the Four Noble Truths, which provides the conceptual framework for the Buddha's life philosophy. And then, once we've refreshed ourselves a bit, I will move into the Noble Eightfold Path, which asks us to live this understanding.

Three years have passed since I was introduced to Mother Ayahuasca in the Sacred Valley of Peru, where I met the astonishing Shipibo people. Today, I have returned home from my latest trip to the Amazon Rainforest, where once again I was humbled not just by the medicine but by the subtle yet profound art of being the Shipibo so gracefully radiate.It's hard to unpack and conceptualize the lessons learned and insights gained from this experience. But my hope in this article is to share those golden nuggets of wisdom, those insights and lessons that are universal, that are applicable to each of us who face suffering, who face fear, doubt, and uncertainty. I will focus on those takeaways that lead to more peace, happiness, and love in the world and in our lives.I sat for four Ayahuasca ceremonies this trip, each of which was its own unique expression of life and love. I hope you enjoy what I am able to convey from these experiences.May you find lasting peace.

The Buddha taught only suffering and its end, which is expressed in the Four Noble Truths — the indispensable foundation embraced by all Buddhist traditions and lineages, no matter how far their metaphysics and methodologies may diverge.So, what are the Four Noble Truths and why are they applicable to you? That will be the topic of today's episode.

Through my own practice of mindfulness, one thing continues to grow very clear: that there is no space between me and what is known, that everything inter-is.And as this direct insight strengthens, as the barriers between me and the objects of awareness dissolve, as I continually fall back into the single realm of knowing, into the glue and container of all things, a quite miraculous feeling of unconditional love continues to expand in my heart and mind, which then leads my thoughts and intentions more and more in the direction of compassion — compassion for myself, for others, and for the world.“When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that is love. And between these two, my life turns.” — Nisargadatta MaharajWhen the famously loving Buddhist practitioner and teacher Dipa Ma was asked whether to practice metta (loving-kindness) or mindfulness, she replied, “From my experience, there's no difference. Love and awareness are one. When you are fully loving, aren't you also mindful? And when you are fully mindful, is this also not the essence of love?”

You don't need to search far and wide for the Divine connection. It's that without beginning or end. See and feel – know directly – the love that both surrounds you and fills you. Know the Love that is you.

Because “I” can't be removed from you, because it's essential to you, only you can investigate it for yourself. So, go ahead, take a look. What is this thing you call “I”? Where is it? What is it like? What qualities does it have? What is its nature?Uhhh…Weird questions? Yeah, I know. “What do you mean ‘What is it?' and ‘Where is it?' It's me, duh. I'm right here.”I know. But just humor me for a moment. Try to relax. Maybe take a few deep breaths. And then take a good look at your experience – at whatever there is to be known in this moment.

It's no secret everything changes. You know this, I know this, we all know this. We watch the sun rise and set. We feel the seasons turn. Our experience this morning isn't the one here now. We know that entire species and civilizations have come and gone. Stars and galaxies are born and fade away. Not even the very fabric of space and time is stable.But how many of us really understand the implications of this truth? How many of us live as if we understand this – that there are no stable, unchanging things, that everything is always in flux, that our experience is one seamlessly connected flow of ever-changing perceptions, sensations, thoughts, and feelings?

Mindfulness practice is currently a fad in the West. And that's wonderful — it's great that, as a culture, we're promoting more mindfulness and less mindlessness. But with its surge in popularity, there has also been a lot of misunderstanding as to what mindfulness is. The word as it's used casually in English just doesn't quite capture the fullness of the experiential state of mind the word points to.It seems to be thought of more as a tool than a state of being. Many promote it as a way to manage manage anxiety and depression, and there are others who promote it as way to increase concentration and productivity. And there's no real understanding at all of the historical and philosophical context in which it sits.Now, just to be clear, mindfulness practice certainly can increase productivity and concentration. It can alleviate stress and manage anxiety and depression. And in fact, this is how it was presented to me, it's how I stepped into the practice over a decade ago when I was dealing with chronic depression and suicidal ideation. So, great, if this is your motivation for practicing.But, considered in its full historical and philosophical context, the practice is much more than a stress ball or corporate tool. It's a profound means for looking at one's own experience. It's a method to bring about a radical change in one's understanding — a way to gain insights about yourself, the world, and your place in it. It's a way to dramatically transform your life and your being in the world.So, today, rather than meditate, I'd like to just take this space to talk for a moment about what mindfulness is. Okay, so what is it?

Wonder is the beginning. It is the space from which all things unfold. It gives birth to questions, it is the womb of understanding. It molds from the empty space of awareness all that can be known.Deb – my love, my partner, my human – recently held up a mirror for me. The humdrum of everyday life had gotten to me, and allowed sloth and torpor to take over. It robbed the light from my eyes. And she, with her perspicacity, with her deep presence and understanding, left the subtle antidote:“Your wonder for existence delights me.”How could I forget!? We can wonder!

Vipassana, or insight meditation, is a practice of looking beyond the world of appearances, it's a practice of looking directly at the nature of all things.It is sometimes translated as ‘clear knowing' or ‘bare knowing,' which I think is a useful way to think about it — to observe, to feel, to see clearly and directly the raw data of experience, to see things not as concepts or ideas but to know them directly.So, just as when Jesus invited us to learn to see again through eyes of a child, vipassana asks us to see the world as it is, without concepts, without biases and judgments clouding the raw experience of it. It invites us to step into the foundational wonder of all things.It is a means to wisdom, to peace, love, and understanding.

In today's episode, I highlight the power of beliefs by way of introducing myself and my story. Beliefs not only build temples, mosques, and synagogues. They build smartphones, spaceships, and self-driving cars. They determine what clothes we wear, what company we keep, and what food we eat. They establish LLCs and run courts of law. They orchestrate symphonies, fuel economies, and spark revolutions. They push mountaineers to the highest peaks and launch astronauts into space. They shape our identities, mold our fears, and carve our dreams. Beliefs frame our experience. They propel our entire lives.What do you believe?