Podcasts about greek stoic

Explore the wisdom of Epictetus and his teachings on happiness, freedom, and moral self-improvement in this insightful video on Stoicism.The Discourses of Epictetus Book 3'I must die. But must I die bawling?'Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.#Apollo #Archedemus #Argus #Epictetus #Polemon #Socrates #Hermes #Laius #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #Epictetus'Discourses #AStoicGuideToHappiness #Freedom #AndMoralSelf-Improvement

Special Announcement #1 Attend the Legendary Summer Intensive Featuring Drs. David Burns and Jill Levitt August 8 - 11. 2024 Learn Advanced TEAM-CBT skills Heal yourself, heal your patients First Intensive in 5 years! It will knock your socks off! Limited Seating--Act Fast Click for registration / more information! Sadly, this workshop is a training program which will be limited to therapists and mental health professionals and graduate students in a mental health field  Apologies, but therapists have complained when non-therapists have attended our continuing education training programs. This is partly because of the intimate nature of the small group exercises and the personal work the therapists may do during the workshop. Certified coaches and counselors are welcome to attend. Special Announcement #2 Here's some GREAT news! The Feeling Great App is now available in both app stores (IOS and Android) and is for therapists and the general public, and you can take a ride for free! Check it Today's Podcast Practical Philosophy Month Part 1, The Free Will Problem Welcome to Practical Philosophy month. For the next five weeks, we will discuss some of the most popular and challenging problems in philosophy, such as these: Do human beings have free will? Or is free will just an illusion? Do human beings have a “self?” Or is the “self” just another illusion? Is it possible to be more or less “worthwhile?” Are some humans “better” or “worse” than others? Does God exist? Is the universe “real” or “one”? What's the meaning of life? What is “self-esteem”? How does it differ from self-confidence? What's the difference between conditional and unconditional self-esteem? What's the difference between self-esteem and self-acceptance? What do you have to do to experience joy and feelings of worthwhileness? We will try to complete the list in five weeks, so some weeks we may include more than one topic, since many of these topics are related to one another. Rhonda and David will be joined by our beloved Dr. Matt May, a regular on our Ask David episodes, and for the first and second sessions we will be joined by our beloved Dr. Fabrice Nye, who created and hosted the Feeling Good Podcasts several years ago. Each week, you will also hear about the linkage between these philosophical dilemmas, and emotional problems, like depression, anxiety, and relationship conflicts. For example, nearly all depressed individuals believe that they aren't sufficiently “worthwhile.” I see my goal as a psychiatrist not as helping people feel “more worthwhile,” but rather showing people, if interested, how to give up this notion entirely and become free of certain kinds of damaging judgments of the “self” and others. You will also learn how these types of philosophical problems continue to play a large role in psychiatry and psychology, including the DSM5 diagnostic system. For example, is the diagnosis of “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” a true “mental disorder” that you could “have” or “not have?” And might some or most of the so-called “mental disorders” listed in the DSM be based on faulty philosophical / logical thinking? And if many or most of the “mental disorders” are based on goofy, faulty thinking, is there a more productive and effective way to think about most emotional problems? And how did we get into this mess in the first place? Worrying certainly exists, and we all worry at times. But how much or how often do you have to worry before you develop or have a “mental disorder” called “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” that can be diagnosed like any medical illness and treated with drugs? Or is “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” (and hundreds of other “mental disorders in the DSM” based on a certain kind of nonsensical thinking? And if so, why? What is the goofy, faulty thinking in the DSM? And are there some “mental disorders” that are valid and real? We HAVE touched on all of these themes in previous podcasts, but I thought it would be nice to put them all in one place and bring in a variety of “solutions,” controversies, and experts. I David, will often represent (hopefully, and to the best of my ability) the thinking of Ludwig Wittgenstein, as expressed in his famous book, Philosophical Investigation, published in 1950 following his death. That book consists of a series of numbered brief essays (a few paragraphs each) that were based on notes found in a metal box under his dormitory room at Cambridge University. He'd written these in preparation for his weekly seminars in his dormitory room. Wittgenstein, although now widely regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of all time, did not think he knew enough to teach in a classroom. In fact, because of his feelings of depression and self-doubt, he sadly never tried to publish anything when he was alive. Wittgenstein's philosophy also played an indirect but significant role in the evolution of several modern psychotherapies. His philosophy created new ways of thinking that gave rise to the work of Dr. Albert Ellis, the famous New York psychologist who created Rational Emotive Therapy during the 1950s. Ellis emphasized that the “Should Statements” that trigger so much guilt, shame, depression, anxiety, and rage are based on illogical thinking. He might often say, “Where is it written that people or the world “should” be the way you want them to be?” Of course, this idea actually traces back to the Greek Stoic philosophers like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Wittgenstein's thinking also seems to have played a role in the thinking of Dr. Aaron Beck, who adapted the work of Ellis and called his version of the “Cognitive Therapy.” Beck emphasized many thinking errors, like All-or-Nothing Thinking, and Overgeneralization, that trigger depression, anxiety, and more. Sadly, Wittgenstein struggled with severe depression and loneliness throughout his life, and three of his four brothers tragically died by suicide. Wittgenstein also had prolonged periods of time when he considered suicide. It is also sad that he did not know how to apply his brilliant philosophical breakthroughs to his own negative thinking, but that application of his work did not develop at the time he was still alive. Part of Wittgenstein's depression was related, I believe, to the fact that very few people, including the most famous philosophers of Europe, could understand his thinking when he was alive. From time to time, I think he glimpsed the enormous importance of his work; but I believe that he also had prolonged moments of self-doubt when he thought his work was of little value at best. To be as correct as possible, Wittgenstein did write a manuscript called Tractatus Logico Philosophicus as a young man, although he never tried to publish it. He wrote it when he was a prisoner of war. He thought this book solved all the problems of philosophy, which had plagued him since he was a child, and he felt great relief. He sent a copy of his manuscript to Bertrand Russell, who was a famous British philosopher. Bertrand Russell was incredibly impressed with the Tractatus and distributed it to many European philosophers. Bertrand Russell thought it might be the greatest book in the history of philosophy, and a number of the 20th century philosophical movements including Logical Positivism, were inspired by that book. However, Wittgenstein left the field of philosophy, thinking that his work was done, and that he'd found the solutions he was looking for. He tried teaching grammar school for a while, but was fired because he became frustrated and violent toward some of his students. He also tried to survive as a fisher in a Norwegian fishing town, but was not successful at that, either, because he didn't know much about fishing, much less supporting yourself through fishing. One day, he learned that a brilliant Swedish economics student had found a flaw in his Tractatus, and his inner turmoil about the puzzling problems of philosophy flared up again. He decided to return to the study of philosophy. He applied to be an advanced undergraduate at Cambridge University, but when someone in the admissions office spotted his application, they recognized his name and showed his application to Bertrand Russell, who had been wondering what had become of the young man who once sent him such a brilliant manuscript. Russell, who was the chair of the department of philosophy, said to being Wittgenstein to his office immediately for an interview. Russell explained that he would have to reject Wittgenstein's application to be an undergraduate at Cambridge University. Deeply disappointed, Wittgenstein asked why. Russell told him it was because he was already recognized as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century. Bertrand proposed that if Wittgenstein would agree to skip college and graduate school, they would immediately award him a PhD for the manuscript he'd sent to Russell years earlier. Russell also offered him a full professor ship in the department of philosophy. Wittgenstein protested and said he needed to study philosophy again, because of the error in Tractatus, and that he didn't know anything, and definitely could not teach in a classroom. Bertrand Russell insisted, and they finally struck a deal where Wittgenstein would agree to be a professor of philosophy but all he would have to do was to have a conversation session with anybody who wanted to talk to him at his dormitory room once a week. Wittgenstein accepted and met for years with students and famous philosophers who came from around Europe to crowd into his dormitory room for his weekly seminars, and he began to shape a radically different philosophical approach from the one he'd described earlier in his Tractatus. He was determined to find a new way to solve all the problems of philosophy. And, to my way of thinking, along with those few who really understand him, he was successful. But he was often frustrated because, so few understood him. This was unfortunate, because what he was saying was incredibly simple and basic, and it was pretty similar to, if not identical to, the thinking of the Buddha 2500 years earlier. The Buddha apparently had the same problem—almost nobody could understand what he was trying to say when he was still alive. They couldn't “get it” when he was talking about the so-called “Great Death” of the “self,” or talking about the path to enlightenment. The Buddha's frustration resulted from the exact same problem Wittgenstein encountered 2500 years later. The Buddha was saying something that was extremely simple, obvious, and basic—and yet, it was rumored that of his more than 100,000 followers when he was alive, only three actually “got it” and experienced enlightenment. When I read Philosophical Investigations my senior year in college, it was rumored that only seven people in the world understood what Wittgenstein was trying to say. Wittgenstein's dream was that philosophy students would “get” his thinking and give up philosophy when they realized that most if not all philosophical problems are sheer nonsense. He wanted them to do something practical and real in the world instead of studying philosophy. He was verry disappointed when his favorite student, Norman Malcolm (one of the seven who “got it,”) pursued an illustrious career teaching philosophy in America at Cornell University. I always wished I could have known Wittgenstein when he was alive, so I could have told him this: I loved you, too, and I got it after several months of confusion, trying to understand your Philosophical Investigations, but eventually understood it with the help of your student, Norman Malcolm. His book about you was very inspiring. And that's why I left philosophy for something more practical in the world. I decided at the last minute to go to medical school to become a psychiatrist instead of philosophy graduate school. Hopefully, I am doing something that you might be proud of! But oddly enough, your thinking has also influenced my approach to people who feel depressed and worthless. They are also under a kind of destructive “enchantment,” thinking that there is some such “thing” as a more or less worthwhile human being! And this is a major cause of depression and anxiety and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. I wonder if you, Wittgenstein, ever felt that you weren't “good enough” when you were feeling down. hopeless and suicidal? I sure wish I could have helped you with that! If you want to understand Wittgenstein's work, the best book in my opinion is Norman Malcolm's moving and affectionate tribute to his beloved teacher, entitled “Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir.” It's a short moving tribute to his beloved teacher, and tears go down my cheeks every time I read it, or even think about it. If you ever visit my office here at home, you'll find that memoir proudly sitting on my bookshelf, with a handsome photo of Wittgenstein on the cover. Toward the end of his life, Wittgenstein appears to have become more or less homeless, and he died from prostate cancer. His doctor said he could live in his home, where he was befriended by the doctor's wife in his final days. His dying words were, “Tell them that I had a wonderful life.” He died on April 29, 1951, just a few hours before my wife was born in Palo Alto, California. Surprisingly, she is the only person I've ever met who understood Wittgenstein's thinking entirely the first time I explained it to her. She “already knew” what Wittgenstein, the greatest philosophical genius of the 20th century, spent a lifetime figuring out! Reincarnation is pretty “out there,” and fairly silly, to my way of thinking, but sometimes it can be fun to think about it! Here is my understanding of how the thinking of the “later Wittgenstein” actually developed. His first book, which is nearly impossible to understand, was called the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. It is a series of numbered propositions, which he compared to climbing up a ladder, rung by rung, as you read the book until you got to the roof at the top of the ladder. Then you could throw your ladder away and give up philosophical thinking, since he thought his book contained the solution to all the problems of philosophy that had tormented him since childhood, as mentioned previously. The philosophy of language in the Tractatus is based on the thinking of Aristotle and Plato, who thought that the function of language was to name things that exist in the real world. Plato's idea was that our real world consists of imperfect examples of a “Platonic Reality” which consisted of “perfect” representations of everything. So, for example, Plato believed there could be a perfect “table,” a perfect “lamp,” and so forth. In other words, he thought there was an ideal essence to the concept of a “table.” And, I suppose, there might also be a “perfect” version of you! The early Wittgenstein also thought that the logic inherent in our sentences reflected the logic inherent in an external reality. If that doesn't make much sense to you, join the club! But that's kind of what Plato and Aristotle were promoting, at least in my (David's) understanding. When Wittgenstein's Tractatus was debunked, he was devastated, and desperately wanted to find another way to solve the problems of philosophy, since they started tormenting him again. It was much like a relapse of OCD or some other emotional problem. In fact, he thought of philosophy as a kind of mental illness that needed treatment. Here's an example of the types of philosophical problems that tormented him. Do human beings have free will? Do we have a “self?” Is the universal “real?” Of course, we THINK we have free will, and it SEEMS like we make “free decisions” all day long, but is this just an illusion? For example, some people would argue that we cannot have “free will” because we “have to” follow the laws of science that govern everything, including how the brain works. So, since we “have to” do what we are doing at every moment of every day, we must not have free will! Here is an argument that we do NOT have “free will.” When a powerful storm or hurricane destroys a portion of a city, and people die, we see this as a tragedy, but we don't get angry at the hurricane because it does have “free will.” It is just obeying the laws of physics that govern the forces of wind, air pressure, heat and cooling, and so forth. A storm cannot behave in any other way. So, the argument goes, we are also following the laws that govern the functioning of our bodies and brains, and so we cannot do other than what we do, so we, too, have no “free will.” We THINK we are acting freely but it is an illusion, so our brains are obeying the laws of the universe at every moment! For hundreds of years philosophers have struggled with this puzzle, and many people still wrestle with this problem today. It was one of the problems that drew me to philosophy. Impractical for sure, but still tantalizing. Another way to express the free will puzzle is via religious thinking. I was taught when I was growing up that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere) and omniscient (all knowing.) So, God knows the past, present, and future. And if God knows the future, then God knows what we will do at every moment of every day, and we are helpless to do otherwise. Therefore, we have no “free will,” even though we “think” we do! This free will problem can definitely be unsettling, with troubling moral consequences. If we do not “free will,” then are serial killers really responsible for, or guilty, or accountable for their actions? If we do not have free will, then wouldn't that give us license to do whatever we want whenever we want? Clever arguments for sure! We may “feel” like we have the freedom to do whatever we want at almost any moment of any day, but are we fooling ourselves and living in some gigantic hoax, or illusion? Are we total slaves with the delusion that we are actually acting “freely?” How do we resolve this problem? Well, one day Wittgenstein was walking past a soccer game at the park, and the soccer ball hit him on the head. He wasn't hurt, but had the thought, “What if the function of language is NOT to name things (like trees, or lamps, etc.) that exist in some “external reality,” like Plato and Aristotle thought? What if language actually functions as a series of “language games,” with rules, just like the game of soccer? Then the meaning of any words would simply be the many ways the word is used in different real world situations. In fact, that's what you find in the dictionary when you look up the meaning of a word. The dictionary doesn't ever give you some “correct” or ”pure” meaning, since most words have many meanings. This would be the opposite of the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato who argued that there were “true” meanings for every word, noun, or concept. What if, instead, words had NO true or essential meanings, and their meanings were simply embedded in the context in which they are used in ordinary, everyday language? If so, this might mean that philosophical problems emerge when we try to pull words out of their ordinary meanings, which are always obvious, and put them into some metaphysical realm where philosophers argue about “ultimate truth.” Let's say we wanted to find out if humans have “free will.” Well, not being sure if there is such a “thing” as “free will,” we could look up “free” and “will” in the dictionary. (I know this sounds incredibly obvious and almost ridiculous.) What does “free” mean? Well, we could talk about the many ways we use “free.” Political freedom means that in some countries you cannot contradict the leader (the dictator) without the danger of being thrown in prison or even murdered. But in other countries, you are, In fact, free to express your own ideas and opinions, without fear of punishment. Free also means getting something without having to pay for it, like a seventh bottle of soda is free at the local grocery store if you purchase a six pack. Free can also mean “available.” I am starting up my Sunday hikes again, and I might say, “If you are free this Sunday morning, meet at my front door at 9 and we'll go for a hike and have a dim sum feast afterwards at a Chinese restaurant on Castro Street in Mountain View, California, Now notice that when you talk about “free will” you have taken this word, “free,” out of the familiar contexts in which we find it, and given it some type of metaphysical “meaning.” But in this metaphysical, philosophical arena, it has no meaning. So, instead of trying to “solve” the so-called “free will” problem, we can dismiss it as nonsensical, and ignore it as having no practical meaning, and move on with our lives. We can say, “I just don't understand that problem! I don't know what you're talking about when you ask the general question of whether we have something called ‘free will.'” That either works for you, or it doesn't work for you! Your choice. It does work for me, but it took me months of thinking until I suddenly “got it.” My way of describing this philosophical error is “nounism.” You think that nouns always refer to things that could “exist” or “not-exist,” just like Plato and Aristotle thought. So, you ponder and try to figure out if this notion of “free will” exists or does not exist. But it's arguably a meaningless question. That's why I say, and Wittgenstein might say, I have no idea what you're talking about. Today we'll discuss the free will problem and how it might relate to our field of psychotherapy. Next week, we'll deal with another thorny problem: Do we have a “self?” Or is that also just some kind of illusion? I (David) wrote these show notes before the show, and we have had fairly extensive email exchanges, with a variety of points of view on whether or not we have something we can call “free will.” First, I'll put a great email by Matt, followed by a comment by Fabrice. Here's Matt's email first: Subject: Re: question Yes, that's getting very close to what I'm trying to communicate. I don't believe you are 'slow' or 'super lame', either. In fact, quite the opposite. I suspect I'm failing to do an adequate job of disarming your claims that 'free will' and 'self' are words taken out-of-context and, therefore, can't be shown to exist or not-exist. I apologize, as I am pretty excited about the potential to help people, suffering with self-blame and other-blame, by realizing that we and others don't have a 'self' or 'free will'. I believe we have a brain that makes decisions and creates experiences, including the experience of having a 'self' and 'free will'. I believe that the experience of 'making' a decision is an illusion, as is the idea of a static, unchanging 'self' that controls decision-making. I asked you to pick a movie and you said, 'Green Mile'. You acknowledged that this movie title simply 'popped into my head'. That's correct. Your 'self' didn't control what you selected, using 'free will'. Your brain just came up with that movie title. There was no 'self' that made a decision to choose that word. I agree that we have a brain which is incredibly powerful. I'm claiming that we don't have an auxiliary 'self', with extra super powers, controlling our brain. We can make decisions, but we don't have 'free will', meaning, the ability to control those decisions. I do think you have some resistance to seeing through the illusions of 'self' and 'free will', all of which say awesome things about you, e.g. morality and justice. I'm not trying to convince you, one way or another, and I don't expect to. I'm more interested in the listening audience, as many people are significantly relieved when they realize that we are more the victims of our biology and circumstance rather than defective 'selves' lacking 'willpower'. To put a slightly finer point on the subject, when people say they have 'free will', they don't mean that 'decisions are made'. Obviously, decisions are made. You decided to keep reading this email, for example. Or you didn't. I'm not sure. Either way, a decision was made. When people say they have 'free will', they are saying that they (really, their 'self') are/is free to decide whether to continue reading this email, and that this power goes above and beyond what their brain is doing, according to the laws of physics. I am claiming that this is a ridiculous and dangerous thought, for which there is no evidence. You're saying these terms haven't been defined. I'm pointing out that they already have been, intuitively, by anyone who thinks, 'I shouldn't have done that', or 'they shouldn't have done that'. These thoughts require a belief that they 'could have' done something different, that they had free will. Aside from rage and guilt, let's examine the narcissism and excessive sense of confidence a patient might have, if they believe that they can simply 'decide', through sheer 'willpower', not to beat up on themselves anymore. Or a patient who believes they can simply 'decide' to always use the 5-Secrets, rather than criticize and blame. Can they? I've never seen that happen. That's why I assign homework. I know that the goal is to rewire the brain so they can feel and perform better, later. We can't simply decide to feel good all the time. We all drift in-and-out of enlightenment. If we want to increase the likelihood that we will be able to set aside self-criticism or communicate more effectively, we have to practice new thoughts and behaviors. If we do, we will develop greater skills at defeating negative thoughts and communicating effectively. Otherwise, our brains will do, in the future, what they are programmed to do, now. It's because we lack 'free will', that we must do homework. Similarly, you couldn't simply 'decide' to be the world's best ping-pong player. You realized you would have to work hard to re-wire your brain, if you wanted to have a chance at that. Let's use the murderer/cat example: A cat tortures and kills mice for the same reasons that a murderer does: their brains are programmed to do so. Murderers don't have a defective 'self' that is failing to express 'free will' adequately, when they murder. They're doing precisely what the atomic structure of their brain caused them to do, according to the laws of physics, in that moment, when presented with those precise stimuli. We don't have to judge or punish the cat or the murderer's 'self' and insist they should have used their 'free will'. We can accept that neither creature had the ability to decide differently from what their brain decided, in that moment. That is where the therapeutic element of this realization comes into play. I think it's important on a lot of levels, to stop blaming cats for being cats and murderers for being murderers. Similarly, if a patient doesn't want to do homework, will it do any good to blame them and think they're bad and should decide differently? No, it helps to accept them where they are, and to accept ourselves where we are, with open hands. Realizing nobody has a 'self' operating their brain and making decisions that are better than their brains' decisions doesn't mean we have to let all the murderers go or trust our cat with a new mouse companion. We can still be aware that their brains are programmed to murder. We would still be motivated to do whatever is necessary to protect society and mice. The difference is the attitude towards the murderer. We aren't trying to 'punish' or 'get vengeance' but to protect and, instead of 'labeling' them as having a 'bad self' or even being a 'murderer', but someone who has murdered and, left to their own devices, likely to do so again.  Instead of judging and demanding vengeance, we would see a murderer as the victim of their biology and environment. Instead of condemning them as permanently evil and bad, we could recognize that their brain is currently wired to do bad things and they might still learn new ways to interact with others. Perhaps they're not hopeless cases, after all. From the other side, if I ever committed murder, and sentenced to death, I wouldn't want to be feeling defective, thinking what a bad self I have and guilty/ashamed for not flexing my 'free will' in the heat of the moment. Instead, I might feel a sense of relief, purpose and meaning, that I was protecting others by being put to death. Alright, enough out of me! Thanks, Matt And now, the response from Fabrice: Matt's thinking is exactly in line with mine. I don't know if the topic came up in your discussion, but some people argue that actually someone could have done something differently than they did, because there is some randomness in Nature. But that argument doesn't hold water because even if the decision “made” by their brain is different, it has nothing to do with their will but only with the Heisenberg principle. Cheers! Fabrice Nye fabrice@life.net David's wrap up comment. Matt and Fabrice have quite a different view of “free will” and the “self.” They are arguing, very thoughtfully and persuasive, that we do not “have” a “self” or “free will.” People have been involved in this debate, as I've mentioned, for hundreds of years, taking one side or another. My own thinking is different, and reflects my understanding of Wittgenstein's thinking. They have take these words out of the contexts in which they exist in everyday language, (which is a huge temptation) and involved in a debate about abstract concepts which have no meaning. Very few people, it seems, were able to grasp this idea when Wittgenstein was alive, or even today. So, if what I'm saying makes no sense to you, be comforted, since it seems likely that 99% of the people reading this, or listening to the show, will agree with you! And that's still a puzzle to me. It is not clear to me why so many people still cannot “see” or “get” this idea that words do not have any pure or essential “meaning” outside of the context of everyday use of language. The best psychotherapy example I can use is the fact that nearly all depressed individuals are trying to figure out, on some abstract or philosophical level, whether they are “worthwhile” or “good enough,” or whatever. This seems to be a “real” problem, and so they believe that they are not sufficiently worthwhile. This belief can be so convincing that many people commit suicide, out of a sense of hopelessness and self-hatred. But there is not such thing as a human being who is more or less “worthwhile.” Of course, your actions can be more or less worthwhile at any moment, and we can evaluate or judge our specific behaviors. Yesterday, we had our first recording session in a video studio we have set up for our Feeling Great App. We had a lot of fun and recorded some (hopefully) interesting stories we'll publish on our two new YouTube channels. I really appreciated the colleagues who made this possible. It was a relief for me because I tend to have performance anxiety, which impairs my ability to speak naturally and with emotion. But this time, there was no anxiety at all, so it was fun. Did this make me or my colleagues more worthwhile human beings? No! But it did show that we'd become a bit more effective and communicating messages that will trigger healing and understanding in our fans, and hope that includes you! When you “see” this, perhaps for the first time, it can be incredibly liberating, since you no longer have the need to have a “self” that's “special” or worthwhile. And, as some of you know, my beloved teacher and cat, Obie, taught me that when you no longer need to be “special,” life becomes special. When your “self” dies, you inherit the world! There's no funeral, only a celebration! Feel free to contact us with your thoughts, ideas and questions! Thank you for listening today! Rhonda, Matt, Fabrice, and David

This week Marcus discusses Occam's Razor, explained as 'the simplest answer is usually the best one', and suggests applying it in business by simplifying processes. The story of Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian Knot is used as a metaphor for finding direct and rule-bending solutions to complex problems. Finally, teachings of Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, are shared, emphasizing the importance of disregarding elements beyond your control and focusing on thoughts, beliefs, and actions that are within your control. The episode concludes with three action items: applying Occam's Razor to reduce complications, taking direct approach to solve complex problems, and learning to shift focus away from uncontrollable aspects of life. Episode Highlights: 00:45 The Philosophy of Simplicity 02:31 Applying Occam's Razor 04:55 Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot 07:32 Epictetus and the Power of Control   Learn more about the gift of Adversity and my mission to help my fellow humans create a better world by heading to www.marcusaureliusanderson.com. There you can take action by joining my ANV inner circle to get exclusive content and information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived about 2000 years ago. He was born into slavery and remained a slave for most of his life. When he pleased his master Epictetus was instructed to teach the master philosophy. When he did not please his master he was punished. Once, by having his leg twisted until it snapped—a fracture that left him walking with a crutch for the rest of his life. Such was the life of one of the ancient world's brightest minds. Epictetus died a free man in the year 135, age 85.Victor Frankl was a renowned Austrian psychiatrist—a respected contemporary of Freud and Jung. The Nazis forced Victor Frankl and his wife Tilly to abort their pregnancy, and nothing after, before they'd been married a full year, Victor, Tilly and Victor's elderly parents were arrested and deported to the concentration camps. Somehow, Victor Frankl survived three years in Auschwitz. His loving parents and his beautiful wife did not. Such was the life of one of the 20th century's brightest minds. He died in 1997, age 92.Not long after the war Victor Frankl wrote about his own philosophy—one formed from suffering and loss and anguish in the crucible of those years. I own a well-worn copy of that book. It is not large, but it is deep. Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, is now regarded as one of the ten most influential books of the 20th century, selling over 10 million copies and translated into 24 languages.I mention both Epictetus and Victor Frankl because I believe if they were sitting here with us today they would offer us much the same counsel. They both endured unbelievable suffering and injustice but they both did more than just survive their circumstances—they thrived. And if we were to ask them how, the answer would go something like this …Frankl said:“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”Epictetus said:“You may have no choice but to be treated like an animal. But you always have the choice to not behave like one.”And Frankl again:“The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond … Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”I share these thoughts with you at the outset of the holiday season because the holidays—as joyous as we hope them to be—don't shelter us from loss or pain. But what they can do is remind us that despite loss and pain as long as we draw breath we have the power to choose life and light and love.I don't mean for that to sound trite or easy. Choosing life never is. But what I don't want is for you to ever be convinced that power can be taken away. To choose hope, to choose love, to choose dignity, to choose meaning—these are the powers that no one and nothing can ever take from you. Hold onto your power. Claim your power. Use your power. Choose. Choose to keep going. Choose to not surrender. Pick up your tools and choose to keep building yourself a beautiful life.

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher that was born into slavery. After being banished from Rome, he moved to northwestern Greece, where he lived for the rest of his life. His life was about making progress instead of mastering perfection and, because of this, there are many great life lessons we can learn from him. These lessons provide us with a practical path to resilience, growth, fulfillment, and wisdom. This week, I discuss some of the life lessons we can learn from the great minds of ancient philosophers, like Epictetus. I share how he learned by choosing how he responded to different situations, it gave him an inner sense of freedom despite his circumstances. I share how Epictetus teaches us to use adversity as a means to develop our sense of freedom and the importance of taking responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs. I discuss why he believed our actions speak louder than words, his thoughts on receiving criticism from others, and why he taught his students to cultivate good habits. I also discuss the value of being mindful of how we spend our time and making light of life's challenges. “Use adversity as an opportunity to develop your inner sense of freedom. The robber of your free will does not exist. Some things are in your control, others are not.” – Dr. Mark Rowe This week on In the Doctor's Chair: Choosing how we respond to different situations Epictetus' manual for living What Epictetus believed about blaming others for your own bad circumstances Accurately identifying what's within your control and what is not Using adversity as an opportunity to develop your sense of freedom How Epictetus describes suffering Taking responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs Making light of life's challenges Why your actions speak louder than your words Epictetus' views on receiving criticism from others Cultivating good habits Being mindful of how we spend our time Resources Mentioned: Book: The Enchiridion by Epictetus Book: Discourses by Epictetus   In the Doctor's Chair Thanks for listening to In the Doctor's Chair, the show where you'll hear conversations that share life lessons, health habits, and leadership practices that focus on positive psychology, lifestyle medicine, and ways for you to live with more vitality. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more resources to help you to live with more vitality, please visit my website. Apple Podcasts I TuneIn I Google Play I Stitcher I Spotify The post #129 Life Lessons from Epictetus appeared first on Mark Rowe.

☀️ Easily add Stoicism to your daily routine:Free 13-day Stoic Daily Routine Series: https://whatisstoicism.com/morning----The Greek Stoic philosopher Cleanthes was originally a boxer who took up philosophy when he came to Athens and eventually became the successor to Zeno of Citium as the second head of the Stoic school around 262 BC.He supported his studies by working as a water-carrier at night and the short anecdotes we have about his life provide good lessons on humility and simple living.The biographical stories I share about Cleanthes in this episode come courtesy of Diogenes Laertius and his famous work Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode, Gina offers listeners an introduction to Stoic philosophy that will be of particular value to helping overcome anxiety. Six key principles of Stoic philosophy are identified and discussed as are four books you can read to help you get started with Stoicism. Learn a new way of understanding your life and the world and become more resilient today! Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/ Thank you for supporting The Anxiety Coaches Podcast. Find even more peace and calm with our Supercast premium access membership! https://anxietycoaches.supercast.com/ Here's what's included for $5/month: ❤ New Ad-Free episodes every Sunday and Wednesday ❤ Access to the entire Ad-free back-catalog with over 600 episodes ❤ Premium meditations recorded with you in mind ❤ And more fun surprises along the way! All this in your favorite podcast app! To learn more go to: https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program  Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching What is anxiety? Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: https://amzn.to/41J6VAu Written by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, this book is a collection of personal reflections and philosophical insights. It provides practical guidance on how to live a virtuous life and maintain inner peace amidst external challenges. Aurelius offers valuable advice on managing anxiety, embracing acceptance, and focusing on the present moment. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca: https://amzn.to/3OcSamz In this collection of letters, the Stoic philosopher Seneca shares his wisdom on various topics, including dealing with adversity, controlling emotions, and finding tranquility. The letters are written in a conversational style and provide practical advice that can be applied to daily life. Seneca's insights on the nature of anxiety and his management techniques can be particularly useful for anxious individuals. The Stoic Path: The Golden Sayings by Epictetus: https://amzn.to/3IbcCA8 Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived during the first and second century AD. Despite being born into slavery, he became one of the most influential philosophers of his time. Epictetus focused on the idea that our well-being depends on how we react to external circumstances rather than the circumstances themselves. He emphasized the importance of self-discipline, self-control, and aligning our desires with what is within our control. Epictetus' teachings revolved around leading a virtuous life, maintaining tranquility, and developing resilience in the face of adversity ‌A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine: https://amzn.to/3M8lGHj This book is an accessible introduction to Stoic philosophy and its practical application in modern life. Irvine explores Stoic teachings and offers guidance on using Stoic principles to find happiness and overcome challenges. He specifically addresses anxiety and provides actionable strategies for managing anxious thoughts and emotions. Quote: Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems. - Epictetus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I'm speaking with Mel Kettle author of Fully Connected. Everybody should strive for a meaningful and purposeful life. And if you don't know what gives you purpose over your whole life, that's completely fine. But find a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. And one of the things that I love recommending to people is go to bed thinking about something that you're going to do tomorrow. That is going to bring you joy, something that you're going to do tomorrow that is going to make you happy. And it might be a day filled with Excel spreadsheets. And my husband's an accountant. He loves Excel spreadsheets. He used to send me one every day of our financial position and I'm just like, ah, once a quarter is enough I don't share your love. But you know, maybe it's you're going out for dinner with a friend or maybe it's you're going to the beach or you know walking Chester for you. But think about what are you going to do tomorrow that's going to light you up so that you can go to bed thinking of something exciting, and you can go to bed with something to look forward to the next day. Because when we have things to look forward to and then we do them, that gives us such fulfilment and such personal satisfaction, and that makes us feel valued in our lives. And when we feel more valued, we have a better life. Mel Kettle background Mel Kettle is an internationally recognised thought leader in fully connected leadership and communication. At the heart of everything Mel does is a commitment to self-leadership. She has an over-arching belief that we need to lead ourselves first before we can lead others. Mel's sub-speciality is helping women and organisations better understand the impact of menopause in the workplace and she is the founder of the award-winning menopause blog, Just as Juicy (www.justasjuicy.com). In January 2022 Mel was recognised by leadersHum as one of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership for 2022, one of only seven Australians on the list. Mel is the host of the podcast This Connected Life and the author of two books: The Social Association, published in 2018; and Fully Connected, published July 2022 This is what we talked about! Common communication challenges that individuals and organisations face and how to overcome them   The importance of having a conversation with your accountant about what you need.   What is a leader? What does work look like today?   Setting boundaries is an important aspect of personal growth and development in 2023. When setting boundaries, be clear on what it is.   Improving effective and active listening skills is crucial for individuals and organisations to enhance their communication.    Why it's important for leaders to engage in self-care.   The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, It's not what happens to you; it's how you react to it that matters. Behaviour is inextricably linked to attitude. How do you let go of a negative attitude?   Don't let other people make you feel smaller.   How do you reassess and refresh your life?   Mel Kettle website https://www.melkettle.com/  Fully Connected and The Social Association Book. https://www.melkettle.com/books    Donna McGeorge  The 25-Minute Meeting The First 2 Hours  https://donnamcgeorge.com/books  From here, I suggest you join the Xero Mastermind group on Facebook for advanced conversations around the ecosystem. I suggest you subscribe to the informative Accounting Apps newsletter which gives you a great overview of the ecosystem space. It's available at https://HeatherSmithAU.COM. I encourage you to connect with me on LinkedIn and subscribe to the Cloud Stories podcast. 

Proper Proportions & The Right Mode. In this episode, John Vervaeke delves into the philosophical underpinnings of Stoicism and its connections with both ancient and modern practices, while also emphasizing the importance of serious play and aspiration in rationality. Vervaeke begins by discussing the Stoic philosophy, which was founded by Zeno of Citium and focuses on achieving goodness and peace of mind through living a virtuous life in accordance with nature. The episode then addresses the modern disjunction between value and fact, leading to the misunderstanding of the roles of meaning and event in our lives. The concept of cognitive behavioral therapy is introduced, highlighting the influential ideas of Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher who believed in the importance of rigorous self-discipline. A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the topic of modal confusion, which occurs when individuals use the wrong mode for their needs. This can result in problems such as spiritual bypassing, where individuals avoid addressing their issues by seeking a false sense of enlightenment. Vervaeke introduces Michael J. Apter's reversal theory, which explores the difference between the telic mode (goal-oriented) and the paratelic mode (activity-oriented) in human behavior. The concept of serious play is then discussed, emphasizing its importance in engaging with perspectival and participatory knowing without committing fully to an activity or experience. The episode also covers aspirational practices, as discussed by Agnes Callard, which are central to rationality and enable transformative experiences in our lives. These practices involve a combination of proleptic rationality and the imaginal, allowing individuals to envision and strive for their goals. Please join our Patreon to support our work! https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke -- You are invited to join John, Guy, and Christopher live, online, at the next Circling & Dialogos Workshop where we discuss & practice the tools involved in both Philosophical Fellowship & Dialectic into Dialogos. You can find more information, and register, here:   https://circlinginstitute.com/circlin... --- After Socrates is a series about how to create the theory, the practice, and the ecology of practices such that we can live and grow and develop through a Socratic way of life. The core argument is; the combination of the theoretical framework and the pedagogical program of practices can properly conduct us into the Socratic way of life. We believe that the Socratic way of life is what is most needed today because it is the one that can most help us cultivate wisdom in a way that is simultaneously respectful to spiritual tradition and to current scientific work.

This week, I discuss some of the life lessons we can learn from the great minds of ancient philosophers like Epictetus. I share how he learned by choosing how he responded to different situations, it gave him an inner sense of freedom despite his circumstances. I share how Epictetus teaches us to use adversity as a means to develop our sense of freedom and the importance of taking responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs.

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher that was born into slavery. After being banished from Rome, he moved to northwestern Greece, where he lived for the rest of his life. His life was about making progress instead of mastering perfection; because of this, we can learn many great life lessons from him. These lessons provide us with a practical path to resilience, growth, fulfillment, and wisdom. This week, I discuss some of the life lessons we can learn from the great minds of ancient philosophers like Epictetus. I share how he learned by choosing how he responded to different situations, it gave him an inner sense of freedom despite his circumstances. I share how Epictetus teaches us to use adversity as a means to develop our sense of freedom and the importance of taking responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs. I discuss why he believed our actions speak louder than words, his thoughts on receiving criticism from others, and why he taught his students to cultivate good habits. I also discuss the value of being mindful of how we spend our time and making light of life's challenges. “Use adversity as an opportunity to develop your inner sense of freedom. The robber of your free will does not exist. Some things are in your control, others are not.” – Dr. Mark Rowe This week on In the Doctor's Chair: Choosing how we respond to different situations Epictetus' manual for living What Epictetus believed about blaming others for your own bad circumstances Accurately identifying what's within your control and what is not Using adversity as an opportunity to develop your sense of freedom How Epictetus describes suffering Taking responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs Making light of life's challenges Why your actions speak louder than your words Epictetus' views on receiving criticism from others Cultivating good habits Being mindful of how we spend our time   Resources Mentioned: Book: The Enchiridion by Epictetus Book: Discourses by Epictetus   In the Doctor's Chair  Thanks for listening to In the Doctor's Chair, the show where you'll hear conversations that share life lessons, health habits, and leadership practices that focus on positive psychology, lifestyle medicine, and ways for you to live with more vitality. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. Please visit my website for more resources to help you live with more vitality. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | Google Play | Stitcher | Spotify The post #92 Life Lessons from Epictetus appeared first on Mark Rowe.

In this episode of Alchemy Podcast, we chat with Enchante Gallardo about balancing the freediving life of a professional athlete, being a mother, and relationships. We'll talk about how sometimes in certain aspects of our lives we have to be “selfish” - selfish with our training, selfish with the core group of people in our lives amongst a very friendly community of freedivers, and selfish with our emotions and energy. Freediving is an immensely emotional and psychological endeavor, so how does this affect other aspects of your life? How can you find the energy to balance multiple things such as family, friends, work, training, and competitions? One of the pillars of ancient Greek Stoic philosophy was to acknowledge that, “you have to direct your actions accordingly: your energy in this world is finite”. This includes our mental and emotional energy, and freediving is a sport that drains from that reservoir. So, today we will hear about Enchante's experience being a national and (now) continental record holder, one of the deepest women in the world, a wonderful mother, friend, community member, and adventurous traveler. How does she do it all? How does she balance this incredible life? 

Continuing with the “Monstrous Children of Loki”, This week we discuss Fenrir the Wolf and his particular connection with the god Tyr.Shawn discusses once again the idea of fate in this myth, as the gods take action on Fenrir to prevent his role in Ragnarök, are they actually helping to expedite it? David includes some interpretations on Tyr the King, the Warrior, and the Judge and how some Greek Stoic metaphors about Justice relate to Tyr “holding a thing with both hands”. We also return to discussing the Tyr rune and how you can actually apply magic to your life. Several errors we need to correct:  Fenrir is bound by the magical fetter Gleipnir ("the open one"), which is "made from things which cannot be put to the test". Gleipnir is attached to a chain named Gelgja (related to the word swallow, or gulp), passed through a rock called Gjöll (Old Norse for "noise" or "scream" or the Celtic 'Geall' for "pledge, stake, wager"), and then set under a larger stone called Thviti ("hitter", "batterer"). I don't know where David got his earlier notes from. Interested in discussions on psychology, philosophy, and wisdom? Check out The Walled Garden meet-ups (Thursdays 3pm PST, 6pm EST): (https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-philosophical-society-meetup)  Ways to support us: Share Our Podcast Website with a friend: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1901373 David's Writing - Prosoche Project (www.prosocheproject.com).  Follow us on Twitter (@TwoRavenPodcast): https://twitter.com/TwoRavenPodcast Follow us on Instagram (@BetweenTwoRavens): https://www.instagram.com/betweentworavens/ Donate to buy Shawn a beer or help cover our hosting costs: https://tworavenpodcast.wordpress.com/donation/ Additional Info: Gylfaganning 33 & 34: http://www.voluspa.org/gylfaginning31-40.htm Diana Paxson - Taking Up the Runes: https://amzn.to/34rqkyw A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Belief by John Lindow: https://amzn.to/3uHTiF4 Prose Edda (Byock; Penguin Classics): https://amzn.to/3inCvzn Prose Edda “Snora Edda” (See Anthony Faulks version from the Viking Society for Northern Research): http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/ Support the show

— When we are emotionally balanced, our lives have more of a flow and become less of a struggle. As we reduce unhealthy negative emotions, and increase the presence of healthy emotions, mindfulness and awareness become more accessible. When our minds are at ease, our problem solving skills improve and we are better equipped moving towards our goals and aspirations, resulting in happier and more meaningful lives. The seeming impossible becomes possible. There is a shift within our energetic selves, which shift in itself may promote feelings of joy and fulfillment within, and in our lives. Valeria Teles interviews Anette Eriksson  — she is a clinical therapist in private practice based in New York City where she provides therapy and coaching to her clients. Anette has a particular interest in helping her clients achieve emotional balance and uses Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), a form of CBT, in her practice. REBT is a solution-focused approach and has its roots in ancient Greek, Roman, and Eastern philosophy, with a particular influence of Stoicism. The philosophical component is brought into the cognitive challenging of clients' irrational (unrealistic and unhelpful) thoughts and beliefs, which beliefs tend to create neurosis and dysfunction. The premise of REBT is that our thoughts and beliefs have a lot to do with how we feel and behave. This theory was argued by the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, who notably said, “People are not disturbed by things, but the view they take on them.” Anette has a master's degree in clinical social work from Fordham University, and post-graduate training in REBT from the Albert Ellis Institute. In addition to her therapeutic education, Anette has an extensive background and training in philosophy and mindfulness. To learn more about Anette Eriksson and her work, please visit: anetteerikssontherapy.com   — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.  

The Feeling Good App: Part 2 of 2-- The Surprising Basic Science Findings-- How Does Psychotherapy REALLY Work? And Why Did Everything Change So Fast?   Feeling Good Podcast Special Edition #2: March 07, 2022 Today's special podcast features the second part of the recording with David and Jeremy Karmel, David's founding partner of the Feeling Good App. Jeremy and David discuss the exciting results of the basic science findings most recent beta test, which included 140 participants. David uses an advanced form of statistics, called Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify causal effects and to learn more about how the app actually works. This information has immense practical and theoretical implications. Here's a portion of what we've discovered so far. All seven negative feelings are high correlated because they all share an unknown Common Cause (CC) predicted by David in one of the top psychology research journals in the late 1990's. Here's the reference2 Burns, D. D., & Eidelson, R. (1998). Why are measures of depression and anxiety correlated? -- A test of the tripartite theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(3): 461 - 473. The CC accounts for most of the variance in all seven negative feelings, with R-square values ranging from 66% for anger, and 98% for Anxiety. Since there has to be some error variance in the estimates of the negative feelings, there is practically no room left for any significant additional causes. If you would like to see the standardized output of the SEM model, click here. The CC also has causal effects on Happiness, but these effects are much smaller, with an R-square of only 30%. This proves that Happiness has its own causes that are completely different from the factors that trigger depression. Happiness, in other words, is NOT just the absence of depression. The radical reductions in all seven negative feelings were mediated by the reduction in the user's belief in their negative thoughts, as predicted by cognitive therapists, like Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, as well as the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, nearly 2,000 years ago. This is the first proof of that theory! At least three components of the app have been isolated which appear to have substantial causal effects in the Common Cause, which in turn triggers simultaneous changes all negative feelings as well as happiness. Those three components include: A cognitive variable: the user's belief in his or her negative thoughts. A motivational variable: measured with extremely precise and sensitive instruments. the user's liking of the app. The magnitude of all three causal effects was large. However, the motivational variables and user's liking did not have direct effects on changes in depression and other negative feelings. The changes were ALL mediated via reductions in the user's belief in his or her negative thoughts. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that it is impossible to reduce negative feelings without change the belief in the negative thoughts that trigger those feelings. The SEM models were replicated in two independent groups, including 60 participants with moderate to extremely severe depression at the start of the day, and 73 participants with no or only mild feelings of depression. The fit of the model was outstanding in both groups, and there were few or no significant differences in the parameter estimates. This indicates that the findings are valid and do not represent capitalization on chance. David has reported extremely rapid changes in all negative feelings in his single-session treatment of individuals using TEAM-CBT. Some people have suggested that this is because he often treats mental health professionals as well as individuals who are very acquainted with his work. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULLL REPORT However, data from the beta test indicates this is not likely to be true. Mental health professionals did not respond any differently from non-professionals. In addition, the Familiarity with David or with TEAM variables did have modest effects on the degree of liking of the app, but no direct causal effects on changes in depression or the Common Cause. The basic research is just beginning and ongoing. David believes that the research potential of the Feeling Good App may be as significant as the healing effects documented in the outcome findings with the app in the previous podcast. If you are interested in participating in our upcoming beta test, you can sign up at www.feelinggood.com/app. We will be testing a radically revised version of the basic training module, plus some powerful new modules, and we will also be looking at relapse and relapse prevention techniques for the first time to find out if the improvements last. Research on more than 10,000 sessions by human therapists using TEAM indicates that a portion of the gains patients make during individual sessions dissipates between sessions, but the “staying power” of the gains is facilitated by the patient's homework between sessions. As a result, patient gains tend to reach a steady state after four or five sessions. We anticipate that something similar may be documented in longitudinal studies with the app, and are eager to see what we can learn in the next study which will extend beyond one day. So, hopefully, the new study will be pretty cool, too! And who knows what we'll discover, with your help! Make sure you sign up if you're interested in being one of our beta testers! David and Jeremy Rhonda, Jeremy, and David  

The Feeling Good App: Part 2 of 2-- The Surprising Basic Science Findings-- How Does Psychotherapy REALLY Work? And Why Did Everything Change So Fast?   Feeling Good Podcast Special Edition #2: March 07, 2022 Today's special podcast features the second part of the recording with David and Jeremy Karmel, David's founding partner of the Feeling Good App. Jeremy and David discuss the exciting results of the basic science findings most recent beta test, which included 140 participants. David uses an advanced form of statistics, called Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify causal effects and to learn more about how the app actually works. This information has immense practical and theoretical implications. Here's a portion of what we've discovered so far. All seven negative feelings are high correlated because they all share an unknown Common Cause (CC) predicted by David in one of the top psychology research journals in the late 1990's. Here's the reference2 Burns, D. D., & Eidelson, R. (1998). Why are measures of depression and anxiety correlated? -- A test of the tripartite theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(3): 461 - 473. The CC accounts for most of the variance in all seven negative feelings, with R-square values ranging from 66% for anger, and 98% for Anxiety. Since there has to be some error variance in the estimates of the negative feelings, there is practically no room left for any significant additional causes. If you would like to see the standardized output of the SEM model, click here. The CC also has causal effects on Happiness, but these effects are much smaller, with an R-square of only 30%. This proves that Happiness has its own causes that are completely different from the factors that trigger depression. Happiness, in other words, is NOT just the absence of depression. The radical reductions in all seven negative feelings were mediated by the reduction in the user's belief in their negative thoughts, as predicted by cognitive therapists, like Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, as well as the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, nearly 2,000 years ago. This is the first proof of that theory! At least three components of the app have been isolated which appear to have substantial causal effects in the Common Cause, which in turn triggers simultaneous changes all negative feelings as well as happiness. Those three components include: A cognitive variable: the user's belief in his or her negative thoughts. A motivational variable: measured with extremely precise and sensitive instruments. the user's liking of the app. The magnitude of all three causal effects was large. However, the motivational variables and user's liking did not have direct effects on changes in depression and other negative feelings. The changes were ALL mediated via reductions in the user's belief in his or her negative thoughts. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that it is impossible to reduce negative feelings without change the belief in the negative thoughts that trigger those feelings. The SEM models were replicated in two independent groups, including 60 participants with moderate to extremely severe depression at the start of the day, and 73 participants with no or only mild feelings of depression. The fit of the model was outstanding in both groups, and there were few or no significant differences in the parameter estimates. This indicates that the findings are valid and do not represent capitalization on chance. David has reported extremely rapid changes in all negative feelings in his single-session treatment of individuals using TEAM-CBT. Some people have suggested that this is because he often treats mental health professionals as well as individuals who are very acquainted with his work. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULLL REPORT However, data from the beta test indicates this is not likely to be true. Mental health professionals did not respond any differently from non-professionals. In addition, the Familiarity with David or with TEAM variables did have modest effects on the degree of liking of the app, but no direct causal effects on changes in depression or the Common Cause. The basic research is just beginning and ongoing. David believes that the research potential of the Feeling Good App may be as significant as the healing effects documented in the outcome findings with the app in the previous podcast. If you are interested in participating in our upcoming beta test, you can sign up at www.feelinggood.com/app. We will be testing a radically revised version of the basic training module, plus some powerful new modules, and we will also be looking at relapse and relapse prevention techniques for the first time to find out if the improvements last. Research on more than 10,000 sessions by human therapists using TEAM indicates that a portion of the gains patients make during individual sessions dissipates between sessions, but the “staying power” of the gains is facilitated by the patient's homework between sessions. As a result, patient gains tend to reach a steady state after four or five sessions. We anticipate that something similar may be documented in longitudinal studies with the app, and are eager to see what we can learn in the next study which will extend beyond one day. So, hopefully, the new study will be pretty cool, too! And who knows what we'll discover, with your help! Make sure you sign up if you're interested in being one of our beta testers! David and Jeremy Rhonda, Jeremy, and David

When Confucius passed away, his students built schools and academies which furthermore ramified to varying lineages of philosophical and religious thought. Within these lineages, there is one which is particularly favored by later Ruists, and in the second millennium of imperial China, it is also enshrined by scholar-officials as the orthodox version of Ru thought, the so-called lineage of Dao (道统). Allegedly, this lineage started from all those sage-kings discussed by the previous units of our course, such as Yao, Shun, Yu, King Wen, Wing Wu, and Duke of Zhou, continued with Confucius, and then, was finally passed down to Zeng Zi, the immediate student of Confucius as also the alleged author of the text “Great Learning,” to Zi Si, the grandson of Confucius as also the purported author of the text “Centrality and Commonality”, and eventually to Mencius.As indicated, Confucius, Mencius, Zeng Zi and Zi Si are the authors of four Ru classics: The Analects, Mencius, Great Learning, and Centrality and Commonality. Overall, these four books formed a new canon system, the significance of which in the second millennium even surpassed the Six Classics that Confucius originally taught in his own school.However, starting from the 221 B.C.E, the beginning point of Qin Dynasty, Mencius's status was not that prominent for the Ru tradition in the first millennium of imperial China. Yes, he was as important as being seen as a principal Ru thinker; his book was also taken as having furnished an important interpretation of Confucius's thought. However, during this earlier period, this interpretation did not grant Mencius the title, the so-called “Secondary Sage” (亚聖), through which later Ruists honored him as the sage only secondary to Confucius.Why so? Why were the emphases of the Ru tradition during the first and second millennia of imperial China different? The answer to this question can be explained as follows.There were two vast, long-standing, and unifying dynasties during the first millennium, viz., Han and Tang, and somewhat in-between them was another long period of social disintegration and political division. Seen from a historical hindsight, the most significant moment for the Ru tradition in this earlier period was that under the efforts of Ru scholars in Han Dynasty, Confucius's teaching was adopted as a state ideology, and thus, established its mainstream status in the intellectual and political history of ancient China once for all. However, this also means that Ruism was seen as a major resource for the statecraft and institutional structures of the emerging and developing imperial system of ancient China. More importantly, those impactful non-Confucian thought in the pre-Qin dynasty still existed and developed in their own terms (for instance, Daoism got established as a religion during this time); also, Buddhism migrated from India, and gradually took a strong root in Chinese people's spiritual life. In face of all these competing schools and traditions, it took time for Ru scholars to learn, interact, and incorporate their thought. In other words, the politically mainstream status of Ruism and the increasingly diversifying intellectual landscape of ancient China made the Ru tradition predominately focus upon elaborating the “ritual” side of Confucius's thought, rather than its inner-dispositional aspect of ethics and metaphysics. In other words, because Ruism was dedicated to constructing the political and societal ritual-system of imperial China and to confronting the influence of varying schools of thought, it had not yet developed its own all-compassing, holistic discourse which grounds those political and social rituals upon a sophisticated conception of human nature and furthermore, grounds this conception of human nature upon a cosmology which addresses the most generic features of beings in the universe.However, the situation changes quite drastically in the second millennium, when the so-called “neo-Confucianism”, viz., the form of Ruism in Song through Ming dynasties, arises and gradually regains the mainstream influence in the areas of ethics, metaphysics, and spirituality. Intellectually speaking, the competition and interaction among Ruism, Buddhism, and Daoism prepare the formation of Neo-Confucianism, and what Neo-Confucianism succeeds to provide is exactly the sort of ethical-metaphysics or metaphysical-ethics that completes the two layers of “grounding” mentioned above. In comparison with Han and Tang Ruism, we also find that Neo-Confucianism systemizes the teaching of the “humane” side of Confucius's thought, and thus, perfects the systemacity of Ruism into an unprecedented level.Against this background of the rising of neo-Confucianism, it is easier for us to understand why the status of Mencius was also rising in the same period. That's because Mencius's thought provided the backbone elements for the all-encompassing ethical-metaphysics needed by the Ru tradition in that particular historical situation.Now, let me enumerate several major points of Mencius's thought to help you understand his major contribution to the Ru thought.Human Nature is Innately Good.As explained before, there are three aspects of the golden rule of ethics in Confucius's thought: 1) the negative: do not do to others you do not want to be done, 2) the positive: do to others what you want to do to yourself, and 3) the corrective: treat people's wrong-doing to yourself with justice. In another statement (Analects 15.3, 15.24), Confucius also insinuated that this rule is one singlular thread to run through all his teaching.However, without knowing what one genuinely wants and desires, and thus, having a robust moral standard of right or wrong, we still do not know how to implement the rule. Confucius called the rule “the method of practicing humaneness” (仁之方, Analects 6:30), but without knowing the content of “humaneness” per se, the method has no substance to apply. In other words, without a clarification of what the genuine humanity consists in, the one singlular thread is just a formal string to connect no content.To continue Confucius's thought on the concept of “humaneness,” it was Mencius who furnished a systematic and substantial elaboration on what the “genuine self” of each human individual entails, and this also constitutes the most significant philosophical proposition in Mencius's thought: human nature is innately good.In a thought experiment (Mencius 2A), Mencius envisions every ordinary human being will spontaneously have a feeling of alarm and fright when seeing a baby about to fall into a well. Accordingly, if one does not act upon the feeling, they will spontaneously have another feeling of shame and disgust. If one succeeds to act upon those feelings and saves the baby, others will look at them with the feeling of respect and deference. Overall, these spontaneous reactions speak to the fact that every ordinary human being has an inner moral sense of right and wrong. So, these four interconnected feelings, the one of the commiseration of alarm and fright, the one of shame and disgust, the one of respect and deference, and the one of right and wrong, were thought of by Mencius as the manifestation of four character traits, viz., four virtues, which define the good part of human nature which distinguishes humans from non-human beings on the earth. And these four virtues are humaneness, rightness, ritual-propriety and wisdom.Once clarified about what is their genuine humanity, what each human individual remains to do is to nurture and develop these moral sprouts in gradually expanding social circles: family, community, state, and all under the heavens, just as what the three-phase and eight-step program of the Great Learning indicates. For me, this is a very wise way to elaborate the concept of “genuine self,” because it is focused upon virtues and moral excellences, rather than any rigid prescriptive rule to dictate what we should or should not do. In other words, under the general framework of those definitive virtues elaborated by Mencius, each individual can develop their own stable character traits in different situations and regarding different conditions of their life, and this approach to envisioning human self therefore maintains a balance between certainty and flexibility.In a more general term, I think of Mencius's proposition “human nature is good” as being both descriptive and prescriptive, since it describes a fact that could happen to humans' emotional reaction to a certain circumstance, viz., the stimulation of the aforementioned moral sentiments. Moreover, it is also prescriptive since it says that these moral feelings distinguish humans from non-human beings, and thus, everyone “should” hold on to them so as to re-discover and enlarge their humanity.Another very important nature of Mencius's proposition, which learners of Ruism nowadays often overlook, is that it is a conditional, rather than categorical statement. It implies that only under certain circumstances, human nature is good. Two such conditions were articulated by Mencius: firstly, humans need to intend to re-discover and maintain our good human nature in terms of seeking education and self-cultivation. (Mencius 4A) Secondly, the societal environment needs to be just and peaceful so that the good part of human nature is encouraged and practiced. (Mencius 6A) More interestingly, Mencius had a very unique thought to connect varying contemplative practices such as sleeping and meditation to his moral philosophy, and hence, this leads to the second most important point of Mencius's thought:Sleep well, Breathe deeply, and then, Your Human Nature would be Good.When addressing the question that since human nature is good, why so many bad things are committed by humans, Mencius thinks that this is like asking why a once verdant mountain can one day become barren. Mencius explains that if you continue to use axes and hatchets to destroy every sprout of plants naturally growing in the mountain, no matter how good the quality of soil is, the mountain still would not provide. By the same token, as long as one has a good sleep during a night, in the morning, they will naturally feel a clearer mind and a more sensitive heart to connect to beings in the world. In this case, people will be easier to feel their sympathy and co-existence with the world so that their innately good human nature is well-kept. (Mencius 6A)Based upon this exhortation to nourish one's “night vital-energy,” Mencius furthermore puts forward one most charming aspect of this thought: he is after all a mystic, and says that we should continue to nourish the nightly and early-morning sort of vital-energy up to a point when we can feel a union with the entire cosmos through the medium of these all-pervasive vital-energies, to which Mencius gave a remarkable name: the Oceanic Vital-Energies (浩然之氣, Mencius 2A).In other words, Mencius states that human nature is and should be good, since, as analyzed, the statement is both descriptive and prescriptive. But why can it be good in the final analysis? That's because humans evolve from the constantly life-generating process of the cosmos (天). Since the cosmos creates constantly and all-inclusively, each human individual, as a result of cosmic creation, can also take care of themselves and other cosmic beings because ultimately, every being in the universe is interconnected through the all-pervasive oceanic vital-energies.Because humans are envisioned as being endowed by the cosmos with a mission to manifest the all-creating cosmic power in the human world, Mencius articulates his understanding of human fate, which leads to the third most important point of his thought:Await, Straighten and Establish Your Fate: a Quasi-Stoic Point in Mencius's ThoughtSimilar to the ancient Greek Stoic thought, Mencius believes that a joyful, peaceful, and flourished human life consists in distinguishing what can from what cannot be controlled by human beings. So, fame, wealth, property, approval from others, all of these cannot be fully controlled by human efforts. There is a fatalist element of human life to determine whether one can obtain these things or not. However, Confucius once commented, “whenever I desire to be humane, I can be humane.” (Analects 7.30) Similarly, Mencius thought that whether one can practice good sleeping, breathe deeply to keep mindful and nurture one's inner energy, and hence, be dedicated to cultivating the aforementioned four virtues rooted in one's inborn moral sentiments is completely under human control. Therefore, Mencius taught that the focus of an exemplary human's life should be upon these controllable elements of learning and moral self-cultivation. (Mencius 6A, 7A, 7B) In time, the accumulated efforts of self-cultivation will lead to a feeling of self-contentedness and constant joy no matter what situation one happens to enter.However, in a slightly different mode from the Stoic counterpart, Mencius also believes that if one constantly focuses upon learning and self-cultivation, viz., the aspect of human life that is under our control, we can gradually change the seemingly uncontrollable aspects of human life as well. In Mencius's term, this is to “wait for one's fate.” (俟命, Mencius 7B) In this way, since we choose the right aspects of human life to focus on, Mencius also described the resulted situation of human life as “straightening our fate” (正命, Mencius 7A) ; eventually, we humans can also “establish our fate” (立命, Mencius 7A) in the sense that we fulfill the potential of being a human to the greatest extent, and thus, try our best to serve our cosmic consciousness which aims to advance the life-affirming power of the cosmos in the human world.So, in a word, if I have to use one sentence to summarize Mencius's thought in light of its significance in Neo-Confucianism, I will do it as follows:Find your genuine self in terms of four cardinal virtues, cultivate them using all contemplative practices, and eventually, establish the right path of your fate to fulfill the intimate position of your human life within the cosmos.

Paul Millerd is a Curious Human & Solopreneur, Writer, Host of the Reimagine Work Podcast, Teacher at Strategy U, Independent Consultant and Adviser (for companies like VIVO, Wrangler, Russel Reynolds Associates, Good Jobs Associates among many others), and a Career Coach for people who carve their own paths beyond the default path. In his past life, Paul worked for companies like General Electric, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and studied at the University of Connecticut and MIT. Links: Find Paul: think-boundless.com - the home for the creative and curious rebels carving their own path Join our community: forms.gle/3gmq2WahzJZZ9Bny9 We were recently featured in the top 10 Utopia Podcasts in Feedspot! Check it out here: blog.feedspot.com/utopia_podcasts/ Instagram/Twitter: @utopiaisnow Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 4:00 - Why did Paul leave BCG & McKinsey to live a Pathless Path? 8:05 - What path should you take in life? 11:43 - Management Consulting & what made Paul leave it? 16:30 - Paul coaches Shashwat over his career dilemma 20:33 - What do work & career REALLY mean? 30:59 - The false dichotomy of Work-Life Balance 33:58 - Traditional vs Unconventional Lifepaths 39:20 - How to embrace your weirdness and follow your heart? 46:15 - What does Paul's life look like right now? 49:58 - Philosophy of Life: Work vs Leisure 54:57 - Future of Work 58:06 - Bridging the gap between Education & Work 01:05:44 - How to find your life path? 01:09:47 - Do we owe any responsibility to our economy to continue traditional work? 01:11:48 - Paul's views on Utopias Mentioned in this Episode: Alan Watts was a British writer, speaker & philosopher Roman Krznaric is an Australian public philosopher Venkatesh Rao is an Indian-American author and consultant Peter Albert David Singer AC is an Australian moral philosopher John Rawls was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher David J. Deming is an American Economist and Professor Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature Ryan Bourne is a British Economist and Author who works at Cato Institute Credits Art Work: The Road Not Taken - Michael Cook Music Credits: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/utopia-is-now/message

This is the first in a series of podcasts by David and Rhonda focusing on the best techniques to crush each of the ten cognitive distortions in David’s book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. David and Rhonda discuss the amazing positive feedback that Rhonda received following her two recent podcasts doing live personal work. David emphasizes that being open and genuine about your own flaws and insecurities can often lead to far more meaningful relationships with others. This is a paradox, since we often hide our shortcomings, fearing others will judge and reject us if they see how we really feel, and how flawed we are. David and Rhonda begin the discussion of the Cognitive Distortion Starter Kit with a review the three principles of cognitive therapy: Our positive and negative feelings do NOT result from what happens in our lives, but rather from our thoughts about what’s happening or what happened. Depression and anxiety result from distorted, illogical, misleading thoughts. What you’re telling yourself is simply not true. Depression and anxiety are the world’s oldest cons. When you change the way you THINK, you can change the way you FEEL. This can usually happen rapidly and without drugs. The first idea goes back at least 2,000 years to the teachings of the Greek Stoic philosophers. Although the idea that our thoughts create all of our feelings is very basic, and enlightening, many people still don’t get it! This even includes lots of therapists who wrongly believe that our feelings result from what’s happening to us! David describes an innovative "Pepper Shaker" game devised by George Collette, one of his colleagues in Philadelphia to make the hospitalized psychiatric patients aware, through personal experience, that their feelings really do result from their thoughts. The game can be done in a group setting, and is entertaining. Rhonda suggested that the therapists who attend David's Tuesday training group at Stanford might enjoy this game as well! There are key differences between healthy and unhealthy negative emotions. Healthy negative feelings, like sadness, remorse, or fear, also result from our thoughts, and not from what is happening to us. However, the negative thoughts that trigger healthy feelings are valid and don’t need to be treated or changed. In contrast, unhealthy negative feelings, like depression, neurotic guilt, or anxiety, always result from distorted negative thoughts. David and Rhonda briefly describe each of the ten cognitive distortions, with examples. They warn listeners that the goal of these podcasts will be to learn how to change your own distorted thoughts, and not someone else’s. Pointing out the distortions in someone else’s thoughts or statements is obnoxious and will nearly always lead to conflict. David and Rhonda do a humorous role-play to illustrate just how incredibly annoying it is when you try to correct someone else’s distortions, or when someone tries to correct your own distorted thoughts! David and Rhonda remind listeners to focus on one negative thought from a Daily Mood Log, like “I’m defective” or “my case is hopeless,” and to remember that the thought will typically contain many distortions, and possibly all ten. This means that there will be lots of techniques—often 20 or more—to help you crush the thought. They also discuss the new idea that you can do Positive Reframing with cognitive distortions as well as negative thoughts and feelings. In the next podcast in this series, David and Rhonda will discuss the TEAM-CBT techniques that can especially helpful for the first distortion, All-or-Nothing Thinking. David D. Burns, MD / Rhonda Barovsky, PsyD

The latter part of the show is part of epictetus's handbook paraphrased. The 1st part is more of the same bad covid19 news.

With the "Shelter in Place" orders in California, we are recording these podcasts from our homes instead of from the Murietta Studios.  The sound quality may not be as high as usual until we all get the necessary recording equipment, and learn the new technology.  Please bare with us during this transition.  Thank you, David & Rhonda David and Rhonda are joined in today’s podcast by Jeremy Karmel, who is working with David on the new Feeling Great app, and Dr. Alex Clarke, a former student of David’s who is practicing TEAM therapy / psychiatry at the Feeling Good Institute in Mountain View, California. One of our loyal podcast fans, Phil McCormack, sent a heartwarming email which read, in part: In light of the pandemic taking us into uncharted territories, I thought it might be interesting to hear of some tips from you that would help folks deal with the situation, kind of like the David’s Top Ten Tips podcast but this one focused on the hysteria which is prevalent as I write. I’m sure your fans would appreciate it and it might be a good jump start for your new book and app, both called Feeling Great. I realize you are incredibly busy and don’t expect an answer. And if you want to tell me to screw myself, I can use your techniques to handle that! I responded like this: Thanks, Phil. I’m trying to put together at least two or three podcasts on the coronavirus from a variety of perspectives! Might read you question to kick start the first one we do, if that’s okay. david Phil immediately shot back this email: You’re an animal! I have no idea of where you get all your energy and motivation–obviously your techniques work (drug free!) so that must be part of it! Kudos to you for all your effort. It is so, so much appreciated!! I sincerely hope you someday get the recognition you deserve!!! I think Feeling Great might be your ticket... Hope so. Please feel free to read question and thanks for not telling me to “screw myself!” Really appreciate that! Phil How cool is that! Rhonda and I are planning several podcasts on this important topic including today’s as well as a podcast on how Rhonda used TEAM to help a woman with severe feelings of depression, anxiety, inadequacy, despair and frustration about the current corona crisis in a single session. We are also planning podcasts on how to communicate with friends and loved ones during the crisis, as well as a survey to assess changes in mood (depression, anxiety, anger, relationship satisfaction and happiness) since the corona virus hit, and possibly  more. When the survey is ready, we’ll announce it and send you a link in case you’d like to let us know how you've been feeling, and how your feelings might have changed since the virus hit! Rhonda kick starts today’s session by reading a list of negative thoughts from folks who are freaked out about the corona virus, including these: Negative Thoughts with Probable Cognitive Distortions The world will turn into an apocalypse. I’ll be a carrier and won’t know it and then I'll infect my partner and children who will get really sick. I’m divorced and I think my ex- will try to keep me from my kids. She won’t be as vigilant as I am about keeping our kids healthy. They’ll get sick and infect me. I’m looking for a job right now, but no one will be hiring for a long time and I’ll never get a job. I won’t have enough money to pay my rent and I’ll be evicted from my apartment and end up homeless (or) my business will go out of business. I won't have enough money to have fun for several months. My parents will contract the virus, especially one of my parents who has some chronic health stuff, and get really sick or die. I’m going to get cabin fever. I will lose a sense of self/connection to reality with how surreal everything is. People in my life will die from the virus. * * * Negative Thoughts that are Probably Not Distorted The numbers of infected people are way higher than what's being reported because there's no testing The pandemic is worsening. The pandemic will get much worse than we realize now. Needier populations -- people who have lost work who really need it (restaurant workers, hotel, caterers, production staff, people with no savings, etc) — will suffer. The social fabric is going to break down. Things are going to continue worsening as climate change worsens. I live too far from my parents to help take care of them. Rhonda, Alex, David, and Jeremy begin by discussing several of the basic ideas of TEAM-CBT. We feel the way we think. In other words, the events of this world—like the corona virus—cannot have any effect on how we feel. All of our negative and positive feelings result from our thoughts, or “cognitions.” This idea goes back nearly 2,000 years to the teachings of the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, who said that people are disturbed, not by the things that happen, but by our views of them. Some negative feelings are healthy and some or not. Healthy fear is not the same as neurotic anxiety. Healthy sadness is not the same as depression. Healthy remorse is not the same as neurotic anxiety. And so forth. Healthy anger is not the same as unhealthy anger. Healthy negative feelings result from valid negative thoughts, like “We are in danger because of the spread of the corona virus, and we need to be vigilant to protect ourselves and our loved ones.” Unhealthy negative feelings result from distorted negative thoughts, like "The world will turn into an apocalypse." Anxiety, panic, and depression, in contrast, result from distorted negative thoughts, like many of those that Rhonda read. For example, think about this thought: “My parents will die and I may never see them again.” Review the list of  cognitive distortions and see if you can spot some! This thought is likely to be at least somewhat distorted since your parents probably won’t die. For example, in China there have been around 3,300 deaths so far, and the epidemic has finally been slowing in the past few days. Since there are more than a billion people in China, the odds that you or someone in your family will die, while significant, appear to be incredibly low. So while there is clearly some risk, the distortion would be Magnification, Fortune Telling, and Emotional Reasoning, the three distortions that trigger all feelings of anxiety. In addition, you can see your parents right now if you like, using Skype, for example. So, while that thought also contains a grain of truth, it arguably involves Discounting the Positive as well. In spite of these considerations, TEAM therapist don’t try to “fix” or “help” just because someone may have distorted negative thoughts. Trying to help without first addressing therapeutic resistance is the most common error therapists make, and the most common error most people us make. For example, you will hear politicians telling people to “stay CALM,” or trying to encourage people with good news or promises which sometimes don’t seem entirely honest. Instead of jumping in and trying to "help," TEAM-CBT therapists first ask the person who is upset if they are looking for help. Sometimes, people aren't asking for "help" or cheer-leading, they just want someone to listen and provide validation and support. If the person does want help with negative feelings like panic, depression, frustration, loneliness, or inadequacy, we do a little thought experiment and say: "Imagine that we had a Magic Button, and if press it, all your negative feelings will instantly vanish, with no effort, and you'll feel terrific. Will you push the Magic Button?" Most people say they'd gladly push the button! Then we say that while we don't have a Magic Button, we've got some tremendous techniques that could help them reduce or even eliminate their negative feelings, but don't think it would be such a good idea to do that because their negative thoughts and feelings may be expressions of their core values as a human being, and what is most beautiful and awesome about them, and that their may be some important benefits, or advantages of their negative thoughts and feelings. And maybe we should list those before making any decision to press the Magic Button and make everything disappear. If you're upset, you can try this right now. First, circle your negative feelings and estimate how strong each category is, between 0 and 100%. If you click here, you can see an example of this on the Emotions table of the Daily Mood Log of a woman who was upset about the corona virus scare. Then ask these two questions about each feeling: What does this negative feelings show about me and my core values that’s positive and awesome? What are some benefits or advantages of this negative feelings are. How might it help me, or my loved ones? I call this new technique Positive Reframing. In other words, I want to honor your negative thoughts and feelings before we think about changing them! This is called Positive Reframing and it is the key to the incredibly rapid changes we typically see when using TEAM-CBT.  Typically, we come up with a list of a long list of compelling positives. Then I point out that if they push the Magic Button, all those positives will go down the drain, along with their negative feelings. Would they really want to do that? Now you're in a trap, or dilemma. One the one hand, you are suffering and desperately want to feel better. But at the same time, you don't want to lose all of those awesome positives! Fortunately, we can resolve this paradox. Instead of trying to make your negative feelings disappear by pushing the Magic Button, imagine that we had a Magic Dial instead, and you could dial each negative feeling down to a lower level that would allow you to keep all the positives on your list, and still feel better. What would you dial each type of negative feeling down to? For example, if you're feeling 80% panic or 90% depressed or angry about the corona virus, and you could dial each emotion down to a lower level, what would you dial them down to? You can see an example of this if you click here. As you can see, this person has put these new levels in the "% Goal" column of the emotion table. Jeremy provides a touching real life example of this. He feel intense anger because his fiancé, a nurse—is working in a hospital with a shortage of protective masks. He becomes tearful when he realizes that his anger is actually an expression of his intense love for her. The change in how he feels is almost instantaneous, and touching. The group further illustrate this by using Positive Reframing with many of the negative feelings our podcast listeners like you may be having. Jeremy concludes by drawing a critically important distinction between Positive Reframing, which is nearly always helpful, and “cheer leading,” which is rarely or never helpful, and  can actually be downright irritating! This table below highlights some of the critical differences. Is Positive Reframing Just Cheerleading Warmed Over? by David and Jeremy Cheer Leading Positive Reframing You’re trying to cheer someone up to make them feel better. You are highlighting the benefits of NOT changing. You say generally nice things about someone, like “you’re a good person,” or “you’re a survivor,” or “don’t be so hard on yourself.” The positives are not general but embedded within specific negative thoughts and feelings. You don’t acknowledge the validity or beauty of the person’s negative thoughts and emotions. In fact, you’re trying to tell them that they’re wrong to feel upset! This is always preceded by doing superb empathy. Positive Reframing is actually a deeper form of empathy because you’re honoring the patient’s core values. Cheerleading is irritating to almost everybody who’s upset, because you aren’t listening or showing any compassion or respect. The effect is enlightening and leads to feelings of relief, pride, peace, and acceptance. You’re trying to control the other person. You’re telling them how they should think and feel. There’s no acceptance. You’re Sitting with Open Hands. You’re bringing hidden motivations to conscious awareness so they can decide where to steer the ship. Hollow praise sounds dismissive, glib, and insincere. This technique is very difficult and challenging to learn because you have to let go of the idea that you know what’s best for other people. Thanks for tuning in, and let us know what you thought about today’s program! Oh, if you clicked on the two links to the Daily Mood Log of the woman who was intensely upset about the corona virus, and want to find out what happened in her magical TEAM-CBT session with Rhonda, tune in to our next CoronaCast! Until then, Rhonda, Alex, Jeremy, and David

A short collection of wise quotes from Epictetus. Epictetus was born in 50 AD as a slave. He later become a famous Greek Stoic philosopher. The guy had some epic things to say about life and death. More great quotes from Epictetus can be found here https://wiseowlquotes.com/epictetus/

In this episode of the Blue Lotus Café Podcast, we talk about the stoic philosophers, how we interpret Stoicism as instructors and what these three stoics can teach us about life and our own learning process. What makes Stoicism interesting for us is that it is more a way of life than a purely theoretical discipline. It’s a helpful reminder to focus on what you can control and not worry about events beyond our control. The book « Daily Stoic » by Ryan Holiday (also available on twitter and IG on @dailystoic ) is a collection of quotes from three stoics: Epictetus - a Greek Stoic born slave; Seneca - a Roman Stoic Philosopher born in Cordoba (Spain), raised in Rome and later the advisor of the Emperor Nero; and Marcus Aurelius - a Roman emperor and Stoic Philosopher. The book contains one sentence from a stoic for each 365 days of the year as a self-reminder and a morning dose of inspiration. The author comments each quote, but it is for you to interpret, to reflect and hopefully to apply some of their antic wisdom.

163: Ask David: Anxiety, Dreams, Cyclical Negative Thoughts, Secrets of Selling, Exposure, and more Can you treat anxiety without meds? How do you interpret dreams? Are negative thoughts cyclical? How can I get over anxiety when selling? How does exposure work? Will you teach on the East Coast again? Hi! We’ve had tons of great questions from listeners like you. Here’s the first: Question #1. TREATING ANXIETY WITHOUT MEDICATIONS Hi Dr. Burns, I would love to talk to you!!! I have been going to a wonderful counselor for several years, and he is the one who recommended your book. My question is how can you overcome anxiety without taking medicine? I have been on a very low dose medicine for years and would love to discontinue but when I try the anxiety seems to come back. Thank you. Lisa Hi Lisa, Thank you for your email! This is one of my favorite topics, since I’ve personally had at least 17 different anxiety disorders that I’ve had to overcome. That’s why I love treating anxiety. Whatever you’ve had, I can say, “I’ve had that too, and I know how it sucks! And I can put you on the road to recovery, too!” Did you read When Panic Attacks, or one of the earlier books? The written exercises would be the way to go, I think. You will find more than 40 methods in that book. Write back if you have questions after reading it. Focus on one specific moment when you are anxious, and do a Daily Mood Log, as illustrated in Chapter 3. You can also listen to the free Feeling Good Podcasts on anxiety. Go to my website, FeelingGood.com, and click on the Podcast tab. There, you’ll find a list of all the podcasts, with links. In the right hand panel of every page, you’ll find the search function. You can type in “anxiety,” or “social anxiety,” and so forth, and all the relevant podcasts and blogs will pop right up. You can also sign up in that same right-hand panel of every page so you’ll receive all the new podcasts, along with the show notes. In addition, withdrawal effects are pretty much inevitable when going off of benzodiazepines, if that is the type of medication you are taking. These are the drugs most often prescribed for anxiety, like Valium, Librium, Ativan, Xanax, and so forth. Typically, the withdrawal, which typically involves insomnia and increased anxiety, take several weeks to wear off. Your medical doctor can guide you in this. I cannot advise you about medications in this forum, so make sure you check with your doctor! David Question #2. How can you interpret dreams? Hello, Dr. Burns. I am terrified that this may be the most boring question you have ever received, but, I’ll press on none the less. I often experience very vivid dreams after listening to your podcasts. In fact, I recently dozed off after listening to one of your podcasts on procrastination (#75) and forgot to turn off my phone. In my dream I was in my childhood house and could hear you talking away in some far corner of the house and I was really getting quite annoyed and angry. I really wanted to find you to tell you to shut up, but I couldn’t get the words out. When I awoke, podcast #77 was playing, which seems to explain some of my unconscious hostility. I struggle with most of my relationships and don’t really want to deal with all the hard work I have to do to improve them. So, there you have it! Thanks for listening to me and all your Herculean efforts on behalf of all those in the struggle to grow. Mike Hi Mike, I explain how dreams function, and give an example with my dream that I had a broken jaw! Question #3. Are Negative Thoughts cyclical? David, I have a question about our strong attraction or inclination to negative thoughts. Are our psychological processes cyclical? People seem to recycle the same negative thoughts for years. Even if we produce a strong alternative thought or reattribution it may not be a default choice the next time. How can we make the alternative/ positive thoughts a conscious choice? Thanks, Rajesh Hi Rajesh: Negative Thoughts are not cyclical for the most part, but are an inherent part of our human nature. The podcast on fractal psychotherapy might be useful, since the same Negative Thoughts will tend to come back over and over throughout your life. And once you have learned how to combat those thoughts, you can use the same techniques to smash the thoughts whenever they pop back into your mind. The written exercises I describe in my books, like the Daily Mood Log, are extremely helpful, even mandatory, in building new brain networks and strengthening them through repeated practice. Bipolar manic-depressive illness is a little different, and it can be quick cyclical. (David will briefly explain this.) Thanks Rajesh for yet another great question! david Question #4. I’m in sales. How do I combat my Negative Thoughts about each person I approach? Hi David, I have been struggling with anxiety for the last 18 months and recently faced up to the fact I have also been suffering from depression. And then I discovered your podcasts. I have been spending a lot of time on the episodes I believe I can benefit from the most. I have found your solutions to be the most beneficial I have come across. Thank you for sharing your ideas and techniques with all of us! A couple of questions—How would you advise constructing a work day to reduce anxiety? I work in sales and feel anxious before every phone call or visit I encounter, and the anxiety can be for reasons that seem to be related solely to each sales encounter on individual basis! And my anxiety will grow as the day goes on. My second point would be, would there be a benefit in monitoring positive thoughts and feelings throughout the day, like happiness and hopefulness, rather than negative feelings? Hi Rudi, I’ve done a lot of sales work, including door-to-door sales when I was young. When I was 8 years old, I sold show tickets door to door. When I was a teenager, I sold Fiesta Chips, Cosmo’s Cock Roach Power, tick powder for dogs, and For Econoline Vans door to door in Phoenix. So, I feel a soft spot in my heart for everyone involved in sales! In fact, I’m still involved in sales! But these days I’m selling happiness, self-esteem, and intimacy. I think it could be useful to do a written Daily Mood Log on the anxiety you feel before one of your calls. I think you will find there are certain themes that are common to each call, such as fears of rejection, disapproval, or failure. Once you’ve dealt with these fears successfully, I think they will help in all of your sales encounters. If you send me a partially filled out Daily Mood Log, perhaps Rhonda and I could provide more specific tips on how to crush your Negative Thoughts. If you listen to Rhonda’s work on performance anxiety, you may find it extremely helpful. In addition, the Five Secrets of Effective Communication are the keys to successful sales. I used to think that you had to sell yourself, or your product, which is rarely true. I learned that the key is to form a warm relationship with your customers. David will explain what he learned from his mother, who sold women’s clothing part-time at a department store in Phoenix. Thanks, Rudi, I hope to hear more. Question #4. Why and how does exposure for anxiety work? Hi Dr. Burns, I am a big fan and believe that you are the greatest living psychologist of our time. I have seen you in person and hear your recent PESI presentation (link). Quick question, when exposure is used to get rid of anxiety, what do you think is the mechanism in the brain? It works paradoxically, instead of strengthening a neuro-network it extinguishes it. Any ideas how. Thanks for your time, and again I have learned so much from you in my over 30-year career, thank you for that also. Sincerely, Dr. Mark Hi Dr. Mark, With your permission, will include this on an upcoming Ask David on my Feeling Good Podcast, but I think you discover a couple things during exposure: When you stop running away and confront the monster, you discover that the monster has no teeth, so you go into enlightenment. This is the basis of Buddhism and the teachings in the Tibetan book of the dead. During exposure, you also discover that after a while the anxiety just kind of wears out, dwindles, and disappears. The brain simply cannot continue creating anxiety for prolonged periods of time, especially when you are doing everything you can to make it as intense as possible. You discover that you can, in fact, endure the anxiety and survive, and that you do not have to “escape” from the feeling of anxiety via avoidance. One other thing that is important is that I treat anxiety with four models, not one: 1. The Motivational Model; 2. The Hidden Emotion model; 3. The Exposure Model; and 4. The Cognitive Model. All play vitally important and unique roles in the treatment of anxiety. Exposure alone is NOT a treatment for anxiety, just one tool among many that can be helpful, and often incredibly helpful, as you’ll see in the upcoming podcast on the treatment of Sara, a woman struggling with severe OCD for more than 20 years. Great question! Hope to catch you in one of my upcoming in-person / online workshops! Thanks, David Mark’s reply and a brief final question Hi Dr. Burns, Yes, of course you have my permission to use my question! Also, I do understand your impressive approach to treatment (not just exposure), and again it is genius. I also love that you see the connection between Buddhism and cognitive restructuring, where as Dr. Beck only went as far back as Socrates and the Greek Stoic philosophers. I don’t know if you ever read the Dhammapada (best translation I found is Eknath Easwaran) as it clearly states that our life is shaped by our mind, and that our feelings follow our thoughts just like a cart follows the ox that pulls it. Thanks again! Will you be coming to the East coast again soon? Hi again, Mark, Yes, I’ll be coming to Atlanta for a four-day intensive in November! Check my workshop tab at www.feelinggood.com for more information. (https://feelinggood.com/workshops/) david David D. Burns, M.D. & Rhonda Barovsky, Psy.D.    

REFLECTION QUOTES “Consider what you owe to His immutability. Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once.” ~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) British pastor and author “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” ~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) British author and professor of English literature “God's unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God's love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son.” ~ Jerry Bridges (1929-2016) author, speaker and staff member of The Navigators “[Love] has been given to you for the present, not that it should not be taken from you, nor has it been given to you for all time, but as a fig is given to you or a bunch of grapes at the appointed season of the year. But if you wish for these things in winter, you are a fool.” ~ Epictetus (55-135) Greek Stoic philosopher “Now there's no welcome look in your eyes When I reach for you And now you're starting to criticize little things I do It makes me just feel like crying Cause baby, something beautiful's dying You lost that lovin' feeling” ~ The Righteous Brothers, American Rock Band SERMON PASSAGE Malachi 1:1-14 (NIV) 1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?' “Was not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!' 6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?' “By saying that the Lord's table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. 9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty. 10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord's table is defiled,' and, ‘Its food is contemptible.' 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.

The quote that gives name to the tile of this video is a powerful quote by Epictetus, a great stoic philosopher. As you probably know, I'm a HUGE fan of stoicism and stoic philosophy. The concepts it can teach us is beyond anything any modern philosopher was able to produce. Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolisin northwestern Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion. In today's video, I'm going to discuss this powerful quote and tell you how you can start implementing this powerful concept in your day-to-day life. How Everyone Thinks They'll Someday Become Rich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3tnvI6IudY

This week at Satsang Guruji spoke about Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher from 120-180AD, and Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and philosopher. Guruji speaks about the similarities between Stoicism, yoga and Kashmir Shaivism. We hear thoughts on finding inner happiness and freedom regardless of external situations, learning to accept and let go of things that are not within our control, and how we do have power over own own thoughts and reactions.  To learn more about Swami Shankarananda and his Ashram in Mount Eliza, click here.

The Dark Night of the Soul (Part 1) The first live therapy podcasts with Mark (the man who felt like a failure as a father: podcasts 29 – 35) were enormously popular, and many people have asked for more. David and Fabrice were delighted with your responses, so the next three podcasts will feature a therapy session with Marilyn by David and his highly-esteemed colleague and co-therapist, Dr. Matthew May. These three podcasts will include the entire session plus commentary the session unfolds. We are extremely grateful to Marilyn for her courage and generosity in making this extremely private and intensely personal experience available to all of us. I believe the session will touch your heart, inspire you, and give you courage in facing any problems and traumas that you may be struggling with. According to the theory behind cognitive therapy, people are disturbed not be events, but rather by the ways we think about them. This notion goes back nearly 2,000 years to the teachings of the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, who emphasized the incredible importance of our thoughts—or “cognitions”—in the way we feel. Fifty years ago, this notion gave rise to a new, exciting, drug-free treatment for depression called “cognitive therapy,” which was based on this basic notion: When you CHANGE the way you THINK, you can CHANGE the way You FEEL—quickly, and without drugs. That’s why I wrote my first book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, because I was so excited about this notion and the powerful new “cognitive therapy” that was rapidly emerging. The idea behind cognitive therapy is simple. When you’re upset, you’ve probably noticed that your mind will be flooded with negative thoughts. For example, when you’re depressed, you may be beating up on yourself and telling yourself that you’re a loser, and when you’re anxious you’re probably thinking that something terrible is about to happen. However, it may not have dawned on you that your thoughts are the actual cause of your negative feelings. In addition, you’re probably not aware that your negative thoughts will nearly always be distorted, illogical, or just plain unrealistic. In Feeling Good, I said that depression and anxiety are the world’s oldest cons, because you’re telling yourself things that simply are not true. In that book, I listed the ten cognitive distortions, such as All-or-Nothing Thinking, Overgeneralization, and hidden Should Statements, that trigger negative feelings. In the years since I first published Feeling Good, my list of cognitive distortions has gone worldwide, and is used by enormous numbers of mental health professionals in the treatment of individuals struggling with depression and anxiety. The notion that depression, anxiety, and event anger result entirely from your thoughts, and not upsetting events or circumstances external events is enormously liberating, because we usually cannot change what’s actually happening, but we can learn to change the way we think—and feel. But a lot of people don’t buy, or understand, this notion which seems to fly in the face of common sense. For example, you might argue that when something genuinely horrible happens, such as failure, losing a loved one, or being diagnosed with terminal cancer, it is the actual event and not your thoughts, that triggers your negative feelings. And you might also argue, perhaps even with some irritation, that your thoughts are definitely not distorted, since the actual event—such as the cancer—is real. Would you agree? I know that’s what I used to think! The next three podcasts will give you the chance to examine your thinking on this topic, because Marilyn is struggling with a negative event that is absolutely real and devastating. As the session with begins, Marilyn explains that she was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 (terminal) lung cancer, which came as a total shock, especially since she’d never smoked. As Drs. Burns and May go through the T = Testing and E = Empathy phases of the TEAM-CBT session, they learn that Marilyn has been struggling with extreme levels of depression, anxiety, shame, loneliness, hopelessness, demoralization, and anger, to mention just a few of her negative feelings. If you’d like, you can review a pdf of the Brief Mood Survey and Daily Mood Log that Marilyn completed just before the session began. You will see that her negative thoughts focus on several themes, including Her fears of cancer, pain, and death. Her thoughts of spiritual inadequacy, doubting her belief in God, wondering if there really is an afterlife, feeling that she’s not spiritual enough, and thinking that she’s perhaps been duped by religions. Her feelings of incompleteness at never having had a truly loving life partner. Her feelings of self-criticism, beating up on herself for excessive drinking during her life. Click here for Marilyn's Brief Mood Survey, pre-session. Click here for Marilyn's Daily Mood Log. The next Feeling Good Podcast with Marilyn will include the A = (Paradoxical) Agenda Setting phase of the TEAM therapy session, and will include the Miracle Cure Question, the Magic Button, the stunning Positive Reframing Technique, and the Magic Dial. The third and final podcast will include the M = Methods phase, including Identify the Distortions, the Paradoxical Double Standard Technique, Externalization of Voices, and Acceptance Paradox, end of session testing, and wrap-up. Although the subject matter of these podcasts is exceptionally grim and disturbing, we believe that Marilyn’s story may transform your thinking and touch your heart in a deeply personal way. Because Marilyn is a deeply spiritual person who suddenly finds herself without hope and totally lost, we have called part one, The Dark Night of the Soul.

The Bible is filled with journey upon journey. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture is full of people on the move and today we are continuing that journey with the book of Colossians. Colossians was written explicitly to defeat the heresy that had arisen in Colosse, which endangered the existence of the church. While we do not know what was told to Paul, this letter is his response. We can surmise based on Paul’s response that he was dealing with a defective view of Christ (denying His real and true humanity and not accepting His full deity). Paul appears also to dispute the “Jewish” emphasis on circumcision and traditions (Colossians 2:8-11; 3:11). The heresy addressed appears to be either a Jewish-Gnosticism or a mix between Jewish asceticism and Greek (Stoic?) philosophy. He does a remarkable job in pointing us to the sufficiency of Christ.The Book of Colossians contains doctrinal instruction about the deity of Christ and false philosophies (1:15-2:23), as well as practical exhortations regarding Christian conduct, including friends and speech (3:1-4:18).