Podcasts about shunryu suzuki

Send us a textIn this episode I explore some of my favorite ideas from the book "Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen," by Shunryu Suzuki (edited by Edward Espe Brown). What does it mean to be oneself? How does being oneself relate to the Buddhist notion of emptiness? What is the ultimate goal or purpose of spiritual practice? I'll address these questions and more while also reflecting (yet again) on how these ideas apply to interpersonal process groups.

Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler is the abbot of Green Gulch Farm as a co-abbot of the SF Zen Center. In the podcast he talks about Becoming Yourself, an upcoming book of Shunryu Suzuki lectures that he worked on with Mel Weitsman. First he talks briefly about Nicole Baden and Richard Baker's recent stay at the City Center and Green Gulch and Baker's stroke of a week ago. He reads selections from Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life and we talk about that and more. Most enjoyable. 

Has someone ever told you that you should try meditation? What's the point of meditation? Danny and Randy discuss Shunryu Suzuki's “Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.” Subscribe to ESP's YouTube Channel! Thanks for listening!  Do you have a question you want answered in a future episode? If so, send your question to: existentialstoic@protonmail.com Danny, Randy, and their good friend, Russell, created a new podcast, CodeNoobs, for anyone interested in tech and learning how to code. Listen to CodeNoobs now online, CodeNoobs-podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

How does a Buddhist make use of the aphorism "Let go and let God?"Liên Shutt shares a deeply personal and reflective talk centered around the phrase "Let Go and Let God," inspired by a cross-stitch left by her adoptive mother. Drawing from both her Buddhist and Christian influences, Liên explores how this phrase bridges her upbringing with her Zen practice. She reflects on the pain and insight of not resonating with Christianity while appreciating how her mother's deep faith comforted her.Liên uses this as a springboard to delve into the spiritual dynamics of “letting go”—not in a passive sense, but as a practice of releasing control and embracing a deeper trust in the unknown, often referred to in Zen as the absolute. This becomes a metaphor for spiritual maturity and balance between effort and surrender.She further enriches the talk by introducing key Buddhist ideas:Relative vs. Absolute: The “G” (relative, rational thinking) and the “Re” (absolute, intuitive knowing).Sandokai teaching: A Zen poem describing the harmony between difference and equality.Hand-wringing metaphor: A symbol of inner turmoil that contrasts with the calming practice of presence and receptivity.Cosmic mudra: A meditation hand gesture that balances tension and ease.Through touching stories—including coming out to her parents—Liên models how negotiation between personal truth and inherited beliefs can lead to healing and connection. The talk wraps with a heartfelt tribute to her mother, affirming the universal longing for connection through love, whether it's God, Dharma, or simply being seen.______________Liên Shutt (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives on Ohlone land, currently called San Francisco, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can.Visit https://accesstozen.org/ for ways to connect and practice together. ______________ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit https://gaybuddhist.org/There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Jean Ross began studying with Shunryu Suzuki very soon after he arrived in San Francisco. In this podcast, the second of two on her, I read more from her accounts in the Wind Bell publication of the SFZC about her experience studying Zen in Japan in the early sixties - and more. The podcast concludes with a piece I wrote about her for the Wind Bell in 1997.

Jean Ross began studying with Shunryu Suzuki very soon after he arrived in San Francisco. In this podcast, the first of two on her, I read from what's in Crooked Cucumber and what she wrote about her experience studying Zen in Japan in the early sixties - at Eiheiji, Sojiji, and more.

Wendy Pirsig was for thirty years an archivist and writer featuring extensive web-based history for small Old Berwick Historical Society's Counting House Museum in Maine. She's a student of Myozen Joan Amaral at the Zen Center North Shore in Beverly, Massachusetts. She's done extensive work for Cuke Archives working on verbatim and minimum edit Shunryu Suzuki lectures and carefully scrutinizing DC writings and making sage suggestions. A few years ago she compiled and edited a posthumously published a book of her late husband Robert Pirsig's works: On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings. See more at cuke.com/people/pirsig-wendy including a long piece on her and Robert's six weeks with the SFZC following the murder of her stepson Chris's murder in the neighborhood.

Andy Karr began his formal Buddhist practice in 1971 at the SF Zen Center with Shunryu Suzuki after having devoured Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind many times. In early 1972 he began studying with Chogyam Trungpa. He has written three books, the latest one being Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey Through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality. He has been teaching Tibetan Buddhism for years focusing on clearly understanding Mahamudra, Yogachara, Madhyamaka, and so forth. Learn more about him and his teaching at andykarrauthor.com 

Are We Part of It or the whole or what? Reading two Shunryu Suzuki lecture excerpts and commenting then talking about what I'm going to do when this podcast is loaded.

This is the second podcast reading examples of Shunryu Suzuki's use of the phrase "most important." He often used the phrase "most important.," usually in "the most important point" or "the most important thing." Reading from a page on cuke.com that includes every instance of  these words in Suzuki  lectures as found in the 2010 transcript collection. There have been additions to the Suzuki lecture archive since then, so this collection should be updated.  You can find it at cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/lectures/most-important.htm

Bob Watkins and his wife Sandy arrived at Tassajara not long after we bought it and were there for nine months. We hated to see them go. Bob was the work leader in the first practice period and until he departed. Later he was ordained by Kobun Chino and with Kobun co-founded Hokkyoji in Arroyo Seco above Taos, NM. In this podcast I read a piece I wrote on Bob after he died in 2016. It includes many of his memories of Shunryu Suzuki and Kobun Chino.

Shunryu Suzuki often used the phrase "most important.," usually in "the most important point" or "the most important thing." In this podcsat DC reads from a page that includes every instance of  these words in Suzuki  lectures as found in the 2010 transcript collection. There have been additions to the Suzuki lecture archive since then, so this collection should be updated.  You can find it at cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/lectures/most-important.htm

Eiheiji monks chant the Heart Sutra. Shunryu Suzuki's basic meaning of the  kanji from the Sokoji chant care. I play it for a bed-ridden Japanese man raised Soto-shu  in a retirement home.

Is your team culture prepared for the challenges of modern remote work?Lav Crnobrnja, co-founder and CEO of Vacation Tracker, shares his journey from building a leave management tool to scaling a fully remote, thriving startup. Learn how Lav's team grew from a small experiment in Slack to a 19-person global operation, his hiring philosophy, and how he cultivates confidence and gratitude in his team.Key Takeaways:Delegation is about accountability, not micromanagement. Lav explains how shifting from overseeing tactics to focusing on outcomes allows teams to take ownership and deliver results.Hiring for attitude over experience. Lav emphasizes identifying “diamonds in the rough” with intelligence and the right attitude, guiding them to develop their skills and grow within the company.Customer support with a human touch. Despite advances in AI, Lav insists on maintaining excellent, human-first customer service to ensure customers feel valued and understood.Key Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:17 - The first $2500:06:11 - Why Vacation Tracker integrated with Slack00:09:27 - Evolving the ideal customer profile00:11:11 - Lav's hiring philosophy: diamonds in the rough00:16:56 - Balancing jack-of-all-trades vs. specialists00:19:25 - How Lav identifies talent00:22:32 - Definition of excellent customer support00:23:42 - Learning delegation during COVID00:27:12 - The importance of building confidence in teams00:29:01 - Lav's tacos of gratitudeKey Topics Discussed:remote work, Vacation Tracker, hiring strategies, customer support, employee confidence, delegation, team culture, Slack integration, bootstrapped startups, HR solutionsMentions:Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_Mind,_Beginner%27s_MindBuild Stronger, Connected, More Engaged Teams:Use Coupon Code: AMAZINGTEAMS for 15% off for the first 3 months.About the Amazing Teams Podcast:We started this podcast because we love teams, especially amazing ones. Michael Jordan said it best, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." This is what we're all about!Our mission is to help others build amazing teams by having authentic conversations with remarkable people who are building amazing teams. We will explore the tactics, strategies, and frameworks that have helped them succeed.The Amazing Teams Podcast is produced by HeyTaco and edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more about LTV at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Peter Schneider began sitting at Sokoji in 1963. He was ordained as a priest by Shunryu Suzuki in 1970 and received transmission from Mel Weitsman. He was at Tassajara for the first years as office manager, then director for a few years, Suzuki's attendant. He and his wife Jane got together there. They lived in Japan many years and on their return to America, founded the Beginner's Mind Zen Center in Northridge, CA, part of LA. Peter, born in 1937, died on January 4, 2025. Go to their cuke page for more and for links to the cuke podcasts with them. cuke.com/people/schneider-jane-peter.htm

Michael Stusser founded the Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary in Freestone CA with it's hot cedar enzyme baths. In this podcast he talks about being an apprentice with master gardener Alan Chadwick and with the head gardener of Myoshinji in Kyoto, meeting Shunryu Suzuki, studying with Kobun Chino and Chogyam Trungpa, gardening for years at the Farallones Institute in Occidental CA and more.

This Teisho was given by the Reverend Karen Do'on Weik Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on Oct 11, 2023. In this talk Do'on Sensei begins with a reading from Shunryu Suzuki and follows with a discussion of the 25th case from the Mumonkan (aka The Gateless Gate) known as The Sermon of the Third Seat. If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org. Part of Reverand Do'on's Teisho on the Mumonkan series.

This Teisho was given by the Reverend Karen Do'on Weik Roshi at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo on Oct 6, 2023. In this talk Do'on Sensei begins with a reading from Shunryu Suzuki and follows with a discussion of the 24th case from the Mumonkan (aka The Gateless Gate) known as Abandon Words and Speaking.   If you would like to learn more about the Buddhist Temple of Toledo or to make a donation in support of this podcast please visit buddhisttempleoftoledo.org.   Part of Reverand Do'on's Teisho on the Mumonkan series.

Betty Warren started practicing with Shunryu Suzuki shortly after he arrived from Japan and continued her practice till she died at 89 in 2006. She was a science teacher, anti-war activist, and vision quester. In this podcast I read an interview I did with her thirty years ago - and more. - dc

Della Goertz began her practice with Shunryu Suzuki soon after he arrived in America in 1959. Herein we read from a notebook she kept with brief quotes and paraphrases from his talks and her encounters with him. There's a great deal on her at cuke.com/people/goertz.htm.

Susan Ross is an illustrator and artist who worked on Be Here Now. In this podcast she takes us from her native Ohio to Smith College to Woodstock to New Mexico, to Shunryu Suzuki's funeral with Gary Snyder and David Padwa, to Colorado studying with Trungpa Rinpoche. She's in Mexico now still being an artist, practicing Tibetan Buddhism, and working on turtle rescue. Here website is susanrosscreative.com.

This podcast is a talk I gave and meeting with the All Beings Zen Sangha in Washington DC. On October 19th. Inryu Ponce-Barger is the teacher of this group and their website is allbeingszen.org. The focus of the group right now and therefore of the talk is the Sandokai, an ancient Chinese Zen poem that is chanted at the SF Zen Center. I talk about being at Tassajara when Shunryu Suzuki lectured on it and studying it with him. There's a page on cuke.com for the Sandokai: cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/lectures/sandokai.htm  - DC

Silas Hoadley began studying with Shunryu Suzuki in 1964. He was highly involved with the founding of Tassajara. Suzuki had Silas giving lectures when Suzuki was ill toward the end of his life. He would have received transmission from Suzuki if Suzuki hadn't died too soon. Silas was a much beloved priest in the SFZC. In this podcast I read a 1994 interview with Silas and a scene with him from the upcoming Tassajara Stories. Check out more about Silas at cuke.com/people/hoadley-silas.htm

In this Best of Awake in the World episode, Michael explores practicing without an idea of gain, the Universal Self, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Buddha and Shunryu Suzuki. How can you blend your breath with the larger self? Moksha Westshore, B.C. Recorded February 18, 2017. The Awake in the World podcast is brought to you by the generosity of our amazing Patreon supporters, making it possible for us to keep Michael's archive of teachings available to the public. To become a patron, visit: patreon.com/michaelstone.

Ryuten Paul Rosenblum was a student of Shunryu Suzuki and is the vice abbot of Johanneshof, Richard Baker's retreat in the Black Forest. He lives half time in Germany and half time in Northern California. His website is ryutenpaulrosenblum.com. This is an encore presentation of a podcast from July 2020.

Jane and Peter Schneider are the founding teachers of the Beginner's Mind Zen Center in Northridge, a part of greater Los Angeles. They were students of Shunryu Suzuki. This is the third podcast with both of them and the third with Peter. In this podcast we focus on Jane's way-seeking mind story and then branch out to other reminiscences.

Stephan Bodian runs an annual school for awakening. In this podcast he talks about his spiritual path, his teachers including Shunryu Suzuki, Kobun Chino, Taizan Maezumi, Sogyal, and Jean Klein. He's a marriage and family therapist but mainly a teacher of awakening. His website is stephanbodian.org.

Suzanne Suarez Hurley heard Shunryu Suzuki give lectures in 1969 then joined Steve Gaskin as a founding member of the Farm in Tennessee. In 1975 she practiced with Dainin Katagiri in Minneapolis then headed back to SF to practice at the SF Zen Center with Richard Baker. With Baker's blessing she started a sitting group in Florida where she practiced law defending midwives. Through the years she has continued her connection to Zen and the Farm. She talks about all this and more in her podcast.

A student struggling with his practice once asked the zen master Shunryu Suzuki to boil down Buddhism into a single phrase. Suzuki thought for a moment, then he responded: everything changes.  This is part two of my conversation with Cory Richards about his memoir, The Color of Everything. Cory is bipolar and at different moments in his life he has been famous, homeless, institutionalized and an addict. He has climbed Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, he won the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award and he has traveled the planet adventuring and shooting for Nat Geo. Then he started over as a writer.  Healthy, sick, good, bad, rich, poor, famous, homeless. Everything changes.  A great book is one you can't put down that you miss when it's over. The Color of Everything is such a book and I highly recommend reading it.  This episode is brought to you by The Better Lab. Good sleep amplifies health, wellness and performance. Getting good sleep can be hard and many people struggle to consistently take the actions that support solid sleep.  That's why I co-founded The Better Lab, the app that helps active people like you to mindfully build conscious, science-backed practices to sleep better that stick. It's just what works to help you get great sleep and you can get started today at www.thebetterlab.io and the app is live in the Apple App Store. Check it out and send a DM to @hardwaypod to let me know what you think.  Choose the Hard Way is the podcast about how hard things build stronger humans who have more fun. The purpose of this podcast is not for you to envy, admire or imitate the stories people like Cory share here. This podcast is here to hopefully inspire and empower you to fully embrace being the writer of your own story. It's a great one, you're the author and you bring it into being every moment. Find Cory @coryrichards on Instagram and pre-order The Color of Everything here. Watch on YouTube Sign up for the Hard Way Newsletter- - - - - - - - - -  Choose The Hard Way Website | Instagram Andrew Vontz LinkedIn

Can we find meaning and pride in our ordinary lives? In this talk, Liên Shutt contrasts the extravagant events in our lives with the everyday moments and asks us to consider if we can drop our expectations of how things should be and instead allow them to exist just as they are. This is the definition of Buddhist wisdom or Prajña, which translates as "knowledge of things as they are."She quotes Sekkei Harada Roshi in "The Essence of Zen:""Things that we can see and hear do not exist because we believe they do; they exist apart from a person's thought. That which exists separately from the thoughts of the ego self... is the dharma." Liên helps us see that individuals and groups exist independent of whether or not we think they should.  ______________Liên Shutt (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives on Ohlone land, currently called San Francisco, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can. Visit https://accesstozen.org/ for ways to connect and practice together. Support the Show.______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Can Zen meditation improve your leadership skills? How can meditation improve and develop your mental toughness & lead you to become a more effective leader? Welcome to The Matt Phillips Podcast! In this episode, we welcome back Mark Divine, a distinguished former Navy SEAL, author, entrepreneur, and expert in leadership and mental toughness. In this podcast episode, Mark talks how leaders can apply Zen principles to improve their leadership skills and personal growth. He also touches on how eastern philosophy can help you accomplish work-life balance, all while bringing a more focused, compassionate, and effective leadership style. Books by Mark Divine: the "Unbeatable Mind" and "The Way of the SEAL." "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki, a book that influenced Mark early in his Zen practice. We will touch on the following topics: The importance of self-discipline How taming one's ego can broaden one's ability to lead effectively How meditation can enhance focus and decision-making Applying the 80-20 rule in life and in commitments Effective leadership involves continuous personal development P.S. Subscribe, rate, and review Here. READY TO UP-LEVEL AS A LEADER AT WORK AND HOME? If you're looking to step up your leadership game and be part of something that's about real growth and making an impact, I'd love for you to join us on this journey. It's a big step towards being the leader you dream of being, one ready for anything the future holds. Check out the details here. Additional Resources: Connect with us on social at: Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mattphillips15 Instagram: @mattphillipscoaching Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MattPhillipsCoching/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mattphillipsleadershipcoac3976/featured Website: https://www.mattphillipscoaching.com/

In the last UnMind segment on “Election Year Zen,” we stressed Zen's emphasis on thinking independently and acting interdependently, as a kind of rule of thumb for approaching the quadrennial campaign and politics in general. Returning to the main theme running through the UnMind podcast, the intersection of design thinking and Zen, the importance of independent thought and interdependent action to the future of Zen in America, and the world at large, takes on an even more central role. Especially in the context of Buddha's teaching of the codependent origination of all things sentient – the comprehensive model of the Twelvefold Chain. Physics might agree that even the insentient universe is co-arisen, despite the singularity of the “Big Bang.” The following thoughts were first shared in my opening remarks for the Silent Thunder Order's annual conference in 2022, themed “Clarifying Interdependence.” The title of my address was “Future Zen: Thinking Independently; Acting Interdependently” Buddha himself was clearly an independent thinker, the original Order of monks and nuns, an example of interdependent action, choosing to relinquish their place in the social order and hierarchy of the time, with its rigid caste system. Buddha was also a problem-solver of the highest order, having defined the problem of existence itself in terms of suffering, and prescribed a solution based on the real-world context, articulated as the Middle Way, and modeled as the Four Noble Truths, including the Eightfold Path as the plan of action. Simply stated, the propagation of genuine Soto Zen practice in America is the logical extension of that plan, but in order to realize that potential, we must adapt the design intent of the Zen mission to the cultural and technological evolution that has taken place over two-and-a-half millennia. Nevertheless, the basic challenge to practice has remained the same. As we chant in the Dharma opening verse: The unsurpassed, profound and wonderous Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million kalpas. Now we can see and hear it, accept and maintain it. May we unfold the meaning of the Tathagata's truth. Accepting that the unsurpassed Dharma is rarely realized, even under the best of circumstances, we proceed with the Zen mission with lowered expectations, commensurate with geometrically expanded distractions currently on offer. These days, Buddha would not draw the typical crowd that attends a professional sports venue, nor even smaller concert venues. He might attract a considerable following online, however. Seeing and hearing the Dharma is now often first encountered online, via searching the plethora of web sites devoted to posting the teachings of Buddha and his successors, by following podcasts, or downloading audiobooks. “Doing your research,” as we say. For my generation, television may have been the medium in which one first discovered the hoofprints of the ox, in the form of the “Kung Fu” series of the 1970s. Seeing and hearing the true Dharma – as well as accepting and maintaining it – is still, however, a low-tech enterprise, requiring only the instrument of the human body, sitting upright and still in meditation. Unfolding the meaning of it, however, is another matter altogether, a near-impossible order of difficulty. In effect, it has to reveal itself to us. Meanwhile, we face a variety of conflicting interpretations of Zen, from the cultural milieu and idioms of today. For example, Zen is not really, or merely, a social program, as many of its proponents seem to feel. Interdependent action certainly entails the recognition of suffering in the form of social injustice, and the principle of karmic retribution does not explain or justify ignoring the suffering of others. The teachings of Buddhism are meant, first and foremost, to provide a mirror to ourselves, reflecting the good, bad, and the ugly without discrimination; focusing our attention upon our own follies, foibles, and foolishness; definitely not to be held up to criticize others. Our implementation of the “design of Zen” to-date – including the incorporation of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center (ASZC) in 1977, and the umbrella organization of the Silent Thunder Order (STO) in 2010 – has been intended to establish and maintain a stable training center, along with a service organization as we attracted affiliate centers, to facilitate the process of propagating what is called “Dogen Zen,” with the same intent of its 13thcentury founder, and his successors, especially Keizan Jokin Zenji. I use the term “design,” as this has been an intentional design process. ASZC is the home temple & training center of the STO network of affiliates, resulting from a group process of the individual efforts, financial support, and community service of hundreds of people over the past half-century or so. In carrying out this design intent, we are extending the legacy and lineage of our founding teacher, Matsuoka-roshi, who would frequently remind us that “Zen is always contemporary.” In a book surveying the origins of Zen in America, “Zen Master Who?” (2006), by James Ishmael Ford, we learn: Soyu Matsuoka ranks with Nyogen Sengaki and Sokei-an as one of the first teachers to make his home and life work in North America. He also seems to be the first teacher to clearly and unambiguously give Dharma transmission to Western students. I would add that these pioneers of American Zen also belong in the rarified ranks of those ancestors who traveled great distances and crossed cultural boundaries to bring the genuine practice to another country, a whole other continent, like Bodhidharma, and Dogen Zenji. Sensei, as he modestly asked us to call him, also is credited with opening the first Zen meditation hall, or zendo, for westerners. Needless to say, I was one of those Western students he transmitted, though he did so informally, rather than by the formal standards of Soto Shu, the headquarters in Japan. We inherit his estimable legacy and lineage, as well as those of the Kodo Sawaki-Uchiyama lineage, thanks to Shohaku Okumura-roshi. We also enjoy a link to that of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi through Seirin Barbara Kohn-roshi, who graciously agreed to be my Preceptor for my formal Transmission, or “Shiho” ceremony, after hosting my 90-day training period at Austin Zen Center in 2007. We may be somewhat unique in the American Zen cohort, having received formal recognition from three recognized priests, including pre- and post-WWII generation Japanese patriarchs, as well as an American Zen matriarch. Let us do what we can to honor our predecessors. We honor them most appropriately by thinking independently and acting interdependently. Before considering the future of Zen in America, we could do worse than to take a look at its past. In the Shobogenzo Zuimonki, collected and compiled under the direction of one of his dharma successors, Koun Ejo Zenji, some of Master Dogen's more offhand comments and spontaneous inspirations are recorded, apparently with little editing, much like our publications of “The Kyosaku” and “Mokurai,” the collected talks of O-Sensei. Dogen instructed, 4 — 13It is said in the secular world that a castle falls when people start to whisper words within its walls. It is also said that when there are two opinions in a house, not even a pin can be bought; when there is no conflict of opinions, even gold can be purchased. Even in the secular world, it is said that unity of mind is necessary for the sake of maintaining a household or protecting a castle. If unity is lacking, the house or the castle will eventually fall. Much more, should monks who have left home to study under a single teacher be harmonious like the mixture of water and milk. There is also the precept of the six ways of harmony.* Do not set up individual rooms, nor practice the Way separately either physically or mentally. [Our life in this monastery is] like crossing the ocean on a single ship. We should have unity of mind, conduct ourselves in the same way, give advice to each other to reform each other's faults, follow the good points of others, and practice the Way single-mindedly. This is the Way people have been practicing since the time of the Buddha. Echoes of Honest Abe's house divided against itself… a footnote explains the “six ways” reference: *The unity of the three actions – those of body, mouth, and mind, keeping the same precepts, having the same insight, and carrying on the same practice. This same precepts, insight and practice includes the harmony of sameness and difference, not an absolute identity. The milk-and-water bit reminds me of Sri Ramakrishna's expression that, like the swan, you have to be able to drink only the milk, mixed with water, to grasp the truth of this existence. This is the nonduality of duality. So here is the great unifying principle underlying Zen practice from the time of Buddha and Dogen down to the present. The past is prologue to the present, as is the present to the future, of Zen. This may not be true of our contemporary cultural and political institutions, however, as we are witnessing. Let us turn to Zen for something more substantial to hang our hopes on for the future. We will have to leave it here for now. Be sure to join us for the next three segments of UnMind, which will round out this contemporary take on the design intent of future Zen.* * * Elliston Roshi is guiding teacher of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and abbot of the Silent Thunder Order. He is also a gallery-represented fine artist expressing his Zen through visual poetry, or “music to the eyes.”UnMind is a production of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center in Atlanta, Georgia and the Silent Thunder Order. You can support these teachings by PayPal to donate@STorder.org. Gassho.Producer: Shinjin Larry Little

04/27/2024, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis discusses the Zen text "Harmony of Difference and Equality". Written in the 8th century in China, the "Harmony of Difference and Equality" holds significant importance in Zen history. It is chanted daily in many Zen temples and at the memorial ceremonies of founding teachers. The tone of the poem is an examination of the interactivity of the relative and absolute truths. In his commentary on the poem, Shunryu Suzuki says "The capacity of the human mind has three aspects: potentiality, interrelationship, and appropriateness. ... [T]he 'interrelationship between someone who helps and someone who is helped' is called jihi [which] is usually translated as ‘love.'"

00:02:00 - A short reading from ‘Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki 00:03:50 - Reading from: Seeds for a Boundless Life: Zen Teachings from the Heart by Zenkei Blanche Hartman 00:05:33 - The Niagara River By Kay Ryan (see below) 00:08:50 - The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac by Mary Oliver 00:15:47 - Peonies by Mary Oliver 00:21:37 - Ann Invites Questions The Niagara River By Kay Ryan 1945 – As thoughthe river werea floor, we positionour table and chairsupon it, eat, andhave conversation.As it moves along,we notice—ascalmly as thoughdining room paintingswere being replaced—the changing scenesalong the shore. Wedo know, we doknow this is theNiagara River, butit is hard to rememberwhat that means. The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac by Mary Oliver

Ned Hoke was on Esalen Inst. staff when Shunryu Suzuki led a two day workshop there in 1968. After that, Ned came to Tassajara in the summers as a student. He's been an acupuncturist for forty years. In this podcast he talks about that, we talk about Bolinas, he tells about bringing Suzuki's headstone up to the hogback.

Last week's guest, Toni (Johansen) Weisberg, reads from the notebook she created in 1966 at the request of Shunryu Suzuki - with some comments from him.  She calls it  Mad Monkey Mind.

Toni Weisberg was Toni Johansen in her Zen Center days.  She and her husband Tony came to the  SFZC in 1965. In this podcast she talks about how they got there, her close relationship with Shunryu Suzuki, and more. 

Everything changes. There is nothing to stick to. That is the Buddha's most important teaching.' - Shunryu Suzuki you need a break from tech & people take more quiet time just to yourself offline take a week at a time of not returning texts right away spending time away from your desk is what can work best for a new mind next level year be mindful of what you spend time looking at - is it really necessary? Embrace the women that give a multitude of opportunity - and thus do the same for them xx ck

Thomas and Panu took stock of their feelings about the world as 2023 came to a close, and invited listeners to do the same. Thomas reflected on two quotes that are important to him and changing ways he has interpreted their meaning over the years: “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few” (Shunryu Suzuki); and “Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there” (Gary Snyder). Panu described a ritual he participated in for the International Remembrance Day for Lost Species, celebrated on November 30. He and Thomas contemplated the importance of rituals, ceremonies and the arts including the recent Future Landscapes project.  The idea of taking stock at the end of the year is echoed in the recent COP 28 meeting and 1st Global Stocktake—a process for countries to see how they're collectively making progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. We know global warming will not be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius / 2.7 Fahrenheit. We need to adapt to a hotter world, take care of the most vulnerable, and keep working to cool the planet down by all means necessary.  

How to shock a badass woman chef In our fourth episode, Nancy talks about winning the James Beard Award for Best Pastry Chef in 1991, and how aghast the presenter, French chef and cookbook author Madeleine Kamman, was that an upstart from California had beat out two famous men with French and Swiss training. The predicted winner was the legendary Albert Kumin, the original pastry chef of The Four Seasons who went on to work in Jimmy Carter's White House kitchen and founded the now-closed International Pastry Arts Center in in Elmsford, N.Y.“He is one of the only people I know who can labor relentlessly in the kitchen, covering the work of three, while remaining totally calm, good-humored and friendly,” Jacques Pépin once told Nation's Restaurant News about Kumin, who died in 2016 at the age of 94.Happily the other nominee is still with us. At the time, Jacques Torres was working at Le Cirque where he was famous for, among other things, his miniature edible stove. The youngest person to ever become a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Torres was Dean of Pastry at The Culinary Institute for 30 years. Today he runs his own chocolate empire. As for Madeleine Kamman … she was a complete badass. She was an outspoken chef, a champion of women and a legendary teacher. Paul Bocuse once called her restaurants “the best in America,” and she was the author of many books, the most notable being “When French Women Cook.” Laurie keeps a copy of “The New Making of a Cook,” the 1997 revision of Kamman's first cookbook, on her shelf of encyclopedic cookbooks between Shirley Corriher's “CookWise” and Marion Cunningham's “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” with Julia Child's “The Way to Cook” a respectful few books away since it's likely neither of them would have liked to be beside each other. Kamman had a famous rivalry with Julia Child. She pointed out that Julia was neither French nor a chef, but simply an American cooking teacher. Madeleine, on the other hand, was a trained chef with a successful restaurant who also wrote cookbooks and had a television show. “I am not for comparing people, any more than you can compare Picasso to anyone,” she opined with typical modestly. A few years ago Mayukh Sen wrote this article about her in the New Yorker. What we like best about Madeleine? In 1990, she told the L.A. Times writer Rose Dosti that the next generation of great chefs would be American rather than French, and would consist of a 50-50 ratio of women and men. The 50-50 ratio hasn't quite worked out yet, but Nancy's win the following year at the James Beard Awards showed that the change Madeleine predicted was already underway. That 1991 ceremony, by the way, was the first time the James Beard Awards as we know them were presented. Nancy had to remind Ruth that she had written about the ceremony — and about Kamman's reaction to Nancy's win — in the L.A. Times, not to mention at least one chef's complaint about a young Wolfgang Puck winning Outstanding Chef of the Year. Here's an excerpt:“Like every awards ceremony, this one had its moments of controversy. Madeleine Kamman, who was sitting in the front row, shuddered visibly when Nancy Silverton was awarded the prize for best pastry chef over Albert Kumin, the dean of American pastry. ‘Albert Kumin changed pastry in this country,' Larry Forgione of New York's An American Place, said later. ‘His achievement should have been recognized. And if Chef of the Year was for career achievement,' he went on, ‘why wasn't Andre Soltner (the legendary chef/owner of Lutece) nominated?' The answer seems to be that … the Beard Awards are centered on the food revolution that has swept America. … So it should come as no surprise that Chef of the Year went to America's highest-profile young chef, Wolfgang Puck.”It was actually a call Ruth received from New York Times reporter Julia Moskin that got our conversation started about the James Beard Awards. She asked if Ruth would comment on the organization after chef Timothy Hontzas of Johnny's Restaurant in Homewood, Alabama, was disqualified as a best chef in the South nominee following an allegation that he habitually yelled at his staff and customers. (Hontzas told The Times that the incidents “were not as severe as the accusers described.” He also said that none of the incidents rose to the level of an ethics violation.) The disqualification, an action taken without consulting all of the restaurant awards committee members — who oversee the annual nominee selections on a volunteer basis — led one committee member and a separate judge to resign in protest.Ruth declined the request for comment by Moskin, who teamed with Brett Anderson for an extensive story on the messy process of trying to make the James Beard Awards more equitable and diverse. The article opened with the organization's investigation into an anonymous complaint about Kentucky-raised chef Sam Fore, whose TukTuk pop-up draws on her Sri Lankan family roots. Fore, who was surprised to discover that her social media posts advocating for victims of domestic violence were the subject of the investigation, said the process was “an interrogation.” Ultimately, she was able to remain a nominee in the Best Chef: Southeast category, although the award went to Terry Koval of The Deer and the Dove in Decatur, Georgia.It's not the first time the organization has come under scrutiny. In 2005, the president of the James Beard Foundation, Leonard F. Pickell was convicted of stealing more than fifty thousand dollars from the foundation. He was sentenced to one to three years and served about 9 months. He passed away two years later. At this year's awards ceremony in June, the restaurant awards committee chair Tanya Holland — who is also an acclaimed cookbook author and chef of the late great Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland (fantastic cornmeal waffles) — said from the podium that New Orleans legend Leah Chase once gave her some advice that seemed to apply to the stresses the organization is undergoing as it tries to find the best way to ensure the awards are fair and equitable: “‘Be prepared to get a lot of criticism in this industry, and work with it; you will make mistakes. The important thing is where your heart is and how you move on.' The universe knows I've made numerous mistakes.”L.A. Times journalist Stephanie Breijo, reporting on the ceremony, wrote that Holland told the audience “she has become comfortable being uncomfortable, adding that she is motivated to make the industry better. The efforts of the foundation have made a difference in the diversity of the awards' nominees and winners, she said, and should be commended.“We're learning as we go,” Holland said. “It's not always smooth, but that doesn't mean we're not on the right path.”Three Ingredients is a reader-supported publication. To receive posts with bonus material, including recipes, restaurant recommendations and podcast conversations that didn't fit into the main show, consider becoming a paid subscriber.The endangered 20th-century restaurantWe move from the Beard Awards and a discussion about the mental stress and physical toll restaurant work entails, to an exploration of what makes a 21st century restaurant and how in many parts of the country 20th century restaurants such as diners are closing at an alarming rate. Laurie talks about the closing in May of Los Angeles' Nickel Diner, which wasn't technically a 20th century restaurant (it opened in 2008) but had a 20th century soul. Laurie wrote about her last meal at the Nickel, run by Monica May and Kristen Trattner, for the L.A. Times Tasting Notes newsletter. The table was loaded with scrambles, biscuits, homemade pop tarts and of course a maple bacon doughnut, plus marmalade made from blood oranges grown by the artist Ed Ruscha. Here's an excerpt of the story:All around us customers are giving hugs to May and Trattner as well as Nickel Diner's servers, many of whom have worked at the Main Street spot for years and have become familiar faces. The customers also hug each other because it's a kind of reunion for many who are part of the L.A. tribe in love with the diner and the tattooed punk-rock aesthetic that came with the place.“We're a 20th century restaurant,” May tells us by way of explanation of why she and Trattner think it's the right time to close. Would they have stayed open if they had gotten one of their grants renewed to feed their neighbors living in the surrounding SROs or if inflation hadn't raised their operating costs or if the pandemic hadn't happened? Maybe.But they also feel a change in the city. A few blocks away Suehiro Cafe, another 20th century restaurant that has been on Little Tokyo's 1st Street for decades and may be the closest thing we have to a “Midnight Diner,” is being forced to move to a new location on Main Street, not far from the Nickel Diner. What difference will a move make? When I walked by the space Suehiro will inhabit later this summer I saw a now-hiring sign and noticed that one of the new jobs listed is “barista.”Old-school Suehiro doesn't have a barista. Apparently, 21st century Suehiro will have barista-made drinks. If it helps the place stick around for a few more decades, I won't mind, as long as they still serve the okonomi plate with broiled mackerel and cold tofu. Because as Zen monk and teacher Shunryu Suzuki once told writer David Chadwick after he asked the master to summarize Buddhism “in a nutshell,” the answer came down to two words: “Everything changes.” Thank you for reading Three Ingredients. This post is public so feel free to share it.Eating off the cartFinally, we talk about the safety of food carts. In 1995, when Ruth wrote an article for the New York Times about how much she loved street food, she included this interesting detail: “If the idea of eating at food carts frightens you, consider this. Fredric D. Winters, a spokesman for the New York City Health Department, said that of the 1,600 cases of food poisoning reported by doctors in the last three years, only 8 were said to be from food vendors. Only one case actually proved to be food poisoning, and even that case could not definitely be tied to a cart.”You can read the entire article here. And in our bonus “Ingredients” post for paying subscribers, we'll share Ruth's recipe for a homemade version of the classic New York food cart dish, curry chicken and rice. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit threeingredients.substack.com/subscribe

Breathe, Pray, Live. Sitting on a beach in Maui. How the Christian tradition of contemplative prayer intersects with Zen Buddhism. Notes on healing from the Desert Fathers to Shunryu Suzuki. Methods of counting to 108. Lessons on the 10,000 Things. Breathing from the bodily core, not the neck. Antidotes to our screen-based, desk-bound civilization. Training in posture, stepping out of our own heads. Physics and mysticism. Host vignettes on family adventures in Hawaii. Snorkeling, surfing and sitting. Matt Dunn of Backbone Radio guest-hosting the Randy Corporon Show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Breathe, Pray, Live. Sitting on a beach in Maui. How the Christian tradition of contemplative prayer intersects with Zen Buddhism. Notes on healing from the Desert Fathers to Shunryu Suzuki. Methods of counting to 108. Lessons on the 10,000 Things. Breathing from the bodily core, not the neck. Antidotes to our screen-based, desk-bound civilization. Training in posture, stepping out of our own heads. Physics and mysticism. Host vignettes on family adventures in Hawaii. Snorkeling, surfing and sitting. Matt Dunn of Backbone Radio guest-hosting the Randy Corporon Show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color--something which exists before all forms and colors appear... No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.” ― Shunryu Suzuki www.InsideTheMindsEye.com for more stuff

Bruce Tift is a psychotherapist, author, and long-time meditation practitioner. As a therapist he's done his rounds – working in a psychiatric ward, social services, and maintaining a private practice since 1979. As a teacher, he taught at Naropa University for twenty-five years and lectured all throughout the world. He is also a Vajrayana Buddhism practitioner with over 40 years of practice under his belt. On his journey he has been fortunate enough to be a student of Chogyam Trunga Rinpoche and to meet a number of other realized teachers. He is the author of “Already Free” a fascinating book that explores the relationship between Psychotherapy and awakening. In this episode, we speak about the irresolvable paradox of relationship, what it means to be psychospiritually mature, stepping out of identification through immediate sensation, Individual vs couples therapy, nonduality & the Vajrayana view, and a healthier approach to awakening & liberation. 

“If it's not a paradox, it's not true.” So says today's guest Marc Lesser, long-time mindfulness teacher and business leader. In his latest book, he considers what would happen if Homer Simpson, the Buddha, and Alice in Wonderland walked into a proverbial bar. How would each react to tricky situations? What would be the integrated way forward? We also talk about being asked to leave his previous company, Brush Dance, after fifteen years and how he navigated a new phase of his career as a result. More About Marc: Marc Lesser is a speaker, facilitator, workshop leader, and executive coach. He is the author of five books, including the Zen of Business Administration, and his latest, Finding Clarity: How Compassionate Accountability Builds Vibrant Relationships, Thriving Workplaces, and Meaningful Lives. Marc's podcast Zen Bones: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times features interviews, supportive tools for creating more meaningful work, and potent mindfulness practices to develop yourself, influence your organization, and change the world.

Kōbun Otogawa (乙川 弘文, Otogawa Kōbun) (February 1, 1938 – July 26, 2002) was an American Sōtō Zen priest. Otogawa, who preferred to be called by his first name, rather than by either of the Japanese Zen honorifics: sensei (teacher) or roshi (master), came to San Francisco, California, United States, from Japan in 1967 in response to an invitation from Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, serving as his assistant at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center until 1970. Otogawa was the son of a Sōtō Zen priest and was ordained a priest himself at the age of 12. He did undergraduate studies at Komazawa University and received a master's degree in Mahayana Buddhism from Kyoto University. He then trained for three years at Eiheiji. Among his primary teachers was the unconventional Zen master Kodo Sawaki, known as the last of the unsui, or wandering monks.

Sarah Belle Reid is a performer and composer. She plays trumpet, modular synthesizers, and a wide array of electronic gadgets. Sarah holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. She teaches music technology and modular synthesis at universities and her own online programs. Sarah spoke about how she combines her classical training with electronic music production and sound design. She explains how she keeps curiosity and joy central to her work. Sarah and I discussed the importance of mindset and perspective in the creative arts.  Sarah's Learning Sound and Synthesis Course opens again in August 2023! Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, YouTube Show Notes: Sarah's Official Site - https://www.sarahbellereid.com/ Learning Sound and Synthesis Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/ How to Design Your First Modular Synth Patch Free Course - https://www.soundandsynthesis.com/firstpatch2022 Sarah's Facebook featuring her Create with Courage posts - https://www.facebook.com/sarah.bellereid Now's by Sarah Belle Reid and David Rosenboom - https://reidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/nows Support Sarah on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/sarahbellereid Sarah's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@sarahbellereid No Input Mixer Tutorial - https://youtu.be/oUhfkaVUPY8 The Art of Is by Stephen Nachmanovitch - https://amzn.to/44rikXq Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki - https://amzn.to/44MSJIT Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc  5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Production Podcast - https://brianfunk.com/podcast Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at my store with the code: PODCAST - https://brianfunk.com/store This episode was edited by Animus Invidious of PerforModule - https://performodule.com/ Thank you for listening.  Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider! And don't forget to visit my site https://BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Transcript: Brian Funk: Hello everybody. Welcome to the music production podcast. I'm your host, Brian Funk. On today's show I have Sarah Bell-Reed and Sarah is a performer, composer, trumpetist, modular, synthesis, that's hard to say. She makes a lot of really wide ranging music and one of the descriptions I really enjoyed was that it's graceful, danceful, silk falling through space and a pit full of centipedes. Which describes just how it goes from so many different extremes from more traditional classical sounds all the way to far out stretching the definition of music with noise and a lot of the electronic stuff that goes into it. She's a doctorate of music arts at California Institute of the Arts, teaches music tech and modular synthesis online. I've been watching the introduction to modular synth course, which is cool. Sarah, it's great to have you here. Thanks for taking the time. Sarah Belle Reid: Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. Brian Funk: You have a very impressive resume of stuff you do and it's so wide ranging. I think it's really cool that you have this, it's like the nice place music is going, especially music education, where people are starting to take the traditional stuff and bring in some more new stuff, some of the more cutting edge stuff that's happening out there. And it's such a nice thing to see that you're bringing that to your performances, your music, and also your teaching. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, well, thank you. Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: I think for me, you know, I have a very traditional background in my musical training. But I always had this feeling, even though I didn't quite know how to describe it or what it meant, but I always had this feeling that there was something more that I wanted to be able to explore in my music making. And so when I found and was introduced to these more experimental aspects of making music, like improvisation and just experimental electronics and all of that, it really felt like. all of the puzzle pieces were coming together. It wasn't a replacing of everything I had developed as a traditional or classically trained trumpet player. It was just like, oh, now this story makes sense. Now my Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: voice feels more complete. You know what I mean? So it's like it all came together. Brian Funk: Yeah, I've found that for myself too, just over time, the different things in your life that feel so separate from each other. Sometimes they start coming together into this one path and you need a little time to see that happen. At least I definitely did. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Brian Funk: And it's nice too because sometimes the music education departments are very steeped in tradition and kind of resist this stuff. They see it as something that they, you know, almost like a challenge to it, maybe. I'm not sure, but I've run into that myself occasionally with trying to bring in just I teach high school English as a day job and trying to bring in like music production, Ableton Live stuff Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: into it. Not everyone is interested. Some people in the music departments were really excited and other people were kind of like, that's not music. I kind Sarah Belle Reid: Oh. Brian Funk: of got that feeling. Do you encounter that ever, some of those different challenges and how people see it? Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, of course. Brian Funk: haha Sarah Belle Reid: Absolutely. Yes. Both in, you know, in educational spaces and just in the world, you know. with people having different musical experiences, different backgrounds, different perspectives, different things that they like. Sometimes the music that I'm really interested in and that I make is challenging to listen to. Sometimes it doesn't have a traditional obvious hook or even a repeatable rhythm that you can snap along to. Sometimes it's just very... kind of amorphous and more like... sound design. You know, a lot of the time people, some people will say, oh, your music is more almost like experimental sound design than it is quote unquote music. To me, in my opinion, it's all music. Like all sound is music. But yeah, people sometimes express all kinds of opinions. And I've definitely, I've had some challenging conversations with people who don't get it and don't want to get it. But I've also had some really exciting deep conversations that are more based in curiosity. People who don't get it and are like, okay, what is happening? You know, I don't know what I'm hearing. What am I hearing? Can Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: you tell me how to begin to listen to this? And I love those kinds of conversations. You don't have to get it right from the beginning. You know what I mean? In fact, I feel like that mentality of, you know, you have to get it when it comes to music actually can really perpetuate that siloed. way of thinking that you can find in some educational systems, like what I believe you were talking about, where it's like, this is classical music, this is jazz, this is pop music. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I feel like if we could give everyone a little more permission to not understand things and have that be okay, we would be Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: able to maybe blend a little bit more freely between all of these different modes of making music. Brian Funk: Right, yeah, that's cool you Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: say Sarah Belle Reid: just Brian Funk: that. Sarah Belle Reid: a thought. It's just something I've been thinking about. Brian Funk: Well, I guess you probably get a lot of the, sorry you play your trumpet so nice, but these buttons and knobs. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I even get, believe it or not, it depends on the concert and the audience, but I've even had people come up to me afterwards and say, do you, after a long performance on trumpet, be like, well, do you ever play a nice melody on that thing, on that horn, you know? Yes, in fact, I do. Thank you for asking. It's just a mix. You know, everyone has different backgrounds and perspectives that they're coming from, so. Brian Funk: Well, art, you know, especially when it's new, always challenges people and Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it divides people. And that's part of what's nice. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And there's people, I don't know who it's credited to, but just kind of, it's better to have people love it and people hate it than just to have people, okay, I've heard Sarah Belle Reid: Right? Brian Funk: this before. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Have Brian Funk: more Sarah Belle Reid: people Brian Funk: of that Sarah Belle Reid: forget Brian Funk: again. Sarah Belle Reid: about it. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I once had a mentor tell me that early on and I'm so grateful that they shared that with me because it's really stuck with me. If you move someone with your music, even if you're moving them in a way that maybe feels slightly negative or they don't like it or they don't get it, you're still stirring something up within them. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: You're expanding their life in that moment. Your music changed them in some way. It made them question how they think about music. It made them hear new things. That's actually incredible. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so from my perspective, it's not that I gave up, but I let go of the priority of trying to have everyone like my music many, many years ago, and now I'm focused on sharing really meaningful listening experiences with people as one of my primary goals in making music. Brian Funk: I imagine trumpet came first. Sarah Belle Reid: Yep, actually, well, piano way back and then trumpet and then electronics. Yeah. Brian Funk: How did you get introduced into that electronic world? What was it that, was it like somebody, a friend or? Sarah Belle Reid: I was in grad school in California, so it was pretty, you know, relatively late. I had been playing trumpeted music for many years at that point, but I had never even seen a synthesizer. I had no idea about this world at all. And for some reason, I decided to join a class called interface design, which is a class where you actually design and build your own. musical interfaces or interfaces for musical expression. So it could be something that has buttons and knobs on it, like an Ableton push, something that maybe is a MIDI controller, or it could be, you know. anything you could imagine that you might want to use to control sound. So people were building wearable sensor-based things that they would then give to dancers and the dancers would move around and that would give them data to turn into a synthesized sound or to control lighting. And I really wanted to build a gestural interface to go on my trumpet. That was kind of where it started. So I had never used Ableton. I had never used a synthesizer. I had never even used like an effects pedal, but I Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: was like, okay, I wanna do this because this sounds really cool. How can I turn my trumpet into some kind of controller for electronics and visual? At the time I was really interested in like coded visuals and stuff like that. I don't do a ton of that anymore. But so I started there. And then once that thing was built, I realized. you can't make electronic music without understanding how electronic instruments work. So then I started to work with modular synths and more in Ableton and different programs on my computer to kind of pull it all together. Brian Funk: Right, right, so that Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: pulled you right into that world. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's kind of a strange introduction into the world of electronic music, but I'm grateful for it. So. Brian Funk: It's something that I really was interested in when I first started getting into computer-based music. I started on guitar, playing in rock bands, not trained or anything like you, but more grimy punk rock angle. Once I started finding out about MIDI controllers and that you can put them together and map them how you want, it really made me think about just instrument design in general. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Just how amazing it is that certain things like a trumpet or like a guitar or piano have stuck around for so long Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: and still seem almost like these unsolved puzzles that have so much left to give. And now... there's all these new kind of ways of looking at music. And it's a really fun time. There's always something new coming Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out. That's a totally exciting new way to create music that Sarah Belle Reid: Yep. Brian Funk: sometimes relies on skills you have already. And sometimes it enables people that have no musical training at all to Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: create really interesting music. You have, um, can you describe what you did to your trumpet a little bit? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I Brian Funk: I've Sarah Belle Reid: can... Brian Funk: seen some pictures and like, it's, it's kind of, it's like space age almost. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, so basically what it is, it's a little collection. So basically it's run with a microcontroller, an Arduino, which is a little tiny microcontroller that you can get for, I think, 20 or 30 bucks. And it allows you to attach different sensors to it and read the data from the sensors. And so I built this little enclosure that goes onto the trumpet and it detects the motion of the valves, so the pistons that you use to change to play different notes, and also the amount of pressure that you have, that your left hand has on the trumpet as you're holding it, and also the tilt. There's an accelerometer in it as well, so as you move the horn up and down or side to side, it will detect that as well. And then that Arduino, like I said, it just reads the data and allows you to transmit that data onto a computer. And from there, you have to get creative and figure out what you want to do with it. If you want to use it as MIDI to control a MIDI synth, or if you want to convert it to some other data format, which you can do and send it to another program and so on and so forth. But the real music making starts at the computer end of things. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And the device, which I call MIGSI, which is Minimally Invasive Gesture Sensing Interface, remember folks, I did this in grad school. It was very much my thesis, so it's super nerdy. I apologize. Brian Funk: That's cool though. Sarah Belle Reid: But yeah, that part is really just about sensor data capture, like gestural Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: data capture, yeah. Brian Funk: Right. And you have to then, like you're building the instrument, you're building this thing, and then you have to decide what all of that stuff does, which Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: can change for, I'm sure every performance. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. And that's the most challenging and also the most rewarding part. I co-designed Migsie with someone named Ryan Gaston, who I was in school with at the time. And we, I remember we got to the point where all of the sensors were working. The data was flowing to the computer and we were just looked at each other and we're like, what the heck do we do now? Like, what do you do with seven streams of numbers? How do you turn that into music? It's a big challenge. But, um, you know, you just go to go piece by piece and you, you can, basically you can think, well, maybe this when this number goes up that means there's more reverb applied onto this sound or maybe when this number goes down maybe we divide this string of numbers into like three sections and we use each section to trigger a different sound and you start you start small like that and then the ideas start to kind of click as you go Brian Funk: Right, that's Sarah Belle Reid: yeah Brian Funk: pretty much the same advice I give people with Ableton Live and programming your MIDI controllers. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I do a class for Berklee Online, it's a sampling with Ableton Live, and there's a live performance portion, and I explain to the class, like, look, I'm not expecting something ready for prime time at Madison Square Garden or something like that. It's just build it small. Start with one little thing you wanna do. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and try that out because it's different than picking up any other instrument because you have to build the instrument and then you have to decide what it does and then you have to make music and perform Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: And often what I've learned over and over and over again is that simpler is better when it comes to mapping things like mini controllers or anything. In my experience anyway, you often think, well, I have 10 fingers and I've got 34 buttons, like, let's use them all. But, and, you know, some people are really great at that kind of thing. For me, I've really realized that Less is more. Sometimes just three or five really meaningful controls can be more than enough to make an expressive piece of music. Because it's not all about triggering a sound, and then that's it. It's triggering a sound. Maybe it's loud this time and softer this time or different pitches and all of the different things you can do to the sound once you trigger it. I hope that makes sense. I feel Brian Funk: Definitely. Sarah Belle Reid: like I kind of went on a little. But less is more is the moral of the story. Brian Funk: It's the same thing I've done with my live performance set in Ableton. Um, it's the same set I created almost 15 years ago Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and it just gets save as save as, and you just change something. And it kind of started like slowly. It went up and I added things and then Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of got a little over complicated Sarah Belle Reid: Yup. Brian Funk: where I have these buttons might Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: as well make them do something. And my performances, when I listened back to them, sounded like somebody that was afraid the audience might think I'm only checking my email on my computer. So Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: I'm Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: like overcompensating, doing way more. It didn't serve the song or the music, but it looked cool. You Sarah Belle Reid: Right, Brian Funk: know, Sarah Belle Reid: you were busy. You had your hands Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: full. Brian Funk: busy. And by now it's tapered off a lot. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: nowhere near as complicated as it was at one point. Because, yeah, it's just... I agree with you a lot, the simple stuff is where it's at, used effectively. That's fun. You've done some really cool stuff recently. I wanted to talk to you about, it was one of the big things that got me to reach out to you with the creative, um, the create with courage Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: for 30 days or 30, maybe it's 31 days Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: you did just a post on Facebook is where I was seeing them. And just offering some wisdom information, some experiences from your past. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: What, what inspired you to start doing that? Sarah Belle Reid: Well, I was thinking a lot about... why I make music. It's a big question that I actually ask myself fairly often. I think it's just helpful to check in. And for the record, I don't think that there's any right or wrong answer for a person to have. I just think it's a nice exercise of self-reflection to be like, why am I doing this? What's meaningful about this to me? Because it will change as we grow as artists and go through life, I think. I was thinking a lot about this. A couple of the really big driving forces behind why I am an artist and why I dedicate my life to making music has to do with creating and sharing connections with people through sound, as I mentioned a little earlier on, and also joy. It's a really simple thing, but just being joyful and doing what I love and sharing that with other people. And in the last couple of years, as I've been doing more online teaching, I've also come to really, really value the pursuit of courage and creative courage. And in particular, one of the reasons why I teach is because I want to be able to help people make more music that they absolutely love with joy and courage. I want to help people make the kind of music that they will listen back to and be like, Yeah, like, heck yeah. Like, I did that Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: thing and that feels like a true expression of myself. And I am so excited to share that with the world. You know, like, I went for it. I didn't compromise along the way because I was nervous about what someone would think, which is something that I used to do a lot. And I'm sure many people can relate to. You know, I didn't, like, dim it down for fear that it wouldn't be accepted. I just did my thing. Loud Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and... And so those were the values. It was this idea of connection, joy, and then courage. And I was just sort of chewing on it and thinking it over. And yeah, the idea of... walking the walk a little bit and just seeing, okay, well, what would it look like if every day I shared something that required me to be courageous Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: and myself and to be vulnerable and just open about what I've learned in life and what I've gone through that's helped me get to where I am today. Maybe that could help people bring a little bit more of that into their lives. And as an added bonus, I can connect with people along the way. you know, through the discussions in the comments and everything on the posts. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: So that's sort of how it came up. And, uh, it was an amazing experience. It was 30 days. And every single day I shared some kind of lesson, um, you know, or experience that I've had in life that has had, that is somehow related to being a musician or being a creative person. And, you know, going through sometimes very challenging times, sometimes really awesome times, and just everything that you learn from it, and how you grow with it. Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, there was definitely a lot of vulnerability shared, Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: which I thought was really nice. Especially coming from someone with your background, you have a doctorate in music, right? So like, it's very, it's the kind of thing that I think a lot of people would feel like your past, right? Like you've, you've received the credentials, you're playing the festivals, you're doing all these things that... It's nice, it's refreshing. It's something I've Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: gotten doing this podcast as well is that I haven't had anyone tell me it's easy or that, yeah, I just make music, you know, just comes Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: out of me. Like anything, masterpiece after masterpiece, nobody says that. Even Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people like you would have thought that really had it figured out, still have these struggles and vulnerabilities. Sarah Belle Reid: Well, and I think that's part of, that's another really big reason why I wanted to do this is because usually, it sounds like your podcast is an exception to that, which is great, but a lot of the time online, you see the perfect finished product, right? You see the album after months or years of work. You see the perfectly curated social media feed. You see everything going super well. And it can be baffling. Like it can be like, how are they doing this? What is wrong with me? Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: get that perfect schedule in my studio or make a track a week or whatever you're seeing someone else do. And I think that such a big part of the growth that I've been able to have over the years as a musician has come from being able to see into other people's real lives and see them working through... mindset struggles or insecurities or life being full of surprises or like, hey, I suck at this and like, I've got to go and practice really hard. And like getting to see that happen, like see people just go from really not having that skill to like a month later, really having that skill because they put three hours a day in the practice room and made it happen, you know. So I guess what I realized is that a lot of the time online, that's missing. You don't see that process-based aspect. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, you kind of get the flashy Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: finished Sarah Belle Reid: just get Brian Funk: product. Sarah Belle Reid: the, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and then it really, and then it's easy for someone to be like, wow, I'm never gonna be there. Like, Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: I guess I'm not cut out for this. That's the sentence I hate hearing the most is, and it's something I once used to say to myself, I guess they have something I don't have, like some secret ability. Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: So I Brian Funk: like Sarah Belle Reid: kind of Brian Funk: some Sarah Belle Reid: felt Brian Funk: gifts. Sarah Belle Reid: like some gift, you know, and of course people have, we all have our own unique little gifts. All of us do. And, and anything is learnable and figure out a bowl and it just takes some grit and perseverance and, and courage, and you got to take action and do the thing, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: So I really wanted to share that with others and, be honest about how I got to where I am and also what I'm in every day still. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: Very much. Brian Funk: That's an important gift really, because you mentioned the joy of it, but this is the very thing that brings so much people so much frustration and Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: self-doubt. And I mean, it's funny when you mentioned also like, why do I make music? Like sometimes I get these feelings too. I'm like, what am I making these silly songs for? I'm like a grown-up now. You know, like, let's do something important with my time. Right. And... Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I think about that and when it's not coming together, when it's not working out, then that's when I'm really vulnerable for that kind Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: of feeling. And there's no joy in that. Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: And at least, and you said there's no right or wrong reason, which I think is so true too because I have a lot of friends that just have an acoustic guitar that they strum after work in the backyard. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's not to record anything. It's not to write a song. It's... maybe learning a riff or just because they like to hear the sound under Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: their fingers. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: And sometimes we lose that in this quest to whatever Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: it is, whether it's to make songs, finish things or get releases out. It is a real fast way to lose the joy of it. And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I think with something like music where, especially if you're trying to make a career There's, there's so many safer bets for like careers that at least if you're going to do music, you should be having fun. You should be enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: It's Brian Funk: it. Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: Cause that's, Sarah Belle Reid: important. Brian Funk: that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the reason you would ever be crazy enough to do this. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, it's so important and yeah, it's something over the years that I have lost and found and lost and found again and what I've realized for myself is that... Joy is something I can come back to on purpose. I just have to be aware of it. I have to remember. I have to remember to be like, "'Okay, Sarah, how can this be fun?' It sounds like such a silly question, but when you're in the studio and things aren't working and you're like, ah, this sucks, ah, I suck. And then all of the stuff comes in, all of the thoughts and the, oh, Brian Funk: Damn opens, Sarah Belle Reid: no one's Brian Funk: yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: gonna Brian Funk: Heh. Sarah Belle Reid: listen anyway, and blah, which I call mind trash. That's what all of that is. It's like in that moment, it's not easy, but the most valuable thing you can do is just be like, okay, breaks. And then how can I make this fun right now? Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: And maybe the answer is pick up some random instrument that you haven't played in a while. Or maybe the answer is take your battery-powered synth out and sit in the backyard or whatever it is that just feels... fun and just come back to that joy and that reason why you're doing it. For me, a lot of the time it's like, I'm not going to do this right now. I'm just going to improvise. I'm just going to play because for me Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: that is fun. And when I start doing that, basically a hundred percent of the time. maybe 90% of the time, it just gets me out of my head. I'm gonna be real. And I reconnect to the sound and my breath and my body and my music and something clicks, you know? Brian Funk: Hmm. That's a great question to ask. What would this look like if it were fun? How could I make this into something fun? Sarah Belle Reid: How can this be more fun? Yeah. I also love the question, how could this be easy? That's a little bit of a side note, slightly different Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: question, but that's a bonus power move right there because we are so Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: good at over-complicating things. So I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: love asking myself that one too. It's like, I've got a big project, I've got to get it done today or this week. How can this be easy? Brian Funk: Yeah, I had a really funny and silly one of those moments just like a week or two ago with this podcast where with the art, I finally have somebody helping me do some editing with the podcast. Animus, shout out to him, his help has been so great and tremendous. But sometimes I stick in episodes that are just me talking Sarah Belle Reid: Uh huh. Brian Funk: and I was getting really stressed out. I was like, oh, the art. is going to get all messed up because it's going to say like this number of episode and then mine's going to come. I'm like, oh, what am I? And I was like, why do I need the number on there? Sarah Belle Reid: How Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: can Brian Funk: I was Sarah Belle Reid: this Brian Funk: like, Sarah Belle Reid: be easy? Brian Funk: oh my God, this is a problem I don't need to have. But it just, it was the kind of feeling that made me like look at everything in my life and be like, what else am I doing this to? Sarah Belle Reid: Yes. Brian Funk: Where else am I trying to put Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, Brian Funk: numbers where they don't need to Sarah Belle Reid: right. Brian Funk: be? Sarah Belle Reid: That is some deep wisdom. That's good. Brian Funk: I'm sorry. Sarah Belle Reid: That's a funny example, but it's so true. If you're anything like me, if you hadn't noticed that, you could have agonized over that for like Brian Funk: I did. Oh, Sarah Belle Reid: some Brian Funk: I did. Sarah Belle Reid: time. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: There was like months, like two months. I was like stressing me out. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh, well I'm really glad you came to that Brian Funk: Yeah, Sarah Belle Reid: realization. Brian Funk: simple thing. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: But it's such a good question. It reminds me, I don't know where I heard this because I would love to attribute this to somebody, but it was like, we say like, this brings me joy, this brings me joy. And then the person just turned around is like, no, you're taking joy in it. Take joy in it. So it makes that feeling of like having fun and like enjoying Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: something for what it is. more of an action than something that happens to you. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: And that again has been really helpful for me in Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: certain situations where I'm thinking like, music isn't bringing me any joy. I was like, well, I have to take joy in it. Like, Sarah Belle Reid: Uh-huh. Brian Funk: what is it about it that makes it fun? I guess it's another way to look at it. So. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, it's valuable. The I don't sorry, I don't know if you want to change topics, but one other thing that popped into my mind is just that it gets to be fun. Like you have Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: permission, permission granted, even the most quote unquote, serious, professional, legitimate insert, whatever qualifying word you want musician. is allowed to have fun, Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: right? And like somehow I feel anyway, maybe I'm just speaking from my own, or I'm certainly speaking from my own experience, but. it almost felt, when I was in school at times, it almost felt like fun was a waste of time. Like fun was not focus, fun was Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: not the discipline that was needed. Fun was goofing around, you know, it wasn't valued Brian Funk: Kid Sarah Belle Reid: in Brian Funk: stuff. Sarah Belle Reid: the same way. Yeah, yeah, like you said a minute ago, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: like why am I, I'm an adult, why am I making Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: these funny songs or whatever? And I just think that, For me, realizing and embracing that when I have more fun, I make better music. It does Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: not mean all my music sounds cartoonish and goofy and like, ha ha, some of it does, but that's not the end result. It just means that I am more embodied in the process. I'm more present, I'm more joyful, and as a result, everything works better, right? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Because I'm moving in flow with myself. I'm not fighting against myself. Brian Funk: Yeah, the play aspect, play music, you know, Sarah Belle Reid: play. Yeah. Brian Funk: play music. It's so important. We were saying we, having trouble remembering things on the spur of the moment, and I'm trying to think of a book now, but it was all about improvisation and it Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: talked a lot about play. Oh, the art of is, the art of is, is what the book is called. I think, now I'm not sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Hahaha Brian Funk: I'll write it down, put it in the show notes, but it... It just struck me like that's where so much fun happens. And when you're, when you are a kid, suppose you're on like a playground or something, you're just making up rules. You're coming up with things on the fly. You're not trying to decide if it's acceptable or if it's, you know, smart enough or intelligent Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: enough, which is something I struggle with a lot with my music. I always feel like I'm not being clever enough. Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: It's Sarah Belle Reid: You're Brian Funk: just. Sarah Belle Reid: not alone. Brian Funk: which spirals me out of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: the joy of doing it. But that, when I get playful though, then I'll do something weird that I wouldn't normally do. That would be maybe a little unorthodox that might sound clever later on, right? But it was just because I was kinda being silly or just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: letting go of things. Sarah Belle Reid: letting go. Exactly. You take risks when you're in a playful Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: state. You're curious. Curious is the magic word for me personally. When I'm playful, when I'm having fun, I get curious. I ask myself, what if? What, not in a bad way, not what if no one likes it, but what would happen if I did that? Ooh, what if Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I put those sounds together? Ooh, what if I map my controller in this way? Ooh, what if I do it all backwards? And that curiosity is, in my opinion, is where like... innovation comes from. It's the people who are like, oh, I wonder if I connect this and this way instead of that way. Oh, look, I just stumbled across this cool new technique that people will use for the next 40 years, you Brian Funk: Right? Sarah Belle Reid: know what I mean? Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And so I love that. And for me, that is like the magic mindset space. If I can get into a playful, curious space, I know I'll be okay. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, it's helpful with other people too, especially Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: people you get along with that you're comfortable with. Sometimes that can help you get there Sarah Belle Reid: Oh Brian Funk: a Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, Brian Funk: bit. Sarah Belle Reid: for sure. Yeah. Brian Funk: In watching some of your videos, I came across one that I thought was really, I mean, there were a lot, but the one that stuck out to me was when you were playing with mixers to create Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: feedback. So it was like, I forget what you title it, but basically you're plugging the outputs of the mixer back into the inputs and creating all these. stuff you're not supposed to do. Like you're not allowed to do that, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm Brian Funk: right? Sarah Belle Reid: sorry. Brian Funk: If you went into a studio and started doing that, they'd throw you out. What are you doing? You're going to break something. It's going to, but you were taking that noise really, feedback and just interesting, well, things people wouldn't think is interesting that would normally think was wrong, but that was something you were using then to create something interesting. Sarah Belle Reid: I'm right. Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: that's a playful thing. That's the kind of thing you might If you let a kid that didn't know what they were doing, just start connecting things they would Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: come up with. But a trained professional would never think to do that. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the technique that you're referring to is called no input mixing. And yeah, exactly. It's a feedback based technique where you patch the outputs of a device back into its own inputs. And by doing that. you are creating a feedback loop and it will start to self-oscillate, which means it will start to produce its own tones. And they are inherently super chaotic and unpredictable. And something that's so fascinating about working with feedback is, in my opinion, is that you, because of the chaotic nature of the feedback loop that you've created, you're trying to do. So for example on a mixer, you know some mixers have the three band EQ like high, mid, low EQ knobs for example. You could turn the mids up and you'd expect the mids to be boosted but it might actually cause the sound to go from a steady tone to like a choppy, sputtery sound. Or you could turn the volume knob up and instead of it getting louder the pitch will go down strange nonlinear interactions because of the way that you have it self-patched. And I love that. I find it delightful and super intriguing because it it's like an invitation to listen in a really deep way. Again a really curious way because you don't know what's gonna happen. And this instrument, this object that is like usually has a very specific role in your on your desk all of a duo partner and Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's like jamming with you. You know and you can do this kind of feedback patching with synthesizers too. It's one of my favorite techniques to use on a modular or any kind of synth. It's not just mixers that you can do it with if anyone's curious. Brian Funk: So you would just patch those outputs. That was a famous thing people did with the Minimoog. They would put the, I think it was like the headphones back into the external Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah! Brian Funk: input. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, the only thing just for anyone who's trying for the first time, um, it's just really important that you have your main outputs should, should always have a volume control attached Brian Funk: All right, Sarah Belle Reid: to them. Don't Brian Funk: maybe Sarah Belle Reid: use those Brian Funk: a limiter. Sarah Belle Reid: in the feedback loop. And, and I recommend never using headphones if it's your very first time doing feedback based patching, because the volume is very unpredictable. So Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: just make sure you've got some kind of master volume control. And I've been doing this now, feedback patching for, you know, well over a decade. and I have not broken anything, and a signal is a signal, and it's all gonna be okay inside the instrument. The main thing you have to worry about potentially damaging are your ears and your speakers. So just keep your volume low. Use a limiter, it's a great idea, and you'll be fine. Everything will be groovy, and you'll make some cool sounds. Yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah, yeah, I can definitely agree with that advice. I've had that situation where maybe I'm trying to record the band and somewhere along the way, I routed something the wrong way and everyone's headphones just starts squealing. Sarah Belle Reid: He, oh no. Brian Funk: People falling out of their chairs. It can Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: be horrifying and scary when it happens. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, when you're not expecting it for sure. Brian Funk: But it's that unpredictability. It's almost like a collaborator Sarah Belle Reid: That's right. Brian Funk: when you get that kind of stuff. My first exposure to feedback was with electric guitars and turning up the distortion, putting them in front of the amp. And you get these overtones. And you can almost get melodies depending on what guitar you have. You get different things screeching out of it. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And it becomes an art in how Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: to. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah, and it's beautiful. I mean, there's so much music throughout history that, you know, it's a short, relatively short history of electronic music so far, but so many people exploring feedback in such beautiful ways. And it's not always crazy. you know, blasting noise. Like you said, sometimes it's delicate, ghostly tones and Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: little chirps. Like it can be very beautiful and tender even. It's just all about how you kind of dial it in, you know, which just comes down to making small movements, turning knobs slowly Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: and listening. Brian Funk: I've sampled feedback a long time ago off my guitar and I was gonna make an instrument out of it inside a sampler in Ableton Live. And I was really surprised at how soft it came out because it's not that way when you're doing it live, especially through a guitar amp. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I'm sure you probably have family members that are very understanding of strange noises coming out of wherever Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: you're Sarah Belle Reid: well... Brian Funk: working. I have the same thing and my wife is... totally cool about me making any kind of noise. But a year or two ago, I was recording an album and I decided I wanted all these guitar feedback tracks going on, so I had this little amp and just cranked it up. And I was just sampling it, because I was like, I'm going to also make a collection of these so I can have Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: them. And that was the one time she came down. She's Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: like, what's going on in here? Because to just be squealing and squeaking away, she probably thought like Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: I Sarah Belle Reid: so Brian Funk: blew Sarah Belle Reid: funny. Brian Funk: up or something. Sarah Belle Reid: that. Yeah. Yeah, my family's put up with a lot. Brian Funk: I think anybody that's making music, even if you're just in a traditional thing without experiments you're looping the same thing over and over and over and over just to tweak things so people around you get used to you just incessantly. It's a really nice way to think though with that sound and useful sound for music can kind of just come from anywhere. There's really nothing that's off limits after a while when you start thinking in that way. Sarah Belle Reid: Totally. I'm working on a piece right now and we... I just spent, this was a couple of weeks ago, but I spent the day at an old, abandoned sawmill, like a cedar sawmill, sampling the big, they have these incredible big saw blades, huge, like six feet wide, and when you hit them, strike them with different things, they just sound incredible, and they ring for like, some of them 15 seconds, like a long decay ring. Just gorgeous. cedar logs that hadn't been cut into boards yet. And they're all different thicknesses and different lengths. And so if you whack them with like a stick, they're like, like different, they're like giant woodblocks, but like low, like base Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: woodblocks. And they all have different pitches. It's beautiful. And so I've been using all of those types of sounds as like percussion for this piece, as opposed to using, you know, real drums. It's all Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: just clanging metal from, you know, from the sawmill and pots and pans are my favorite. I mean, your kitchen is the ultimate sample playground. I'm sure you've told people that a million times, but like open up the cupboards, get the pots Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: and pans. Yeah. Brian Funk: And the kitchens usually have a cool reverb to them. Maybe they're like, it's not like carpeting usually in kitchens, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: so they kind of have like this room sound. We do an assignment with the Berkeley class where you just go through your day and just find sounds. Your normal routine, but like listen, pay attention. And so many people never get past breakfast, Sarah Belle Reid: I'm sorry. Brian Funk: you know, because the kitchen is just loaded with appliances Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah, Brian Funk: and different Sarah Belle Reid: I love Brian Funk: pots Sarah Belle Reid: that. Brian Funk: and pans and jugs. It's really cool. And everyone's is different. You would think after a while that everyone's song would sound the same, or everyone's just sampling their kitchen. But every, that's like what I think is some of the beauty of it too, is that just everyone's atmosphere is unique, especially when you start adding up all the individual pieces. Maybe Sarah Belle Reid: course. Brian Funk: we have a pot and pan that sounds similar, but once we start opening cabinets and drawers and then we got a whole new palette. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. And also how you, you know, what you do to those samples, right? Like, do Brian Funk: Hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: you use the slam of the cabinet door as like a little percussive hit or do you time stretch it or do you, you know, speed it up so it's this like really high little piccolo sound, you know? That's where it gets really... really individualistic. Some people, some person might hear a melody in the way that the doors close and make a whole piece about that and someone else might not hear that and instead they might hear like a really awesome rhythm and they might run with that. So I think yeah music is everywhere. Anything is an instrument. It all comes back to curiosity to me. It's just a big loop. It's Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: a big feedback loop. Yeah. Brian Funk: Positive feedback loop. Do you use any particular gear to do this? Do you have like some giant rig with furry microphone windscreens? Sarah Belle Reid: Honestly, it depends if I'm in my, so when I can, I bring things into my studio just so that I can record in a more acoustically dampened space, but often if I'm out and about, I'm just using a simple Zoom field recorder, nothing fancy. It does, it could certainly be a fancier setup, but I. I haven't upgraded anything yet and it's actually been years and it works well. Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: Most important thing to get, which I didn't get early on, is like a good wind sock of some kind or windscreen, because that's the Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: one thing that will really rain on your parade when you're trying to record outside is the KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Brian Funk: Yeah, just that low rumble of the wind. Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: It's more, in my opinion, it's more important to get the sounds and like, be creative with them than it is to get the most perfect, Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: high quality, pristine recording. Um, Brian Funk: I say the same exact thing. Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: You're better off to have it. And you have a Sarah Belle Reid: I, Brian Funk: phone probably Sarah Belle Reid: that's what Brian Funk: on Sarah Belle Reid: I was Brian Funk: you. Sarah Belle Reid: just about to say is I've even, I've even recorded samples on my phone. I don't do that anymore because I have this zoom recorder, which is great, but that's how I started was just using my computer mic, like a built-in mic and my phone and just voice memo and everything. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: And. It's fine. It's a place to start. Brian Funk: I was doing a class a week ago with Berkeley. And I was like, oh, I'm going to do this. I was trying to sample my voice through this microphone, but for whatever reason, my interface wasn't connecting with my Sarah Belle Reid: Mm. Brian Funk: computer. So I had those Apple AirPod, not Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: these ones, but the ones with the wire. So they were old ones when they still had the eighth inch jack. So however long Sarah Belle Reid: Hmm. Brian Funk: ago that was. And I just sampled my voice through it to make an instrument that I could put inside a sampler. And I loved the quality of that cheap mic. In some ways, I almost like the bad mic better. Because once you start stretching it, repitching Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: it, weird things happen that aren't in the clean recording Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: that you can get, Sarah Belle Reid: totally. Yeah, I think it's Brian Funk: it's Sarah Belle Reid: all Brian Funk: important Sarah Belle Reid: just. Brian Funk: to just Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: get it. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly. It's just get it make start making things you can always upgrade like your gear later if you want to but start making stuff now. And you never know like you're to your point, you might end up liking it even better. You're not the first person I've heard you say who says that it's like, there's just some kind of magical quality about that. You know, kind of quote unquote crappy quality, bad recording. It's like actually Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: got some life to it, you know? Brian Funk: I find sometimes in the context of a recording, that quality helps the sound kind of stick out Sarah Belle Reid: Mm-hmm. Brian Funk: where it doesn't get lost in all the other really nice recordings. It's got its own little texture, its own little Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: space in the mix that you can really dial in. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: So you've got a course that's about to start up, you said, Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: learning sound and synthesis. Sarah Belle Reid: that's right. Brian Funk: So that sounds like fun after we've been talking a little bit about some of Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: your philosophies in there, I'm sure. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah. Yeah. That is, it's a, so it's next round is starting in late August and it opens every year, twice a year. But it's, as the name suggests, learning sound and synthesis. It's a class that's all about sound design and making music with modular synths and You know, that could be to do sound design for video games, or you could, you know, take the class to make your own music, your own electronic music, dance music, experimental music. A lot of folks are in the class with a focus on film scoring. Basically, what I teach is a very, very comprehensive how-to and synthesis technique. course that focuses on universal synthesis concepts rather than specific instruments because I'm really interested in giving people you know, the technique and the knowledge that they need to use any instrument they want, whether it's a virtual synth that runs on their computer or the synth inside of Ableton or some Moog desktop synth or a keyboard synth or whatever. And I don't want to, you know, lock people out of the class by saying, sorry, if you don't have this one particular Euro Rack, you can't come and learn. So I teach using VCV Rack, which is a really amazing free modular synth. program that runs on your computer. And I really, really love it. And yeah, we start there and people go a million directions Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: from, excuse me, from there. Brian Funk: Well, that's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: cool because so much of it is based off these building blocks. Sarah Belle Reid: Exactly. Brian Funk: And that's something I didn't know when I first tried to play a synthesizer. I didn't understand that there were these commonalities Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: between all of them. They all looked like different spaceships to me. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: And I felt like I had to learn every single one, but soon you start to see the pieces and how they Sarah Belle Reid: That's Brian Funk: come together. Sarah Belle Reid: exactly, that's the thing that all of my students say and it's so exciting when they get to that point. Usually a month or a month and a half into the class, people start saying. oh wow, like I just realized how this instrument that I've had over here collecting dust on my desk works. Like I get it now because, you know, we basically, the philosophy behind the class is kind of like the under the hood approach to learning synthesis. So instead of learning how the... you know, the Moog Matriarch works or how any of those instruments work on the top level, you're learning how each individual component works, like really deeply what's up with oscillators. Not just, yeah, we know they drone, but like, did you know that you can, you know, use oscillators for 50, 100 different things, and then they can be chaotic and noisy and, and droney and all of this and like what's up with LFOs and how can we use as them as sound sources and how can we use them as control sources and all of that. So by the time you go through that, you not only know how VCV rack works and how modular synths work, but you go back to your various other instruments that you have and it all starts to click because you're like, wait a second. I get it. Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: it's an oscillator, it's an LFO, I know how those things work, that's a filter, and you're able to make more music with them than you were able to before, which is really exciting. Brian Funk: Hmm. Yeah, you just start to see the Sarah Belle Reid: You Brian Funk: kind Sarah Belle Reid: start Brian Funk: of main Sarah Belle Reid: to see Brian Funk: idea. Sarah Belle Reid: all the connections, yeah. Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Right. Do you have a favorite synthesizer? I mean, Sarah Belle Reid: Ooh, Brian Funk: I would say you'd probably Sarah Belle Reid: I don't Brian Funk: go Sarah Belle Reid: know. Brian Funk: modular stuff, but I don't Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: know. Sarah Belle Reid: I am a big fan of modular and in particular, I mean the reason why I love modular is because of the flexibility. I also love, you know, I have a Hydra synth, which is a keyboard based poly synth, I love it. But the reason why I love it is because of all of the flexibility that I learned on my modular that I can bring into how I patch it and how I customize Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: the sounds Brian Funk: gotcha. Sarah Belle Reid: on the HydroSynth because it's very flexible. These days, what I've been really enjoying are very small modular synths. I, you know, very limited. I've put together, I don't know the exact size, but just a tiny little case, two rows, fits in a backpack. And I'm just living with it as though it is a fixed. signal path synth, or not fixed signal path, but like those are the modules. They're not swappable. Brian Funk: of the component. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: Right, Sarah Belle Reid: and Brian Funk: right. Sarah Belle Reid: you do, of course, make your own patches within them, but I'm not changing them out every couple weeks, which is something that some folks do a lot of in the Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: modular world. And I've really enjoyed that because it feels more like my trumpet or like a keyboard where it's an instrument that I can really get to know on a really deep level that's not constantly changing. And I like the smallness of it because it forces me to be really creative and limitations, you know, are my best friend in the studio is just reduce the limitations, again, less is more. And I find that by, you know, giving yourself fewer options, you have to make better creative decisions and you try things that you probably wouldn't try otherwise. Brian Funk: Yeah, I think that is what creativity is. It's Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: making do with what you have. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: you're in this box. Not necessarily in the module, but Sarah Belle Reid: That's the trouble Brian Funk: I don't Sarah Belle Reid: with Brian Funk: f- Sarah Belle Reid: modular synths, though, is that you can always grab another one, right? So Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: I always try to encourage people to keep it small and just see what you can get out of that, because there's always something you haven't tried before. Guaranteed. Brian Funk: Yeah, I don't feel particularly creative when I'm scrolling through 9,000 kick drum samples, trying to find the one I'm going to use in my song. And I can imagine what modular it's, I've not gone too far down that road, mostly out of fear of getting carried away. Sarah Belle Reid: Um, yeah. Brian Funk: Because I've been in front of walls of them. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, yeah, Brian Funk: And Sarah Belle Reid: yeah. Brian Funk: it kind of like, what? And then to just know that you can always get a new one and swap it out. It's, I don't know. I think I'd go bankrupt real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, that's why I mean in like, I totally hear you and you're not alone. Brian Funk: Hehehe Sarah Belle Reid: But that is a big reason why like the class that I teach and the community around it, the learning sound synthesis community is it's really, we're really focused on like making music first Brian Funk: Mm. Sarah Belle Reid: and foremost. It's not so much about the gear. Of course, the gear is a big part of the discussion because we're learning how it all works and, and people need advice on what, Music is always the number one goal, and I think that really helps. For one, it feels more inclusive. It feels more welcoming. It's like you don't need the big sprawling synth in order to make awesome music with modular synths. You can open up your phone and get like a modular synth app and like, that's fantastic. Start with that. It's perfect. VCV Rack's free. I love it. It sounds really great. There's actually a ton of VCV Rack modules that are direct emulations of digital modules that you can get in Euro Rack format. And they run the same code. and they Brian Funk: Right. Sarah Belle Reid: sound fantastic. So it's a perfect place to start and for many people it's not just a starting point, it's the perfect setup for them, you know, for years. I use VCVRC all the time, especially when I'm on the road. I Brian Funk: Mm-hmm. Sarah Belle Reid: just don't want to travel with like a massive, you know, rig. Brian Funk: Yeah, that's a big consideration when you're playing out and touring especially. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Like what are you carrying around with you? I know for myself, like a lot of times I'm going alone too. And if I'm going into like New York city and Brooklyn, I want to be able to carry everything in one trip Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: because I'm lucky if I park a half a mile away from the club. And I don't want to leave half my gear in the club and Sarah Belle Reid: No. Brian Funk: half in the car. So I've made it that that's been a really helpful limitation for me. Like what can I fit on this table and what can I carry? Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: Because for a little while I was getting interested in it was wasn't modular, but it was modular ask with MIDI controllers because you're kind of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, lots of pieces. Brian Funk: You got all your little pieces together, so you keep adding to that next thing you know, like you're out of control real fast. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, I understand. Brian Funk: Yeah, I'm sure it's so I'm guessing having that kind of limited space is practical as well as great for creativity. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, exactly. I honestly think it's a win-win. I mean, some of the best shows I've ever played have been the ones that I've been forced to. really, really re rethink things because I'm like, okay, I'm flying. It needs to fit in the overhead. I also have a trumpet, so I'm really limited, right? It's like my trumpet case has to come on the plane. So then I'm like, what can I slide into that carry on, Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: you know, or into my backpack or something like that? But again, it just. It gets you thinking in a creative way. It gets you looking for sound everywhere in a more resourceful way. And I've found it really liberating. Brian Funk: Yeah, I agree. I've gone to almost no guitar pedals. You know, just really a tuner and a little bit of a noise gate. And it's just so nice. I used to rely on the delay pedal and the reverb and all these other things to make my parts interesting, but taking that away forces you to really pay attention to what you're playing Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: and the music much Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: more than... pressing buttons. Sarah Belle Reid: We like pressing buttons too though, it's okay. Brian Funk: It's fun. Sarah Belle Reid: Ha ha Brian Funk: There it Sarah Belle Reid: ha. Brian Funk: is. It's, there's nothing like it, but it, it's such a slippery slope. I think for myself, um, I avoid the like pain of trying to create by adding gear and then complicating things, you know, maybe pain's not the right word, but like, kind of like the fear of. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah. Brian Funk: I don't know if I'm going to make anything good. So if I can kind of just fiddle with stuff, Sarah Belle Reid: Right. Brian Funk: I'm a little off the hook. Sarah Belle Reid: I can relate to that for sure. You can make something great though. Brian Funk: I will Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, Brian Funk: try. Sarah Belle Reid: you got it. Brian Funk: Yeah. So where can people sign up for the course? You also have a free one we should mention too. Sarah Belle Reid: Oh yeah! Brian Funk: That was really cool. I've been watching a little bit of that. You have great energy too. I think that's a nice, you know, reason why people should come to you is that you're excited about it. And you transmit that really well over the videos. Just, hey, this is really cool everyone. You should check it out. Sarah Belle Reid: Yeah, well, I teach because I am genuinely passionate about teaching and about this topic. Like, I am all fully in and in love with what I teach. And so, yeah, I'm happy to hear that comes through. Yeah, I really do it. I do it because I love it. I'm also really passionate about helping people get started in electronic music and not only get started, but go deep into electronic music and make awesome music. Who... who for whatever reason feel like they're not cut out for it. That's a big kind of personal mission. If you, for whatever reason, just feel like you're not smart enough, or you feel like, oh, I'm the least techie person in the room. I've heard that so many times. Or they've got it and I don't have it. Maybe you believe in yourself, but you're just. intimidated, super normal, super common. And modular synthesis is an intimidating thing to get into because there are a million options and it can just be daunting, right? Like where do Brian Funk: Yeah. Sarah Belle Reid: I start? What do I need first? But at the same time

In this episode, William Green chats with famed author Pico Iyer about how to create a life that's truly richer, wiser, & happier. Pico has written 15 books & delivered 4 TED Talks that have received nearly 12 million views. Here, he shares profound & practical insights drawn from his vast range of personal experience: he's spent decades as a travel writer; befriended everyone from the Dalai Lama to Leonard Cohen; lost everything he owned in a wildfire; & built a remarkably peaceful & productive life in a tiny apartment in Japan.IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN:00:00 - Intro04:41 - Why Pico Iyer relishes the calm simplicity of his tiny, uncluttered home in Japan.08:01 - Why he doesn't use a cell phone & does most of his work without a computer.13:45 - What advice he gives to youngsters on making a life & not just making a living. 22:37 - Why going slow has become the ultimate luxury in a world of speed.26:34 - Why leading business executives are so receptive to his teachings on stillness.29:55 - How he structures his day to be most productive.43:57 - Why billionaires like Ray Dalio have embraced meditation.52:03 - What Pico discovered when a wildfire destroyed everything he owned.1:17:02 - How Howard Marks applies the Buddhist teaching that everything is impermanent.1:21:56 - What Pico has learned from decades of friendship with the Dalai Lama. 1:35:55 - How travel shows Pico the limits of what we can ever truly know.2:03:55 - What the singer & Zen monk Leonard Cohen taught him about inner riches. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.BOOKS AND RESOURCESPico Iyer's website.Pico Iyer's TED talk on the Art of Stillness.The Half Known Life by Pico Iyer.Autumn Light by Pico Iyer.The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer.The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer.The Open Road by Pico Iyer.Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.Guy Spier interviews William Green.William Green's book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book.William Green's Twitter.NEW TO THE SHOW?Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs.Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here.Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool.Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services.Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets.Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. P.S The Investor's Podcast Network is excited to launch a subreddit devoted to our fans in discussing financial markets, stock picks, questions for our hosts, and much more! Join our subreddit r/TheInvestorsPodcast today!SPONSORSInvest in Bitcoin with confidence on River. It's the most secure way to buy Bitcoin with 100% full reserve custody and zero fees on recurring orders.If you're aware you need to improve your bitcoin security but have been putting it off, Unchained Capital's Concierge Onboarding is a simple way to get started—sooner rather than later. Book your onboarding today and at checkout, get $50 off with the promo code FUNDAMENTALS.Get your super sorted. Save money by consolidating multiple accounts, check out your investment options to see which is right for you, and see how extra contributions can make a big difference over time.Have the visibility and control you need to make better decisions faster with NetSuite's cloud financial system. Plus, take advantage of their unprecedented financing offer today - defer payments of a full NetSuite implementation. That's no payment and no interest for six months!Send, spend, and receive money around the world easily with Wise.Experience real language learning for real conversations with Babbel. Get 55% off your Babbel subscription today.Choose Toyota for your next vehicle - SUVs that are known for their reliability and longevity, making them a great investment. Plus, Toyotas now have more advanced technology than ever before, maximizing that investment with a comfortable and connected drive.Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors.HELP US OUT!Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tim Burkett joins Raghu to chat about his journey and the lessons along the way of writing his book, Enlightenment Is an Accident.Tim joins Raghu to shine light on:Stories of studying zen with Suzuki Roshi The various perceptions of the term, “enlightenment”“Idiot compassion,” spiritual bypassing, and authentic generosity The amygdala's role in our behavior The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, and manifesting non-dual feelingCheck out Enlightenment Is an Accident hereExplore Suzuki Roshi's books hereAbout Tim Burkett:Tim Burkett began practicing Zen Buddhism in San Francisco in 1964 with renowned teacher Shunryu Suzuki (author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind). After completing his BA at Stanford University, Tim and his family moved to Minnesota.Tim's first book, Nothing Holy About It, discusses how Zen's core teachings unfold within the ordinary comedies and tragedies of everyday life. In his books, as in his life, Tim reveals how to live in the world with a deep joy that comes from embracing the work and play of this very moment.Tim is the former CEO of the largest non-profit organization in Minnesota for individuals with mental illness. He is a psychologist, a Zen Buddhist priest, and the Guiding Teacher of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He and his wife, Linda, have two grown children and two grandchildren.“Compassion begins with embracing the flaws of others. Healing begins with embracing our flaws.” - Tim BurkettSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.