Podcast appearances and mentions of wes nisker

Do we have the ability to laugh at ourselves? Bill Weber shares that this is a terrific way to work with one of the foundations of Buddhist wisdom: the concept of Non-self. The allure of our sense of self can easily lead us to become overly attached to our identity. We become competitive, demanding, and obsessive about the way we are treated.  To counter this, Bill encourages us to instead find humor in the demands that our ego makes of us (and others). If we observe our mind playing these games, it allows us to lighten up and disconnect from our sense of self. We gain the ability to laugh at embarrassing situations rather than see them as personal failures. It helps us connect with who we really are behind our social facade - the observer, rather than the performer of acts. This ability to find the absurdity in the human condition is actually a deep practice, one perfected by the late Wes Nisker, a teacher, author and Buddhist comedian. Bill speaks about the tradition of Crazy Wisdom and its role in breaking through the illusion of reality. He encourages us to find the clown, the trickster, the jester and the fool within and learn how not to take ourselves so seriously. He also mentions the organization, "Clowns Without Borders" and reflects on the work of Bernie Glassman, founder of the New York Zen Center. Although Glassman founded a retreat where participants lived among the homeless, and one that took place in Nazi concentration camps, he later pursued humor and went on to found the "Order of Disorder" and the "Zen Peacemakers." Bill closes with Wes Nisker's poem "Why I Meditate"https://inquiringmind.com/article/2301_50_nisker_why-i-meditate/______________ Bill Weber is a senior Vipassana practitioner and a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leaders program. He has twenty-five years of extensive retreat practice and currently practices at home with his husband or sits with a small group of gay men. He is also a documentary filmmaker and video editor, whose latest projects are “To Be Takei,”  “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin,” and "Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song." 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

Crazy Wisdom, a phrase coined by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, is used to describe uncommon, unique, and even wild ways of sharing wisdom. Wes Nisker, insight meditation teacher, shares with us his connection to the crazy wisdom teachers of the past, including such spiritual teachers as Jesus, Rumi, Kabir, and Benkei as well as philosophers, scientists, and artists from the Western tradition. We discuss the importance of crazy wisdom, especially with regards to it’s ability to pave the way for new ways of thinking. Quoting Oscar Wilde, Wes explains that, “all great truths begin as blasphemy.” At the end of the talk we share an except from Wes Nisker’s comic monologue album, with a track entitled Meeting the Buddha on the Road. With his own unique brand of Crazy Wisdom, Wes shares his initial exposure to the dharma and to the difficult, albeit funny, truth of how the mind works. This is part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to Part 1: Atto, Zepto, and Yacto: The Buddhist Marx Brothers and Part 2: Science as the Western Wisdom Tradition. Episode Links: The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom ( http://bit.ly/D9jv7 ) Crazy Wisdom Saves the Day Again!: Handbook for a Spiritual Revolution ( http://bit.ly/izX6Q )

“The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.” – Einstein One would think that the above quote would come from one of the East’s great sages, but instead it comes from one of the last centuries most celebrated physicists. In this episode Wes Nisker shares with us his understanding of the similarities and differences amongst the Eastern and Western approaches to knowledge. He uses the human brain and it’s two hemispheres as a metaphor for understanding these two different, and yet intimately related perspectives, and explores whether or not science is actually be a valid wisdom tradition. We also discuss issues of intelligent design and evolution, as well as what it’s like to look at the history of humanity through a “deep time” perspective. Enjoy this fast-paced and intellectually stimulating dialogue. This is part 2 of a three-part series. Listen to Part 1: Atto, Zepto, and Yacto: The Buddhist Marx Brothers, and Part 3: Crazy Wisdom Saves the Day! Episode Links: The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom ( http://bit.ly/D9jv7 ) Einstein: His Life and Universe ( http://bit.ly/aEW2wV ) Einstein and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings ( http://bit.ly/Sm6v7 )

We speak to insight meditation teacher and comedian Wes Nisker about humor, enlightenment, and the way that the scientific vision has impacted and informed the teachings of the Buddha. Quoting Wavy Gravy, Wes comments that, “If you don’t have a sense of humor, it just isn’t that funny.” Wes, who also has a passion for science, shares the Buddha’s teachings on karma and impermanence and how those teachings relate to the current state of science. Find out how much happens in a yactosecond, and what science and the Buddhist teachings in karma have in common. This is part 1 of a three-part series. Listen to Part 2: Science as the Western Wisdom Tradition & Part 3: Crazy Wisdom Saves the Day! Episode Links: The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom ( http://bit.ly/D9jv7 ) Inquiring Mind ( http://www.inquiringmind.com )

Ram Dass hosts his long time Buddhist friends- Jack Kornfield, Catherine Ingram and Wes Nisker at his home in Maui for an intimate chat on their first meetings - the gathering of the "soul pod" - In the early 70's these westerners took in the essence of Hinduism and Buddhism from the East, deepening their understanding of true nature, and brought it back to the West. The group also discusses "spiritual bypassing", the meaning of suffering and Ultimate Reality.

A show on spirituality in the Bay Area, with special guest Wes Nisker.

Author, Crazy Wsidom

Wes Nisker, the co-founder and editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Minds, has practiced Vipassana meditation for 30 years. He is the author of "Buddha's Nature: Evolution as a Guide to Enlightenment," "Crazy Wisdom: A Romp Through the Philosophies of East and West," and "The Buddha, the Big Bang, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation." In addition to leading a regular sitting group in Berkeley, he teaches classes in meditation and philosophy at Spirit Rock and at other locations around the country. 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

Wes Nisker, the co-founder and editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Minds, has practiced Vipassana meditation for 30 years. He is the author of "Buddha's Nature: Evolution as a Guide to Enlightenment," "Crazy Wisdom: A Romp Through the Philosophies of East and West," and "The Buddha, the Big Bang, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation." In addition to leading a regular sitting group in Berkeley, he teaches classes in meditation and philosophy at Spirit Rock and at other locations around the country. 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

Wes Nisker, the co-founder and editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Minds, has practiced Vipassana meditation for 30 years. He is the author of "Buddha's Nature: Evolution as a Guide to Enlightenment," "Crazy Wisdom: A Romp Through the Philosophies of East and West," and "The Buddha, the Big Bang, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation." In addition to leading a regular sitting group in Berkeley, he teaches classes in meditation and philosophy at Spirit Rock and at other locations around the country. 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

The Buddha outlined the '3 Characteristics of Existence' as Impermanence, Unsatisfactoriness, and Non-Self (or anatta). In this talk, Wes shares how these are foundational to the path of meditation. Highlights include: The concept of “Radical impermanence”The Tibetan appreciation for our precious existence as human beings.How non-self stems from the interdependence with everything, That our consciousness is the consciousness of the Universe.That human beings are the only creatures that can see ourselves in context.Mindfulness is a non-interfering awareness, a clear knowing.Freud's view that our personality can be viewed as a pet. ______________ Wes Nisker, the co-founder and editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Minds, has practiced Vipassana meditation for 30 years. He is the author of "Buddha's Nature: Evolution as a Guide to Enlightenment," "Crazy Wisdom: A Romp Through the Philosophies of East and West," and "The Buddha, the Big Bang, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation." In addition to leading a regular sitting group in Berkeley, he teaches classes in meditation and philosophy at Spirit Rock and at other locations around the country.Learn more at https://wesnisker.com/  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