Podcasts about zen mind beginner

Senseis Kodo and Kozan share reflections from Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, the nature of effort, and self-judgement in practice.

People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross-legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense.Read while listening to the Journal

Norman gives the tenth and final talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-10.mp3

Norman gives the ninth talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-9.mp3

Norman gives the eighth talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-8-March-23-All-Day-Sitting.mp3

03/23/2024, Marc Lesser, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk Marc Lesser examines some instructions from Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, for living a full life; a life of practice, joy, grief, ordinary, and sacred.

Shuso Anlor Davin gives the seventh talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-7-Shuso-Anlor-Davin.mp3

Les Kaye gives the sixth talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind" 2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Les Kaye was an early student of Suzuki Roshi and served as abbot of Kannon Do for 40 years, retiring as Abbot Emeritus. In this talk he speaks on the history of how "Zen Mind Beginner's Mind," came to be and its impact on bringing the teachings of zen to the western world. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-6-Les-Kaye.mp3

Norman gives the fifth talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-5.mp3

Norman gives the fourth talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name to the March 2nd All Day Sitting at Green Gulch Farm. Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-4-March-2-All-Day-Sitting.mp3

Shuso Anlor Davin gives the third talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-3-Shusho-Anlor-Davin.mp3

Dr. Steph Ellen is a multi-passionate recovered perfectionist who wears many different hats, including running a life coaching business called Finding Flowstate and working as an employed equine ambulatory veterinarian. As a Mindful High-Performance Coach, Steph is wildly passionate about empowering ambitious, soul-led high-achievers to create their own authentic version of success and find more moments of flow in their life.  Steph graduated as a veterinarian in the UK and traveled to Australia in 2016 for what was supposed to be a stud season or two, but fell completely in love with the Australian way of life and stayed put! Her personal journey has involved overcoming both professional and personal burnout, anxiety, and being kicked in the face by a horse at work. Drawing on both modern neuroscience and ancient wisdom, Steph's coaching style is a holistic blend of potent mindset work, subconscious reprogramming, energetics, and working with the nervous system. When she's not working, you'll find Steph trail running in the Aussie bush, practicing yoga, or dancing at music festivals. Topics covered in this episode: Redefining the unconscious limits we place on ourselves as vets Personal development and self-actualization journey Yoga teacher training Being multi-passionate as a veterinarian Hypnosis and unlocking your subconscious mind The four most dangerous words, “I already know that” Stretching your comfort zone Links and Resources: Visit the Finding Flow State website to learn more about Dr. Steph and her offerings Find Flow State on Instagram The House Call Vet Academy links: Find out about The House Call Vet Academy online CE course  Learn more about Dr. Eve Harrison  Learn more about 1-to-1 coaching for current & prospective house call, mobile, & concierge vets Get House Call Vet swag! Find out about the next House Call & Mobile Vet Virtual Conference Music: In loving memory of Dr. Steve Weinberg. Intro and outro guitar music was written, performed, and recorded by house call veterinarian Dr. Steve Weinberg. Thank you to our sponsors! Chronos This podcast is also available in video on our House Call Vet Cafe YouTube channel  

Norman gives the second talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-2.mp3

Norman gives the first talk of the" Zen Mind Beginner's Mind"  2024 series based on Suzuki Roshi's book of the same name Suggested donation: $7 https://bit.ly/donate-edz-online-teachings We cannot continue offering teachings online without it. Thank you! https://everydayzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Mind-Suzuki-Roshi-Talk-1.mp3  

In this satsang, Swamiji shares from the teachings of the great Zen Master Suzuki Roshi. He begins by speaking a little about Buddhism and Suzuki Roshi's early life before reading from Suzuki's great book Zen Mind Beginner's Mind. This podcast was recorded live at The Ashram in Mount Eliza on the 30th of September, 2023. Watch the full satsang program with Swamiji and Devi Ma at The Ashram with a weekly subscription to The Ashram Online! This subscription will give you access to a library of over 100 hours of Swamiji's talks, meditation and chanting programs, hatha yoga classes and more. Click here to learn more.

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

Kami akan membahas cara belajar melihat dunia apa adanya melalui konsep Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Temukan bagaimana mengubah pikiran menjadi lebih positif dan membuka diri terhadap segala kemungkinan dalam kehidupan. Buku karya Shunryu Suzuki ini mengajarkan kita untuk mengadopsi pola pikir pemula yang bebas dari pengetahuan sebelumnya, meragukan, dan menerima segala sesuatu apa adanya. Dengan berpikir positif, kita dapat menghadapi tantangan dengan bijaksana dan melihat peluang dalam segala hal. Saksikan video ini untuk mendapatkan wawasan tentang cara berpikir positif dan menggali kebijaksanaan dari Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.me/user/clhb6d0v60kms01w226gw80p4/comments Powered by Firstory Hosting

A talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on Thursday, June 8th 2023 by Hozan Alan Senauke.

A talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on Thursday, June 1st 2023 by Hozan Alan Senauke.

A talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on Thursday, May 25th 2023 by Gerry Oliva.

A talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on Thursday, May 18th 2023 by Hozan Alan Senauke.

From her first encounter with Zen to her life as a poet, Black activist, and Zen teacher in Suzuki Roshi's lineage, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel shares her journey and how it has been informed by the wisdom of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.  

A talk given at Berkeley Zen Center on Saturday, May 13th 2023 by Hozan Alan Senauke.

In this week's podcast episode, Ashto and Jonesy explore the timeless wisdom of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, a classic book on Zen Buddhism written by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. This episode delves into the fundamental question of what is more important in life - is it about making a million dollars, or finding meaning in our efforts to be successful? Suzuki Roshi's teachings on zazen, posture, breathing, and perception of nonduality provide a clear and joyful path towards self-discovery and inner peace. A highly recommended read for seekers on the zen path, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind continues to inspire and guide a new generation of spiritual seekers. Join us this week as we explore the treasure of life and journey towards enlightenment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode we explore why it is important that as writers we are learning, always learning. I hope this gives you the confidence to allow yourself to be a beginner over and over, whilst recognising and honouring all that you do know and have learnt along the way. This episode includes:-       Thoughts on how a writing life is built-       What to do when you don't know what to write about-       A peek into my journal so you can see exactly how my thought process unfolds and I get to something juicyIn each episode, I will talk for about fifteen to twenty minutes, and then offer you a timed writing exercise at the end to try, for another ten minutes. Grab yourself a cuppa and settle in for a lovely writerly chat. With inspiration from Shunryu Suzuki and Kobayashi IssaI hope this podcast will help you write fearlessly, and with joy, and build a writing practice that nourishes you for the rest of your life. I'd love to see what writing it inspires – feel free to share by tagging me @bethkempton #fearlesswriterpodcastBethXxPS Please note there is a chunk of silence in this podcast. It is supposed to be there for the weekly writing exercise!Click here to download the transcriptThe theme music for The Fearless Writer Podcast is The River sung by Danni Nicholls, co-written by Danni Nicholls and me, Beth Kempton. Listen on iTunes / Spotify / Youtube and feel free to add it to your Instagram reels! See here for the lyrics and full credits.***Did you know the audiobook version of The Way of the Fearless Writer includes a full meditation album to help get the words flowing? You can get it here. Resources mentioned in this episode:The Way of the Fearless Writer by Beth Kempton (Piatkus). US/Canada edition HERE.Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (Shambhala) The Spring of My Life by Kobayashi Issa, translated by Sam Hamill (Shambhala)  p.144More at bethkempton.com / dowhatyouloveforlife.com / Instagram @bethkempton

This week Bryan Clark talks about gratitude and shares a reading from Zen Mind Beginner's Mind on Calmness

Tue, 24 May 2022 05:00:00 +0000 https://wandafulpodcast.podigee.io/123-from-whoness-to-whatness-the-4-tenets-of-buddhism-interview-with-zen-master-baker-roshi 2dcba4e8bf9b0b262234e9070498b98e In this podcast I am speaking to a very special guest: Zen Master Baker Roshi, teaching Zen Buddhism since 60 years. My parents are both students of him so I know him since I was a little child playing and drawing pictures while my parents where listening to his Zen lectures or meditating. I feel honored he took this invitation and speak to us about very important topics in this podcast. In this episode we speak about the meaning of Zen, the 4 tenets of Buddhism, what Enlightment means and the shift and practice from ‚whoness‘ to ‚whatness‘. And the future and what we can contribute for a better future. Enjoy listening and please share this episode with your family and friends. Buch: Zen Mind, Beginners Mind - Shunryu Suzuki (Unbedingt lesen!) Zen Buddhistisches, Meditation's & Retreat Zentrum: https://www.dharma-sangha.de Online Vorträge: https://live.dharma-sangha.de Biography Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi Zentatsu Richard Baker is the Founder and Head Teacher of the Dharma Sangha centers in the United States and Europe. In the United States he lives at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado; and in Germany, at the Zen Buddhist Zentrum Schwarzwald in the Black Forest, Germany. He has been teaching Zen-Buddhism for 60 years. From January through May, he lives and teaches in the USA, and from May through December he lives and teaches in Europe. At present, he gives online lectures every Sunday afternoon, which are open to anyone who is interested. He is the Dharma Successor of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the first Zen Master to establish residential and monastic practice for laypeople and monks in the West. Suzuki Roshi is also the author of Zen Mind Beginner's Mind. In 1966, with and for Suzuki Roshi, Baker Roshi co-founded the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California, the first traditional Zen monastery outside of Asia. From 1968 to 1971, he studied in Japan at Antaiji, Eiheiji, and Daitokuji Zen monasteries. He became Suzuki Roshi's Dharma Heir in 1969 and was installed by Suzuki Roshi as the second Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center in 1971. Baker Roshi subsequently founded the Green Gulch Zen Practice Community and Farm in Marin County, California in 1972. During the '70s, he pioneered a number of businesses related to Zen practice. In 1983, he founded the Dharma Sangha. 123 full no wanda badwal,yoga,meditation,zen,baker roshi Dj Quads

Seigen Johnson presents on Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Beginning with Ourselves.

Eli shares some commentary on a chapter in Zen Mind Beginner's Mind titled Mistakes in Practice. Come one come all, mistakes and all!

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The Haiku Zendo in Los Altos,, California, is where Shunryu Suzuki gave the lectures that made up Zen Mind, Beginner's MInd.    Cuke Audio is a production of Cuke Archives: preserving the legacy of Shunryu Suzuki and those whose paths crossed his - and anything else that comes to mind.

In this episode I talk with Jeanine who is a Yoga teacher, holistic coach and she gives card readings! We talk about how to live an intuitive life, why we need to be forgiving, how we can forgive and the power of smiling to people. This episode is for everybody. Things we mention: The law of attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks: https://www.abraham-hicks.com/the-law-of-attraction-the-basics-of-the-teachings-of-abraham/Zen mind beginner's mind by Shunryu Suzuki: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/402843.Zen_Mind_Beginner_s_MindScientific healing affirmations by Paramahansa Yogananda: https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Healing-Affirmations-Self-Realization-Fellowship/dp/087612144X Fantastic Fungi: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8258074/ About Jeanine: Jeanine's website: https://www.jeanineleenheer.nl/Jeanine's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/jeanineleenheer/ About Meghan: Website: www.meghanismindful.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/meghanismindful  Use code 'Podcast' to get 50% off from Meditation for students: https://www.meghanismindful.com/shop

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind' by Shunryu Suzuki is a musing on Zen Buddhism, enlightenment and meditation practice. Suzuki Roshi was a populariser of Zen in America and many regard this as one of the finest books on the topic. The core themes centre on the spiritual attainment of Buddha nature and the philosophy behind the practice of Zazen.I summarised the book as follows. "It's a succinct, simple & simultaneously confusing read. It explains the central essence of Zen without all the tradition or religiosity. There are some practical tips for meditation (Zazen) but is more heavy on the spirituality and grand concept of embodied enlightenment that Zen tries to convey. Personally I felt it became a bit repetitive at times and would also say that this book is NOT for everyone, better to have read it with some grounding in Buddhism or the other eastern religions."As always, I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro & Synopsis(2:24) - Buddha Nature: The already attained enlightenment within all(4:43) - Zazen: The practice of non-practice(7:29) - Personal Observations/Takeaways(10:34) - SummaryConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind' by Shunryu Suzuki is a musing on Zen Buddhism, enlightenment and meditation practice. Suzuki Roshi was a populariser of Zen in America and many regard this as one of the finest books on the topic. The core themes centre on the spiritual attainment of Buddha nature and the philosophy behind the practice of Zazen.I summarised the book as follows. "It's a succinct, simple & simultaneously confusing read. It explains the central essence of Zen without all the tradition or religiosity. There are some practical tips for meditation (Zazen) but is more heavy on the spirituality and grand concept of embodied enlightenment that Zen tries to convey. Personally I felt it became a bit repetitive at times and would also say that this book is NOT for everyone, better to have read it with some grounding in Buddhism or the other eastern religions."As always, I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro & Synopsis(2:24) - Buddha Nature: The already attained enlightenment within all(4:43) - Zazen: The practice of non-practice(7:29) - Personal Observations/Takeaways(10:34) - SummaryConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/

Reflections on “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.” --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bremer/support

Emma takes a deep look at the necessity of goallessness in practice. Reading from a piece about gaining ideas from Suzuki’s “Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind,” she asks the biggest conundrum in Zen. If there’s no goal, why are we doing this? It’s an encouraging talk of discouragement, a reclamation of the value of reality as its own reward, an exhortation towards an attitude of pure practice. “Do you think the purpose of practice is to become a better person?” she asks. And yet as Suzuki remind us, “When everyone understand the value of pure practice, we will have peace in the world.”

Robert Bonomo is a filmmaker, blogger, novelist, and esotericist. He has lived and worked in Madrid, San Francisco, Miami, Valencia, New York, China and a few other not so interesting places. All three of his novels including his latest release, Your Love Incomplete, are available as free downloads on Smashwords. He has been published in some of the leading alternative media sites including Counterpunch, LewRockwell.com, Global Research.com, The Mountain Astrologer and many more.In July of 2018 he released his documentary on the major arcana of the tarot, The 21 Faces of God. In this show we discuss; The origin of the Tarot Alchemy vs Tarot The devil card Why zero did not exist in Greek Exploring ZEN stories ZEN Mind Beginner’s mind book Analyzing the cards Moving beyond physical Transformation in life The DEVIL The Tower The Dark night of the soul Zen Concepts Killing the Buddha Finding Your Own Path The benefits of religion The down fails of religion The holy grail myth How to beware of psychic frauds Understanding You are Your Guru How to use a Tarot deck Website: http://www.mattbelair.com/podcast (sign up for the email list) and most importantly do 1 act of kindness today! :) Robert's Website: http://www.thecactusland.com/ Support the show for as little as $1 Here: http://www.patreon.com/mattbelair Donate: http://bit.ly/mattbelair Support by Doing an Act of Kindness for Someone Today! Subscribe: Podcast: http://goo.gl/1euQe7 YouTube: https://goo.gl/Mz7Ngg FREE STUFF: Guide to Lucid Dreaming E-Book and Guided Hypnotic Experience: http://www.mattbelair.com/luciddreaming 3 State of the Art, Brainwave Entrainment, 3-D Sound Experiences! http://bit.ly/gammawaves Free $50 Gift Card for any Purium Health Product: Including Cleanses, supplements, Weight Loss, CBD and more! http://www.bit.ly/activatehealth About Me: ======== ★★★ Learn from the most conscious and empowering leaders to help you master your mind body and spirit. We aim to transform your life and give you the tools to live with more peace, prosperity, love, and joy. To give you the keys to self-mastery and unlock your infinite potential. We provide you with timeless lessons, philosophies, and perspectives to help you live a life of joy and limitless possibility. We go deep into mindset, consciousness, mind power, psychology, spirituality, Zen and enlightenment with leading experts so you can learn and apply their secrets. Subscribe to join the community of those dedicated to transforming themselves and the planet! More: https://mattbelair.com/bio/ May Love, Joy, Passion, Peace, and Prosperity fill your life! Namaste

James Eke takes a look at Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and how bowing and the gratitude and compassion that go with it are so fundamental. We look at the importance of Jiu-Jitsu and what it is about the Art that makes it so special.

The best of them know that their peak performance never comes when they’re thinking about it. In this episode of Made You Think, Neil and Nat cover The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. Before you say “I don’t play tennis,” it’s not really about tennis. It teaches you how to better learn and teach by getting your conscious mind out of the driver seat, and letting your true ability present itself. If you enjoyed either The Way of Zen or Finite and Infinite Games, you’ll like this book as it describes many similar ideas. We cover a wide range of topics, including:    Improving your sense of calm during stressful situations. The nature of the subconscious and conscious minds. Getting into the flow-state and letting the subconscious express itself. How to better trust the subconscious mind. Why you should take time off to play more often. Learning things easier by observation and imitation. Why you should sometimes let things happen, rather than make them happen. And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of The Inner Game of Tennis and to check out Nat’s Notes on the book! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our episode on The Way of Zen by Alan Watts, to learn about Zen Buddhism and improving your life with it, and our episode on Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse, to learn how to push past your own self-limiting beliefs and to rethink everything. Be sure to join our mailing list to find out about what books are coming up, giveaways we're running, special events, and more.   Mentioned in the show: Lifehacker [3:20] University of Wisconsin [4:44] Buzzfeed [6:08] The Inner Game of Everything article [6:17] USC [6:30] The Components of Optimal Sexuality paper [8:13] Video of person climbing through drive-through window [13:03] Tai-Chi Push Hands [20:13] Nat Chat [28:24] Nat Chat episode with Thomas Frank [28:24] Nat Chat episode with Neil [32:18] Unlimited Brewing [33:19] Nat Chat episode with Charlie Hoehn [35:39] Game of Thrones [37:35] Starcraft [38:00] Discord [41:01] Reportive [47:56] RocketReach [47:57] The Five Levels to Expertise article [48:53] Deep House Relax playlist [1:02:35] Spotify [1:02:37] Listenonrepeat.com [1:03:07] Instapaper [1:04:28] Medium [1:04:35] Youtube Red [1:04:39] Adblocker [1:04:59] The effect of lipids on alcohol metabolism [1:07:46] Dota [1:19:36] Hearthstone [1:19:36] Books mentioned: The Inner Game of Tennis (Nat’s Notes) Godel Escher Bach [0:46] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance [1:34] The Way of Zen [2:42]  (Nat’s Notes) (Neil’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Rise of Superman [3:30] Finite and Infinite Games [3:45] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Switch [12:24] Winning Ugly [17:40] The Art of Learning [19:03] (Nat’s Notes) Thinking Fast and Slow [22:53] Antifragile [26:14] (Nat’s Notes) (Antifragile episode) Principles [29:41] (Nat’s Notes) (Principles episode) Mastery [30:03] (Nat’s Notes) (Mastery episode) Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind [30:50] (Nat’s Notes) Play It Away [34:03] The Score Takes Care of Itself [1:23:22] (Nat’s Notes) People mentioned: Timothy Gallwey Elon Musk [0:53] (How to Think Like Elon Musk episode) Pete Carroll [1:55] Steven Kotler [3:30] Phil Jackson [5:38] Al Gore [6:34] Nicole Kidman [7:45] Juliette Binoche [7:47] Derek Sivers [9:40] Plato [11:47] Chip and Dan Heath [12:24] Warren Buffett [14:59] Brad Gilbert [17:41] Boris Becker [18:01] Josh Waitzkin [19:03] Daniel Kahneman [22:47] Alan Watts [23:24] (Way of Zen episode) Thomas Frank [28:29] D.T. Suzuki [30:40] Shunryu Suzuki [30:52] Charlie Hoehn [34:02] Dreyfus Brothers [48:54] Ray Dalio [57:53] (Principles episode) Nassim Nicholas Taleb [1:08:20] (Antifragile episode) Conor McGregor [1:21:27] 0:00 - Introductory quote, a bit of background on the book, and some discussion on the flow state. “Trying to get into flow is paradoxical.” 3:44 - Some similar books to this one, examples of this book in popular culture, and a bit on the paradoxical nature of trying things that should happen more naturally. 8:38 - A common complaint found in most sports and how this applies to many different areas of life. Also, the issue of how our actions often do not match up with our thoughts. “It’s not that I don’t know what to do, it’s that I don’t do what I know.” 10:45 - (Tangent #1) - Thoughts on consciousness and being in control. The conscious mind, instinct, and the subconscious. “The mind is a three-part system and like a chariot. You’ve got two horses pulling the chariot which are desire and passion. The driver is reason.” 15:45 - Some more discussion on the mental dialogue that goes on and the correlation between “out of your mind”, “being in the zone”, and being in the flow-state. Also, a bit on agitating other players to get them out of the flow-state. 19:42 - Using high-intensity interval training and trying to calm down as fast as possible afterward, to transfer that into calming down much faster in stressful situations. 22:15 - The discovery of the two-selves (self-one: the conscious mind and self-two: the instinctual mind) and the differences between them. Also, a bit on trusting the instinctual mind more and a bit on the struggle between the two selves. 24:53 - Actions performed by the subconscious versus the conscious, and some discussion on the nature of learning various things. 26:55 - A bit more on trusting the subconscious mind, some positive examples of the subconscious mind, and an example of how consciously trying to do things can sacrifice natural fluidity. 30:33 - How to quiet your conscious mind so that you can get more into the subconscious state of being. Letting your subconscious express itself more. Also, a bit on the benefits of taking time to play and naturally explore things that you’re interested in. “Man is a thinking reed but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking.” 36:24 - More on taking time out of your day to play, and why television is not a good idea for play. Also, a bit on video games in general, games taking you out of the conscious and bringing you into the subconscious, and some of Nat and Neil’s experiences with gaming. 41:08 - A bit more of letting go of the conscious and letting go of judgments, as well. Trusting the subconscious and letting things happen, rather than making them happen. 43:08 - Discussion on learning by imitation and some thoughts on the importance of observing someone do something, since they may not be able to teach you everything through description. Also, a bit on why apprenticeships are so effective. 48:50 - The five levels of expertise and why you need different methods of learning at different levels. 51:05 - Changing your habits and changing your perspective from wanting to have control of everything to a more relaxed perspective where you trust the subconscious. Also, a bit on how things seem weird when you consciously focus on them, and how complex reading and communication seems. 55:34 - Thoughts on repeating things over and over before they become innate knowledge. Some discussion on simple processes emerging into something greater and the problem with programming these processes or innate knowledge. 1:00:36 - Trusting the subconscious and the difficulty with that. Some thoughts on what may help you trust the subconscious and get into the flow-state. 1:04:12 - Avoiding all ads and the negative impact of advertising on your subconscious mind. A bit on Tylenol and ibuprofen, hangovers, and the placebo effect. 1:09:17 - The recent backlash against wisdom teeth surgery, how only a third of people getting the surgery actually need it, and the negative health consequences. Also, how teeth back in the primitive times were perfect with no issues and how modern-day grain-based diets have negatively impacted our teeth and jaw formations. 1:12:50 - Discussion on allowing yourself to focus and some tips for getting out of the conscious and into the subconscious. A few examples of common transfers of conscious to the subconscious here, as well. 1:16:56 - The next section on the meaning of competition and some discussion on finding the balance between easy and difficult challenges, to maintain focus without getting bored or frustrated. A bit more on games, the competitive aspect of them, and antagonizing others for an advantage. 1:21:38 - The last section on taking the inner game off of the court. Responding appropriately to situations and maintaining an inner-balance. “The people who will best survive the current generation are those who can keep their heads while all are about to lose theirs.” 1:24:02 - Wrap-up, some closing thoughts, and some information on the bonuses included with a newsletter subscription. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com

Every move that an infinite player makes is towards the horizon, and every move a finite player makes is within a boundary. After reading Finite and Infinite Games, you’ll never see the world the same. This simple dichotomy, finite and infinite, will rethink how you see business, life, love, goals, friendships, play, war, and everything you come across. Once you learn to think about the horizon… there’s no going back. We covered a wide range of topics in this discussion, including: Improving your life with new perspectives Promoting personal growth by defining your boundaries and pushing past them Improving your motivation with the infinite mindset Finding the balance between over-working and contented leisure Consciousness and illusory experiences Insights into our relationship with nature And much more. Please enjoy, and be sure to grab a copy of Finite and Infinite Games! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our episode on Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, to learn more about the negative impacts that technology has on us and on how to prevent these impacts. Also, be sure to listen to our episode on Mastery by Robert Greene, to learn how to become a master at your craft and improve your life. Mentioned in the show: Made You Think Cryptocurrency episode [0:22] Valve [27:57] Steam [28:07] Zappos [28:59] Wait But Why [31:16] Elon Musk’s Secret Sauce article [31:17] Fight Through the Suck article [33:25] Narrative Fallacy [34:12] Made You Think Antifragile episode [34:15] Made You Think The Power of Myth episode [39:15] The Philosophy of Mind [47:04] What it’s Like to Be a Bat paper [47:05] The Cartesian [48:58] All Natural Apple Meme [1:09:02] Made You Think Amusing Ourselves to Death episode [1:15:42] The Lincoln Douglas debates [1:15:42] Books mentioned: Finite and Infinite Games The Red Book [19:05] Bhagavad Gita [21:45] (Nat’s Notes) The Way of Zen [21:48] (Nat’s Notes) Sapiens [22:36] (Nat’s Notes) Valve Employee Handbook [28:19] The Dip [32:43] (Nat’s Notes) Antifragile [34:15] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) The Snowball [36:40] The Power of Myth [39:15] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) The Quran [39:20] The Art of Seduction [55:50] (Nat’s Notes) The Game [55:52] (Nat’s Notes) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry [1:03:38] The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels [1:10:40] Amusing Ourselves to Death [1:15:42] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind [1:16:35] (Nat’s Notes) The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up [1:26:00] (Nat’s Notes) 1984 [1:31:26] The Sovereign Individual [1:36:32] (Nat’s Notes) (Made You Think episode) Godel Escher Bach [1:36:34] People mentioned: James P. Carse Taylor Pearson [0:19] Carl Jung [19:05] Bruce Lee [20:23] Plato [21:23] Seth Godin [32:43] Justin Mares [33:25] Nassim Nicholas Taleb [34:15] Warren Buffett [36:19] Kyrie Irving [38:27] Thomas Nagel [47:05] Descartes [48:58] Robert Greene [55:50] Neil Strauss [55:52] Neil DeGrasse Tyson [1:03:38] Elon Musk [1:14:04] Charles Darwin [1:15:37] 0:00 - Intro to the book’s discussion, a thesis quote from the book, and talking about the unique writing of the book. 2:48 - The difference between a finite and infinite game, some powerful lessons, and some real-world examples. 8:01 - The distinction between life or death games and some advice on finding the balance between working too much and being content with not working at all. 11:38 - Some more detail on the finite games, thoughts on the past nature that titles have, and thoughts on achieving your goals and accomplishing things. 18:08 - Our social nature, how that affects these games, and the collective consciousness. 20:43 - Ancient philosophy’s timeless nature and the wide range of influence that these philosophies have had. Also, thoughts on the development of various philosophies. 23:27 - Thoughts on war from the book and the author’s perspective on war. 25:52 - The theory on titles and accomplishments in regards to large and small companies as well as bureaucracy. 29:55 - Bureaucracy in schools, the finite game that schools are, and the title theory applied to schools and degrees. 31:08 - Thinking of everything as a game and taking more risks. Also, some thoughts on how much time you have for major projects that you can accomplish in your life and being selective with those projects. 34:42 - Thoughts on the past nature of wealth, showing wealth off, and wealth in general. 37:33 - Discussion on the boundaries of these games, how successful people think in regards to these boundaries, and constantly striving for a larger goal that’s never achieved. Expanding your boundaries, looking through them, and reaching for the horizon. 42:46 - Defining your boundaries by noticing resistance, and pushing through that resistance or increasing it continuously. Pushing past your limits, living on your edge, and recognizing these artificially self-imposed boundaries. 46:03 - The section on what we know to be true, illusory experiences, consciousness, and thoughts on uploading our brains and consciousness to computers, and teleporting ourselves and consciousnesses. 54:52 - The translation of the game towards sexuality and the infinite and finite players within that. Also, thoughts on sexuality and social hierarchy and sacrificing love for other things. 58:32 - The thoughts of parents being like an abstract audience, where even if they aren’t there, you’re still trying to impress them. Also, more on finite sexuality and infinite sexuality. 1:00:57 - The nature of a finite game and the limits of a finite game. “It’s all the limits that you choose to play the game within”. Also, applying this to the universe, applying it to time, and to other real-world examples. 1:05:18 - Using the infinite mindset to become more motivated for your goals, to achieve more, and to keep doing more. 1:06:58 - The chapter on nature and its horizons. How everything that happens is natural and how nature just is. 1:10:39 - The morality of fossil fuels, some thoughts on fossil fuel usage, and some more thoughts on the game of nature. 1:14:08 - The author’s perspective on explanation and its relation to arguments. Also, the nature of arguments in general. 1:17:44 - Discussion on our control over nature and us versus nature. Also, the author’s thoughts on traveling and some discussion on different areas around the world. 1:21:45 - The chapter on nature and the machine world. The comparison of machines with gardens. 1:26:29 - Thoughts on all types waste and how we view waste. 1:27:48 - The book’s section on myth, and some discussion on myth and the relationship with infinite and finite players. 1:32:06 - Thoughts on how there is but one infinite game, and some interpretations of this thought. Also, the master player and how they play these finite and infinite games. 1:34:46 - Wrap-up and some closing thoughts. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe at https://madeyouthinkpodcast.com If you’re thinking about it from a more infinite standpoint, the goal is to simply keep building it, keep growing it, and keep making it bigger. There’s not really a clear end goal that you’re getting to.

Episode 118: Mansal Denton is the co-founder of Nootropedia (new-trow-picks), which is an unbiased and accessible platform to learn about nootropics and smart drugs. When he isn't improving cognitive function in others, he enjoys a host of active hobbies. He likes jiu-jitsu when his body allows, meditation, and a healthy dose of travel. He enjoys learning lessons whether they come from life experience or books and podcasts. Show notes: How My Insecurities Led Me To Prison by Mansal Denton In Prison I Found My Freedom Through My Personal Discipline Why Mansal stole historical documents in order to visit a woman in Europe How getting arrested changed and challenged him, but how 6 months in prison completely transformed him How "Mans" was the nickname he wanted people to call him so they wouldn't find out about his sentencing His parents' reaction when they found out about his theft The process he took in order to start speaking up, and eventually shouting out, to release shame I share something about my past I've never shared before...(It involves stealing... yup!) The science behind empathy and how people take on others' emotions The beautiful balance between surrendering to what you cannot control, and controlling what you can Discipline that creates SHAME looks like: "I have to do XYZ or I'm not good enough" whereas discipline that creates FREEDOM looks like: "I want to do XYZ because that will get me closer to the person I want to be." How Mansal created discipline and routine in prison (and why he was adamant about sticking to it) Making lists every single day kept him in a creative spurt His desire to keep his body active and moving in prison (with very little outdoor time) The types of food that you have to eat in prison, and how Mansal learned to let go his standards of food The time Mansal had to stand up for himself in prison, and some of the things you have to watch out for Must-read book: Zen Mind Beginner's Mind Connect with Mansal: Website Twitter Facebook [Tweet "If you went to prison, do you think you would leave a better person? Here's what happened to Mansal."] READY TO UNCOVER YOUR DREAMS? For only those that are ready and committed, click HERE to apply for my 1:1 coaching program. Become a Patreon for the show and pledge as little as $1 per episode HERE.