Eric & Chris on Friendship

Please Support The Show with a Donation Robert Wright is an author and a scholar. His most recent book, Why Buddhism is True, is an analytical look comparing the ancient concepts of Buddhism and the more recent findings of modern science. The title of his book may be a bit provocative, but we challenge you to hear him out before assuming what he writes about in his book on the topic. We think you'll find this interview thought provoking and interesting as well as instructive and helpful. Whatever your reaction to the episode, we'd love to hear about it.   $30 off your first week of Hello Fresh www.hellofresh.com Enter Promo Code Feed30  UltraMax 3 Ultra Pure Omega 3s www.tryomax.com/wolf box of Omax 3 UltraPure for free In This Interview, Robert Wright and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable His book, Why Buddhism is True Evolutionary Psychology That according to Evolutionary Psychology we're wired to do what's best to propagate our genes into the next generation And how sometimes doing that might not be what's best for ourselves or the world That we're wired for a recurring dissatisfaction or discontented so we'd keep doing the things that would move us toward our goal of passing our genes on to the next generation Craving and Aversion Not following craving and aversion as guides are central to Buddhism According to Buddhism if we don't run from unpleasant feelings like sadness, anxiety etc, they will actually become less painful over time That the Buddha intuited a lot of things that we now know to be true according to modern science and evolutionary psychology How our thoughts can sometimes subtlely influence us - ex Cognitive Bias Cognitive Bias being driven by emotion rather than being rational & Buddhism teaches that The Buddhist conception of the mind/brain and modern psychology's conception of the mind/brain are very aligned In the cognitive battle for attention, the thought that "wins" is the one that has the most feeling attached to it How meditation can help give you clarity on thoughts and feelings and the difference between the two CBT & questioning your thoughts and feelings in Buddhism Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Allowing and observing rather than acting on our strong feelings The anguish we add to physical pain by the anticipation of it or the lamenting of it Essences that we impute into things The idea of not self and what it means The benefit of parceling out the things that we identify - like anxious feelings - as not being ourselves Thinking you're not cut out for meditation Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Mars 201856min

We all want answers, but often they aren't forthcoming. Learning to live within and with the questions is a art to learn. If you like these mini episodes Patrons get a bonus episode every month. Details here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Mars 20189min

Please Support The Show with a Donation Catherine Gray is an award-winning writer and editor. Her most recent book is called, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober. What a brilliant title and what a brilliant book. In it - and in this interview - Catherine offers so many good ideas, phrases, and pearls of wisdom to take away and keep close by. She shares a bit about her journey to and through sobriety with Eric and the critical "ah ha" moments along the way that really helped her build the life she's living today. If you don't have a revelatory moment when listening to her in this interview, we'll be surprised. Our sponsor this week is Casper Mattress visit  www.casper.com/oneyoufeed and use the promo code theoneyoufeed for $50 off your purchase In This Interview, Catherine Gray and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable Her book, The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober The challenge of training our brains to look for the good stuff in life The question: Would my life be better sober? instead of Am I an alcoholic? Rock bottom being a different place for different people at different times The challenge of moderation The beautiful clarity of zero The limbic system in distress with indecision Controlling vs Enjoying drinking Alchohol being like a cheat code in a video game when it comes to inhibition That no one regrets being sober The awful feelings at the beginning of getting sober are what you feel like because of the drinking, not the getting sober Learning the skills to enjoy life sober Addictive voice recognition Negative Thought Patterns: B&B  Children in a car Bird watching That there are many different ways to get sober How expectations are resentments under construction Day counting in being sober I don't vs I can't   Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Mars 201850min

Please Support The Show with a Donation Paul Dolan is a Professor of Behavioral Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He's an expert on human behavior and happiness. Paul is also the author of the best selling book, Happiness By Design: Change What You Do Not What You Think. We all want happiness in our lives yet happiness is something that so often eludes most people. It seems like a feeling that happens to us rather than a feeling that we can cultivate with intention. In this interview, Paul teaches some really practical, research-based, action-oriented approaches to life that we can take today to increase our feelings of happiness. The first step? Listen to this informative and interesting interview.  Omax3 Ultrapure go to www.tryomax.com/wolf and try a box for free In This Interview, Paul Dolan and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable His book, Happiness By Design: Change What You Do Not What You Think The power of designing your environment Find a balance of purpose and pleasure and you have a happy life How a large part of how you feel is connected to what you do The role of attention in happiness What we think would make us happy vs what does make us happy That we're not very good at predicting what will make us happy The AREA model How we must make sense of what's happened in order to adapt to it Key to happiness is also to pay more attention to what makes you happy and less attention to what doesn't make you happy Why somethings that are so obvious are so often overlooked If you can't change what you do, change what you pay attention to in the experience If you want to do something, make it easy for yourself to do it Less about willpower and more about design power Habit loops Queuing your environment, commitment and norm Deciding, Designing and Doing If you want to do something, make it easy. If you don't want to do something make it hard Please Support The Show with a Donation   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Feb 201837min

Please Support The Show with a Donation Ellen Bass is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her work has won award after award and rightly so - there's something so powerful, beautiful, true and often times darkly funny in her work. She says that writing poetry - as well as reading it - is an inquiry more than a description. Isn't that an interesting perspective to consider?  In this episode, you'll hear her read some of her work, share her insights and experiences in life, talk about the process of writing poetry and offer some ideas that perhaps you had not considered before - especially in the way she does. Regardless of whether or not you think of yourself as a lover of poetry, you'll be touched by this episode. She is the author of Like a Beggar, The Human Line, Mules of Love, and The Courage to Heal Sponsors www.audible.com/oneyoufeed or text oneyoufeed 500-500 to get a free book    www.casper.com/oneyoufeed and get $50 toward select mattresses promo code: oneyoufeed    In This Interview, Ellen Bass and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable Her book, Like a Beggar That poetry is an inquiry more than a description Discovering something about oneself when writing and reading poetry Her poem, Relax Tasting life Thinking about how you are "right now" The role of finding similarities in disparate things when using metaphor The oneness of the world Working hard in the chair to be a poet How no one would expect a person to pick up a saxophone and immediately be able to play and the same is true for writing poetry Her poem, Asking Directions in Paris Using God in her poetry Her poem, If You Knew How because of mortality, one day, we as individuals are going to lose everything That poetry helps us to see deeply into the beauty of things that are right in front of us Introducing poetry to others as you would a novel The important role of humor Poets she mentioned: Marie Howe Jericho Brown Natalie Diaz   Please Support The Show with a Donation   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Feb 201846min

Please Support The Show with a Donation Will Schwalbe is an author, entrepreneur, and journalist. He is also perhaps the most delightful, interesting and thoughtful person you've come across in a while. His love of books is infectious and as you know, Eric is a bibliophile himself so when the two talk about books and reading as they do in this episode, the result is one blissful experience. Do you love reading? Did you used to love reading but it's moved out of the spotlight of your life? Have you wanted to cultivate a love of reading? Are you looking for some really wonderful books to read? Are you alive and breathing? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then this interview is for you. He is the author of  Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing Life, The End of Your Life Book Club and SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better   Omax3 Ultrapure go to www.tryomax.com/wolf and try a box for free In This Interview, Will Schwalbe and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable His book, Books for Living, Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting and Embracing Life The importance of reading That reading isn't binary That every time we read, we become better at reading How reading can promote empathy How we connect through books The practice of "visiting your books" How he chooses which book to read next The way books can be a bio of your life The primary emotion he has at the beginning of reading a book Live to work vs work to live The freedom to quit The freedom of mediocrity Good being the enemy of great You write the books you need That our devices allow us to rob ourselves of silence How reading is an art The "can't you tell I'm reading" face His favorite books that he's read recently that were written recently Will Schwalbe Links Homepage Twitter Facebook   Please Support The Show with a Donation   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Feb 201849min

Please Support The Show with a Donation David Loy is a professor, prolific writer, and teacher in the Japanese Zen Buddhism tradition. Much of his work has to do with what has happened as Buddhism has encountered modern western culture and vice versa. In this episode, we dive into this topic via a discussion of his book, A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World. David presents us with a different lens through which to look at this intersection of cultures which will also thereby change the way you look at yourself.  Casper Mattress (www.casper.com/oneyoufeed) promo code oneyoufeed and get $50 off select mattresses  In This Interview, David Loy and I Discuss... The Wolf Parable His book, A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World Buddhism in the West today The mindfulness movement The play between Buddhism and Psychotherapy The role of the self The danger of spiritual by-pass The delicate line of feeling our difficult emotions and foregoing our emotions Transcend the world? Adapt to the world? or See the world differently? That the sense of self that we think we have is not as solid or real as we think How meditation helps us let go of delusional perceptions of the world Our true nature The true nature of the world Buddhism and emptiness The sense of self is obscuring the nature or our minds which in themselves have no form or characteristics in and of themselves Liberating our awareness from being stuck on things we're thinking about A collection of psychological processes that are happening within us The process of trying to find the self Realizing the truth of "that which is looking is that which we are looking for" Non-dualism The illusion perpetuated by a sense of lack Pursuing "things" to deal with the sense of lack because we don't really know what else to do to deal with it Consumerism Greed Ill will Our militarized society The institutionalized systems that are running of their own accord The duality of good vs evil and vilifying the "other" in the Judeo Christian West The importance of personal transformation in our cultural transformation What Buddhism is loosing as it moves into the modern world What Buddhism is gaining as it moves into the modern world The meditative and contemplative practices of Buddhism that can help us transform ourselves Social transformation and Individual transformation  Please Support The Show with a Donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Feb 201838min

When you are feeling down is it better to push yourself to do the things you know are good for you or should you allow yourself to take it easy and do less? Depends.... If you like these mini episodes donate to our Patreon campaign and get an extra mini episode per month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Feb 20189min