On this episode I am joined by not just one, but two special guests: With me in my studio was my buddy Leandro (in fact many of my videos are inspired by our endless discussions on philosophy and living a good life!), who had a little fanboy moment because we got to chat with one of his long-time heroes, Brad Warner. Brad is the founder of the Soto Zen Meditation Center in LA as well as a punk rocker, ordained monk, and creator of monster movies. He is also the author of Hardcore Zen and many other books on Zen practice, monsters, and death, so we had a great time diving deep into sitting still and doing nothing!

Max Out Insights:

A committed spiritual practice is like putting yourself in jail - you give up your freedom to acquire discipline

Emotional states are like the weather - they come and go all the time. When you stop attaching to and owning your emotions, they lose their control over you

What makes happiness go away is trying to hold onto it

The pursuit of enlightenment has no finish line

Sports and music can be a great substitute for meditation to get into the present moment

It`s the attachment to outcomes that causes much of human suffering

Instead of arguing to win, argue to find the truth. That way, losing is actually a good thing because it means you learnt a new/better perspective

Your reason for meditation is the thing that makes you sit down, but once you do sit down you need to let go of that

Zazen is good for nothing - you`re not trying to do something with it, just be present and do what you do completely

Often, people become more stressed through meditation because it makes the darker parts of your mind reveal themselves. This is a natural process of diving deeper into your own psyche, but can be difficult to handle when it comes as a surprise

Society makes us believe that we need to be happy all the time, which makes us avoid pain, sadness, and suffering

When you limit your access to distraction, you free up your time and energy to focus on the things that matter

Suffering is often connected with the sense of self: “I am bad/useless/incapable etc.”

Question all your beliefs and judgements in regards to yourself and others

Max Out Quotes:

“If you want to have a happy life, you have to establish some kind of discipline. If you have too much of what people call freedom, life becomes chaotic.”

“When people realize that the thing they`re attached to is an illusion, they often freak out and stop the practice.”

“You can`t contribute to the world if you`re not balanced yourself.”

“Just try to make a small difference.”

“Do the thing you`re doing, but don`t concern yourself with the outcomes. Do it as purely as possible.”