On this episode, we’ll be taking a sonic rocket ride to the past, back to a series of conversations which Jess and I recorded in the final few weeks before her son was born. Our super special guest is Annie Sussman!

Jess offers a guided equanimity meditation that riffs on the dialogue we were having during Episode Two of Season 2.

Now that Jess has joined Jon on his long walk down the long pier of parenting, we’ll be taking a different angle on the discussions this season: What does it mean to bring dhamma practice into parenting, and parenting into dhamma practice? Our super special guest is Cara Lai.

Cara leads us in a meditation on the care and feeding of the present moment. “Slowly, we develop a taste for being present for our lives. We give our attention the opportunity to see for itself what it really wants to be with. What else is happening in the real, tangible, here and now world that I’m missing out on, if I’m lost in thought? We start to develop a refined taste for the mundane.”

Today’s topic: RELATIONSHIPS! As late celebrity monk Ajahn Chah once said, “The most convenient way to practice meditation is as a monastic, because monastics are celibate.” But I guess human relationships must be pretty good, because we just keep coming back for more. So if we can’t stop ourselves from such holy foolishness in this lifetime, maybe mindfulness can offer our hearts a leg-up? Our super-special guest is Devon Hase.

The heart of the mindfulness-adjacent paradigm known as non-violent communication explores the following: how underlying needs and values cause a person to perceive another person’s behavior in a certain light, particularly during difficult exchanges. This exploration is a way to lead both parties back to a state of empathy and compassion.

As machete-voiced beatnik philosopher Tom Waits is wont to remind us, “We’re chained to the world, and we’ve all got to pull.” Some of us our able to make the best of our embedment in the natural world, but others will never stop being freaked out by it. Jess helps Jon see a little bit of the loving presence in nature, while also instructing him in how to properly get eaten by bears. Our super special guest is Khalila Archer.

Jess offers a meditation intended to help one gain comfort with discomfort—whether they be in nature, or anywhere else.

Today’s topic: PARENTING! Trying to achieve even a shred of enlightenment is challenging enough without, at the same time, attempting to keep an entire extra human alive. Jess tries to prove to Jon using tricky Buddhist math that it may, in fact, be possible to achieve spiritual fulfillment not in spite of being a parent, but perhaps even because of it. Our super special guest is Kaira Jewel Lingo.

Jess offers a meditation in which loving-kindness is interwoven with equanimity, to create a veritable brahmavihara spice mix, with which any of us might generously season our experiences.