Awaken

What does it look like to put what we’ve learned about non-attachment into practice? In this episode, all the guests in the series share their practices for working through their attachments and moving toward a more open relationship to oneself and life as a whole. Ultimately, it’s not about having no attachments—that’s almost impossible—but bringing presence and awareness to each moment.

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar, chef Reem Assil, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and writer, professor, and photographer Ocean Vuong. The Tibetan at the start of the episode is spoken by Tashi Chodron. 

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We might want to believe that there is a definitive end—a clear point where some patterns have died and new ones have been born—but in fact, we are always in a process of realization. It’s a continuous cycle of forgetting and remembering to let go of expectations and remain open to each moment. It might seem small but these shifts in awareness have the potential to be completely transformative. 

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and writer, professor, and photographer Ocean Vuong. The Tibetan at the start of the episode is spoken by Tashi Chodron.

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Freedom from attachment doesn’t require leaving home and renouncing all our ties to family and friends like the Buddha did. It’s something that is available to all of us, in each moment, in everyday life. Letting go of expectations and self-imposed identities can create space to tune into what’s truly important and follow a path that feels authentic and meaningful.  

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan at the start of the episode is spoken by Tashi Chodron. 

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How does non-attachment awaken us to our interdependence? We cannot exist without each other and the world around us. When we recognize this fact, not only do we free ourselves from self-focus and feel more connected, but we start to notice the extraordinary in the ordinary and recognize our collective responsibility to care for one another and our world. 

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include chef Reem Assil, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, artist Asha Kama Wangdi, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan at the start of the episode is spoken by Tashi Chodron. The Tibetan at the start of the episodes is spoken by Tashi Chodron.

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The concept of non-attachment seems particularly confounding in the context of love. How can we not be attached to the people closest to our hearts? It’s not about loving or not loving, but rather how we love. Openness and compassion are the foundation for not only loving without expectations and conditions but also loving in service of one another. 

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and writer, professor, and photographer Ocean Vuong. The Tibetan at the start of the episodes is spoken by Tashi Chodron.

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Many of the challenges that arise with attachment are related to the ego: who you think you are and how you think others should feel about you. By holding onto our sense of self too tightly, we end up seeing ourselves as alone and separate from one another. How can loosening our grip on the ego help us step into the fundamental truth of our interconnectedness?

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

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It’s almost impossible to have no attachments. So what does non-attachment actually mean? Depending on the context, it can be easily misunderstood. But from the Buddhist perspective, it’s not about letting go of what we hold dear—it’s about releasing attachments to outcomes, points of view, and expectations that keep us from fully engaging with life. 

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

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To understand non-attachment, we first have to understand attachment. It’s a fundamental part of the human experience. We cling not only to what makes us feel good but also to our identities, beliefs, and expectations of how things should be. But how does attachment function in our lives? And how can bringing greater awareness to it help shift our perspective of ourselves and the world?

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, artist Prithvi Shrestha, teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and writer, professor, and photographer Ocean Vuong.

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Welcome to Season 4 of AWAKEN—a Webby Honoree podcast about the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to “wake up.” Hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, this season delves into the complex Buddhist concept of attachment and explores how the practice of letting go of preconceived ideas, beliefs, and idenities can transform our experience of the world. 

Trailer voices in order of appearance: Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson; author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor; contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman; teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche; and scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin.

AWAKEN Season 4 will launch on November 12, 2024.

Everyone has spent time wondering about it, but no one can say for sure: What happens after we die? In the last episode of the season, all of the guests in the series consider this question and consider how believing or not believing in the afterlife impacts how they live. If death is simply a transition from one state to the next, then how do we imagine life after?  

View the artwork discussed in this episode, beginning at 14:45.

Read about this artwork, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/life-after-the-afterlife-awaken-podcast

AWAKEN Season 3 is hosted by singer and songwriter Falu. Guests featured in this episode include Visionary artists and founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors Alex and Allyson Grey, poet Marie Howe, writer and professor Kiese Laymon, artist, director, and author Chella Man, professor, clinical psychologist, and scientist Dr. Lisa Miller, writer and editor Haley Nahman, artist and podcaster Nigel Poor, Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, meditation teacher and writer Sebene Selassie, neuroscientist and author Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, author and poet Michelle Tea, neuroscientist Dr. Kay Tye, and meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

• (14:45) - A Folio from a Manuscript of the Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State (Bardo Thodrol)