The long-awaited part 2 of my conversation with Stephen Torrence is finally up! 

In Part 1 we talked about how Stephen grew up and branched away from his Austin roots and how he found Vipassana. Since then he's lived in various monasteries throughout the US and became a young Buddhist monk. 

In Part 2 of my conversation with Stephen, we reflect on how the teachings of the Buddha can offer us a more true experience of reality when analyzed through various modes of attention. 

Video games offer many models of reality. Is the view of our life a first-person shooter? Or are we in god-mode as a world creator? Stephen applied these questions to his Vipassana practice to allow for more nuanced perspectives in mediation both in and off the cushion. 

What if the self is not a noun, but a verb? The view that our beings are separate gets in the way of the system's natural flow. It was a powerful revelation to see how my own romantic perspective of Buddhism may have clouded true mindfulness. 

The hunger to experience perfection is what keeps us in samsara. The clinging to becoming inhibits true being. Yet throwing your hands up and giving into nihilism or hedonism doesn't relieve suffering. Listen till the end to enjoy this exploration toward the middle Way.

An Austin native turned Buddhist monk, my first guest is Stephen Torrence. We get into his evolution from a tech startup geek, to touring ecovillages around the world, to becoming a practicing monk, and elaborate on how suffering sneaks into our daily lives. 

If you're on a spiritual journey and keep finding yourself looking out in the world for the next thing that'll lead to fulfillment, consider that what you're looking for is already inside of you, and consider listening to this episode of Stephen's fascinating story and how Buddhism has transformed his life.

This is an introductory episode to an exploration of our individual and collective selves as soulful expressions. I cover what the podcast is about and where it's headed in hopes to inspire my fellow creators to jump into the stream of new beginnings.