Buddhability

Download the Buddhability App
Apple iOS
Android

Great artists are authentic. It’s how they are able to connect to enormous audiences, yet each person experiencing the music, or art, feels directly spoken to. What would you do if you could go through life with this kind of genuine, inspiring power?

Being yourself, truly yourself, is hard. Today, we speak with legendary Grammy-winning jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding about how Buddhism has helped them become their most authentic selves.

P.S. The book mentioned in the episode is called Reaching Beyond: Improvisations on Jazz, Buddhism, and a Joyful Life.

Cheatsheet:

1:25 Introduction to Wayne & Esperanza

2:41 How Esperanza discovered Buddhism

5:22 Why Wayne started chanting

7:11 How Wayne discovered a deeper purpose to playing music

8:10 How chanting helped Wayne see himself more clearly

12:23 Esperanza on authenticity as a musician

17:35 Wayne on how Buddhism can help you check yourself

19:25 Esperanza on how to unlock your own capacity

20:34 Some notes on Esperanza’s “life force”

21:48 On Wayne & Esperanza’s friendship

23:33 Wayne’s advice to anyone who feels stuck with their art or work

24:57 A key lesson from today’s conversation

Download the Buddhability App
Apple iOS
Android

Deciding on your career is hard. If you’ve ever felt like what you’re passionate about and what you do for work don’t align, this episode is for you. Climate activist Roberta Giordano shares how she found the courage to make the bold decision of committing full time to fight climate change and how, through chanting, you can do the same, whatever your passion or cause might be.

Cheatsheet:
1:22 Episode Intro
2:14 Intro to Roberta Giordano
4:15 How her childhood fears influenced her career
7:08 How she started practicing Buddhism in college
12:00 The first steps she took to fight climate change
15:21 How chanting helped her decide what impact she could make
18:35 The difference between actually believing in yourself vs. telling yourself to
19:50 How chanting can help you process your feelings and take action
22:11 How Roberta found the courage to choose a career in climate finance
27:00 What to do when you feel small or overwhelmed along your way
31:00 Key takeaways from Roberta’s story

Download the Buddhability App
Apple iOS
Android

This week, we speak with psychotherapist Sean Grover about how therapy works, what its limits are, and what it takes to actually change yourself for the better. He also shares insights from his own Buddhist practice and what chanting can offer in the journey of self-transformation. 

Key takeaway: Human beings heal through relationships, so how you show up in relationships matters … a lot. If you want to be really, truly happy, you have to learn to care for yourself well, to be yourself around other people, and also learn to care for other people well. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and having a supportive community can help you do all of the above.

Cheatsheet:

1:14 Episode Intro

2:12 Introduction to Sean

2:36 Why he started practicing Buddhism

6:16 What brings people to therapy

8:14 The difference between temporary and sustainable happiness

11:05 The growth of self-awareness practices

16:15 The limits of therapy and mindfulness

18:23 How Buddhism can tackle the ego

20:27 Why changing yourself is so hard

22:19 What the Bodhisattva vow is, in plain English

25:42 Why mastering human relationships is the key to most problems

26:25 Creating a culture of caring for others

29:43 How not to get drained by giving to others

33:14 How therapy and Buddhism can work together

37:08 Next week’s show

Download the Buddhability App
Apple iOS
Android

This episode is a masterclass in how to get the world to see you the way you see yourself. 

We speak with trans rights activist, actress (you might recognize her as Candy from FX's Pose) and founder of TransTech Social Enterprises, Angelica Ross. She constantly shares about Buddhism in interviews, but today we’re talking about a deeply personal part of her life that chanting helped her transform: her relationship with her mom. 

For more from Angelica, also see our recent IGTV video. 

Cheatsheet: 

0:00 Welcome to Buddhability 

0:34 Intro to Angelica Ross 

1:20 How Angelica transformed her relationship with her mom  

7:06 What chanting allowed her to bring out of her own life despite the hurt 

15:19 How chanting helps her navigate so many projects and relationships 

19:46 Angelica explains Nichiren Buddhism for new listeners   

21:26 What Angelica’s chanting (and daily) routine looks like 

24:03 Angelica’s dream for the rest of the 21st century

You can also subscribe to Buddhability on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts. 

Download the Buddhability App
Apple iOS
Android

Welcome to Buddhability, a new weekly podcast about the amazing ability people have to change their lives and the world.

On this episode, we welcome you to the show and Buddhability universe, and speak with Cynthia McCright about what Buddhability is and how you can tap into it.

You can also subscribe to Buddhability on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.

Cheatsheet:

0:00 Welcome to Buddhability

1:38 Basics of Buddhism

3:39 How and why Cynthia started chanting

6:58 What she was able to tap into by chanting

10:25 What believing in yourself actually means

14:35 How chanting can help you transform your biggest fears

20:11 Why working hard at the thing in front of you can impact all parts of your life

23:14 How chanting gets deeper over time, and chanting vs. mindfulness

28:11 Cynthia’s big takeaway for everyone listening

28:49 Recap of today’s discussion

Buddhability is a new weekly podcast about how to believe in yourself, told by a community of Buddhists doing it every day.

Hosted by journalist Jihii Jolly, who you might know from the popular SGI-USA podcast Buddhist Solutions for Life’s Problems, each week you’ll hear an honest conversation about real life and how to tap into your Buddhability. From relationships and dream jobs to lessons from psychology and activism, subscribe to Buddhability on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts so you never miss an episode.