Spirituality can be the biggest ego trip of all.

In this episode, Jacob works through Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's concept of spiritual materialism — the subtle (and not so subtle) ways the ego hijacks spiritual practice and turns it into another identity, another badge, another club to belong to.

From growing up in church to virtue signaling on Instagram, from religious one-upmanship to the meditator who thinks everyone else is asleep — Jacob traces how belonging and truth are not the same thing, and why the path only becomes real when you stop performing it.

This episode covers:

• Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
• Belonging vs. truth — and why only one of them sets you free
• Roles, identities, and spiritual one-upmanship across every tradition
• Richard Rohr on mistaking the messenger for the message
• Jesus on righteousness for show (Matthew 6)
• The Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18)
• Triangulating traditions — Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism
• Closing with Kabir's The Breath Inside the Breath

If you've ever caught yourself performing your spirituality, this episode is the mirror.

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Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.