Adam and Nick are two PhDs in Asian comparative studies: Adam from the philosophy side, Nick from the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist and leadership coaching side. Together, they trace a path from the ancient Vedas and Upanishads to the Buddha, Dzogchen, and modern life.

They talk about the way between as the living relationship between two people; teacher and student, East and West, self and world...and how Indo-Tibetan ideas of co-emergent awareness and Confucian ideas of “heaven within” meet in daily life.

From there they move into the four stages and four aims of life: being a student, seeking love and pleasure, becoming a householder, and finally turning toward wisdom and enlightenment. Adam connects this to suburban parents in the “thick of it,” and Nick brings in his work with leaders who keep trying to solve new problems with old tools.

Along the way they explore:

• Why samsara is like a dream elephant that was never in the room to begin with
• How Dzogchen and Mahamudra see the world as the playful display of awareness itself
• The shift from big Vedic rituals to the interior wisdom of the Upanishads
• Hidden “village” and family lineages in martial arts, healing, and meditation
• The four stages of life and the four aims of life—and why the householder stage feels so intense
• Letting go of old identities (like the boat you leave on the far shore) so the next stage can unfold
• Why your own “circle” or mandala of experience really does matter for the whole universe

They close by inviting you to notice: Where are you in your own stage of life? What are you being asked to let go of; and what wants to grow now?

If this conversation resonates, please follow, rate, and share The Way Between Podcast, and leave a comment about which stage of life you’re in right now. Your feedback will help shape future episodes.

• indian philosophy
• vedas
• upanishads
• buddhism
• indo tibetan buddhism
• dzogchen
• mahamudra
• samsara
• four stages of life
• four aims of life
• confucianism
• taoism
• lao tzu
• carl jung
• heinrich zimmer
• leadership and spirituality
• householder stage
• the way between podcast

In the first standalone episode of The Way Between Podcast, Adam Dietz and Nick Egan explore the living roots of Chinese philosophy; from Confucius and the sage kings to the practice of balancing yin and yang in modern life.

They trace how propriety, music, and balance once guided whole cultures and how the same wisdom still applies to our daily rhythms...parenting, work, rest, and renewal.

🪷 Topics include

• Confucius and the Book of Changes

• The balance of yin (rest, humility, earth) and yang (action, clarity, heaven)

• The Doctrine of the Mean as living equilibrium

• Mencius and the innate goodness of human nature

• What it means to live a harmonious life today

🎙 Featuring

Adam Dietz (The Way Between Podcast)

Nick Egan (Shift Leadership Group / nickeganphd.com)

#Philosophy #Confucius #Dao #YinYang #Balance #Mindfulness #TheWayBetweenPodcast

What happens when AI meets the Middle Way? In this crossover between The Way Between Podcast and The Living Conversation, Adam Dietz and Anthony Wright speak with Dr. Nick Egan about Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, and whether artificial intelligence could ever have consciousness, or Buddha nature. The conversation explores the harmony between technology and spirituality, the limits of mind, and how to live wisely in an age of machines.

In this special crossover episode between The Way Between Podcast and The Living Conversation, host Adam Dietz joins Anthony Wright to talk with Nick Egan, PhD, a leadership coach and longtime Buddhist practitioner, about the question: Does AI have Buddha nature?

Together they explore:

• The Middle Way between fear and worship of technology
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• What Buddhist and Confucian thought reveal about consciousness
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• The difference between using the tool and being used by it
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• Why the mind’s true nature can’t be replicated in code
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• Spiritual materialism and the traps of attachment—even to enlightenment itself

Mentioned in this episode:

– Jacuzo Kwong Roshi (Sonoma Mountain Zen Center)

– Tibetan ideas of mind-stream (sem gyu)

– Alan Watts, Trunkpa Rinpoche, and the Dalai Lama

– Confucian harmony and the “heavenly mandate”

🜂 “If we’re doing our job as human beings,” Adam says, “we harmonize whatever comes our way; even AI.”

Find the hosts:

• Adam Dietz → thewaybetween.substack.com
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• Anthony Wright → theonat.com
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• Guest Nick Egan → nickeganphd.com

When Ways Meet launches The Way Between Podcast, a new series by philosopher and teacher Adam Dietz, joined by Anthony Wright and Nick Egan.

Together, they explore how philosophy can be lived — not just studied — drawing on Socrates, Confucius, Daoism, Zen, and modern mindfulness to ask the enduring question: How should I live?

This opening conversation bridges The Living Conversation and The Way Between Podcast, tracing the meeting of East and West, teacher and student, thought and action.

In this episode:

• The origins of The Way Between Podcast

• What makes a “living philosophy”

• How ancient wisdom still guides a modern life

• Insights from Dr. Yi Wu’s Integral Life Philosophy

🪷 Read companion essays → thewaybetween.substack.com

🌐 Learn more about Nick → NickEganPhD.com

📺 Watch The Living Conversation → youtube.com/@thelivingconversation