Time & Other Thieves

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on June 9th, 2022, I explore some of the ideas presented in the first 100 pages of Jeanne de Salzmann's book, The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff. Such concepts include the "ordinary I" or "individual self," the relationship between information and intelligence, the perpetual oldness of thought, the importance of connecting with one's body in order to know one's truth, how tension in the body prevents such knowing, how we ARE what we observe, and what de Salzmann calls "the most important question of my life."

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on May 19th, 2022, I reflect on some of the ideas presented in the 1971 spiritual classic, Be Here Now, by Ram Dass. I especially focus on the notion of life as a drama (a game, a dance), on making everything we do a spiritual practice/sadhana, on the unparalleled importance of working on oneself, on conscious protest, and, of course, on being here now.

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on May 5th, 2022, I geek out on the more philosophical aspects of Seinfeld -- both the sitcom and the man himself. Along with drawing on the book, Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book About Everything and Nothing, I  discuss Seinfeld's unique perspective on life as portrayed in various episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and a couple of his recent stand-up specials. I also discuss the spiritual side of Seinfeld and other characteristics that make him a modern-day wise man (and not just a wise guy).

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on April 28th, 2022, I share my conversation with chronic pain recovery coach Lily Oster. Together we  explore some of the concepts presented in the book The Way Out, by Alan Gordon, and Lily explains the phenomenon of neuroplastic pain (a.k.a. mind-body pain), how to determine if you have it (most chronic pain IS neuroplastic), and how to get the hell out of it. Hint: it's basically a spiritual thing. 

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on April 21st, 2022, I explore some of the ideas presented in the book How To Be Sick, by Toni Bernhard. A long-time meditator and Buddhist practitioner, Bernhard got mysteriously ill on a trip to Paris and remained ill for twenty years and counting. This experience brought her even closer to the Buddha's teachings on suffering and the cessation of suffering. Other topics include but are not limited to the three marks of existence, the brahma viharas or sublime states, and Byron Katie's The Work.

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on April 14th, 2022, I explore some of the religious and spiritual concepts that J.D. Salinger dramatizes in his 1961 book, Franny and Zooey, which centers on another book called The Way of a Pilgrim, written in the 1800s by an anonymous Russian peasant who's obsessed with the Jesus Prayer and how to repeat it incessantly. The Franny character in Salinger's book develops her own obsession and winds up having an existential break-down. Through a tour-de-force of mansplaining about religion and "true ego," her brother Zooey helps Franny snap out of it and see that "everybody is Seymour's Fat Lady."

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format in two parts on March 31st and April 7th, 2022, I explore some of the ideas presented in the 1957 book, The Divine Milieu, by French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Topics include but are not limited to: the divinisation of our activities (the things that we make happen), the divinisation of our passivities (the things that happen to us),  the notion of a Cosmic Christ and how we create Him by meeting our own highest potential, and "passivities of growth" and "passivities of diminishment." I also talk a good deal about the alpinist Marc-André Leclerc.

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on March 17th, 2022, I celebrate my 40th birthday by reflecting on some of the ideas presented in Kathleen Dowling Singh's book, The Grace in Aging.

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on March 3rd, 2022, I explore some of the ideas presented in William Styron's 1990 book, Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness. I also talk about Virginia Woolf's experiences with depression, as presented in Hermione Lee's biography of her, and about Francis Weller's perspective on the illness, as presented in his book The Wild Edge of Sorrow.

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In this episode, which originally aired in radio format on February 24th, 2022, I explore some of the ideas presented in the book AND the documentary film, "How To Cook Your Life." The book was first published in 1970 by Zen priest and origami Master Kōshō Uchiyama Rōshi; it consists of his translation of and commentary on Dōgen Zenji's 13th century text, the "Tenzo Kyōkun", or "Instructions for the Zen Cook." The film "How To Cook Your Life" (2007) is about modern-day Zen priest and chef Edward Espe Brown, most known for his Tassajara Bread Book (1970). It documents Brown leading a couple of week-long cooking classes at a Zen center in Austria and at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California. I'll reflect on what Dōgen, Uchiyama, and Brown have to say about cooking as a spiritual activity, and how when we work on food, we're also working on ourselves. As Brown asks, "Is food precious? Is food worth caring about? Are YOU precious? Are YOU worth caring about?"