Provoking An Identity Crisis

Perhaps the biggest question of life is this: Who am I? We think we know who we are; we all have a strong sense that there’s somebody in there. But when try to put our finger on that somebody, the self turns out to be very elusive indeed. We often simply identify with the roles Read More

Change You, Change the World

While in Massachusetts this summer, I had the chance to speak to a group in North Reading, most of whom were friends of Jon Weir – an incredible person and the owner of Kitty’s restaurant which he opened up to the event. The talk I gave there came straight out of a section of “Be Read More

The Cult of Busyness

I thought it would be a propos to give a talk on the “cult of busyness” in New York City, the adrenaline capital of the world as part of the summer, 2014, “Be Nobody” book tour. This is an extract from that talk, given at Ava Gerber’s “Lucky Lotus” yoga center in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Read More

“It’s Like This Now”

This is the last excerpt from the meeting I had with Standard Charter Bank execs in Singapore, exploring the several possible meanings of their business slogan, “Here for Good.” The last connotation I discussed was “Here (and Now) for Good,” emphasizing the fact that we’re always here and now.  We’re actually never “there and then,” Read More

What We Really Want

I had the opportunity last March to speak to a group of business executives at the Standard Charter Bank in Singapore. I don’t often have the chance to address to such an audience and I really enjoyed it. They were all obviously intelligent, talented people and were very attentive and at the end asked really Read More

Purposeless Action

This podcast touches upon a section in my book, “Be Nobody,” that explores what it looks like to lose yourself in action. Selfless action is extolled in many religious traditions. In the Bhagavad Gita, for example, we are given instructions on “karma yoga” – action done without attention to the “fruits” of action. This is Read More

Four Illusions About the Self

This podcasts reviews some of the arguments found in Buddhist texts as to why the self we think exists has to be just an illusion. Although the “I” seems so tangible and obviously present, when we try to put our finger on it we come up empty handed. We have a sense that there must Read More

The Where’s Waldo From Hell

This podcast comes from a talk given on a hot, sultry night in Brooklyn last summer at Ava Gerber’s Lucky Lotus Yoga Studio. It really cuts to the chase when it comes to the Big Question: Who the hell am I? When we go looking for the self we thoroughly believe exists – an unchanging, Read More

Tips on How to Be Less of a Somebody

This is an excerpt from the conclusion of a talk I gave at a group retreat we led near Buellton, California, in September of 2013. I wanted to provide some useful take-aways as people prepared to re-enter their lives after the retreat. And so I picked up on some of the material found toward the Read More