“Samsara,†says the Advaita Vedantic classic known as the Ashtavakra Gita, “is the compulsion to act†(kartavya, “something to be doneâ€). This is a very interesting understanding of the nature of our suffering. It’s the feeling that we always have to do something to fix, improve, or escape our present situation. We are driven by Read More
Category: Antidote to Suffering
Change the World, Change You
This is the second half of the equation that began with the previous podcast: “Change You, Change the World.†Because everything exists in interdependence (and not independently), it is also true that if we change the world, we change ourselves. But how do we do this? At one level, we change ourselves when see ourselves Read More
Discontentment and the Compulsion to Act
It’s been interesting to discover how much resistance there is to thinking of contentment as the real goal of a spiritual life. This extract from a teaching I gave in Brooklyn last month makes the case that it is precisely the need – the compulsion – we feel to always have to do something to 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
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
Dr Pat Interview with Lama Marut
Show was recorded on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Host: Dr. Pat Baccili Guest: Lama Marut Stations: BBSRadio.com, WBLQ, Transformation_Talk_Radio Overview: A Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life with Lama Marut For Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, A Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life, Lama Marut voices the next generation of spiritualism by addressing today’s Read More
The Qualities of Spiritual Maturity, Part 1: Nonidealism
At the end of his modern spiritual classic, A Path With Heart, Jack Kornfield reviews ten qualities that he thinks characterize someone who has “come of age†in their spiritual life. The ten traits Kornfield identifies have inspired me to write down some of my own thoughts about each of them. Quality #1: Nonidealism When Read More
Learning to Be Nobody
The purpose of a spiritual life is not to enhance your ego. It is to destroy it. But you have to have an ego in order to deconstruct it. This audio was recorded during the 2011 Summer Retreat at Governor’s Academy, in Byfield, Massachusetts. Download MP3 File Here > Being Nobody Read More