21 August 2025
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Nov 27, 2016 —
Nikita Petrov & Robert Place
TAGS ancient philosophy | Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | enlightenment | meditation | mysticism | mythology | occult | philosophy | politics | psychology | religion | self
Nov 12, 2016 —
David Bryce Yaden & Scott Barry Kaufman
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | consciousness | creativity | ethics | meditation | mindfulness | psychology | spirituality
Oct 20, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | enlightenment | meditation | memory | mind-body problem | mindfulness | psychology | religion
Oct 19, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Sam Harris
- Sam Harris, mystic and atheist
- The mystery of consciousness
- Is mysticism more like science than like religion?
- How religion makes progress
- Sam’s case for intolerance
- The root causes of extremism
- Religious and secular reasons to do good
- Ways religion may be closer to the truth than atheism
- A secular approach to death
TAGS agnosticism | atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | cognitive science | consciousness | death | empathy | ethics | evolution | history | Islam | meditation | mind-body problem | mindfulness | mysticism | nationalism | New Atheists | perception | poverty | psychology | religion | science | self | spirituality | tribalism
Oct 10, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Jonathan Gold
- The seminal Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu, hero of Paving the Great Way
- Buddhist and Darwinian arguments for reality not being as it seems
- The ‘hyper-reductionism’ of Buddhism
- Meditation and the doctrine of emptiness
- Does the Buddhist view of causality leave room for agency?
- Are the past and the future real?
- Hindu and Buddhist versions of non-duality
TAGS Buddhism | evolution | free will | Hinduism | human nature | meditation | mindfulness | perception | philosophy | psychology | religion | self | spirituality | time
Oct 9, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Wesley Wildman
- Wesley explains “transreligious theology”
- What’s religious about religious naturalism?
- Can science help us understand ultimate reality?
- Bringing religious thought and philosophy together
- Be skeptical of spiritual experiences
- Don’t just love your enemies, understand them
- Wesley: “Purpose” isn’t a useful category
TAGS atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | meditation | Paul Tillich | philosophy | physics | psychology | religion | science | spirituality | tribalism
Oct 1, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Stephen Batchelor
- What Buddhim really is (and isn’t) about
- What various Buddhist traditions have to offer
- The Buddha as a practical philosopher
- How the Buddha revolutionized meditation
- The idea of not-self, and its connection to an ethical life
- Why death is not the end even if there’s no rebirth
- The ethical dimension of enlightenment
TAGS Buddhism | Christianity | death | enlightenment | Hinduism | meditation | secularism | spirituality
Sep 26, 2016 —
Josh Summers & JP Sears
- Meet JP Sears, the New Age Stephen Colbert
- Josh receives ultraspiritual guidance from JP
- Shining a light of satire on the “shadow side” of spiritual practices
- Where JP’s comedy comes from
- Stepping out of the comfort zone, and other spiritual disciplines
- Watch Josh transform into an ultra-ultra-post-spiritual guru
Sep 21, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Erik Braun
- Erik’s book The Birth of Insight and its hero, Ledi Sayadaw
- Three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and not-self
- Origins and characteristics of American Buddhism
- How Burmese politics shaped Western Buddhism
- Ledi’s take on how meditation leads to enlightenment
- The ethical side of Buddhist practice
- Erik’s meditation practice
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | enlightenment | history | human nature | meditation | mind | mindfulness | philosophy | politics | psychology | religion | science | self
Sep 10, 2016 —
Josh Summers & Chip Hartranft
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | enlightenment | Hinduism | human nature | meditation | mindfulness | philosophy | religion | spirituality | yoga
Aug 19, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Douglas Osto
- Doug’s book Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America
- Psychedelics as gateway drugs to Buddhism
- Common ground between Buddhism and psychedelic spirituality
- What is Psychedelic Buddhism?
- When are psychedelics unhealthy?
- Compare and contrast between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | drugs | enlightenment | happiness | meditation | mental health | mindfulness | religion | spirituality | Zen
Aug 3, 2016 —
Benjamin Perry & Emily Brewer
TAGS Christianity | economics | meditation | moral imagination | power | prayer | religion | violence | war
Jul 27, 2016 —
Oliver Burkeman & Susan Piver
TAGS anger | Buddhism | compassion | Donald Trump | empathy | evil | fear | happiness | love | meditation | mindfulness | moral imagination | psychology | tribalism
Jul 10, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Kenneth Folk
TAGS altruism | Buddhism | consciousness | drugs | enlightenment | ethics | happiness | meditation | mindfulness | perception | psychology | religion | sadness | self | spirituality
Jul 5, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Steven Nadler
TAGS ancient philosophy | atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | Donald Trump | enlightenment | ethics | evolution | Judaism | meditation | mysticism | philosophy | politics | religion
Jun 25, 2016 —
Robert Wright & David Bryce Yaden
TAGS Buddhism | consciousness | meditation | mind-body problem | psychology | science | self | spirituality
Jun 24, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Kaufman
TAGS Christianity | ethics | Islam | meditation | mindfulness | moral imagination | philosophy | psychology | religion
Jun 20, 2016 —
Robert Wright
TAGS Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | game theory | Islam | meditation | religion | spirituality
Jun 18, 2016 —
Suzanne Koven & Jo Marchant
- Why Jo wrote Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body
- The rift between alternative and traditional medicine
- The real effects of “fake” medicine
- Jo: Science needs to take alternative treatments seriously
- The problem with focusing on pharmaceuticals
- Bringing science and alternative medicine together
May 16, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Anantanand Rambachan
- The Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta
- The nature of reality according to the Upanishads
- Anant explains “not-two is not one,” the subtitle of his book
- Is “unity” in Hinduism the same as “emptiness” in Buddhism?
- Comparing Hindu and Buddhist views of suffering
- The meaning of “liberation”
- Caste in India as an example of religion gone wrong
Mar 6, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
- What is it like to be an arhat?
- Perspectives on the self: It’s nothing, it’s everything
- What enlightenment is, and what’s so great about it
- Dwelling in enlightenment is easy, but getting there can be hard
- Does enlightenment entail moral improvement?
- Can meditation save—or impede salvation of—the world?
TAGS Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | enlightenment | happiness | Hinduism | meditation | mysticism | psychology | religion | self | spirituality
Feb 28, 2016 —
Nikita Petrov & Daniele Bolelli
- Daniele’s new book Not Afraid and the practice of cage fighting
- In martial arts, you want to play it safe—but not too safe
- Raising a baby girl: the greater battle
- Other practices: meditation, psychedelics, and life in general
- The changing face and functions of online media
- Daniele’s mix-and-match approach to philosophy and religion
Nov 20, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Paul Knitter
- A Catholic questions whether Jesus is the “one and only savior”
- How Paul integrates Buddhism and Christianity
- Paul: Jesus, like the Buddha, “fully woke up”
- How “interbeing” leads to loving thy neighbor
- Meditation, the Eucharist, and the feeling that “all is well”
- Paul: Peace in the world starts with peace within yourself
Nov 15, 2015 —
David Bryce Yaden & David Vago
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | meditation | mindfulness | psychology | religion | self | spirituality
Oct 26, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Dena Merriam
- Commonalities between Hindu and Buddhist meditation
- What a Buddhist calls “non-self,” a Hindu might call “oneness”
- Dena decries the commercialization of meditation
- The work of the Global Peace Initiative of Women
- An alliance of contemplative practitioners
- Could meditation help solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
Oct 20, 2015 —
Robert Wright & Jay Michaelson
- Jay’s new book on sadness, The Gate of Tears
- The most common mistake we make in dealing with sadness
- Examining the contours of your negative emotions
- Connections between Jewish and Buddhist teachings
- Jay: Pushing away the difficult is 90% of the difficult
- Spirituality and the power of negative thinking
TAGS Buddhism | foreign policy | happiness | Judaism | meditation | psychology | sadness | spirituality
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