Show Notes
Kadam Adam Starr is a Kadampa Buddhist Meditation teacher with nearly 3 decades of experience studying and practicing. Most of us spend our lives trying to change our thoughts. Very few of us ever stop to ask what thoughts actually are. This conversation explores one of the biggest questions in psychology, meditation and human consciousness: what is the mind? Adam explains the relationship between Buddhist psychology and modern Western psychology, why we become trapped inside our thoughts and emotions, and how learning to experience awareness directly can fundamentally change the way we relate to anxiety, anger, stress and suffering. This episode explores how understanding the nature of the mind creates more space, compassion and freedom in everyday life.
You’ll learn: • Why you are not your thoughts or emotions • The difference between understanding the mind and experiencing it • How meditation changes your relationship with anxiety and anger • Why outrage is becoming our default emotional state • The connection between neuroscience, psychology and Buddhist wisdom • Practical ways to cultivate greater peace of mind
Dan: @thedancampion
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:14 Buddhist Psychology and Western Psychology
01:53 What Is the Mind?
10:05 A Guided Exercise to Experience Your Mind
14:50 Thoughts Are Clouds, Your Mind Is the Sky
17:46 Why You Are Not Your Thoughts
29:33 Understanding the Mind vs Experiencing It
35:53 How Awareness Changes Your Relationship With Anger
42:26 Does a Buddhist Still Get Angry?
44:12 Can Anger Ever Be Healthy?
48:39 How Social Media Trains Us to Be Angry
52:46 Looking at Your Phone More Than Your Mind
57:18 Is the Mind Different From the Brain?
1:04:34 Why You Shouldn’t Identify With Your Brain
1:10:42 Creating the Conditions for Peace of Mind
1:17:44 The Different Pieces of Mental Health
1:19:20 Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre
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