Artificial Intelligence: Terminator or Saviour?

Today my guest is Werner Meier, a realised Advaita master originally from Swiss Germany.Werner left his home in the Swiss alps in the seventies and headed for India  in search of enlightenmentHe ended up locking himself in a tiny cell at Amma’s ashram in Kerala for many years, enduring incredible hardships before he finally reached his goal  I met Werner in Tiruvannamalai in Southern India where he lives and holds weekly satsangs and where we recorded this interviewHere he talks about his remarkable journey to enlightenment, the practices he used, meeting Amma when she was almost unheard of, how he came to lock himself in a cell for many years and how Amma pushed him to his limits and beyond  Enjoy!

Today I'm talking to meditation teacher, Yanai Postelnik about old age, sickness, death and the Dhamma Yanai was diagnosed with bowel cancer just over a year ago and so has a very personal experience of both the Dhamma and ill health. He has led retreats on the subject and talks very openly and candidly about what he has been through, so far from being a morbid conversation I personally found hearing his story to be deeply inspiring Yanai is a mainstay of the teaching community at Gaia House Meditation Center in Devon in the UK and has been on the show before when we did quite a deep dive into his life and Dhamma background. So if you’d like to know more about him please listen to the episode entitled Love in the Time of Extinction, where he also talks about his activism aimed at fighting climate change

Today my guest is Ayala Gill. Ayala has been committed to a path of insight and awakening since her early twenties. She has been practicing Iyengar yoga since 1977 -aged just six years old- Insight Meditation and Dhamma since 1995, Insight Yoga (including yin yoga and psychospiritual enquiry) since 2001 and the animistic practices of the Andean-Inkan Holy Mountain tradition since 2017. She says she is humbled and fascinated by the potential of these practices to inform and enhance our relationship to body, heart, mind and spirit – and passionate in her commitment to translate this potential into everyday life. She has been teaching for 25 years, guides silent retreats in Europe which include yoga, meditation and ceremony, and is currently writing a book about integrating these practices into daily life. She has received authorisation to teach Insight Meditation from Martin Aylward, with whom she continues to study dharma. Ayala lives with her husband and their 3 children between London and Dorset, where they are using regenerative farming methods to enhance biodiversity.  I first met her at London insight retreat day. I was struck her commitment to both yoga and meditation. There are a lot of yoga teachers out there who teach a bit of meditation and meditation teacher who include yoga to  their practice but not many who have really combined the two. And then branched off into shamanistic practices as well I really enjoyed hearing her story. I hope you will too Enjoy!  

Today my guest is Ethan Pollock, meditation teacher and co-founder of Mindful Living Community. Ethan has been facilitating mindfulness groups and retreats for over a decade. In his early twenties he gave up a career as a commercially successful artist and spent five years training at Plum Village with the internationally recognized mindfulness teacher & Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a qualified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher. He facilitates and teaches around the UK including at the Sharpham Trust, Schumacher College, The Royal Drawing School, and local groups in Devon This is one of a series of interviews I am doing profiling meditation teachers linked with Gaia House I met Ethan on a recent retreat at the Barn which is closely linked with Gaia House where he was giving a talk. I was struck by how well he taught and interested to hear more about his training at Plum village I’m afraid my mic started to give up on this episode. I’ll have a nice shiny new one for my next podcast, I promise. Please enjoy

Today my guest is meditation teacher Kirsten Kratz. Born and brought up in Germany Kirsten has practiced Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993. She started teaching in 2006 and since 2015 she has been ‘teacher in residence’ at Gaia House meditation centre supporting those on personal retreat there. Her love and understanding of the Dhamma has been strongly influenced by, among others, the teachings of her friend and teaching colleague, the late Rob Burbea. One of her particular passions is exploring how wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the challenges of our time, and Kirsten sees her involvement in activism as an important expression of her practice. She is co-initiator of the “Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement” (DANCE) and supporting teacher of Freely Given Retreats. If you enjoy this episode or any other of the Monk on a Motorbike podcasts please write a review on Apple podcasts or any other platform that you use that accepts reviews or ratings. It really helps to spread the word. Thanks Enjoy

Today my guest is meditation teacher Gavin Milne. Gavin teaches at Gaia House retreat centre in Devon, one of the largest Buddhist meditation centres in Europe Gavin has been practicing meditation for twenty years and gave up a career as a design engineer for the Red Bull Formula One race team to travel to Asia and the US to explore the Dhamma intensively before returning to the UK. There he became involved with Gaia House and started his teacher training in 2015 and became authorized in 20219. His teachings emphasize exploring the path of practice amidst the challenges of daily life If you’d like to hear more of Gavin’s talks then go to dharrmaseed.org and search for his name If you enjoy this or any other Monk on a Motorbike podcast please leave a review on Apple podcasts (or whatever app your'e using). Thanks Enjoy

Today I’m talking to Professor Marc Buehner about how we make decisions Marc is professor of cognitive Psychology at Cardiff University in Wales where he designed a course in decision making which he teaches to final-year students. I’ve always been pretty indecisive, so when I learned recently that you can formally study the decision-making process and how to make better ones I wanted to know more When I looked at some of the material on the course I was struck by how logical and mathematical this process can be when to my mind much of it seems to be intuitive and emotional. And maybe that’s why I am so indecisive? Here Marc talks about what constitutes a good or a bad decision why numbers and logic are an important part of the process of making good decisions and why people can’t get their heads around the terrible odds of playing the lottery. And plenty more besides If you want to get a taste of what Marc Teaches then check out his youtube lecture which is for his uni students. I'll  put a link on my website www.monkonamotorbike.com where you can also find out more about Marc and some of his suggestions for further reading Enjoy

Sally Kempton Is a meditation teacher and author. As a young successful journalist and feminist living in New York in the early 70s Sally had an awakening experience after dropping acid for the first time. This got her interested in meditation and yoga and led her to become a monastic under the guidance of the Indian yogi Swami Muktananda For the next twenty years, she studied and practiced Hindu Vedanta and the north Indian tantric tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, traveling and teaching with Muktananda and living in an ashram In 2002 she disrobed and took to creating new teaching paths which she considered more suitable for the 21st century, integrating neurobiology and psychology and working with likes of integrative philosopher Ken Wilbur Her teachings are based on Tantra, in particular deity practices involving deep and transformative visualizations, invoking and embodying the qualities of Hindu goddesses like Lakshmi and Saraswathi This style of visualization is common to most traditions but often involves male figures. Sally transformed this by focusing on the feminine energies instead She is the author of the books Awakening Shakti and Meditation for the Love of it and leads workshops worldwide I met sally at one her workshops in London which I signed up for after reading her book Awakening Shakti and she kindly agreed to a podcast interview You can find out more about Sally, her teachings and books, and so on at her website sallykempton.com Enjoy

There are a lot of bleak predictions going around about artificial intelligence creating mass unemployment or even becoming sentient and enslaving humankind or killing us all off. In this episode, I speak to one of the world's leading authorities on AI, Professor Dave Cliff about whether the computers of the future will finish us off or save us.  Dave is a professor of Computer Science at Bristol University in the UK, with an impressive CV that includes developing the first automated trading software that revolutionized global financial markets, and advising the British Government on trends in technology He is confident that AI is not the threat many believe it to be and for the most part believes it is a force for good and here he tells us why

Today my guest is Michael Von Der Geest. Michael helps to run one of the big four accountancy firms EY which used to be called Ernst and Young. He is also the CEO of EY Seren their digital platform. He has helped to make mindfulness teaching widely available to their 250, 000 staff worldwide and sponsors their internal mindfulness support network which now has 10,000 members. Here he talks about how mindfulness has helped him deal with the challenges of leadership, how it helps with team dynamics, and how he has used it to deal with his own anger issues, and balance a busy work and family life Corporate mindfulness has come under fire in some meditative circles. Sometimes referred to as McMindfulnness it is seen as diluted and franchised. I was keen to hear how it shapes up against these claims by someone who is at the top of the corporate ladder and is a keen meditator. I found what he said to say very encouraging: it makes him less reactive and angry, enhances team harmony and integrity and increased the company’s sense of engagement with corporate responsibility This was recorded in the Summer of 2019 pre-coronavirus, whilst Extinction Rebellion were making headlines .If you have any questions or comments please feel free to get in touch. My email is on my website   www.monkonamotorbike.com If you enjoy this or any other episodes please take the time to write a review on iTunes, it really helps to spread the word Many thanks Danny Hill  (the Monk on a Motorbike)