Ep. 105 - Crucial Questions: Can Buddhists Believe in Magic?

Using the recent solar eclipse (and a few suprising responses to Ethan celebrating it) as a jumping off point, Ethan looks at the worldviews of scientific materialism and animism, Ethan looks at the role of magic in developing a grounded but awe-inspired approach to our spiritual practice. Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training starting June 14. Also check out  upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

How do you go from a life in fashion to being a well-known and respected spiritual teacher and icon? Ethan is joined by friend, teacher and author of the brand new book Spiritually, We (out now) for a discussion of Sah's path into meditation, Buddhism, developing his own movement-based practice system and becoming a teacher and healer. Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training starting June 14. Also check out  upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Sah D'Simone is a spiritual revolutionary, artist, and the internationally bestselling author Spiritually Sassy. He's known for hosting the top-rated Spiritually Sassy Show podcast and for creating the Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) Method™. Sah works in the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and is a guest lecturer at Columbia University. His remarkable contributions to homeless youth in Venice Beach, California earned him the CARE award from the city and county of Los Angeles.  Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Starting off from the recent work—and calling out—of scientist and wellness personality Andrew Huberman, Ethan explores the relationship between trying to control one's biological reality in relationship to controlling one's environment and relationships. Ethan looks at discipline from a Buddhist perspective, and how the practice of discipline leads us—ironically—to let go of control and perhaps, in turn, experience real joy. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Trainings. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Is "Buddhist Guilt" a thing? How does it stop us from meditating? Using his own experience with himself, students, and the classic teachings, Ethan's gives tips for how to work with obstacles that stop us from meditating and that obstruct our practice when we get to the meditation seat. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Using American political media's obsessive focus on (only one of) the presidential candidate's advanced age, Ethan examines a Buddhist view on the ways in which aging brings about both greater wisdom and, perhaps, greater stuckness, and the ways in which youth includes great imagination and also impatience. Ethan examines the concepts of eldership, mentorship, and lineage from a Buddhist perspective and examines his own growth path "aging" as a person, as a Buddhist student and teacher, over the last 20-25 years. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Ethan discusses the Buddhist practice of generosity by looking at an amazing billionaire's gift by Dr. Ruth Gottesman, another famous billionaire's apocalypse bunker, and, of course, the annual headache of doing your taxes. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Holding the awful events of the world in mind, Ethan discusses anxiety as we try to hold together our personal world, our relationships, and the larger world in chaos. He goes further into the nooks and crannies of the four noble truths in relation to generalized anxiety, and closes by offering a guided meditation to work with your anxiety right now.   Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event on Feb 27 with David Nichtern and Robert Thurman, "Teaching Mindfulness and The Role of The Teacher." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

In this inventive episode, Ethan discusses our obsession with apocalyptic thinking using the four noble truths. A lifelong fan of science fiction, he discusses the Buddhist roots of dystopian obsession, and the confusing craving to annihilate existence in the question for peace.  Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event on Feb 27 with David Nichtern and Robert Thurman, "Teaching Mindfulness and The Role of The Teacher." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Ethan is joined by author, teacher and writing coach Lisa Weinert.  They discuss the power of storytelling as both a spiritual and psychological method for healing. They also talk about why the act of writing is so excruciating, as well as the relationship between storytelling and embodiment. They definitely do not discuss their 9th Grade English teacher, Mr. Hubner. Lisa is the author of the book Narrative Healing: Awaken the Power of Your Story (Hachette, 2023). She has taught and lectured on the power of storytelling at institutions such as Wesleyan University, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and Fortune 500 media companies. Beginning her career in book publishing, Weinert eventually became a certified yoga instructor with a specialty in trauma-informed and restorative yoga, leading her to combine her professional training with her own experience with trauma to create Narrative Healing, a writing program that seeks to release our stories in a way that is accessible and empowering. For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com, and check out the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training along with many other wonderful offerings.

Ethan discusses the often confusing term "Basic Goodness." He breaks down some thoughts on why the term—and the transformative experience it points toward—can be elusive and confusing. He also goes into some of the historical origins of the term that illuminate its meaning and offers tools for how to work with it to ask wise questions about our experience in both meditation and everyday life. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event with David Nichtern and Duncan Trussell, "Meditation and Beginners Mind." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. For more info on Ethan visit  EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com