Ep. 175 - Crucial Questions: What Is The Mind, Anyway? Musings on the relationship between Consciousness and Matter.

Hey friends, in this solo episode of The Road Home, I continue my occasional foray into some of the more interesting and important questions that come up while we study and practice with Buddhist themes, questions that don't always get directly addressed. So what do we even mean when we say "The Mind?" Seems to be a pretty important question if one of the keys to becoming a more grounded and attuned—and dare I say happy—person is to practice something called MINDfulness. In this episode I look into some of the various definitions of mind, how mind relates to the world and to other people in it, the relationship between mind and matter, and what working with this hard-to-define space of self-reflective awareness has to do with your wellbeing, anyway. Enjoy, and stay tuned for a few awesome interviews I've done recently in the coming weeks! The Road Home is available here now, or wherever you get your "pods," Apple, Ethan's Website, etc after 3pm ET on Mon, May 11). You can order signed copies of Ethan's books sent to you directly from his website as well. Check out all the latest free events and offerings from our sponsor A Mindful World as well! Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). If you're looking for a great in-person retreat, check out our annual Fall retreat at the Garrison Institute Sep 30 - Oct 5. More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Sign up for a free discussion on why you might want to consider attending a meditation retreat this year on June 11th!

Ethan welcomes yoga/mindfulness teacher Oneika Mays— the author of the great new book Sit With Me— for a fascinating conversation on her personal path through mindfulness, yoga, and wellness practices. The conversation also focuses on Oneika's crucial and transformative work bringing these practices into the prison-industrial complex as she became the first full time mindfulness coach at Rikers Island Correctional Facility and her newly released book, which centers on these experiences. Ethan and Oneika discuss the meaning of metta and restorative practices in an unjust hell realm solely focused on punishment. Weaving serious conversation with playfulness, they also discuss their love for the spiritual music of Stevie Wonder, and they ponder whether The Cure could qualify as "Goth Bodhicitta." Oneika Mays is a yoga and meditation teacher and storyteller who leads with joy, passion, and wisdom. With deep roots and knowledge in Buddhist and yogic teachings, Oneika delivers practical application and authentic connection through her teaching. Oneika has been practicing yoga for more than 20 years, and teaching yoga and meditation for more than a decade. She has used her knowledge to support social justice nonprofits and historically excluded communities. She served as the Mindfulness Coach at Rikers Island Correctional Facility for 4 years, and volunteered there for over a decade total. She teaches at Yoga International, Embodied Philosophy, New York Insight and leads retreats at Kripalu. Oneika's literary debut, Sit With Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation(HarperOne, March 2026) explores metta practice as a tool for personal and collective liberation. Connect with her at www.oneikamays.com. Oneika's substack is here. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your support. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Sign up for Ethans May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in Metta meditation toward yourself. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website.

Hey friends, this is the first episode of The Road Home in a bit. Please remember to check out and sign up for the upcoming Windhorse (Confidence) meditation workshop on Saturday May 2nd (1-5pm ET) via A Mindful World. It should be a great mini-retreat with a helpful practice that anyone can use, anytime, anywhere to be brave and show up to all those difficult moments in life. This week, in a solo talk, Ethan revisits the theme of The Eight Worldly Winds from his last book Confidence (you can always have Ethan send you a signed copy of Confidence or his other books). He specifically hones in on the valid experience of longing for success and fearing failure, and how the practice of confidence involves the willingness to fail repeatedly. Did you know, by the way, that even the great tennis players of all time only win (very) slightly over half the total points they ever play? Embrace your longing before you listen. The Road Home is available here now, or wherever you get your "pods," Apple, Ethan's Website, etc after 3pm ET on Tues, April 21). Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). If you're looking for a great in-person retreat, check out our annual Fall retreat at the Garrison Institute Sep 30 - Oct 5. More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Sign up for Ethan's May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link.

"Intuition doesn't seem to act aggressively." -Josh Ritter Ethan welcomes his friend, contemporary folk musician and novelist Josh Ritter for a conversation about creativity, inspiration, spirituality and art-making. They discuss where great ideas come from, how the "protocols" of practice influence both creativity and the spiritual path, and the meaning of relative and ultimate truth found within Josh's song "Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)" off Josh's most recent album I Believe in You, My Honeydew. They also discuss the mental health of an artist, and how fatherhood can lead you to very mixed opinions of Disney movies. Josh Ritter is a renowned singer, songwriter, musician, artist and best-selling author. One of today's most thoughtful and prolific voices, he has released twelve studio albums and was named one of the "100 greatest living songwriters" by Paste Magazine. His newest album 'I Believe in You, My Honeydew' is out now. About his music, The Guardian has said: "Ritter's painstakingly simple but crafted songs establish his own identity in a terrain marked out by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen." Two-plus decades into his celebrated career, Ritter has written music that has transcended generations including luminaries such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Bob Weir covering his songs. Josh's substack is here. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your support. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Check out the free roundtable discussion on Mindfulness and Organizational Leadership at this link. Sign up for Ethans May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link. Show Notes: Check out Josh's recent interview with NPR's World Cafe mentioned in the podcast at this link.

Sometimes life breaks your heart. Right now, the world is breaking most of our hearts. And if it isn't breaking your heart, you're not paying attention. But what does a broken heart have to do with the awakened state of mind? In this solo episode of The Road Home podcast, Ethan examine the two main aspects of our consciousness - thinking mind and feeling mind. Feeling mind might be better understood as our "Awakened Heart,"which is a not-quite-literal translation of the term Bodhicitta. Most of the time, when life or the world exposes our heart fully, we desperately want to turn away from that tenderness. Because a vulnerable heart hurts, it brings up all the specific ways we feel wounded by our past, and also by the world "out there." But our great power, and our genuine awakening, lies in turning toward Bodhicitta, or what Pema Chodron calls the "soft spot." Let's get into "soft spot," shall we? There's really no other choice in the end. Join Ethan for a very "heartfelt" episode of The Road Home this week. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Check out the free roundtable discussion on Mindfulness and Organizational Leadership at this link. Sign up for Ethans May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link.

In classic Buddhism, there is often a meaningful emphasis on going very deep into the spiritual life, often through leaving the world behind for long periods of time and even becoming a lifelong yogi or monk. Is this the only way to move toward full awakening? There is often a lesser emphasis on a different path to awakening, the so-called "householder"— the student of mindfulness and awakening who doesn't want to—or simply can't— leave this world behind, but wants to turn their practice directly toward all aspects of their life in a contemporary setting. Ethan welcomes back Lou Sharma, a meditation teacher (and partner in the new A Mindful World community) for a open discussion of whether or not the path of the householder can also lead to awakening. This is a conversation for anyone who wants to engage with relationships, career, creative life, and social justice pursuits with more mindfulness, compassion and wisdom amidst all the hustle, bustle and chaos of life in the thick of the modern world. Lou Sharma is a mindfulness meditation teacher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has practiced meditation for over 15 years, as part of her ongoing studies of Buddhism within Tibetan Buddhist traditions, including the Magyu lineage of Lama Tsultrim Allione. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Check out the free roundtable discussion on Mindfulness and Organizational Leadership at this link. Sign up for the May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link.

What's wrong with democracy these days? Can it be rescued? Can it be made more mindful? Can we work together to build something better? What's the role of compassion in building community? What's the role of conflict in building community?  Why do yoga and mindfulness communities often seem so averse to taking a stand and diving into different political or communal issues head on? Why does our world treat politics as some sort of childish, dirty game, like reality tv, instead of sacred duty? For the 250th anniversary of 1776, can somebody write a formal  Declaration of INTERdependence? Professor, teacher and author Jeremy David Engels—author of the brand new book A Mindful Democracy—just wrote one, and Ethan welcomed him to The Road Home podcast to discuss it, and more. Jeremy David Engels, Ph.D., is the author of six books, including the new On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World (Parallax, 2026), and the creator of the Zen and the Art of Democracy Substack. He is the Liberal Arts Endowed Professor of Communication and Ethics at Penn State University, co-founder of Yoga Lab, and a longtime mindfulness and yoga teacher. His work reimagines democracy as a communal practice rooted in care, deliberation, and shared responsibility, emphasizing mindfulness as a core civic skill. His essays have appeared in the Washington Post, Yoga Journal, Yoga Magazine, and The Conversation. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Note: the name of the book mentioned by Ethan authored by Thich Nhat Hanh where Thay explored the morality of the bombing of Hiroshima using specific Buddhist questions is Good Citizens.

Ethan tackles an age-old dharma question: how do we generate compassion for those who do harmful things? Should we even try, or does that make things worse? In the age of ICE lawlessness, totalitarian governments, and coming to terms with toxic relationships of all kinds, this question intensifies. This conversation often feels misunderstood. Whether the perpetrator is a dictator, a difficult ex, or a manipulative boss—or whether the harm is something we ourselves have caused—the question of building compassion and opening the bodhisattva's heart often delivers more confusion than clarity. Using a memory of hearing a college lecture by the long-imprisoned Tibetan monk Palden Gyatso, Ethan offers a simple (but never easy) three-step model of how to go about the difficult process of acknowledging and transforming the negative karma related to harmful actions. In 2025, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link.

Ethan talks to author, scholar and teacher Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about her insightful new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Mixing scholarship, memoir, and a deep reverence for the spiritual insights of two of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th century, Dr. Vesely-Flad's newest work approaches Buddhist teachings from an angle that is deeply human, literary, and personal. How did these two great authors touch on such dharmic topics as the truth of suffering, relative and ultimate reality, and much more? Fans of literature and Buddhism will enjoy this conversation and new book deeply. This conversation belongs to one of Ethan's favorite categories: "Things you didn't know were Buddhist." In 2025, with your subscriptions to The Road Home, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). She is the founder of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and the recipient of grants from the Fetzer Institute, the Henry J. Luce Foundation, the Fredrick P. Lenz Foundation, the Crossroads Program, and the US Department of State Fulbright program. You can follow her work at www.blackbuddhiststudies.org.       Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and a guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Free RAIN Meditation Workshop on February 12th via A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor A Mindful World!

What is the relationship between Metta (lovingkindness practice) and developing, or rediscovering, a childlike innocence? How can Buddhist meditation help both kids and adults with emotional regulation and resilience? Is there anything about the way kids meet thoughts and emotions that we grown-ups can learn from? And, as Ethan wonders, are all children Democratic Socialists? Ethan welcomes dear mentor and friend Sharon Salzberg—now author of a children's book called Kind Karl (and it's an excellent one)—for a discussion about kindness, mindfulness, and rediscovering our innocence. Sharon Salzberg is one of America's leading spiritual teachers and authors. A practitioner of Buddhist meditation for over fifty years, she is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! In 2025, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and a guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). 2026 Yearlong Buddhist Studies program starts tomorrow! Find out about the 2026 Yearlong Buddhist Studies program at this link! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor Dharma Moon. Free video courses co-taught by Ethan and others, such as The Three Marks of Existence, are also available for download at Dharma Moon.