On Tyranny Book Study Chapter 1

Here I offer a guided meditation bringing mindfulness to body, feeling tones, mind/heart, and mind structures.Meditation can be challenging at times. Occasionally we may experience things which surprise as a result. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this, or other meditation practices, please feel free to message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgI have been practicing meditation for 39 years and has been successfully teaching meditation worldwide since 2009, giving talks, facilitating retreats, and have authored two books. I have received formal training in Theravada, Mahayana (Tibetan, Zen,) and Vedanta meditation techniques as well as Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, MBSR, Neuroplasticity, Non-Violent Communication, and Buddhist Psychology. I teach from a secular voice and I am passionate about bringing timeless wisdom teachings to people of any faith, belief system, or tradition.If you find these podcasts helpful please consider making a donation: PayPal.me/suchsweetthunderMay All Benefit

Here is our fourth book study/process group summary. The book is Timothy Snyder's bestselling book: "On Tyranny." The chapter is chapter 4. "Take Responsibility For The Face Of The World."If you would like to join the book study, please message me here or email me through my website. www.suchsweetthunder.orgEnjoy!

Here is a guided meditation exploring the possibility of bringing mindfulness, curiosity, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity to all that we experience. Meditation can be challenging at times. Occasionally we may experience things which surprise as a result. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this, or other meditation practices, please feel free to message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgI have been practicing meditation for 39 years and has been successfully teaching meditation worldwide since 2009, giving talks, facilitating retreats, and have authored two books. I have received formal training in Theravada, Mahayana (Tibetan, Zen,) and Vedanta meditation techniques as well as Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, MBSR, Neuroplasticity, Non-Violent Communication, and Buddhist Psychology. I teach from a secular voice and I am passionate about bringing timeless wisdom teachings to people of any faith, belief system, or tradition.If you find these podcasts helpful please consider making a donation: PayPal.me/suchsweetthunderMay All Benefit

Here is my summary of the third meeting of The Timothy Snyder Book Study/Process group. The title of this chapter is called "Beware the One Party State." Certainly relevant for these times. If you would like to join the book study/process group, please email me through my website www.suchsweetthunder.org or DM me here.

Here I offer a guided meditation bringing mindfulness to body, feeling tones, mind/heart, and mind structures.Meditation can be challenging at times. Occasionally we may experience things which surprise as a result. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this, or other meditation practices, please feel free to message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgI have been practicing meditation for 39 years and has been successfully teaching meditation worldwide since 2009, giving talks, facilitating retreats, and have authored two books. I have received formal training in Theravada, Mahayana (Tibetan, Zen,) and Vedanta meditation techniques as well as Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, MBSR, Neuroplasticity, Non-Violent Communication, and Buddhist Psychology. I teach from a secular voice and I am passionate about bringing timeless wisdom teachings to people of any faith, belief system, or tradition.If you find these podcasts helpful please consider making a donation: PayPal.me/suchsweetthunderMay All Benefit

Here is my summary of our second session of the On Tyranny Book Study/Process Group. If you would like to join, please message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgTimothy David Snyder is an American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is on leave from his position as the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University with plans (as of 1 July 2025 to transfer to the University of Toronto for an indefinite time.He is a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. Snyder serves on the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds the inaugural Chair in Modern European History, supported by the Temerty Endowment for Ukrainian Studies, at the Munk School at the University of Toronto; he will teach at the school during the 2025–26 academic year.Snyder has written many books, including Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010), On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017), The Road to Unfreedom (2018), and Our Malady (2020). Several of these have been described as best-sellers.

Here I offer a guided meditation by offering the gift of lovingkindness in the form of phrases to loved ones.Then we move into a visualization where we radiate kindness energy out to drench ourselves in the warm energy of kindness. The longer we stay in the experience of lovingkindness, the more our neurons wire and fire together, allowing the passing state of kindness to become a permanent trait.Meditation can be challenging at times. Occasionally we may experience things which surprise as a result. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this, or other meditation practices, please feel free to message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgI have been practicing meditation for 39 years and has been successfully teaching meditation worldwide since 2009, giving talks, facilitating retreats, and have authored two books. I have received formal training in Theravada, Mahayana (Tibetan, Zen,) and Vedanta meditation techniques as well as Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, MBSR, Neuroplasticity, and Buddhist Psychology. I teach from a secular voice and I am passionate about bringing timeless wisdom teachings to people of any faith, belief system, or tradition

IntroductionCommunity AgreementsTImothy Snyder Video: Do Not Obey In AdvanceCommentaryRelaxation-Breathing techniqueClosing

Author: Timothy SnyderAmericans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.20 Lessons from the 20th CenturyNazi rally in 1934.1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You’ve already done this, haven’t you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don’t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Look out for the expansive use of “terrorism” and “extremism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “exception” and “emergency.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don’t fall for it.

When we come to a deep state of rest in the body we can clearly experience the arising and passing of sensations. When we come to a deep state of rest in the mind and heart, we can clearly experience the impermanent nature of our thoughts and emotions.Meditation can be challenging at times. Occasionally we may experience things which surprise as a result. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to this, or other meditation practices, please feel free to message me through my website: www.suchsweetthunder.orgI have been practicing meditation for 39 years and has been successfully teaching meditation worldwide since 2009, giving talks, facilitating retreats, and have authored two books. I have received formal training in Theravada, Mahayana (Tibetan, Zen,) and Vedanta meditation techniques as well as Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, MBSR, Neuroplasticity, Non-Violent Communication, and Buddhist Psychology. I teach from a secular voice and I am passionate about bringing timeless wisdom teachings to people of any faith, belief system, or tradition.If you find these podcasts helpful please consider making a donation: PayPal.me/suchsweetthunderMay All Benefit