310. It Doesn't Matter if we're Good to Mother Nature!

The thing I'm always trying to explain to my liberal idiot friends is that the climate crisis, global warming, global shawarmaing—whatever you want to call it—doesn't really matter. You know why? 'Cause I'm 51. Even if global warming were true—which, obviously, it's not; FAKE NEWS!—I'll be dead. So it doesn't matter, right? Right? ~ Read the full article on Elephant: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2026/03/it-doesnt-matter-if-were-good-to-mother-nature-right-waylon-lewis-walk-the-talk-show-podcast-video/

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about the very real reality that many people in cities across the United States are dealing with the endless, overwhelming onslaught of outright lies, disinformation, political retribution, and loud-and-proud discrimination we are living in during Trump's second term in office. The attacks are never-ending, and they naturally lead to a feeling of overwhelm, and overwhelm can lead to…you guessed it: burnout. After speaking to a friend in Minneapolis who has seen and experienced this firsthand, he's here to offer a Buddhist perspective on burnout plus three specific things we can all (un)do right now if we want to climb out of the burnout hole. Find the full article on Elephant Journal: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2026/02/three-things-to-undo-right-now-if-youre-burned-out-waylon-lewis-walk-the-talk-show-podcast-video/

Waylon meets Jeff Fulmer, the author of the book "The Two Prophets," and discusses how this is a book to help millions of readers digest, process, and even enjoy this over-full moment in human history. "Touching on every issue we're all going through in these turbulent times, it's a page-turning adventurous read that's fun, yet serious. You can sit down with a good book, read it, and take in current events—which are pretty stressful—but have a good time doing so because it's been novelized. It's a fun story. I read it and loved it. I'll be reading his other books now." ~ Waylon H. Lewis  Want to learn more about the book? We've got the goods: https://www.elephantjournal.com/the-two-prophets-by-jeff-fulmer-partner/ Find the full article on Elephant Journal about this interview: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2026/02/a-novel-for-this-moment-waylon-w-jeff-fulmer-author-of-the-two-prophets-walk-the-talk-show-podcast-video/ 

Waylon catches up with one of our favorite guests: mindful meditator, sangha friend, and feng shui expert Anjie Cho. They discuss how hard last year was, the Year of the Yin Wood Snake, what we should consider at the tail of the Snake year before the official shift into the Horse year, and what we can do to prepare before the Lunar, or Eastern, or Tibetan/Chinese New Year. "It's interesting. No one has said that last year was wonderful. They're like—2025 sucked.  Because a lot of people had such a difficult 2025, many people have asked me: what can I do right now in this transition? They recognize there's this bardo—this in-between space—that feels important to pay attention to.  So what do we do specifically over the next couple weeks, if anything? I'm asking people to sit down and think about like what is it that they shed in the last year. Notice what's transformed, and what is still kind of there. Write that down and contemplate that. You could even burn that piece of paper and let it go. And then, think about what is it that you want to grow instead—you can use the energy of the Horse to propel you forward." ~ Anjie Cho Read Anjie's article and find your personal, mindful aspiration to contemplate in this Year of the Yang Fire Horse based on your zodiac animal. Find Anjie's podcast: https://www.holisticspaces.com

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about the trap of positivity and how it can actually do the opposite of what we think, and result in us turning away from the outside world and instead showing up in the world in a more cold or withdrawn manner. Instead, if we are accepting, and powerful, and courageous, and brave, and vulnerable, by opening up to the world around us as it is—reality—we can hear, and learn from it and instead of sitting in stress or fear of hearing it, we can say, how can I help? How am I a part of this? And those are good questions to ask, because they then allow us to look at solutions. "Our hearts are not available if we're concerned first with feeling happy and relaxed. When our loyalty is to feeling happy and relaxed, it's actually a very stressful place to be because we're constantly trying to push away negative things and cling to positive things." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about being a new father and the need to provide a livable planet for our children to thrive on for generations to come. Now is the time to resist and not to give our power away, and we can do this by dozens of minute, mindful actions we can take every day, and by being  Buddhist (not religiously) in the sense that we're being kind to ourselves. "We need a habitable planet for Willa, and all our children, to live on. I know we know this, but we don't really act like it. " ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about not giving up our power. Last week's podcast was on the theme of reclaiming our power, and this week he digs into this a little more in-depth.  Some folks may ask, "Who cares if I do something environmentally-responsible or not?" Well, every little thing does matter to someone or something. And, billionaires' actions matter much more. But, still, too, every little thing we do matters—because there's billions of us. And, it's the right thing to do—the kind thing to do. "Powerlessness is actually convenient for our egos. The truth is that we have power. Most of us may not have a lot of power, but we have power. We have power to inspire. We have power to upset, and to depress. We have power for neurosis. We have power for sanity..." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about using our collective power for good. "Reclaim your own power—do what you can with where you are, now, starting now. Put more love and healing into our dear world and take out some of the aggression and casual, speedy, destructive selfishness." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about the 2025 election and the power of small-d democracy in action. "So much to celebrate last night. Meaningful victories for public servants who will serve us and US, across the board. The beginning— just the beginning—of a repudiation of Donald Trump's corruption and willful destruction of democracy. But most of all: a reminder that most of us are good caring people. Let's do this!!" ~ Waylon H. Lewis

This is a challenge for most of us. Be kind to yourself. We have to work with our own thing—open up, be wakeful and available first, then we can help the world. There is nothing more intimate than working with family. That is a path of meditation or mindfulness. This is our practice.