Do you really need all this spiritual crap?

Polish the turd of “me” long enough and it still won’t shine. A Thursday Zen rant for anyone who’s done everything “right” and is still seeking that enlightenment fix.

Timecodes and topics:

0:00 Thursday Zen and a warning to the seekers

0:39 Zubin the miserable doctor and the seeker’s path

2:52 Meditation, self inquiry, and the I am

5:30 The spiritual industrial complex and glimpses as experiences

6:42 A slow disillusionment at every step

8:33 For anyone still seeking: there is no future

10:16 Shadow work and the nuclear reactor of unworthiness

13:00 What changed when the me was seen through

15:41 Do you need spiritual practices

17:20 Preferences remain, but nobody owns what people think

18:29 Panic, the second arrow, and life showing up as panic

20:40 When it feels impossible to the one who wants it

22:46 Tony Parsons, Jim Newman, and the mirage of water

26:30 Gradual unmasking and disillusionment with teachers

28:00 Free will and moving through the universe

29:33 A Star Trek tangent and Zoroastrian roots

31:14 Isn’t no self just another belief

31:58 How daily life has changed

33:43 Is non-duality just another form of escapism

37:36 Money, wealth, and a message with no conditions

39:03 Zen goes to war and why beliefs are useless

40:01 Spiritual bullshit, influencers, and the loving character

42:54 Money fears, doubt, and doubtless uncertainty

46:20 Let it be: supporting your kids and the fear of the street

48:48 Would mega wealth change anything

51:41 Studying Zen Buddhism

53:16 Why awakening seems correlated with practice

56:33 The descriptive versus prescriptive fallacy

58:15 Running off to pick up my kid