A couple of months ago I was in San Francisco to record the public dialogue on "Psychedelics, Technology, and the Future of Meditation", to teach at the newly minted SF Dharma Collective, and to hang out with some old friends in the Bay Area. I was really fortune, while there, to connect up with someone I consider both a friend & dharma sister, ...…

I had the great delight of speaking with Oren Jay Sofer, just as he was fresh off a month-long silent retreat. The timing couldn't be better, as the bulk of what we discussed relates to silent retreat culture, both its strengths and limitations. We ended up discussing communication and social practice quite a bit as well, including touching on ...…

What is the future of consciousness hacking? Organic molecules, blinky machines, good old fashioned meditation, or some combination of them all? In this episode, recorded live in San Francisco on October 24th 2018, Michael Taft of Deconstructing Yourself, Vincent Horn of Buddhist Geeks, and host Mikey Siegel of Consciousness Hacking discuss the ...…

In this episode I'm joined in dialogue by David Gold to explore the path of Love. David shares the story of meeting his beloved, Juli Reeves, and how their meeting kicked off a process of being disrupted by Love. Listen in as we inquiry into Love, Life, Trust, Emergence, & Evolution. This is part 2 of a two-part series. Memorable Quotes: “Whate ...…

During this episode I'm joined by an old friend and mentor, David Gold, to discuss, as he puts it, his "evolution from a non-teacher to a non-teacher." We talk about our shared history, going back to my time as college student at NC State, where he was a facilitator of the Self-Knowledge Symposium. He also shares his history with American mysti ...…

In this episode I'm joined by my old friend and colleague, Rohan Gunatillake. Rohan is the founder of Mindfulness Everywhere, a creative studio combining meditation, technology, & design. Mindfulness Everywhere is perhaps best known for it's popular meditation app buddhify, and for it's innovative-indie approach to developing digital mindfulnes ...…

I discovered Christoper Vitale's writing after doing a google search on the "philosophy of networks." At the time I had recently started doing the Buddhist Geeks podcast again and had formulated a new tagline for the project: Dharma in the Age of the Network. I wanted to dive deeper into what networks are, not in a specific sense (of say a "com ...…

In this episode I was joined by my dharma friend Lama Karma. During our time together we explored his time in Peru, using the native plant medicine ayahuasca. He said he couldn't help but relate to his experience through the lens of his vajrayana training, and shares some of how he makes sense of the experiences he had while using ayahuasca cer ...…

This episode comes from a live event on "Waking Up with Psychedelics" that occurred in Los Angeles, co-hosted by InsightLA. I was joined in this dialogue by Trudy Goodman, Spring Washam, & Dr. Charles Grob. Ram Dass joined us at the end of this dialogue, and his talk is on available for Buddhist Geeks Patrons as a bonus episode. Memorable Quote ...…

I’m joined in this raw & intimate conversation by meditation teacher & author Spring Washam, as we discuss the integration of Buddhist contemplative practice with the Peruvian plant medicine ayahuasca. We begin with Springs dharma journey and the way that silent practice no longer served her deeper healing journey, and how the ultimately brough ...…

I don’t want to over-hype this episode too much, but listening back over it today and preparing these notes, I was left feeling that this was perhaps the most intimate, raw, & profound conversation I’ve had throughout the Meditating on Psychedelics series so far. It might have something to do with the fact that my guest is Trudy Goodman, who is ...…

On this episode I had the great pleasure of speaking with Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, Roshi Joan Halifax. One of my previous guests, Raghu Markus, recommended I speak with her as part of the Meditating on Psychedelics series, and so that's where the conversation began. I think it's ...…

In this episode I'm joined by one of my favorite productivity writers, Tiago Forte. Tiago is part of a new generation of productivity thinkers, whose exploring new ways of working in the digital age. I've found his writing both refreshing and insightful, and when I discovered that he also has a serious interest in meditation & spirituality I kn ...…

In this episode we speak with meditation teacher & author Michael Taft about his experience of meditating on LSD. Michael describes himself as someone who has likely done more LSD than anyone you've ever known, while also being a hardcore meditator, a skilled teacher, and one of the more high-functioning & well integrated adults that you're lik ...…

This week we speak with Albert Grabb, an LA-based radiologist & meditator, who was one of the 1st legal participants in a Johns Hopkins study of seasoned meditators using psilocybin (aka "magic mushrooms").

In this episode we speak with author, podcaster, award-winning journalist, and dharmic psychonaut Erik Davis about the intersection of psychedelic practice & culture with dharmic practice & culture. Episode Links: - Become a Buddhist Geeks Patreon - TechGnosis - Expanding Mind Podcast - "Zig, Zag, Zen" - Dharma Protectors - Erowid - Cognitive l ...…

During the 2nd part of my conversation with Raghu Markus, director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation, we speak about the powerful fusion of of bhakti (devotion) practice and more traditional buddhist meditation practice.Episode Links:- Rick Doblin’s Psychedelic Studies: https://beherenownetwork.com/mindrolling-ep-148-rick-doblins-psychedeli ...…

Raghu Markus lives in Asheville (my hometown) and is the executive director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation, the same organization that runs RamDass.org. Raghu traveled with Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert) in the 70s to India and studied with the Indian guru Neem Karoli Baba. There he also met Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Ko ...…

In this episode we speak with Dr. Douglas Osto, author of "Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America". Episode Links: - Become a Buddhist Geeks Patreon - Douglas Osto - “Altered States: Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America” - “Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars” - “Zig Za ...…

The intention of this series is to gain a deeper understanding of the relative merits and dangers of the mixing Buddhist contemplative practice and ritualized psychedelic use.Episode Links:- www.buddhistgeeks.org- "Meditating on Pyschedelics: What Camp Are You In?" http://bit.ly/2fcNQW1

Buddhist Geeks is stirring from the state in-between lives. It looks like a rebirth is eminent.Episode Links:- www.buddhistgeeks.org- The Buddhist Geeks Death Poem: https://goo.gl/w9csbS

Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei is a maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer, and founder of Center for Transformative Change. She is the author of "Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation". Sensei williams joins host Vincent Horn to continue the current series on ethics in a talk about race, love, and liberation. They address ra ...…

Stephen Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. He is the author of "Buddhism Without Beliefs" and most recently has written "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age". In this entry to the Buddhist Geeks series on ethics, Stephen joins host Vincent Hor ...…

EMMA SEPPÄLÄ, Ph.D is Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Emma joins host Vincent Horn to share the science behind compassion. She describes the current state of compassion research, and she and Vincent discuss the effects of unbundling mindfulness, compassion, and ethics in a cap ...…

James Hughes is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and the author of "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future". Continuing in our series on ethics [https://soundcloud.com/buddhistgeeks/sets/ethics], James joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the ethical ...…

David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer and Buddhist practitioner. He blogs on several sites including the hypertext book Meaningness.com. In part two of a conversation on ethics with David Chapman and Vincent Horn, the discussion continues to explore a series of blog articles that David wrote on the theme of “Buddhist ethics”. ...…

David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer and Buddhist practitioner. He blogs on several sites including the hypertext book Meaningness.com. Beginning a season of episodes on the theme of ethics, Vincent Horn welcomes David to explore a series of blog articles that David wrote on the theme of “Buddhist ethics.” Together they quest ...…

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In the conclusion to his conversation with host Vincent Horn, Roland provides more details on the Hopkins Meditation Study, Vincent shares his personal story of psychedelic experimentation ...…

Roland Griffiths is the lead investigator of the Psilocybin Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins and one of the United States’ leading psychopharmacologists. In this episode Roland describes his research into the medicinal uses of psychedelics. He explains his history in the field, his current research around psychedelics and meditation, and he ...…

Caroline Contillo is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, & writer. In the conclusion to their conversation, Caroline and Vincent Horn examine the rewards and perils of storytelling in our daily lives. They share the concept of mindfulness as a Reality Tunnel and consider what happens when we forget that mindfulness is also part of a larger s ...…

Caroline Contillo is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, & writer. She joins host Vincent Horn for a free flowing conversation about mindfulness, science fiction, and the human penchant for telling stories. Together they make connections between mindfulness and story-telling, and examine the way that mindful practice can uncover certain kind ...…

Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of teachers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. In this talk given to the Buddhist Geeks Dojo and the UNC Asheville Mindfulness Club, Vincent describes Mindfulness++, a multi-paradigm programming language for the mind. The “multi” part refers to multiple training paradigms--including both ...…

Dr. Jay Michaelson is a meditation teacher, academic, and the author of several books including "The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path". In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Jay discusses "The Gate of Tears" and its themes of sadness, grief, and loss on the path. They talk about the practice of co-existing with emotions with ...…

Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.) is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona and author of "The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Using Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science". He joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the themes in "The Mind Illuminated", and to describe how his life as a professor of physiology and ne ...…

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. In his first visit to the podcast, Jack joins host Vincent Horn to describe the map of meditation practice called Th ...…

Emily Horn and Vincent Horn are meditation teachers and partners in life and the Buddhist Geeks. In the final part of this reflective series, they explain events leading up to the current Buddhist Geeks Dojo project as well describe the forthcoming Fall Training Period (“FTP”) inside the Dojo. The FTP will be a chance to spend the entire month ...…

Emily Horn and Vincent Horn are meditation teachers and partners in running the Buddhist Geeks organization. In the first part of this special series, Emily and Vincent describe the growth of Buddhist Geeks from a podcast to a conference to a community. They share some of the design principles that have shaped earlier projects and continue to s ...…

Evan Thompson is an author and philosopher in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy. Continuing a discussion between Evan and host Vincent Horn, this episode moves into an exploration of sleep states and the themes in Evan’s book "Waking, Dreaming, Being". Describing characteristics of ...…

Evan Thompson is an author and philosopher in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, Phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy. Speaking with host Vincent Horn, Evan discusses his academic interest and background in Buddhist studies, and the intersections between Buddhist philosophy, contemplative practice, and cognitive scienc ...…

Adreanna Limbach is a meditation teacher with the Interdependence Project, and Lodro Rinzler is a practitioner and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage. In this conversation recorded during the 2015 Aspen-Snowmass Wanderlust Festival, host Vincent Horn, Lodro, and Adreanna discuss the challenges of making meditation accessible to a mainstr ...…

David Vago, Rael Cahn, and Sonia Sequeira are contemplative scientists and co-organizers of the upcoming conference called “Advances in Meditation Research: Genetics, Neuroscience and Clinical Applications”. The group joins host Vincent Horn to describe the themes that will be explored at the conference, the current state of meditation research ...…

Michael Heim is an American author, educator, and Tai Chi instructor known as a philosopher of cyberspace and virtuality. In the conclusion to their conversation, host Vincent Horn and Michael discuss integrating the virtual with the physical. From the thought-experiment of performing a virtual Japanese Tea Ceremony to imagining a virtual Tai C ...…

Michael Heim is an American author, educator, and Tai Chi instructor known as a philosopher of cyberspace and virtuality. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Michael shares his insights on the intersection of philosophy and the world of Virtual Reality. He gives a brief history of commercial VR, provides updates on the third wave of VR ...…

Carolyn Rose Gimian is the compiler and editor of The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa and the recently published Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Carolyn speaks about the role of mindfulness in the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, ...…

The Buddhist Geeks Conference has been a meeting place for contemplative thinkers, scientists, and technology experts since 2011. During this Q&A for the Contemplative Technology panel from the 2014 conference, conference goers expand the conversation to include tech-induced human evolution and the possibility of shortcuts on the path to enligh ...…

The Buddhist Geeks Conference has been a meeting place for contemplative thinkers, scientists, and technology experts since 2011. In this panel discussion from the 2014 conference, Vincent Horn hosts a panel filled with contemplatives, technologists, and research scientists to discuss the past, present, and possible future of the field of Conte ...…

Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of teachers who are translating the wisdom traditions of the past into 21st century code. In this talk from a recent San Francisco Consciousness Hacking Meet-Up, Vincent introduces himself to the group and describes the questions that have led to a new project: Mindtraining.io. What does it mean to medit ...…

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community. In the conclusion to a recent conversation with host Vincent Horn, Reggie shares his thoughts on technology and human development, transhumanism, and the danger of not being human enough.This is part two of a two part series.Listen to part one BG 35 ...…

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Reggie discusses the Shikantaza practice he has developed. He describes the basic instructions and experience of Shikantaza, the Tibetan practice elements he has incorporated, and the powerful effects of ...…

Daniel Ingram is a Buddhist teacher and the author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. In this keynote from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Daniel speaks on the visual, auditory, physical, and psychological phenomena referred to as powers, or siddhis. He provides examples of power manifestation, why and how powers appear, and the ...…