Duncan Trussell returns to talk fatherhood, harmonizing the home, and confusion as a condition of enlightenment; in this psychic arm-wrestling match with Krishnamurti’s concept of a mischievous me.
New Normal, New Father
With all this talk of the new normal, what actually has ever been normal? Duncan catches Raghu up on his new normal of settling into his second child—relaying Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s advice that the best gift you can give your kids is to be fully in the moment with them. He then shares powerful Trudy Goodman wisdom about fighting in front of your kids: It’s learning conflict happens. If they can experience the making-up, they see conflict is not the end of the world, and learn the trait of hopeful resolution.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said: ‘Humanity will be saved by our mothers.’ He said, ‘As you see me, I am as I am, as a result of my mother’s loving compassion.’ The more that can be expressed as we go forward, then that is what is going to be the deepest affectation on everything—the polarization, the planet, the discrepancy of rich and poor—all of it is by virtue of this development of compassion.” – Raghu Markus
Tap the fountaining wellspring of the new normal of love, with The Doors’ John Densmore joining Mirabai Bush, on Ep. 1 of Walking Each Other Home
Harmonize the Home, Harmonize the Planet (9:45)
How do we harmonize the planet? Raghu shares fresh holistic wisdom learned a few episodes back from Mary M. Clare PhD & Gary Ferguson: To harmonize the planet, we start with harmonizing the home, for how we relate to ourselves is how we relate to our environment. Through this lens, Duncan shares that trying to be right is not the right way to go, sparking Raghu to communicate Ram Dass’ honest perspective, that in our spiritual journey, righteousness is one of the last things that goes.
“Any of the utopian bullshit aside, one of the brilliant things Trungpa Rinpoche said that I also hold close to my heart: Whatever your ‘ism’ may be—socialism, communism, whatever your utopian path forward to global harmony—if you really want to impact the planet, then find a way to be harmonious in your own house.” – Duncan Trussell
Harmonize your home, and harmonize the planet. Heal our inner and outer environments with Mary M. Clare PhD and Gary Ferguson, on Ep. 382 of Mindrolling
Krishnamurti Goes to Kainchi (17:40)
Sharing findings from a J. Krishnamurti video elucidating the paradox of ‘me,‘ Raghu is reminded of a special incident told by his mentor, K.C. Tewari, where Krishnamurti came to Kainchi Dham in a storied encounter with Neem Karoli Baba. Duncan, in sharing a similar encounter between Krishnamurti & Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, dives into Krishnamurti’s view of the mischievous self, compared to Ram Dass’ loving awareness.
“Can the conscious mind examine the unconscious ‘me’ and expose it?” – J. Krishnamurti
Stretch your mind and open to the mystery with Ram Dass playing astral fun and games, on Ep. 154 of Here & Now
Mischief Man, Confusion & Enlightenment (34:20)
After a long, humorous, mental arm-wrestling match with Krishnamurti, Duncan and Raghu tap into a succinct flow in uprooting the problem of the ‘mischief man,‘ our small, separate self, or ego. Outlining that self-honesty, truth, and non-judgment can help diffuse our tone and flip our perspective to loving awareness, they elucidate the necessary problems inherent in forming an identity, share methodologies on moving from ‘me’ to ‘we,’ and explore how confusion is actually a condition of enlightenment.
“David Nichtern told me this funny spiritual joke: A student is on one side of a river. His teacher is on the other side of the river. And he yells to his teacher, ‘I want to get to the other shore!’ And his teacher yells back, ‘You are on the other shore!'” – Duncan Trussell
Join Duncan for an interview with his meditation teacher, David Nichtern, a student of Trungpa Rinpoche, on, Ep. 8 of Creativity, Spirituality, & Making a Buck
