Today’s episode is a sonic rocket ride to the past. Back, in fact, to a series of conversations which Jess and Jon recorded in the final few weeks before Jess’s son was born. This is a snapshot view of how a dhamma teacher in the throes of the pregnant condition deals with the realization that the… Continue reading Season 2, Episode Two: “Whose Body is This?”

Jess offers a guided equanimity meditation that riffs on the dialogue we were having during Episode Two of Season 2, specifically, how sensations of anxiety, even terror, that might crop up around aspects of one’s own pregnancy; over the state of the world; over our knowledge that we have so little control over what happens… Continue reading Meditation: “This wild, raw, and magnificent world.”

We’re back, baby! Now that Jess has joined Jon on his long walk down the long pier of parenting, we’ll be taking a different angle on the discussions this season: What does it mean to bring dhamma practice into parenting, and parenting into dhamma practice? Our super special guest:  Cara Lai, a dhamma teacher teetering… Continue reading Season 2, Episode One: “Finding the Chanda in the Tanha.”

Cara leads us in a meditation on the care and feeding of the present moment. “Slowly, we develop a taste for being present for our lives. We give our attention the opportunity to see for itself what it really wants to be with. What else is happening in the real, tangible, here and now world that… Continue reading Meditation: Cara Lai.

Today’s topic: RELATIONSHIPS! As late celebrity monk Ajahn Chah once said, “The most convenient way to practice meditation is as a monastic, because monastics are celibate.” But I guess human relationships must be pretty good, because we just keep coming back for more. So if we can’t stop ourselves from such holy foolishness in this… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Six: “Tongue-Kissing the Void.” (Or, “I Only Date Buddhists.”)

The heart of the mindfulness-adjacent paradigm known as non-violent communication explores the following: how underlying needs and values cause a person to perceive another person’s behavior in a certain light, particularly during difficult exchanges. This exploration is a way to lead both parties back to a state of empathy and compassion.

Today’s topic: NATURE! As machete-voiced beatnik philosopher Tom Waits is wont to remind us, “We’re chained to the world, and we’ve all got to pull.” Some of us our able to make the best of our embedment in the natural world, but others will never stop being freaked out by it. Jess helps Jon see… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Five: “A Very Advanced Practice.”

Jess offers a meditation intended to help one gain comfort with discomfort—whether they be in nature, or anywhere else.

Today’s topic: PARENTING! You know what they say: raising a child is a little bit like tap-dancing, backwards, while wearing high heels, and covered in fire ants. Meanwhile, trying to achieve even a shred of enlightenment is challenging enough without, at the same time, attempting to keep an entire extra human alive. Jess tries to… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Four: “Our Children’s Children’s Clones.”

Jess offers a meditation in which loving-kindness is interwoven with equanimity, to create a veritable brahmavihara spice mix, with which any of us might generously season our experiences.