The App that Reminds You, You’re Gonna Die: Hansa Bergwall
In this episode, Kevin had the opportunity to talk with Hasna Bergwall, the co-founder of the WeCroak app that encourages people to lead happier lives by thinking about death five times a day.
1.WeCroak is a smartphone app based on the Bhutanese principle that to live a happy life; one must meditate on one’s own death five times a day
2. Because after all, we’re all going to die. No one gets out of this alive.
3. Life is short and precious, rare and special, and we want to use it well.
4. They mentioned what they love about death; it is universal because we’re all going to die.
5. A quote about death from Epictetus, “I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.”
6. One of the things, both Buddhism and stoicism, is an absolute agreement on the danger of anger, just like creating delusions.
Art – The Journey Not the Destination is the Prize
In this episode, Kevin talks about how we should initiate how to express ourselves to the world. How should we have time to speak to know what we are passionate about and find enjoyment in the journey we are heading to in our life.
Have to Vs. Get to: Two Modalities of Thinking
In this week, Kevin discusses shifting a common attitude of feeling like one Has to do something to a more grateful feeling that one Gets to do those things.
==References and Links==
Ancient Rome Will Never Get Old. Take It From Mary Beard.
No One’s Important Enough for Me to Be Mad at Them
Kevin and Steve have a discussion about past mistakes and poor choices and how to move on with forgiveness of oneself. (Amongst other topics . . .)
–Show Notes–
Original quote from don Juan mentioned in this episode:
“Are you angry at me, don Juan?” I asked when he returned. He seemed surprised at my question.
”No! I’m never angry at anybody! No human being can do anything important enough for that. You get
angry at people when you feel that their acts are important. I don’t feel that way any longer.”
~Carlos Castaneda, Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan, A Separate Reality & Journey to Ixtlan
Gregory David Roberts: Living the Spiritual Path, a Conversation
Kevin had the honor to talk to bestselling author Gregory David Roberts. You may know him from his captivating novel Shantaram, a book that sold over 6 million copies, which literally changed my entire viewpoint on life and helped me to understand what true generosity and living a well-lived life is all about. Some exciting news is that Apple TV + and Paramount TV are currently turning Shantaram and its sequel, The Mountain Shadow, into a TV series (currently in production).
It’s no secret that Gregory was at one time a wanted man in Australia, in fact at one time, he was Australia’s Most Wanted man, having served serious time in prison there. Yet Gregory transformed his entire life going on to become a critically acclaimed author, ethics consultant and a public speaker. What you might not know is that Gregory’s also a talented musician, releasing his debut album in 2020 called Love& Faith, which was recorded in Jamaica and features talented local musicians and singers.
In this interview, I got to talk about Gregory’s latest book, The Spiritual Path, which is a non-fiction book about Gregory’s experience with his spiritual practice over the course of 6 years while he lived off the grid. It’s clear that when Gregory decides to do something, he puts his whole heart and being into it. After reading the book, I could see that when Gregory decided to go off the grid and devote fully devote himself to the spiritual path, he was able to tap into a source of extraordinary wisdom that we as readers get to really benefit from.
One wonderful surprise that came out during our interview is that Gregory was not only familiar with Stoic philosophy, but found the core principles of Stoicism tremendously helpful during tough times, specifically while serving time.
You can learn more about Gregory David Roberts at his website: https://gregorydavidroberts.com/
How I Claimed my Divinely Bestowed Energy to Break Years of Depression
In this solo episode, Kevin chats about a growing up with a default layer of depression and he used the concept of breaking agreements in order to recover his divinely bestowed energy and break free from the path of stuckness he found himself on.
Gratitude: The Great Antidote to Feeling Crappy
Kevin discusses the power of gratitude to fight the tendency of most humans to be petty in our complaints about our daily reality and our dissatisfaction with it.
Key takeaways from the episode:
Kevin discussed many scenarios from our daily-lives that are taken for granted and that which we purport upon ourselves.More often we find the odds in other things or beings and degrade our own thinking and existence.Quote from the episode: “Envy -and complaining- is the villain, the antagonist of the fortunate because what have we forgotten? The big amazing recognition that we are the fortunate? And you might think oh, well, not me, I’m not the fortunate! Look at all the problems I have. You might be thinking that to yourself.”People are too busy being jealous of others.Quote from the episode: “…what I think stoicism really is about is: are you willing to look deeper? Are you willing to break free from the typical grooves like a record? The groove that you’re used to, which is the complain, complain, and complain!”Stoicism gives us the power to question ourselves and really question things that we take for granted like; “Is this so bad?”, “It’s not fair!”, “Why don’t I have that particular job?”, “Why don’t I have a better boss?” etc.If one looks deep inside in their selves, they can find the answers to questions which made them an odd thinker.Quote: “the fool’s life is empty of gratitude, and full of fears. Its course lies wholly toward the future.”
What Stoic Fasting Can Teach us About Pleasure, Empathy, and Gratitude: Audio
What Stoic Fasting Can Teach us About Pleasure, Empathy, and Gratitude: Audio
In this episode Kevin discusses about the importance of Stoic Fasting and the lessons it teaches us. This is an audio narration of the article written by the author, What Stoic Fasting Can Teach us About Pleasure, Empathy, and Gratitude.
Key takeaways from the episode:
How much we take for granted the simple pleasures of life, to the point of not appreciating them.In developed countries in our modern times, we no longer have to worry too much about the condition of starving, the way they might have thousands of years ago.What Stoic Fasting Can Teach us About Pleasure, Empathy, and Gratitude
We’re so accustomed to consuming each and every meal, each and every day, that the notion of skipping a meal sounds almost ludicrous these days – some might even worry that it’s dangerous or unhealthy. “Eat! Eat! You need to eat!” says the grandmother to her teenage grandchildren as she pushes another giant plate of food in front of them.
In the developed world we rarely fear running out of food. But that’s not the reality for everyone in this world.Fasting forces you to consider both the harsh realities of others in this world and compels you to reframe the problems of your life in more realistic and fairer terms. … if you haven’t thought about fasting, consider it. It’s not as hard as you think and there are many excellent guides out there to get started so that you can take part in the practice in a safe way.What Stoic Fasting Can Teach us About Pleasure, Empathy, and Gratitude
From Prison to Stoicism – Craig Stanland’s Journey
In this episode, Craig Stanland shares his story of how he landed in jail from living a luxurious life. I, Kevin investigate how Craig made himself grow back again and become a ray of hope for many others.
Some of the major points discussed in this episode are laid out as follows:
Learning to love: That’s been an evolutionary practice for Craig.
Once we realize that fear is an illusion, we can navigate much better.
A gratitude practice can be unbelievably transformative when done consistently. It rewires the brain from scarcity to abundance.
My previous life was based upon materialism: Craig.
Everything is temporary.
We grow up believing in lies. One of the biggest lies in the story of humanity is the ‘lie of our imperfection’ or in other words ‘not being enough’.
Sometimes just being okay is good enough.
Losing my identity was really the crux of my journey: Craig.
When you do keep your commitment to yourself, celebrate yourself.
Quotes from the episode:
Gratitude was one of the foundational practices that I began in prison that I still do to this day. I cannot express there’s so much out there about gratitude and I feel like it’s almost lip service at this point, with some of the content that is out there, but I have to reiterate how unbelievably transformative a gratitude practice can be when done consistently it rewires the brain from scarcity to abundance.
When we’re operating from a place of abundance, we can operate from a place of courage, we can face those fears, we can really start changing our lives and we don’t look, it’s so easy to spend so much time looking at what is missing, what is lacking, as opposed to spending time looking at what really is there and what we actually do have and that’s what gratitude.
…our brain is actually wired for our success. So when you make and keep commitments and then you congratulate yourself for that, giving yourself a little bit of a shot of dopamine. So now the brain goes ooh that felt nice, I’d like a little bit more of that.
How to Live and Give like a Stoic: Interview with Paul Higgins
Paul Higgins decided to write his first book, Build, Live, Give, while receiving dialysis treatments for chronic kidney disease. During this daunting time, he also started a new company of the same name as his book, with the intent to help solopreneurs free themselves from 60+ hour work-weeks, so they could spend more time doing the things that matter most: spending time with family, traveling, and helping others.
In this interview, Kevin asks Paul about his incredible journey in the areas of business, career, and health. We also get a peek inside a truly remarkable attitude and philosophy of a man who’s taken on Marcus Aurelius’ famous words, “The Obstacle is the Way” in new and inspiring ways.