Matt Walker chats with Kevin about the latest sleep science and hacks. Matt is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science.

SHOW NOTES

• Two big reasons for having today's guest on the show, and how I've been using Sanbo Zen meditation to stay mentally engaged and emotionally grounded during the pandemic. [00:00]
• Who is Andrew Huberman? [03:35]
• What's new and exciting in the world of neuroscience: how did we get here, who's getting involved, and where are we going? [05:26]
• What practical applications of neuroscientific discoveries does Andrew see becoming available in the not-too-distant future? [13:37]
• What is the vagus nerve, and how can it be manipulated to promote physical and mental well-being? [16:25]
• The therapeutic potential of neuromodulation and how it compares to traditional treatments. [24:46]
• Does treating neurological disorders (such as depression) with these new technologies last over the long haul, and is there concern they're just relieving symptoms without addressing their root causes? [27:06]
• Until this technology becomes available to consumers, what does Andrew suggest for people looking to improve their mood, hone their focus, and feel more productive? [31:53]
• Why exposing yourself to bright, natural light early in the day is essential for establishing optimal sleep patterns, how much is ideal, and why getting outside for your daily dose is key. [34:36]
• Why Andrew doesn't endorse blue-light blocking glasses to alleviate the effects of late-night exposure, and what he recommends instead. [38:46]
• Breathing exercises for stress reduction: physiological sighs contrasted with the Wim Hof method. [42:07]
• A practice Andrew considers to be "the one that has had the greatest effect on everything from ability to buffer stress [to] learning and memory": yoga nidra, or NSDR (non-sleep deep rest). [49:04]
• Nostril breathing versus mouth breathing. [52:32]
• How it's currently believed the glymphatic system works to remove neurotoxic waste from our brains as we sleep, protecting us against degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease. [57:29]
• Why Andrew does not recommend melatonin supplements for sleep -- and what he uses instead. [1:01:29]
• Supplements that may increase testosterone. [1:06:31]
• The pros and possible cons of creatine. [1:08:04]
• Why men shouldn't treat estrogen like an enemy, and what we should know about turmeric's effect on DHT. [1:08:44]
• Why there's no catch-all supplement to increase "cognitive" function, and one of the surprising compounds some of Andrew's Nobel-winning colleagues take for focus that he doesn't personally recommend. [1:10:15]
• Some cognitive-boosting supplements Andrew does recommend (and a few more he definitely does not). [1:11:54]
• Parting thoughts. [1:13:31]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Henry Shukman
• Matthew MacDougall
• Karl Deisseroth
• pE12.xml">Robert G. Heath
• David Spiegel
• Samer Hattar
• David Berson
• Jamie Zeitzer
• Wim Hof
• Brian Mackenzie
• James Nestor
• Sandra Kahn
• Paul R. Ehrlich
• Robert Sapolsky
• Jared Diamond

Yoseph Ayele is an entrepreneur who, for almost seven years, has been building the Edmund Hillary Fellowship and the Global Impact Visa -- an immigration program and a fellowship community combined together to catalyze positive change from Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Yoseph joins us to discuss how his own lousy experience as an aspiring legal immigrant to the United States galvanized a movement for systematic reform and established New Zealand as a base of operations for skilled ex-pats like him to change the world.

SELECTED LINKS AND RESOURCES

• Global Impact Visa (GIVs) | Immigration New Zealand
• Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Yoseph Ayele | Twitter
• Yoseph Ayele | LinkedIn
• Yoseph Ayele | Medium
• Yoseph Ayele: The Way We Think About Immigration is Flawed | TEDxAuckland
• 1983–1985 Famine in Ethiopia | Wikipedia
• Welcome, Entrepreneurs | Harvard Gazette
• Inflection
• things-to-consider-when-collecting-stamps.html">8 Things to Consider When Collecting Stamps | Chubb
• rogers-stamp.html">A Mister Rogers Postage Stamp, and a Legacy That’s Anything But Make-Believe | The New York Times
• Ants Build Complex Structures With a Few Simple Rules | Quanta Magazine
• Leading Change From The Edge Of The Map | Yoseph Ayele, Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Enspiral
• Steve Jobs: "Death is Very Likely the Best Single Invention of Life. It is Life's Change Agent." | Cult of Mac
• The Genesis of Kiwi Ingenuity: 'Number Eight Wire' | Motovated Design & Analysis
• New Zealand Conservation Trust
• Xero
• Trade Me
• Rocket Lab
• What Joe Biden Can Learn from Jacinda Ardern | The Nation
• New Zealand Building Bridges to Silicon Valley | Alina Siegfried, Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Why Do So Many Oregonians Hate Californians? Here's Why | That Oregon Life
• New Zealand Goes to SXSW | Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Welcome to New Frontiers March 2019! | Yoseph Ayele, Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Y Combinator
• Emergence Capital
• Kauffman Fellows
• Hillary Institute
• The Next Phase for Kiwi Connect: Edmund Hillary Fellowship | Yoseph Ayele, Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• Discover Māori Culture in New Zealand | 100% Pure New Zealand
• Tips for Engaging in the Māori World | Edmund Hillary Fellowship
• New Zealand Stars Tackle ‘Tiny Racists’ Helping to Normalise Prejudice | The Guardian
• North Korea Remains Self-Isolated and Defiant Amidst the Coronavirus | The Heritage Foundation
• Lessons from New Zealand's COVID-19 Outbreak Response | The Lancet Public Health
• new-zealand-covid-19-lockdown-e97be2fc-1b68-4e6f-9163-4b7676880b31.html">Science Helps New Zealand Avoid COVID-19 Lockdown Again | Axios
• Māori Hāngī | 100% Pure New Zealand

SHOW NOTES

• Who is Yoseph Ayele, and how did his frustrations as an aspiring legal immigrant to the United States pave the way for New Zealand's Global Impact Visa? [00:00]
• Where did Yoseph's journey as an entrepreneur begin, how did his dreams of living in the United States falter (in spite of being a Harvard graduate with a Silicon Valley job), and what made him set his sights on New Zealand as the home where he now hangs his hat? [02:25]
• How did young Yoseph's parents foster an environment for exploration and learning? [10:12]
• What inspired Yoseph's comparison of the value of diversity to the health of a thriving ecosystem? [12:16]
• How does Yoseph practically apply the principles of an ecosystem to a business (even when one of those principles might be what Steve Jobs called "life's change agent": death)? [15:37]
• What was Yoseph's point of entry when he decided upon New Zealand as the next chapter in his journey, and what convinced him that doing things the "number eight wire" way was better than the Silicon Valley approach with which he was already familiar? [19:49]
• Examples of what "number eight wire" looks like applied to the real world of New Zealand entrepreneurship. [22:58]
• Why does Yoseph believe New Zealand fosters such a strong spirit of scrappy resourcefulness? [25:19]
• Yoseph explains how his team's networking efforts expanded into what he refers to as ecosystem bridges -- bringing in new talent from overseas and recapturing talent from over a million expatriated New Zealanders. [27:15]
• How does Yoseph propose selling the upsides of immigration and diversity to communities that may be set in their ways and fearful of change -- even when that change is positive? [30:52]
• How did the Global Impact Visa go from idea to law in the breakneck policy pace of 12 months, and how did working with the New Zealand government differ from that of comparable bureaucracy in the United States? [34:03]
• Since the most innovative candidates for immigration don't always look impressive on paper, and aspirants who appear promising at first glance may only excel at filling out applications, what did Yoseph's team do to ensure quality control without falling into the checkboxes trap he'd encountered in the United States? [40:04]
• Yoseph points out that being an immigrant is one of the most entrepreneurial-spirited endeavors a human being can take on. How the success of the Global Impact Visa led to what became the community-building Edmund Hillary Fellowship. [42:59]
• How many applicants has EHF had in the past four years, and how many have been accepted? What are the markers that indicate a good fit during the selection process? [46:01]
• What fruits have formed after four years of labor, and what does Yoseph hope to see for EHF's next four years and beyond -- for its fellows and community? [48:59]
• How can EHF work to preserve the values that make New Zealand society so appealing and unique while simultaneously reaping the benefits of recruiting outside thinking? [51:58]
• Immigration as diplomacy: what the rest of the world can learn from these efforts. [55:11]
• Why does Yoseph believe New Zealand has been so successful in tackling COVID compared to how it's been handled virtually everywhere else? Will the country's tempered judgment and good fortune prevail when faced with future catastrophes? [58:56]
• Parting thoughts, and what listeners interested in emigrating to New Zealand can do to begin their own journey. [1:01:35]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Daniel Burka
• Matthew Monahan
• Brian Monahan
• Fred Rogers
• Steve Jobs
• Rod Drury
• Nigel Bickle
• Jason Green
• Edmund Hillary
• Andre Bate
• Jason Fried

Kevin & Tim back together again for The Random Show, covering all their latest obsessions and interests. This episode covers the latest Bitcoin craze, 2021 New Years Resolutions, their favorite books, lucid dreaming, the benefits of couples therapy, and more!

Andy Rachleff is one of the most influential and successful Venture Capitalists of all time. In this episode, we discuss the traits of successful entrepreneurs, what makes a good idea, product-market fit (a term Andy coined), building Wealthfront, how to hire, doubling down on what's working, day trading vs index investing, tax-loss harvesting, bitcoin, and much more.

In this episode, Kevin speaks with Josh Clemente about continuous glucose monitors, insulin, metabolic health, tips for hacking glucose levels, and more.

Josh Clemente, Founder of Levels, is a mechanical engineer and CrossFit-L2 trainer. At SpaceX, he led a team to develop life support systems that sustained astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their May 2020 trip to the International Space Station aboard Dragon Endeavor: the first new crew-carrying spacecraft since 1980. Josh has also spent time designing and building Hyperloop technology at Virgin Hyperloop One and leading engineering for a company providing vehicle-based rescue systems for emergency response teams.

For those interested in trying Levels, use: levels.link/krose to skip the waitlist (28,000+) and join the early access program.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Levels Metabolic Fitness Program
• Levels Blog
• Josh Clemente | Twitter
• Level 2 Certificate Course | CrossFit
• SpaceX
• Virgin Hyperloop
• What Is Metabolism? | Rush University Medical Center
• Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, and Blood Sugar | Michigan Medicine
• What is Metabolic Fitness? | Levels
• Why Your Metabolism Slows Down with Age | Healthline
• Obesity is a Hormonal Imbalance, Not a Caloric Imbalance. | Dr. Jason Fung, Better Humans, Medium
• rocks.com/">Pop Rocks
• Lik-M-Aid/Fun Dip | Old Time Candy
• Nerds Candy
• Choosing a Diet That's Right for You | Mayo Clinic
• wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/blood-sugar-levels-response-foods-are-highly-individual">Blood Sugar Levels in Response to Foods Are Highly Individual | Weizmann Wonder Wander
• resistance.html">Insulin Resistance Symptoms, Causes, Treatment | Diabetes.co.uk
• What Twins Can Tell Us About Diabetes | Healthline
• How Sleep Deprivation Can Alter Metabolism and Lead to Obesity | Insider
• What Is a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and How Do I Choose One? | Healthline
• Glucose Tolerance Test | Mayo Clinic
• 4 Facts You Should Know about the Glycemic Index | The Johns Hopkins Patient Guide to Diabetes
• The Truth About Low-Glycemic Diets | Johns Hopkins Medicine
• AMA #15: Real-World Case Studies — Metabolic Dysregulation, Low Testosterone, Menopause, and More | The Peter Attia Drive
• Understanding A1C | American Diabetes Association
• Hyperglycemia: When Your Blood Glucose Level Goes Too High — Symptoms, Treatments, and Prevention | EndocrineWeb
• Malpractice Concerns from Doctors | Healthline
• The Loop Monitoring Solution | Spry Health
• Oura Ring
• Only 1 in 8 Americans Are Metabolically Healthy | Health.com
• Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease | American Liver Foundation
• What Is a Normal Blood Sugar Level? | Diabetes Self-Management
• How Levels Founder Josh Clemente Mastered His Energy Levels with Glucose Tracking and CGM | Levels
• Zone 2 Training: How to Build Your Aerobic Base | Hero Movement
• Glucose Control: Why Timing Your Exercise After Meals Matters | Cleveland Clinic
• Is It Better to Take a Sauna on an Empty Stomach or a Full Stomach? | Saunatimes
• sauna.com/blog/did-you-know-a-sauna-can-fight-diabetes-and-insulin-resistance-it-can.html">Did You Know a Sauna Can Fight Diabetes and Insulin Resistance? | Steam Sauna
• Brown vs. White Rice: Which Is Better For Your Health? | Healthline
• Sleep Longer to Lower Blood Glucose Levels | Sleep Foundation
• The Pod Pro | Eight Sleep
• The Truth about Alcohol and Sleep | The Sleep Doctor
• We Found Out What 'Food Combining' Is (And If It Actually Works) | HuffPost Australia
• Food Order Has Significant Impact on Glucose and Insulin Levels | Weill Cornell Medicine
• Juicing: Stupid and Pretentious or Nourishing and Enlightening? | Summer Tomato
• How Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar and Fights Diabetes | Healthline
• Acarbose Uses, Side Effects, & Warnings | Drugs.com
• A Spoonful of Vinegar Helps the Sugar Go Down | Diabetes In Control
• Berberine vs. Metformin for Prediabetes and Mild Diabetes | Good Hormone Health
• Tips for Managing Insulin-Related Weight Gain | Healthline
• The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Jason Fung, MD
• Perfect Keto
• Kettle & Fire
• Metabolic Flexibility in Health and Disease | Cell Metabolism
• Causes, Characteristics, and Consequences of Metabolically Unhealthy Normal Weight in Humans | Cell Metabolism
• Is Alzheimer’s Type 3 Diabetes? | Mayo Clinic
• 20 Facts About Fasting (Backed By Science) | Fasting.com
• Intermittent Fasting and Insulin Resistance: How the Two Are Connected | Simple Life
• 9 Guidelines for Fasting When You Have Diabetes | US News
• ?Zero: Simple Fasting Tracker
• The Effects of Low Blood Sugar on Your Body | Healthline
• Fat Cells Step In to Help Liver During Fasting | ScienceDaily

SHOW NOTES

• What does metabolic health entail, and why should we care about tracking glucose? [01:36]
• What changes our metabolic health as we age, and what drew Josh's attention to this as a serious issue? [03:58]
• With so many dietary choices available, how can we know what will work for our optimal health? Hint: it's highly individual (with a possible exception for people who share an identical twin). [07:52]
• Why Josh and I constantly monitor our own glucose levels even though we're not diabetic or even pre-diabetic, and why even the healthiest among us should consider doing the same. [12:16]
• Why do health providers seem hesitant to prescribe CGMs as a preventative measure? How long does Josh think it's going to be before we see CGMs being available to consumers over the counter, and what are the potential risks to be aware of? [20:22]
• When 88 percent of American adults are metabolically unhealthy, how do we determine what constitutes a "healthy" blood glucose range? [26:00]
• How does Josh stay within what he considers a healthy range? [29:16]
• What physical exercise does Josh consider optimal for maintaining a healthy range, and how close to mealtime is ideal? [31:23]
• How does Sauna usage affect the data? [35:11]
• Why we shouldn't take the glycemic index at face value. [36:48]
• How important is sleep to maintaining healthy blood glucose levels? [38:30]
• Food combining: how much does it matter if you eat starches before proteins (or vice versa)? [41:38]
• Does the rate of consumption/chewing make any difference to the data? Will eating an apple affect you differently than drinking a smoothie or juice made with that same apple? [45:41]
• What supplements might someone take to positively affect their blood glucose levels? [51:03]
• Josh explains how his company, Levels, aims to help us maximize our metabolic fitness with minimum invasiveness. [54:01]
• How does the program work, and what kind of budget is Level geared toward? [56:43]
• The ways in which Level can pinpoint the causes, effects, and solutions when your numbers fluctuate unexpectedly. [1:01:22]
• What we might expect Level to look like in five years. [1:02:28]
• How are glucose and insulin involved in unwanted weight gain? [1:03:55]
• What can you do if you're interested in giving Level a whirl? (Go to levels.link/krose to skip the waitlist of 28,000+ and join the early access program.) [1:08:19]
• A further appeal to people who think monitoring blood glucose is just something for diabetics to worry about. [1:09:41]
• How does fasting affect blood glucose? [1:13:00]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Peter Attia
• Rhonda Patrick
• Jason Fung
• Casey Means
• Tim Ferriss
• Darya Rose
• Justin Mares

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• American Black Bear | National Geographic
• How to Train an Otter | Aquarium of the Bay
• Kevin’s Raccoon Toss | YouTube
• Grizzly Bear | National Wildlife Federation
• Bear Spray Demonstration and Safety Tips | Yellowstone Forever
• ElimiTick Pants | Amazon
• GORUCK | The Rucking Company
• Weighted Vests | Amazon
• The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
• CrossFit Games
• What is Judo? | Online Dojo
• Spaceballs | Prime Video
• “I’m Back!” Mike Tyson Hitting Pads at Age 53 | Global Boxing TV
• OMG! Mike Tyson Still Terrifying on the Mitts! Throws Explosive Combinations Training for Comeback | Global Boxing TV
• The Dangers of Boxing Injuries | Verywell Fit
• Early Onset/Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s | Alzheimer’s Association
• Where Evel Knievel Never Soared: A Wallenda Flies Over the Grand Canyon | Indian Country Today
• Indian Python Swallows Goat Whole | Truly
• Best of Parkour and Freerunning | StuntsAmazing
• Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. Exhibition Fight Delayed | CBS Sports
• Mike Tyson on Smoking DMT | ESPN
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Events as They Happen | WHO
• Predicting Hospital Capacity: Why to Act Early, How to Think About Lag Time, and a Model You Can Use | tim.blog
• Emergency Technique: How to Increase Ventilator Capacity 2–4x in 10 Minutes | tim.blog
• How to Support Healthcare Workers Now — Plus Urgent Suggestions for Uber Eats, Hilton, Amazon, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #416
• vaccine-tracker.html">Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker | The New York Times
• Anti-Vaccine Activists Latch Onto Coronavirus To Bolster Their Movement | Kaiser Health News
• Getting Vaccinated for the Flu This Year Is Particularly Important, Who Officials Say | CNN
• Who Really Stands to Win from Universal Basic Income? | The New Yorker
• 7 Great TED Talks for Basic Income | Matt Orfalea, Medium
• OpenAI API
• OpenAI’s Latest Breakthrough Is Astonishingly Powerful, but Still Fighting Its Flaws | The Verge
• OpenAI’s New Language Generator GPT-3 Is Shockingly Good—and Completely Mindless | MIT Technology Review
• “I Actually Think GPT-3 Could Change Everything” | Chris Sacca, Twitter Twitter
• Grand Theft Auto V | Rockstar Games
• Siri | Apple
• Timeline: A Day-to-Day Recap of Portland Protests | KGW
• The Original Muck Boot Company
• How to Take a Digital Detox during the COVID-19 Pandemic | BBC Worklife
• Pocket Casts
• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Audible
• Sonos
• Pandora
• Waking Up with Sam Harris
• Strong Workout Tracker
• Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring
• Aura
• Less Alcohol Tracker
• Zero
• Lumosity
• MasterClass Online Classes
• Personal Capital
• Financial Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• Wealthfront
• Clarity Money
• Barron’s
• Simplify Financial Planning
• Home | Apple
• Traeger Grills
• Maui Nui Venison
• The Axis Deer, and How They’re Impacting Parts of the United States | Wide Open Spaces
• Crowd Cow
• ButcherBox
• Belcampo
• Heart Rate Variability: A New Way to Track Well-Being | Harvard Health Blog
• The Breathing App | Eddie Stern
• Normal Blood Oxygen Level: What’s Normal for Me? | Healthline
• Parasympathetic Nervous System | ScienceDirect Topics
• Lyme Disease | CDC
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor | ScienceDirect Topics
• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
• Henry Shukman: The Mysterious/Unsolvable Zen Koans | The Kevin Rose Show
• What Is a Koan? | New World Encyclopedia
• One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir by Henry Shukman
• San Francisco Zen Center
• Mountain Cloud Zen Center
• The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection by Michael A. Singer
• How To Meditate: Zazen Instructions | Zen Mountain Monastery
• Transcendental Meditation (TM)
• Why Taking Ayahuasca Is like Having a Near-Death Experience | New Scientist
• Quickening Scene | Highlander
• Pique Tea | Amazon
• Laird Superfood Coffee Creamer | Amazon
• WhatsApp
• onX Hunt App
• The Beginner’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting | James Clear
• Top 250 Rated Beers | BeerAdvocate
• Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout | Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
• My Beer Collectibles
• Pliny the Elder | Russian River Brewing Company
• SR-71 | Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
• Julius IPA | Tree House Brewing Company
• Geocities Archive Mirror
• Trial By Fire | Vimeo
• Saddle (Kura) | Japanese | The Met
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Peloton
• 5-Bullet Friday
• Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya on How To Invest in This Crisis | Pomp Podcast #256
• Shopify
• Index Fund | Investopedia
• Square Cash App
• Tesla
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM) | MarketWatch
• The PlayStation 5 vs. Xbox Series X: Which is Better for You? | The Washington Post
• ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ Launches Exclusive Partnership with Spotify | Spotify
• Twitch
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Stock Pick | Investopedia
• Should You Buy Gold Or Bitcoin? | Investopedia
• iShares Gold Trust (IAU)
• Bitcoin vs Ethereum — Which is Better? | Benzinga
• What an ETF Is and How to Buy Them | Investopedia
• Mad Max | Prime Video
• Investing for Everyone | Robinhood
• 20-Year-Old Robinhood Customer Dies By Suicide After Seeing A $730,000 Negative Balance | Forbes
• Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #444

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Mike Maser
• Toaster
• Jason McCarthy
• Mike Tyson
• Dark Helmet
• Roy Jones Jr.
• Evel Knievel
• The Hulk
• Chris Sacca
• Darya Rose
• Peter Attia
• Molly
• Henry Shukman
• Michael Singer
• Valter Longo
• Chamath Palihapitiya
• Anthony Pompliano
• Joe Rogan
• Michelle Obama
• Hugh Jackman

Henry Shukman (Ryu’un-ken) is an Associate Zen Master of the Sanbo Zen lineage, based in Kamakura, Japan, and he teaches at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM. He has trained primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, Zen teacher John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and now continues his training under the guidance of Yamada Ryoun Roshi, current abbot of Sanbo Zen. Henry is dedicated to what he sees as core Zen training — clarifying our essential nature to our own satisfaction, and thereby finding true peace of mind, and then living that essential nature in every moment of daily life, in freedom, love, and deep responsiveness.

Henry is a writer and poet of British-Jewish origin, who has published eight books to date, of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He writes regularly for Tricycle, The New York Times, and other publications, and his most recent book is One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

• One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir by Henry Shukman
• More Books by Henry Shukman
• Mountain Cloud Zen Center
• Waking Up with Sam Harris App
• Transcendental Meditation
• San Francisco Zen Center
• Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema) Symptoms and Causes | Mayo Clinic
• The Beatles and the Transcendental Meditation: In Their Own Words | Transcendental Meditation
• Deepak Chopra | Twitter
• University of Oxford
• now-is-bliss-20030929-gdwfir.html">Why Now is Bliss | The Age
• David Wants To Fly | Prime Video
• 5 Types of Meditation Decoded | Chopra.com
• Vatican Inc.: 5 Facts About the Business of the Catholic Church | CNN Money
• azi.org/en/history-zen-buddhism">History of Zen Buddhism | International Zen Association
• Japanese Zen Buddhist Philosophy | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• japan.com/2016/06/21/the-difference-between-rinzai-and-soto-zen/">The Difference Between Rinzai and Soto Zen | Sanpai Japan
• Sanbo Kyodan | Wikipedia
• zen.org/">Sanbo-Zen
• What Is a Koan? | New World Encyclopedia
• What an Ayahuasca Retreat Showed Me about My Life | Vox
• David Eagleman: Can We Create New Senses for Humans? | TED Talk
• Thich Nhat Hanh: The Fullness of Emptiness | Lion's Roar
• The Buddhist Concept of Emptiness (Sunyata) | Buddhist Sympathizer
• Buddha: How to Tame Your Monkey Mind | HuffPost
• What Is a Flow State and What Are Its Benefits? | Headspace
• Nihilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• How to Meditate: The Buddhist Guide | Lion's Roar
• Intro to Meditation Talk 1 with Henry Shukman: Fundamentals of Why We Sit | Mountain Cloud Zen Center
• After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path by Jack Kornfield
• Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | CDC
• How Two Weeks of Protests Have Changed America | Vox
• The Coronavirus Pandemic's Impact On Pollution And Climate Change | NBC News
• Racial Trauma Is a Public Health Emergency | Psychology Today
• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
• Comparing Democratic Distress in the United States and Europe | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• The Bodhisattva Ideal | Dharmanet
• protests-fact-check.html">Fact-Checking the Portland Protests: How Violent Are They? | The New York Times
• How to Practice Zen Koans | Lion's Roar
• 61 Zen Koans with Commentary by Clark Strand | Tricycle
• Four Myths About Zen Buddhism's "Mu Koan" | OUPblog
• The Gateless Gate | Wikisource
• Zen: The Authentic Gate by Yamada Koun

SHOW NOTES

• How we each began the journey toward practicing meditation. [01:30]
• Henry suffered from extreme eczema for decades. Here's how meditation was instrumental in relieving his condition. [04:38]
• The pros and cons of Transcendental Meditation (TM) as we understood them, and why we each chose to move on. [09:09]
• An awakening epiphany Henry experienced around the time he wrote his first book -- before he discovered meditation. [11:00]
• One problem with epiphanies: they don't come with a user's manual. [17:53]
• Further musings (and concerns) about TM. [22:22]
• Henry shares an overview of Zen and how he became involved with it. [25:49]
• What is a koan? [28:41]
• Zen vs. psychedelics. [29:48]
• Can enlightenment be explained by existing language, or does it need to be experienced? [34:25]
• The "emptiness" of Buddhism, the relief of lightening psychic burdens, and some thoughts on the way our senses process reality. [36:09]
• Zen is not always about enlightenment, but applying the practice to the practical aspects of our lives. [43:10]
• What does Henry's Zen practice look like, and how does someone get involved? [45:21]
• What are the benefits of having a guide when you're learning to meditate? Does Henry consider it necessary for everybody? [47:42]
• A koan awakening. [52:23]
• The importance of recognizing life's transformational passages as we encounter them, as well as the beauty of valuing the ordinary. [54:50]
• How does Henry go from appreciating life's mundane moments to coping with 2020's more sensational aspects like politics and COVID-19? [58:50]
• Feeling powerless to engage in the political process? Take a lesson from the bodhisattvas and help work toward good without getting wrapped up in potential outcomes. [1:06:04]
• A deeper dive into koans and how we can work with them. [1:08:13]
• A computer science guy's approach to understanding koans. [1:12:52]
• Henry takes us through a few particularly famous koans. [1:16:07]
• Are koans ever meant to shock a student into enlightenment? [1:20:59]
• What can we expect from Henry's latest book, One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir? [1:24:48]
• Parting thoughts and ways to get in touch with Henry. [1:27:07]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Sam Harris
• Deepak Chopra
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
• Eckhart Tolle
• Yamada Koun
• John Gaynor
• Darya Rose
• Resmaa Menakem
• Zhaozhou Congshen