Reality Is Not What You Think (w/John Astin)
b"What happens if you drop the mental labels, constructs and THOUGHTS about reality, and just look directly at your immediate experience? Strap yourself in because psychologist John Astin helps us see what's right in front of us, now and always \\U0001f92f\\nJohn Astin is a meditation teacher, musician, and the author of four books on spiritual practice, including Searching for Rain in a Monsoon. He has a Ph.D. in health psychology and is an adjunct professor of clinical and counseling psychology at Santa Clara and Notre Dame de Namur Universities. Find his books, teachings, and more on his website. Here's the interview with Donald Hoffman that we referenced and check out all our videos on consciousness, meditation, and awakening.\\nVideo: https://zdoggmd.com/podcasting/john-astin/\\nTopics & Timecodes\\n0:00\\xa0Introduction\\n9:01\\xa0The role of psychedelics, self transcendence & wonder\\n13:25\\xa0Awakening to non-dual reality\\n18:10\\xa0The miracle of our present experience\\n25:00\\xa0How words and concepts can\\u2019t capture experience\\n28:35\\xa0Conceptual vs. Experiential perspective: an exercise\\n34:10\\xa0Analogy to the vase illusion image: parts and whole coexist\\n49:28\\xa0The inconceivability of any experience, including emotions like worry and anxiety\\n58:29\\xa0The fractal/holographic nature of reality, the oneness of experience\\n1:01:28\\xa0Awakening as a sense of homecoming\\n1:05:15\\xa0The paradox of suffering and our frame of reference\\n1:09:50\\xa0\\u201cRelative\\u201d medicine vs. \\u201cUltimate\\u201d medicine, clarifying the nature of pain\\n1:17:18\\xa0The impermanence of experiential phenomenon\\n1:26:40\\xa0The paradox of striving/seeking, allowing experience to be\\n1:29:00\\xa0Drifting reality and what is attention, the groundless nature of experience\\n1:33:28\\xa0The paradox of meditation and effort, the role of teachers\\n1:43:06\\xa0The dreamlike quality of waking experience\\n1:45:20\\xa0Zoom as an abstraction vs. in person experience\\n1:48:50\\xa0What is meditation? What is common to all experience: one taste\\n1:55:05\\xa0What is consciousness? Reality is \\u201cjust this\\u201d; what is \\u201cpresence\\u201d\\n2:04:55\\xa0All views are partial, the Alt-Middle, Integral perspective, thoughts are just thoughts\\n2:07:43\\xa0McGilcrist and left brain vs right brain, Jill Bolte Taylor\\n2:10:40\\xa0Wrapping up, links, and the book This Extraordinary Moment\\n\\nVideo show archive, audio podcasts, music parodies, Supporter Tribe membership options, merch, social media, and email contact form:\\xa0https://lnk.bio/zdoggmd\\n\\n\\nSupport us with a 1-time donation and get a personal email response from me: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/zdoggmd\\n\\n\\nMore about Dr. Z:\\xa0https://zdoggmd.com/about-z/\\n\\n\\n\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"