The Elephant in the Meditation Room | Christopher Ford

The Elephant in the Meditation Room | Christopher Ford

Today's episode is the culmination of a long search to find a countervailing force: a Buddhist Trump supporter. This search was born out of the Buddhist impulse to find the other side. What is talked about as cultivating non-attachment to views and also called "beginner's mind." As you will hear, after a lot of searching, we finally found our person. Christopher Ford is a longtime Republican who worked for Trump (albeit indirectly) at the State Department. Ford wrote a pair of fascinating and provocative articles for the Buddhist magazine Lion's Roar. One was entitled, Zen and the Moral Courage of Moderation. The other was called, The Elephant in the Meditation Room.

Christopher Ford is a lay chaplain in the Soto tradition of Zen Buddhism. His teacher is Roshi Joan Halifax, who has been on this show a couple of times and is herself a longtime progressive. From January 2018 until January 2021,he served at the state dept as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. He's also worked at the National Security Council, and as a congressional staffer.

This episode explores:

  • Ford's argument for a Buddhist conservatism
  • Ford's experience in the Trump administration and his assessment of our current political state
  • The personal tools Ford recommends using in day-to-day life, some of which go right to the issue of not being attached to our views

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/christopher-ford-420

Avsnitt(1032)

Dr. Amishi Jha & Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt

Dr. Amishi Jha & Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt

Dr. Amishi Jha, a neuroscientist and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami, and Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt of the U.S. Army might seem like an unlikely pair, but they have worked...

6 Juli 201654min

Mario Batali

Mario Batali

World-renowned chef Mario Batali has 28 restaurants, 10 cookbooks, a daytime cooking show, a food emporium in New York City, and now plans for a food theme park. He also -- somehow -- finds time to ke...

29 Juni 201638min

Dr. Mark Epstein

Dr. Mark Epstein

Buddhist psychiatrist and author Dr. Mark Epstein has for years written about the overlap between Western psychotherapy and Eastern Buddhist philosophies. Epstein sat down with Dan Harris to talk abou...

22 Juni 20161h 8min

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington has a multimillion-dollar media website that reacts to world events by the millisecond, she's a mother of two -- and yet she says she always gets a good night's sleep. Not only that...

15 Juni 20161h

Adam Shankman

Adam Shankman

Acclaimed movie producer and director Adam Shankman is best known for his upbeat, family-friendly movies, including "Hairspray," "A Walk to Remember" and "The Pacifier," but behind the scenes, Shankma...

8 Juni 201641min

Emma Seppala

Emma Seppala

Success and happiness: Can you have one without the other? Many may assume that these two things are at cross purposes but Emma Seppala, the science director of Stanford University's Center for Compas...

5 Juni 201654min

Chade-Meng Tan

Chade-Meng Tan

Chade-Meng Tan was employee No. 107 at Google. But the software engineer's career took a turn when he began teaching meditation to the company's employees and executives, adopting the job title of "Jo...

1 Juni 201653min

Chodo and Koshin

Chodo and Koshin

Thinking about death can be supremely difficult. Many of us try not to think about it at all – until we have no choice. But two Zen Buddhist monks are using meditation, and a generous dose of humor, t...

25 Maj 20161h 6min

Populärt inom Hälsa

somna-med-henrik
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
rss-jossan-nina
inga-beiga-morsor
angestpodden
rss-vuxna-pa-latsas
not-fanny-anymore
sexnoveller-deluxe
rss-viktmedicinpodden
johannes-hansen-podcast
sova-med-dan-horning
rss-the-house-podcast-3
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
sa-in-i-sjalen
sag-det-bara
brottarbroder
rss-angra-inget-3
sex-pa-riktigt-med-marika-smith
tyngre-radio
rss-fet-fakta-podcast