Posts by Ted Meissner
Episode 85 :: Matt Lowry and Brian Gregory :: Physics and Martial Arts
Matt Lowry the Skeptical Teacher, and Brian Gregory of Virtual Drinking Skeptically join us to talk about the myths and facts of the physics of martial arts.
I remember a television show called “That’s Incredible”, and indeed it was. One particular episode had a self-proclaimed martial arts master, James Hydrick who could — supposedly — move pencils and turn phone book pages with his extra-normal powers. This was debunked with a few flakes of packing material on another show, showing how this charlatan was simply using his breath to cause objects to move.
Read MoreAtheism, Existentialism, and Buddhism's Reasons for Living
Recently I got an email from a listener of the podcast, asking some very well put questions about atheism and Buddhism as it relates to existential thought.
Read MoreEpisode 84 :: Katherine MacLean :: Psilocybin and Openness
Katherine MacLean Katherine MacLean speaks with us about a new study on the effects of the psychoactive drug psilocybin on the personality trait of Openness. Hi, everyone. This week as with last week, we’re enjoying the benefits of the kindness of others in sharing their work in a very timely fashion. I was very happy…
Read MoreEpisode 83 :: Owen Flanagan :: The Bodhisattva's Brain
Owen Flanagan Owen Flanagan speaks with us about his new book The Bodhisattva’s Brain: Buddhism Naturalized. It’s not very often that I get a series of emails, FaceBook messages, and even Tweets about a new book that’s just come out, but recently that did occur. And because this is really a podcast for you, I…
Read MoreEpisode 82 :: Dan Bammes :: Early Web Skeptical Buddhism
Dan Bammes talks with us about one of the first, if not the first, skeptical Buddhist web presence.
When I started this podcast, it was a pretty clear and open field for secular and skeptical Buddhist websites. There was and still is a fairly limited but active set of people, promoting the ideas of reason and naturalism as it applies to our practice of Buddhism. And it’s a wonderful experience, as I hear from listeners to the podcast about how this has helped validate that they are not the only person who has a skeptical view of assertions not in evidence.
Read MoreEpisode 81 :: Dr. Dan Siegel :: Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
Dr. Dan Siegel Dr. Dan Siegel speaks with us about Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, and how we can describe what the mind really is. When we say mind is not simply limited to the body, that is often inaccurately perceived as a dichotomy between mind and body, that there is a separate…
Read MoreEpisode 80 :: Dr. Elizabeth Loftus :: False Memory Creation
Dr. Elizabeth Loftus Dr. Elizabeth Loftus speaks with us about false memory creation. Many of us have had very compelling experiences during meditation. We’ve cleared away the mental noise, calmed our brains, and — supposedly — we’re seeing things as they are, we’re penetrating into Truth with a capital T. The term “direct knowing” is…
Read MoreEpisode 79 :: Jason Siff :: Unlearning Meditation Part Two
Jason Siff Jason Siff speaks with us about Unlearning Meditation in the second of a two part episode. Jason Siff was a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s, where he began studying Pali and teaching meditation. After he left the Buddhist monastic order and returned to Los Angeles in 1990, he studied…
Read MoreEpisode 78 :: Jason Siff :: Unlearning Meditation Part One
Jason Siff Jason Siff speaks with us about Unlearning Meditation in the first of a two part episode. We come from a long line of meditators. For literally thousands of years, there have been specific instructions on how to do this practice, and what the outcomes will inevitably be. And we have very positive experiences…
Read MoreEpisode 77 :: Matt Lowry and Dana Nourie :: Fun With Physics and Walking Through Walls
Dana Nourie and Matt Lowry join us to speak about physics, the natural world, and quantum misperceptions.
Lately, there seems to be an unfortunate mixing of Siddhattha Gotama’s teaching and practice around the existential experience of dissatisfaction, and science. Certainly we do see wonderful scientific studies about what’s going on in the brain during meditation, for example, but that’s a far cry from levitation and walking through walls. Buddhism is not about physics, despite our seeing false patterns of synchronicity between the two.
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