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  • Episode 11: Universe Walks, with Samantha Faulhaber

    Episode 11: Universe Walks, with Samantha Faulhaber

    Today’s guest is Samantha Faulhaber. Sam teaches mobility, jiu-jitsu, communication, and all sorts of other things. In this episode, we talk about meditation, spiritual entities, trauma, what it’s like to live in a flow state, baking, and why I started a podcast.

    0:02:24 – Why Sam moved to North Carolina, universe walks.
    0:08:12 – Living in a flow state.
    0:13:22 – Why Michael doesn’t like to sound like a fortune cookie.
    0:14:07 – What Sam was like in the past, and how she got started with jiu-jitsu.
    0:19:44 – Being honest with yourself and others.
    0:24:14 – How to force people to become friends.
    0:29:41 – Ideological possession.
    0:36:09 – Conflict on social media vs real life.
    0:42:52 – Spiritual entities.
    0:46:49 – Sankharas in vipassana meditation.
    0:51:08 – Safe communities for children.
    0:52:50 – What makes a good podcast conversation?
    0:55:04 – Trauma and gaslighting.
    1:02:16 – Why did I start a podcast?
    1:03:51 – Meditation exercises, music exercises, both regimented and not.
    1:08:57 – Masculine and feminine energies.
    1:12:50 – An awkward pause.
    1:19:43 – Sam’s gift to the world.
    1:22:33 – Some baking advice.
    1:24:25 – What Michael likes about Sam.
    1:27:02 – Sam makes a demand of Michael.

  • #11 – Universe Walks, with Samantha Faulhaber

    #11 – Universe Walks, with Samantha Faulhaber

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #11 – Universe Walks, with Samantha Faulhaber
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    Today’s guest is Samantha Faulhaber. Sam teaches mobility, jiu-jitsu, communication, and all sorts of other things. In this episode, we talk about meditation, spiritual entities, trauma, what it’s like to live in a flow state, baking, and why I started a podcast.

    0:02:24 – Why Sam moved to North Carolina, universe walks.
    0:08:12 – Living in a flow state.
    0:13:22 – Why Michael doesn’t like to sound like a fortune cookie.
    0:14:07 – What Sam was like in the past, and how she got started with jiu-jitsu.
    0:19:44 – Being honest with yourself and others.
    0:24:14 – How to force people to become friends.
    0:29:41 – Ideological possession.
    0:36:09 – Conflict on social media vs real life.
    0:42:52 – Spiritual entities.
    0:46:49 – Sankharas in vipassana meditation.
    0:51:08 – Safe communities for children.
    0:52:50 – What makes a good podcast conversation?
    0:55:04 – Trauma and gaslighting.
    1:02:16 – Why did I start a podcast?
    1:03:51 – Meditation exercises, music exercises, both regimented and not.
    1:08:57 – Masculine and feminine energies.
    1:12:50 – An awkward pause.
    1:19:43 – Sam’s gift to the world.
    1:22:33 – Some baking advice.
    1:24:25 – What Michael likes about Sam.
    1:27:02 – Sam makes a demand of Michael.

  • It’s all physical

    After I got enlightened (while practicing singing), I wanted to see if my realizations made sense in other contexts.

    That's because practicing a thing makes you better at the thing, and it stands to reason that being better at the thing will make it feel easier. After all, this is the typical narrative.

    So, I picked something that I was horrible at: calligraphy. And, to make it even more interesting, I chose to learn to write with my non-dominant hand (my right hand).

    At first, it was impossibly difficult and stressful.

    But that quickly changed.

    I discovered and invented exercises that made it all work.

    Break things into specific physical actions. Practice them independently. Then, integrate them.

    Example: You say it's “difficult” to write.

    What you then want to do is define “writing” precisely and physically. As an exercise, take “writing” to mean “pulling the pen DOWN on the paper, one stroke after the next.”

    This is a basic physical action. You can make it easy or you can make it difficult.

    If it's difficult, make it easy. You know how to do this.

    It's only a matter of willingness.

    Try it and see what happens. Interesting stuff will show up.

    I predict you'll see that it's only a matter of willingness.

    At the meditation class tonight, we'll talk about how it's all physical.

  • The medium of attentional waves

    All phenomena vibrate. There's no solidity anywhere, if you look closely enough.

    When you stare at an object, peer all the way into the center. See what's there.

    What is the essence of “staring at an object”?

    I don't mean literally staring (although that works, too). Even in your mind's eye, you can stare.

    What happens when you do that?

    Can you find the solidity at the center of the object?

    Waves propagate through a medium (air, water, space, luminiferous ether, consciousness, nothingness).

    What is that perfectly static medium through which waves of attention are moving?

    You know there's got to be something, or else you wouldn't be having the experience of “perceiving the object”.

    I'm fairly certain, though, that the insistence that there are static frames of reference is what the Buddha meant by “craving” and “clinging”.

    I haven't completely solved this puzzle yet.

    But, we'll meditate on it tonight.

    Sign up.

  • I was a Victim of piano lessons

    As a music student, I didn't take risks.

    I saw myself as having to defend territory. It was my job to avoid mistakes, so that I didn't get blamed.

    I looked to the teacher to give me a stamp of approval.

    I wasn't a Creator. If I were a Creator, I wouldn't have avoided mistakes. I would have let myself get blamed, because taking risks in music has a huge payoff.

    If I were a Creator, I wouldn't have looked to the teacher to give me approval. I would have looked to the teacher for help when I had a problem, but I would have given myself approval when approval was needed. This would have enabled me to accept or reject a teacher's advice based solely on how useful the advice was.

    As a student in piano lessons, I would play a piece of music, then stop and wait for the teacher's judgment.

    While playing, I could barely focus on the music. I was so preoccupied with what the teacher must be thinking.

    This went on for years.

    Then, something weird happened during the dress rehearsal for my master's degree recital.

    My teacher was in the audience. Normally, I would have been thinking constantly about her judgment, but that day I was tired, and wasn't in the mood to play so cautiously.

    Instead of “play the piece the way it's supposed to go”, the thought came into my head: “play the piece the way you would want to hear it.”

    That changed everything. Suddenly, it was like I was the only one who mattered. I was free to take risks, because hey, it was only me who got to say how I would want to hear it.

    Seeking the teacher's approval is a form of Victim mentality. It is viewing the teacher as a Rescuer, rather than as a Coach.

    It is viewing your own (lazy/careless/underachieving) self as a Persecutor.

    It's much more fun to play the piano as a Creator than as a Victim.

  • Yoga and meditation are the SAME

    I was shocked to hear someone say yesterday they were surprised to hear yoga and meditation are related.

    And yet, several years ago, as I was listening to an interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn, he mentioned doing yoga.

    I thought: “Huh…another meditation person talking about yoga? This is weird.”

    Yoga was invented to help you sit for longer periods of time during meditation.

    You gotta wonder, then, what do most people think the point of yoga is?

    Somebody dropped the ball on this one.

    Hopefully, this will change both how you meditate AND how you practice yoga. I’m expecting big things from you.

    (This is why I hate yoga teachers. They don’t understand anything about this. They think the point of yoga is to look a certain way in your bathing suit.)

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