This interview was recorded on October 9, 2020, as part of an online conference on “Living and Dying” offered by the Science and Nonduality Conference.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. His free weekly newsletter has 180,000 subscribers and his online programs have scholarships available for those with financial needs.
His books have been published in 29 languages with 900,000 copies in English alone and include:
- Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness
- Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness
- Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence
- Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
- Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time
- Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships
He’s lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on the BBC, CBS, NPR, and other major media. He began meditating in 1974 and is the founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. He loves wilderness and taking a break from emails.
Website: rickhanson.net
Additional books and other media:
- Stress-Proof Your Brain
- Meditations to Change Your Brain
- The Enlightened Brain
- Meditations for Happiness
- Self-Directed Brain Change
- Letting Go: A Key to Lasting Happiness
- Steadying Your Mind
- Awaken Your Brain
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
First BatGap interview with Rick Hanson.
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Welcome to “Dying and Living”
- 00:02:23 – Reflections on Equanimity and Love
- 00:04:06 – Visual Representation of a Message
- 00:05:38 – The Impermanence of Experience and the Search for Happiness
- 00:07:37 – Resting in Stillness with Meditation
- 00:09:38 – Cultivating Equanimity
- 00:11:24 – Understanding the Mind and Increasing Equanimity
- 00:13:04 – The Three Stages of Experience
- 00:14:51 – Managing Aversion
- 00:16:45 – Sensitizing to the Negative
- 00:18:24 – Cultivating Peaceful Abiding
- 00:20:03 – Dealing with the Good and the Bad
- 00:21:39 – The Pace of News and Events
- 00:23:06 – Cultivating Unbounded Awareness
- 00:25:03 – Shifting Perspectives: Egocentric and Allocentric Views
- 00:26:43 – Finding Beauty and Unboundedness
- 00:28:06 – Finding Joy in the Local
- 00:30:04 – The Importance of Living Well Locally
- 00:31:55 – Individual and Collective Consciousness
- 00:33:37 – The Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Stability
- 00:35:24 – Practicing Authenticity and Cutting through Spiritual Materialism
- 00:37:07 – The confluence of conspiracy theories and the spiritual community
- 00:39:04 – The Influence of Cults and the Importance of Reality
- 00:40:48 – Punishing Freeloaders and Promoting Truth
- 00:42:34 – The Difficulty of Knowing the Truth
- 00:44:22 – The Importance of Personal Character and Virtue
- 00:45:48 – The Proliferation of Craziness
- 00:47:18 – Supporting Institutions that Promote Truth
- 00:49:08 – Developing Discernment and Spiritual Enlightenment
- 00:51:13 – The Ephemeral Nature of Passing Phenomena
- 00:53:09 – Conclusion and Farewell
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More