What is Now?
I’ve recently begun recording a podcast with my good friend, Saqib Rizvi. Saqib is a fellow meditation instructor on the Insight Timer app and, while we come from very different backgrounds, we have in common a deep passion for exploring fundamental questions of existence and for contributing to the reduction of unnecessary suffering in life based on that exploration. So we thought it might be a fruitful project to record and share a weekly podcast with anyone who might be interested.
The podcast is titled What is Now? and, in each episode, Saqib and I enjoy one minute of silence together (we invite the listener to do the same if they’re willing), and then we see whatever topics reveal themselves in the present moment, rather than having pre-planned topics to discuss. In doing this, we are embracing the vulnerability of opening ourselves to the felt experience of Now, giving up a sense of control, and just seeing what happens, together. As the topics of the meeting arise, Saqib and I identify particular themes, which inform the episode titles, and then we provide a guided meditation based on those themes to close each meeting.
For example, in the first session, Saqib and I discussed our ostensible roles as spiritual teachers, and explored which is more essential, the “messenger” or the “message” that the messenger is delivering? And is the messenger really the owner and creator of the message, or are they simply a vessel for something larger than their “separate self”? In the second session, we explored the physical location of the “self” and how and where it is that you feel your most core you (e.g., behind your eyes, in your head, in your heart?).
We are very excited about this project not only as an offering to listeners, but also as a personal practice of steel sharpening steel as we attempt to articulate experiences and principles that may ultimately exist outside of the realm of words. We hope you’ll join us as the podcast continues to evolve and come to life.
Below, you’ll find links to access the podcast audio as well as the video recording of our first session.
We hope you join us!
