Elephant Journal: Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about a Buddhist method to apply toward making decisions in our lives—big, or little. Suggested Reading: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind ~ Shunryu Suzuki Read more about "don't-know mind": https://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/04/i-dont-know-do-you-know/

We're seeing a lot of talk about being Christian and the Rapture and all. Most of it is missing the point: Jesus' message of compassion was radical for his time, and clearly still is today.

What was your favorite Redford film or two that you’d recommend to others here? RIP, Bob. Thank you, Mr. Robert Redford, for being an iconoclast—an example particularly to so many young men like myself of humor and strength and kindness and integrity in a world of unoriginality, greed, willful harm, and suffering.   Read the full article with more context from Waylon, here, on Elephant Journal: A Personal Goodbye to Robert Redford. ~ Waylon Lewis {+ Podcast, Walk the Talk Show video}

Breathe through the Big Moment. Easier said than done, right? Serious psychological issues, trauma, or deep-seated issues...those require a different approach. But this conversation is an opportunity to talk openly about the Buddhist approach to our everyday stress and anxiety that we’re all experiencing—perhaps more in 2025 than ever. "I'm talking about sort of surface everyday stress and anxiety. You're speedy. You're not getting enough done. You're lazy. From a Buddhist point of view, laziness is a reaction to busyness where you want to take a break, but you tune out in a way that isn't actually relaxing." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares a wish for our sweet, sweet (endangered) place in the solar system: Imagine if we could celebrate Halloween without trashing our planet and teaching our children that it’s okay to do so.

What we *All* (especially Parents, hopefully) Want. Waylon shares a reminder that while we all want nice air to breathe, healthy water to drink, a stable planet for our children to grow up on, and for our children to be safe...we vote for politicians and support corporations that do the exact opposite. Again and again. "We gotta walk our talk. So that's the name of this video series, Walk The Talk Show. It's exhausting. It's exhausting to talk about the same thing. So this is just a reminder, if you do care—let's deeply care. Let's be willing to care, willing to expose our hearts and actually make some changes." ~ Waylon H. Lewis ~ "The vast majority of Americans want to take action. Thoughts and prayers are a great start. Nothing's wrong with thoughts and prayers, but if that's where it ends, everything's wrong with thoughts and prayers." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares with Elephant Readers, our community, and everyone listening, a simple plug for love in a moment when the GOP / MAGA is again looking to take away gay marriage rights. "Ultimately, we all want to be happy, whatever that looks like. We need to remember that when people are in love, that's one of the greatest contributors to societal happiness and stability." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares a counter-intuitive, Buddhist-inspired tip for those struggling to find motivation—whether you're an entrepreneur, a parent, a teacher, or simply a human who has to "produce something." If we have to do something, have to earn something, want to accomplish something...well, we all sometimes struggle. " If you’re struggling to 'produce' at work, take a step back. Pressure won’t help. That’s burnout and doesn’t create great work or good leadership. Rediscover your motivation. Do something fun or kind for yourself. Then jump back in, with mission harnessed to motivation. You got this!" ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks about four (plus a bonus fifth!) methods we can use to clean our minds in these times that are, to put it kindly, a little nuts. " We need to actively clean our minds, and by that I don't mean we need to be pure. I mean that we need to come back to our basic human goodness." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

This week on Walk the Talk Show, Waylon speaks about how Superman is an ideal Buddhist hero. "Growing up, Superman was a hero of mine. Kind. Caring. He used his strength, his power, not for evil or hurt or selfishness but to protect those in need, children, the vulnerable. He wasn’t grim, like Batman. He was, in Buddhist fashion, vulnerable himself (Kryptonite) and unafraid to smile, to romance, to fly high and celebrate this magical life and world from a lovely yet noble and appreciative, loving point of view. I’m glad to see his example back. We need kindness as heroism, now." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

As some have guessed. And our dear friends and neighbors and family already know. And Winnie I think knows, as he now settles in a ball at Kelsey’s feet, always. We’re pregnant. Mostly Kelsey, as I like to say/acknowledge/dad joke. I felt our little one move in momma’s belly for the first time on my first father’s day...

Paradigm Shift? Not so easily. This week, Waylon speaks about the responsibility all generations have to take steps to invest in kindness, honesty, and planet-saving actions such as avoiding plastic. It’s not the role of one, lone generation to solve the problems created by those who came before them. "One of my least favorite blind spots among Boomers, or older folks, is a sort of lazy nihilism where they say, ‘Oh, you know, the next generation is so beautiful and they’re gonna they’re going to change everything and save everything, and they care about our earth and everything will be fine.’ I feel like it’s a lack of accountability, a lack of responsibility, and they believe the next generation will fix everything we’ve messed up. It’s a fake way of blaming themselves without actually caring.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon discusses what true richness really is, and reminds us all that our task in this lifetime is to keep our hearts open. It all connects when we keep our hearts open, and raw. " True richness isn't being a billionaire. True richness is being in a society where everyone is safe and can be joyful and can have success." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon discusses difficult (or not) relationships, the need for respectful honesty (with ourselves, and our loved ones), and the good news that challenging relationships can change, such as his with his own father. " I think a lot of us have difficulty with our mothers or our fathers or our country—whatever it is. So when there's a day celebrating them such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Independence Day—we're conflicted. And I think it's good, as with funerals and eulogies, to be honest and critical, and respectful in our criticism, and, loving—all of it. I love the Irish wakes: say everything—be joyful, mourn, fully, feel it all, show it all. Be fully honest, but respectful and loving about it, and be bold enough to be critical. Most folks frankly don't share that view. But I think when we have that view, we're full-hearted in what we say. And we can honor that people grow..." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon discusses democracy, independent media, and how you can be a participant—if you care.  “We [Elephant] often criticize Donald Trump—and we're fine with disagreement and discussion. But we're not fine with hate or lies. That's our line. We're totally fine with people correcting us, or thinking differently. We're not okay with different facts. Facts are facts...because they're true! You drop an apple and it falls. That's related to gravity and to science. From a spiritual point of view, our approach is empathy, openness, learning, not holding on to trying to be perfect. And the most important word, I think, in the Elephant land is 'caring.' Often we get comments about how we're disrespecting the flag, or how we're not patriots, or we should move out of the United States—we get told to eff off or leave the country if we don't love it. Well, my love, like any healthy relationship, is rooted in (hopefully) honesty and the courage to be honest, in a respectful way—which is a journalism ethic.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis

This week on our longrunning “Walk the Talk Show” podcast and video series, Waylon discusses Buddhism and Sadness. Caring isn’t easy, but it leads to a beautiful, kind world that is easier on all of us. In a world where aggression is normalized, a soft, naive, joyfully troublemaking or curious heart is easily wounded, saddened, even depressed. Aggression creates further aggression. Kindness, with strength behind it, creates enlightened society. Everyday, little, ordinary moments are the best… ⁠

Waylon talks about Mother's Day and Motherhood with his own Mama, Linda, and his wife, Kelsey. They discuss the Buddhist perspective on Motherhood, the meditation practice of Tonglen (which traditionally starts with a Mother figure), and Kelsey shares how she likes to spend Mother's Day, while Linda shares stories of Mother's Day with Waylon when he was growing up. “I love you, mom—and Happy Mother's Day.  I appreciate that you gave me a love for nature and a love for politics—not being nasty, but caring about our environment, and decency, and honesty. And just caring. Anyone who has been unconditionally kind to your life, Mother's Day is for them, and hopefully that was your mom.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon discusses and questions the very real exhaustion that comes with moving. He asked friends for advice on why that is and he's here with their answers, and a few of his own. "It's a letting go process, I guess you could say. It's a spiritual thing. But I think for me it is an exhaustion similar to like when you're in a museum—like in Paris, or Boston, or wherever—and you're looking at an exhibition. By the end of a couple hours on your feet, your brain is exhausted because it's focusing in and coming out, focusing in, coming out." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon discusses the idea of "stuff" as he goes through the process of moving out of the home he's lived in for 18+ years. A close friend shared that it wasn't Waylon's "life in that box" when Waylon shared a video of his Pod being taken away. Rather, his friend replied that it was "just stuff." "I replied that I half agree. Things are things, and yeah, if a fire consumes my house, I'm gonna run out with my wife and my dog and myself, and count myself lucky—right? Ultimately, our health and our corporeal bodies and minds and hearts are far more important than some cool lamp. At the same time, I disagree..." ~ Waylon Lewis Cheap goods devalue "things."  “Stuff” and "crap" is demeaning, cheap, it’s what you buy on Amazon. We're not defending crap, but things that we genuinely appreciate. We give things meaning through use and care and love, and we select things through training or searching for yun.   “When we own craft items, these objects in the Buddhist term give Yun—inherent richness—which contributes to a meaningful home and a meaningful life.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Waylon discusses what we can do when we’re overwhelmed with overwhelm. He also offers a reminder of where Dharma (or expertise) comes from. (Hint: it’s not our ego) “We all get overwhelmed. We get overwhelmed by the news. We get overwhelmed by relationships. We get overwhelmed by stress around food, or money, or how we look, whether we’re popular or not, depending on what age we are, and what’s going on. Overwhelm is really just a lack of oxygen.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis