Lockdown Series 3 // Ep4 - Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten on creating mindful moments and reframing loneliness
Description
Today’s guest is Gelong Thubten, a Buddhist monk and meditation teacher who is passionate about demystifying meditation and teaching us non-monks how we can use it to thrive in our generally pretty hectic, modern lives.
Thubten has worked with everyone from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Hollywood stars to corporate high flyers and high school kids, and in his first book, A Monk’s Guide to Happiness: Meditation in the 21st Century, he presents a practical and sustainable approach to happiness, and shows us how meditation and mindfulness can help get us there.
In this episode:
*How physical and mental burn out in his early 20s led Thubten first to meditation and then life as a fully-fledged 'forever' monk
*How happiness is a mental skill (and an inside job)
*How a monk stays grounded
*Why being spiritual doesn’t have to mean being super serious
*How to turn the Covid experience into an internal/personal retreat
*How loneliness can be transformed through meditation
*Why too much news changes our body chemistry
*The power of compassion and service
*How Thubten is bringing mindfulness to the real world, including schools, hospitals and prisons
*Why practising meditation is the path to happiness and positivity and how everybody - even you! - can meditate
*Why meditation is better than coffee
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SHOW NOTES // RECOMMENDED READING
A Monk’s Guide to Happiness: Meditation in the 21st Century by Gelong Thubten (out now in paperback)
How to be Human: A Manual by Ruby Wax, Ash Ranpura and Gelong Thubten
The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax
United States
