It's been a while since I listened to any podcasts on the way in to work, and because I've been doing so much writing at work recently, I've generally not been listening to them at work either (I can't listen to anything with lyrics or discussion when I'm trying to write... it's instrumentals or nothing!). But I found myself in need of some meditative inspiration this morning (see previous post about my calmness and compassion levels, or lack thereof today), and 21st Century Buddhism is one of my favourites, so I cued it up on my iPod and listened as I wandered into work.
This 'cast (from back in September... wow, it *has* been a while) was the first of a series of two that looked at the Buddhist take on "inadequacy" - tying together idea threads that ranged from the light and dark sides of interdependence, what the word "duhkah" (which is general translated into English as "suffering") actually means and why it's relevant to the concept of inadequacy, some ideas for better translations ("unease", "misalignment" and "awry-ness" were some suggestions), how our culture can and does feed inadequacy, and why advertising doesn't have to be the bad guy of it all.
It was an interesting podcast - there weren't a lot of new ideas that I hadn't heard Ethan Nichtern (the 'caster) discuss before, but they were presented in a new enough way that it kept me listening and thinking. Inadequacy seems to be showing up as a theme in a couple of my friends' lives at the moment (and I'm sure as hell not free from it myself around oh so many issues), so was a nice, topical reminder-call to step back and notice what's there inside for me at this point in my journey.
I actually realised, as I was listening to the 'cast, that after spending most of my early years feeling pretty damned inadequate, and then feeling as though I'd finally got my life together and learned to love who I was and what I looked like in my late twenties; I'm actually feeling a whole lot less adequate now than I used to. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to *do* with this realisation - probably just sit with it for a bit and see where it wants to take me.
Overall, I liked the podcast - it wasn't one of the best I've heard from 21st Century Buddhism, but it was certainly worth the hour-plus it took to listen to it. I generally like the modern, down-to-earth feel of the 'casts (any meditation teacher who can describe his personal route to head towards enlightenment as "Trying to be a little bit less of a dick today than I was yesterday" totally gets my vote in the sincerity stakes). Oh, and it totally doesn't hurt that Mr Nichtern's voice really reminds me of Vin Diesel's, either.
If you're interested in this podcast, or in the concept of interdependence, you can find the link to access all the 21st Century Buddhism 'casts at http://theidproject.com/podcast.htm. If you try it, let me know what you think of it.
Blessings
Starfire
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