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This is episode 101.
The origin of speech remains rather mysterious. The development of complex vocalization and symbology is unique and may involve evolutionary necessity. Human survival has historically been dependent on social cooperation. Language allows us to share information, coordinate activities, and form complex bonds for success among species.
At the same time, there are profound ways that language shapes our understanding of reality, its construction and our place within it.
This episode explores the interplay between words and worlds and examines the limitations associated with ineffable mystical experiences and divine truth.
Music “Winter Lake” by Lee Hannah.
Episode artwork can be found on the podcast website.
This is the 100th episode! Thank you for listening!
You can support this work at https://patreon.com/kindmind and access bonus content.
This episode delves into the underground world of seeds and the unexpected life lessons they can teach us. From the sacred lotus seed which can remain viable for over 1,000 years to the dust-like orchid seeds that rely on fungus to germinate to the lodgepole pine which requires fire to release its seeds from the resin in cones - there is much to glean about resilience, potential, and interconnectedness.
These odd timelines and strange conditions can remind us that human progress is also not always straightforward. It can also inspire us to remain engaged in sowing the seeds of kindness and transformation in the face of adversity, trusting the latent magic will unfold.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, "bija" is often used to describe the seed or essence of something, which can represent the beginning or source of a concept, idea, or practice. For example, in yoga, bija mantras are seed syllables that are considered to hold the essence of a specific energy or deity. When chanted or meditated upon, these bija mantras are believed to help activate and harmonize the associated energy or invoke the deity's presence.
We will reflect on the wisdom of seeds in nature and culture and explore ways to apply the insights to daily life for nuturing a destiny of peace and happiness.
(Music “Sunset Serenade” by Ethereal Ephemera and original artwork for this episode can be found on the podcast website)
This is the 99th episode and patreon members will receive a special gift in the mail to commemorate the centennial occasion.
Give, receive and elevate at https://patreon.com/kindmind
'Tis the season of giving, but the societal expectation to buy a bunch of gifts or marketing pressure to spend, spend, spend is not the real spirit of generosity.
As mystic poet Kahlil Gibran wrote,
"It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; and to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'."
Sincere generosity is good for our health and according to psychological studies, our happiness is more linked with prosocial behaviors. And the "warm glow" or "helpers high" corresponds to an actual rise in body temperature and release of feel-good hormones like oxytocin and endorphins.
But how, when or what to give is worth considering further. Additionally, experiments with "hedonic adaptation" reveal that the happiness we enjoy from the same activity or experience diminishes over time but this is not true when giving in the same manner.
This episode explores the ways to give not just materially or commercially once a year but as a healthy habit, to give of ourselves as a spiritual practice but also between mind and body.
(Music “Fade to White” by Bing Satellites and original episode artwork on podcast website)
Recorded live in-person on Oct 25 2022 at The Homestead in Plano, IL.
You can support this work and connect more at https://patreon.com/kindmind
Why are so many people attracted to scary movies when in real life we typically avoid frightening situations?
There are a multitude of reasons but recent studies have indicated that fans of the horror genre fared better in the pandemic in terms of preparedness and psychological resilience. Therefore, it could function as a kind of virtual reality tester and mechanism of exposure to worst-case scenarios.
In the final episode of “Dirty John,” the true story of a murderous conman, the daughter Terra credits her survival and ability to fight like hell from having previously binged AMC’s apocalyptic zombie-gore series "The Walking Dead."
There are many different types of fear but psychologist Karl Albrecht believes that they can be categorized and fit into a hierarchy or “Feararchy.” However, philosophers like Jiddu Krishnmurti asserted that these are still only the branches of one tree of fear and implored seekers to cut it down at the root.
And on an evolutionary level, our instincts associated with fear are predominantly codes for responding to a long-gone world. Most of the ancient imminent death threats like predators, storms and enemies have been replaced by longform health complexities like addiction, obesity and loneliness.
What will it take to download the smart-brain updates and how could that transform our lives and society?
(Music “Make Sense of Everything” by Bing Satellites and original episode artwork can be found on the podcast website)
You can support the podcast on Patreon and access bonus content: https://patreon.com/kindmind
True leadership goes beyond mere titles and positions. It involves a convergence of inner and outer realms.
At its core, leadership is an outpouring of the inner work. Through introspection, one can illuminate their own positionality and the pathways to decentralize power within themselves and elsewhere. Then, the finest leaders do not merely stand in the spotlight but, instead, use their inner light to cast away the shadows enveloping others.
To lead without leading and serve without imposing, the echoes of kindness resound louder than shouts of authority. Today's world often rewards individuals for audacious certitude. However, timeless wisdom and contemporary insights remind that true leadership engages with the panorama of possibilities from a space of intellectual and cultural humility.
This transformative journey, rooted in self-reflection, is what differentiates true leaders from mere figureheads, making leadership not just an external role but also an ever-evolving inner quest.
(Music “The Stone of Rejuvenation” by The Lovely Moon and original artwork for this episode is on the podcast website)
You can support this show and join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kindmind
One of the predecessors of the word "create" is creare in Latin. This verb meant "to form out of nothing" as in the phrase creatio ex nihilo from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Accordingly, God manifested heaven and earth from the void.
Thus, artists sometimes refer to their spark of inspiration as being in the likeness of God.
However, the art from us mortals is creatio ex materia. Stravinsky may have said it best with the annotation of "refitting old ships." Astronomer Carl Sagan added that if you really want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
So, does ego help or hinder art?
Another etymological root of create is keres or later ceres from ancient Indo-European language. Ker means "to grow" like the Roman Goddess of agriculture known as Ceres.
Egoism believes that the “I” is the origin of creative ideas and offerings, but the spiritual attitude is that of a steward tending to the growth and garden of community.
We will explore whether ego impedes or augments one's creative output and how the mode of operation is different.
(music “Divine Influence” by Bing Satellites and original artwork for this episode is on the podcast website)
Please consider supporting this work on Patreon: https://patreon.com/kindmind
The paradox of curiosity is a contest between our innate desire for knowledge and our aversion to uncertainty.
A delicate balance can be negotiated when the curious awareness is anchored to its Latin word origin. "Cura" meant cure, care, concern or even choosiness. Put simply, curate the curiosity. Then, it serves as a transformative force, guiding us on the perpetual quest for understanding and self-discovery.
In our conversation and beyond, let this spark of inquiry light the way up - towards kindness and necessary innovation. Embracing curiosity, we become weavers of our own wisdom, ever learning never concluding.
(music “Everything is Beautiful” by Solar Plexus)
You can support this work and access bonus content at https://patreon.com/kindmind
Today, we often associate adventure with planned activities or deliberate pursuits as is the case with travel itineraries or business ventures of calculated risk with defined goals.
However, the prefix ad in the word "adventure" means "towards" and therefore indicates that in the true spirit of adventure, the unknown is not just a means to an end but the end itself. In other words, the adventurous life is one that journeys beyond the familiar or comfortable and towards surrender and acceptance of the divine mystery.
This episode explore various perspectives on adventure and how it has been associated with rites of passage, renouncing or risking self-interest and the quest for harmony with the natural world.
(Music “Even” by Bing Satellites)
Mary Oliver wrote that "empathy is a kind of seeing, and it involves imagination as well as vision."
The word "empathy" has origins in Greek "Empatheia" and the root "pathos," which means "feeling." It was first introduced to the English language in the early 20th century as a translation of the German word "Einfühlung," which means "feeling into." The term was initially used in the context of aesthetics and art appreciation.
Over time, the concept of empathy has evolved to encompass a broader range of psychosocial processes associated with 1) affective empathy (experiencing or sharing the emotions of another) and/or 2) cognitive empathy (understanding the perspective of another). Empathy is a crucial component of emotional intelligence and the development of meaningful relationships.
The opposite of empathy is apathy or the lack of feeling. So as a virtue, empathy can be the foundation for generating compassion and a motivating energy for prosocial behavior. However, it could also be argued that the value of empathy is unstable on its own and may need to be balanced with rationality and discernment in order to navigate between the extremes of excessive empathy and calloused indifference.
Otherwise, the drawbacks involve our susceptibility to emotional exploitation as targets of manipulative marketing or weaponized empathy. There is also the risk of empathy distorting facts as evidenced by proximity bias (preference for those close in distance or likeness) and other modes of selective empathy, short-term focus, and the prioritization of identifiable individuals (stories) over large groups or abstract statistics. These limitations have inspired the effective altruisim movement which aims to update our evolutionary empathy instincts to match the often complex modern social problems.
Additionally, unbound empathy can lead to distress and burnout. Preoccupation with the feelings of others can result in decision paralysis or the hindering of our ability to respond timely and skillfully. When a river floods its own banks, it turns turbulent and loses the balance that sustained its nourishing flow; or like the tides of the sea, we naturally require a cycle of rising and retreating.
Ultimately, empathy's true spiritual power reorients to our recurring theme of kindness and discovering our underlying circulation with totality. Feeling into oneness. It is an elegant common cornerstone among most major religions. At the heart of their moral philosophy, the empathic aphorisms enshrine the same message in colorful ways.
Beyond "The Golden Rule," other verses include "the whole world is a family" in the Rigveda, "all beings are Buddha nature" in the Lotus Sutra, and "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle," attributed to Philo of Alexandria.
This episode explores the ends of empathy in all its bittersweetness.
(Music “To New Beginnings” by Bing Satellites)
Historically, morality was in the domain of religion. Although most existing faiths claim their teachings go back to the dawn of time, we can understand that these belief systems have emerged and disintegrated like empires.
However, scholars trace living spiritual traditions of the Indian subcontinent to the 15th century BCE suggesting seniority at least among scriptures. The cornerstone of these and many other organized moral philosophies around the world is nonviolence. Also known as ahimsa in Sanskrit, it is the central theme of Jainism and the very first step in the first (yama) of eight limbs of yoga in Hinduism.
This ancient virtue can also be found as a basis for other maxims and codes around the world as attempts to do the least harm such as the golden rule, Mill’s utilitarianism or Kant’s categorical imperative. Despite this principle being woven into the fabric of social construct, it seems so many civilizations fall way short of its vision.
In this episode, we will explore the role of nonviolence today and the challenges or limitations. Violence is quite prevalent in nature, so it cannot be only a matter of living more naturally. Some modern thinkers assert that you cannot have life without death elsewhere nor construction without destruction. So, what about other life forms, self-defense, war, criminal justice, disease, mental health, etc?
If there is a time to kill, then perhaps the important clue for spiritual growth lies in ahimsa’s explanation in Jainism. Guided by simplicity, necessity and intention, one can aspire to cultivate a mind with less and less desire to increase suffering while adopting a lifestyle that harmonizes with the balance of the broader ecological community to which we belong.
(intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Light in the Summer Air II” by Ethereal Ephemera)
In 1976, German social psychologist Erich Fromm published a book which presented the titular question, "To Have or To Be?"
This philosophical inquiry would resurface throughout his work as two distinct modes of existence. He further claimed that modern society in its materialism prefers having.
On this podcast, we often consider the dialectic of being vs doing. Well, Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa wrote, "to have is to tarry." In a sense, the more you have, the more you have to do - which can weigh you down in terms of freeing your mind.
But does that mean that the goal of spiritual growth would be to eliminate possessions? I don't think it's that simple. It is more about transcending possessiveness.
There is a clear cultural example of this difference when comparing the legacies of human relations with the land or ecology. If you look at a map of Native Land that shows historically Indigenous territories, you will not find the straight lines and rigid markers as is the case with modern states and countries. It's much more fluid like the area of defense on a baseball field, with any location more or less covered by a player. This ties into the notion of stewardship as opposed to ownership of the land, as well as the experience of land as a community rather than a commodity.
Today, what could change with our life, work, responsibilities and relationships if we brought this awareness into our consciousness and mode of existence?
What changes and what matters more in the moment between:
having something and being present?
having friends and being friendly?
having success and being sincere?
having love and being loving?
(intro song “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “To New Beginnings” and “Clouds in Dark Skies” by Bing Satellites)
You can support this work and access bonus content at https://patreon.com/kindmind
Unlike other virtues that may be situational or context-dependent, integrity is seen as a constant, underlying quality that inspires and threads all of our actions and decisions into a spiritual tapestry.
It is not simply a commitment to certain core principles but a psychosocial, structural and creative coherence in how we live our lives. However, integrity is delicate, easily unraveled, and difficult to repair. Therefore, it involves maturity in steadfastly navigating the tensions between personal values and external pressures, temptations and social norms.
Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Herbarium” by Lee Hannah.
You can support this show on Patreon https://patreon.com/kindmind and access bonus content.
This episode considers the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society and the human condition, and explores the ethical and existential concerns surrounding it.
We also contemplate the limitations of AI in terms of consciousness, creativity, and complex emotional and social contexts, and warn of the potential dangers of its weaponization for propaganda or bias and the possibility of humans becoming too dependent on technology.
This episode also emphasizes the need for collaboration across different fields to ensure that AI is developed and deployed in an ethical and equitable manner, and to enhance the human condition.
Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Cultivate” by Lee Hannah (https://leehannah.bandcamp.com/)
If you would like to support this podcast, check out the options and benefitis here: https://patreon.com/kindmind
The word pray comes from the root sound “prek” as in precarious. It means to entreat or ask.
This corresponds to the often instinctive urge to seek something greater than ourselves or a higher power when in need or at a loss of options.
Check out the psychology and demographics of prayer in America in the intro of this episode and then learn more about the contemplative art and practice of praying power.
Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Everything is Beautiful” by Solar Plexus.
You can support this show and access bonus and companion content to this episode including the Q+A session and a guided meditation on validation here: https://patreon.com/kindmind
Validation means to confirm or authenticate and allows people to feel heard and respected.
This episode explores how validation of others and self-validation are both key skills for emotional well-being and effective interpersonal interactions. It can help partners and teams be more present to each other and engage with respect and genuineness in order to build positive cultures of cooperation and support.
(Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Bathed in Winter Sunlight” by Ethereal Ephemera)
Happy New Year! You can support this podcast at https://patreon.com/kindmind
The theme is HOPE. It stands out among other virtues because it requires negative circumstances and straddles over the present and towards the future.
Charles Snyder was a psychologist and dedicated researcher of hope, who emphasized its relevance in the context of doing vs being. Accordingly, hope is a motivational set of cognitive traits that give people a reason to continue pursuing their goals despite the unpredictable nature of the human experience.
He had a beautiful quote,
"A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind."
It suggests that additional pathways may exist or appear that we cannot always comprehend in the present. The past and the future are like the ends of that rainbow. They seem to be really out there, but they are always inaccessible.
However, a bigger view is always possible in the here and now.
(Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Cinnabar Sunset” by The Lovely Moon)
Nadine Strossen is Professor of Constitutional Law at New York Law School and the first woman national President of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she served from 1991 through 2008.
A frequent speaker on constitutional and civil liberties issues, her media appearances include 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, Today, Good Morning America, The Daily Show, and other news programs on CNN, C-SPAN, Fox, Al-Jazeera, and in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Her op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and USA Today, among others.
Live Free or Dialogue is a video conversation series within Michael Todd Fink's "Kind Mind" podcast and based on the etymology of the word dialogue: two individuals (di) communicating with openness, respect and mutual search for meaning (logos).
You can support the Kind Mind podcast and access bonus content at https://patreon.com/kindmind
Mutuality is the way of nature, and we can observe it in the ecosystems. Look at the circle of shelter and food chains as well as relocation and procreation among the stationary plants and mobile animals.
Interdependence is a spiritual word because it makes room for the paradox of human life. It presupposes a relationship among parts but also implies oneness or unity.
Can you ever be truly alone or independent from a single element, like air or water or light?
Close your eyes and realize how reliant you are on that which is “outside” yourself.
Support this show at https://patreon.com/kindmind
(Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Absense of Definition” by Kowalski Room)
Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you love and light this holiday season. If you would like to pitch in a $5 pledge to help support this podcast and access bonus content, you can at https://patreon.com/kindmind
send mail to: michaeltoddfink@gmail.com or @michaeltoddfink
Registration for “I Am Not My Anxeity” virtual course is here.
Since nothing is permanent, what is it that we really see?
In the Venn diagram of the unseen, some are invisible but some are merely overlooked or ignored.
This episode explores the meaning of sight and the process of seeing from the wisdom of science, art and mythology.
(Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Flying Into The Sun” by Ethereal Ephemera and episode artwork on website by Emily Dawn Duforest)
Use the link below to test your cognitive flexibility at the 8:00 mark of this episode:
“Interactive Stroop Effect Experiment”
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/ready.html
One of the definitions of flexibility is spiritually pliant, indicating an attitude of openness and intellectual humility in order to learn or refine our vision. It also implies a readiness to meet the unexpected and without shock.
Flexibility of mind serves us well under strain and mitigates the risks of rigidness, which we will review in the next Kind Mind Gathering. This mental elasticity allow us to stretch emotionally in order to take the perspective of others while maintaining our center. We can then resume our original shape if desired.
Isolation from social disruptions and lack of nuanced conversation behind our screens with character limits may have further eroded the banks of our common life-stream resulting in wider divides and obstinate hyperbole.
You can support this show at https://patreon.com/kindmind
(Intro music “New Apartment” by Coldbrew and “Echoes of Memories” by The Lovely Moon)