Buddhist Geeks

The Buddhist Geeks Conference has been a meeting place for contemplative thinkers, scientists, and technology experts since 2011. During this Q&A for the Contemplative Technology panel from the 2014 conference, conference goers expand the conversation to include tech-induced human evolution and the possibility of shortcuts on the path to enlightenment. This is part two of a two part series. Listen...

The Buddhist Geeks Conference has been a meeting place for contemplative thinkers, scientists, and technology experts since 2011. In this panel discussion from the 2014 conference, Vincent Horn hosts a panel filled with contemplatives, technologists, and research scientists to discuss the past, present, and possible future of the field of Contemplative Technology. This is part one of a two part se...

Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of teachers who are translating the wisdom traditions of the past into 21st century code. In this talk from a recent San Francisco Consciousness Hacking Meet-Up, Vincent introduces himself to the group and describes the questions that have led to a new project: Mindtraining.io . What does it mean to meditate in the digital age? What does the contemplative p...

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community. In the conclusion to a recent conversation with host Vincent Horn, Reggie shares his thoughts on technology and human development, transhumanism, and the danger of not being human enough. This is part two of a two part series. Listen to part one BG 357: Shikantaza Practice. Episode Links: Dharma Ocean...

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Reggie discusses the Shikantaza practice he has developed. He describes the basic instructions and experience of Shikantaza, the Tibetan practice elements he has incorporated, and the powerful effects of this hybrid practice on the spiritual life. This is pa...

Daniel Ingram is a Buddhist teacher and the author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. In this keynote from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Daniel speaks on the visual, auditory, physical, and psychological phenomena referred to as powers, or siddhis. He provides examples of power manifestation, why and how powers appear, and the effects of powers on the individual and community lev...

Susan Piver is a Buddhist teacher and a New York Times bestselling author. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Susan relates the genesis of The Open Heart Project, dispels common misconceptions about meditation practice, and shares her insights on the development of online practice communities. Episode Links: www. SusanPiver.com The Open Heart Project ( http://susanpiver.com/open...

Susan Kaiser Greenland developed the Inner Kids mindful awareness program for children, teens and their families. She is author of The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate (Free Press, 2010). In this keynote from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Susan shares some of the tools she uses to connect with students and teachers, and the...

Dr. Charles T. Tart has been involved with research and theory in the fields of Hypnosis, Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Parapsychology, Consciousness and Mindfulness since 1963. In this keynote from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Dr. Tart shares research that supports the serious consideration of the paranormal and addresses the convergence of spirituality, science, and scientism. Epi...

Vincent Horn is a mind hacker & buddhist geek. In this keynote from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference Vincent explores the unbundling of components like meditation and mindfulness from contemporary Buddhism. He then explores the process of re-bundling and what the future of both Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired models may look like as new combinations of knowledge come together in novel, and so...

JoAnna Harper is a Buddhist teacher with Against the Stream and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. In this episode JoAnna joins host Emily Horn to explore inclusivity and diversity in the Buddhist community, starting with an examination of how the Buddha taught inclusivity in the first sanghas. The conversation expands to highlight teachings and strategies that help foster open communication in divers...

Soryu Forall is a teacher and leader at the Center for Mindful Learning. The second part of Soryu’s conversation with host Vincent Horn delves into the spaces between tradition and innovation. Soryu shares his gratitude for the traditional teachings he learned in Asia, and explains how useful those teachings are today. This leads to an exchange of ideas on rebirth and karma, teaching secular mindf...

Soryu Forall is the Director of Mindfulness Education at the Center for Mindful Learning. He also leads a unique “modern monastery” training program for those who want to integrate awakening and responsibility. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Soryu describes life within the CML Residential program, what it means to come to an end of all feedback loops, and how awakening is directly li...

Mikey Siegel is a meditator, technologist, and pioneer in the field of “Enlightenment Engineering”. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Mikey explores the idea that enlightenment can be engineered through the use of applied contemplative science. Presenting various examples of technology applicable to a contemplative path, he states enlightenment is real, science can quantify it,...

Robin Arnott is an indie game designer and interactive artist. In this presentation from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, he speaks about applying game design to meditation. Robin first explains how a state of trance is central to both the experience of meditation and the experience of game play. He then shows how game mechanics might be utilized in meditation practice to support a trance, and...

Bodhipaksa is a Buddhist meditation teacher, author, and founder of Wildmind.org , an online meditation resource. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Bodhipaksa explores ways to identify and correct “bugs” in traditional Buddhist teachings. Providing specific examples of bugs and solutions, he encourages the audience to personally use scholarship and experiential practice to veri...

Hokai Sobol is a teacher in the Shingon tradition of Japanese Vajrayana and a long time mentor to the Buddhist Geeks team. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, Hokai speaks about the relationship between imagination and Buddhism. He explains why imagination is important to spiritual practice, he gives examples of the creative process found in Buddhist tradition, and he presents an...

John F. Simon is a visual artist and software programmer. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, John shares how he uses the simple act of drawing as a powerful contemplative practice. Detailing the process and growth he’s experienced from daily drawing, he examines how his artistic practice has led to a spiritual practice that in turn feeds back into his creative process. Episode L...

Katherine MacLean, PhD. is an academically trained research scientist and meditation practitioner with a long-standing interest in the brain, consciousness and the science of well-being. As a postdoctoral research fellow and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she worked on the largest study to date combining psychedelics and meditation. Her research on psilocybin an...

Lama Karma (Justin Wall) graduated from Columbia University with degrees in Religious Studies and Literature and has been practicing Buddhism for over 12 years. He completed two traditional three-year retreats under the direction of Lama Norlha Rinpoche at Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery in New York, studying and practicing in the Karma Kagyu, Shangpa Kagyu and Nyingma Traditions of Tibetan Buddhi...

Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx and Against The Stream, is a Buddhist teacher, author and counselor. He is trained to teach by Jack Kornfield of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA, holds a masters degree in counseling psychology from CIIS, and has studied with many prominent teachers in both the Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist traditions. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Con...

Theo Horesh is a social entrepreneur, philosopher, and author of two books of global social psychology. He has been meditating for over 25 years and has spent the last 10 intensively studying the world. He has recently begun reporting on the collective traumas in global trouble spots for the Journal of Conflict Resolution and Elephant Journal. In this talk from the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference,...

David Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues, and believes there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our personal predicament and our collective predicament today in relation to the rest of the biosphere. In the second part of the keynote address David gave at the 2013 Buddhist Geeks Conference, he argues tha...

David Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity: what each can learn from the other. In the first part of the keynote address David gave at the 2013 Buddhist Geeks Conference, he presents a social narrative that f...

Jessica Morey is the Executive Director of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme). Before joining iBme, Jessica worked in clean energy and climate policy and finance. Her published works range from the chapter “Ordinary Awakening” in Blue Jean Buddha to Conflict Resolution of the Boruca Hydro-Energy Project: Renewable Energy Production in Costa Rica. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn,...