Buddhist Geeks

In this episode taken from a Geeks of the Round Table Google Hangout, meditation teacher Kenneth Folk joins Buddhist Geeks Vincent Horn, Emily Horn, and Kelly Sosan Bearer to discuss a recent Wired article, Enlightenment Engineers, that profiles Kenneth and the mindfulness culture in Silicon Valley. Emily opens the conversation by asking, “Does meditation really make you more productive and wealth...

David Passiak is a former religion scholar turned technology entrepreneur who has spent nearly 20 years working at the intersection of disruptive innovation and traditional conceptions of community and wisdom. David is author of Red Bull to Buddha: Innovation and the Search for Wisdom and also the forthcoming The Disruption Revolution: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the New Rules of Leadership....

Teachers Sofia Diaz and Trudy Goodman continue this episode of Geeks of the Round Table with host Kelly Sosan Bearer by exploring the Feminine aspect of spiritual practice from a female teacher’s point of view. The women begin by discussing qualitative differences in teaching approaches between female and male teachers, and Trudy talks about the more intimate approach she uses when teaching. Using...

In this episode taken from a Geeks of the Round Table Google Hangout, Sofia Diaz and Trudy Goodman join host Kelly Sosan Bearer to discuss Feminine Practice and its connections and distinctions to the masculine principle in spiritual practice. Kelly begins by asking: what is feminine practice and what is its distinction from other practices? Sofia describes feminine practice as being the devotiona...

Ken Mcleod is one of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today, known for his ability to explain difficult and subtle teachings. In the conclusion of this conversation on the “Truth”, Ken and host Vincent Horn compare and contrast various approaches to spiritual development and some hidden pitfalls one might encounter. Vincent begins by asking a fundamental question of the search for the “Tru...

Ken Mcleod is one of the more innovative teachers of Buddhism today, known for his ability to explain difficult and subtle teachings. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Ken takes on one of the most difficult topics to pin down: the “Truth”. They begin the conversation by examining the supposition that the path to enlightenment is ultimately to find the “Truth”. Vincent talks about how hi...

Tony Stubblebine is interested in meditation, app development, and behavioral design. He’s brought all three interests together in his latest project, a habit building app called Lift. In this conversation over Google Hangouts, Tony and host Vincent Horn discuss the merits and potential shadow side to behavioural design. Tony describes how he became interested in the science of behavioural design...

In this interview, host Vincent Horn speaks with Dr. Ronald Purser–professor of management at SFSU and an ordained Zen Buddhist teacher in the Korean Taego order. They explore Ronald’s research on organizational mindfulness, mindfulness in corporate settings, and how Buddhist philosophy can inform organizational theory and practice, with a particular emphasis on exploring the limitations and shado...

David M. Levy is a professor of technology in the Information School (or iSchool) at the University of Washington. Since 2006 he has offered a course called “Information and Contemplation”, a course on mindfulness in the Digital Age. In this interview with host Vincent Horn, David talks about his early rejection of zen meditation practice and how he came back to it later through a study of calligr...

Ramez Naam is a computer scientist who spent 13 years at Microsoft, leading teams working on email, web browsing, search, and artificial intelligence. He’s the author of several books including Nexus, a science fiction thriller set in the near future when humans are linked mind-to-mind by an experimental and illegal nano-drug. In this conversation with host Vincent Horn, Ramez describes his inspir...

Mike Redmer is a freelance UX designer and mindfulness coach. His most recent project, the ReWire App, is part of a growing field of technology designed to assist the end user in attaining greater degrees of concentration ability and contemplative awareness. In this second part of their conversation, host Vincent Horn discusses with Mike the subtleties of contemplative design and the current state...

Mike Redmer is a freelance UX designer and mindfulness coach. His most recent project, the ReWire App, came out of a desire to utilize technology to make mediation more effective and engaging. In this first part of a conversation with host Vincent Horn, Mike shares his motivation for creating Rewire and the ways he hopes it can help people develop in meditation. He also describes how he approached...

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community in Crestone, Colorado. In this episode Reggie and host Vincent Horn conclude their conversation by discussing the recurring cycle of conflict between “authentic lineages” and “institutional lineages” in the world’s religions. Reggie describes the personal toll this conflict had on his teacher, Chögyam T...

Dr. Reggie Ray is an author, teacher, and the Spiritual Director for the Dharma Ocean Community in Crestone, Colorado. He has forty years of study and intensive meditation practice within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Recently, Dr. Ray published an audio training series through Sounds True titled Mahamudra in the Modern World. In this episode Dr. Reggie...

Stephen Schettini is an author and blogger at TheNakedMonk.com , and a teacher of Mindful Reflection. He was a Tibetan Buddhist monk for 8 years before he left the monastic path and began referring to himself as an ex-Buddhist. In this episode Stephen talks with host Vincent Horn about why he left his monastic order and what he learned from the experience. They discuss why people are drawn to form...

Ted Meissner is the host of The Secular Buddhist podcast and the Executive Director of the Secular Buddhist Association. In this episode host Vincent Horn concludes his conversation with Ted by exploring the role of Tradition in secular Buddhism. They consider the question of spiritual authority in secular Buddhism and whether it’s possible to see through the filter of culture and tradition. This...

Ted Meissner is the host of The Secular Buddhist podcast and the Executive Director of the Secular Buddhist Association. In this episode with host Vincent Horn, Ted shares examples of secular Buddhism, why he is skeptical but not cynical about religion, and he stresses what he thinks is the importance of right speech in the modern world. This is part one of a two part series. Episode Links: The Se...

Lawrence Levy is a student of Segyu Rinpoche and a former CFO and board member at Pixar Animation Studios. He left his role as an executive at Pixar in 2000 to pursue a study of religion and philosophy, which led him to Buddhism. In this episode, Lawrence speaks with host Rohan Gunatillake about working at Pixar, the lessons he learned at the company, and how he has applied those lessons to buildi...

John F. Simon is a visual artist and software programmer whose work can be found in prominent museum collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He was also one of the app designers on the world’s first app album, from Björk, called Biophilia. In this episode we speak with John about his long-standing search for the sour...

Buddhist Geeks Vincent Horn and Rohan Gunatillake conclude their interview for the KGNU public radio program Sacred Lines by further discussing the intersections between Buddhism and Technology. From the efficacy of mindfulness apps to the ubiquitous question of duality, the Geeks explore what it means to be Buddhist in a technologically advanced world. This is part two of a two part series. Episo...

In a recent interview for the KGNU public radio program Sacred Lines, Buddhist Geeks Vincent Horn and Rohan Gunatillake have a discussion about what it means to be a modern Buddhist practitioner, how technology can complement Buddhist practice, and how geekery and meditation meld. They use the Buddhist Geeks project and buddhify mobile app as illustrations of how they’re experimenting with these v...

Jonathan Blow is an indie game designer most well known for his time-bending game Braid. In this episode we conclude our conversation with Jonathan by exploring his upcoming game, The Witness, as well as his in-depth exploration of non-duality. This is part 2 of a two part series. Listen to part 1, Quantum Gaming. Episode Links: The Witness ( http://the-witness.net ) Myst ( http://en.wikipedia.org...

Jonathan Blow is an indie game designer most well known for his time-bending game Braid. In this episode Jonathan describes his journey from a kid fascinated with playing video games in arcades to a game developer concerned with game design as a spiritual practice. This is part one of a two part series. Episode Links: Braid ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_(video_game) ) The Witness ( http://t...

Michaël Harboun wants to design products that find a balance between inner contemplation and external technology. In this conversation we explore things like transpersonal social networks and speak about the way that gaming can be contemplative (Michael would like to simply call video games “experiences”). We also discuss the idea of “Contemplative Design”, how it works, and how it can lead to inn...

“We can only see what we’ve become conscious of.” – Michaël Harboun Michaël Harboun wants to design products that find a balance between inner contemplation and external technology. The concept video for his augmented reality project Transcendenz illustrates the positive potential of finding such a balance. In this episode Michaël and host Vincent Horn discuss the philosophical goals of Transcende...