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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- Eastern religion meets Western psychology: meet the Harvard professor who’s also a Zen priest as he explains how to relieve suffering using both faith and neuroscience.
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Delve into the teachings of Robert Waldinger, a psychiatrist and Zen priest, as he explores the essence of Zen Buddhism.
Waldinger, who directs the long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development, discusses how Zen can help people discover the transformative power of impermanence, mindfulness, and the art of relieving suffering. He shares practical wisdom on cultivating loving-kindness, maintaining a beginner’s mind, and fostering fulfilling relationships.
Whether you’re seeking inner peace or navigating relationships, Waldinger offers practical guidance for a more fulfilling existence.
Read the video transcript ► bigthink.com/series/explain-i...
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About Robert Waldinger:
Dr. Robert Waldinger is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Psychodynamic Therapy and Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. He is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, he teaches Harvard medical students and psychiatry residents, and he is on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. He is also a Zen priest.
Dr. Waldinger earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his MD from Harvard Medical School.
I studied religion at Harvard and I'm an Atheist. However, Buddhism (and some aspects of Hinduism Its parent so to speak) are more of a philosophy than a religion. And It speaks to me as more of a humanist view than a religious one. Its beautiful.
Thanks Richard Gere
Thanks Harvey Weinstein
Hinduism is not parent of Buddhism
I agree. Namo Buddhaya.
@akshaybageshwar3499 Alan Watts for one thought otherwise. I don't know that the thought was original to him, but in his lectures he used to say that Buddhism was Hinduism stripped for export.
Everytime I see Dr. Robert Waldinger he just seems so happy and peaceful, he radiates that calmness and that alone to me means he's probably doing something right.
Hmm.. I find that smile annoys me. Not sure why...maybe I have bad experience with people pretending to be that happy. Oh wait, it reminds me of the self-rightuous smirks of "religious" people. Well Buddhism IS a religion. Maybe that's part of it that makes me weary. Luckily I can listen to him without having to look at him. Makes me think Zen philosophy is to a great degree the same as Stoicism apart from the meditation and hard to pronounce untranslatable words (which this clip avoids, so that's refreshing)
i think he's just happy man
@@wazzup105 I share your reaction to 'fake happy' people and to 'smugly religious' people, but I don't get either of those vibes from this man. This feels like a true calmness and a genuine appreciation of what is.
I am a newcomer. I find him interesting. Namo Buddhay.
I’m Buddhists for my entire life because of the cultural context in my country but I’d never paid attention to the concepts or the core of religious itself. Last year I got the biggest heartbreak which made me hit the rock bottom in my life. believe it or not I could get through that and have become a better person because of starting to understanding these concepts. I’ve practice mediations a lot and it is now one part of my daily routine. Now I’m feeling very very happy with my present moment life and feeling thankful for everything that happened in the past which shaped me to who I am today. 🎉
That's so nice! It even helps realize how being cringe isn't as bad as it sounds, as your username suggests ;) you make peace with it eventually haha
Your statement gives me strength. Namo Buddhay.
Appreciate your username 😁 i feel like i never really understood what "cringe" means when people usually use the term.. the closest ive felt cringe is when people act like hypocrites.. that for me is "cringey". But when other people say something is cringe, it is usually related to aesthetic or personal quirks - which i do think is normal. If you call cringe on someone on the basis of them being and acting "different", yknow being different goes both ways 😅
1- Impermanence, things are always changing.
2- live with suffering
3- mindfulness
4-Cling less tightly to our preferences, be flexible .
5- Loving kindness toward others, including those you don't like.
6-Remain open to many possibilities, and you will suffer less.
I was looking for this comment 🤗
Perfect recipe for being easily manipulated... in a small community those principles might be nice to live by, but in this push for globalisation and multiple forms of media...
Namo Buddhay.
Thank you💗
@@susan48 thanks from me too
1. Impermanence.
2. Suffering
3. Mindfulness
4. Attachment.
5. Metta
6. Beginner's Mind
1:55 Life is suffering
3:00 Pay attention to the present moment without judgement
4:00 Cling less tightly to our preferences
5:05 Loving, kindness medication
6:30 *In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few.*
Meditation not medication
Very true. Namo Buddhay.
"Zen is a way of life, a state of being, that is not possible to embrace in any concept whatsoever, so that any concepts, any ideas, any words that I shall put across to you this evening will have as their object, showing you the limitations of words and of thinking."
~ Alan Watts
These western societies and “academics” always try to turn something natural into their ideology 😂 Alan Watts is face palming right now.
I personally don't know much about Zen Buddhism. I'm always open to learning more about different cultures and religions all over the world.
Why is this white dude teaching us zen with the classic reductionist western take - “eastern religion meets western …”. This is eastern science! Buddhism and Hinduism are barely religions - that’s a western perception of them, used maliciously by colonizers
Ok
Buddhism is not a doctrine or a religion
Nagarjuna's teaching on impermanence is even more liberating, paraphrasing: change is so thoroughgoing that nothing ever exists to BE impermanent. Therefore, there is no impermanence. Just change. Nothing to do but "join the dance" as Alan Watts used to say. 🙏🏻
I’m sorry. Am I the only one distracted by that giant lamp in the back? I was waiting for it to jump on him like in the Pixar short film. lol
I recently read “Buddhish” by C Pierce Salguaro and it is a wonderful introduction to the history and varieties of Buddhist practice as well as the underlying values of each sect
As a follower of the Buddha , it is,such,a joy to hear the Buddha.
I recently is reading this book called "The power of Now". What the professor has said in this video is so align with the moral of this book. I am deeply touched by it and I believe it can be an empower school of life that deserves me to learn more about.💗
As a non-Buddhist, I figured this video would be the usual vacuous and deceptive New Age feel-good bullshit, so I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. This guy's pretty smart.
Wow! What an incredibly succinct and as a result, powerful presentation. This is my first experience seeing Dr. Waldinger. What a heartwarming teacher. 💕🙏🏻
How did I already align with this viewpoint before watching this video? I have been living Zen.
I loved this video. Sounds like Zen buddhism is a great way to navigate through modern life. I love the idea that the pain of accepting a situation is evened out by the pain relief of ceasing to try to control it. Also the idea that the escape from pain itself could be a source of pain is so fascinating to me.
🙏 deep gratitude for the simplicity of your message. This was just so refreshing to hear ❣️
I don’t know who taught Robert here about Zen Buddhism but it wasn’t the person who taught me. Zen is SIMPLIFIED Buddhism. The idea is that all you need are the 4 noble truths, 1. Life is suffering, 2. Suffering is caused by attachments, 3. You can eliminate suffering by letting go of attachments, 4. You let go of attachments by practicing meditation. Other types of Buddhism have many religious elements which aren’t bad but they aren’t needed either.
Almost- suffering exists, suffering arises, suffering ceases, 8 Fold Path. Buddhism is what Buddha taught.
Wish all the listeners can pay attention to the present moments of your life.
What a cool and wise individual.
I watched all your videos this year. I was never disappointed.
I am also a practioner and dont even mind when angry people insult me. In my therapy I am supposed to learn that I have to stand up for myself. To me this seems like a step backwards. It however is true that some people dont have the environmental and social conditions necessary in order to be so mindful and loving. When I try to teach them about it, they sometimes get offended and defensive. Maybe rightfully so because it is unreasonable to expect this from people that have faced more disadvantages than us priveleged. It is kind of rich to say, I am so mindful and empathetic while not being aware that we exploit poor countries for starvation wages, giving us the necessary security to get detached. Well try to be detached when a gun is pointed at you. I hope you got the point.
a humble new year!
These words are truly inspirational
மிக அழகான, ஆழமான பதிவு ! இந்தியாவில் சங்க காலம் ஒரு பொற்காலம்!
I needed to hear this today. Thank you.
I get the title was click baity on purpose to get views, but the message was good. As a Taiwanese-American, I wish more people would study Buddhism and Taoism. Even in china, very few chinese study these philosophies and practice daily. Zen isn't a destination, it's a daily practice. Some days you well and other days you fail and that is all part of it.
from syria i will told u Dr thank u for saving my life in the first day of my new year...2024🎉
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses.
2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God.
3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One.
4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism].
5. The Noah Family:
Vedas:
There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One Source,
There Is Only One Supply.
Avesta Zoroastrian:
There Is Only One Wise God,
Whom Is Uncreated.
Buddhist Cannon:
There Is Only One God,
Whom Created Good & Evil.
6. The Abraham Family:
Torah [Old Testament]:
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one.
Gospel [New Testament]:
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
What a wonderful human
I got more interested in this subject when I watched a Big Think video about consciousness. They talked to several different people with various expertise including what I think was a Buddhist Lama. His discussion seemed very insightful in an appealing way so I'm looking into it further.
Simple and lovely
This was perfect for me to view today. I have just set 4 intentions for my life from now, and they gel almost seamlessly with these zen concepts. Serendipity? I'm open to the possibility 😊
I struggle with these ideas when I see all the suffering in the world caused by humans. I want to practice the philosophy but see how it can be exploited as a weakness. As an ex soldier I joined to put myself between aggressors until they found the ability to cease aggression but the levels of hate I saw demonstrated how people can become entrenched in kill or be killed siuations. I fear that humans will never evolve to work in harmony and simply revert to win/lose thinking up to the point we all lose.
Thank you for the reminder.
This is beautiful. Just watched this at exactly the right time!
I’m going to watch this video many times. ❤
Love this video. Big Think rocks.
May all creatures be happy
Taoism and Zen Buddhism has a lot in common!
Zen is a mix between daoism and buddhism:)
Stoicism too
Brings to mind what Votaire said when he compared eastern religions (including Zen Buddhism and Confusianism) to western religions. Eastern religions have "no superstitions, no absurd legends, and none of those dogmas which insult reason and nature" which is the basis of western religions.
Those misperceptions have kept people from truly understanding what Jesus taught.
There is no magical state of enlightenment, no reincarnation.
@robertdouglas8895 All religion is mumbo jumbo, especially Christianity. It's the 21st century and most people are still superstitious. It's mind boggling.
The claim against reincarnation is a fair enough call, but I don't think 'enlightenment' requires any kind of supernatural element. We already know that meditation produces measurable changes in the brain, so it's not that unreasonable to think that one could attain a drastically altered state of mind (i.e. enlightenment) via a highly developed meditative practice.
Thank You.
Beginner's Mind is the Curiosity of a Child, even Jesus encouraged experiencing life as a child.
Brilliant. Thank you.
Love that he mentioned stories; I believe that I reached a certain Jhana or two while taking mushrooms. After, I realized and repeated to myself that “there is no story”
Great video and I came across zen in iaido training through Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū. Meditation and learning to calm your mind has more benefits than I thought possible.
it works, I'm Zen now and never wasn't
🙏🏼. Thank you
Hello sir. You are a professor in Buddhism. Zen Buddhism. I am a freelance researcher in Bihar in India where the Buddha moved around. I realize the Buddhist world failed to study and recognize Indian Buddhism in India. Buddhism in eastern UP and Bihar in India is alive and kicking. Sir, I have some good news. Day before yesterday I videographed the Vimalakirti's temple which marks the spot where he preached when he was sick, I videographed Kotigama where the Buddha would stay, I videographed Amrapali's property. Sir, she was stinking rich. She was the owner of ten sq km of land which she got through her profession. I videographed the place where her musicians lived, where she lived, where the Buddha's foster mother Maha Prajapati Gautami lived. And to top it all I videographed the exact spot where she attained Parinirvana. Locals pray to her as a village deity and they maintain the place where she died. It is a lovely temple with no statues or pictures of God. There were five tiny stupas on the spot she attained Parinirvana. I will be releasing the videos in my channel in a few days.
Perfect. Thank you. 🖖
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses.
2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God.
3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One.
4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism].
5. The Noah Family:
Vedas:
There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One Source,
There Is Only One Supply.
Avesta Zoroastrian:
There Is Only One Wise God,
Whom Is Uncreated.
Buddhist Cannon:
There Is Only One God,
Whom Created Good & Evil.
6. The Abraham Family:
Torah [Old Testament]:
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one.
Gospel [New Testament]:
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
Thankyou
this is amazing!
People, especially in the west, need mindfulness, loving kindness, and the dropping of ego now more than ever. Will it happen on a large scale? Of course not. But can you imagine how beautiful the world would be if all humans practiced what he’s talking about.
Thank you❤❤
Really amazing actually. Just the methodology of thinking not the religion itself is just absolutely amazing which should be taught everywhere. It just needs to be translated differently or in other words instead of Buddhism there needs to be a new word for it or name so people don’t have predominant shade on it.
There's no need to translate it differently, but you can interpret and relate to it differently. In Christianity, we also have the spiritual, meditative, and contemplative aspect, and the same argument you presented can be applied to it as well. However, the responsibility to search for it lies on you.
I think you can agree with some religious philosophy without accepting the overall premise.
Incredible 💖
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace.
1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses.
2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God.
3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One.
4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism].
5. The Noah Family:
Vedas:
There Is Only One God,
There Is Only One Source,
There Is Only One Supply.
Avesta Zoroastrian:
There Is Only One Wise God,
Whom Is Uncreated.
Buddhist Cannon:
There Is Only One God,
Whom Created Good & Evil.
6. The Abraham Family:
Torah [Old Testament]:
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one.
Gospel [New Testament]:
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
What is the music part playing in the background during the impermanence part? I swear I know it from somewhere...
@Prof. Waldinger, do you think it is possible to become equivalent to a "zen master" naturally? I love your You Tube speech "Harvard professor’s 6-step guide to zen | Robert Waldinger" from Big Think. On all the items you discussed, I've came to the same conclusions a long time ago.
Buddah says, "The mistake is believing that anything matters. To believe that Life is suffering is not what I meant. Existence is suffering. Survival is suffering. But Life is pure bliss. To reach for peace is a bar short of joy as joy is a bar short from ecstasy. As you can not choose what happens outside of you, surely you can choose for yourself what happens inside of you. Choose to feel blessed you exist in the first place as there was a time when you did not, and soon a time when you won't. Choose to become that which you desire others to become.
Also, "Choose wisely and be careful what you ask for. "
🙏
No
Why would it be such a struggle to simply be what we are ? Ohh, ‘cause we are trained to identify with symbols of reality instead of reality itself.
"We specialize in blessing Zen Buddhists." - Dean Martin.
Alan Watts would laugh at this because the concept of practicing Zen is not to practice, it’s a philosophy of accepting and laughing with life. There is no overthinking of “steps” and “rules”, that defies what it is. Zen is influenced through Taoism not Buddhism.
Watts was an alcoholic
Is it fair to say that focus is the basis for all meditation?
The combination of the stock imagery with the stock music to try and illustrate these simple, humble teachings, I find clashes with their essence, and ultimately only serves to cheapen them.
Taylor is my beginning and Swift is my end!
Sangh literally means Together
Culturing joy is a byproduct.
You are so sweet ❤️☀️🌙
Thank you 😊
Some knowledge is gathering in years. Don't blame yourself
This seems to be more about Buddhism per se than Zen.
Dear Big Think, My only comment would be that for all future videos, could the background the speaker talks in front of be something other than the typical very bright white? My suggestion would be a soft grey texture and a light source on the background behind the person, and the person also to have soft lighting made from two separate light sources. Just removing the harsh white background would help to bring the main focus of what the person is saying, without any distractions Thank you.
I like the white with modern studio lounge outer.
8:01 beautiful
good
tam aydınlanacak gibi oluyorum .....
❤❤❤
❤
Cool
WOW ❤ GREAT NEW YEARS FORTUNE COOKIE - MAKING AMERICA KIND- LOVING, COMPASSIONATE- TOLERANT; great DON Q BALM - fixing the broken -righting the wrong- TO FOLLOW THE METTA STAR towards a NEW EVOLUTION! -thank you!
Interesting points. Although it seems a little odd he is aware of how little he knows and on the other hand calls himself a Zen master.
Isn’t it “there is suffering” not life is suffering?
Lots of judgement in these comments. Your parents gave you a different religion, therefore yours is the world's best and all other possibilities suck.
I'm confused. Zen=禅? Like 禅宗?? Seems more like Tibetan Buddhism. They are both Mahayana, but....😅
Is it stoicism? Or am I mistaken?
I think they’re similar.
My main beef with Zen ic philiosphies etc is that we would not have developed science, technology, machine knitted underware, clothes, safe food, the internet, or gone to the moon. We got all that stuff and more (pain killing drugs, CRSPA tech, antibiotics) by struggle. I am happy for Zenites, Epicureans and Stoisists who know how to "enter into that rest" that Paul of Tarsus talked about..........
I don't think these philosophies are telling us not to strive toward difficult goals, but rather to do so without creating unnecessary excess suffering for ourselves. Indeed, buddhism itself wouldn't exist without the diligent effort of all those who practice meditation and all those who developed the practice into a coherent philosophy.
China (where zen comes from, named chan) used to be way ahead the West for millenia in terms of sophisticated. technological development. Buddhism and Zen do not promote passivity, it's a total misconception.
Zen does not preclude striving to improve things. In terms of struggle, as you put it - the point of Zen is that what you consider a struggle is due to attachment (you wish things to be other than they are) - Zen doesn’t say to avoid struggle - it teaches that struggling is all in the mind and if you can see through the attachments behind the struggle, then you can proceed without the additional suffering caused by that. With Zen practice you should, in fact, be better able to deal with any struggles or challenges.
Zen (or Vishnu) mixed with western striving, and recognizing the value of Shiva, is the perfect balance for me. A post global yin yang mish mash.
Pain killing drugs
Они пели колыбельную мне
I wonder how it helps to stop wars, famine and climate change
Who is the one causing Wars, Famine and Climate change?
To be fair, it never claimed to be able to. The Zen being presented here is not a political ideology, it's intended to work on the level of the individual.
@@giacomofeher5400 And you think all these issues are not caused by group of *individuals*
It's a coping mechanism. They teach you how to living with suffering, not solving it.
First
in the Buddhist language? what language is that?
It is religion
Pali and Sanskrit, mostly :-)
I wish they didn’t say Harvard Professor. The quality of a Buddhist practitioner has nothing to do with being a professor at Harvard. Just tired of having only one message - rich, famous, esteemed people. How about the common person like me? There’s no mirror in media.
Beware. This could become a form of escapism if not understanding it properly.
1)There's nothing fixed in the world. Yet we are on the earth but not of the earth. There is truth. Ask and you shall receive; not from the world but from God.
2)Suffering? My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Accepting pain is self-sacrifice, which is not the way to peace, but we can think it is. Accepting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross seems to be enough to make us innocent so we need not suffer. But forgiveness does that, not sacrifice. "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." Forgiveness ends not just some of the unfairness, but all of it.
3) Forgiving the past lets us live in the moment without fear of the future.
4)Through forgiveness, we see each other created as spirit, not as bodies seemingly doing things that affect us.
5)As we observe and correct the errors of our own thinking that will bring us to peace, we can help others do the same.
6)"Thy will, not my will" opens us to the mind of God working through us.
WHY WHY WHY is everyone obsessed with adding totally unnecessary Background Music!.. Please STOP! , or at least keep the Volume to an absolute minimum...
I didn't notice it until you mentioned it.
Lol..
Consider it an opportunity to practice non-attachment. 😊
The only religion that seems to make any logical sense
Hold up. The Buddhist language?
I think he's referring to Pali, which was adopted and I believe standardized in order to preserve the Buddha's teachings. I think it was the language the Buddha taught in. Maybe "the language of Buddhism" would have been a clearer formulation.
Root-Less / Un-Anchored / Drifting Feelings ...
can be Eliminated by Belief of God / Practice of his Teachings.
The Devil …
Does Not Care If You Believe “In Him” or Not …
That is Until … It is Sin by Sin …
Too Late for "You" to Save YourSelf …
Then, He Steps Forward.
What includes sin here?
I did not understand anything
Can we take Harvard professors seriously anymore? If the university president can rise to such a position with little credible scholarly work (of their own), why should we have faith in any of these other 'experts'?
I don't see the logic of undermining the credibility of everyone's work, based solely on the actions of one person. If a topic is of sufficient interest to you, then you can look into it yourself. Using logic and reason you should be able to assess the information you come across. Nobody is an absolute authority and a lot of academia will be influenced by individual and professional bias, as it is with everything. Even hard science has its own philosophical underpinnings. So I think you can and should take professors seriously, but as I said, if you are intrigued by something they say, then continue to educate yourself on the matter.
So, what language, exactly, is the "Buddhist" language? Is the term "samsara" not derived from Sanskrit, or, any of the predecessors of Hindi? That's the same logic as saying "Allah" is the name of the god in the "Muslim" language instead of it being the word for "god" in Arabic. If that kind of stereotyping is casual for you, I'm good on the rest.
those that know do not say, those that say do not know.
🙏🙏🙏🤍🤍🤍🤗🤗🤗✨✨✨🕯️🕯️🕯️
I used to agree 100% with this way of thinking, I lived it, I believed it, I exuded it. After being poisoned and maimed by negligent and ignorant doKtors, and the horrific practices used in today's medicine, and the insurance companies and corporations who protect these "medical professionals", I don't feel the same way. I watch people and animals get injured and oftentimes die due to their brutal practices and KNOW that it isn't right and there is a time for reaction and change.
That in no way contradicts what he is stating.