In this episode we talked with author and psychiatrist Mark Epstein, whose books include Thoughts Without a Thinker, and Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart. His latest book, Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself, uses Buddhism’s Noble Eightfold Path as a roadmap for spiritual and psychological growth. According to Mark, Buddhism and psychotherapy arrive at the same conclusion: When we give the ego free rein, we suffer, but when the ego learns to let go, we are free.
Photo: Ben Bowens (Unsplash)
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Discussed in This Episode
- The Four Noble Truths
- The Noble Eightfold Path
- Mark’s profile in the New York Times
- Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response
- What is the ego?
- The Buddhist concept of no-self
- What Buddhism and psychotherapy can learn from each other
Our Upgrades of the Week
Every week we like to let you in on the upgrades we’ve made in our own lives.
Melissa cleaned out her dishwasher. Here’s how to do that.
Mark improved his rowing-machine technique.
Alice finally got used to wearing her progressive-lens glasses all the time.
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