Mindrolling with Raghu Markus

Ep. 649 – The Alchemy of Compassion & Equanimity with Joseph Goldstein & Noah Markus

Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give at: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser [https://beherenownetwork.com/10years] Joseph Goldstein, along with Noah & Raghu Markus, discuss how to maintain a balance of compassion and equanimity for a more peaceful life.  This time on Mindrolling, Joseph, Noah, and Raghu explore:  * Buddhist philosophy on relative truth vs. ultimate truth  * Feeling the body as an energy field of changing sensations rather than something solid * How one can tend the heart in troubled times * The manifestations of reactivity that make the heart retract  * Seeing our reality as a blip in cosmic time  * Inspiring awe through nature as a way to open and soften the heart * The book Fall of Civilizations [https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Civilizations-Stories-Greatness-Decline/dp/1335013415] by Paul Cooper  * Balancing the qualities of compassion and equanimity  * Investigating the phenomena of thinking rather than the content of a thought  * Lessons on direct experience from the Bāhiya Sutta [https://suttacentral.net/ud1.10/en/anandajoti?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false] About Joseph Goldstein: Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society [http://www.dharma.org/] in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. “At those times, you’re stronger on the compassion side and less strong on the equanimity side. When you see that, that can be a good reminder: ‘Oh yeah, this is what’s happening; I need to go out and look at the stars’. We need both. Either one by itself can tend to states that may not be that helpful.” –Joseph Goldstein About Noah Markus: Noah Markus is a content curator & archivist for Love Serve Remember Foundation. He spends his time curating Ram Dass content for podcasts, courses, and much more.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 648 –Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life with Eric Zimmer

Author and speaker Eric Zimmer shares how committing to small, sustainable habits transformed his life—moving him from addiction and homelessness to integrity and meaning. Grab Eric’s book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. [https://www.oneyoufeed.net/book/] This week on Mindrolling, Eric and Raghu chat about:  * Burning the house to the ground: Eric’s experience with kleptomania, addiction, and homelessness  * Embarking on a life-long spiritual quest and journey of self-transformation * How meditation creates more space between stimulus and response * The opportunity to make better choices when we slow down through mindfulness * Why lasting change is so difficult  * Cultivating new habits of both thought and behavior * Treating yourself as if you are a friend or child * Becoming a positive force in the world  “Things that feel insurmountable now often can become almost second nature down the line." –Eric Zimmer About Eric Zimmer: Eric Zimmer is an author, teacher, speaker, and the creator of The One You Feed podcast [https://www.oneyoufeed.net/category/featured/]—an award-winning show with over 50 million downloads across 800+ conversations exploring meaningful living. At 24, Eric was homeless, addicted to heroin, and facing prison. His journey from those depths sparked his lifelong inquiry into human transformation and resilience. Through his behavior coaching, workshops, and mentorship, he has guided thousands worldwide in creating sustainable habits that last—not through willpower or epiphany, but through steady change. His approach combines cutting-edge science with timeless wisdom, providing practical pathways to greater integrity and deeper meaning. His story and his work have been featured in the media, including TedX, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93_S0vEGE5A&t=2s] Mind Body Green, Elephant Journal, the BBC and Brain Pickings. Check out his new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. [https://www.oneyoufeed.net/book/] “One of the critiques of the modern mindfulness movement is that it divorces the practice from the ethical structures from which it evolved, which leads to ‘I’m just focused on me getting better and feeling better.’ While that’s an important and useful aim, it’s only half the game. The other half of the game is that it is in service of other people and being able to be a positive force in the world. We all have the ability to be a positive force in the world.” –Eric Zimmer See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 647 – Women in Love with the Divine with Erica Bassani

From her research into female spiritual role models, Writer Erica Bassani joins Raghu to discuss her new book which offers an exploration of faith, practice, and feminine power. Grab your copy of Women in Love with the Divine [https://www.shambhala.com/women-in-love-with-the-divine.html] or join Erica in Awakening Softness, [https://www.womenawakeningproject.com/services-1] transformational 1 on 1 sessions for rediscovering the sacredness of daily life.  This week on Mindrolling, Erica and Raghu have a conversation on:  * Honoring femininity and presence  through the wisdom of modern female spiritual teachers * Erica’s inspiration from her father’s spirituality and her year-long monastery stay at 19 years old. * Gratitude practice towards the divine mother and our own mothers  * Considering how the wisdom of women may differ from the wisdom of men * The extraordinary warmth and compassion of Garchen Rinpoche [https://garchen.net/our-spiritual-director/] * Moving away from one-dimensional ways of overcoming conflict * Entering into feminine gentleness and finding our power within ourselves * How transcending the ego can actually become spiritual bypassing * Becoming present when we start to doubt the existence of God * Cultivating inner peace as our individual contribution to the chaos of the world “I started writing it 3 years ago from a need of meeting living women who dedicate their life to the divine. I really needed in that time of my life, I was going through personal crisis and spiritual crisis, I realized all my teachers had been men. Which, I am very grateful to them, but at that point I started really needing female role models, the examples of women who are today in this world doing the spiritual life." –Erica Bassani About Erica Bassani: Erica Bassani is a writer based in Italy. A graduate of the Academy of Storytelling in Turin, she spent a year living in a Theravadan Buddhist monastery at the age of 23. Since then, she has turned to female spiritual teachers from diverse traditions to help her navigate her inner journey. She created the Women Awakening Project [https://www.womenawakeningproject.com/about-3]—an initiative that highlights the wisdom of female spiritual role models and explores spiritual practice through the lens of women’s experiences—to share their wisdom and create a bridge between generations of seekers. Bassani is author of Donne che Esplorano il Divino, co-author (with Massimo Bonomelli) of Va Bene Così, and the Italian translator of The Four Noble Truths of Love by Susan Piver. “Women didn’t follow their own way of coming to power. They followed more the masculine way, the patriarchal way of getting to power. This, of course, creates a very weird shift inside. It creates suffering ultimately because of a disconnection with where actually is the source of power in us, especially as women, and possibly for men as well. The source of power can be in the heart, can be more embodied and exclusive, more aware of the different parts of the situation instead of this focused way which cuts out many other things, it's a more gentler way.” –Erica Bassani See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 646 – The DoubleBlind Guide to Psychedelics with Madison Margolin

Author, journalist, and co-founder of DoubleBlind, Madison Margolin, joins Raghu to explore her latest project: creating a roadmap to tripping, microdosing, and beyond. Grab your copy of The DoubleBlind Guide to Psychedelics [https://www.amazon.com/DoubleBlind-Guide-Psychedelics-Tripping-Microdosing/dp/1648291791] In this episode, Madison and Raghu step into the world of:  * Emerging theories of Ibogaine use in Parkinson's treatment  * Defining ‘psychedelics’ and Dr. Ben Malcom’s [https://www.spiritpharmacist.com/] (aka The Spirit Pharmacist) view on psychedelic & somatic awareness * What the clinical world can take away from indigenous plant medicine rituals * Ram Dass’s journey from psychedelic research to spirituality  * Spiritual seekers: from India to South America  * How regular practice helps us connect to deeper layers of reality * Feeling beyond time and space  * Punctuating psychedelic experiences with spiritual practice * Altered states in the history of Judaism  * Psychedelics for war zones, trauma, and religious leaders * Accessing your set, setting, and mental health dispositions  “Doing psychedelics under the stewardship of an indigenous culture is equally legitimate to doing it in a clinical context, and it’s also legitimate to do it at a Grateful Dead show. What I really want to get at is that the way the tribes or indigenous cultures regard these medicines is through community, song, prayer, connection to nature, reciprocity, those are all values that even the clinical world can borrow and emulate as they design their trials." –Madison Margolin About Madison Margolin: Madison is an author and journalist who straddles California, New York, and the Israel-Palestine region, with a focus on psychedelics, cannabis, and Judaism — jokingly referring to it as “Jews & Drugs.” Her reporting also spans culture, policy, and science. At the center of her work is a sustained curiosity about how people transcend the mind to access something larger than themselves, whether through psychedelics, spirituality, meditation, art, or somatic practice. Much of her writing explores the different ways people nourish the soul. Madison is the co-founder of DoubleBlind [https://doubleblindmag.com/home/], the print and digital magazine that covers psychedelics and their intersections with mental health, spirituality, environmental justice, and social equity. She also co-founded the Jewish Psychedelic Summit and hosts the podcast Set & Setting [https://beherenownetwork.com/category/set-and-setting-with-madison-margolin/]on the Be Here Now Network. She has worked in journalism since 2014, with bylines in outlets including Rolling Stone, Vice Media, Playboy, High Times, Tablet Magazine, and Nylon. She began her journalism career with a cannabis column at The Village Voice shortly after graduating from Columbia Journalism School. Before that, she lived in Tel Aviv, where she worked with Israel’s African refugee community. Earlier in her life, she lived at the Cloyne co-op while studying rhetoric and linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a language enthusiast who speaks or dabbles in French, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew. Outside of work and writing, she is usually dancing, spinning a hula hoop, or practicing yoga. Madison Margolin is also the author of Exile and Ecstacy [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/731139/exile-and-ecstasy-by-madison-margolin/], a book on Growing Up with Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground. Learn more about Madison’s work at madisonmargolin.com [https://www.madisonmargolin.com/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 645 – Proving a Miracle with Joshua Brown, PhD

Exploring the healing power of prayer and belief, Dr. Joshua Brown interweaves cognitive neuroscience with faith-based experiences. Preorder a copy of Joshua’s book, Proving a Miracle, HERE. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063420449/?tag=joshbrownneur-20] This week on Mindrolling, Raghu and Joshua explore:  * Joshua’s fascination with the brain as a machine  * How a medical crisis shifted Joshua’s life path  * The impact of the spiritual on our physical selves  * Living between the worlds of neuroscience and faith * How we form beliefs and how those beliefs affect our health * The power of community and seeking out unique experiences * Joshua’s own experience witnessing miracles  * Choosing hope and accepting the risk of disappointment  * How Artificial Intelligence is trained through predictions  About Joshua Brown, PhD: Dr. Joshua W. Brown is a professor of Psychological and Brain Science at Indiana University, where he directs the Cognitive Control Lab. He also co-founded the Global Medical Research Institute [http://www.globalmri.org/]. With decades of experience in computational neuroscience and over 79 peer-reviewed publications, he brings the same rigorous scientific methodology to extraordinary claims of healing that he applies to understanding the brain. His book, Proving a Miracle [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063420449/?tag=joshbrownneur-20], will be released on May 12th of 2026. “Practically, you are what you eat, and your beliefs reflect the experiences that you have. If you want to develop more nuanced beliefs in a certain direction, you have to immerse yourself in experiences that match those beliefs.” –Joshua Brown See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].