The Avatar I Called Jacob

Every Day Something Is Dropped

Awareness is the greatest treasure in my life, and lately I've felt it getting covered up. In this episode, I talk honestly about the habits that have been dulling that clarity — caffeine, late-night routines, social media, comfort habits, and the constant pull to stay stimulated. This isn't a self-help episode, and it's not a grand declaration that I've fixed anything. It's more of a life update: a recognition that some habits don't need to be ripped away by force. Sometimes they're just ready to fall off when you finally value presence more than what's been covering it. Along the way, I reflect on the Buddha, Jesus, Paul, Lao Tzu, Alan Watts, and Osho — all pointing, in different ways, toward the same thing: awareness isn't something you manufacture. It's what remains when the noise starts to drop. Want to share a thought? [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369768/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/StandingNowherePodcast] --- 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/standingnowhere ⭐ Leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/standing-nowhere/id1822619607?action=write-review 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standing.nowhere/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standingnowherepodcast 💬 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4yfaU7x4nF 📧 Email: standingnowherepodcast@gmail.com Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.

The Skin Sheds When It's Ready

There's a version of yourself you can see clearly — and then there's where you actually are right now. That gap can feel like failure. This episode begins with a story about a declined card on my wife's birthday, a Lord of the Rings book hidden at the bottom of a Target basket, and the quiet shame of walking back to the car with nothing. From there, it becomes a reflection on vairagya — the falling away of desire — and why transformation can't always be forced. You can't rip the skin from the snake. It sheds when it's ready. With reflections on patience, habit, self-compassion, and a closing reading from Thomas Merton. Want to share a thought? [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369768/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/StandingNowherePodcast] --- 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/standingnowhere ⭐ Leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/standing-nowhere/id1822619607?action=write-review 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standing.nowhere/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standingnowherepodcast 💬 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4yfaU7x4nF 📧 Email: standingnowherepodcast@gmail.com Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.

The Fear Is the Story

Jacob thought the reason he hadn't done more interviews was scheduling. But one night it hit him — it wasn't really the schedule. It was fear. Not fear of talking to people, but fear of what they might bring with them. Grief. Pain. Loss. Truth. In this episode, he traces that fear back to a Lyft ride in Las Vegas he's never forgotten — a stranger gets in the car, bursts into tears, and shares a story of devastating loss. From there, Jacob reflects on compassion, what it really means to suffer with another person, and why this may be exactly where Standing Nowhere is meant to go next. Closes with a reading from Osho. Want to share a thought? [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369768/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/StandingNowherePodcast] --- 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/standingnowhere ⭐ Leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/standing-nowhere/id1822619607?action=write-review 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standing.nowhere/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standingnowherepodcast 💬 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4yfaU7x4nF 📧 Email: standingnowherepodcast@gmail.com Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.

The Avatar I Called Jacob

For most of my life, I never questioned it. I was Jacob. My thoughts, my experiences, my feelings — that was me. Then meditation started doing something I didn't ask it to do. In this episode I'm talking about self — or more precisely, the growing suspicion that the self you've spent your whole life protecting might not be what you think it is. I share the moment this cracked open for me mid-delivery, crying alone in a car, and trace the thread through Buddhism, early Christianity, the language we use every day, and what years of daily Zazen practice have quietly done to my sense of who I am. This is not a lecture. It's an open thread. Closing with readings from Thomas Merton and Ramana Maharshi. Want to share a thought? [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369768/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/StandingNowherePodcast] --- 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/standingnowhere ⭐ Leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/standing-nowhere/id1822619607?action=write-review 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standing.nowhere/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standingnowherepodcast 💬 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4yfaU7x4nF 📧 Email: standingnowherepodcast@gmail.com Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.

Knocking From the Inside

We act on what we perceive, not what's real. And we rarely know the difference. In this episode Jacob examines perception at every level — the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, the assumptions we make about strangers, the myths nations tell themselves about their own goodness, and the deepest illusion of all: the mind's projection of a divided reality onto what is fundamentally one. Along the way: a gas bill that wasn't overdue, the astronauts who saw no borders from space, the Vedantic concept of Maya, and three traditions — Jesus, Lao Tzu, and the Third Patriarch of Zen — arriving at the exact same place. Plus St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, and a 13th century Persian poet whose civilization is being bombed right now. The rope was never a snake. But try telling that to your nervous system. Want to share a thought? [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369768/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/StandingNowherePodcast] --- 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/standingnowhere ⭐ Leave a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/standing-nowhere/id1822619607?action=write-review 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standing.nowhere/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@standingnowherepodcast 💬 Discord: https://discord.com/invite/4yfaU7x4nF 📧 Email: standingnowherepodcast@gmail.com Standing Nowhere is a contemplative spirituality podcast exploring mindfulness, meditation, and what it means to be human through vulnerable storytelling.