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10% Happier
11 years 5 months ago #19501
by Tom Otvos
-- tomo
10% Happier was created by Tom Otvos
In another thread, the topic of Dan Harris came up. Dan is an ABC news reporter who is, currently, the anchor of Nightline. He just recently wrote a book about his journey into Buddhism called "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story". Yes, that is a mouthful.
However the book is a real joy to read. Dan is a witty guy, which makes his writing style very entertaining but, more importantly, as a journalist he has a very skeptical mind. The book is his trip from "woo woo" to a serious Buddhist practitioner. For me, a lot of his questions were the same questions I had. I don't have his access to people like Deepak Chopra, Joseph Goldstein, and the Dalai Lama (ok, he doesn't have "access" to HHDL, per se, but he did get to interview him once), but I could hear his voice in my head many times.
Really glad I read it. Recommended.
However the book is a real joy to read. Dan is a witty guy, which makes his writing style very entertaining but, more importantly, as a journalist he has a very skeptical mind. The book is his trip from "woo woo" to a serious Buddhist practitioner. For me, a lot of his questions were the same questions I had. I don't have his access to people like Deepak Chopra, Joseph Goldstein, and the Dalai Lama (ok, he doesn't have "access" to HHDL, per se, but he did get to interview him once), but I could hear his voice in my head many times.
Really glad I read it. Recommended.
-- tomo
11 years 5 months ago #19502
by Tom Otvos
-- tomo
Replied by Tom Otvos on topic 10% Happier
I should add that he originally wanted to title the book "The Voice in my Head is an Asshole".
Enough said.
Enough said.
-- tomo
11 years 5 months ago #19505
by Jim
Replied by Jim on topic 10% Happier
This conversation between Dan Harris and Sam Harris (which I may have found linked to in some other thread on this site) is also fantastic:
www.samharris.org/blog/item/taming-the-mind
www.samharris.org/blog/item/taming-the-mind
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11 years 5 months ago #19506
by every3rdthought
I'm interested in this point, could you expand?
Replied by every3rdthought on topic 10% Happier
Tom Otvos wrote: The book is his trip from "woo woo" to a serious Buddhist practitioner.
I'm interested in this point, could you expand?
11 years 5 months ago #19509
by Tom Otvos
Like many people (me included), he had initial preconceived notions of what meditation was about based on media and pop culture. His first introduction to "practice" was Tolle, which he found both compelling and completely off-putting, since Tolle apparently mixes real insights with totally "out there" concepts. He had concerns about "blanking the mind", and losing his professional "edge", as well as deeper questions about enlightenment ("is it real?"). Meeting and talking with Deepak Chopra did not help matters...quite unflattering descriptions there.
But as he spent more time sitting, as well as finding some good role models in the form of Joseph Goldstein and Mark Epstein, he began to see personal benefits to the practice, as well as understand the bigger picture. His first 10-day retreat was an eye opener and, apparently, somewhat transformative. It sounds like he had a major A&P event. And despite initial misgivings (based on preconceptions again) he found that metta practice was an important complement to the insight/noting practice that he was doing. Personally, I still haven't got past that, but his insistence on working through the practice and giving it a chance really does work, I am tempted to give that another go.
Anyhow, to answer directly, he sits regularly, does insight and metta practice, and is thinking of shooting for stream entry, which makes him pretty serious in my books.
-- tomo
Replied by Tom Otvos on topic 10% Happier
every3rdthought wrote:
Tom Otvos wrote: The book is his trip from "woo woo" to a serious Buddhist practitioner.
I'm interested in this point, could you expand?
Like many people (me included), he had initial preconceived notions of what meditation was about based on media and pop culture. His first introduction to "practice" was Tolle, which he found both compelling and completely off-putting, since Tolle apparently mixes real insights with totally "out there" concepts. He had concerns about "blanking the mind", and losing his professional "edge", as well as deeper questions about enlightenment ("is it real?"). Meeting and talking with Deepak Chopra did not help matters...quite unflattering descriptions there.
But as he spent more time sitting, as well as finding some good role models in the form of Joseph Goldstein and Mark Epstein, he began to see personal benefits to the practice, as well as understand the bigger picture. His first 10-day retreat was an eye opener and, apparently, somewhat transformative. It sounds like he had a major A&P event. And despite initial misgivings (based on preconceptions again) he found that metta practice was an important complement to the insight/noting practice that he was doing. Personally, I still haven't got past that, but his insistence on working through the practice and giving it a chance really does work, I am tempted to give that another go.
Anyhow, to answer directly, he sits regularly, does insight and metta practice, and is thinking of shooting for stream entry, which makes him pretty serious in my books.
-- tomo