333. Joey Lott

Joey Lott is not a spiritual teacher. He’s not offering enlightenment, awakening, liberation, or any such carrot to keep you searching for something else. Instead, he’s just a fellow person who had the fortune to discover that the willingness to stop seeking for answers, for solutions to all kinds of imagined spiritual problems, reveals the peace of just being whatever is happening - which is all that is ever happening anyway. It’s not a glorious attainment. It’s not morally or spiritually elevated. It’s very mundane, and often uncomfortable - exactly like your life now. Joey doesn’t do formal teaching. In an ever-changing manner, he does experiment with inviting others to join in a conversation and explore the assumptions that underlie suffering. Website: joeylott.com YouTube Channels: Joey Lott Completely Ordinary Books: The Best Thing That Never Happened You're Trying Too Hard: The Direct Path to What Already Is Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 2/13/2016 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:47 - Shifting Perspectives on Identity 00:09:22 - The Perception of Suffering and Reality 00:13:34 - The intensity of my meditation practice 00:17:42 - The Addictive Cycle of Meditation 00:20:49 - The Experience of Suffering and Inner Dissatisfaction 00:24:53 - The Relief of Stopping the Obsession 00:28:35 - Fear of Triggers and Rituals 00:32:57 - The Shift Towards Surrender 00:37:24 - Relaxation of Control and Shift in Perspective 00:41:47 - Embracing Fear and Facing Problems 00:48:43 - Finding Balance in Spiritual Teachings 00:50:41 - The Middle Ground of Purification 00:55:31 - Spiritual Teachings for the Benefit of Humanity 00:59:40 - Methamphetamine and the Brain 01:03:35 - The Marginalization of People 01:08:25 - The Reality of Experience 01:12:40 - Critique of Popular Spirituality 01:16:53 - Recognizing the Full Truth 01:21:19 - The Directness of Experience and Comparison to Ramana 01:25:22 - The Illusion of Awareness and Consciousness 01:30:06 - The Promise of Removing Uncertainty 01:33:55 - The Illusion of Ownership and Doership 01:38:35 - Appreciating Concepts, But Valuing Experience 01:42:58 - The Paradoxical Nature of Taking Action 01:46:49 - Dealing with OCD 01:50:39 - Perception of a diverse natural world and dangers of moral authority 01:54:01 - The Decline of Bee Populations and Environmental Responsibility 01:58:47 - The Interconnectedness of Life and the Power of Consciousness 02:02:37 - Ambivalent about taking money for conversations