Where We Goin’ Today?

A childhood fascination with caves has led me to a lifetime of great adventures underground.

After developing a reputation as a mountain climbing “sandbagger,” it should have come as no surprise that a songwriter-climber friend of mine would eventually craft a playful song poking fun at me. What’s surprising is how good the song turned out!

In this episode, I reminisce on the dozens of celebrities I’ve encountered over the years.

Lifestyle design allowed me to retire at the age of 41. I’m not a wealthy man but I live an incredibly rich life.

With life becoming progressively more strained and strange—death, despair, giving up, loneliness and isolation in the world around me—I turn to meditation to navigate the uncertain waters ahead.

Reflections on some of the creators of the American counterculture—Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters, and the Grateful Dead—and the impact they had on my life.

A teenage fascination with Jim Morrison and the Doors led to a 20-year obsession about uncovering everything in the history of the band and writing a book about it.

With plans to soon embark upon a 1,000-year-old 700-mile walking pilgrimage in southeastern Japan, we spent a week doing a 60-mile reconnaissance of this classic ascetic Buddhist circuit.

Reflections on a first big road trip around the mountains of the western U.S. that would spawn a decade of tireless mountain wandering.

A trio of summers working as a volunteer forest fire lookout would set the tone for a love and appreciation for mountains that persists to this day.

During the second half of our group pilgrimage, we encountered a giant snake during breakfast one morning, we visited several historically significant temples, and an unexpected illness reminded us of the uncertainty in all experience.

In this episode, I answer listener questions about Buddhist “leadership,” the tenure of monks, and the practices of alms mendicants.

For two summers, I lived in a haunted old house in coastal California. The good new is: I made friends with this spooky spirit. Believe it or not?!!

This week, a group of nine gathered in Bangkok to embark upon an 11-day pilgrimage of sacred Buddhist sites around Thailand.

In this episode, I respond to listener questions about the benefits of meditation and how to relax the mind through the practice of meditation.

In this episode, I respond to listener questions about how a person becomes a Buddhist monk and the lives of monks in the Theravāda tradition of Buddhism.

Traveling one of the most beautiful roads in the world, I made my way to Hue—the scene of the bloodiest conflicts of the Vietnam War, the final resting place of the beloved Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and home to a Theravāda Buddhist forest monastery.

By learning to see this life experience in terms of five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, mental states and consciousness—we can begin to unravel misunderstanding and uncover a great path to peace.

While relaxing in the charming beach resort city of Da Nang, Vietnam, I found myself reflecting on desert adventures, the Manson Family, and on the profound spiritual allure of Death Valley.

A gorgeous, mountainous resort city on the ocean, marble mountains covered in Buddhist pagodas and dotted with caves, a massive statue of elegant Guanyin, and hundreds of bonsais—this is fabulous Da Nang!

The ancient teachings of the Buddha encourage us to cultivate five mental faculties—confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom. With these faculties appropriately balanced, our meditation practice can bear great fruit.

Pioneering mountaineering routes in Utah’s greatest national park had unintended consequences that would force me to consider my relationship with the wilderness.

James Bond Island, a giant solid gold Buddha statue, grilled cockroaches, and stifling heat! It’s summertime in Thailand!

A Texas rumor of a Thai “supermonk” came full circle as I searched for a place to meditate in Bangkok.

Aliens? UFOs? Nothing whatsoever? We take a peek into the top secret military base called Area 51.

Flicked off by a cabbie, witnessing a misbehaving monkey, and finding a statue of the great master. These were just a few of our adventures in the expat wonderlands of Pattaya and Phuket.

A meditation community in the Vietnamese Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh would shape the course of my meditation practice and the meditation community I would eventually develop.

The Buddhist teaching of Abhidharma—the “higher doctrine”—explains that which is real, an understanding of which is the only path to enlightenment.

Wandering Bangkok during the water festival and sampling the best and worst of fruits were precursors to a visit to the ancient Siamese capitol of Ayutthaya.

Recalling the life of my master—Las Vegas Sayādaw—a renowned master of insight meditation.

A chance meeting with a young lady with an unusual name provoked a reflection on labels, pop culture and the nature of reality.

With feet planted on Asian soil for the third time in six months, I reflect on Japanese sophistication and the allure of Thailand.

An obsessive drive to climb Alaskan mountains offered a lesson that changed the course of my life.

A lonely ghost town in the desert became the scene of a glorious opera with no one in the audience.

A visit to America’s oldest spiritual commune—Sunburst Sanctuary—can awaken the heart to the potential in each of us.

We can get lost in a body’s attractiveness—but can we “get found” in its foulness?

In this episode, we explore “The Biggest Little Farm”—an inspiring tale of a regenerative farm documented in a film of the same name.

A pilgrimage to the summit of an isolated mountain in the High Cascades of Washington was the catalyst for a life-changing new direction.

A thief decides to burglarize my car one night while I’m sitting in meditation in the backseat.

Today, we explore the life and impact of the legendary and enlightened Thai forest monk Luang Pu Mun.

Reflections on the life of Grand Canyon pioneer and legend Harvey Butchart.

Remembering an encounter with a famous rockstar in Arizona reminded me of the musical soundtrack that accompanied the loss of a parent last year.

Twenty years ago I wandered into a desert canyon looking for waterfalls during a rainstorm and spent eight hours trying to find my way back out.

In this first episode, I introduce myself and the circumstances that led me to a podcast-worthy life.