Chapter Twenty One | Free One Million Minds: The Limits of Limitation: Discovering Genuine Progress12/31/2024 Duration | 3 minute 15 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisIn this final chapter, Dr. Symeon Rodger and Jamie Meyer discuss the importance of embracing individuality in the learning and practice of somatic disciplines like Tai Chi and Qigong. Dr. Rodger emphasises the need to avoid mimicking external movements and instead encourages practitioners to explore and feel their bodies from the inside out. He warns against relying too much on external feedback, especially from less experienced teachers, and advocates for a more personal, experimental approach to discovering one’s unique expression of the practice. Jamie Meyer adds that rigid templates or cookie-cutter methods cannot define one’s full potential; true progress comes from internal exploration and self-awareness. The chapter highlights that while external guidance may introduce a practice, real mastery and growth are internal and personal journeys. dialogue summaryDr. Symeon Rodger: The one thing you never want to say to yourself is, “I’m probably doing this wrong.” Uh, and it goes to like, if you know, when we’re doing things that are very somatic, very bodily embodied, like Tai Chi and Qigong, the tendency is to mimic. Right? So if I’m moving in a certain way, there’s a tendency to want to mimic. I look at you externally and I think, okay, how do I do that? It goes like, uh, no, no, no. Go into your body, try different things, see how each one feels, and don’t tell yourself anything is wrong, right or wrong. If there are such things, you will discover them. But go into your body, you have to feel your body from the inside out. That’s the whole point. The whole point is internal to the outside. It is not, let me mimic this. Okay, yeah, if you’re learning a Tai Chi form, you start off by kind of, uh, mimicking. Okay, it’s Yang style and this is, uh, the single whip goes like this, okay, um, very nice. Um, but that isn’t the movement. That’s an external of the movement. You have to, at a certain point, go into your own body and be willing to play and be willing to, you know, if somebody comes up to you and says, oh, it isn’t quite it. It’s a little bit more like this. Low-level teachers say that typically. You have to be able to go in and play and experiment and live inside your own body, and be somewhat immune to people’s criticisms, especially people who are less than masters. Uh, their criticisms of, oh, you’re doing this too fast, or you’re doing this too slow, or you’re doing this, or this arm is too high, or this arm is too low, or this is… Yeah. Ignore it. Jamie Meyer: The format or the cookie-cutter or the template cannot be your… the height of your potential in that particular instance. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You’ve caught the copy and it gets you an introduction, but that’s all it is, gets you in the door. The rest is an inside job. And it’s very liberating, and it’s very true. Credits Begin to Roll Jamie Meyer: Most people like do not try this at home. Symeon and I are like try all these things at home. Final Credits Roll ReferencesSomatic refers to anything related to the body, particularly in terms of bodily sensations, movements, and experiences. It is often used in the context of practices or therapies that focus on the physical aspect of human experience and how the body holds and expresses emotions, trauma, and consciousness. Embodied refers to the expression or manifestation of an experience, feeling, or concept through the body. It emphasises the connection between mind and body, suggesting that physical sensations and movements are integral to understanding and integrating emotional and psychological states. Guest Links: Dr. Symeon rodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418
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Chapter Twenty | Free One Million Minds: Simplicity in Growth: Removing Development's Complexity12/31/2024 Duration | 6 minute 55 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisIn this chapter, Jamie Meyer and Dr. Symeon Rodger explore the concept of personal development and growth through the lens of simplicity. They discuss how development should involve layers of experience, incorporating thought, body, and spirit to create depth. However, Dr. Rodger warns against overcomplicating the process, where people often fall into the trap of trying to learn too many techniques at once, leading to overwhelm rather than progress. He shares a story about a Tai Chi master who emphasises the value of focusing on foundational principles and going deep rather than broad. Both agree that the key to true growth lies in mastering simple, core principles and finding what resonates personally, rather than trying to learn every method available. Dialogue SummaryJamie Meyer: We started this conversation talking about advancement and different avenues of development and understanding. Something that’s kind of come up from me throughout the evolution of that conversation is that really what we’re looking for is more layers. So whatever we’re doing needs to be more layered. Whether it’s we start with the thought process, we need to introduce the body, we need to introduce an energetic or spiritual understanding of that one thing. Instead of doing everything with one part of ourselves, we really need to do anything with all parts of ourselves. And that’s what creates the depth or the semblance of what you’re describing as available through the Tao, Tai Chi, and Qigong. Have I missed the mark, or am I kind of somewhere in the right realm? Dr. Symeon Rodger: I think there are a lot of different ways, Jamie, of describing this, and that’s one of them, for sure. Yeah, it’s more depth, more layers of ourselves. Yeah, we want to connect with more layers of ourselves. Certainly, things that are very somatic, like Tai Chi and Qigong, are examples, yoga to a certain extent, other things can help with that, for sure. One of the traps is that it can become, and I think you alluded to this earlier with personal development, it can become an endless litany of things to do. Okay, if I want to develop personally, I have to have time for meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, tapping, this, that… Pretty soon, you’re spending theoretically 24 hours of your day doing these things, and you don’t have time for sleep. Jamie Meyer: Or a job. You don’t have time to make any money. Dr. Symeon Rodger: No, exactly. As you said, we like to complicate things. Part of that complication is looking at all these things and saying, “What? You have to do this. I have to do that.” You end up with a to-do list, and then you feel more stressed because of the to-do list. That seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Well, yes, it is. Maybe what might help is another story from this particular Tai Chi master I referenced—kind of a fun one—where he takes people down a peg. At one point, people were training with their partners, doing various things, and he stopped the whole class and said, “Look, I just had someone come up to me and ask if I could teach them this form or that form or this other Qigong set. I understand that in your culture, you’re all about complexity. You want to learn a whole lot of stuff. You want the whole thing. You want the slow form, the fast form, three versions of each, six different Qigong sets. But you’ve got to stop going broad. If you want actual progress, go deep.” He continued, Traditionally, when this was originally being taught, there were people who would never be allowed to see the Tai Chi form for the first years they were training. They wouldn’t even be allowed to see it. All they did for the first six months was stand in a low horse stance for hours a day, which developed an enormously strong lower body. That’s foundation number one. After that, they might spend six months doing nothing but projecting power, issuing power, which is something you do in combat. He used one particular movement as an example. And he said, ‘There are some people who will do nothing but that for six months. You might know more about Tai Chi than that person, but that person can throw any of you through a wall. So who knows Tai Chi better—him or you?’” Because they’ve gone very, very deep into very specific principles. Jamie Meyer: So it’s about simplicity? Dr. Symeon Rodger: Exactly. Principles can always be condensed into simplicity. There’s no end to complexity. Even something like Tibetan Buddhism falls victim to this. The number of meditation systems is blinding—absolutely crazy. And yet, you go back to the person who actually brought Vajrayana Buddhism from India to Tibet, Padmasambhava, who says, “Forget all that. Here’s one thing.” Jamie Meyer: Take the concept that all of those differentials exist so that for every person, there is an idea—one thing—that works for them. They don’t exist so we learn them all, but so that one person can find the thing that suits their being, their way of being, the best. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Yes, ancient systems talk about it in that way. There are different things for different groups of people because they have different orientations. Find what works for you, what resonates with you. It’s about finding what works for you, and then always going back to the basic principles. Principles can always be reduced to simplicity. Credits Roll Guest Links: Dr. Symeon rodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Chapter Nineteen | Free One Million Minds: The Art of Creation: Fostering True Creativity12/31/2024 Duration | 1 minute 49 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisJamie Meyer and Dr. Symeon Rodger discuss how creativity extends beyond traditional art forms and can be applied to all aspects of life. Dr. Rodger emphasises that life itself is a form of creation. By adopting an open, positive expectation of reality, we engage in creative acts. Whether through art, sports, or everyday tasks, creativity is about intentionality and mindset, with infinite possibilities for how it manifests. dialogue summaryJamie Meyer: That idea of creativity can be applied to just about anything based on our perspective of the task in hand. Dr. Symeon Rodger: I think it’s absolutely true. I mean, in a sense, think about it like we’re what we’ve talked about, we’re creating our lives, right? So life itself is creation and if we choose to have that sort of open expectation, that positive expectation of reality, that’s being creative. That’s doing something with deliberate intentionality. And so everything we do has this sort of possibility to be creative. I mean, some people’s canvases, like Michael Jordan, the great basketball player, the basketball court was his canvas. You know, so everybody has a different canvas. There is almost no limit to what creativity can encompass. And again, you know, as you say, people think, well, creativity, oh, uh, painting, sculpture, uh, you know, no, but it’s so much more than that. It can be anything that puts you into that frame of mind, really. Credits Roll ReferencesCreativity is the ability to generate new and original ideas, solutions, or artistic expressions. It involves thinking outside conventional boundaries and using imagination to create something novel, often resulting in innovative concepts, works of art, or problem-solving approaches. Reading recommendationsThe Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp – A practical guide to fostering creativity in all aspects of life. Guest Links: Dr. Symoen RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Duration | 3 minutes 59 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisIn this chapter, Dr. Symeon Rodger and Jamie Meyer explore the concept of truth, discussing the modern notion of a “post-truth world” and contrasting Western intellectual views of truth with other cultures’ perspectives. Dr. Rodger explains that truth in the West is often seen as a propositional, intellectual concept, while other cultures view it as the way things truly are, with a tangible, physical basis. They also delve into how different traditions, such as Taoism and early Christianity, approach truth and its inexpressible nature, emphasising the importance of direct experience over rigid definitions. The chapter touches on the paradoxical nature of trying to define truth while acknowledging its ineffable qualities. dialogue summaryDr. Symeon Rodger: It’s often said we live in a post-truth world, which is a real problem. It may build on the idea that the West typically has thought of truth as a proposition, like truth is an intellectual proposition. Whereas other cultures typically treat truth as the way things are. So truth has an actual sort of physical basis. Truth is the way things are. The way the universe functions is true. Your idea about it, you may say, is a truth, but it’s inevitably not because your idea is always in a construct that’s partial. There’s no way of putting that truth into words. It can’t be done. And anyone who knows how to… Yeah. And systems that have been devised to navigate people to that greater reality around the world have always been very reluctant to describe them. So that’s why you have expressions like, you know, Taoism saying, the Tao that could be described is not the Tao. Jamie Meyer: Right, so if you describe it, because it’s not the way. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Yeah, it’s not the real thing, it’s your idea. That’s all it is. Or even, strangely enough, in early Christianity, in Eastern Christianity, there was an extreme reluctance to define things too carefully. So definitions, what were actually called dogmas, were not absolute statements of “this is the way it is.” They were statements of sort of “not this, not that.” Okay, we just exclude alternatives that are off track, and the middle is where you want to be, but it is kind of amorphous, always leaving it open to experience. So the funny thing is, in that ancient Christian mystical tradition, the idea was if you haven’t had a direct experience of the absolute reality, you shouldn’t be talking about any of this stuff. You should just shut up and do the work to get yourself there and not pretend that you know. Not go off and teach at university or something like this. Jamie Meyer: Hmm. Dr. Symeon Rodger: So it becomes a little bit like— I mean, even in Roman Catholicism, which unfortunately developed into this extremely rationalistic version of Christianity. And a lot of that rationalism was partly built by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. But there is, you know, the story that, you know, people don’t want to tell, which is that Aquinas, eventually before he died, had a direct experience of the supreme divine love. And then he said, “Everything I’ve written is straw.” Garbage. Of course, the Church didn’t want to tell that story. They wanted people to read what he wrote. So there you go. Credits Roll ReferencesRoman Catholicism is the largest branch of Christianity, characterised by its traditions, doctrines, and practices, with a focus on the authority of the Pope, the importance of the sacraments, and the teachings of the Church as central to faith and moral life. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian whose writings, particularly in Summa Theologica, integrated Aristotelian philosophy with Christian doctrine, laying the foundation for much of Western Catholic theology and philosophy. Reading RecommendationsThe One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan – A deep dive into how focusing on one priority at a time can simplify life and lead to extraordinary results. guset links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Duration | 2 minutes 41 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger synopsisIn this chapter, Dr. Symeon Rodger and Jamie Meyer explore the complex relationship between ease, comfort, and truth. Dr. Rodger explains how humans often strive for total ease, but are confronted with the challenges of life in a three-dimensional world, which he refers to as “trauma school Earth.” While complete freedom from struggle may not be possible, the way we perceive challenges plays a crucial role in the pain we experience. They discuss how different cultures perceive reality and truth in various ways, highlighting the subjective nature of truth and the importance of perspective in navigating life’s difficulties. dialogue summaryJamie Meyer: What is the difference between narrow self-interest and this understanding of self that we’ve been talking about for an hour and 34 minutes now? Dr. Symeon Rodger: I’m not sure there’s an easy answer for that. We’re constantly striving for total ease, total comfort, but we live in a three-dimensional reality where that doesn’t seem to be the default setting. There are people who would say this reality, Earth, is not the most comfortable place. A friend of mine, who treats people who’ve gone through all kinds of trauma, refers to this as “trauma school Earth.” It’s about working through the craziness. So, will we ever be totally free of that in a world with birth and death? Probably not. But a lot of it comes down to our perspective. Our perspective on what’s happening can cause us immense unnecessary pain if it’s the wrong one. Jamie Meyer: And so that goes back to your point before about different cultures perceiving the same reality in different ways and then also the idea of truth. What is exactly the truth? Whose truth is the truth, the true truth? Credits Roll ReferencesNarrow self-interest refers to the tendency of individuals or groups to prioritise their own immediate needs, desires, or benefits without considering the broader impact on others or the long-term consequences. It often leads to decisions that are self-serving at the expense of collective well-being or shared values. reading recommendationsOutliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell – Looks at how people can exceed perceived limitations through opportunity, effort, and support. guest Links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Chapter Fifteen | Free One Million Minds: Are We There Yet?: The Pursuit of Ease and Truth12/31/2024 Duration | 5 minutes 30 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisDr. Symeon Rodger discusses how conditioning and trauma shape our lives, often triggering involuntary reactions. He shares a personal story of overcoming childhood trauma through Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Although the trauma initially seemed resolved, it returned, teaching him that true healing requires patience and a deeper approach. Dr. Rodger concludes that working through challenges, rather than seeking a quick fix, often leads to lasting resolution and growth. dialogue summaryDr. Symeon Rodger: We all run on a certain combination of conditioning, where we’ve been heavily conditioned. We were heavily conditioned by our parents, by the school system, by the media. We’ve been conditioned literally since the day we were born. And so we have conditioning on the one hand. We also have trauma, which is a different, more specific kind of conditioning, and pretty much everybody’s been traumatised in some way or another. So we have all of these things, and when we’re traumatised, we have this pent-up energy that can be triggered at any time, and we can go down that rabbit hole involuntarily. We don’t control it. Can you get past this? You can, but the worst thing you can do is fixate on whether you’re getting past it. That’s absolutely the worst thing you can do. Sometimes you can have some pretty bizarre experiences. For example, I had a really bad trauma when I was growing up because my father’s attitude toward life was that life is really dangerous. My aunt, his sister-in-law, later said, when she was in her 90s, “Yeah, your father just didn’t trust life.” And I said, “No, he didn’t.” He communicated that to me at an age when I had no defense because, until you’re eight or nine, you don’t have cognitive defenses. You absorb everything as truth, and your subconscious assumes it’s true. There’s nothing you can do about it at that stage. So, long story short, I disproved this particular trauma. I have a friend in the world of EFT, the Emotional Freedom Technique, tapping. About ten years ago, she emailed me and said, “I have this new trauma protocol for EFT. Can I try it on you? I’m looking for people to experiment with. It’s free; just hop on the phone with me.” So, I did. We were tapping away, and she was doing the linguistic parts of it, for which she was very gifted. At the time, I wasn’t emotionally connecting with the trauma, but I thought, “Okay, that’s fine. This probably won’t do anything, but I volunteered the time, so I’ll stay for the session.” We were on the phone for about an hour and a half, and the next day, the trauma was gone. I didn’t think about it for seven years. I assumed I had finally found what everyone wants: not just temporary relief but real resolution. It was gone. I was so wrong. It came back with a vengeance. The same old approach didn’t work the second time. Over time, I realised that what had happened was that I had been given a space out of the trauma, but I didn’t understand the purpose. When it returned, I needed to do more than just try to get rid of it; I had to work through it. I needed a deeper, more patient approach. But even then, it wasn’t easy for quite a while. We have to be aware that sometimes we’re given challenges we just need to work through. It’s not necessarily bad. There may be reasons we don’t fully understand. But eventually, we have to trust that there’s a greater wisdom behind it all, even though it’s uncomfortable. It won’t always be smooth sailing. Credits Roll ReferencesTrauma is a Physcolognical and/or Emotional injury or distress resulting from a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. reading recommendationsGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth – Explores how passion and perseverance can lead to success, despite limitations. guest links: Dr. Symeon rodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Chapter Fourteen | Free One Million Minds: Self-Fixing & Reality: Understanding the Struggle12/31/2024 Duration | 8 minutes 37 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger SynopsisDr. Symeon Rodger discusses how the belief that we are defective and need to fix ourselves is a major obstacle in personal development. He explains that focusing on our perceived flaws creates a cycle of negativity, while focusing on the person we want to become can transform our reality. Jamie Meyer adds that true transformation requires embodying the feelings behind affirmations, not just repeating them. Dr. Rodger emphasises that emotional states can be consciously chosen, offering a path to ease and alignment in personal growth. The chapter also references The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel on manifesting desired realities. Dialogue SummaryDr. Symeon Rodger: If you do this, you will overcome one of the biggest unseen hurdles in personal development—unseen, unrecognised, and unnoticed. It’s the idea that you are defective and need to fix yourself. The belief that you’re not enough, that you’re not good enough, that you’ve let yourself and others down, and that somehow, you’re a throwback or broken in some way. You think you need to work to fix yourself and struggle to fix yourself. Many people go into things like meditation, yoga, or other personal development practices thinking they’ll have to work really hard, be extremely disciplined, and constantly tell themselves, “I’m terrible at this. I’m doing it wrong.” They sit down to meditate, but their mind races everywhere, and they think, “I’m doing it wrong and I’m useless.” The Dalai Lama says that if he can do it, you’re fine. Okay? We are incredibly hard on ourselves, unrealistically so. As one Tibetan lama put it: “Look, you can have this self-pity version of yourself that you run around with all day, but please don’t try to tell me it’s not just a made-up persona. It is. It’s the version you indulge. You could always indulge a different version, and whatever you focus on becomes your reality.” This is the fundamental core of all ancient systems: what you focus on becomes your reality. It becomes real. It becomes everything. If you focus on how bad you are, you’ll continue to feel bad and miserable. “I’m bad and miserable. I have to work to fix myself so I won’t be bad and miserable,” but I’m still bad and miserable. It doesn’t make sense. Jamie Meyer: With that said, I’d like to go back to the idea that thoughts aren’t the only way we create our reality. A lot of people might hear the phrase, “What I focus on becomes my reality,” and think that their thoughts need to be a particular way. Then, they over-rationalise and overthink about what their thoughts are doing—whether they’re positive or negative. There’s a big difference between constantly repeating a thought and actually embodying it. The difference is like isolation versus embodiment. The mind can only do so much with the thought, and the rest of your being needs to get on board. Dr. Symeon Rodger: That’s true. The conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time, although, in a sense, you can keep a general orientation in the back of your mind while going about your day. We’re capable of doing that. But, yeah, it sounds like you were talking about affirmations. Just repeating something—affirmations and similar practices can be very powerful. They can reprogram the subconscious. However, they require consistent effort. Without a general openness and positive expectation, you’re essentially fighting an uphill battle. You’re still crippled by the fear that things aren’t going to work out. You might say, “I’ll use this affirmation and drill it into myself,” but that approach often puts you in a much harder position than you really need to be in. Jamie Meyer: So, how do you take, let’s say, an affirmation as an isolated thought, and then transform it into a full embodiment of being? How do you create that ease you’re talking about? Dr. Symeon Rodger: That’s a great question. How do you take the content of an affirmation and embody it? Well, let’s look at affirmations since many people are using them. They can be effective when done properly and consistently. The issue is that most people dabble in them and don’t stick with it, then they claim, “It didn’t work for me.” But consistency is key, just like with anything else. Take a health affirmation, for example. There’s a famous story from a book called The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel, published 120 years ago in the United States. Originally, it was a correspondence course. In the book, Haanel tells the story of a client who was crippled as a child. The doctors told the parents that nothing could be done and that the child wouldn’t survive. This child came across an affirmation that helped reverse his condition. The affirmation was a combination of all the things he wanted to be—seven attributes that, together, would heal him. He focused on the person he wanted to become. He wrote in saying that he completely recovered, and now as an adult, his body was fine. He woke up every day repeating the affirmation. So, we know these practices work when done consistently. But the essence isn’t in the words themselves—it’s in the feeling state behind the words. The key is to feel the affirmation. You have to be in that state—the state of your wish having already been fulfilled. And the funny thing is, we can choose our feeling states. People don’t think they can choose their emotions. They believe circumstances dictate their feelings. Something “bad” happens, and they feel down. Then a friend brings them a birthday cake, and suddenly they feel happy. But our emotions don’t have to be so erratic. We can choose our feelings and our moods. It just takes practice and detachment from the noise around us, especially in our busy, chaotic world. Credits Roll ReferencesReading recommendationsThe Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – Discusses how limiting beliefs hold people back, and how four simple agreements can break free of those limitations. Guest Links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Chapter Twelve | Free One Million Minds: Breaking the Mold: How Newtonian Thinking Still Shapes12/31/2024 Duration | 3 minutes 28 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger synopsisIn this chapter, Dr. Symeon Rodger explores how our perception of reality has been shaped by a rigid, materialistic worldview rooted in Newtonian physics. He discusses how cultures steeped in spiritual traditions, which view reality as more fluid and interconnected, challenge this perspective. Dr. Rodger contrasts this with the Tibetan worldview, where death is seen not as an end, but as part of an ongoing cycle of existence. Through this lens, fear of death is replaced by a sense of continuity. Jamie Meyer references Robert Lanza’s Biocentrism, which offers an easier-to-understand explanation of the physics that supports these alternative views of reality, emphasising the interconnectedness of life and consciousness in understanding the universe. dialogue summaryDr. Symeon Rodger: Every culture tells people how to perceive reality. And this is something we don’t often realise, but our culture tells us to perceive reality in a very rigid, materialistic way. That’s why people with spiritual ideas have been told for centuries, “You’re just fantasising. This is all unreal. You’re making it up.” Yet, the people who go deep into those ideas will say, “Actually, no, we have data. You just don’t like our data. You prefer yours.” That’s another story altogether. The fact is, we tend to live in a very materialistic perception of reality, which is, frankly, foolish. And yet, other cultures that have not been so heavily influenced by the Newtonian worldview have very different ideas about reality. You can be with someone, inhabiting the same physical space, talking to them, and yet realise that they don’t interpret the space in the same way you do at all. To them, all of physical reality is very provisional—it’s there, but it’s really not. There’s an entire existence beyond that. It’s like the relationship between life and death. We’re terrified of death, but cultures like Tibetan culture, which has been exposed to over 1,300 years of Buddhism, have a very different view. For them, death isn’t the end—it’s just a part of the cycle. One Tibetan sage, for example, said to a disciple, “You know that big encyclopedia I’ve been working on? I don’t think I’ll finish it. I think death is closer than I originally thought. So when I die, come and find my reincarnation. When I get to be about ten years old, remind me where I left off and light a fire under me to get going again.” Jamie Meyer: Right, leave a bookmark in the book. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Exactly. It’s this whole idea that everything is continuous, and there’s nothing to fear. We’ve been here before, we’ve left here before, and we’ll do it again. It’s okay. For those who aren’t deeply into subatomic physics, Robert Lanza actually wrote a book called Biocentrism, which offers an easier way of understanding the physics I’m describing here. Credits Roll ReferencesRobert Lanza, M.D. – Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe Originally Published: May 18, 2010 Google Search for Robert Lanza Biocentrism Reading RecommendationsRadical Acceptance by Tara Brach – Discusses how accepting yourself as you are, without judgment, is essential for self-growth and realising your true potential. guest links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Duration | 8 minutes 47 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger synopsisIn this chapter, Jamie Meyer and Dr. Symeon Rodger explore the tension between certainty and mystery in life. Dr. Rodger contrasts modern ideologies that seek certainty with ancient traditions that challenge comfort to encourage growth. They discuss how fear, driven by outdated worldviews, persists despite advancements that have made life safer. The chapter encourages embracing uncertainty as a path to personal development and challenges listeners to reconsider their relationship with fear and the unknown. dialogue summaryJamie Meyer: The rigid idea of ideology is what creates friction with something new, change, or the grey area between black and white. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Oh, the grey is uncomfortable, right? It really is. If you think about it in terms of religion and spiritual traditions, modern religions seek to provide certainty—“This is the way things are. If you do this, you’ll be okay.” But if you look at the ancient mystical traditions that many of these religions came from, they want to deliberately knock that certainty out from under you. They want to put you into discomfort because it’s the only way you grow. And for the purpose of this conversation, the grey area is only uncomfortable because we believe it to be uncomfortable—it’s different from our normal. Once you learn to live in the grey, it no longer feels uncomfortable to navigate fluidity, because then you’re embodying the levels of development we’re talking about. Once you do that, the grey area becomes easier to move through. I think you’re also touching on fear here. Our culture is very fear-based. Not just because fear is everywhere in the media, but because, at a deeper level, we’re profoundly fearful. This goes back to the worldview we have, which is influenced by the Newtonian perspective. This worldview sees the universe as external to us, mechanical, and hostile—a dangerous place. We expect bad things to happen, and live under a constant low-level anxiety. We believe that the only tool we have to protect ourselves is our rational mind. So we think we need to prepare, build defences—basically, create a castle with battlements. We’re obsessed with safety and security, not realising that this mentality actually brings about the very experience we fear. Jamie Meyer: Do you think that, as society has become more progressive and advanced, there’s far less threat to our lives now? In most parts of the world, there is less risk to our actual survival. We don’t get as sick, we don’t die as young, and we can avoid deadly accidents. We have machines doing jobs humans used to do. Do you think we’ve shifted the idea of fear from physical, life-threatening situations—more prevalent in the past—to a fear related to existence and reality? Dr. Symeon Rodger: It’s an interesting point. Yes, life is safer now than it’s ever been. And yet, we’re more fearful. One thing that addresses this is Stephen Pinker’s book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. While I don’t agree with all of his assumptions, he pulls together a huge amount of data to show that the world has become—and continues to become—a better place. Over the last century and a half, measurable factors like health, life expectancy, crime rates, and the likelihood of dying young have all improved. So, the world is safer, more humane, and more advanced. But that brings us back to your question: why are we so fearful in a world that is getting better? Good question. Of course, many people are telling us the opposite—that the world is going downhill. There are political and religious ideologies that thrive on this, even though the actual data contradicts them. But the fear persists because of cognitive biases like recency bias. If you’ve just heard about a violent crime, you’ll likely believe the crime rate is on the rise, even though the statistics show crime has actually fallen. We’re often tricked by our perception of recent events, even though the broader trend shows the opposite. Jamie Meyer: So, when you say we’re living 120 years behind, are you saying we’re living out our everyday lives as if it were 120 years ago based on scientific understanding? Or is it that science itself is 120 years behind, in terms of data and progress? Dr. Symeon Rodger: Well, of course, the scientific community is not monolithic. There are different interpretations of data, but the data itself is clear. Experiments, particularly in areas like subatomic physics, have proven things that are no longer debated. People may dispute the implications, but the data is irrefutable. And that data shows that if we live our lives assuming that what our senses tell us is absolutely real, we’re completely mistaken. The world, including the objects we see, is mostly empty space—99.99999% of matter is empty space. What we think of as “solid” is just energy packets whose location and movement can’t be precisely determined. They appear and disappear at an incredible rate. Credits Roll referencesNewtonian Worldview is the philosophical doctrine based on Isaac Newton’s work, which presents the universe as mechanical, external, and deterministic. This worldview continues to influence society despite being challenged by modern science. Newtonianism - Wikipedia Recency Bias is a cognitive bias where people give greater importance to the most recent events. This can lead to an exaggerated perception of current trends or dangers, such as the idea that crime is more prevalent just because a recent violent crime was reported. Recency Bias - Wikipedia Subatomic Physics is the study of particles smaller than atoms, which reveals that the material world is not as solid as it appears. These discoveries challenge our understanding of reality and the nature of matter. Subatomic Particle - Wikipedia Stephen Pinker’s “Enlightenment Now”, this book argues that the world is improving, providing data to show how life expectancy, crime rates, and overall well-being have improved over the last century and a half. Enlightenment Now - Google Search guest links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 Chapter Ten | Free One Million Minds: Ideologies & complexities: Navigating the Unseen Layers12/23/2024 Duration | 3 minutes 39 seconds Guest: Dr. Symeon Rodger synopsisIn this chapter, Jamie Meyer and Dr. Symeon Rodger discuss the complex nature of development, ideologies, and the human tendency to seek simplicity in a world full of ambiguity. Dr. Rodger explains his perspective on development as a holistic, embodied process, distinct from isolating or compartmentalised approaches. He emphasises the dangers of ideologies—be they religious, political, or otherwise—which offer false comfort by providing simple answers to complex realities. The conversation touches on how different cultures, particularly in the East, view the rigidity of ideologies and narrow perspectives, recognising that life is inherently complex and requires embracing ambiguity. dialogue summaryJamie Meyer: And so your biggest differentiation between, is less between Western and personal development and ancient methods of development and Eastern methods of development. And it focuses more on the difference between isolating development and embodying development. I would say that’s true. Dr. Symeon Rodger: Yeah, because I don’t in my own mind make any harsh differentiation between what is Eastern or not Eastern. In fact, I don’t really even know where East ends and West is. You know, it’s very hard to say. I had someone recently ask me—one of my own clients—so with the ancient Christian mystical tradition, which we often refer to as Eastern Christianity, or a version thereof, um, is that really Eastern or is that Western? Well, I don’t know. It depends on what you’re talking about. These are just labels, you know? We can argue geography, we can argue all kinds of things, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter. And that’s, of course, one of our obsessions in the West—we love labels, so we can put things in little boxes that we understand. We’re very uncomfortable with ambiguity. But any inquiry into reality brings you right into the very base of ambiguity. It’s right in front of you. You begin to realise you know a lot less than you think you do, and you don’t have all the answers. Maybe even as a species, I’m not sure we have all the answers. But you have to be okay with not knowing. If you’re looking for something to make yourself just mentally and emotionally comfortable because, you know, “I have all the answers,” well, that’s an ideology, okay? It could be a religious ideology, it could be a political ideology, but it’s an ideology—an artificial schema of how the world is, how the universe is, which doesn’t bear any resemblance to reality. It bears a superficial resemblance, maybe, but you subscribe to this because it makes you feel good, it makes you feel superior to other people, but in the end, it doesn’t give you anything. It’s a prison. And then, of course, people use an ideology for what purpose? Well, to hit other people over the head with it. It becomes a weapon. But clinging to an ideological perspective, interestingly enough, in more mentally advanced cultures, is looked down upon. They often say in traditional Japanese culture that to be obsessed with a particular idea or have a very narrow point of view is looked upon as being immature because life is complex. Jamie Meyer: We don’t do complex well, do we? We like complicated, but we don’t do complex very well. Dr. Symeon Rodger: That is a beautiful distinction. Credits Roll referencesPersonal Development involves activities that improve self-awareness, skills, potential, and overall effectiveness. Ideology refers to a system of ideas, beliefs, and values that influence individual or collective behaviour and societal structures. reading recommendationsDaring Greatly by Brené Brown – Explores how vulnerability and authenticity lead to personal growth and deeper connections. Guest Links: Dr. Symeon RodgerThe Resilience Code: https://www.resilientlifecode.com/optin
Website: https://www.drsymeonrodger.com YouTube: @dr.symeonrodger9163 Book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind Body and Future.https://www.amazon.com.au/Pillars-Life-Reclaiming-Ownership-Traditions/dp/0973873418 |
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