Wisdom from our Greatest Traditions
Curated and Distilled Applications from Ancient Philosophy & Religious Texts
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A Second Sinai
Is Pentecost a Second Sinai? The book of Acts records a supernatural event of the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit onto the early church believers. There’s wind, flames of fire and people are suddenly speaking in tongues (or languages) that they didn’t know. What’s going on?! This video looks at the ancient context that shaped…
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Uncovering the Torah’s Ancient Wisdom
Uncovering the Torah’s Ancient Wisdom The Torah, the foundational text of Judaism, is often mistranslated as ‘Law,’ but its true interpretation is ‘Teaching’ or ‘Instruction.’ This video explores the profound Jewish wisdom contained within the Pentateuch, emphasizing that ‘love thy neighbor’ is a central theme. Join us for a deeper Torah study to understand the…
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The Feast of Shavuot
The Feast of Shavuot The Feast of Shavuot is one of the 3 pilgrimage festivals on the calendar of Jewish holidays. Shavuot means “weeks” and it refers to the instruction to count 7 weeks from the Passover holiday. But what does the Feast of Shavuot celebrate? We look at the ancient practice of celebrating the…
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Can We Learn From Each Other?
Can We Learn From Each Other? Can Buddhists and Christians learn anything from each other about contemplation? I believe the answer is a resounding yes! There’s a rich spiritual practice found in both traditions with lots of overlapping intentions. Read the article here. 00:00 Hearing God Speak 01:34 Lesson from Elijah 03:15 What Buddhists can…
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What Is Pentecost? The Jewish Roots You Need to Know
What is Pentecost? Imagine you’re in an upstairs room in Jerusalem. It’s been fifty days since Passover. Outside, the streets are still crowded with pilgrims who’ve traveled from every corner of the ancient world for the festival season. And then — without warning — the room erupts. A sound like a violent, rushing wind fills…
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What Is the Torah?
What is the Torah? When Western readers encounter the word Torah, they typically translate it as “the Law.” And that’s not entirely inaccurate. The Torah does contain laws. Quite a few of them, in fact. But if “law” is the first word that comes to mind, something essential gets lost. What is the Torah, really?…
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Shavuot: The Ancient Feast We Keep Forgetting
The Jewish people call it Shavuot — the Festival of Weeks. Christians call it Pentecost Sunday. They’re celebrating the same ancient moment on different days, in different ways, with different emphases. And yet underneath both celebrations is a question that I find genuinely compelling: what does it mean to receive a gift of wisdom so…
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The Ancient Cure – Stoics, Buddhists, and Taoists Got It Right
Video Information What if the answers to modern anxiety, burnout, and restlessness were written down thousands of years ago — long before smartphones, hustle culture, or self-help shelves? The ancient cure for our world was known long ago. The Stoics, Buddhists, and Taoists lived through wars, plagues, and the collapse of empires. And they still…
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Amor Fati: The Addiction Antidote
Video Information Amor Fati: The Addiction Antidote. Why do you reach for the bottle, the food, or the phone when life gets hard? The answer isn’t what you think — and ancient Stoic wisdom has something profound to say about it. Most people treat addiction recovery by attacking the coping mechanism. But the real battle…
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Epictetus vs Marcus Aurelius
Video Information Epictetus vs Marcus Aurelius. One was a slave; the other was an Emperor. Both had the same philosophy. Let’s dive into Stoic wisdom by looking at the founders of Stoic philosophy, the core teaching, and three exercises you can put into practice today. 💪 Read the article here. 00:00 Intro 00:37 Part 1…
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Buddhist Meditation vs. Christian Prayer
Buddhist Meditation vs Christian Prayer I was first exposed to Christian Contemplative prayer in my early 20s. A mentor of mine introduced me to the writings of Brother Lawrence, Madame Guyon, Fenelon, and the Desert Fathers. The idea was simple – learn the practice of praying without ceasing. This meant that you developed an inner…
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What Is Stoicism? The Ancient Philosophy for Modern Life
Intro What is Stoicism? Two thousand years ago, a slave named Epictetus sat in chains and taught one of the most powerful mental frameworks in Western history. Decades later, the most powerful man in the world — the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius — used that same framework to govern an empire, face relentless war, and…
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Amor Fati and Addiction: The Stoic Path to Surrender
Intro You already know the cycle. Something goes wrong. The frustration—or grief, or anger, or powerlessness—builds until it becomes unbearable. And then you reach for something to make it stop. The bottle. The vape. The drive-through. The app. Whatever your something is, you already know it isn’t solving the problem. It’s just dimming the signal…
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Ancient Wisdom Traditions: A Beginner’s 7-Step Guide
Introduction What if the answers to your most pressing modern problems were written down thousands of years ago? That sounds almost too good to be true. But here’s what I’ve discovered on my own journey: the ancient wisdom traditions of the world — from the forests of India to the schools of ancient Greece, from…
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The War Without and the War Within: 3 Lessons You Need
Intro You’ve heard it your whole life. Work harder. Push through. Beat the odds. Society teaches us to frame every struggle as a battle against external forces — the economy, the diagnosis, the circumstances stacked against us. We learn to look outward for the source of our pain and, by extension, for the solution. But…
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How To Start Meditating: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Practice
Intro One of the most transforming spiritual experiences I’ve ever experienced happened in the desert on a Saturday morning. I had driven out to the Saguaro National Forest and found a rock to sit on that overlooked miles of the natural beauty of the place. I did this with regularity on Saturday mornings to gather…
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What is Spirituality?
What is Spirituality? When you hear somebody say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual”, what does that bring to mind? To many of us, we envision sitting in the lotus position surrounded by crystals at a yoga retreat in the woods. But is that what spirituality is? I don’t think so. I’m not saying there’s anything…
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The #1 Truth About Changing Your Life
Intro You know I’ll never do that again. I’ll never eat that again, or I’ll never drink that again. Or I’ll never do that activity again. Or I’m gonna do this every single day from now on. Revolutions are bloody. They’re hurtful. They’re damaging and traumatic. You don’t need a revolution in your life. The…
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The 3 Beliefs That Keep You Trapped
The 3 Beliefs That Keep You Trapped Intro You know that pit in your stomach right before you try something new? It’s that little voice of self-doubt whispering “you’re not ready”, “You’re not good enough”, “You’re a fraud.” We’ve all been there—paralyzed by the fear of looking stupid or failing horribly. But what if that…
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Listen To My Story on the Fat Guy Forum
Mike Gorman of the Fat Guy Forum interviewed me about my weight loss journey so far. Mike can draw out the best from his guests, and he definitely made it easier for me to share my story for the first time. In this episode, we talk about: There’s some emotional moments in here as I…
