Mentor and Disciple: “The Death of Superman” - A Tribute to EVH

12/01/21 • 43 min

Through the years, there have been many different schools of buddhist thought, but they’ve all built upon the original teachings of Shakyamuni and passed down what they’d learned to the next generation. They did this by following in the footsteps of their mentor and honored them by living the teachings with integrity, setting an example and then passing the torch to the next disciples, keeping the flame of the dharma burning brightly. Essentially, this is how all humans have learned things, from the dawn of mankind - through the knowledge and wisdom of those that came before them. However, the purity of the wisdom depends entirely on the integrity of the teacher...

This lineage of 'mentor and disciple' is woven into everything we do and having the right mentors throughout our lives can determine the outcome of our life's mission and ultimately, whether we succeed or fail. I wanted to honor one of the most important musical mentors I’ve ever had and exemplify just how his wisdom and influence played such a big part in who I’ve become, musically as well as personally. The lessons I’ve learned by following Edward Van Halen over the last forty two years go far beyond just music...

Losing Edward on October 6th, 2020 was much more devastating to me than even I had imagined it would be and I still feel like a piece of who I am is no longer with me. I put this episode together as a tribute to him and the piece in the second half was written as sort of my own, personal eulogy, that I’d imagined myself reading at his memorial. I asked some of my very best guitar player friends to contribute some music, so that this would be an extra special episode that Edward himself would appreciate! There’s some killer guitar music in this episode and all who contributed are also disciples of King Edward, the "punk kid from Pasadena" who made all of our lives so magical. I’m sure Edward would approve! I hope you enjoy it!

Previous Episode

Karma and the “Natural Science” of Cause & Effect

Karma affects every one of us and our collective karma affects the entire planet as a whole. Cause & effect is the law that determines the nature of the karma we create. The lyrics to Rush’s epic song “Natural Science” from their album “Permanent Waves” provide a perfect blueprint to explain these two concepts.

It’s no stretch to say that Rush’s drummer, the late Neil Peart, was certainly a modern day Aristotle, when it came to expressing deep, philosophical lessons, within the context of a song. Using the allegory of the “natural science” of our own planet (as well as inter-galactic space), Peart compares our human world with the macrocosm of the entire universe, beginning with the smallest microorganisms and their symbiosis and the role it all plays in the ongoing story of human life.

What about the collective karma of humanity, over the course of the next millennium? Will mankind survive and evolve, or will we follow in the footsteps of the dinosaurs and eventually become fossils for the next intelligent species to piece together? Can humans learn to peacefully coexist, or will we be responsible for our own demise? The answers to these questions are entirely up to each and every one of us and the actions we take, from moment to moment.

After listening to this episode, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how humans are mutually in control of our own destiny. If we learn to understand our individual karma and the karma of others and also abide by the law of cause & effect, it’s still possible for us to turn things around from the direction we seem to be headed and point us toward a brighter future, devoid of conflict and war. Come with me as I explore the inner workings of the quantum world and its connection to the farthest reaches of the universe and how each one of us plays a role in this cosmic drama.

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Next Episode

Compassion - “Driven to Tears” - What the World Needs Now.

Looking at the world through the myriad of media sources we have at our disposal, it seems as though there’s no shortage of suffering and indifference. Between the pandemic affecting all of us, to the racial injustices, political discord, threat of war and the surmounting environmental issues, it seems logical that we’d distract ourselves from all of it, with our devices and the never ending streams of mindless entertainment we’ve all become addicted to.

With all these distractions, it seems the one vital thing we’ve managed to neglect is compassion. Feeling empathy for suffering that doesn’t affect us on a personal level seems abnormal, since most of us believe there’s nothing we can do to alleviate the suffering of someone outside of our circle. The truth is, cultivating our own sense of empathy and compassion for all living beings unconditionally, has the ability to affect the world on a global scale and create a more peaceful future.

Compassion is the foundation of buddhist philosophy and exercising compassion for all living beings is a virtue of buddhist practice. Without compassion, a peaceful world is an impossibility. Unless we allow ourselves to know the pain of others, we can’t expect to empathize with them, much less help end their suffering.

But what does that look like? How does more compassion translate into putting an end to all the suffering in the world? What does one person’s compassion have to do with all of these global issues that seem insurmountable? Surely, one person can’t change the world, right?

In this episode, I take a closer look into the real meaning of compassion, how important the concept is to buddhist practice and ultimately, to creating a more peaceful world, with less suffering and more unity. I felt the song “Driven To Tears” by The Police is a great metaphor to help explain this concept and what a change of heart can mean to the world, if we each take a look inside ourselves and strengthen our own compassion muscle.