Norman Fischer on Spiritual Growth through Imagination
03/10/20 • 42 min
1 Listener
Norman Fischer is a poet, author, Zen Buddhist teacher and priest. He’s a graduate of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop and he’s been publishing poetry since 1979. He’s the author of 17 books of poetry, 6 books of prose on Zen and religion as well as numerous articles and essays. In this episode, Eric and Norman discuss his book, The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path.
If you are interested in learning more about how to integrate and embody spiritual principles into the moments of your daily life, Eric teaches people how to do just that in his 1-on-1 Spiritual Habits Program. Click here to learn more.
But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!
In This Interview, Norman Fischer and I discuss Spiritual Growth through Imagination and...
- His book, The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path
- Redefining imagination and discovering it’s prevalence and role in life
- The role of imagination in spiritual paths
- How we don’t see the world exactly as it is, but rather through filters
- Loosening our grasp on what we think of as absolute reality
- Constructing useful stories in our mind rather than living by our default stories
- The essential ways in which imagination enriches the experience of our lives
- When we realize we are making our lives for ourselves, we have the power to make it differently
- The Bodhisattva: A Buddha in training
- Compassion, Love and Service for the benefit of others
- The Bodhisattva Path
- The myth of separateness and the truth of interconnection and love
- That holding two (seemingly contradictory) ideas in our mind at one time offers us depth perception
- How ideals can inspire us rather than put pressure on us
- The disease of perfectionism
- How to engage in “Joyful Effort” when you don’t feel very joyful and don’t have much effort to spare
- Patience: Just keep going and be of benefit to others
- Turning toward what’s arising: facing it, embracing it, breathing into it and going forward with it
- The problematic nature of favoring one’s own suffering over the suffering of others
Norman Fischer Links:
Best Fiends: Engage your brain and play a game of puzzles with Best Fiends. Download for free on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Blinkist: Do you have an ever-growing list of books to read? Blinkist can help! With thousands of non-fiction books distilled down to their most salient points that you can consume in 15 minutes or less (audio available too!) go to www.blinkist.com/wolf for a 7-day free trial and then save 25% off your new subscription if you decide to sign up!
Talkspace: the online therapy company that lets you connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere at any time. Therapy on demand. Non-judgemental, practical help when you need it at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapy. Visit www.talkspace.com and enter Promo Code: WOLF to get $100 off your first month.
If you enjoyed this conversation with Norman Fischer on Spiritual Growth through Imagination, you might also enjoy these other episodes:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Norman Fischer is a poet, author, Zen Buddhist teacher and priest. He’s a graduate of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop and he’s been publishing poetry since 1979. He’s the author of 17 books of poetry, 6 books of prose on Zen and religion as well as numerous articles and essays. In this episode, Eric and Norman discuss his book, The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path.
If you are interested in learning more about how to integrate and embody spiritual principles into the moments of your daily life, Eric teaches people how to do just that in his 1-on-1 Spiritual Habits Program. Click here to learn more.
But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!
In This Interview, Norman Fischer and I discuss Spiritual Growth through Imagination and...
- His book, The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path
- Redefining imagination and discovering it’s prevalence and role in life
- The role of imagination in spiritual paths
- How we don’t see the world exactly as it is, but rather through filters
- Loosening our grasp on what we think of as absolute reality
- Constructing useful stories in our mind rather than living by our default stories
- The essential ways in which imagination enriches the experience of our lives
- When we realize we are making our lives for ourselves, we have the power to make it differently
- The Bodhisattva: A Buddha in training
- Compassion, Love and Service for the benefit of others
- The Bodhisattva Path
- The myth of separateness and the truth of interconnection and love
- That holding two (seemingly contradictory) ideas in our mind at one time offers us depth perception
- How ideals can inspire us rather than put pressure on us
- The disease of perfectionism
- How to engage in “Joyful Effort” when you don’t feel very joyful and don’t have much effort to spare
- Patience: Just keep going and be of benefit to others
- Turning toward what’s arising: facing it, embracing it, breathing into it and going forward with it
- The problematic nature of favoring one’s own suffering over the suffering of others
Norman Fischer Links:
Best Fiends: Engage your brain and play a game of puzzles with Best Fiends. Download for free on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Blinkist: Do you have an ever-growing list of books to read? Blinkist can help! With thousands of non-fiction books distilled down to their most salient points that you can consume in 15 minutes or less (audio available too!) go to www.blinkist.com/wolf for a 7-day free trial and then save 25% off your new subscription if you decide to sign up!
Talkspace: the online therapy company that lets you connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere at any time. Therapy on demand. Non-judgemental, practical help when you need it at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapy. Visit www.talkspace.com and enter Promo Code: WOLF to get $100 off your first month.
If you enjoyed this conversation with Norman Fischer on Spiritual Growth through Imagination, you might also enjoy these other episodes:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Previous Episode
Kamla Kapur on Transformative Powers in Life
Kamla Kapur is an award winning author, poet and playwright. She was born and raised in India and studied in the United States. Kamla now divides her time between living in the remote Indian Himalayas and in San Diego, California with her husband. She holds a Master’s Degree in Literature from Kent State University in Ohio and she studied Creative Writing at the University of Iowa. Kamla was on the faculty of Grossmont College in San Diego for 18 years and her stories, poems, and plays have been published in many prestigious Indian and American journals. In this episode, she and Eric use her new book, Rumi: Tales of the Spirit: A Journey to Healing the Heart, as a jumping off point to discuss the transformative powers we experience through various life experiences.
If you are interested in learning more about how to integrate and embody spiritual principles into the moments of your daily life, Eric teaches people how to do just that in his 1-on-1 Spiritual Habits Program. Click here to learn more.
But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!
In This Interview, Kamla Kapur and I discuss Transformative Powers in Life and...
- Her book, Rumi: Tales of the Spirit: A Journey to Healing the Heart
- The deep wound to Rumi’s heart that transformed him and brought forth his treasured body of work that we now know and love
- How suffering can be our greatest tutor and guide in life
- The idea of expansion and contraction in our lives
- That when your heart breaks, it breaks open
- How suffering can open us up to being more aware and connected to our higher selves
- That those who transform as a result of their suffering are open to a different way of thinking as a result of the difficult things that happen to them
- The transformative powers of hope, joy, and love
- Rumi’s stories of characters embracing suffering
- How all suffering has the power to awaken us
- The transformative power of suffering
- The transformative power of acceptance
- How Rumi says, “When the candle of your youth dims, you have to light the candle of the spirit.”
- Actively ascending to our aging
- The awe and wonder of existence and the mystery of life that we as humans can perceive
Kamla Kapur Links:
If you enjoyed this conversation with Kamla Kapur on Transformative Powers in Life, you might also enjoy these other episodes:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Next Episode
Mini Episode: Fear: How to Cope in Uncertain Times
Eric talks about how to best deal with fear during these uncertain times
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The One You Feed - Norman Fischer on Spiritual Growth through Imagination
Transcript
This episode is brought to you by our newest Patreon supporters, Rebecca M. Simon, Are, Mike C Ryan, W Laurel E, Danielle B, Terry n Odin, g Gene s, Aaron, Kay, Sarah J and Andy Y. Thanks so much to all of you and all of our members, and if you'd like to become part of the Patreon community and enjoy the many benefits of membership, go to one you feed dot net slash join. Perfectionism is such a disease really in a way, you know, it's sad. It make
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