The Problem With Mindfulness

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Dan: I think of mindfulness as just the capacity we all have to be nonjudgmentally and hopefully a little bit warmly aware of whatever is happening in our mind. We know that's found in the awareness of the present moment, yet it is elusive. Dan: It sounds to me like what you're talking about and these are other synonyms like we use the word peace or tranquility or equanimity,. But that's not found in the rear view. That's not found on the horizon. Ryan: Maybe the same thing can be said for, you know one of the most affecting parts of the film? Let me get to the moving parts of the story.

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much shit you buy, it never really does it for you? There’s always that next purchase.

I’m no anti-capitalist, but I don’t think it hurts to acknowledge the lie—or if you want to be generous, misunderstanding—at the core of the enterprise: that somehow acquisition will lead to lasting satisfaction.

This insight about the limits of materialism is what animates my friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, who together, are known as the Minimalists. Several years ago, they released a documentary on Netflix. It focuses on how to declutter your stuff and life and how that can lead to decluttering your mind and reduced anxiety.

They actually interviewed me for it—even though I am not really a minimalist—and to this day it is the interview that generated perhaps the most attention of any I have ever done. For years, people stopped me on the street about that one.

Anyway, Joshua and Ryan are now bringing their documentary – aptly entitled “Minimalism” – to YouTube, for free and without commercials. In honor of that, we are reposting an interview I did with them back in 2021.

We hope you enjoy this bonus rebroadcast, and don’t forget to check out the Minimalists podcast, Youtube, website…they’re everywhere. Oh, and just to say that when we originally posted this interview, we paired it with a supplemental conversation with the great meditation teacher Oren Sofer, so if you want to hear the original, you can check that out here.

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