Back from the mini-hiatus with a bang.

My guest today is musician, author and Dharma teacher, David Nichtern. David was a student of one of my favorite Buddhist teachers, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and continues to teach in the Shambhala tradition. David's also an accomplished composer, producer and guitarist – a four-time Emmy winner and a two-time Grammy nominee. He's the founder of Dharma Moon and 5 Points Records. David has recorded and played with Stevie Wonder, Jerry Garcia, Lana Del Rey, Maria Muldaur, Paul Simon and many others. Bonus fact: he's also been a lifelong (literally) friend of Christopher Guest.

David and I discuss a whole lot of stuff in this episode including the concepts of idiot compassion, right livelihood, spiritual materialism, relationships and the connection between music and Buddhism. I also reference a podcast David did with comedian Pete Holmes on Pete's podcast, "You Made it Weird." You can check that out here.

David also happens to be an extremely pleasant and fun guy to talk with.

Some cool things were mentioned in this episode which I'm sharing below. Enjoy!

Subscribe to Synchronicity here.

"Memories of Summer as a Child" on iTunes

"The Profound Treasury of Ocean of Dharma" by Chogyam Trungpa and Judith Lief

Books by Alberto Villoldo

I also signed up for David's course, "Creativity, Spirituality and Making a Buck" which you'll hear us discuss in this episode. Check it out if it sounds interesting.