Many of the challenges that arise with attachment are related to the ego: who you think you are and how you think others should feel about you. By holding onto our sense of self too tightly, we end up seeing ourselves as alone and separate from one another. How can loosening our grip on the ego help us step into the fundamental truth of our interconnectedness?

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

Tell us what you think of AWAKEN! Complete our listener survey and receive a sound meditation led by world-renowned sound therapist Sara Auster.

Read a transcript, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more.

It’s almost impossible to have no attachments. So what does non-attachment actually mean? Depending on the context, it can be easily misunderstood. But from the Buddhist perspective, it’s not about letting go of what we hold dear—it’s about releasing attachments to outcomes, points of view, and expectations that keep us from fully engaging with life.

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include poet and filmmaker Fatimah Asghar, Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, poet and essayist Ross Gay, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor, and teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

Tell us what you think of AWAKEN! Complete our listener survey and receive a sound meditation led by world-renowned sound therapist Sara Auster.

Read a transcript, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more.

To understand non-attachment, we first have to understand attachment. It’s a fundamental part of the human experience. We cling not only to what makes us feel good but also to our identities, beliefs, and expectations of how things should be. But how does attachment function in our lives? And how can bringing greater awareness to it help shift our perspective of ourselves and the world?

AWAKEN Season 4 is hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. Guests featured in this episode include Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson, contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman, artist and writer Jenny Odell, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin, artist Prithvi Shrestha, teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and writer, professor, and photographer Ocean Vuong.

Tell us what you think of AWAKEN! Complete our listener survey and receive a sound meditation led by world-renowned sound therapist Sara Auster.

Read a transcript, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more.

Welcome to Season 4 of AWAKEN—a Webby Honoree podcast about the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to “wake up.” Hosted by actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, this season delves into the complex Buddhist concept of attachment and explores how the practice of letting go of preconceived ideas, beliefs, and idenities can transform our experience of the world.

Trailer voices in order of appearance: Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Dr. Richie Davidson; author and transformational thought leader Sonya Renee Taylor; contemplative social scientist Eve Ekman; teacher and meditation master in the Bon Buddhist tradition Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche; and scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Annabella Pitkin.

AWAKEN Season 4 will launch on November 12, 2024.

Everyone has spent time wondering about it, but no one can say for sure: What happens after we die? In the last episode of the season, all of the guests in the series consider this question and consider how believing or not believing in the afterlife impacts how they live. If death is simply a transition from one state to the next, then how do we imagine life after?

View the artwork discussed in this episode, beginning at 14:45.

Read about this artwork, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/life-after-the-afterlife-awaken-podcast

AWAKEN Season 3 is hosted by singer and songwriter Falu. Guests featured in this episode include Visionary artists and founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors Alex and Allyson Grey, poet Marie Howe, writer and professor Kiese Laymon, artist, director, and author Chella Man, professor, clinical psychologist, and scientist Dr. Lisa Miller, writer and editor Haley Nahman, artist and podcaster Nigel Poor, Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, meditation teacher and writer Sebene Selassie, neuroscientist and author Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, author and poet Michelle Tea, neuroscientist Dr. Kay Tye, and meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

• (14:45) - A Folio from a Manuscript of the Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State (Bardo Thodrol)
• (24:47) - Outro

One thing is for certain: one day you will die. But what happens when you die? And how does knowledge of your inevitable death impact how you live now? In this episode, all the guests in the series reflect on these questions and consider how grappling with our mortality is part of what makes us human.

View the artwork discussed in this episode, beginning at 18:07.

Read about this artwork, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more.

AWAKEN Season 3 is hosted by singer and songwriter Falu. Guests featured in this episode include Visionary artists and founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors Alex and Allyson Grey, poet Marie Howe, writer and professor Kiese Laymon, artist, director, and author Chella Man, professor, clinical psychologist, and scientist Dr. Lisa Miller, writer and editor Haley Nahman, artist and podcaster Nigel Poor, Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, meditation teacher and writer Sebene Selassie, neuroscientist and author Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, author and poet Michelle Tea, neuroscientist Dr. Kay Tye, and meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

• (18:07) - Leg Bone Trumpet (kang ling)
• (30:40) - credits

If faced with bravery and awareness, conflict can bring great insight into what is right or needed. From the Buddhist perspective, it’s not the conflict itself that matters, but how we react to it. Because if we are too guarded, protecting ourselves from the difficult emotions that come with conflict, we might miss out on the opportunity for growth and new possibilities.

View the artwork discussed in this episode, beginning at 25:07.

Read about this artwork, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more:
https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/life-after-conflict-awaken-podcast

AWAKEN Season 3 is hosted by singer and songwriter Falu. Guests featured in this episode include poet Marie Howe, artist, director, and author Chella Man, Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, meditation teacher and writer Sebene Selassie, author and poet Michelle Tea, neuroscientist Dr. Kay Tye, and meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

• (00:00) - Conflict
• (24:08) - The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (1617–1682) with Previous Incarnations
• (26:45) - Conflict
• (31:22) - outro

In Buddhism, morality isn’t just about avoiding harm but helping others. It comes down to taking responsibility for our actions. We can never truly know our morals until they are tested. But faced with that test, it can wake us up to new ways of thinking, being, and relating to one another in the world.

View the artwork discussed in this episode, beginning at 20:58.

Read about this artwork, learn more about the Rubin, donate, and more:
https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/life-after-morality-awaken-podcast

AWAKEN Season 3 is hosted by singer and songwriter Falu. Guests featured in this episode include writer and professor Kiese Laymon, writer and editor Haley Nahman, artist and podcaster Nigel Poor, Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and author Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, neuroscientist Dr. Kay Tye, and meditation teacher and author Spring Washam.

• (20:58) - Previous Lives of the Buddha
• (23:24) -
• (25:26) - credits