Buddhist Monks On: Letting Go of Shame, The Opposite of Depression, and Dealing With Criticism | Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho

This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hello, my fellow suffering beings, how we doing? Today we're going to talk to a fascinating pair of American Buddhist monks. about how to get stuff off your chest when you need to vent your spleen, how to live with less shame and regret, how to give feedback without pissing people off too much, how to accept feedback without getting pissed off yourself or getting defensive, how to stay sane in a crazy, never-ending news cycle, why being miserable about the state of the world doesn't actually help anything, and how to cultivate the opposite of depression.

Let me just say before we get too far into this that I think there might be a reflex among some of you to think, well, what do celibate monks know about navigating the complexities of human relationships or about navigating life in the real world? And the answer, as it turns out, is a lot, especially these monks who are quite young and yet incredibly smart and experienced. Said monks both go by their formal Buddhist names, which start with the word Ajan. Ajan is the Thai word for teacher or master. So my guests' names are respectively Ajan Kovilo and Ajan Nisabo.

Together they have founded the Clear Mountain Monastery, which is based in Seattle. They also host a podcast of their own, which is called the Clear Mountain Monastery Project. Before we dive in though, I do want to quickly tell you about a meditation challenge, a free one that we're running over on my new app, which is called 10% with Dan Harris. This is a five-day challenge inspired by a new Audible book or an audible original. It's an audiobook.

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