About this Episode

Bringing a much needed calming zen influence to the Vayse Institute of Over Thinking and Catastrophic Worry, Hine and Buckley welcome therapist and former Tibetan Buddhist monk, Roger Jayamanne to the podcast. Roger leads Hine and Buckley through a quest which is thousands of years and many life cycles old as they discuss his life within the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and what it actually teaches: was the Buddha a real person? Is life just sorrow and suffering? What is the Tao?... and he divulges some of the weirder, reality-defying experiences he has had on his travels including mind reading, a monk's arm stretching to six feet long and a lama summoning a parliament of owls as a spiritual escort to Edinburgh Airport... (recorded 13 November 2023)

Thanks to Roger for putting up with our frenzied anxiety and thanks as always to Keith for the show notes.

Roger Jayamanne Online

Jaya counselling website
The Wellbeing Evolution YouTube channel
The Wellbeing Evolution on Instagram
Roger’s Counselling Directory profile
Practical Techniques for Self-Discovery & Embracing Awareness with Roger Jayamanne, Therapy Talks podcast

Introduction

Dharma - Wikipedia
Reincarnation - Wikipedia
Nirvana (concept) - Wikipedia
[Nirvana (band) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(band)
Green Day - Wikipedia
Tibetan Buddhism - Wikipedia

Roger’s early exposure to Buddhism

History of Buddhism in the UK - Wikipedia
The Buddha - Wikipedia
Buddhist meditation - Wikipedia
Sri Lanka - Wikipedia
Batik - Wikipedia
Sri Lanka's Batik Industry - SriLankaBusiness.com
Carl Jung - Wikipedia
Dream - Wikipedia
Collective unconscious - Wikipedia
Jungian archetypes - Wikipedia
Neurology - Wikipedia
Bardo - Wikipedia
Karma in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Karma in Tibetan Buddhism - Wikipedia
Deja vu - Wikipedia
Haven’t We Met Before? Uncanny “past life” memories - PsychologyToday.com
Nyingma - Wikipedia
Esoteric transmission (Wang, Lung, and Tri) - Wikipedia
Vajracharya (Buddhist priest) - Wikipedia
Yurt - Wikipedia
Tibetan Plateau - Wikipedia
Householder (Buddhism) - Wikipedia
Buddhist monasticism - Wikipedia
Buddhahood - Wikipedia
Nondualism - Wikipedia

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism - Wikipedia
Dharma - Wikipedia
Religion - Wikipedia
Godhead - Wikipedia
Noble Eightfold Path - Wikipedia
[Merit (Buddhism) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_(Buddhism)
Karma in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Karma in Tibetan Buddhism - Wikipedia
Buddhist meditation - Wikipedia
The Buddha - Wikipedia
Theravada - Wikipedia
Vajrayana - Wikipedia
Snakes and Ladders - Wikipedia
Rebirth: The Tibetan Game of Liberation - HimalayanArt.org
Samsara - Wikipedia
Thangka (painting) - Wikipedia
Bhavacakra (Wheel of Life) - Wikipedia
Bodhisattva - Wikipedia
Allen Greenfield on Twitter
Ascended master - Wikipedia
Fungus - Wikipedia
Christianity - Wikipedia
Heaven - Wikipedia
Paradise - Wikipedia
[Lineage (Buddhism) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineage_(Buddhism)
Bible Belt - Wikipedia

Who is the Buddha?

The Buddha - Wikipedia
Bodh Gaya - Wikipedia
Enlightenment in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Hinduism - Wikipedia
Vishnu - Wikipedia
Gautama Buddha in Hinduism - Wikipedia
Nepal - Wikipedia
Shakya - Wikipedia
Four sights (senescence, disease, demise, asceticism) - Wikipedia
Duhkha:Buddhism - Wikipedia
Garden of Eden: parallel concepts - Wikipedia
How to Leave Your Comfort Zone and Enter Your ‘Growth Zone' - PositivePsychology.com

Eastern spirituality in the West

Buddhist meditation - Wikipedia
Yoga - Wikipedia
Mindfulness - Wikipedia
The Truth About Western Cultural Appropriation of Eastern Spirituality - FairObserver.com
Shamanic Initiations - RealitySandwich.com
The Wisdom of Uncertainty - Tricycle.org
Cartesianism - Wikipedia
Mechanism (philosophy) - Wikipedia
Reductionism - Wikipedia
Determinism - Wikipedia
Scientific Revolution - Wikipedia
Chaos Theory - Wikipedia
Mind - Wikipedia
The three types of binary thinking - ClearerThinking.org
Intuition - Wikipedia
Left Brain vs. Right Brain: Hemisphere Function - SimplyPsychology.org
Whispers of the Night: Deciphering Dreams in Different Cultures - TheSiteOfYOurDreams.com
The Fine Line Between Reality and Imaginary - Nautil.us
Why imagination is essential for effective counselling by Roger Jayamanne, Counselling-Directory.org

What are dreams?

Dreams in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Archetype - Wikipedia
Precognition - Wikipedia
Can Two People Have the Same Dream?, PsychologyToday.com
Dream interpretation - Wikipedia
Can Dreams Connect You to a Spiritual Reality? - PsychologyToday.com
David Lynch - Wikipedia
Understanding creative intuition, Journal of Creativity - ScienceDirect.com
Andrei Tarkovsky - Wikipedia
Tao (Dao) - Wikipedia
Taoism (Daoism) - Wikipedia
Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) - Wikipedia
Wu wei (inaction): Daoist development - Wikipedia
When Unconscious, the Brain Is Anything but ‘Silent’ - NeuroscienceNews.com
Serotonin - Wikipedia
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) - Wikipedia
Overprescribing Drugs to Treat Mental Health Problems - PsychologyToday.com

Is it true that "life is suffering"?

Four Noble Truths - Wikipedia
Duhkha (suffering):Buddhism - Wikipedia
Does Everything Contain Its Opposite? - PsychologyToday.com
Yin and Yang - Wikipedia
Kahlil Gibran: On Joy and Sorrow - PoemAnalysis.com
Post-industrial society - Wikipedia
Addiction - Wikipedia
Dopamine - Wikipedia
Pre-frontal cortex - Wikipedia
Late stage capitalism - Wikipedia
Wernicke’s area (neurology) - Wikipedia
Cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”) - Wikipedia
Rene Descartes - Wikipedia

What is the Dao?

Tao (Dao) - Wikipedia
Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) - Wikipedia
Tao: The Great Mother - tao-mother.org
Sunyata - Wikipedia
Dharma and the Tao: how Buddhism and Daoism have influenced each other - BuddhaWeekly.com
Taoism (Daoism) - Wikipedia
Mahayana - Wikipedia
Catholic Church: Doctrine - Wikipedia
Judeo-Christian - Wikipedia
Karma in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Conceptions of god - Wikipedia
Psychedelic drug - Wikipedia
Heaven - Wikipedia
Enlightenment in Buddhism - Wikipedia

Buddhism and the simulation hypothesis

Reality in Buddhism - Wikipedia
Simulation hypothesis - Wikipedia
Quantum mechanics - Wikipedia
Overview of Divisions of Phenomena - StudyBuddhism.com
The Tao of Physics (book) - Wikipedia
Maya (religion, “illusion”) - Wikipedia
The world could be an illusion or simulation - TheArchitect.global
Thought experiment - Wikipedia
Minecraft - Wikipedia
Śūnyatā (emptiness) - Wikipedia
Mahayana - Wikipedia
The Ten Levels of the Bodhisattva - BuddhaJourney.net
The Matrix - Wikipedia
The Matrix: Neo sees the code
Siddhi - Wikipedia
Kirtan (musically recited story in Indian traditions) - Wikipedia
Khenpo - Wikipedia
Maras - tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com
Barn Owl - Wikipedia
Himalayas - Wikipedia

How to start with Buddhism and meditation

How to practice Buddhism - OneMindDharma.com
Letting Go: Understanding Attachment from a Buddhist Perspective - Zen-Buddhism.net Learning formless meditation - InstrinsicSelf.us
Peter Hine and Stephen Buckley, Dreams, Nightmares and Pan - Spirit Box podcast S2 #18
Follow the breath - TheGregariousHermit.com
How to Perform Body Scan Meditation - PositivePsychology.com
Mindfulness - Wikipedia
Mindfulness and Being Present in the Moment - PsychologyToday.com
Zazen - Wikipedia

Roger’s (and Hine’s) recommendations

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Wikipedia
Not Always So: Practising the True Spirit of Zen by Shunryu Suzuki, Goodreads
Shunryū Suzuki, Wikipedia
The Master and His Emissary - Wikipedia
Siddhartha (novel) - Wikipedia
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - Goodreads
The Sun of Wisdom: Teachings on the Noble Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Goodreads

Buckley’s closing question

Dalai Lama - Wikipedia
Bartleby (1970 film) - Wikipedia
Bartleby (1970)
My Dinner with Andre (1981 film) - Wikipedia
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Ghostbusters (1984 film) - Wikipedia
Ghostbusters (1984) | Official Trailer

Vayse Online

Vayse website
Vayse on Twitter
Vayse on Instagram
Music From Vayse - Volume 1 by Polypores
Vayse on Ko-Fi
Vayse email: vayseinfo@gmail.com