We launch off from an earlier conversation into a rambling discussion on conversion. What is is? is it good? should we do it?   Please convert your friends to the pod, send it around :) 

Today in the cage - Christianity Vs Buddhism - in the showdown of the millennium.   Jacob and Tai-Sen discuss if religions are actually competing? or if they are in fact all speaking about the same truth. If you picked up some Bahai in this topic, well done you!    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/29/what-if-the-worlds-religions-arent-competing-but-rather-one-unfolding-truth

We are picking up all the good vibrations today, and talking about the Beach Boys! yes you heard right, notorious Christian pop band the Beach Boys.    We dive in to what makes their music actually maybe about God, and how Brian Wilson was perhaps an under heralded genius (but not really, he was pretty famous).    https://mbird.com/music/you-need-a-mess-of-help-to-stand-alone/

We are back to one of our favorite topics. The board game Diplomacy.Tai-Sen (Jamal) shares why he's known as the 'Jade Buddha', how he thinks about the game, and we talk about how others perceive him and the intersection between the game and his spirituality. Spoiler alert - its more closely connected than you may think! 

One Love dear listeners. Welcome to todays episode. And we are back with divine music! we know you missed it. We jump in to the wonderful world of Bob Marley, and Rastafarianism in general. A highly informative episode to make, where we move beyond the cliché's and really take a look at what was behind some of the most spiritual popular music of the last century.   Give thanks    https://theconversation.com/under-the-influence-of-bob-marley-the-timeless-music-man-63347

Newly dubbed KoJu Tai-Sen has done it! He's become a non monk. We reflect on the ceremony of Jukai, Jacob's thoughts in attending, and how Tai-Sen is feeling after the whole process. 

This is it, the final 'not-monk' episode. What a journey it has been!    Join us for the last time, as we discuss disparaging the three treasures, and how to 'just do it' when it comes to the precepts. 

It's Hulk mode time on the pod, as we discuss not being angry. Is it even possible? what does anger do to us? Stay tuned to find out, and write us an angry letter if we don't answer your questions appropriately. 

As the owners of this podcast, Jacob and Jamal spend the episode asserting their sole rights to it, keeping it from others and ensuring that no one else can have any of it. Alongside that we continue exploring the Buddhist precepts. This time around not being possessive. 

This week. We talk about why we are the best. Just so much better than everyone else. And also why Buddhism asks us not to praise ourselves at the expense of others. 

This week in the bar we get out our critiques and slanders, and just go in on how much we really don't like each other.... not really. But we are looking at speaking ill of others, and the Buddhist precept that tells us... maybe don't.

Today we are back at the bar to tackle the topic of...being at the bar too much? We look in to the role of intoxicants in the Buddhist precepts and discuss how one can better have a positive relationship with all things that cloud the mind.  https://open.substack.com/pub/oldster/p/ask-a-sober-oldster-23-nadia-bolz   

This week on the podcast, Jacob finally converts and Jamal reveals that he's been a universalist the whole time.    That's right! we are talking about lying, and how it interacts with the Buddhist precepts. Plus, stay turned for our brutal takedown of Kevin MacLeod.... nah I can't lie about that one. 

Sex is a complicated topic. But the Buddhist precepts has the answer! Maybe? We'll find out this week as we continue exploring the journey in to the zen precepts. 

We have a new Pope! And he's from Chicago, which makes him Da Pope. Today Jacob and Jamal learn all about the new head of the Catholic church, and dig deep in to the dish to find our about what they think this might mean for one of the worlds biggest religions.   https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ln80lzk7ko

We continue our exploration of the Buddhist precepts and Jamal's journey in to being not a monk. Or maybe kind of a monk? or perhaps just a stand up dude. 

Today we explore a listener question about the lesser known faith of Bahai.  What is it? What do they believe? and is it an answer to the inherent conflicts between other religions like Christianity and Buddhism? https://www.bahai.org/ 

Jamal has started working on the 10 Grave precepts of Zen. So we shall kick off our exploration of them with the 1st precept. Not Killing. Easy right? 

In our last throwback episode, we are back to finish the discussion of  'what does mindfulness look like without ethics behind it?'. This week we  turn the lens toward the mindfulness industry, and investigate the intersection between mindfulness and capitalism while asking: is there a place for mindfulness as a commodity in the market?   https://www.theguardian.com/l

Another throwback this week to an earlier conversation about how mindfulness has also become just a little bit of a capitalist industry. Ne episodes are just around the corner, we promise!  ---------------- Mindfulness is an ancient Buddhist technique for achieving enlightenment. It is also a massive capitalist industry, promising to both counter the issues caused by capitalism, and also to bring productivity and riches to all.  What does 'McMindfullness' have to do with traditional Buddhism, and what does it say about our society and religions? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/14/the-mindfulness-conspiracy-capitalist-spirituality