Welcome to another episode of the secular Buddhism Podcast. This is episode number 70. I am your host Noah Rasheda, and today I'm talking about the Guru Mind.

That is to say the mind that seeks a Guru.

A quick note before jumping into this topic. If you're listening to this podcast, it's probably safe for me to assume that you are also interested in the essential concepts of Buddhism and how they relate to your daily life.

One of the goals of the podcast is to take Buddhist concepts and teachings and then explain them in a way that's easy to understand and practical for everyday life.

In addition to the podcast, I've also written a book to help with this process and with the book, no nonsense, Buddhism for beginners.

You'll gain a fundamental understanding of Buddhism and how to apply the philosophies in your everyday life, and the book consists of a simple four-part structure addressing the different aspects of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Key Buddhist Concepts, the Buddha's teachings, and current Buddhist practices.

It's written in a straightforward questions and answers format that simplifies the vital concepts of Buddhism into easy to understand ideas.

It also includes what I call everyday Buddhism sidebars. These are little anecdotes that make Buddhism a little less abstract by offering down-to-earth examples from my own everyday life.

Presented in a simple conversational style, the information and guidance in no nonsense Buddhism for beginners provides the groundwork that is necessary for building or continuing your own Buddhist practice.

You can learn more about the book by visiting everydaybudism.com.

A secondary note that I haven't mentioned in a while is the quote, remember the Dalai Lama's advice, do not use what you learned from Buddhism to be a Buddhist, use it to be a better whatever you already are.

I want to emphasize this, the world doesn't need more Buddhists. The world just needs more people who are awake and aware of things, people who are striving to have more understanding, people who want to strive to make the world a better place by being more conscious, more kind, more compassionate, more willing to listen and see more deeply, and ultimately to see the impermanent and interdependent nature of all things.

We're all in the same boat here, the boat planet earth, and given that today is Earth Day, and I'm recording this on Earth Day, I wish we could see ourselves as just earthlings and not be so divided by our isms.

I'm reminded of a quote by Dr. Mark Epstein, who he asked, what is the difference between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist?

And then he goes on to answer the non-Buddhist thinks there's a difference. And unfortunately I know a lot of Buddhists or practitioners of Buddhism who don't quite understand what this means.

In a way, this is implying that even if you see yourself as a Buddhist, you still don't get it because you see yourself as separate from being a non-Buddhist.

It's just a fun thing to consider today. What are the labels that separate me from others? What are your isms?

And again, this isn't to say that we need to get rid of all of our isms. I don't know that that's possible, but the attachment that we have to them.

I like to view Buddhism as something that I practice, it's something that I teach, it's something that I really enjoy, but it's not something that I am because I'm just me.

And while today I follow this path, you know, five years ago I didn't, ten years ago I had no clue what any of these topics were, and I would have identified as something else.

So whatever the ism is, hold loosely to it, hold it, but hold it without the death grip.

So enough about labels. The topic I've prepared for today is called Beware of the Guru Mind. And what I'm trying to get out with this topic, all of this started because there was a lot of hoopla about a show that came out on Netflix called Wild Country.

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