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The Way Out Is In

Guest Episode: Buddhist Practices for Busyness, Overwhelm & Burnout

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village

Education, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Self-improvement, Religion & Spirituality, Buddhism

4.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we are delighted to share an episode of the 10% Happier podcast, which is hosted by bestselling author Dan Harris and features world-class insights and practices from experts in modern science and ancient wisdom.  Dan’s guest, for the second time, is Zen Buddhist monk and Way Out Is In co-host Brother Phap Huu, who discusses his burnout and how he recovered – and how you can, too.The episode was recorded during early summer 2025, and first released on July 2nd 2025. Together, Dan and Brother Phap Huu discuss: Why people are busier and more susceptible to overwhelm than ever before  Why monastics aren’t immune to burnout The way that  busyness is thrust upon us by contemporary lifestyles, but is also a result of us running away from the things we don’t want to face Practical tools for addressing busyness and burnout  Why doing nothing is an art The importance of perspective – and how contemplating your mortality can provide this  The practice of total relaxation How to maintain healthy boundaries without adopting mental armor Ways to say no without annoying people  How to protect ourselves in toxic environments. And much more. Related Episodes:‘The Buddhist Case for Laziness (And How It Can Make You More Productive) | Brother Chân Pháp Hữu’ ‘Your Negative, Ruminating Mind: Here’s Your Way Out | Sister Dang Nghiem‘ ‘The Antidote to Mindless Eating with Br. Chan Pháp Lưu’ ‘Six Buddhist Strategies for Getting Along Better with Everyone | Sister True Dedication’ ‘How to Suffer Well – So You Can Suffer Less | Brother Pháp Dung’ Co-produced by the Plum Village App:https://plumvillage.app/   And Global Optimism:https://globaloptimism.com/ With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/ List of resources  10% Happier with Dan Harrishttps://www.danharris.com/s/10-happier  Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnouthttps://www.parallax.org/product/being-with-busyness/   Calm in the Storm: Zen Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious Worldhttps://www.parallax.org/product/calm-in-the-storm/  Interbeinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing  Brené Brownhttps://brenebrown.com/  ‘Daily Contemplations on Impermanence & Interbeing’https://plumvillage.org/daily-contemplations-on-impermanence-interbeing  ‘Recommendation’ (poem)https://plumvillage.org/articles/recommendationThay’s Poetry: ‘Please Call Me by My True Names’ (song and poem)https://plumvillage.org/articles/please-call-me-by-my-true-names-song-poem Quotes “To cope with fears and insecurities, the premature hero has to stay busy all the time. The destructive capacity of nonstop busyness rivals nuclear weapons and is as addictive as opium. It empties the life of the spirit. False heroes find it easier to make war than deal with the emptiness in their souls.” “There is a lot of suffering right here, right now, but it is still our responsibility to be able to see the beauty in life, to see the joy and to cultivate happiness: the little things that can spark our creativity, our foundation of love. We are not limited by suffering. We contain the potential for so many offerings that we can give to ourselves and to the world.”  “When in chaos, come back to the fundamentals of the things that gave you joy and that gave you life.”  “The First Remembrance is that we are all of the nature to grow old; none of us can escape growing old. The Second Remembrance is we are all of the nature to get ill; none can escape that. The Third Remembrance is that all of us have to die; none of us can escape death. The Fourth Remembrance is that everything that we cherish today is of the nature of impermanence; we will have to learn to let go. And the Fifth Remembrance is the way forward; it gives

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, friends. Thank you so much for tuning in to The Way Out is In. I'm Clay, co-producer of this podcast.

0:08.8

Today on the show, we have a special treat. But before I get to that, I wanted to mention that just a few weeks ago, Brother Faphu and Joe Confino released a new book titled Calm in the Storm, Zen

0:23.5

Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious World. I have my copy right here. See if you can hear it.

0:33.9

Just like this podcast, this book was made with you in mind.

0:39.3

And if you love listening to this podcast, you will love reading this book.

0:45.2

You can find it wherever you get your books.

0:47.9

Again, the title is Calm in the Storm, Zen Ways cultivate stability in an anxious world.

0:55.6

Go check it out.

0:57.6

Okay.

0:58.5

Recently, Brother Faphu was a guest on the 10% Happier podcast with Dan Harris.

1:05.2

It's a podcast that has a trusted reputation for searching for practical pathways to

1:10.0

peace through conversations that touch on

1:13.0

where modern science and ancient wisdom meet. So today, we're excited to be sharing this most

1:20.0

recent conversation from 10% happier between Dan and Fapu. This is Fapu's second time on the show, and in fact, several other Plum Village

1:30.3

monastics have been invited on. Sister Deng Niem, Sister True Dedication, Brother Fap Nung,

1:36.9

and Brother Fap Lu. So if you're looking for something more to listen to, there's plenty waiting.

1:43.1

Please check the show notes for links to those.

1:45.2

We put them down there for you. From all of us here at the podcast, we want to thank Dan and the team

1:51.1

at 10% happier for making this episode available for us to share with our community.

1:56.1

And to our listeners, the guys will be back with another episode soon, so look forward to that.

2:01.2

But in the meantime, thanks for joining us.

2:03.8

Here's Dan.

...

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