This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, everybody. How we doing? I had a funny experience when I was asked to give a TED talk a couple of years ago. I showed up at the TED conference in Vancouver and I was completely freaked out and anxious. I know, I know, I know. I've been doing public speaking my whole life. How could I be so nervous? Don't forget, I'm the guy who had a panic attack on live television, which you can Google. I think if you put in the words panic attack on television,

it's the first result. It's probably the best known achievement, if you want to call it that,

in my life, having a live panic attack. So that explains, in part at least, why I was so nervous

when I arrived at TED. While that panic attack back in 2004

was largely fueled by cocaine, which I don't do anymore, I still really do get nervous about

public speaking. Plus, I'd never done a TED talk before, and that seemed like a uniquely

terrifying experience. Also contributing to my nerves, I was debuting material from a book that I've now

been working on for many, many years, and I was really worried about how that material would

be received. So anyway, I was super relieved when on the first day, I went to lunch in the area

where all the speakers have their meals, and I saw that Mingyre Rinpoche was there.

You may have heard that name

Mingyre Rimpashe before. He's been on the show several times. He's a renowned Buddhist monk from

Nepal. He's the son of a revered meditation master, and he started doing long retreats

himself in his teens, and he now teaches all over the world. He's written several books, including the joy of living and in love with the world, and he oversees the Tergar meditation community, which is a global network of Buddhist meditation centers.

Long way of saying he's a very impressive dude.

In any event, when I saw him, I went right over to him and asked, how are you doing?

And his answer was, and I'm quoting here, dying.

In other words, he was just as nervous as I was.

I wasn't entirely surprised by this, honestly, given that the Mingyre has been very public about his own history of panic attacks.

But really, that story was a delightful example of how

honest and relatable the dude is. And even though he was nervous, he did take time to look out for me.

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