This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hey gang, it's part two of our two-part series on the second anniversary of the U.S. shutting

down because of COVID. Back on Wednesday, we talked to New York Times, senior writer David

Leonhardt. Today, we're getting a wisdom or Dharma take on the situation as we enter year

three of this pandemic, just to say obviously we're well into year three in parts of the world

where the virus hit first. But as we hear in the U.S. enter year three, even though we're

in a vastly different stage of the game right now, there are so many questions. Is it safe

or ethical to return to normal? How do you deal with people who have different views

on safety and vaccines than you? What do you do if you're just bone tired of this whole

dumpster fire? My guess today with whom we're going to hash out these and other issues is

Lamar Rod Owens, who was trained in the Kagu school of Tibetan Buddhism, holds a master

of divinity degree in Buddhist studies from Harvard Divinity School and is the author of the

book Love and Rage. Lamar Rod has been kind enough to come on this show in moments of

crisis. As you may remember, I spoke to him shortly after the murder of George Floyd

and also right after the 2020 election. And as you're about to hear, one of the core arguments

he makes is that apocalypse, and I should say he has a rather broad understanding of what

that word means, but apocalypse, he says, can present an opportunity. I'll let him explain

what he means by that. In this conversation, we also talk about the benefits of having

and existing practice in times of heightened anxiety and uncertainty, developing a direct

open relationship with fear, working with regret, why taking care of yourself is not selfish.

Lamar Rods take on social media and watching television, the obstacles to empathy, a more

expansive definition of the word violence, and a really jarring article in the New York

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