For too many of us, our first foray into the world of spirituality comes after experiencing a deluge of unhappiness: depression, addiction, and all of the other destructive side effects that accompany a troubled mind.

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That was certainly how it all went down for our guest, Dr. Miles Neale – but a trip to India at the age of 20 and an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism changed the way he experienced the world, slowly but surely.

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Dr. Miles Neale is among the leading voices of the current generation of Buddhist teachers, a forerunner in the emerging field of contemplative psychotherapy, and the author of Gradual Awakening: The Tibetan Buddhist Path of Becoming Fully Human.

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For the last twenty years, he has trained in an authentic lineage of Tibetan Buddhism transmitted down from His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama to preeminent American Buddhist scholar Professor Robert Thurman to pioneering contemplative psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Loizzo. But Dr. Neale adds a unique twist to these teachings, combining them with traditional psychotherapy to create a reproducible curriculum that anyone can follow.

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Dr. Neale’s curriculum doesn’t result in a spontaneous, life-changing breakthrough. Instead, it offers something better: It offers us the ability to experience small, incremental breakthroughs that help us mature mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

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There is no get-rich-quick scheme for a rich and fulfilling life – but it is possible for anyone to achieve.

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Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Dr. Neale grew up wealthy and unhappy – but that all changed after a transformative trip to India
• The epidemic of depression that’s faced our country and world for most of the modern age, and that keeps getting worse
• Combining Tibetan Buddhism with traditional psychotherapy to create something new entirely
• The critical importance of finding your mentors (for the vast majority of people)
• How the movement towards the use of psychedelics and psychotropics fits into the rubric of spontaneous enlightenment – and why this isn’t enough for a lasting transformation
• The idiot’s guide to Tibetan Buddhism
• Experiencing the state of radical altruism (and what it is)
• What you need to know about Lam Rim and the how the Dalai Lama lineage plays into it
• The spiritually destructive impact of modern materialism, an inherently nihilistic way of living that’s causing us to devolve and waste our life
• A comprehensive view of karma, both good and bad

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More about this episode.

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Watch it on YouTube

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