Mind Meld 95 | Dharma Enhancement with Daniele Bolelli

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Professor, podcaster, pal and author extraordinaire Daniele Bolelli returns!

Bolelli and MP chat about belief systems, division, why humans are so vulnerable to corruption and how to disrupt your life for the better.

Also, Michael’s new non-human assistant, Gerald, introduces himself and unwittingly exposes his personal life at the end of the show.

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We’re being bombarded by narratives. They flow forth from the media we consume, the books we read, the dreams we have, the concerns of our culture, the values of our families, the list is massive.

Given that, we’re all being pulled in a multitude directions. So, unless we want to be at the mercy of other people’s stories, we must develop a hierarchy. We must have a cornerstone, a purpose, a sacred mythology of our own that encapsulates the qualities most important to us (a point our esteemed guest, Daniele Bolelli and I disagree on slightly).

If you ask me though, a man or woman without a system is flailing to an extent, or at least not as effective as they could be. Must we lock-down our beliefs to a cohesive ism? Certainly not, but a meandering path is no way to go, it just takes longer. I know this from experience.

Now that I’ve mentioned Daniele, if you don’t know, the man is a long time pal of the show (catch his other appearance here) , he’s also the author of several fabulous books including Not Afraid and Create Your Own Religion. Daniele hosts the History On Fire and Drunken Taoist podcasts and he’s a university professor, teaching philosophy and history.

Join us as we spelunk into the above, the below and more.

Musings in this mind meld 

• Philosophy, history, the future and how past influences the now
• The real driving force behind our thirst for religion, myth and story
•  We are an assemblage of stories. How conscious must we be about what those stories are?
• Do we need cultural rulesets like religion and ethical systems or would we be better off without them?
•  The Storytelling Animal, by Jonathan Gottschall – Are stories ingrained in us to the point of an evolutionary imperative?
• Why corruption is nearly unavoidable when power is concentrated
• Organized crime in the Vatican, corrupt conglomerates and more

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