The One You Feed - The Middle Way- Mini Episode

Episode Date: January 29, 2017

Please Support The Show With a Donation   The Middle Way One of the wisest teachings I have found is the middle way. Both Aristotle and the Buddha taught it. The Middle Way has been used as a wisdom tool in many traditions.       Please Support The Show with a Donation     Which Wolf are You Feeding Which Wolf Will You Feed It also often features different animals, mainly two dogs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together, our mission on the Really Know Really podcast is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor, what's in the museum of failure, and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to reallyknowreally.com

and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast, or a limited edition signed Jason bobblehead. The Really Know Really podcast. Follow us on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Hey everybody, it's Eric from The One You Feed back with another mini-episode. Before we get started, I just want to encourage you to support the mini-episodes and you can get an extra free mini-episode every month.

For being a supporter of the show, go to oneyoufeed.net slash support. And now on to this mini-ep episode, which is going to be about the middle way where the Buddha found a middle ground between the extreme comfort of his youth and the ascetic practices that he fell into. So the myth is or the story is the Buddha grew up in a kingdom. He was extraordinarily rich, had every material comfort in the world. He saw real examples of suffering, which made him want to go out and discover the truth. So he went out, left the kingdom, left his wife and kid behind, and then started getting into these very rigorous spiritual practices where he denied himself food and all the different things that we think of as extreme

spiritual practices. And ultimately what he found was it was the middle way for him that allowed him to find enlightenment, not extreme comfort and not extreme deprivation. So that's the middle way from a Buddhist perspective. And I have found the middle way to be possibly the wisest thing I've gotten out of Buddhism. There are so many examples of where we can use the middle way to be helpful. The other thing is that it didn't just come from the Buddha. That's where I first found it, but it appears in lots of different things. Very notably, Aristotle had the idea of the golden mean, which was every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice. So basically, any characteristic you like,

if you take it too far on one end, it becomes a vice. So Greg Marcus, who we had on recently talked about this about how take courage, for example, if you take courage too far becomes recklessness. If you go if you don't have enough courage, then it becomes fear. And so what you want to find is the middle way between those character traits. And I think that applies to nearly any character trait we have, particularly ones that are strong within us. I have found for me that they can be both a blessing and a curse, and I need to search for the middle way. But there are so many other examples of the middle way. And one of the things I ask on the show often is about how do people negotiate between or in the middle between letting their emotions run their life and so I feel any emotion and it takes me over and on the opposite extreme repressing emotion.

extreme repressing emotion? How do I find the middle ground between those two where I give those emotions a place to work, a place to do their thing, and yet I don't go too far either direction? We often talk about being too hard on ourselves. This is the same thing. How do I find the middle ground between being too easy, letting myself off the hook for everything, and the opposite, which is being too hard on myself. How do I find the middle ground there? And so very often as I'm looking at anything in life and I'm trying to figure out the path forward, I try and look to, well, what is the middle way? What is another option? I think that's another way to think about it. Is there another option here that I'm not thinking of? We tend to think very dualistically. We tend to think either I do this or I don't do

it. And a lot of times there's a ground in between. And decision-making studies show that if we take time to think about that third option, so if we can take it out of it's this or that and introduce some other options, the skill and the quality of decisions jumps a huge amount simply by looking at what could be in the middle, the middle way. In relationships, this can be very helpful. We tend to get into trouble in relationships when we use words like always and never. You always do this. You never do that. Those are usually not the case, right? The truth is somewhere in between

those. It's more of a middle ground. And if we can find that middle ground and we can communicate from it, it makes our communication and our relationship so much stronger. So that's just a few examples. I think I'll be talking more about the middle way as we go on this year, because I've really been keyed into it lately and thinking a lot about it. But that's some examples of where you could apply the middle way in your life and it might be helpful to you. So thanks so much for listening. As always, that's the end of this mini episode, but we will be back sometime with another one. And if you want one every month, as I mentioned, people who donate to the show get a mini episode every month, when you feed.net slash support. People who donate to the show get a mini episode every month.

OneYouFeed.net slash support. And I'll also release another one of these for everyone soon. Take care. Talk to you soon. Bye. අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි