Episodes

  • The Parable of the Weed and the Trowel

    The Parable of the Weed and the Trowel
    Apr 15 2022

    Nearly a thousand years ago, the founder of the first of the great Sufi orders, Abdul-Qadir Gilani (1077–1166), wrote an extraordinary book aptly called The Secret of Secrets where he unveiled the secret to mystical awakening. Gilani is widely considered to be one of Islam’s greatest saints and yet “The Secret” was only translated into English in the last thirty years. With gems like these gathering dust it is perhaps not surprising that here we all are (at least in the English-speaking world), almost a thousand years later, still stumbling around looking for answers.





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    23 mins
  • All that the world confers

    All that the world confers
    Jun 27 2021
    The great masters of old told us of a world that for most of us seems unimaginable and unattainable. They spoke of a Kingdom of Heaven, a place of unlimited joy and inconceivable perfection, holding hidden treasures of divine beauty and love. An experience so good that is is beyond measurement or calculation. They claimed this not as a place we go when we die if we're good (contrary to the more mundane or popular accounts to the contrary) but as an experience available to every one of us right here, right now. And these masters also taught us how to achieve this in our own lifetime. In this talk, I share some of these extraordinary insights and practical tips ancient masters from Lao Tzu to Buddha shared. And I unpack a couple of real world examples to try to illustrate how these sometimes obscure sounding insights can be applied in real situations today.

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    48 mins
  • Karma Explained

    Karma Explained
    Jun 20 2021
    A talk to explain Karma. Before you can understand Karma, you need to understand the nature of reality and the nature of the self which is where the video beings. The talk then goes through the four kinds of grasping, the three kinds of actions that create Karma (with 10 examples). To more deeply understand Karma, the talk then goes through the four aspects of Karma, the four results of Karma and the four principles of Karma. Fortunately, Karma can be released so we then cover the four powers each one of us has to break the cycle of Karma. Finally, we take a quick look at the various religious expressions of Karma through history.

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    58 mins
  • What Happens When We Die? (Tibetan Bardos)

    What Happens When We Die? (Tibetan Bardos)
    Mar 28 2021
    According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there are six "Bardos" in the continuous turning of the wheel of life. "Bardo" means intermediate state or 'gap'. Each Bardo represents a moment that we can use to escape the continuous cycle of suffering caused by an unenlightened approach to a human life. Three Bardos occur in a human lifetime (our actual Life, the time we spend Dreaming, and the time we spend in Meditation) and three occur in between lives (the Painful Bardo of Dying and Death, the Luminous Bardo of Dharmata or the Afterlife, and the Karmic Bardo of Becoming or Rebirth). In this talk, Zebediah Rice walks you through what happens when we die, at least according to the culture that has thought most carefully and thoroughly about the end of our human lifetime.

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    54 mins
  • Shadows 👥 of the Spiritual

    Shadows 👥 of the Spiritual
    Jan 31 2021
    Taking our cue from the ancient masters, we assume that the world of form and phenomena is a shadow of spiritual truth. These "shadows" express themselves in myth, religion, and the sky itself (through the Zodiac), and Number is the unifying theme. We look at symbols and stories, creation myths, and religious pantheons from Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Pythagorean, Platonic, Greco-Roman, Islamic and Christian texts and tease out the unifying insights and themes. What emerges illuminates some of the most basic questions we have as humans such as who are we, where do we come from and why are we here.

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    52 mins
  • The Supreme Method

    The Supreme Method
    Jan 25 2021

    Most people use the ordinary tactics to feel good. They use their emotions as their guide and the immediate pleasure feedback from their body as the test for whether their actions are the right ones or not. Others yolk their emotions and body to the goals set by their mind. But there is an even better method, one taught throughout the ages by the great wisdom teachers. They call this the Supreme Method. This is the topic of the episode.



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    51 mins
  • 🌌 The (Pre)History of the Zodiac

    🌌 The (Pre)History of the Zodiac
    Dec 13 2020
    Pythagorean numerology, Babylonian astrology and medieval alchemy are ancient "sciences" that emerged long, long ago. But how did they come about, how can they possibly be oftentimes eerily accurate, and why they are so useful to the understanding of oneself and others in modern times? There are two explanations for this. In this talk, we cover the prehistory out of which this "natural philosophy" (or what we would now call "science") emerged. Distilling down the lessons from masters old and new, embodied physically and otherwise, I summarize why the numbers One, Two, Three, and Four were deemed to be so sacred, why the Babylonians and most western cultures since have so embraced the "science" of astrology, and touch briefly on the origin of the Four Element system that arises naturally from the study of the world around us. In the next talk, I will give the second explanation which is not at all "scientific" but which will provide a mystical interpretation and history of these sacred numbers and star signs.

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    50 mins
  • 🪐 Saturn - Savior or Satan?!

    🪐 Saturn - Savior or Satan?!
    Oct 25 2020
    As long ago in Ancient Greece, astrologers such as Ptolomy described Saturn 🪐 as malefic and deadly. "Satan", not Saturn, was its nickname. But this is a misnomer. It is true that if one attempts to reach the celestial heights of the Saturnian sphere without the proper training and mindset, it can indeed be deadly, or at least very uncomfortable. One medieval mystic in particular (Ibn 'Arabi), described a non-believer's ascension to a Saturn level of consciousness as being like locked in a dark room all alone. The secrets of Saturn are not attained so simply. But when the right keys are used, the secrets that are unlocked by the Saturnian sphere are the ultimate secrets life has to offer. In this talk, Zebediah Rice uses metaphors borrowed from Medieval Persia (Attar of Nishapur) and Spain (St. Teresa of Avila) to unpack these secrets.

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    58 mins