Changing the Course of Human History & Happiness ~ SHINZEN YOUNG

Shinzen "unpacks" his "Happiness Chart" or "Periodic Table of Human Happiness Elements." An insightful how-to journey through very concrete strategies for transforming our happiness in 4 dimensions.
DOWNLOAD THIS PDF of the HAPPINESS CHART:
www.shinzen.org/wp-content/up...
(Or take a screenshot of the chart to follow the explanation.)
MORE INFO on SHINZEN: www.shinzen.org
SHINZEN YOUNG MINDFULNESS COMMUNITY (Facebook Group):
/ shinzenyoungmindfulnes...
Recorded by STEPHANIE NASH:
INFO for STEPH:
REWIRE YOUR BEING - APP: onelink.to/3ucvtw
KZbin: / stephanienashmeditation
INSIGHT TIMER: insighttimer.com/stephanienash
INSTAGRAM: / stephanie__nash

[@ichigo2911]

Please post more often

[@thejoelrooganexplosion2400]

Thank you Shinzen and team ❤

[@abrahamwang1296]

great time to meet you

[@dailyfrench]

We need your videos more than ever!

[@portt2569]

Great! So good to see more content! Thank you :)

[@louiselecouffe4679]

I love this periodic table of happiness. Very inspiring! Shinzen is awesome! thank you for sharing this Steph

[@common_man1337]

Just dropping a comment for the youtube algorithm boost

[@fredericfreddyfreddo850]

He's back !!!!!

[@Mus4shi15]

🙏🏼

[@tracycoleman2378]

Definitely have missed Shinzen! Send more updated shinzen please!

[@katemajor4954]

Thankyou Stepanie, for these great additions to my happiness. Your work keeps me inspired to keep practicing.

[@Prueba_Te]

That was amazing, thank you so much

[@joshyboi2q622]

❤

[@fredericfreddyfreddo850]

Thank you so much !

[@henrytweasel]

Personally I think this concept is brilliant. I know for myself (and also, as I have seen, for many others) the seeking of enlightenment can become such an all consuming goal that the other aspects of happiness and wise action get neglected and you can actually end up creating worse objective situations in life than where you originally bloody started! So for me this is a very logical and well considered way to reposition enlightenment as one of many important pursuits that should be balanced in a person's life. So thank you so much for providing such a liberating framework in that sense!!! If I can be a little bold here I'd like to provide some constructive criticism. It doesn't relate to this system, but instead to the way that Shinzen teaches and communicates his ideas (Shinzen if you're reading this then I'm intending this as inspiration for behaviour change not as a put down lol. After all good science and good scientists relies on criticism and skepticism) I find that when you speak there are a lot of ums and ahs, you have a tendency to go on tangents and you spend a lot of time looking around as if trying to find the right words to convey your ideas. Now I've thought about this quite a bit and excuse me if I'm being too invasive, but I'm assuming the most likely explanation, is that your behaviour when teaching is a result of your extensive knowledge and contemplation which I'm sure generates a myriad of thoughts and you are probably just dealing with that barrage of thoughts in real time, whilst trying your best to ensure your speech is as prescriptive, clear, approachable, loving and broadly helpful as possible. Totally makes sense and is completely understandable. I'm actually a high school science teacher myself and I regularly deal with that experience. The reason I bring it up is because I think it limits your reach. It creates a sense that you're not fully sure of your ideas, that you haven't considered their impact (even though you undoubtedly have) or that you're uneasy with them. As such, that reduces trust. For many people who are new to the idea and/or apprehensive of mindfulness and who have long standing faith in other methods of self or societal improvement, theu would see that and go "nah, this guy is bumbling his way through it, I'm not interested" and would then switch off which is a real shame. I look at people like Sadghuru. When he speaks, he does not um or ah, he maintains eye contact and a relaxed demeanour, and he seems incredibly confident of the ideas he is conveying. As a result he is captivating and has garnered the trust of a huge, multi-dimensional audience which seems to be growing both in size and influence. I would argue that he is too confident and at times he shows that he hasn't fully considered the implications of his speech and action and it seems like his channels for feedback are limited which is dangerous. But he certainly has the broad reach and impact aspects dialled in. So yeah, if my assumptions are correct, then perhaps you could reflect on that and work on ways (or even take professional advice) on how to improve the clarity and and confidence with which you speak. I say this with love. In my opinion your experience, your level of education and most importantly your fundamental approach to mindfulness is easily the wisest and most beneficial for the largest proportion of people on the planet that I have come across. Particularly given the extensive mistrust that we have in so many institutions. I think you really do have the potential to enact the large scale cultural changes that you speak of and without knowing you, it seems to me that the main thing holding you back from having a greater influence is the way in which you speak. The other thought Ive had is maybe you're already well aware of that and you intentionally maintain that stream of consciousness approach to speaking to try and garner more mindfulness in the listener or for some other reason, in which case I'd be fascinated to learn about that! Haha Anyway, just some feedback for you. If you do read this I would love it if you contacted me or provided a response. All the best! Henry

[@katemajor4954]

Henry, i think the difference between Shinzen and Sahdguru is Shinzen is a teacher. A great teacher who fosters independence in his students. Sahdguru has strong opinions and speaks them with confidence which sometimes makes some people then believe is the truth because it comes from the "guru". Professional magicians can make an audience "believe" they have seen something partly because of confidence, conviction, in which the magician presents. It's funny. I like the uhhmms and ahhs. I use that time to process what is being said and test it against my own experience. Learning and believing are two different things. Learn from Shinzen or believe whatever Sahdguru says. Or do both. Henry, hopefully you accept my comments as interest in what you've written and discussion. May we both continue our practices, bringing happiness to ourselves and others.

[@squamish4244]

When you are liberated from tremendous anxiety and existential dread, like Shinzen is, and you are very intelligent, what can happen is your words can spill out faster than you can contain them. Anxiety is exhausting and stifling. There are many things I would like to do and say and I cannot, because unlike Shinzen, I did not have a key breakthrough after *four years* (!) of practice. I never have, in 17 gruelling years. I get what you are saying. Shinzen does go off on tangents constantly. They are both interesting and distracting. However, the big, big difference between Shinzen and teachers like Adyashanti, Eckhart Tolle etc. is that despite all their quiet, mindful eye-gazing and smiling, they aren't producing results in their students. After 25 years, how many of Adyashanti's students have even had one liberating experience? Shinzen is devoted to finding the fastest and most efficient path to enlightenment. He recognizes that traditional methods are not enough, and is developing a neurostimulation device in collaboration with a neuroscientist that I believe is in Stage II trials now. For myself, I am a complex mess of residual addiction to benzos, kundalini syndrome, existential dread, panic disorder and OCD. I have only found success through powerful technological means. I have gotten a lot of neurofeedback, worked with energy healers who are experts at calming kundalini, intravenous NAD+ to heal my brain and rejuvenate my body, and psychedelic therapy. Ketamine has helped enormously to 'blow off' hellish trapped energy and undo deep psychic knots. I also completely lose the taste for alcohol when I'm doing it. The neuroplasticity window psychedelics induce also makes other tasks, like meditation or neurofeedback, much more powerful. I also have a brainwave entrainment device that helps lull my mind into a state of relaxation and calm anxiety and pain. None of this has proven sufficient to lift the existential terror that has loomed over me for so many years, but it has weakened it a lot recently. And now with the rapid advance of AI, who knows what breakthroughs lie ahead. Shinzen used GPT-4 this spring to quantify the neural correlates of the jhanas in unprecedented detail. And GPT-4 has improved by 900% in its _six weeks_ of existence. We live in interesting times.

[@mister_circle]

Would love to see Shinzen explain some more about the different levels/boxes/elements in the Mastery and Service categories. The table does give an idea of what those different levels are about, but hearing some more detailed explanations with examples would be a good extra help. I couldn't find any resource on your webpage with more detailed explanations on each of the elements.

[@mattrkelly]

Hyakujo's fox has done in more zen masters than the common cold!

[@Jay-pw7pg]

The Buddha was basically an Indian Hindu yogi reformer, who later generations would call Buddhist. He was a Guru, with disciples and sannyasis, who brought a different language, a different perspective, etc. But at the end of the day, I’m sorry but there is nothing new under the sun. He didn’t really bring something new. He learned from Hindu Masters, and there were many Indian/Hindu Enlightened beings in his time. In my view, Buddha didn’t realize something different from these genuine Hindu Sages/Yogis who were around in his lifetime, and who came before him. I think seekers (and non seekers) take great comfort and reassurance in the notion of a perfected God-like Teacher, who was the highest, purest, best, irrefutable, and end of story. I’m sorry but Buddha was just another Realized being, if we are even prepared to believe the narrative at all. We know that some of it is (possibly most of all of it) mythologizing and trying to establish it’s superiority and irrefutable perfection. All traditions did that in ancient times. So when you strip it down, at best Buddha was simply a Realized Yogi/Guru who came to have new language, concepts, stories, etc. And at worst, he was more myth than real. But please don’t say that so-called scientific spirituality began with Lord Buddha. Please. It’s incorrect, naive, and bias. It may feel comforting but surely you can see and intuit that there was no “Lord Buddha” with all of the myth surrounding it. There was an Indian man who awakened to the Self, and brought a unique way of speaking about it.