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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, 

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and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. 

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Whenever people used to ask me my religion, I didn't know what to say.

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I mean, religion is a collection of beliefs and philosophies, and I've always had my own,

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I think we all do, it's just not particularly organized nor affiliated with any existing 

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school of thought. Through my own experiences, through trial and error,

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and learning from everyone around me,

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I had developed certain habits that one could presume or even associate with a religion:

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I don't drink, smoke, or eat meat, for example, I was celibate for more than a decade,

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refrained from ingesting any stimulants, spent a lot of time in nature or meditating,

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and I deeply believe we are here to learn to be completely selfless,

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which sounds like a hybrid of a Mormon-Buddhist-Jew-monk in training

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on his 12-steps to recovery, but I didn't have a name for it, I just called it Timberism.

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The first time I ever heard the Dalai Lama speak, however, he was talking about 

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self-control, determination, and freedom from anger. And that was a few years 

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after I actually had those same words tattooed on my chest.

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"Kindness is my religion," he said, and I still believe that's as good a label as any.

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I became mesmerized by Thich Nhat Hanh, Jack Kornfield, and Dan Millman,

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but whenever I spoke to my teachers and said something like "I just love Neil Donald Walsch

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"and Pema Chodron; aren't they amazing?"

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My teachers would just look at me with a gentle smile and say, "Be careful there."

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I knew what they meant: focus on the teachings, not the teacher.

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A good friend of mine once met her favorite author, and she was so disappointed

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to discover he was a mere human, not the sage she had projected him to be.

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That's why it's important to focus on the message, not the messenger.

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And remember, they are not showing us their special powers, but exactly what we are 

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capable of as well. Today, with Facebook being an amazing communication tool,

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we are all students, and we are all teachers. And there are so many messengers out there,

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but the message is always the same: the message is love. Take Buddhist Boot Camp,

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for example, I'm not a teacher, I'm a sharer. All I do is tell you what I've been through

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and sometimes you get something out of it. These podcast episodes, just like the chapters

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in the book, are journal entries that I've decided to share with the world.

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When somebody else's story resonates with us, we realize we're not alone,

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and that we are actually more alike than we ever dare to admit.

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That realization is an important step in breaking down our illusion of separateness 

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and bringing us closer together. I mean, nothing makes us feel more lonely 

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than our secrets, so it's best not to have them, and just be honest and transparent.

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The Buddha was not a god. He never claimed to be a god, the son of god,

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or even a messenger of god. He was a man who gained clear perspective of the world 

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through nothing more than human effort. And if he was able to do it then,

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we can do it now. Suzuki Roshi said, "There are no enlightened beings per se,

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"there are enlightened activities."

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The people we perceive as enlightened, be it Jesus, the Buddha, Dalai Lama, 

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Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, or whoever inspires you, simply made

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enlightened activity a part of their daily lives.

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So I thought, Well, shoot, we can do that! Enlightened activities are actions that are

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in line with our core values, whatever they may be. Therefore, enlightenment 

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isn't something you "become," it's something you continually DO.

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The dictionary defines enlightenment as "Having or showing a rational, modern, 

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"and well-informed outlook, which is exhibited by our behavior."

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So, the best way to truly honor our teachers, is to do as they did, and spread the love.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless 

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and Buddhist Boot Camp.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,

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watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode, 

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏🏼