Why the Spiritual Life ”Hurts More and Bothers You Less” - w/Maitreya Speering

Let's Think About That

I reached out to Maitreya after coming across a video interview he did with University of Toronto professor John Vervaeke. John's work, best experienced through his monumental YouTube series "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis" has been a massive help to many of us struggling to fashion meaningful lives in a chaotic and nonsensical time. Maitreya, who has been living in a spiritual community for the past five years, gave a valuable perspective on the spiritual life. We discuss the work of John Vervaeke, Guy Sengstock, and spend some time discussing Ken Wilber's maxim that that the pursuit of wisdom and compassion will result in a life that "hurts more and bothers you less". We touch on the the pervasive sense of duality in western philosophy and religion, the importance and discomfort of getting in touch with the body through somatic practices, the personification of being, and the paradoxical nature of emptiness as the principle of all things. I greatly enjoyed this conversation and I think you will find Maitreya's insights edifying.