Welcome
Welcome to Meta Zen—the meditation for game changers and future generations. 
This is a complete meditation that wraps classical-era techniques into an innovative and contemporary package.
I’ll explain these details with you soon and I’ll begin with complete meditation. 
It has two stages.
The first stage is looking inward, which is what comes to mind for most people. It’s about focusing the mind. It leads to contentment.
The second stage is outward looking and it’s often overlooked as we are busy figuring out the first stage. It's associated with the emergence of step change in an individual, community, society and civilization. It's authentic ambition.
As the second stage is often misinterpreted. I’ll describe it through an analogy.
Think of meditation like pole vaulting. It takes the first stage of meditation to figure out how to get over the bar and the second stage to see how high we can go. 
In the first stage, some give up as they don’t see how they will ever clear the bar and others find contentment in their pursuit to clear the bar.
Once we clear the bar, we’re enraptured. We’ve found our groove and meditation becomes as essential as breathing. When we discover how to make this stage sustainable, we become who we are meant to be.

I am your host, Marc Bubel, founder of Moxie Frontier, a business ethos consultancy—we unlock human potential…from the awakening inner soul of businesses…to the far reaches of their goodwill. We unlock what technology can’t.
Why people meditate
Let’s begin with understanding why people meditate.
We often hear of reasons like to reduce stress, improve focus, and cultivate overall well-being. These are the real byproducts of the first stage of meditation.
Yet, people are sheepishly looking for the trigger that releases the avalanche of understanding that gives us the second stage of meditation. In Woody Allen's words, we're looking for the antidote for the emptiness of existence.
I’ll explain this trigger, this antidote, through this analogy:
I imagine you are familiar with parents lightly throwing their children in the air and catching their children. 
In the child, a light throw creates a feeling of weightlessness, which creates the uncomfortable feeling of falling. But as the child is caught immediately, the uncertainty washes away, replaced with a smile and laughter.
When the child experiences this throw again and again, at some point, the child realizes…her parent will catch her. The child then liberates herself and she laughs like it's the best experience in the world.
This liberation isn't trust. Trust comes before liberation. When the child liberated herself, she knew where there is good in the world…and it’s amazing. 

The opportunity before our civilization is to give each other this liberation—Our objective is to make life…a dream come true for everyone. 
Our ancestors shared meditation because this was their moonshot. In this podcast, I’ll map it out so that you are certain beyond a shadow of doubt our civilization will achieve it. I call it…the world’s greatest moonshot. 
Why I started my study of meditation
I've been studying meditation since the 1990s. I was attracted to the promise meditation offers, namely zen, liberation, bliss, enlightenment and nirvana. 
What happened in Japan 1,000 years ago tells us zen was achieved by a notable number of people. We also have modern day examples of people who have achieved zen, like Thich Nhat Hanh. I’ll explain zen in the next episode.
Liberation, bliss, enlightenment and nirvana, on the other hand, are curious words. All four terms might have been achieved by the rare few, though history has yet to give us clear evidence that they have been achieved. 
Liberation is the mechanism that gives us the byproducts of bliss, enlightenment and nirvana. It means we have the wherewithal to be free from bickering, ignorance and conformity.
Bliss is the experience of an epiphany. It’s a short-term experience that comes when a remarkable liberation insight suddenly becomes a natural part of who we are. You’ll understand bliss when I explain an epiphany in episode 5. 
Enlightenment is profound understanding that naturally comes at the gate of liberation. At the gate, someone knows the mechanisms of liberation and is completing the final steps of the rite of passage. 
Nirvana is that ultimate restful feel-good outcome that comes when we are fully liberated. The word nirvana also has an alternative meaning with no relationship to liberation. It’s a state achieved through artificial means like with the drug ecstasy.
To keep this podcast simple, I’ll use the word enlightenment as our wayfinder. I’ll use the word liberation to describe the mechanism that completes the rite of passage.

Through studying meditation, I eventually found the second stage of meditation.
I saw past the chasing-our-tail interpretations and uncovered the most straightforward path from the beginner to the enlightened. I then summarized it in the first five episodes of this podcast.
This program follows the classical era techniques, which have earlier concentrations to prepare ourselves for deep meditation. These concentrations resolve the bottomless cup of thoughts that float around in our minds, which our mind wants to conclude. 
To make this program a game changer for you, get yourself a journal you will cherish. I will ask you to write concepts in your journal and you will also add your own notes that are important to you. Your journal will become your most prized possession.
You can begin by spacing the terms zen, liberation, bliss, enlightenment and nirvana on a fresh page along with your understanding of the terms learned a few minutes ago and as you listen to this podcast.
Meta 
The word meta deserves to be explained so I'll explain it to you now.
At the base level of any topic is the story. Like this is a podcast on meditation. 
What comes next are the narratives or interpretations of the story. Like, Marc doesn’t know meditation. He deviates from tradition. 
Then there is the metanarrative that tells the objective and considerate story of the narratives and it maps the transparent path forward to the future. 

Draw this in your journal:
In the center of a clean page, write the word story and draw a small circle around it. Draw a medium sized circle around the small circle and write narrative within it. Draw two other medium sized circles that overlap the first medium circle and add an S to the word narrative. Then draw a larger circle around the others and write metanarrative next to this larger circle.
If you want to see an example of these circles, visit moxiefrontier.com, download the book, The Flourishing Method, and look at page 117. 

In summary, meditation is a pursuit of the metanarrative.

History of meditation
I'll now share the history of meditation as it serves as a foundation to your understanding.

On a blank page in your journal, write The Brief history of meditation and write the main points that I share. There are eight stages.
In the 1st section, write origin and everyday meditation.
Close your eyes and imagine you are standing on a rock above a river with a spear in your hand. You are looking for a fish to swim by. 
You can see how the surface of the water distorts the rays of the sun and creates patterns of light on the bottom of the river and you see different colored rocks on the riverbed. Everything you see is distorted but you can see what you need. You wait.
You see a fish scurry by but it's outside of your target area. 
You wait.

Open your eyes.
This period of patience is meditation. You have a clear focus. Nothing is distracting your attention and you stay with this focus for a long time, which strengthens your concentration.
Remember those times when you’ve lost your phone. You stopped to concentrate on where you left it. You left the bustle of your life and put yourself into a meditative state. We do it all the time without thinking. 

In the 2nd section, write sharing meditation and 11,000 years ago.
At some point, someone, most likely an elder, realized patience and concentration—aka meditation—would be valuable to turn into a deliberate practice throughout the community.
The most likely trigger for this understanding is arguing. Arguing is two people thinking they are right and that the other is wrong—they both claim the other isn't listening. If they had patience and listened to each other with concentration, they would work out their differences and would give each other happiness. 
The true cause of our unhappiness is ourselves and each other. If it's a cold winter, we only have ourselves to blame if we don't wear the right clothing. Also, when we don't listen to each other, we cause each other grief.
Most likely, an elder would tell stories that encouraged an awareness of meditation throughout the community. Like my pole vaulting story, these stories would be supported by drawing something in the dirt. Then, the drawing in the dirt would become standardized over time.
When a drawing becomes standardized, we call it a motif.
There is a common motif that could convey such a meaning and the oldest has been dated to 11,000 years ago. Today, we say this motif conveys a master of animals. When I first saw it, I immediately saw duality and nonduality, which are meditative concepts.
The motif is of a person standing between two large cats. The cats might resemble two opposing points of view in an argument—those are dualities. The person in the middle resembles the mediator between them that encourages them to listen to each other—this person resembles nonduality…where we find happiness.

In the 3rd section, write 5,000 years ago, oral traditions and Indo-Iran. This is an area that ranges from Turkey to Bangladesh. 
Historians found syntactically similar meditative concepts across geography which gives them a common origin of 5,000 years ago.

In the 4th section, write 3,500 years ago, Northern India and The Vedas. 
Meditation first was documented in the Vedas, which is among the oldest narrative texts in the world. Within the pages are the concepts of duality and nonduality.

In the 5th section, write 2,500 years ago, Nepal, and Buddhism.
Buddha is the most symbolic representation of meditation we have today. What made Buddhism emerge and easily spread was that it added a story and mnemonics to the oral transmission of information. I’ll describe them soon.

In the 6th section, write 2,300 years ago.
Other notable variations of meditation form in India, like Hinduism and yoga. Raja and Jnana yoga are clear interpretations of parts of Buddhism.
The variations include karma, selflessness, devotion, and self- reflection.
Buddhism travels south east with Jainism (jay nism) concepts and travels north through China. As it travels north, it develops the mentor and protégé relationship and enters Japan.

In the 7th section, write 1,000 years ago, Japan and Zen Buddhism. 
Chan Buddhism enter’s Japan 1,500 years ago then the people of Japan found the second stage of meditation 1,000 years ago. They excelled through their livelihood and art, like sword making, calligraphy, sculptures, flower arranging, the tea ceremony, and more. They expressed meditation at high levels.

In the 8th section, write 300 years ago.
Eastern philosophies started being translated into western languages. This is likely the beginning of a new emergence.

This history tells us three things. The concept of duality and nonduality, the ease of spreading meditative concepts through mnemonics, and expressing the second stage of meditation through what we do. 
The central concept of meditation 
Buddhism offers the world the most simple and comprehensive form of guidance for meditation. It has its central story and two mnemonics. I’ll explain all three in a moment.
First, some of you might have already noticed that motifs and storytelling are forms of mnemonics. There is a third type of mnemonic I could distinguish though it would only clutter the current discussion. Thank you for your patience. I’ll describe the third type after episode 5. Until then, I'll continue to call the third type mnemonics.
The most central concept of meditation is nonduality. Nonduality also exists in other eastern philosophies that have no deliberate meditative practice, like Taoism. 
Buddhism shares the concept of nonduality through the story of Buddha. It’s as follows:
He grew up as a prince named Siddhartha Gotama. As a young adult, he left his royal grounds and discovered people in poverty. His conscience would not let him enjoy his good fortune so he left his aristocratic life and pursued a life of asceticism—aka selflessness—to find the solution to human suffering. After many years with no success, he sat under the Bodhi tree and meditated. Then it dawned on him that The Middle Way is where happiness is found. 

The middle way is a synonym for nonduality. It also conveys that indulgences and selflessness are dualities and are not sources of true happiness.
Metanarrative is a modern synonym for nonduality. An easier modern synonym is objectivity.
In your journal, draw a two column four row table.
In the left column, write these four synonyms in the four rows.
Nonduality, middle way, metanarrative, objectivity
In the right column, write these four terms in the four rows.
Duality, selflessness and indulgence, narratives, and different points of view.
Nonduality
Duality 
Middle way
Selflessness and indulgence
metanarrative
Narratives
Objectivity
Different points of view


When there is objectivity, people can have conversations and achieve together. When people have different points of view, they argue.
Four Ariya Truths
I will now describe the two mnemonics using modern terms.
Please note, I have to unravel some points of view as I describe the mnemonics. Thank you for your patience.
On a fresh page in your journal, write the title, The Four Ariya Truths, that’s A R I Y A.
This title is commonly translated into the Four Noble Truths so I have to explain my title. 
Ariya is the original Pali word, which denotes a person who has achieved enlightenment, which is a noun. Imagine it denotes a person who has achieved astronaut status. It would be called The Four Astronaut Truths. This context is what the translation needs to preserve.
The word noble as a noun is an aristocrat, which is not someone who has achieved enlightenment. It’s also the lifestyle Buddha himself rejected, which makes the word a poor choice. Further, many interpret the word noble as an adjective, which also loses its original context.
The best English noun to use in its place is enlightened but this word will also be interpreted as an adjective. As there is no English word that reliably preserves the original context, I’m staying with the original word. 

Below the title, write the following four truths:
Different points of view are everywhere
Ignorance is the source of different points of view 
We can end the troubles of different points of view 
Before I share the fourth, notice from these three points we are ready to get to the fourth truth.
The string of words different points of view is my translation of the pali word dukkha. This word has been translated into many synonyms like unsatisfactoriness, unease and pain. The common English word used is suffering. 
When I studied the Four Truths with the word suffering, I could feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. I felt dishonourable and I progressed at a snail's pace. When I used different points of view, I became objective and ready to put my attention on the fourth truth. 
Notice, the word suffering is a duality word with happiness. Also notice, the expression different points of view is a nonduality. We’re beginning to see the benefits of nonduality already.
Here is the fourth truth:
We end the troubles of different points of view through The Ariya Eightfold Path.
I’ll explain the Ariya Eightfold Path in a moment. 
I will first get you into a meditative state as it aids the discussion.
Close your journal and get ready to pause the podcast. 
Are you ready? Here we go.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. 
Recall the Four Ariya Truths. 
Pause the podcast now.

Did you notice you had moments when you had nothing in your consciousness like a blank page in your journal? Then, you pulled the four truths into your consciousness from nowhere one by one. They just suddenly appeared, maybe out of order, but in your consciousness, you reordered them.
What you have done is a simple form of meditation.
Before 600 years ago, note taking was not available to the average person. If you wanted to remember something like the Four Ariya Truths, you had to meditate on them. There was no other way to remember them unless you were among the lucky few that had scriptures at hand.
Today, we use paper and computers to help us meditate. You’re doing it right now with your journal.
Are you starting to understand the modern application of meditation? Instead of sitting cross legged with our eyes closed, we can concentrate on what we write in our journal. We can concentrate on our livelihood and arts like what they did in Japan 1,000 years ago. We can concentrate on learning how to pole vault and then how to pole vault to higher heights. These are all forms of meditation.

This is why people are weekend warriors, musicians, artists and anyone else with a deep passion. They have found a way to break from the status quo. Like routinely riding a bike or an electric scooter or skateboard to and from work. People subconsciously enjoy the meditative state their interests give them. When people engage in their interests for several hours at a time, they sometimes enter a flow state. It’s like a tantric meditation. When we’re in a flow state, we feel alive. Like musicians jamming together and finding that rare music territory when everything impulsively clicks—they want to ride that wave for as long as possible as there’s no experience like it.
Now, here comes the good part.
Alex Honnold is a rock climber. He took the weekend warrior approach, became what climbers respectfully call a dirtbag and, because he found and elevated his potential, he then became a professional climber. 
If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy that climbed a 3,000 foot cliff without a rope in 2017. Honnold is an example of what we can do when we meditate. It was like he was making a sword or arranging flowers in Japan 1,000 years ago. 
There is so much potential in everyone that, once people begin to realize their potential, we’ll create a critical mass that leads to achieving the world’s greatest moonshot. 

Am I giving you goosebumps? 

Goosebumps are a forerunner to an epiphany. We have goosebumps when something makes profound sense, yet our mental pathways have yet to commit to the understanding. Like seeing something we like in a storefront window but we walk by because we feel it's outside of our reach.
Epiphanies will come. I promise you’ll experience many.
Ariya Eightfold Path 
We are shifting our attention to the second mnemonic for Buddhism, which is the Ariya Eightfold Path.
The common translation is the Noble Eightfold Path and you already know why I call it the Ariya Eightfold Path.
Write this title in your journal on a fresh page and space the following eight folds evenly down the page as we'll add additional notes to them in the coming episodes.
They all begin with the word objective:
Objective view 
Objective thought 
Objective speech 
Objective action 
Objective livelihood
Objective effort 
Objective mindfulness
Objective concentration
Unlike the Four Ariya Truths that are clearly a complete idea, the Ariya Eightfold Path is not obvious, yet. Thank you for your patience. Toward the end of the next episode, you will see its value.

The word objective is my translation of the original pali word, samma. I chose this word as it’s a nonduality word. Traditionally, they use the word right, like right view, right thought, right speech and so on.
When we use right as the adjective for each fold, it reinforces dualities as it is in duality with the word wrong. It indirectly shames us as we struggle to understand the infinite possibilities of what is right. Like, what is the right view to have when parenting our kids, with the food we consume, with the media we watch, with the clothes we wear and so on. We’ll never achieve enlightenment when there are infinite possibilities for each of the eight folds. This is why many remain in the first stage of meditation.
In contrast, an objective view is straightforward. Objectivity lives in the present moment. We don’t have to know the answer beforehand, which is great as it means we can shift our attention to view, thought, speech and so on. We’ll do this soon.

Breathing
We are now shifting our attention to an earlier concentration that prepares us for deep meditation.
Imagine we're out in the woods. Then, we see a large animal, maybe a predatory animal. We would make our breath shallow to avoid being noticed. This is the same reaction to anything new. Like hearing the new ideas shared through this podcast.
Stealth mode is suited for our animalistic origins; meditation mode is for intellectuals.
A deep breath is a subconscious reminder that we are being objective—that we are leaving the fight or flight mode and becoming an enlightened person.
Take deep breaths often. I’ll encourage you from time to time when they are really important. Take a deep breath every time I drop something enlightening in your consciousness. 
Take a few deep breaths now to get yourself into the routine.
Meditation moving forward
We are now shifting our attention to meditation.

Meditation is just a concentration on one thing or many things closely related.
The Four Truths are closely related. They tell a story from the first to the fourth. The Eightfold Path has closely related topics though you likely don't see that yet.
Let’s think about multitasking for a moment. The tasks under the multitasking umbrella are not closely related. They are like juggling three or more balls, which can be done but not as easily as two balls. When we multitask, the risk of undesirable outcomes is proportional to the complexity. When we meditate on closely related topics, we’re bringing risk to zero.
When things are closely related, they are held together by their gravity. Like the Four Truths. They are a sequence. They are a whole.
The point of meditation or concentration is to recenter ourselves and return to our daily lives feeling revitalized for what comes our way. When our energy level wanes, we recenter ourselves. We just call it meditation to make it deliberate.

To develop concentration, our ancestors gave us the most simple meditation: mantras.
Now, I don't want to waste your time. I'm concentrating on the efficient path to enlightenment and skipping everything that is irrelevant to Meta Zen. If there is a related topic to what I'm discussing, like the om mantra, I’ve excluded it because it distracts us from Meta Zen. Don't start thinking you have found a shortcut. You have found something useful for a particular tradition of meditation that is a wild goose chase for Meta Zen. Pick one meditative approach and stick with it.

A mantra is just a way to train our mind to keep an idea top of mind. 
I’ll give you a great example that is also useful for Meta Zen.
A great way to repeat a mantra is by repeating it in beats of 2 and 4. Like the following:
(do a beat, tap one hand with the other)
Ob-jec-tivi-ty
Objec-tivity
ob-ject-tive (beat)

Over the next week, repeat ob-jec-tivi-ty in your mind as you walk. I also encourage you to repeat this mantra while you are falling asleep. You can do it at other times of the day as well. It’s up to you. I expect you will repeat this word a few thousand times over the next several days. Then, you will begin consciously reflecting on things far more objectively.
Perseverance 101 
Throughout our lives, we encounter stressful situations. Like losing our phone and getting drawn into an argument. Breathing is a great way to recenter ourselves. 
Another great resource is objectivity. 
In stressful situations, exercising objectivity sometimes takes perseverance. 
For example, I tell many people that it’s called the Ariya Eightfold Path and this is an uphill battle at the time of this writing. 
Do I give in to the established point of view and put an end to my liberation
Or do I use patience to persevere and find a way to unravel points of view?
Notice, patience is a synonym for perseverance. 
For the rare few that think I’m sharing a point of view…
Is the use of the word Ariya a point of view or have I removed the point of view and restored it to the way it always has been? 
What about the words dukkha and samma? Are people still arguing over their points of view or are people waking up from the melodrama and are taking leaps forward?
There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.
CTW Shower
I’m going to give you an exercise that will develop your perseverance. 
It’s called the CTW Shower.
CTW means cold then warm. 
When you turn on the shower, walk into the cold water and let it rain on your chest until the water warms up. No problem. You will survive.
Every time you have a shower other than when you’re sick or injured, have the CTW Shower. 
If it’s a cold winter morning, you will survive. 
Continue to have the CTW Shower until the day you die. You don’t get time off for good behavior. 
If you can’t have the CTW Shower until the day you die, you don’t know perseverance. You know entitlement in its place and it will encourage you to defend your entitlement, which is arguing.
Write this down:
If you don’t know perseverance, you know entitlement in its place.

Standup, close your eyes and imagine having a CTW Shower as I explain it to you now.
You are disrobed. put your hand on the dial and turn it. Immediately walk into the shower. The water first rains on your feet and comes up your legs to your chest. 
Breathe. 

Negative thoughts might come but you put them aside because you are objective. The water is cold, which it is, and you will survive. 

The water goes from cold to cool then warm and you then adjust the dial to the temperature you like.
Aaaah. The warm water. You're fine. 15 seconds of your day tells you that you still know how to persevere.

Open your eyes.
In months from now, the negative points of view that pop into your mind will be replaced with pure objectivity. 
While having a shower is still an entitlement, you are now earning your good fortune.
Takeaway 
This completes the first episode. You have a good understanding of meditation and its history plus you are starting to understand how ancient people used meditation and how we’ve uncovered more advanced ways to meditate like mnemonics, writing in a journal and expressing yourself through your interests.
In this episode, I’ve given you a few neurohacks and they are as follows:
Neurohack #1
Objectivity.
After our basic needs, nothing is more important than objectivity. Without objectivity, we don’t even know what love is.
Neurohack #2
Consciousness.
You are conscious of the history of meditation. You are becoming conscious of what leads to zen, liberation, bliss, enlightenment and nirvana. Though developing your consciousness, you will circumvent ignorance.
This neurohack is what created the emergence of Buddhism and the emergence of Zen Buddhism.
Neurohack #3
Your homework is to repeat the mantra ob-jec-tivi-ty when you walk, when you go to sleep and whenever you need to. Over the next few days I expect you’ll have said it a few thousand times over. 
Neurohack #4
Your other homework is to have the CTW Shower every time you have a shower for the rest of your life except when you are sick or injured. This will develop your perseverance.
You need perseverance to achieve zen, liberation, bliss, enlightenment, nirvana and anything else your heart desires. Without perseverance, you’ll quit or parade around like the emperor with new clothes.
Neurohack #5
Remember to breathe. The more you breathe a nice relaxing breath, your body will do it without you thinking.
On a fresh page in your journal, write The Neurohacks and write them down:
Objectivity
Consciousness
Mantras
The CTW Shower
breathing
I’ll share more in later episodes.
Closure
Did you know Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a Zen Buddhist? 
Here's a message for leaders: visit moxiefrontier.com and look at the resources available. They will change the game for business. 
What if you are of a different faith than Buddhism? 
You can be like Leonard Cohen who maintained his Jewish faith and practiced Zen Buddhism.
While Buddhism is classified as a religion, it has no deities. Buddhism, Zen and Meta Zen can intermix with other faiths.  You can be a Meta Zen Christian, Meta Zen Hindu, Meta Zen Muslim, Meta Zen Buddhist, Meta Zen mechanic, Meta Zen accountant, and so on. 

When this podcast becomes important to you, visit moxiefrontier.com and click on express thanks and buy some stickers while you’re there. Thank you.