Guest host Sah D’Simone sits down with Sam Bercholz for a candid, funny, and deeply moving conversation on awakening amid the messiness of ordinary life.
Together, Sah and Sam explore deity practice, ecstatic dance, compassion without performance, basic goodness, and the foundations shared by Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Sam also shares stories of his teachers, the natural world, political anxiety, humility, and the importance of not making oneself “somebody special.”
The conversation turns tenderly toward aging, death, rebirth, and how Buddhist practice can help us meet impermanence without giving in to hope, fear, or spiritual certainty. Through it all, Sam offers a simple orientation: Dharma is not about becoming holy. It is about being present, kind, and available to others.
Theirs is a conversation for fellow travelers seeking spaciousness, honesty, and a more awake way of living.
