Ego and attachment

Jimmy NguyenVietnamese-American former banker and registered nurse turned college counselor who spent about a year at a Buddhist monastery (first half of the conversation)

• Nguyen recommended acknowledging what one appreciates about a person before raising a grievance, so both egos become less defensive.

  “there's a practice of watering flowers before you, you know, compost, right?”

  Ctrl-Alt-Reset: Episode 3: From Chaos to Clarity: Jimmy’s Journey of Awakening (Apr 10, 2025) · Listen from 2:06:39

• Nguyen relayed the Dalai Lama's teaching that wise selfishness means caring for oneself while knowing one is connected to everything.

  “There's two types of selfishness in the world. There's wise and unwise selfishness. Our goal is to be wise selfishness”

  Ctrl-Alt-Reset: Episode 3: From Chaos to Clarity: Jimmy’s Journey of Awakening (Apr 10, 2025) · Listen from 2:04:28

• Nguyen said people often hurt those they love because they love them according to their own pain rather than the other person's.

  “But we're loving them based off our own pain and our own suffering, not their pain and their suffering”

  Ctrl-Alt-Reset: Episode 3: From Chaos to Clarity: Jimmy’s Journey of Awakening (Apr 10, 2025) · Listen from 1:25:02

• Nguyen said he quit his corporate banking job after the retreat because it did not align with what made him happy.

  “I actually turned that three day weekend to quitting my corporate job at a bank”

  Ctrl-Alt-Reset: Episode 3: From Chaos to Clarity: Jimmy’s Journey of Awakening (Apr 10, 2025) · Listen from 1:20:52