Podcast: Buddhism & Training for Happiness
Our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast for August features a conversation with Dr. Ryan Hastings titled Buddhism: Training for Happiness.
Although his scientific training is in meteorology, Dr. Hastings describes his lifelong interest in modern Buddhist practice through the lens of interstellar travel. In particular, Ryan points out that long-term strategies for space exploration–taking place over generations of human time–will require much more than scientific prowess, and even modest space exploration endeavors of recent time have shown the importance of human psychology. Ryan discusses some of the tenets of Buddhist practice from his own perspective and also postulates how such ideas might form the basis for a (non-religious) training program to help foster effective long-term space exploration.