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Upbuilding the Self

Nonviolent Communication #4:

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About the Episode

In the fourth and final episode of the Nonviolent Communication miniseries, Michael, Hari Prasada, and Rasanath explore why the NVC framework will only take us so far. They discuss how our needs are never really satisfied, our yearning for eternity, the common way that people misuse gratitude as a practice, the need for spiritual practice, and steps we can take to help us on the path toward meeting the deepest need that we have.

In This Episode

  • Hari Prasada Das
  • Michael Sloyer
  • Rasanath Das

Highlights

  1. 1:10

    Recap of the Nonviolent Communication miniseries

  2. 2:20

    Why NVC will only take you so far

  3. 6:40

    How using gratitude can be a misguided strategy to make us feel better

  4. 9:40

    “Our only guide is our homesickness.” - Hermann Hesse

  5. 10:00

    An Existential Crisis is an Opportunity for Growth

  6. 11:20

    The spectrum between the ego and the self

  7. 15:30

    Love as the deepest need

  8. 21:40

    The ephemerality of meeting our material needs

  9. 23:30

    Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophy that: We are filled with infinite longings and a finite capacity to fulfill them

  10. 27:00

    Meeting our spiritual needs through spiritual practice

  11. 35:00

    Moral relativism

  12. 37:30

    Closing thoughts

Quotes

“The infinite nature of our needs runs so deep that it can’t be fully met by anyone in this world.”

— Rasanath

“The limitation with material things is the depth to which they can meet our needs.”

— Rasanath

“The only thing we can do is recognize that there’s something in us that is begging for eternity, and which will only be satisfied when we touch eternity.”

— Hari Prasada

“Spiritual practice will not make full sense without the basics of understanding what spirituality is.”

— Rasanath