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Outrageous Wellness
Explore out-of-the-box concepts with a mission to inspire authentic living and outrageous wellness. Join us as we share our unique perspectives and knowledge on how to inspire ourselves to discover the best version of ourselves. Find out how to use spiritual tools like tarot, Jungian archetypes and other techniques to reframe stress; incorporate mindfulness and astrology to calm your anxious inner child; create a crystal grid to set an intention and manifest success in your career. We are delighted to be on this journey of exploration, and to discover creative ways to heal and reach your highest potential.
Outrageous Wellness
Harmony Through Hip-Hop: Musician Born I on Creativity, Spirituality, and Self-Compassion
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Experience a transformative journey with Ofosu Jones-Quartey, also known as Born I, as he bridges the worlds of hip-hop and spirituality. His roots as a child of Ghanaian immigrants in Washington DC and introduction to Buddhism by his mother paved the way for a unique career as a meditation teacher and author. Our conversation unpacks the essence of integrating creative expression with spiritual growth, particularly through sound baths at the Eaton Hotel, where Ofosu blends music and meditation into an inspiring harmony.
Discover the liberating power of the mantra "You Are Enough" as we explore the universality of self-acceptance struggles. Our dialogue delves into overcoming shame and inadequacy through art, music, and meditation as therapeutic outlets. By embracing self-compassion, we emphasize the enduring truth that our intrinsic worth remains untouched by past traumas. This discussion offers a gentle reminder of the importance of self-love and the transformative potential of recognizing our inherent value.
In an exploration of spirituality's role in personal development, we touch on interdimensional beings within Buddhism and their representation of our highest selves. Ofosu shares his personal challenges with meditation, and the journey from suffering to self-love. The conversation highlights the essential role of community support and introspection in navigating spiritual and mental health challenges.
We invite you to pre-order his book Lyrical Dharma which is coming out in July of 2025, and keep an ear open for his upcoming 2025 album.
You can find Born I / Ofosu on Instagram at bornimusic, at his website bornimusic.com, and on Spotify as Born I
You can find Kristine Erickson on Instagram at outrageous_wellness
Stay tuned for information on Sherry White as she rebrands!
Hello and welcome to Outrageous Wellness. My name is Christine Erickson. I'm a psychologist, tarot reader, human design expert and spiritual guide, and I'm here today with Ofosu. Please introduce yourself.
Speaker 2Hi, how are you? My name is Ofosu Jones-Corte, also known as Born I. I am a hip-hop artist, a meditation teacher, an author and just general creative, and a lot of the work that I do in creativity overlaps with the work that I do in wellness and spirituality, so I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1Yes, I'm excited to have you here. I met you last year and you do sound baths at the Eaton Hotel in DC. Yes, on some Saturday afternoons. Yes, on some Saturday afternoons. And my friend Allison brought me there and I loved it and became a bit of a fangirl again and asked if you would be willing to come on here and talk about what you, who you are, what you do um, your music, your upcoming book and all the things. So uh so first of all, I think, can you tell me a little bit about where you're from and how you came to this place?
Speaker 2Yeah, okay, well, um, yeah, I remember first meeting you through Allison and, and I think there were some more friends that came to the whole group yes, the whole group, yeah, so that's that's um, that's a memory that, uh, that stays with me and it was just really great to have all of your energy there and to feel that resonance with you and with all of your friends and your crew, and great to see you again and I'm glad that this connection continues and to get to be a part of some of your work also. Um, so for me, I am, I was, I'm originally from the Washington DC area. I am a child of immigrants. My parents are from Ghana, in West Africa. Uh, they met here in the States and, uh, they still live here. Um, in the States, and they still live here, and I currently live in Rockville, maryland.
Speaker 2But I grew up right outside of DC, in Silver. I was born in DC, I grew up in Silver Spring, went to high school in DC at St John's, and then went to American University. So I stayed pretty local this whole time and my mother introduced me to Buddhism when I was pretty young, like in my single digits, somewhere between six and nine years old. She became a practicing Buddhist in the Nichiren tradition, or sometimes known as Soka Gakkai, and that tradition involves a lot of chanting of the mantra Nam-myoho-renge-kyu, which is translated as homage to the lotus of the wonderful law, translated as homage to the, the lotus of the wonderful law, um and uh, and so I remember going to temples with her and just kind of being, um, enchanted by the atmosphere there and um, oh yeah no pun intended on all enchanted by all the chanting. And you know, there was also kind of an interesting correlation because a lot of the heroes that I was looking up to the martial artists on Black Belt Theater that I would watch on the weekends, and the Ninja Turtles, and you know a lot of them were also practicing meditation as a way to um help them themselves on their journey. So I, I had this kind of correlation between heroism and meditation.
Speaker 2And then also, um, yeah, just the comfort of my mom, and, you know, the practice of spirituality, um, and I, I, I was fortunate in that, um, my, oh yeah, I'm home. My kids are home cause of the snow day, so you might hear them in the background. Um, but I was, uh, I was fortunate in that my parents were not very strict or dogmatic when it came to spirituality and I had an opportunity to be, my curiosity was encouraged and I had an opportunity to explore different spiritual paths and I did paths and I did. You know, as I got older, you know, I went through many different doorways of spirituality and kind of like it's long story short, when I was in college, my wife and I my then girlfriend, now wife, you know we were by the time we were seniors, we were expecting our first child, so there was something about her coming into the world that seemed like it was really pushing me back to the spirituality of my own youth, my own youth and, um, and so I started practicing, uh, studying and practicing Buddhism in earnest, um, around around that time, yeah, and and right when life was just beginning for me as an adult, um, and I was also really beginning my career as a, as an artist in in earnest around that time, career as a, as an artist in in earnest around that time, um, uh, so my spiritual life, my life as a parent, my life as an artist, they all kind of coalesced around around the same time and it's just been that journey, um, ever since, um, I think during the pandemic I wanted I I went through so many different.
Speaker 2I'm sorry if I'm rambling a bit.
Speaker 1No, not at all.
Speaker 2As an artist, and as a hip-hop artist specifically, I think there was a time when I wanted my spirituality to be the main crux of my artistry, but then there was a way in which I was approaching that.
Speaker 2That wasn't coming out of my lived experience, it was more coming out of my aspirational imagination and and so as I, as I grew in my artistry, I kind of tried to to think about legacy and really like my purpose and just decided that I was going to try to put these two worlds together so that they weren't separate you know, that everything was going to be an expression of my creativity and my spirituality and that is. There's a direct through line from that to us meeting, because you know, what I'm offering in those sound baths at Eaton is a mix of music and meditation and some inspiration.
Speaker 2So yeah that's the long answer to your short question.
Speaker 1That's okay. No, I love the long answer and I love the rambling too. You know, like following those, uh, those side paths the tracks in the woods. Um, because your, your sound baths are very unique. They're say I'm going to a sound bath they don't think about what you offer in your sound baths, which is definitely an experience, and the woman who plays the harp with you while you're there. She's amazing as well, kim.
Speaker 2Sator. Yes, shout out to Kim.
Speaker 1Exactly. Yes, she's amazing and I know she's a DC native as well. Yes, so, um, so what? So my question, after listening to your, your story, your origin story, um is uh, I think that's fitting. Can you know story is? I think that's fitting, and you know when we're talking about. You know Ninja Turtles, and and and other superheroes. You, when did you start doing the sound baths at the Eaton? How did that come about? And we can get to your music later, but I'm just curious about how that unfolded for you.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm wondering myself, I'm like, well, how did that happen? I did, it's been a, it's been a while, okay, so, um, I think in so right before the pandemic, so 2019, december, yeah, so I think, because I did a show at the Kennedy Center right before 20. So, yeah, december 2019, I did that show at the Kennedy Center and Kim was there playing harp and I was playing my singing bowls. So I think I'm using that as a marker to explore, like, when did I start experimenting with bringing singing bowls into my art? And it has to be early 2019, late 2018, where I think I just bought one bowl and I was curious, I, I, I'm always interested in whether, in, in how, um, rap lyrics can be, um, oh, what's the word can, can, can be delivered um, in various mediums and various genres.
Speaker 2So up until that point, I had been really doing a lot of work in electronic music, which is much more sort of maximal sounds. And, um, I saw, I think I saw somebody play it might have been Jenny, aiko or Lizzo or somebody on Instagram, you know singing while playing a singing bowl and I was like I wonder if you could rap over those. So, okay, I'll pause. Let this siren pass Prayers for whoever those sirens are for, yeah, this siren pass prayers for whoever those sirens are for, um, yeah, and so I think I just started having fun with my yeah, my one purple singing bowl back here.
Speaker 1I see that in the corner.
Speaker 2Yes, and um. And then you know, as I, I was like well, what would it? What would it? This is, this is, this is melody and percussion, but it also could be harmony and percussion, so let me buy another singing bowl. So I just slowly started collecting and experimenting with these and I think I think I was talking to my manager and we were really one of the things that I feel like I hadn't been cultivating for myself as an artist is a sense of community and a sense of stability, um with with my offerings, um, and I thought that maybe if we could find a home base where I could continue to develop this idea and um and have uh and make it a community offering um regularly, that would be great.
Speaker 2So I think we went to a few. We were thinking about museums, we were thinking about just all sorts of places. I must have visited Eaton and got the bug that know that this could be uh a spot, and um ended up speaking to the former wellness coordinator there. We did one thing, um, and it was very oh. We did one thing. It was very poorly attended. We had one person come or two, two, and so I wanted to cancel and and kim said no kim is a very sort of traditional musician, and so she said, no, you know, we said we were going to do it.
Speaker 2Even if it's for one person, we're going to do it. So we came and we planted that seed and then we didn't come back. There were some transitions with with management there, transitions with uh, with management there and um, and then one day they asked us to come back and it's, and by that time we had done a few shows, kim and I had also developed a, a synchronistic rapport with one another, um, and a lot of trust and ease with one another. So I think, coming when we came back to Eaton, it was the perfect time because we had performed together a lot by that time and yeah, so it was also its own winding road. But now we're in our second year of the residency and hoping it continues. Yeah, yes, eaton Hotel is an amazing place. I love it. Year of the residency and hoping it continues.
Speaker 1Yes, eaton Hotel is an amazing place. I love it. I love the. I love everything about it. It's very inclusive. It's very much hooked into the community. In DC we're not talking to the political community, we're talking the actual community. You know what I mean. And, um, and you know when you talked about only one or two people showing up to your first show, uh, you know I mean, I know how. You know having events. You know for many years, uh, you know over the past 10 or 15 years, that you know it may start small, but if you keep moving forward, it will grow. You know, plant the seed and it will grow, just like you you said right there.
Speaker 1So I'm really glad that you kept moving forward and weren't discouraged forward and weren't discouraged.
Speaker 2Yeah, it was, it's. It was it's introducing a new concept, and so it was a point of vulnerability for me also, because I was sort of relying on my, a sense of comfort in the, in the, in the, in the electronic music space where I was operating, the crowd sizes, you know it, that's it's going. It's like anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of people, and this was um. This is a much more intimate offering. Um, it's maybe like 30 people max at a at one of the sound baths. Um, and so to start in a much smaller room and have a and have an audience of one or two, was it's almost like the universe asking a question like okay, well, is this the path that you're, you know, committed to Um, because, and if you can show up in this one way, you know, then we'll keep opening up.
Speaker 1So, yeah, so it's been and it's been a just a very rewarding journey for sure yeah, I'm sure it has been, because the soundbads reach a whole, whole, different um, community of people too who wouldn't necessarily, you know, be familiar with your music other than that. And the word of mouth is, you know, I imagine that your sound baths are sold out now.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, Generally yeah.
Speaker 1Yes, yes, so talk to me a little bit more. Well, actually, let's talk about your music, your music in general, because it's it A lot of it is very much, very much influenced by Buddhist philosophy and and spirituality. Do you mind, if I read this piece? So, one of one of one of the songs that you did at this past sound bath? It's from your 2023 album. Uh, it's called avalo and there's a part at the end where I believe you it's your wife it's my.
Speaker 2My wife starts it and then, midway through, my daughter completes it. So there's this little there's like this passing of the baton of wisdom between one and the other.
Speaker 1I love that and the words are so I mean they make me choke up every time I hear them, because they're they're so beautiful and the message is so amazing. And if you don't mind, I can I just recite that piece.
Speaker 2Please. I'm honored.
Speaker 1Okay, oh, my beloved one, my inner child. I know that you were afraid. I know how much you hurt, how much it hurts every day. I know your wish, your wish to be free, your wish to be healed. Walk with me and I will help you find your way. I want you to know that everything is okay. The things that happened to you weren't your fault. You don't have to hurt yourself because of them. I want you to remember to be gentle to yourself, to love yourself as if you were your own precious child, beloved one. There's nothing to be afraid of.
Speaker 1Look around you. The entire world, the entire cosmos, is who you are. The entire cosmos is who you are the wind, the clouds, the flowers, the storms, the love, the agony all of this is you. You are already free. You are already exactly who you want to be. Look inside and see yourself. Inside you is an ocean of love and understanding. Look inside you and you will find the buddha sattva, and I just find that so beautiful. That passage right there, and I feel like that, yeah, and I feel like it, um, it sort of is part of all of your like on Instagram when you post. There is this energy and this love in everything that you post.
Embracing Self-Acceptance Through Art
Speaker 2Thank you. I used to cry almost all the time when that would play.
Speaker 1Yes, I can imagine.
Speaker 2And it's and it's still just hearing you read it back and because you know in writing that it really I remember the walk I was on when I, when those words came through me and I really do, um, feel it was much more of like receiving a message and transcribing it than um me coming up with anything, um, and and yeah, it's you know so much of and I and I needed, it's like I needed those words in that exact moment, and so I felt so grateful to just have them unfold and then to to I was just I into my phone to record the words that were coming through and then to read them back was like, yeah, I personally really needed this. So, yeah, it's rare that I would just sort of let a monologue play in a live performance, but I feel like the message is important and just hearing my wife and daughter deliver that message is very, very special to me.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 2You are enough, yeah, and this really speaks to that, that you are enough, and's a. It's a riddle and the answer to the riddle at the same time for me, cause I sometimes I know exactly what it means, and sometimes I I'm not sure, and um, and then, and then I get the experience of remembering again, and then I have the experience of of sort of of of losing it and then coming back, and every time it comes back it's like, oh, wow, it's, it's, it's, it's um, it's an experiential um, knowing, knowing and, I think, an essential question or quest. It was something that I just started typing on social media years ago and, and I said, I'm not the, I'm not the person who came up with that phrase and I don't know the exact origin of it, but it was something that I just a message that I thought was universal and important to share. As I was continuing, as I have continued in my journey as a meditation teacher, I've noticed that not only me but other people have had challenges in just accepting themselves for who they are Warts and all also triumphs and all you know, it's just, it's it for people to really embrace, um, who they are in each moment, and so sometimes I would just post those words you are enough. Um, as a, as just my little beacon out there, and it seemed to resonate with people. It seemed to be a simple, powerful statement.
Speaker 2So when I was deciding to reshape how I approach music and thinking that it would probably be the easiest thing to do to release my music independently, so I wouldn't have to explain you know Buddhist spiritual hip hop to a record label, so I wouldn't have to explain. You know Buddhist spiritual hip hop to a record label, I thought about, well, what would you, what would I like to call my, my imprint? And I thought about a few different things which I can't remember anymore, but they were all compelling and neat, but you Are Enough, felt just it, just had that feeling that like, yeah, this is the message that I want to offer, and so I, I it's the, it's, it is, it's, it's become kind of like my imprint. It's the name of my record label, but it's also the name of my clothing company. It's um and it's it's just my general message to myself and to the world.
Speaker 2Um, also, it helps me kind of focus. Um, it's the light that, that, uh, that enters the prism of all of my work, so that it's the same beam of light, but it gets. It can be scattered in multiple directions or achieved in multiple iterations, because I know what the central message is. So, whether it's a book, whether it's clothing, whether it's jewelry, whether it's an album whatever, whether it's a sound bath, whatever it, it is that same central message is there. And that makes me, that gives me, a lot of artistic freedom, because I already know the core of what I want to offer. And now it's now I have the fun of deciding how to offer it.
Speaker 1Yeah, so much of us walk around with shame somewhere in inside of us or even at our core, and maybe it's shame that we don't even know that we have. But then that message you are enough, really I think that's why it resonates with so many people is they need to hear that. We all need to hear that. We all need to hear that we are enough and that, as these lyrics in this monologue say, you know that the things that happened to you weren't your fault. So many people are struggling with that concept. So and I the idea of people walking around thinking that they aren't good enough because of something that happened to them that they had no control over or is continually happening to them, you know, just because they exist in the world um, that hurts my heart and uh, and, and you are enough. Tells people that, yes, it, it gives them permission to be okay yeah with who they are that is really beautifully said.
Speaker 2And yeah, I feel, um, yeah know, a depth of emotion, just because it comes from my own experience.
Speaker 2We take on and how much we carry. That really isn't something that we ask for at all, but we take ownership for the impacts that trauma leaves us with and have a hard time taking ownership of our basic goodness and just our basic humanity and having compassion for ourselves, Because it could be also the shame. The sense of shame that trauma brings can be compounded by the way in which we express unresolved trauma. It could be that you know we're, that we end up causing harm ourselves in, in our relationships or in our work or whatever. And and then you know there's this sense, you know we, we, we lose the through line and it's just like I am not enough, I'm not good enough, or you know there's something fundamentally, you know, flawed about me. So I've experienced those feelings in my music. Is me kind of expressing my own internal process and hoping that it has a universal, um, um, uh, yeah, a universal appeal, or that it can, just that it can also be, be beneficial to others.
Speaker 1Yeah, yes, who is your audience when you write? When I write Because yeah, because you know, I feel it speaks to everybody, but that doesn't mean that you're consciously speaking to everybody when you write. So who are you thinking of?
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, you know a big inspiration for what? How I've been approaching my art recently. Liz Ash, who is a great marketing mind and because just she has such an organic view of how artists develop and share their art. She used to talk to me about the confession and the argument, you know, and having that, having those two, those two approaches, being alive in whatever you create. So a confession is basically to say without fear that this is who I am, and then the argument of, like, this is why I am the way that I am, and that if you are able to communicate both the confession and the argument, you can really speak to the largest amount of people. So that I feel like, definitely in my first album, in this Moment, I was really focusing on that approach, and also that approach had kind of become second nature for my second album, amida. So that approach had kind of become second nature for my second album, amida, and my most recent upcoming album, which is tentatively titled Como Rebi it's a Japanese word that means the sunlight coming through the trees.
Speaker 2Rick Rubin, the famous producer, meditator, philosopher. He has been talking a lot about creating art really for yourself, that you are the number one audience member for the art that you create and by creating something so deeply personal, the counterintuitive impact happens, happens that it becomes relatable to everybody, because they can sense that you're not trying to manipulate them into seeing your point of view, but you're just expressing your point of view, you're just expressing your own heart. So this new album, um, and I think with all of these most recent projects, I've really just been considering my own healing process, my own self-expression, um, and when I do consider my audience, I think I really want to continue. For for people who are on a spiritual path, considering a spiritual path, um, um have have abandoned the spiritual path but, you know, maybe are curious about returning. I wanted to create music that could be a companion for anybody who is on some kind of spiritual journey or some kind of journey of self-discovery, and to do it in a way that is not um sugarcoating the process.
Speaker 2You know, but it's that, it's just. This is about looking at your life, your mind, your body, your heart and your actions. And audience is first myself and then those who are on a journey of self discovery or awakening in some way, shape or form.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's amazing how just being authentic in the world can be inspiring for other people. Being authentic in the world can be inspiring for other people. Another thing that I've learned is that being transparent with your own healing process can be inspiring to other people Like they did it, so I can do it as well. So that's part of what you're offering, I think, through your music and through all of the other things that you're doing. You have a book that's coming out too, so I'm excited to talk about that as well.
Speaker 2Sure sure, this book. So this is going to be my third book, my first non children's book. So my previous, my first book was a self-published children's book called you are enough. Um, the second book was published uh, through story publishing, and it's called love, your amazing self.
Speaker 2Um and this book is coming out on parallax pressax Press in July and one part art. There's going to be artwork and pictures and things you know throughout, and the lyrics from my most from the last three albums well, from my last two and most, and uh, the lyrics from my most from the last three albums well, from my last two and most, and upcoming album, um, will be there. And then some of the lyrics will have backstories and you know, just just or the, or the writing process, um, attached, and some of the lyrics are just there to speak for themselves attached, and some of the lyrics are just there to speak for themselves. And um, yeah, it's, it's interesting that you bring up this uh idea about transparency, because there is. I try to be transparent about my, my own, um, yeah, just my own path and process in my music, and then the book gives me even more opportunity to do that. So there's a feeling of vulnerability, for sure, um, in sharing, um about my mental health journey.
Speaker 2I, I, I was diagnosed with a very specific type of OCD, um, uh, about a year, two years ago, and you know. Sharing about that, sharing about, you know, issues that I've had with drugs and alcohol, sharing about my own challenges, my own traumatic experiences of my youth and you know all of that stuff and thinking like, oh, my parents are going to read this, or you know, my kids might read this, you know at some point, and um, but it's all, it's the truth.
Speaker 2You know it's, and I, what I found as I was, as I was coming to the end of the book, is like actually feel like these stories don't have ownership over me anymore. Being able to write about them, to have made songs about them and now to have gone back and processed them again through the writing process, I really do feel a sense of liberation around a lot of them, and so the book was a healing journey for me and I hope that it's a um, it's like I said it's, it's very unique and um, and I and I hope people enjoy it. Yeah, so it's called lyrical Dharma and it'll be out in July.
Speaker 1Yes, I'm excited. I'm excited about seeing it when it comes out. Um, I have my own copy. Maybe I'll bring it to one of your sound baths and have you sign.
Speaker 2We'll definitely do some kind of special event when it comes out.
Speaker 1Yeah, that'll be great, that that would be great. I would. I would be totally down for coming out for that. Um, so I, you know, it's like I had like all of these things that I wanted to ask you during our time and I was like, ok, I got all my questions, my specific questions, in. So I just want to just, you know, circle back and, first of all, I ask you about anything else specific that you may want to say, and then and then circle back and and talk about some of the things that that I wanted to go back to.
Speaker 2No, nothing specific. This is I've. I've really been enjoying where, where we've been going. So, um yeah, ask, ask away.
Speaker 1Okay, all right. Um so one one question that I have and you know, I don't know if you're a little, it's a bit of a woo woo question, but I'm cool.
Speaker 2I'm cool with woo woo, so good.
Speaker 1Okay, all right, all right. So, um, do you have, like you talked about? Um, when, when these particular words came to you and you felt like you were, you were more of a channel for something, um than than that they were words that came from you? Um, so what is what is your view on? Um? You know angels or spirit guides, that kind of thing? Um, you know what is it that's speaking through you or using you as an instrument? Um, so yeah, I've.
Speaker 2You know, I've had some pretty interesting experiences, um, with um. Yeah, it's hard to articulate um because it just it's, it sounds, it doesn't sound rational at all, but, um, there've been a few instances where people who have passed away, um I have, who are close to people that I'm very close to, um, I have felt their energy speak through me, um, and the things that I have said, only they would have known. Um, so between me and the person I was talking to there is a sense of no, I'm in touch with that other dimension and it's not something that I have, that I it's not something that I take for granted or actively try to be in touch with, because I think that it is for some people, that really is their path, and for me, I think it's important that I'm in touch with the fact that that dimension exists and I'm in. A lot of my practice is around being okay with the mystery. I love that, yeah, and so to that point, behind me on my wall are different Buddhist bodhisattvas. So there's the Buddha of infinite light, amitabha or Amida, and then to his left and his right on my wall are Avalokiteshvara, different manifestations of Avalokiteshvara the Avalokiteshvara with four arms.
Speaker 2Avalokiteshvara with a thousand arms, and that's the Bodhisattva that I was referencing in the song Avalokiteshvara, and Avalokiteshvara represents the energy of enlightened compassion, amitabha represents the energy of enlightened awareness or wisdom, and in certain Buddhist traditions, these beings are not just seen as energies but actual entities, and the Dalai Lama, for instance, is believed to be a manifestation of Avalokiteshvara.
Speaker 2And so I think the most honest answer I can give is, when it comes to angels or, you know, interdimensional beings, um, I don't, I don't know, but um, but I, I in the, in the, in the, from the, from the Buddhist perspective, which is the perspective that I feel most comfortable speaking from all of any interdimensional energy or entity, any celestial bodhisattva or angel sometimes they're called devas.
Speaker 2They are Also, they are ultimately expressions of our own true nature, just like I mentioned, like the light that gets refracted through a prism, and that prism gives off this miraculous display of various colors and shapes, but it's really a single light, that is, that is the source of that display. I think the same thing applies when we're talking about these entities and energies that they are the highest expressions of who we are and it is our. If we could have the bird's eye view, it would be like ourselves, our highest selves, talking to our basic selves. I see, yes, vantage point, it might seem like it's coming from another place or another dimension, but it's really, um, ultimately us, um pouring love back into us. So that's, that's my thought on it.
Speaker 1That's beautiful. I love that. I love that. Um, we let's. I know that. I know that your time is uh, that you have other things that you need to get to today.
Speaker 2Did you have any other like burning questions? We can go like another five, ten minutes.
Speaker 1Okay, let's do that. So, hmm, all kinds of questions. All kinds of questions you were introduced to Buddhism when you were a child and you still follow that path about doubts that you've had along the way, spiritual crises and how that has influenced your view of your faith.
Speaker 2Wow, no one has ever asked me that question before. So that is, that is a wonderful question. Wow, um, I think I think so. One thing that had in my practice, um, in in my Buddhist practice a lot of the early years of my practice I was really striving and putting a lot of kind of pressure on myself to be a good meditator, to be a diligent meditator, to have a consistent deep meditation practice, and I was doing I was sort of over-efforting without the support of community, and that was definitely. I have compassion for myself in retrospect, but it was definitely a misguided approach. I was just trying to figure everything out on my own and I was bumping it up against this undiagnosed mental health condition which uh, my, my undiagnosed OCD, which has, uh, which one of the symptoms is, you know, negative, intrusive thoughts.
Speaker 2So I was experiencing these negative thoughts and experiencing a lot of shame around them and a lot of anxiety, and my meditation cushion was like the battleground where I was doing battle with my mind. Basically, it wasn't a place of peace or insight, it was really a place of anguish and and that that, those years of anguish, I think I would have some glimpses of peace, or or or understanding and really a desire to figure things out. You know that was keeping me coming back to the, to my seat.
Speaker 2And another symptom of the OCD is constantly checking so it was it would be like my meditation practice would be another, would just be a big symptom of the condition, like I'm coming back to check, you know, is my mind okay? Is you know? Is my mind gonna say anything terrible? And it always would, and I'd always feel bad, and so I think my practice after a while stopped really being Buddhism and it started just being one big OCD episode. But the beauty of it was that I really got to the end of my rope, I got to a place of deep suffering and, oh, is that someone? Oh, sorry, one second, hi, serio, can I call you in five minutes? Okay, okay, I'm wrapping up, I'm wrapping up an interview and I'll call you right back. Okay, thank you, okay, bye, okay bye.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, that's um, I'm learning to sew a what's called a rakasu in uh. In zen buddhism. It's a. It's like a ceremonial um cloth that represents you having taken vows in the zen tradition, and I'm trying I'm just on my like, which I'm on this like a practice cloth and I am not doing a good job. So, um, so one of the one of the uh, one of the members of the Zen community, um, is is going to help me out. So that's kind of what I'm even talking about right now.
Speaker 2It's just like relying on community support, you know to, to help you and to kind of and to normalize having challenges. I just was just really in this isolated place and, um, uh, but what it the the big gift of it all was that it brought me to this place of self-compassion, of learning. I don't know if I was doing Buddhism anymore, I don't know what I was doing. I know I was suffering and I just started experimenting with saying I love you to myself, a dramatic impact on the suffering I was experiencing. So that began to shape my practice more, where I was just learning to talk to myself like a friend and really developing a kind inner voice that could meet the unkind voice and sort of restore some balance, unkind voice and and and sort of restore some balance. It wasn't that alone. You know, therapy and ultimately medication have been really helpful, but I think, without discovering this doorway of self compassion through the intense suffering that I was experiencing in my practice, I don't think these different treatments would have been as effective.
Speaker 2Um, it did make me, it did make me wonder was my Buddhist practice helping or hurting? Um, was, was I? Was I better off, having never, you know, entered this path at all? And when I do struggle. Sometimes that question comes up. What it has done for me, though, is it makes me ask well, why are you doing this in the first place? Like, what is the? What's the goal here? And the, the, the. The most liberating um approach, um, which I've been able to find, starting kind of on my own and then really feeling um. Uh, feeling validated through my practice of, through my, my my burgeoning practice in zen buddhism, because I practice in a few different traditions over time um is that we don't there's no, the path is the goal.
Speaker 2we don't there's, there's, no I'm. I don't have to put this huge pressure on myself to get to some imaginary state of spiritual awakening. Just sitting still and practicing peace and kindness towards myself is enough. That's enlightenment right there, Making the decision to be kind and to be in touch with a place of peace and openness that you can share with yourself and with others. That's enough. And so my, my practice is not about getting somewhere, but just like. It's just my way of life and that has been, um, that's. You know, all of these, these, these places of peace that I've gotten to have been, they've been kind of hard fought, They've been kind of hard fought or hard won, and it gives me a lived experience that I can speak from and say please just be kind to yourself, you know.
Speaker 2please just be gentle with yourself, because I know what it's like to not be.
Speaker 1Yeah, and there's this. I think a lot of people can relate to that need for perfection, need to do it perfect. And if it's not perfect, then it's a failure, which is completely not true.
Speaker 2Not true at all.
Speaker 1Yeah, they say practice makes perfect. But perfection shouldn't be the goal.
Speaker 2Perfection is imaginary.
Speaker 1It is completely imaginary and just being in the moment and happy with being in the goal. You know, affection is imaginary, it is completely imaginary.
Speaker 1And uh, and just being in the moment and happy with being in the moment is is so important that one thing, um, before we end, that you said on on Saturday when I saw you was talked about us needing to have inner peace before we can hope to have peace out there in the world, and and I thought that was very profound, so thank you yeah, yeah, I think I've been practicing more of an open awareness approach to meditation, which is much more compatible with my condition, instead of focusing on one particular thing.
Speaker 2It's just a it's, it's. It's a sort of non-localized awareness, you know. Just letting my just keeping the window of awareness open and letting whatever passed through pass through.
Speaker 2In doing that, sometimes I'll notice that there's like a deep pain in my back or a feeling of anxiety welling up in my chest. A feeling of anxiety welling up in my chest and those experiences they feel so loud and so prominent that they almost hijack your awareness into thinking that this is my only experience, this is the only thing that's happening. But in keeping my awareness open, I can kind of shift over to the very quiet parts, like just this side of my cheek or my right earlobe, and nothing is going on over there.
Speaker 1Those are just very.
Speaker 2Those are just, I mean, the most mundane peaceful places. So it was this interesting revelation to me that while some parts of me might be very activated, there's always some other part of me that is relaxed or at ease my elbow, the back of my arm, the top of my foot, and as I scan the landscape of my body, there's a lot more of me that's at ease than the parts of me that are activated. And I don't want to than the parts of me that are activated and I don't want to discount the parts of me that are activated. But I also want to make sure that I'm aware that there's more peace within me than the activation. Even though that peace is quiet, there's still more. Even if there's not more, there's still. My right pinky toe is not activated, it is at ease, you know. And so I can, I can titrate, I can bring my attention to where it's really activated and then I can go to where it's not, where it's quiet, and and and have some respite or gather the peace from where it's quiet and bring it to where it's loud. And I think if we, we, if we look um, if we just look, we can find a simple place of peace within our, within our bodies, within our hearts, at any time, and and and. Cultivate that more, and and and and. Be more relaxed and in tune with that, and be more relaxed and in tune with that.
Speaker 2To me, when we are so, that's the microcosm. The macro is when we are all gathered for a sound bath, you know, in the nation's capital, we are the pinky toe of peace. In that moment, in that moment, you know that that, that, yes, there is, there are lots of loud, um, activated voices right now and activated energies. But there is also peace and um, and and that that that that little pinky toe of peace can, um, can be a source of resilience, um, that we, that we cultivate to bring peace to our greater society, to our, to our families, to our friends, to our greater society. But it begins inside us. It begins with us recognizing oh, I've got, I've got. There's peace on the back of my hands, there's peace at the tip of my fingers, there's peace in the steadiness of my heartbeat, there's peace in the rising and settling of each breath. I do have peace within me and I can speak from that place, live from that place, operate from that place, come back to that place, um and uh and take it from there.
Speaker 1So wow, thank you, thank you. You can you tell people where they can find you?
Launching Book Pre-Order and Gratitude
Speaker 2yeah, sure, um, an easy place is my website, it, which is bornimusiccom, b-o-r-n. The letter I musiccom. Um, if you're on social media, all of my handles are just at born I music, at b B-O-R-N-I Music. If you go to my Instagram, you can click on my link tree and all of my upcoming events are there. If you go to my website, you click on the button that says tour and all my stuff is there. And if you are listening to this and it's not July 2025, you can pre-order a copy of my book. It would mean so so much if you would do that, and you can get that from my website or um, via my Instagram. And uh, yeah, thank you for the time and for the support.
Speaker 1Thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed this Uh. So have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful rest of your day, uh, and enjoy this full moon energy that we're sitting in as we do this recording. Uh, thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you May. May the work that we do be a benefit to ourselves and to others.
Speaker 1Yes, definitely Thank you.
