Ep. 42 Gregg Eisenberg: There Are No Answers, And That's Ok
Attachment is suffering, and often the more attached we get to things, the smaller and difficult it can be to find peace in our lives. There’s so much we want that we can’t have, so much we have that we don’t want, and so much we are that we don’t want to be. We become attached to these ideas of how we are supposed to live, what life is supposed to be like, and what our values are supposed to be, that when things don’t fall into alignment with these ideas, we become uncomfortable. And guess what – that is most of the time. We are supposed to be slimmer, taller, wealthier, happier. The news fills us with angst and anger. We can’t have the fast cars and the big houses. There’s no justice in the world, and our governments are corrupt. How on Earth are we supposed to find peace with all of this going on? The problem is, we are addicted to certainty and absolutes. Absolutes of what is good, bad, fair and worthy. But there are no absolutes. And it is our attachment to these imaginary, impossible notions that causes us to suffer. But what if we could break that attachment. What if we could recognise that there are no absolutes, no certainties, no answers, and simply get comfortable with that? And how do we do that? Could it be a matter of finding the courage to let go of what is not, and accept what is? Gregg Eisenberg calls himself a ‘stand-up philosopher.’ He has written a book filled with what he describes as mind-altering, one-line jokes. Exploring philosophy, science, mathematics and many different avenues of thinking, he is trying to make the reader think differently. The jokes are like zen koans, often non-sensical or pulling in two different logical directions at the same time, he wants to create a new way of thinking by pulling apart the old notions of how the world – and its language – works. The book is titled “Letting Go Is All We Have To Hold Onto” and features more than 700 different jokes. Each of them challenges us to examine our thinking and our view of the world. Gregg joined me on my podcast to chat about how we can break our attachment to ideas and ways of thinking that are holding us back and, at times, causing us suffering, and explored how much bigger our world might get if we could just let go. Useful links: Buy Letting Go Is All We Have To Hold Onto Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Letting-Go-All-Have-Hold/dp/1732296901 Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Letting-Go-All-Have-Hold/dp/1732296901 Gregg’s Website: www.curvedspacecomedy.com