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Jul 2025
1h 12m

Buddhist Practices for Busyness, Overwhe...

10% Happier
About this episode

The Zen monk who burned out. How he fixed it. And how you can, too.

Brother Chân Pháp Hữu began training at the age of 13 with the legendary Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh — who was an author, activist, and founder of the Plum Village tradition. Today Brother Pháp Hữu is the abbot of Plum Village's Upper Hamlet and the co-host of the Plum Village podcast The Way Out Is In. He also recently co-authored a book, called Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout

 

In this episode we talk about:

  • Why humans today are busier and more overwhelmed than ever before 
  • Why monastics aren't immune to burnout
  • How  busyness is thrust upon us by the world, but it's also the result of us running from the shit we don't wanna face
  • Practical tools for addressing busyness and burnout 
  • Why doing nothing is an art
  • The role of perspective—and how contemplating your own death can be a huge source of perspective 
  • The practice of total relaxation
  • How to have healthy boundaries without armoring up
  • How to say no without pissing people off
  •  How to protect ourselves in toxic environments
  • And much more



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