Jay Michaelson on Enlightenment by Trial and Error

<p>Jay Michaelson&nbsp;is a columnist for&nbsp;The Daily Beast&nbsp;and a frequent commentator on MSNBC and NPR.&nbsp;Jay is also a teacher and an editor at Ten-Percent Happier, a leading&nbsp;meditation platform. He has written several books on contemplative practice.</p><p>In this episode, Eric and Jay discuss his book,&nbsp;<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/16850/9781934730805" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Enlightenment by Trial and Error:&nbsp;Ten Years on the Slippery Slopes of Jewish Spirituality, Postmodern Buddhism, and Other Mystical Heresies</a></p><p>But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed.&nbsp;<a href="https://oneyoufeed.net/support" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month.&nbsp;</a>It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!</p><p><strong>In This Interview, Jay Michaelson and I Discuss Enlightenment by Trial and Error and&nbsp;</strong>…</p><ul><li>His book,&nbsp;<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/16850/9781934730805" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Enlightenment by Trial and Error:&nbsp;Ten Years on the Slippery Slopes of Jewish Spirituality, Postmodern Buddhism, and Other Mystical Heresies</a></li><li>The goal of becoming 10% happier by meditating</li><li>The myth that meditation is about finding your Zen</li><li>Realization and responsibility in the Jewish mystical path</li><li>His review of Leonard Cohen’s song “The Goal”</li><li>His short story “<a href="https://ayinpress.org/the-beard/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Beard</a>”&nbsp;</li><li>How letting go allows for more opening</li><li>Living aspects of the middle way</li><li>How his LGBT activist work and meditation work enriched each other</li><li>The commonality between his Buddhist and Jewish spiritual practices</li><li>Remembering to remember – how the mind eventually learns to remember with pract