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What if finding your faith was like auditioning for the role of a lifetime? Meet Roman G., a curious twenty-something on a divine mission to figure out what religion really fits him best. Each week, Roman invites leaders, believers, and skeptics from all walks of faith to step into the spiritual spotlight and make their pitch — from ancient traditions to modern movements, incense to Instagram.
With humor, honesty, and zero lightning bolts (so far), God’s Casting Call explores what people believe, why they believe it, and what it means to search for purpose in a world full of options. Think of it as The Bachelor, but for your soul.
Creator and host - Roman Gerard - UNLV
Produced by - Jason Beatty at KUNV Studios - Las Vegas
Unknown Speaker 0:01
What's up, you guys? Welcome back to God's Casting Call with your host Roman G. Here, want to thank you all for tuning in today for some like knowledge and wisdom on the spiritual side of life. Today we have Amira from the SGI Buddhist group. How you doing, Amira? I'm good. How are you? Excellent. Thank you so much for taking time. I know Saturdays are usually reserved for rest and relaxation, but thanks again either way. Would you like to introduce yourself a little bit to the audience? Hi, I'm Amira. I'm 21 years old. I'm a business student at UNLV, and I was actually born into the space, so I've been practicing my whole life. Awesome, very good. So you're gonna give us a little bit of insight about Buddhism from your real world and your walk and experience. Just want to kind of dive right into it, little low key
Unknown Speaker 0:48
here. This one is about the everyday mindfulness and daily routines. So, mornings in, what's the very first thing you do when you wake up? Do you start with a meditative moment, or are you rushing straight to the coffee pot, like the rest of
Unknown Speaker 1:03
us. So, in my Buddhist practice, we do
Unknown Speaker 1:06
talk a lot about morning prayer and even evening prayer as well. So, it's very important to start your day with prayer to set your intentions. Like, I'm going to have a great day. I'm going to have a successful day, and deeper than that, that I'm going to have the wisdom and the courage and the compassion to take over any obstacles that I might encounter throughout my day. Okay, so it's setting the tone. It's like kind of an affirmation in the morning. Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's cool. I've been just reading about that about morning, like intentions. Like I try to say my prayers in the morning to just be thankful, prayers of gratitude, just to say I'm glad to be awake, glad to be alive and free, and the basic stuff that we kind of lose track of throughout the day. Exactly, that's cool. So you do that pretty frequently.
Unknown Speaker 1:55
I will admit, I very often have moments where I do not chant in the morning, and I do find myself rushing to the coffee pot, or I'm scrambling all my clothes. It's natural, yeah. It's like we're not always like you know in gear the second we open our eyes. Exactly, but I also see that even if you don't start your day with prayer, it doesn't mean that you're not going to have a successful day. It's just you have any, you have every opportunity to win over yourself. So if this I didn't chant in the morning, and now I'm on my way to work, and you know things start coming up while I'm at work or while I'm at school, like we have every opportunity to just say, you know, our prayer is Namiyohordinge Kyo. So to say that at any point in time when I'm like stressed or worried, and then I can tap into this, like I guess, better self. Like when we're chanting, we're not chanting outside of ourselves. What I'm chanting for comes from within. Okay, internal chant. Is that like a mantra? Yes. So Namioh hordengekyo it means I devote myself to the cause of law and effect through sound or vibration. Wow! No, that's pretty deep. Nam yo, how? Sorry. Nam yo. Nam yo. Ho rengekyo. Ho rengekyo. Yes, exactly. That's cool. That's cool. I got. I'm probably not gonna remember that, but I love that because it comes from something deep internal. Very nice. All right. Now this one's about micro moments. Mindfulness sounds great in theory, but what's your favorite micro mindfulness trick for staying present when you're stuck in traffic or like in line at the store or something like that?
Unknown Speaker 3:35
Two things. Two things. One, chant. Chant. Chant. Okay. Like I'm in that line, and I'm impatient. I'm like, oh my gosh, this line is taking forever. I just want to get through. I gotta go.
Unknown Speaker 3:46
I'm gonna chant. I'm just gonna chant that you know I can't control these things. This has nothing to do with me. Like everything is happening exactly as it should. That's cool. So you remember that very philosophical, kind of stoic, you know, mindset. Like things are gonna happen. Can't control it. And the second one. This is a personal thing for me. I talk to myself, like I talk out loud, and maybe it's because I'm an only child. But it's like I'm just talking to my sister. Don't worry about it. Yeah, it's literally no big deal. I'm in the grocery store or I'm in the car, and I'm expressing my thoughts out loud, and that's how I'm able to catch myself when I start saying maybe something that's a little negative or like you can hear your own emotions as you're definitely. So then I'm in the car and I'm like Amira, no, check yourself. Like what are you doing? Like do you hear yourself? And then it makes me listen to what I'm saying. Yeah, definitely. Like we don't always need like an audience to affirm like our intentions, like everybody has those like bathroom mirror like prep moments, especially for like a presentation. If you got a speech in class that morning, you're like, all right, you got this. You know, nothing wrong with that. People understand that that sounds kind of weird from the offset, but having the internal like personification that you want to express.
Unknown Speaker 5:00
Totally legit, and it's like one of the things that helped us through those little microisms, those day-to-day frustrations. You'd be in the bank, or you'd be like listening to a lecture you may not like, or something. You're like, all right, gotta focus, gotta retain. I very often find myself
Unknown Speaker 5:17
frustrated with the cars around me. The cars around you. Yes, like I'm on the road, and then in comes this car that cut me off, and then I'm like, you, you are the one who is ruining this ride for me. It's like you can't personifying my day sucks. It's because of you. Yes, and then because I'm out loud, like I'm verbally expressing how frustrated I am with this car.
Unknown Speaker 5:39
This faith has actually helped me like realize it has nothing to do with them. Like I have no idea what's happening in that car. I can only control what's happening in this car. This person could be late. There could be an emergency. They might have to poop. Yeah, that's an emergency. You could be literally catching them in a crappy moment. Exactly. And if I was that person, I would hope that the people around me would have compassion for my situation. So to check myself and be like, "Hey, girl, that person is a Buddha. Like I am a Buddha. I I'm like I am not upset with you. You are living your own life. I'm in a rush. You have nothing to do with me. That's right. We're all on different paths. It's like an old like '90s phrase: "Better check yourself before you wreck yourself, exactly, literally. I think I aged myself with that quote, but yeah, very true to what you're saying.
Unknown Speaker 6:27
Nice. All right. Now this one is more along the lines of a digital detox. Okay. How do you balance ancient wisdom with modern noise? Like, is there a Buddhist-approved way to handle doom scrolling or group chats. What's your take on that? I actually
Unknown Speaker 6:45
just presented a study on this in a district meeting. Yeah, in my practice, we do have a lot of district meetings, which is like full of discussion. It's like within your local area, I guess, like in your neighborhood or so. Okay, so like town hall sort of, kind of. But we meet in people's homes, like we just gather at each other's, you know, whoever lives nearby. But anywho, I presented this study, and it was talking about feeling overwhelmed by your life, and you know, you have all of these duties or responsibilities, and you just feel like you don't have enough time to do everything, and you just want a break. Like, how does one handle that? Like wanting a break from their life, right? And then it goes on to say that instead of trying to prioritize your schedule, to start scheduling your priorities.
Unknown Speaker 7:31
So, one of the three pillars in our faith is faith, practice, and study. Faith, practice, and study. So, in order for us to feel like we're not drowning by our school responsibilities, work, family, and then our personal life. Like basing everything that we do in the essence of this practice. Like Buddhism is not seeking outside of yourself. This is just daily life, living with intention. Everything you do from the moment you wake up is so intentional. Yes, absolutely. If we think and breathe and eat and sleep intentionally,
Unknown Speaker 8:06
then and and to also prioritize doing that, you wouldn't feel the burden. Like nothing in your life would feel like it's a burden to you. It's like, oh my gosh, I have time to do everything because what really matters to you inside is what's going to push you to, to
Unknown Speaker 8:23
keep going after those things that you want.
Unknown Speaker 8:28
Sorry. No, that's cool. That's really deep. I just if you incite, you know, your internal motivations behind like your affirmations, like do things with intention. Yes. I think we lose a lot of that, especially like I said, in doom scrolling and just kind of those you know times during the day when you got nothing to do, so you're just kind of flicking through the news and social media. Exactly. And if there's no intention behind it, it's easy to lose track of time, lose track of purpose. So you're just like you know you know hours pass by and nothing happened. Yeah, this is. I actually catch myself doing this right before I'm supposed to do homework. I'm like, okay, girl, let's go home. I'm gonna become an academic weapon. Let's sit down. Right, I'm a warrior right now. Let's get it done. And then all of a sudden, you open up your inbox. All right, I get a text message, and then I get a notification. And next thing you know, two hours went by, and I'm like, yeah, it's scary. It's like a time warp, literally. Like you see, like the little red.on your notifications, like I better check that. You know, and then it gets more involved, involved, and like another rabbit hole opens up, and like there's like half the day. Yeah, I have to remember that my phone isn't my reality. You know, this is a perception of my reality, but like I am the one who's doing all of the reading.
Unknown Speaker 9:39
But for like doom scrolling, I would say. I mean, sometimes we do like to unwind and you know scroll on your phone for a little bit, or just like respond to messages, which also might include the occasional video from a friend or a family member. Yeah, totally. You can just you know chill out with some TikTok and just see some funny stuff, or like a family update video, like my sister in the family group.
Unknown Speaker 10:00
Chat. She's always posting stuff about her kids on TikTok, which is awesome. But a lot of people kind of don't set the time of day aside proper for moments like that. They just you know when they have a deadline to meet or something at work or school, they're like, I better just you know check this out for about an hour, and then I'll realize what that hour takes away from. Right. So to not feel like your scrolling is doom scrolling. Now, if I didn't schedule my priorities, then I would feel like I'd get on my phone and then boom, four hours gone. But if I do prioritize what matters most to me by the end of the day, if I do have some time to just like unwind and go on my phone, or maybe just like talk to people, then like I can do that, and it won't feel like. Oh my gosh, I just wasted so much time doing this. Yeah, did you get down on yourself? Then you're like, man, I just you know wasting all like all those hours. I could have gotten these things done, but then you have the flip side. If you prioritize what really matters, get the important stuff done and out of the way,
Unknown Speaker 10:58
then you can kind of relax after that and just chill with some TikTok or YouTube, and just not feel guilty about it. Like I already got it done. I'm cool. Nice. Yeah, I think it's take the doom out of doom scrolling. Exactly. It's just normal scrolling. Yep. Normal. What it was intended to do. Exactly. Very cool. All right. This one is about laughter and enlightenment, and people often picture monks sitting silently on mountain peaks, praying, meditating, whatnot. What's something surprising, lighthearted, or flat out funny about living a life grounded in Buddhist practice?
Unknown Speaker 11:34
I guess it would be that
Unknown Speaker 11:36
you don't. I mean, in this Nietzschean Buddhism specifically, that we don't have to
Unknown Speaker 11:43
go anywhere to reach enlightenment or to, you know, enter your Buddhahood. Like you don't have to go anywhere else for that. Buddhahood. Okay, so that's like a state of being in Buddhism. Yes, like we talk about the 10 worlds, and there's heaven and there's hell. It's not really some place you go after you die. Everything is a mental state, so we don't have to like we have the ability right now to tap into every single one of those 10 worlds, right where we're sitting. Really, I don't have to go to a temple. Like we don't even chant at a temple. We just have a community center, and we all just chant to this inscribed scroll that is inherently just yourself. It's a reflection of you. Okay, so the scroll is literally just you looking back. Exactly. So when you're praying, you're speaking to yourself. How do I bring these things out of myself that I already have? There is no compassion that I can go buy at a store, but I already have a whole well of it inside of me, and we chant to tap into that every single day, so that we can be our bestest self. No, it's beautiful. So it's like just bringing out like that internal power and beauty that we all carry with each other. Yes. Yeah, that's cool. I think I I went to a Buddhist temple in Jones. Like my workshop is right down the road, and I just popped by to ask somebody over there if they wanted to come by and do a podcast, and it was cool. Like they didn't have any reps available. It was kind of like middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday, so I just saw the temple, the inside of it with like the couches and like the candies and the oranges and like the atrium with like the statue of Buddha and like the scrolls, like you were saying, like side rooms where people can kneel in front of and pray. I thought that was beautiful. It was just like a natural way for people to experience the faith without like a real strict requirement. Like you need to put on sandals and go hike a mountain and say a prayer and stuff. It just seemed more like open for like people to discover, like you said, the beauty inside themselves. Yes, and natured in Buddhism is very adaptable to the times. Like you don't have to. There is no like very specific way that you're supposed to chant or even be a Buddha. Like you just be yourself. Like Buddhas look like everyday people. They look like you and they look like me. Like we just go about conducting our lives and how do we live in the best way possible, but also to help other people become happy. Nice. That's finding your own Buddhahood. That's it. Very cool. All right. Well, this one is a little bit more on the detachment versus joy side. Buddhism often talks about letting go of attachments. Does that mean we can't get overly hyped about our favorite sports teams, favorite foods, new movies. How do you enjoy the hype without the attachment? Okay, so this is the part where I say, where I expand on how this Buddhist faith, nutrient Buddhism, is adaptable because we don't have to detach ourselves from from anything to become happy or enlightened, we actually encourage people to go after those materialistic things that you like. Like it's a very human thing to like things. I like cars or I like bracelets. Some people like makeup. Some people like to eat food. Some people like shows. Like it is okay to have your you know thing.
Unknown Speaker 15:00
That you enjoy, right? And as you chant to bring those things into your life, you will see whether or not it benefits you. But it's there's nothing wrong with finding joy in those small things like a backpack or you know new shoes. It's okay to want those things because we are human beings. We should not deny ourselves from the natural things that come with, you know, living, like being on your phone. Yeah, no, that's surprising because when people think of Buddhism, they think very like you know detached from like all earthly you know pleasures, like cars and money and jewelry and things that just you know sitting with a robe and sitting under a tree. Yeah, but they encourage, like you know, praying for things that you enjoy and find happiness in. If it's music, it's movies, it's art, painting, anything like that. Exactly, chant for whatever it is you want, and really, the universe will help move it. If you believe that it will come, the universe will move it to you. It will move things around so that it will come to you, and then in that moment, you will have the ability to decide: Does this benefit me or not? Wow! So if I chant for something like silly, like I want an Omega watch or a Citizen watch, like please give me that watch, and I get it, and I don't find any fulfillment in it, does that mean like it was not meant to be or something? Yeah, but you wouldn't feel like, oh my gosh, I just wasted all this prayer chanting for something that I didn't even end up needing. Right, like you were able. Like there was so much growth that happened in here. One, if you don't believe in this practice, but you chanted for something that you want, if you realize from prayer that you didn't end up needing that, you just overcame a part of yourself that maybe attached your happiness to this,
Unknown Speaker 16:42
you know, like we don't believe these things are what make you happy, but it's okay to get joy from them. But real happiness comes from within; it's absolute. Got it. So that's the separation of what real happiness is versus just temporal happiness, like just finding like joy in like a good you know song or a movie or like a watch or a car. Yeah. Versus finding real, you know, otherworldly happiness. Yes. Nice. That's cool. That's good separator because, like, again, it kind of flies in the you know typical belief of just prayer and chanting and Buddhism. But like, you're encouraging us to go that route, encouraging us to find, you know, through prayer, does this really mean anything for me?
Unknown Speaker 17:25
And really, sometimes chanting in this abstract way of like, oh, I want, I need compassion or I need strength. Like, it's a little bit harder to see proof of faith in those ways because it takes time for it to come. It is. It's like an intangible thing that it's not like obviously this guy or this girl has faith. I could see it in their eyes. It's just something that you know grows with you from internal to outer, and just like kind of an aura almost. So we actually encourage people to chant for those things. That's how you're going to see whether or not this faith works for you. Believe in yourself. Believe that you have the ability to make anything that you want come to you, it's about value creation. Value creation, right? Like you can create anything with nothing. I'm just going to chant that it's going to come. There have been many situations where people are broke or had no money, and they have no home, no family, and they've just chanted that I'm going to be able to live and take care of myself. I'm going to make it out of this dark time. I have no resources except this tool of Namio Hodenge Kill. And when you really believe in yourself, you can move mountains. Yes, just a knife and a fork. Yes, a knife and a fork. You can move that mountain. That's awesome. That's actually one of my favorite, you know, kind of mindful, like motivational, you know, chants. Like you know, with the right mindset and the right, you know, perspective, I can move mountains. I can conquer any test, any class, anything at work, any family issue. With the proper internal mindset, you can push yourself to make that happen. Yeah, I agree. Very cool. All right, so this one's about karma, big one. Karma myth gets thrown around a lot in pop culture. Usually, when someone gets a flat tire after being rude, they're like, "Oh, that's karma.
Unknown Speaker 19:13
And how would you explain what karma actually means in everyday language? Well, the word karma means action. Action. So there is. It's not just bad karma that happens, but there's good and bad karma that we accumulate in this lifetime. We actually come into this life with karma, like you know, a child born into a family situation. Like we cannot control those things that come, but we control what we do. So by living intentionally, by purposefully creating good causes, by dialoguing with people, by helping other people become happy, by sharing this Buddhism with others, we
Unknown Speaker 19:52
create good causes, and everything good that you put in, it's gonna come back to you eventually. Yeah, I think that's a common knowledge about.
Unknown Speaker 20:00
Karma-it's like you know, put good in, good, good out. Like whether it's diet, whether it's relationships, whether it's life goals. Like as much as you put into that in a positive aspect, you're going to get that back. And also, we have the ability to change our karma from the past karma that maybe in this lifetime we didn't assume, or I guess not assume, that we didn't create like this body, Amira didn't, but the soul in me came into this life with past karma. Okay, so how do you reconcile the negative past karma? We,
Unknown Speaker 20:33
it's when we chant, we polish our inner mirror, right? Like we we so that we can see clearly, that we can see all the fog is gone, and that we can really see what's happening in front of us, like total clarity. So as you encounter struggles, like our relationships are also our assumed karma, and especially like within your family, your friendships, romance, as you really chant to polish these relationships, and by it's not just oh okay, this this person I'm struggling with them, I'm gonna chant for them. It's like I, how, why is this person in my life? Why is this function, this obstacle in my life? And if you know that everything here
Unknown Speaker 21:11
is, or everything in your life is
Unknown Speaker 21:14
here to serve as a purpose for you to become your best self, for you to become happy, then you can dig even deeper and find the deeper meaning of how you can transform out of the situation. So you can transform your friendship karma, your car karma. You can transform your generational karma by taking your relationships with your estranged family members or friends and looking at this deeper meaning. Why are we in each other's lives, affecting each other like this, and then assuming this relationship, like I'm going to make sure that you and I are going to come out of this so much better than it's been. Like I'm going to become the best person for you, for me, and then through thinking so selflessly like that, and actually dedicating your life, like like taking action in that sense, like I made a vow, and then I'm going to act on it. You naturally start to see things come up, and you see the better person that you're growing into. Right, you see the fruits of all your labors. You see what the tree is becoming after you planted the seed. Nice. That's an awesome way to look at it, and I think kind of clears up the idea that people, you know, karma is all negative. Like if something bad happens, that's karma. Yes, but there's good. There's a good side of karma, which is action. You know, you have good and negative actions, which are inherited into you. Would you say that's comparable to like the Christian or Catholic belief of we're born into sin and like we choose sin or we choose grace in our own lives and our actions. Yeah, I think every religion is like on. We're all on the same page. We just have a different execution, maybe, or like a slight tweak in the words. But everyone is thinking the same thing. Yeah, the same playing field. Just everybody has a different method or different like swinging style. Yes. Yeah. Like in baseball, like every batter has a specific style trying to hit the ball, but their intention is the same. Yeah. Yeah. Certainly. Hit it. You just hit it. Little sports analogy. Yeah. All right. Excellent. Now this one is handling tools and drama. Kindness and compassion are core tenets, but how do you practice loving kindness when dealing with annoying coworker like internet trolls and such. This kind of goes back to like that karma comment.
Unknown Speaker 23:29
When people are in your lives, you know, I guess we could say causing you suffering, air quotes. But really, how? Why is this person in my life making me feel like this, and I kind of have like two
Unknown Speaker 23:44
thoughts on that. Okay, like if you feel like this person, this person is causing me so much suffering. I go into work and like they just keep opening their mouth about something I don't even care about. Kelly is the worst. Yes, like you would in that moment where you keep putting blame on this person for your own suffering, the person you need to be looking at the most is yourself. Like, why do I feel so affected by what this person has going on? This person is probably a reflection of something you have going on inside. Right. It's kind of like your subconscious telling you, why do I feel so upset about this guy or girl doing their stuff, like maybe that's something I'm lacking or something I'm not doing.
Unknown Speaker 24:25
And oh wait, I'm sorry, I kind of lost my train. That's cool. It's cool.
Unknown Speaker 24:34
Okay, so to not be frustrated with this person, you know, you would just chant that I like I will have the ability to see the truth for what it is to see this person for who they really are. It's not the who; it's the function. The function. So I can see the who, but if this might be if they're a reflection of your life, there is like a reoccurring pattern that's happening in your life. It could be someone at work, someone.
Unknown Speaker 25:00
Home, someone at school, but each of these people kind of make you feel the same emotion. Like there is a lesson that the universe is trying to have you learn. Yeah, it's like a déjà vu feeling. Like when you start seeing patterns and repeating the same environments, or like maybe there's more to it. Maybe it's not just this, you know,
Unknown Speaker 25:19
coincidence that I'm experiencing the same thing in different areas and different times.
Unknown Speaker 25:25
Okay. Well, is there any recent example of that for yourself you'd like to share?
Unknown Speaker 25:31
Yeah, actually, I have a lot because this happens all the time. Gotcha. What's the most recent one version of that? I guess I could say
Unknown Speaker 25:39
either like in friendships or like work. Okay. So in my friend groups,
Unknown Speaker 25:45
I find that very often my friends are all going through something that I'm going through. Yeah. So you see the same kind of sufferings, struggles. Or I have a friend. I actually got really close with him when we started university, but as we started to get close, I did notice that he had like a bit of a temper, or you know, just didn't really know how to regulate his emotions sometimes. But like, I can see through him. Like, I don't see your outburst of emotion. I see where it's coming from. I see who you are underneath it, where it originates, and where it led him to that. Yeah. So, actually, made it very easy for me to dialog with him and kind of like hold space for him when he was you know in a hot-headed moment or something. And because I was able, I I used to be someone who was like that. And through the guidance of my friends and my family in this faith, I've been able to see that like maybe being angry at everything all the time isn't the thing for me, and how I can again live so intentionally and like spread good. So making these new friends and seeing that they are all reflections of either emotions I used to deal with or current situations. Like I have the ability to see what's really happening, and we can talk about it. Let's talk about it. Let's get uncomfortable. Let's get to the nitty gritty. I just met you two days ago, and I'm about to dissect you. It's like I need to know. Yeah, I need to get to the meat and potatoes about this conversation. Exactly, but it makes connecting with other people so much more
Unknown Speaker 27:13
amazing, amazing, fulfilling. Yes, because
Unknown Speaker 27:17
I I see you, and I don't have to pretend that I don't see you, so that you know you don't feel uncomfortable. Like people want to be seen, even when they act like they don't want to. True. Like it's the old adage that like people who are antisocial really are you know social beings. They just don't know how to like get to that step. Yeah. And it's just a reflection of like our inactions and actions in life. Yeah. But yeah, that's cool that you can process it, you know, so you know coolly, level-headedly. I think a lot of other people like would, you know, love to be in that situation. Like, oh, I can't stand this person or that person or this, you know, freeway or that freeway. They can't compartmentalize and just try to say, "I'm gonna get to the truth of why this isn't just like a person or a being or an event, there's just a why behind this. This is why I'm being affected the way I am. I think it's important to always continue having dialog. The moment we stop talking is the moment where space builds, thoughts create, and then our hearts kind of lose each other, and we can't connect on a more sincere level. It's true. Just keep talking. The moment the dialog ends is when like the real animosity starts building in a lot of people. When you just shut off communication for whatever reason, could be just like a bitterness in a relationship or a marriage or a friendship that sort of drifts apart. You just have to like try to keep the lines open. Yeah, as much as it might hurt or might sting, thinking that like making this effort to communicate with this person doesn't mean anything. It just does. You know, you got to really look at it like that. It's like a tree can't grow without water. You got to put the water on the tree, right? And like the dialog is key. Like I'm communications major, so it's a big deal for us. Yeah, I know. It's like rhetoric, dialog, persuasion, audience, all that. But it comes back to message and receiver, and like what you try to get the message out. If there's nobody to receive it, or you don't try to find that person, then yeah, there's really no like point to the communication. Yeah, yeah. I think a key aspect of dialog is meeting the other person where they're at. Yeah, just meeting them halfway, and just try to be a little bit more, you know, able to communicate with them, not just like you come to me, 100% I'll come to you 50% So don't let that internet internet troll troll you. You know, like that's what they're here to do. They literally are here to troll you. Yeah, you get them riled up. You even engage with like one or two words. That's enough, you know, to get that troll like off the bridge and crazy. So it's an old stereotype, but it's true. These people are so, you know, dignant in their own lives. They just choose to find conflict online with faceless people they'll never have the chance to meet. Kill them with kindness. Yeah, kill them with kindness. You know, I try to pray for people who upset me or people who like you know kind of grind my nerves, like.
Unknown Speaker 30:00
You know, God bless them. You know, hope they get better. I can never really just demonize somebody because I don't know what that person is going through in the moment. So through prayer, I gotta just say, you know, God will help them or you know try to lead them on a better path, hopefully. And at the very least, I could say you could try. You could try to you know offer that sort of peace and offer that grace to that person. You don't really know. They're in your life for a reason. So when we do that selfless thing to really pray for them to become happy, we win over ourselves, and they don't affect us the way that they did beforehand. That's true. When you give your power to somebody else, and you can't feel like happiness for the people around you, like friends and family and loved ones, the ones who matter, you can't be happy for their accomplishments. That's something you need to change, and I know that's a tough, you know, thing for a lot of people to kind of work into their routine in life. Like when you get jealousy early in life, and it's like if your older brother is successful, or your like coworker got a promotion and you didn't, your like animosity and envy starts building up. You can't do that. You got to learn to just be happy for their happiness.
Unknown Speaker 31:07
And everyone wants to be happy. Everyone does, and everyone deserves to be happy. I think is a better word and just better perspective that we. If you want to be happy, so do they. You know, you're not the only one who deserves this kind of cloud nine like enlightenment feeling. Everybody has a chance for it. Yes. Nice. All
Unknown Speaker 31:25
right. So rethinking failure, impertinence is a huge topic in Buddhism. How does knowing that everything changes help you bounce back when something in life goes completely off script? I think, for better words, everything happens for a reason, and we do say that a lot in this practice. When we chant, like like I said, you chant for that thing that you want. I chant for this career. I'm gonna get this job, and this is the job that I've been wanting for a long time. I've worked my whole life for this moment, and now here comes my interview. And you did so much prayer, even leading up to it, like I'm gonna be my best self at this interview. I'm going to
Unknown Speaker 32:06
say all the right things. This person, the interviewee, they're gonna they're gonna be able to see my heart and see where I'm coming from. And then you come home and you get that phone call, and it's like, hey, sorry, we're moving on with someone else. Yeah, it's you know gut punch. It's something you have to deal with, part of life. But at least you went into it with your heart on your sleeve, and you let them see who you are. Knowing that everything happens for a reason, like I guess some people call it divine intervention or something. Yeah, like intervention, providence, whatever it is. Or I guess in newer terms, it would be burnt toast theory. Burnt toast theory. Yes, people do talk about that a lot. Like, you weren't supposed to have that job. That wasn't the job that was going to help push you to to be your bestest self. It wasn't the environment that you were supposed to be in. So we can work hard for our goals, but we have to be okay with when they if if they don't happen. I'm not going to prepare to fail because if I don't get that job, it's not just over for me. The path is still going. Like I have to keep searching, keep looking, keep accepting new opportunities. Right, that's going to lead them to them into the next thing. Yeah, they're going to lead you then where the proper opportunity goes. Like even if you think this is it, you know, this is the job for me, or this is the relationship for me. If it ends, you can't just stop. Yeah, you got to keep going and open up the new opportunities and let you know God kind of take you in the proper place. Right, He'll put the right people in your life at the right time. And we always say winter always turns to spring. Yes, it never doesn't turn to spring. Yeah, unless you know kind of twilight zone scenario where it goes from like winter to summer to fall to spring. Like, whoa, what's going on? Accepting that like life is literally going to change all the time. People are growing. You see children grow. You see a child one day and then a month later they're like two feet taller, and you're like, what happened? Yeah, you know, surprising. It's a beautiful part of life when you get to see the leaves fall and you get to see the new flowers blooming, like everything is going to be moving in a direction that maybe you didn't plan for. But that is the purpose of life: to be to expect the unexpected, and the unexpected is always so much better than what you expected. That's beautiful, but very true. Like the most unexpected pleasures in life are the ones you don't plan for, the ones that you're not putting on the calendar. It's just when you let life happen, it surprises you. It really opens your eyes to how beautiful just being here and being part of this experience
Unknown Speaker 34:34
is. Yeah, yeah. No, that's awesome. I'm glad to hear it. All right, I think got a couple more here. Pop culture,
Unknown Speaker 34:41
Zen. If you could pick a movie, TV show, or fictional character that accidentally-I don't accidentally-embodies Buddhist principles really well, who or what would that be? I have a whole list, but I'm not going to do them all. All right, give me the top of those lists. Give me the highlights. Okay, number one.
Unknown Speaker 35:00
And some people might not agree with me. I mean, they're wrong, but it's My Little Pony. Okay, My Little Pony. All right, I got to hear more about this. Friendship is magic. The whole-that's the whole theme of the show. Friendship is magic. Okay. And after I started to deepen my faith a couple years ago, and I started to rewatch the show, I'm like, oh yeah, I used to love it when I was a kid, and there were some little kids watching it, and it was like, oh, let me watch it too.
Unknown Speaker 35:23
You get to see how apparent these themes of Buddhism exist, because it's not like anything special. It's just daily life, making friends, camaraderie, understanding the beauty of human relationships. And in the show, they talk about how all of the the main characters, I guess, how they're interconnected with each other from a moment in their past, but they met years later in the future, and these friends, through their love for each other and love for their people around them, how they're able to defeat darkness, and the darkness would be the hate, the removal of love, the removal of family, the removal of trust, and every single time, even when they have everything taken away from them, they still stand up together and support each other, and they remind each other who they are in their down moments. Like you forgive each other when you mess up, because as a human being, like I don't mean to hurt you, we just do. We have moments where we slip up and we don't do the best thing, and
Unknown Speaker 36:20
as a friend, she's like, "Oh, hey,
Unknown Speaker 36:23
what's her name? Twilight Sparkle. You know, this isn't you. This is not who you know yourself to be. And all the friends come to remind her, like, "This is not how you execute your character. This is not the Twilight we know. This isn't you inside. This is just a bad choice. Yeah, and then she takes a second back, and she's like, "Well, why would my friends say this to me. Why would all of them say this? Because they love me. So then she takes a step back and like looks at herself, and she's like, "Oh shit, you're right. It's like absolutely. Like you know, they love me. They know who I am. That's why they're calling me and telling me to steer away from this. You know, get back to Twilight Sparkle. And then they support their you know their endeavors, their goals. They're their biggest cheerleaders. And then another show is like, if you're into anime, there's Naruto, which I'm also watching right now. Naruto, it's classic. Hunter, hunter. Hunter, hunter. Okay. Right. These themes of making friends and believing in your people. I don't care what. I made a promise. Your vow is more valuable than anything in the world, I made a promise to you that I'm going to show up for you, and they do all the time. They never give up. That is so important. Outside of you know making friends and believing in each other, but like to never give up on yourself and other people is such a pivotal point of existing. And when you can show yourself that you have the ability to forge through anything. You can achieve all of your goals, and that's what all the shows are about. That's true. Like it's almost you know every cartoon you can find those themes. Like doesn't matter what genre it's from. Like Naruto, My Little Pony, Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Transformers. Yeah, all the shows about friendship and finding your purpose. Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball Z. That's a good one. Going past your limits and fighting for your family and friends. Pokemon got to catch them all. And it's also just friendship. Comes back to the core values of the people we surround ourselves with. Like Ash had Brock and Misty on that journey. My Little Pony. She had her friends, her squad members, her teammates, who to guide her through this. Yeah, yeah. No, it's beautiful. It's just an all-encompassing theme, but it's true. We got to look at it as like a theme in our own lives. In reality, the people that around us, our friends and family, when they call us and try to redirect us, it's not because they're trying to take something away from us. They're trying to give something back, trying to give us our own personal selves back in a way. We don't do anything by ourselves in this life, even if it feels like I am. But like that person at the store, they're the ones who checked you out. Yeah, right. We don't do anything by ourselves. So to foster this community of people that you feel safe and comfortable with, but where you are a good friend too. You are someone that they can count on. You see how your garden of people surround you, and you can lean on them in your time of need. True, and I think that's when people get in trouble, thinking that you know they can handle things in life all on their own, and they got to do this, they got to do that, you know, on solo, but they don't have to. Like you got to realize that even in your like darkest moments and your lowest periods, like there are resources, there's people, there's voices, there's things around you that can lift you out of that and guide you in the proper way. You just have to understand. You don't have to always ask for help, but you don't have to always do it alone at the same time. Exactly. So it's like that little middle ground. Camaraderie. Camaraderie. That's it. All right. I think I've got one more here.
Unknown Speaker 39:51
One minute starter pack. If a listener wants to try incorporating one simple Buddhist habit into their day, starting right now, what's the.
Unknown Speaker 40:00
Single best piece of advice you'd give them?
Unknown Speaker 40:03
Well, as a Buddhist, as a Nitron Buddhist, I would say chant Nammyo Hordengekyo. Nammy Hodenkeyo. Yes, Nammyo Hordengekyo. But if you let's say, outside of just chanting Nammy Hodengekyo, like
Unknown Speaker 40:17
dialog with someone, really go out, open up a dialog, and not just like, "Oh, hey, I like your pants. Okay, cool, I like your pants. But really, like, take the time. I mean, let's say we go back to an age when there were no screens, there were no devices. How do people go out and just meet people? This is a day. This there was a time when people made eye contact with each other all the time. Yeah, because that's what you had to do. Like, if you had a conversation with a friend at school or something, or the teacher, you had to be like, "Hello, you know, I had a question about this. I mean, even with strangers, like if you ever go out on the street and you're walking, try this out. Tell me if you notice it. If you make eye contact with every single person that walks past you in university, notice how many of them actually look you in the eyes. Yeah, because it's so common now where we can distract ourselves and not and kind of get out of human connection. So go out and talk to someone. Go make a real friend, not someone where it's like, okay, I like your pants. Okay, cool, bye. It's like, all right, yeah, I'll see you online or something. It's just a real connection, real moment of like we're in this life together, like eye to eye. That sort of electricity between people. Yeah, yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, to open up the dialog is the first step, just to chant, get the dialog, get the internal energy flowing. But you're absolutely right, and I'm old enough to remember like before you know smartphones and flip phones. I got my first like flip phone like sophomore year in high school or something like that. But before that, you know, grade school it was just you know, like you said, finding those just casual moments, just playing with our friends on the blacktop, on the jungle gym playground, and just going to the mall, going to the movies with friends, and just coming home to family. You end up a long day playing with cousins in the field and cul-de-sac lifestyle, good old times, but we treasure those moments later. Don't really realize how important we are when we're living them. Yeah, because it's just what our reality was. We just kind of made stuff up to do just to pass the time to entertain ourselves. Looking back, it's like wow, we had a really good. We had those like really life moments and connections, but didn't feel it at the time until like later. It's like you know, 2020 vision or perspective mindset, but it's you know hearkens to now. Like we have to kind of get away from our like digital world with making those connections and seeing people for what they are. It reminds me of like
Unknown Speaker 42:41
you know, back in the day, the cul-de-sac life, living with friends and family, and just you know, making life out of rando stuff and random circumstances.
Unknown Speaker 42:49
But yeah, that is amazing. That's a nice, well-rounded way to wrap it up into Buddhism. And I really want to thank you, Amira, for your time. Of course, thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun! Yeah, likewise. One thing I like to do, like to offer the guests the final word of wisdom. So, would you like to leave our audience with any parting
Unknown Speaker 43:09
mantras, chants, little jokes, word of wisdom? What do you got? I would say
Unknown Speaker 43:16
chant numb your horde and get kyo. There you go. Chant numb your horde and get kyo. But really, believe in yourself. Like you are the most, you are the main character of your life. You are the universe, and we are all just a whole bunch of universes colliding with each other. And when you believe in yourself and believe that you can do anything, your world will support that idea. Just like if you think the whole world sucks, the world would support that idea too. Right, you make your own reality. Yes. So please believe in yourself. Please help other people become happy, even if you feel like you're not happy to see someone else, like see a friend who's suffering, and you feel like, oh damn, well, how am I supposed to help you? I'm suffering. Yeah, do some, tell them a joke, you know, make them laugh for a second, or take it upon yourself to be a source for their genuine happiness, and that will naturally help you find your own way. That's right. Don't do it by yourself, and keep like seeking out a community because it will find you. Yeah, a lot of communities at UNLV for sure. If you haven't found one yet, you will. Like you go through this place. There's just so many like tribes and squads and outlets. That's one of the awesome things I've been you know privileged to be back in school last two years and just seeing and experiencing again after so long away. Just that's amazing, cool. Just overall word I can describe you just been cool experience.
Unknown Speaker 44:40
All right. Well, that'll do it for today. Thank you again for listening, guys. I've been your host Roman G on God's Casting Call, and I'll see y'all next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai