Rob Burbea

I’ve been hearing a lot about Rob Burbea’s work on meditative practices. This page collects my learnings from his work. If you’re looking for starting points:

1. Tasshin wrote a beautiful introduction to Burbea’s work: Rob Burbea: Ordinary Guy, Werewolf, Eternal Wanderer. He helpfully included a list of suggested talks to begin exploring Burbea’s seemingly endless body of work, along with a map of how he sees Rob’s ideas.
2. Michael Taft did an interview with Rob, which is the first encounter I had with Burbea’s ideas. I recommend it, and my notes on it are below.
3. r/streamentry on Reddit has a thorough list of resources on Rob Burbea.

What follows are notes on my learnings from his work so far, sorted in order of my encountering them.

Podcast: Deconstructing Yourself w Michael Taft

Michael W. Taft interviews Rob Burbea on his podcast, Deconstructing Yourself.

• Burbea spoke about his origin of interest in this field as being rooted in dissatisfaction of most spiritual answers today about emptiness. While not quite the same, it resonated with me because my own exploration of philosophy and spirituality is rooted in dissatisfaction with the strict religious answers I was taught growing up. In particular, there is such a huge obsession with Heaven and God (above / in the skies), whereas I am more interested in what’s within, the nature of reality itself (below / on the ground).
• Burbea’s explanation of “fabrication” and the grip our stories of anxiety/desire have on us is so powerful. I was listening to it while lost in a thought-loop about something I felt anxious about, and it immediately helped me break out. I’m eager to try out some of his practices from talks / his book.
• I like his invitation to break out of this thought cycle for liberation, but also to see it as a game; it’s play. I internalized it as “Laughing for Liberation.”
• Need to look into more of meta-rationality by David Chapman. Host described it as a way of choosing different conceptual frameworks based on what is most useful and beautiful at the time. I’ve often struggled with my interest in many different religious and full psychical approaches, such as Buddhism Sufism Taoism and so on. It comes with a bit of guilt that maybe I’m not “committing“ to one of them. I’ve actually heard this from peers as well, finally decided to double down on one. But overtime I feel it is more valuable and interesting to dance between them.As Burbea describes it, “Soul-making as an art, not a technique.” Lovely.

Three-Part Talk: Overcoming Awakening, Buddhism Beyond Modernism, In Praise of Restlessness

(I’m listening to this series at the moment…)

Part One: Questioning Awakening

• What even is awakening? What is its goal? What is our goal of “freedom” in our reality? Rob leads us through foundational questions that help us reflect upon and refresh our view of what the modern goals of mindfulness, enlightenment, and awakening have come to be. With this in hand, we can begin to decide what we want our own journey to be.
• Rob explains how quantum physics is evidence of the transcendence that exists within daily life, not just through meditation. Specifically, that matter is calculated on a probability equation, not made of tiny little atoms. (He suggests reading the book Physics and Philosophy.) The very nature of being is in question and uncertain. Whether something is or isn’t cannot really be known. What we describe as reality and matter is a vague descriptor. My mind is blown, and I am staring out into the abyss as I ponder this. I guess I knew this all along, but I never really thought about how quantum physics throws our entire perception of reality and what material world is into question. everything is a probability, not a particle.
• Closing thought: What are the hidden conceptions, ideas, and assumptions within us? How can we begin to question them? What is it like to embrace a way of being in which you are constantly questioning?

Part Two: Buddhism Beyond Modernism

• We must notice what is happening as we explore the origins of assumptions and concepts we have held. Otherwise, it just becomes an intellectual exercise. We must accept that the interpreting even of the causes is in and of itself part of the reality. So it’s a questioning and then questioning how we perceive what our current answers are. 

Part Three: In Praise of Restlessness

Dharma Talks: The Loving Kindness (Metta) Retreat

I’m listening through these talks on loving kindness. Although they are from a 5-day retreat, I’ve been slowly listening to lectures over the past month. Each recording is a nice mix of conceptual frameworks alongside guided meditation.

You can find all the talks here, and/or use its handy RSS feed link to listen to the talks in your favorite podcast player (copy this URL: https://dharmaseed.org/feeds/retreat/1084/, then paste it as a new subscription to your podcast player.)

Video: Buzz Tour 2014 Interview

One of the very few videos of Burbea that are around.

In this brief video Rob talks about how meditation can empower us to better tackle issues like climate change. By training ourselves to handle our own emotions, we learn how to deal with the “emotions of the Earth,” to connect with what’s bigger than ourselves.

Also: building an inner well-spring so that we are equipped to take on the troubles of today.

How do you balance being engaged (even angry) vs the unbothered Buddha imagery? How to channel rage/anger but not become a victim of it?

Book: Seeing that Frees by Rob Burbea

Burbea has a book out called Seeing That Frees. I started reading it in November 2024, seeking some support during a rough time.

Overall, the ideas are compelling, but it’s a slow process to get through. It’s not meant to be read in one sitting. I take an idea, meditate on it, and then try to apply it to my life. The challenge with that approach is that I lose momentum, and struggle to get back into it. This is where retreats would probably be more helpful…but alas, the book is what I have for now.

P.S. If you like Rob Burbea, you might also enjoy the work of Alan Watts, who is my favorite spiritual teacher and philosopher. I have note(s) for him too: Alan Watts