Mindrolling with Raghu Markus

From Bob Marley to Chogyam Trungpa and Ram Dass, David and Raghu explore the many paths that lead us back to one love.
This time on Mindrolling, David and Raghu discuss:
David’s work filming Bob Marley
The attempted assassination of Bob Marley in Jamaica, 1976
David’s encounter with Bob after his cancer diagnosis
The profound impact of Bob Marley on David Silver’s life
The many forms that transformation comes in
An explanation of Mahayana Buddhism
How Chogyam Trungpa made complicated concepts more practical
Trungpa’s teachings in Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness
Ram Dass’s book There is No Other
Check out the book recommended by David in this episode: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
“Bob’s friendship had metamorphosed my whole life. His magnitude as a divine messenger was enough to change me. That coupled with the most potent music I’d ever heard was enough to seep Bob’s special essence into my own heart and recover me so often from despair, doubt, or depression.” –David Silver
About David Silver:
David Silver is the former co-host of the Mindrolling podcast. He is a filmmaker and director, most recently coming out with Brilliant Disguise. Brilliant Disguise tells the unique story of a group of inspired Western spiritual seekers from the 60s, who in meeting the great American teacher, Ram Dass, followed him to India to meet his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, familiarly known as Maharaj-ji. Two days before he left his body, Maharaj-ji instructed K.C. Tewari to take care of the Westerners, which he did resolutely until the day he died in 1997. Silver’s #1 charting MGM/UA/Warners film, “The Compleat Beatles” is the critically acclaimed biopic movie about history’s most famous band. The term ‘rockumentary’ was first applied to this two-hour movie. Rolling Stone recently described the film as a “masterwork.” Silver’s Warner Brothers’ feature film, “No Nukes” also started the whole trend of music/activism feature documentaries. Be on the lookout for David’s upcoming book!
“The idea that we are alone and striving alone is corrosive. As soon as we can overcome that, we find an even deeper pleasure but it has nothing to do with acquisition, competition, and matters of repeated forms of hatred and animosity.” –David Silver

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Drawing on mythology and ancient storytelling, author Michael Meade shares how we can renew the earth through personal and cultural transformation.
You can now pre-order Michael’s book, The Heart of Transformation!
In this thought-provoking episode, Michael and Raghu discuss:
Bringing mythology into the modern world
Creation and recreation: how the end times lead to the next times
Our responsibility to aid in the healing of the world
Returning to the etymology of apocalypse: collapse and renewal
Transformation on a cultural and collective level
Michael’s life-changing experience of solitary confinement in military prison
How unity is revealed through unique expressions of the deep self
The imagination that exists in the void
Recognizing our own genius qualities
The relationship between fate and karma
About Michael Meade:
Michael Meade is a renowned storyteller and author who combines hypnotic storytelling, street-savvy perceptiveness, and spellbinding interpretations of ancient myths. He has a unique ability to tap ancestral sources of wisdom and connect them in illuminating and healing ways to the dilemmas we face and the stories we are living today.
Michael is the creator of the Living Myth Podcast, a highly regarded weekly podcast that goes out to a diverse and growing audience spanning over 150 countries. He is the author of a number of timeless and timely books including: Awakening the Soul, The Genius Myth, Fate and Destiny and Why the World Doesn't End. Michael is the founder of Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose projects bring the medicine of myth and story to the issues that trouble both culture and nature in ways that inspire creative imagination and genuine hope. Keep up with Michael on Substack, or check out his website for events and more.
“In the old imagining of myth, creation is recurring all the time. We are in the end times, but the end times lead to the next times. The word ‘end’ itself actually means loose end or remnant. From the remnants of the previous world, the next world is rewoven.” –Michael Meade
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Duncan Trussell and Raghu Markus examine cynicism, bewilderment, and spiritual materialism, considering what can happen if we drop our defenses and experience the present moment fully.
Check out Duncan Trussell and Kurt Metzger’s new podcast, The Mystery Boys, where ancient mysteries, modern misinformation, and aggressively positive curiosity collide.
In this episode, Duncan and Raghu chat about:
Being cynical versus being rational
Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche’s perspective on spiritual materialism
Letting go and swimming through the moment
Meditation as the remedy for bewilderment
Larry David, Ram Dass, and working with cynicism
Navigating fear, anxiety, and troublesome global news
How religious fundamentalism steers people away from practice
Check out Chögyum Trungpa’s books Cynicism and Magic and Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
About Duncan Trussell:
Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian, podcaster, and actor. His popular podcast, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, has been downloaded over 25 million times and is known for its blend of humor, fringe ideas, eclectic guests, and great interviews. The DTFH is the foundation for Duncan’s Netflix animated series, The Midnight Gospel, which he co-created with Pendleton Ward in 2020. To learn more about Duncan’s work, visit his website at duncantrussell.com.
“Just like with Buddhism or any of these things, you can’t just eat the pie plate and expect to feel like you ate pie. You can’t just read the books and not do the practice—you have to go deeper at some point.” –Duncan Trussell
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David, Raghu, and Sharon consider how devotion, meditation, truth, and compassion can tend the love already within us, bringing it into the way we meet ourselves, others, and the world.
This episode was recorded live from the 2026 Ram Dass Legacy Summer Mountain Retreat. Watch the full event on the Ram Dass’ Inner Academy, a curated collection of deep wisdom from Ram Dass, practice, and community: Learn More
In this episode, David, Raghu, and Sharon discuss:
The compassion to let people be as they are (so long as they aren’t harming others)
Love as an ability rather than just a feeling
Tending to the love that already exists within us
Approaching situations from wisdom and balance rather than reactive emotions
Devotion and objects of refuge in meditation practice
A straightforward instruction from Maharaj-ji: love everyone and tell the truth
Remembering that having boundaries does not mean a lack of love
About David Nichtern:
David Nichtern, founder of Dharma Moon, is a senior Buddhist teacher who has been practicing and teaching meditation for over 40 years. He was one of the initial American students of renowned meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and studied closely with him soon after his arrival in the United States in 1970. He is also a business consultant, working with companies to create a variety of offerings that integrate meditation into a broader health and well-being context. David is also a multiple Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning musician. David’s journey has crisscrossed with the Maharaji/Ram Dass sangha for decades. He has produced multiple Krishna Das albums and frequently joins the Bhaktettes live on guitar. He considers himself to be a first cousin and honorary member of the Bhakti community.
“You’re lucky enough to have objects of refuge that are somebody you admire or respect, who has accomplished a great deal. You invite that energy into your ecosystem and when your mind wanders, your heart reconnects you to the object of the refuge. That brings you back together with the awareness and sense of connection.” –David Nichtern
About Sharon Salzberg:
Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the first to bring mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, has amassed five million downloads and features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond. Learn more about Sharon and her books at www.sharonsalzberg.com and check out Insight Meditation Society.
“I think that’s what Ram Dass was saying—that other people, situations, art, so many things may inspire love or invoke it or threaten it, but ultimately it is ours to tend, to nurture, to grow. It is within us and that can be very empowering.” –Sharon Salzberg
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Turning back time to 2018, we revisit a conversation between Dr. Thurman and Raghu Markus about facing reality, transforming our reactivity, and understanding karma.
You can help continue Dr. Thurman’s life’s work to preserve Tibetan culture. Visit Tibet House to learn more.
In this episode, Robert Thurman and Raghu explore:
Buddhism as a realistic approach to understanding reality
The projections and stories we tell ourselves every day
Working with fear and judgment in meditation
Entering the gaps of mental reactivity
Karma: an intentional action with evolutionary consequences
The relationship between self-awareness and the direction of our karma
Buddhist perspectives on rebirth and reincarnation
The distinction between unconscious rebirth and consciously choosing to return
Neem Karoli Baba and the experience of living completely in reality
The intimate connection between absolute reality and unconditional love
About Dr. Robert Thurman:
Robert Thurman (1941-2026) was an American Buddhist author and academic who wrote, edited, and translated many books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University before retiring in June 2019. He held the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West. After education at Phillips Exeter and Harvard, he studied Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism for almost thirty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He wrote both scholarly and popular books and lectured widely all over the world. As President of the American Institute for Buddhist Studies, he convened the First Inner Science Conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Amherst College in 1984. He was also a founding trustee of Tibet House New York. Check out his most recent book Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life. Robert Thurman made many appearances on our network, and he is greatly missed.
“Being realistic is the best approach because the better you understand reality, the happier you will be. The less you understand it, the more unnecessary trouble you will put yourself through. That’s why when people ask what Buddhism is, I tell them that Buddhism is realism.” –Robert Thurman
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