Dr. Jud Brewer works in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, combining over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training and a career in scientific research. He is passionate about understanding how our brains work, and how to use that knowledge to help people make deep, permanent change in their lives — with the goal of reducing suffering in the world at large.

Dr. Jud is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and associate professor in psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University, as well as a research affiliate at MIT. Before that, he held research and teaching positions at Yale University and the University of Massachusetts’ Center for Mindfulness.

Learn more about Dr. Judson Brewer: https://drjud.com/
Follow Dr. Jud on X: https://twitter.com/judbrewer

00:00:17 – Sean introduces Dr. Judson Brewer
00:04:27 – Opening words from Judson Brewer
00:06:43 – Exercise: Who are you?
00:15:35 – Reflections after the exercise
00:19:40 – Exploring the question, “What is the self?”
00:27:58 – The story of Dazu Huike
00:31:03 – The self from a neuroscientific perspective
00:38:22 – Wanting more and wanting less activate the same regions of the brain
00:40:20 – Scientific research by Dr. Judson Brewer and his team
00:44:19 – Neurofeedback study: what happens in the brain during meditation compared to subjective experience
00:53:22 – Applications of this research as mindfulness teachers
001:03:01 – Linking the science with experience and with Buddhist concepts
001:03:36 – The link between cravings and self-identity
001:08:31 – The more we think “I am this,” or “I am not that,” the more that becomes the inclination of our mind
001:10:12 – The “caught up” continuum
001:14:54 – How the self is formed through craving and clinging
001:20:54 – New research by Dr. Brewer – open and closed feeling states
001:26:06 – We have a natural inclination towards kindness, connection, and curiosity
001:30:00 – Flow states
001:37:28 – “True freedom comes when ego goes”
001:40:41 – Closing comments and questions
001:41:50 – Noticing if we are attached to certain concepts of self
001:47:10 – A story of Ajahn Chah