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Why Dwight from The Office (Rainn Wilson) Is Calling for a "Spiritual Revolution"

May 22, 2023 1h 9m 27 insights
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p>Why, you might fairly ask, am I interviewing Rainn Wilson, best known for his star turn on the sitcom <em>The Office</em> playing Dwight Schrute, the hilariously dysregulated paper salesman with a lust for power and a tragic haircut? Why, you may ask, am I interviewing that dude about mental health and spirituality?</p> <p><br /></p> <p>Because in real life, Rainn Wilson has spent many, many years wrestling with religion, sobriety, and marital ups and downs, and he's got a new book called <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rainn-wilson/soul-boom/9780306828270/?lens=hachette-go" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Soul Boom</em></a> in which he cracks a lot of jokes and also makes a dead serious case for a spiritual revolution. (I'll explain exactly what he means by that.) </p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>In this episode we talk about:</strong></p> <p><br /></p> <ul> <li>the role of the Baha'i faith in his life</li> <li>why he was so miserable at the height of <em>The Office's</em> popularity</li> <li>what he considers his greatest achievement in life</li> <li>the importance of spiritual pilgrimage </li> <li>the ingredients of the perfect religion, which he insists must include potlucks. </li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p>A little bit more about Rainn: he won three Emmys for his work on <em>The Office</em>. He hosts a podcast called <a href="https://kastmedia.com/podcasts/metaphysical-milkshake/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metaphysical Milkshake</a>, and he's got a new travel series on Peacock called <a href="https://www.peacocktv.com/blog/watch-rainn-wilson-and-the-geography-of-bliss-trailer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss</a>.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/rainn-wilson-603</a></p> <p><br /></p>
Actionable Insights

1. Help Others for Happiness

Prioritize helping others, as striving to assist others directly contributes to your own happiness and well-being, contrary to the cultural focus on material gain.

2. Foster Joy, Squash Cynicism

Actively cultivate and release joy, and combat cynicism and pessimism, as believing in the possibility of positive change is crucial for both personal and societal transformation.

3. Contribute to Communal Well-being

Extend your spiritual practice beyond personal growth by actively engaging in collective efforts to improve the world, relieve suffering, and advance civilization, regardless of your profession.

4. Know & Worship God through Service

Seek to “know God” by exploring mysteries through arts and sciences, understanding yourself, and connecting with others; “worship God” by performing service to others, creating art, and fostering unity.

5. Serenity Prayer for Control

Apply the Serenity Prayer to distinguish between what you can and cannot control in life; focus your energy on changing what’s within your power, and cultivate serenity to accept what is not.

6. Practice Present Moment Gratitude

Actively cultivate gratitude and presence to fully appreciate and enjoy current achievements and experiences, rather than constantly striving for the next thing or comparing yourself to others.

7. Learn Relationship Intimacy

Prioritize learning and practicing intimacy in your relationships, recognizing that it may require intentional effort, potentially including therapy, to become a more humble and effective partner.

8. Transform Systems with Compassion

Challenge and work towards transforming societal systems that lack compassion and spiritual integrity, such as healthcare, by envisioning and advocating for new models built on human well-being.

9. Adopt Daily Spiritual Practice

Implement a structured spiritual routine that includes daily reading of holy writings, specific prayers, meditation, and periodic fasting, alongside efforts to be of service and bring positivity to the world.

10. Create Daily Sacredness

Designate areas in your home or engage in regular activities, such as family meals, with an intention to imbue them with a sense of sacredness, joy, and transcendent beauty to uplift daily life.

11. Cultivate Daily Awe

Actively seek to generate a sense of awe by reflecting on the interconnectedness and history of even mundane objects and experiences, using this feeling to elevate yourself beyond ego and automaticity.

12. Release Illusion of Separateness

Recognize that the feeling of separateness is an illusion and a source of suffering, and actively work to release these boundaries to draw closer to enlightenment and unity with others.

13. Embrace Cooperation Mythology

Shift your worldview from one of inherent tribalism and competition to a “new mythology” that emphasizes humanity’s history of cooperation, mutual aid, trade, and learning from each other’s cultures.

14. Revere Nature as Sacred

Recognize and address the cultural spiritual disease that leads to treating nature as merely a resource; instead, approach the natural world with reverence and a sense of the sacred.

15. Harmonize Science & Spirituality

Reject the false dichotomy between science and spirituality, understanding both as valid and complementary ways to comprehend life and the universe – science for physical processes, and spirituality for meaning and purpose.

16. Seek Spiritual Tools

Actively seek out and utilize spiritual tools to improve personal well-being and contribute to societal transformation, as many have been discarded due to a general distaste for religion.

17. Broaden Spirituality Definition

Consider spirituality as encompassing non-material aspects of being human, such as your heart, consciousness, soul, and divine qualities like kindness and compassion, to engage with a wider range of personal growth.

18. Cultivate Spiritual Qualities

Focus on developing spiritual qualities like kindness and humility during your material life, viewing this existence as preparation for a continuing spiritual journey after death.

19. Study Universal Faiths

Instead of focusing on the differences between religions, explore their foundational, universal elements to gain deeper spiritual insights and understanding.

20. Embrace “Great Mystery” God

If traditional concepts of God feel off-putting, consider reframing a higher power as “the great mystery” that permeates nature and beauty, allowing for a more open and less dogmatic spiritual exploration.

21. Practice Spiritual Humility

Regularly engage in practices that foster humility, acknowledging your powerlessness in the face of the universe’s vastness and might, finding beauty and strength in this state of submission.

22. Seek Help for Anxiety

If experiencing crippling anxiety, especially in performance situations, pursue professional interventions such as therapy, hypnosis, or EMDR to manage and overcome these fears.

23. Listen, Don’t Fix

When a partner or friend shares a problem, focus on actively listening and understanding their experience rather than immediately offering solutions or trying to “fix” the situation.

24. Undertake Spiritual Pilgrimages

Seek out and visit places that hold spiritual or sacred significance for you, as these journeys can provide a profound sense of holiness and connection.

25. Integrate Divine Feminine

Study and embrace the concept of the divine feminine in your spiritual understanding, moving beyond purely patriarchal views to incorporate qualities like nurturing, harvest energy, and connection to Mother Earth.

26. Foster Unity with Potlucks

Engage in potlucks as a way to foster spiritual unity, community, and the celebration of diversity, recognizing the power of sharing food and cultural heritage.

27. Start Service Small

Initiate your journey of service to others with small, tangible acts, such as helping a sick relative, and allow these initial efforts to grow and become a more central part of your life.