Access the Sublime & Live Your Best Life | Robert Greene
Andrew Huberman talks with author Robert Greene about his new book on the sublime. Greene argues that after his stroke he learned awe can be found in everyday life, not only through travel or drugs.
The gist
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Greene says a peyote trip in his youth changed how he saw life, but after his stroke he found the sublime in his own backyard.
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Greene describes Gurdjieff's self-remembering: focus deeply on an object and tell yourself you will remember it, which he says can shift perception.
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Greene handwrote his book in over 100 notebooks, saying handwriting slows and deepens thinking, and his favorite pen is the Visconti Homo Sapiens.
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To find your life's task, Greene suggests journaling about early childhood excitements and noticing what frustrates or repels you, ideas from his book Mastery.
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Greene says filming experiences for others blocks the sublime, admits he still has to put his phone in a drawer, and urges vulnerability in love.
"I can remember taking one particular trip on peyote in the town of Mendocino up on the coast in Northern California and I'll never forget the experience and how it altered how I look at just life itself."
▶ Play at 8:54"He calls it self-remembering. I talk about it in the book... So my point is it's an exercise that can literally alter your neurology in some way. It can alter how you perceive things. It doesn't require drugs. It requires this kind of intense focus."
▶ Play at 19:55"So there's this company called Visconti, Italian company. They make wonderful fountain pens, and they have this one fountain pen called Homo Sapiens, which is my favorite."
▶ Play at 1:11:13"You have to be willing to commit to the time and you have to journal and you have to write about yourself and you have to go deep into your memories. You have to think about your childhood."
▶ Play at 1:23:1912 creators recommend it, including Ryan Holiday, Kier Gaines, and Mark Dowdle.
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Andrew Huberman recommends it
"Another one of his books entitled Mastery remains one of my all-time favorite books and is one that I have recommended to the students I've taught in classes, in my laboratory, and to my friends and family and acquaintances for years."
▶ Play at 1:30"I do, but of course I'm human and it tempts me and I understand the addiction... I do have to take the phone and put it in the drawer and I'm getting better and better at it."
▶ Play at 2:04:16What they recommend · 12 picks
Health & fitness
3 picks · Robert Greene and Andrew Huberman
"He calls it self-remembering. I talk about it in the book... So my point is it's an exercise that can literally alter your neurology in some way. It can alter how you perceive t..."
"Two weekends ago, I was up at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur... Amazingly beautiful place. I hope everyone gets the opportunity to visit at least once. It's a spectacular place."
"You have to be willing to commit to the time and you have to journal and you have to write about yourself and you have to go deep into your memories. You have to think about you..."
Andrew, Robert, Joe and Tim agree on 28 things
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See what they all swear by Or pick your own peopleBooks
2 picks · Andrew Huberman and Robert Greene
"Another one of his books entitled Mastery remains one of my all-time favorite books and is one that I have recommended to the students I've taught in classes, in my laboratory, ..."
"I was raised Jewish, but when you read the New Testament, it's beautiful and the ideas in it are beautiful. So, I went back and I reread the Book of Matthew."
Productivity
2 picks · Andrew Huberman and Robert Greene
"Going away for a weekend without the phone, or getting a total night's sleep without the phone in the room, not looking at it for the first 30 minutes of the day. I think anyone..."
"I do, but of course I'm human and it tempts me and I understand the addiction... I do have to take the phone and put it in the drawer and I'm getting better and better at it."
Gear & hardware
2 picks · Robert Greene ·Robert's gear & hardware →
"So there's this company called Visconti, Italian company. They make wonderful fountain pens, and they have this one fountain pen called Homo Sapiens, which is my favorite."
"They have these beautiful bottles of ink and I have sepia, which I love. It's a beautiful color, sepia. It's this weird brown, yellow-brown for an ink. It's magnificent. I have ..."
Supplements
2 picks · Andrew Huberman and Robert Greene
"As a result, I decided to start supplementing with nattokinase, which can naturally help reduce LDL cholesterol, and it did. In a follow-up test, I could confirm that this strat..."
"I can remember taking one particular trip on peyote in the town of Mendocino up on the coast in Northern California and I'll never forget the experience and how it altered how I..."
Other picks
1 pick · Robert Greene
"I'm listening to this recording of Scarlatti, this composer, by Horowitz, the famous pianist. And I'm trying to like get inside of each note and follow the music as it flows."
Robert Greene
8 picks · guest
"He calls it self-remembering. I talk about it in the book... So my point is it's an exercise that can literally alter your neurology in some way. It can alter how you perceive t..."
"So there's this company called Visconti, Italian company. They make wonderful fountain pens, and they have this one fountain pen called Homo Sapiens, which is my favorite."
"They have these beautiful bottles of ink and I have sepia, which I love. It's a beautiful color, sepia. It's this weird brown, yellow-brown for an ink. It's magnificent. I have ..."
Andrew Huberman
4 picks · host
"Another one of his books entitled Mastery remains one of my all-time favorite books and is one that I have recommended to the students I've taught in classes, in my laboratory, ..."
"Two weekends ago, I was up at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur... Amazingly beautiful place. I hope everyone gets the opportunity to visit at least once. It's a spectacular place."
"Going away for a weekend without the phone, or getting a total night's sleep without the phone in the room, not looking at it for the first 30 minutes of the day. I think anyone..."
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