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Shownotes
In this episode I am once again joined by Piers Cross, ex-Buddhist monk, coach, and creator of the documentary “Boarding on Insanity”.
Piers explains the British boarding school system, examines its history and social context, and reveals how and why boarding school attendance is seen by many as a pathway to power.
Piers recalls his own boarding school experience, the trauma and subsequent breakdown it caused, and describes the dynamic of the “privilege double-bind”.
Piers recounts his years as a Buddhist monk, how he navigated suicide attempts and self harm with meditation and community support, and the powerful mystical experiences he encountered during his religious practice.
Piers lists over two dozen leading figures in the arts, business, and politics who attended boarding school and reflects on the possibility of a leadership class affected by abandonment and dissociation by elite educational institutions.
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Video version: guruviking.com/podcast/ep297-boarding-on-insan…
Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
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Topics include:
- Intro
- Military family upbringing and alcoholic father
- Going to boarding school at 11 years old
- History of British boarding schools
- Pathway to power
- Oxbridge emphasis
- The old boys network and breaking parental attachment
- Is the education better?
- IQ vs emotional intelligence
- A typical day at boarding school
- Piers’ boarding school trauma and learning to dissociate
- Suicide of Piers’ best friend
- Resilience vs dissociation and avoidant attachment
- Resurfacing trauma in the 30s and 40s
- Richard Branson, David Cameron, Bear Grylls, and John Peel
- Trauma of neglect
- Idealisation, cover up, and not listening to children
- The privilege double-bind
- After boarding school & city career
- Depression and breakdown
- Laughed at by the doctor
- Death of Piers’ father and work in Africa
- 3.5 years in a Buddhist monastery
- A sense of coming home
- Taking the 8 precepts
- Ordination, self harm, and suicidal ideation
- The support and kindness of the other monks
- Struggles with meditation
- Reading scriptures and other Buddhist books
- Tastes of transcendence
- Profound experience of childlike mind
- Healing avoidant attachment
- Working with dreams
- Tears and connecting to emotion
- Buddhist doctrine about suicide and hell
- The power of initiation
- Leaving the monastery
- Piers shows his journal
- After the monastery and work with board school survivors
- “Boarding on Insanity” documentary
- Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Justin Welby
- Cover ups and a societal flip
- Prince Charles, Stephen Fry, Ranulph Fiennes, Gabriel Byrne, Roald Dahl, Harry Windsor,
- JFK, Princess Diana, Charles Spencer, Aldous Huxley, Richard Beard, Jeremy Paxman,
- Elon Musk, Mini Driver, Eddie Izzard, Princess Catherine, Rupert Murdoch,
- Piers’ 3hr daily practice
- Taoist Tantric Arts
- Piers’ advice for taking on new practices
- Piers’ meditation practice
- Closing remarks and advice for ex-boarders
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To find our more about Piers Cross, visit:
- youtube.com/@pierscross
- piers-cross.com
- boardingoninsanity.com
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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- www.guruviking.com
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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James
