[personal update soon]
This is Jeff "the Dude" Bridges, in case you didn't know - he's an actor.
This type of stuff would sound very familiar to someone who knew about varajayana/esoteric/"Tibetan" Buddhism1 however even if you were unfamiliar with that, most people have seen or know of actors.
In the video here we see a basic process - and almost chant - a "round" of the syllable Om (AUM). The people usually in control of the programme (Conan) give control over to this idea and technique. What happens next is that people make some sounds and feel silly - Conan himself gets anxious over making bad television.
What is the issue here?
The issue is that a person in (perceived) authority is giving people space to try something new, to discover how they feel about it and react to that. The authority is going to (and more importantly does) use the space themselves - instantly undermining any "us" vs "them" vibe - we are all in this together.
Even when given space to try something new - to try something innocuous and almost boring, people are hesitant. They don't want to look silly so they smile and laugh to let everyone else know that they are in on the joke too.
People are in a television studio and they want excitement, they want something new - they don't want this something new - this is not what they expected.
They want what they expected more than they wanted to see something new, to learn something about themselves.
If you can't learn about the body you live in and the life you lead from day to day - if you can have that level of ignorance and delusion at your side and not notice it there will be some ... confusion arising from that. Confusion causes pain, trauma and heartbreak. Confusion causes suffering.
That's basically Lord Buddha's First Noble Truth2 right there.
Can we find the Second Noble Truth here?
Yes
Ignorance.
Ignorance of one's self - delusion over not feeling ignorant. Clinging to an idea that you know what silly people are like and you are that OR that you are a good person and can't be - whatever you are or wherever you find yourself.
People have written books on dealing with yourself in the moment of awkwardness/stress/suffering/samsara/dukkha3, books about being in the "now".
The Third Noble Truth?
The laughing, the joy at the shared experience. The laughing at oneself in a moment of feeling awkward.
This shows you (and better yet - causes you to feel) a way out of the bad spot you are in. There is hope, there is light, there is - as always - a way out.
What is that way out?
The Fourth Noble Truth - the way out.
The way out ... is best left to another place - even I would admit I am stretching it to get Lord Buddha's primary teaching out of a youtube video from Conan.
One method though is hinted at in this post, get out of the way of yourself so you can do what you need to do. Some people try and succeed with empowerment, some try and succeed with visualisation. There are many ways to bandage yourself up to let yourself heal and grow strong, and I don't want to even pretend that I know or have heard of most of them - or that I have done it.
I have heard of it happening though, and if you are reading this you have probably heard about it happening too.
So you know there is hope.
Feel the path out of the pain, the trauma, the suffering, the darkness - be a friend to yourself.
Then ask yourself.
"How am I not myself?"
1 The quotes are there to indicate that it is a thing often associated with Tibet but I don't believe that it originated there - I don't wish to offer a word against the legitimate Tibetan Government external to Tibet coordinated from Dharamsala. Their suffering is real. All suffering should cease. But this is not a place for political banter alone.↩
2 Wikipedia - If I'm curious about something I tend to look it up in an encyclopaedia type place to get a feel for it, then use that to inform where I should look for more information next and what I am looking for.↩
3 Wikipedia, again - seriously, if you're not going to click a link, what makes you think you will find a better version of it in books or something!
Also, for what it's worth - I get a perverse amount of pleasure from saying "dukkha" in place of a rhyming swear word out loud.↩
I think I may have messed up the numbering here - and if that stops you from finding it useful, then I think you are missing the point ... The correct ordering, as given historically: There is darkness, delusion and suffering. There is the nature of the causes of this darkness - it is stress, anxiety, desire, or better yet - craving and the anxieties it brings. There is another option, there is life and light - compassion, joy, equanimity and love for all (Metta). There is a path from the darkness to the light - the noble eightfold path as described by the Buddha.
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