Latest / The Inner Well Podcast / Chris Layton: Follow Your Bliss + Discerning Engagement
Transcript
- The Inner Well Podcast: We all contain a space within that when enlivened and nourished will support us with unwavering stability, expansion, and peace of mind. Join us each week as we dive into honest, grounded conversations about transcendental meditation, consciousness, and growth, and what it means to live an integrated life supported by a foundation of creativity and calm. This is the inner world. Hi everyone, welcome back to the inner well. I'm Megan and we are live in Austin, Texas with local Austin drummer Chris Leighton. ⁓ for those of you that don't know, Chris Leighton is most notably known for what being one of the founding members of Double Trouble with Stevie Ravon. And he's had a host of other fans that he's played with, but beyond that, he's just a really good human, a very dear friend. And I'm really excited to have him here talking to you guys about transcendental meditation, creativity, relationships, and all the other things we're gonna get into today. So Chris, thanks so much for being here. You're welcome. Good to be here. Yeah. Yeah. And so one of the questions that we start out with most often is we just really like to give our guests the opportunity to get to know you a little better before we dive into some of our standard questions about the practice and some of the other themes that we have going on. And we always start this out with just asking about your passions. You know, we know you're passionate about music. That's that's an obvious one. Is there anything else that really drives you to find joy and meaning in the human experience. I like cooking. Yeah. Yeah, but do this since I was a child in in whatever to whatever degree and whatever capacity. I kind of I mean that's actually a creative endeavor. Very much so. My wife says, how can you don't ever follow recipes? ⁓ you're one of those that's just like a pinch of this, a dash of this. Yeah, yeah, because it's fun to see what maybe generally follow recipes go I think I'll try this or I'll substitute that. Yeah, I've kind of done it long enough that I know we're here, yeah, yeah, I don't want to do that. I mean, like anything else, practicing is something I like to change all that stuff up and I enjoy all that. ⁓ I like cars. Okay. It's more of an obsession, but I guess it'd be a passion. Do you like just Having the cars in your garage and, you know, kind of driving them out on a Sunday, or are these like more race cars where you like kinda go into the track or an open highway and opening them up and see? Well, it's only one car and it's neither of those things that you that you posit it. Okay. I've got one car and I like to drive it and I like to do things with it. So it's just that. Okay. Like does it make it be Monday or Wednesday? Yeah. So I don't know It's not like a Sunday afternoon. But ⁓ no. Do you name your cars? Yeah, it's called Pole Cat. Polcat? P-O-L-E-C-A-T polcat. Pole cat. This is a slang for skunk. It's actually really it's a ⁓ actually polcat's actually in the deep south it's a slang for ⁓ a ferret, but in Texas it just kinda became pole cat. A scump, yeah. Okay. It's a black car with two big white stripes that you don't know that look. That makes sense. That's a 67 Shelby GT350. Yeah, so it's like that on this something I've had for a whole number of years and I'll like messing around with it, driving it. Yeah. Way fun. Well, a car like that deserves a name. I name mine too. My car's name is Rav. And that came after ⁓ so I'm really big into astrology and Jodish, and my moon nakshatra is ⁓ Ravete. And so I named her Raya after my knockshopped around. Mine's the opposite. Mine is a cream white with black stripes instead of black with rip stripes. Did y'all hear that? So maybe one non-Sunday afternoon. We could go driving together. I'll drive the car on Sunday too. Okay, so what about what's your favorite thing to cook? What's your favorite dish? Your signature dish to have chili. Chili? With beans. Okay. It can get controversial here in the state of Texas, but yeah. I mean I've been doing that a lot of time. I used to do it every Christmas, but I you know, but I I cook all kinds of stuff. And do you feel like that sort of does that relax you? Do you feel like you get in the zone when you're doing that? Yeah, it does relax me. Yeah. It's a it's an interesting practice and exercise and and creativity and process and process and other things. Yeah. I mean, I don't know why I I was kind of gravitating it towards anything that interests me as opposed to trying to find you trying to go out and just get interested in things that much easier that way. Yeah, it is with a national gravitational pull. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I fall off on those things real quickly. Yeah. You gotta play golf. It's like, yeah, I tried it before, it's kinda cool, but I'm not I'm not into it. Like it time. Like, I don't really want to because I'm not into it. You know. Yeah. I'm into that. That's too short. Do the stuff you're into. I know. It's like I that's really fascinating. I they ought to get involved in that. Let me see where, you know, and then if it sticks, it usually opens up and goes other places and then I know I'm on to stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good strategy. Well, so you want to hear really fun biofeedback stats since you cook your own food. This is actually one of the healthiest things in the world to do because when you Prepare your food, you know, when you wash your veggies or your meats or whatever you're cooking, it actually sends a message to your brain just with you holding the food. It tells your brain which digest digestive enzymes you need to produce in order to get the most nourishment from your food. Really? Yeah, it's Ayurveda one ⁓ one. That's why they always say seriously. Yeah, it's a thing. Well, like learn something new every day here, folks. Duly noted. Okay. So One of the themes that we were talking about last month was creativity. And one of the things that we talked about was how when people find these things that they really enjoy, that you know, their creative endeavors. Like mine's writing, you know, I love writing. I've always written poetry. That's always been one of my forms of catharsis. You obviously paid music for a living. And what we were talking about is how so often people will get caught in this trap of finding something they enjoy that they're passionate about. And then they think, ⁓ well, I need to monetize it. I need to do it for a living. I need to make money doing it. You know, and that's it's sort of this societal expectation that sort of drives us into that. You know, people always say, Well, if you love what you do, then it's not work. And so for me, what I found is when I started writing for profession, I stopped writing for passion. And so I'm just wondering how that crossover works for you. Like, do you still feel like do you feel like you've lost any passion for playing because you do it for a living? Do you play when you're not touring just for passion? I mean, how does that show up for you? You ever heard that old term, the Boston's holiday? You ever heard that term? No, I haven't. The guy drives the bus for a living and not his vacation. He takes a bus trip. ⁓ It's an old really old expression. And ⁓ yeah, from ⁓ playing all the time, when I'm not playing, I don't really usually want to hear any music. Yeah. I tend to not do that. Yeah. If I don't play for ⁓ long enough, then I start listening to music again. And so it's ⁓ it's kind of a double-edged sword, because part of Part of me being better and more engaged. It ends up being better. But being more engaged and excited, energized and ⁓ inspired to do that is me stepping away from it. Yeah. And so it's kind of a it's a it is. It's a double edged sword. It gets this little bit of a trap. But I mean it's a good one. But ⁓ yeah, I was ⁓ there was a really well known chef that lived here years ago. It was a neighbor of mine and I went by her house ⁓ about Thanksgiving like many years ago and wanted to know what you know her favorite ⁓ stuffing for a turkey was I said what what do you think and when I knocked on her door she asked the door if she was eating a swasses TV dinner. ⁓ Anyway, so the short story is I said, yeah, I really love cooking. I thought maybe one day I might get a have a restaurant. She goes, you really like cooking that much, yeah what she just gave screwed up on food and crow. Yeah. And I ⁓ And so I did say that it's applicable apparently. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I definitely think there's something to it. You know, we were talking about when you monetize it and you do it for a living, then all of these things get attached to it besides just passion. You know, your survival gets attached to it, your worth and value gets attached to it. And then it becomes performing your passion for the sake of what it is facilitating and providing. Well, yeah, these days, ⁓ I You say a hire out to various people, or I just show up and play drums. Mm-hmm. There were times the largest part of my playing life was bands that I've co-founded or helped form. Mm-hmm. It was the creative process that then if you're going to make a living, you have to you have to consider be engaged in the whole career part of it, which is the money. You know, but but but the money is It's kind of like at the end of the rainbow, kind of like in that metaphor. But how do you get from the beginning of the rainbow, you know, so to speak, to the end of it? Well, there's a long trip and there's a lot of things that are in that. Mm-hmm. That finally when you get to the end, as you you know, if you will, then you go well then there and then the money shows up. I mean, I found that always to be true. Yeah. In other words, it's I feel fortunate in that I've done what I ⁓ really that excited me the most and then it turned professional and then there were a lot of things that had to be taken care of and those things taken care of better than than not ended up bringing money. Yeah. Not like first I want to make a bunch of money, so what should I do? Mm-hmm. It's never been right. Because there's never been a plan and there's never been an objective like, okay, I'm getting out of high school and I want to make a hundred K by my fifth year. You know, that kind of stuff is never never been part of my Realm. Yeah. ⁓ something about discussions with my father and I had when I was younger about all that, which was what I ended up doing with my life and the way I approached living. Yeah. Well, and I mean I feel like there's just a natural law of balance that goes with that, right? And so if you actually dive into something because you're genuinely passionate about it, you will oftentimes get the universal support for it. Because, you know. Well, I think to add to that And to being on a particular path. Because people say, God, you've been really successful, you've had a grave life on you know, what's the secret? If there was any secret at all is that you stay on the path and you don't quit. And you see failures and we have successes and things go badly and things go great, but on that path, my sense of it is is that the longer you stay on it, the w the more the path widens until the it just opens up and it's just the world you live. You're not like walking a tightrope to it. Right. You know. And I think that ⁓ my belief is and because what I've seen is that as you it you're on that endeavor, you're on that pat in that endeavor on that path is that you get this support that continually shows up with all the failures and the obstacles and challenges and everything else, 'cause that's just the life. Right. ⁓ but the universe tends to tilt in one's favor up. Absolutely. Whatever it doesn't necessarily is where you keep changing your path, you keep starting something and then quitting it. And then I'll start something else and then you quit it and you start when you quit. I think it's really in my view, what I think I've seen or as it relates to me is that it's it's not something that nurtures that kind of thing happening within whatever the cosmotes you know. Yeah. Cosmos. That's a whole other conversation. No, I know. I'm just a But yeah, no, I mean it really is. It's almost like, you know, that that fortitude, that tenacity, that genuine passion and desire. It's a journey from becoming to being, right? Yeah, yeah, it's a bit white put it. Well, now I'd like to get into your TM journey a little bit. So you were in TM how long ago? Almost a year and a half ago. A year and a half ago. Well, not quite, but close to, yeah. Which is another one of those things you talked about creativity. I came across something more recently where Einstein called what we called our gut or intuition as a ⁓ sacred gift. Absolutely. And then when that comes to us, do we accept it, then we then it turns into the rational part of the mind that goes like you know what do I do with it and how do I do it? Although that's brilliant. Because that's one of those things we were talking a little earlier off camera about all of a sudden something ignites your interest. And you go, wow, I want it, and you go towards it. And then there's a whole bunch of questions. There are whole bunch of different things. Say, well, what where do I go and how do I go and what do I do? And hopefully what what don't I do? And that's to me where the where the mind comes in. So the creative thing is something occurs. You go, well, wait a minute, where did that come from? In other words, you didn't specifically conjure it. Right. And then you get a chance to say, Okay, well, do I pursue that? I I I actually believe that everybody has this. Absolutely. Because we live a lot, especially in the Western world, we can live a lot in our head that we just kind of dismiss and bab that stuff away because we go, I gotta do a grocery list, I mean the yard needs to be whatever water, or I don't got time to think about these flights of fancy and all that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. I was just sitting here a minute ago and this something came together. So you're here and you go, I need to go somewhere, and all of a sudden your car's just dead. You go, okay. And you you might go through the list of like Willisia called Uber. ⁓ you know what? It just came to me years ago. Somebody in the neighborhood had a car, they say, I don't ever drive it if you ever need to call me it just pops into your head. And you call and they go, Yeah, come get my car, and then you have a car in your it's a it's a creative Solution to problem solving. Absolutely. It's creative intelligence. And that's what we were talking about. Creativity does not necessarily have to be music or art or writing. It can be strategizing. It can be creative problem solving. And kind of what you're talking about is this experience of when you get out of your own way and you're just sort of in flow, that stuff bubbles up through you. And even in what you do as far as music. So many of our Coveted writers, artists, poets, singers, songwriters, the people that are really steeped in that creative production, they all have this experience of vesseling their gift, you know, kind of being overshadowed by their brilliance and having it just flow through them versus from them. Even Mahorshi Mahash Yogi, the gentleman that brought this technique out to the States, he always would say, follow your bliss, follow your bliss. Everything else falls into place. And so that intuition that you're talking about, that's a guiding force. It can point you in the right direction as long as you trust it. Mm-hmm. Then it will manifest a destiny for you. Well, I think I was fortunate, the family that I grew up in and that yeah, it was Christian Catholic, but there was a but there was always without say religious dogma, and there was, you know, Catholics don't study scripture. But it's just a thing that I saw this thing of like faith and trust. Mm-hmm. And so that was the that was the thing that sensually that I took was that courage after that, right? To go, Yeah, you know what, that could be done. So when you talk about creativity, there's the one where you go, okay, I'm creatively trying to solve a problem, or the other one where something just comes to you that has nothing to do with solving any problems. And you get intrigued by it all on its own, you go, I want to go take a look, I wanna go look into that, see what that means and where that might go. You know, back in the days of working with Stevie, we'd say, Well, we have a record that needs to come out because we have contractual obligations, money money. Yeah. And this needs to happen in the next twelve or eighteen months. And we'd sit in a room and we go, Do you have when do you have? Well, I kind of got something like this. I go, wait a minute, how about this? And then really really because in in that in the creative process you actually create something for nothing. Absolutely. You're not taking wood and building a chicken coop or whatever. It's like it's a trust and a faith and a time process is something will come. You know, the guy who liked was that we what you know, that's good. We like it. Didn't matter if we thought what you beyond them, there was nothing beyond that. It's like we know that we think that's good and that's only all we can know. Yeah. But but that's then that's part of that process of Somebody throws something out and then so it's yeah. Or you you actually do this to me and go, you know what? This is not really all that good. Okay, let's just chunk it and let's go back to Yeah. Sleep, clean the slate and let's start over. And so ⁓ it's kinda fascinating. Well, and so much of it matters whether or not it resonates to you personally because all of this is gonna be funneling through your nervous system when you're performing out to an audience. And so it has to register as something that you can successfully own and thustle, otherwise it'll fall flat and maybe push it out. Well, that was special. That's what was special about our van is that that's the only way that we operate it. But I've been in other situations where, you know, you sit down and go, Cam, like what would be good to get on the radio and maybe it'll get a Grammy nomination? That was never part of our ⁓ worldview. Our whole thing was like, are we feeling this? Is it real to us? And the and the more that we felt it, the more we go, this is actually real. Well, and that keeps it in a sacred space, which I think is beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was a beautiful experience. Yeah. In that way. I imagine. Yeah. Yeah. But to T DM. Yes. Tell me. What brought you to TM size Flaming? Shout out to Mike Flynn. ⁓ ⁓ when I was in ninth grade, I mean, we're gonna, you know, book to today we fast forward six decades, five decades. But when I was in ninth grade, a good friend of mine's sister had run across the Mahishi and started meditating. And she she she said, You guys gonna need to come check out this seminar. It was in Corpus Christie, Texas. And so we went and we watched this whole presentation and we were like When we were smoked some weed. It's trippy, man. It's like the Beatles and all this stuff. And we were like, yeah, this is cool. And then what yeah, whatever. And we left. But when I was in three of us were sitting around at a dinner in Las Vegas a year and a half ago. And it brought up it was brought up that everybody at the table had had been a part of a TM. And me, I was thinking about that well experience like decades early. Of course you run across if you see something. Yeah when I remember doing that that's kinda cool going that thing and all that. And then but when it was brought up again at the table it hit me well, you are gonna go do that. And so I turned it Just an inner knowing. Yeah, I was just saying, ⁓ you know what? I'm gonna do that. I mean I it never happened. So I I seized it. I turned to my friend, he I'll give me, I'll give you your note. He said I got the ⁓ Austin TM teacher's number, I went give it to me. And I went right on and I called you and started. So I mean again, another really great example of something that just effortlessly bubbles up and you pay attention to it and it takes you down a path that's incredibly rewarding. My mom used to say, you know, what I would whatever it was, she says, Son, all in God's good time. I go, what does that mean? I go, I'm like I'm ready for it. I go, Yeah, but it's not, it's not yet ready. Yeah. Or something. You know, she was saying, Yeah, no, yeah, whatever. And I I don't remember what she says specifically, but you don't all of a sudden something happens, you okay, you know what? Now I'm doing it. But I see it's the moment. Yeah. I'm glad you did. Me too. And so one of the things that I thought was really cool that I just kind of wanted to bring up, one of our other themes that we're talking about is relationships. And most people, when they hear the word relationship, they think romantic relationship because that's the most fun, obviously. But there's so much more. Depending on who you ask. Depending on who you ask at what time you asked. Right. Right. Fair. Fair, fair. But there's so many more relationships that fall under that umbrella. You know, you relationship with your family, relationship with your colleagues at work, you know, other musicians. But our most pivotal relationship that we have is the relationship that we have with ourselves. And so one of the things that I thought was so amazing after you learned, and I just kind of wanted to bring this up as a topic for discussion, because I just I think it's it's a lot of contrast. And so after you learn the technique, you know, it's a four-day course, you finish the course, and then we let you go off and field tested in your life. And then we bring you back a couple of weeks later just to see how things are going. And so when I talk to you for your follow-up, you were in New Mexico and I said, ⁓ hey, that's great. Glad you're like taking some time. And you said, Yeah, no, this is I'm here for two weeks and I've been here for like six days already. And this is the First time I've ever spent more than a day by myself in my entire life. I know it's wild. It's wild. I was like, what? ⁓ my gosh. Because I feel like that's it's it's such a profound experience, you know, because so many people go so long through their life without tapping that experience inside them that allows them to just sit comfortably with themselves in their own space with their own company. And so I'm just wondering what that contrast looked like for you and where you've continued to move forward as a result of that. Well, I mean, I wouldn't have known that. I wouldn't have known anything about that if I hadn't gone, would you say, field tested? Yeah. I mean that it occurred to me I would not because with family or in my profession, I go, you know what, I've always been with groups of people. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but I never actually done this. I've never done that for a cup for more than a couple of days. Day three or whatever, I never done that. So I was going to New Mexico and ⁓ I thought I'm gonna go early and I'm just gonna spend this like week just with myself to see what that's like. And it was fascinating. And I I found out all kinds of things. I mean, and I guess it would be kind of long and tedious to point all of them out, but if I had never seen that before because I'd never been in that situation. Yeah. And so it was really and I don't know, you know, I I don't know I don't know that if I hadn't ⁓ been practicing TM if that really actually would have ever occurred to me. Because in the in the meditative process I could realize I'm spending all this time with myself as it relates to the whole world around me in that quiet. And all kinds of things come to me and they're And I I I don't know if that would have happened. ⁓ it was a great experience. The practice of ⁓ TM I've noticed that all kinds of things in the two different parts of it, inward and outward. It's like all kinds of things come to me and ⁓ it's interesting to see that drama or that dialogue or whatever that is transpire and then change and then leave and It's like experiencing my own personal made movie. Yeah, which you don't freeze frame on anything. Yeah. Necessarily I don't and just let it go and stuff. It's an interesting process. The general anxiety that I would say, I mean, am I serious that I might feel maybe anybody could about anything? All that's ⁓ incredibly lessened. Yeah. Yeah. Not that every that I lived in to tell the anxiety to periods of my life I did. Sure, me too. You know, the high anxiety. Me too. Mel Burks made a movie about it, but What movie? High anxiety. Did he? ⁓ I haven't seen it. That's what all the movies. High anxiety is like, you know ⁓ it's great. The title alone is is great, but ⁓ yeah, all that is lessened in incredibly. I'm kind of amazed. Yeah. Just like I think you said these things would happen. They have happened. But called promises that have happened. And ⁓ yeah, it's amazing. And so, how do you feel like your relationship with yourself? I mean, the dissipation and the anxiety is amazing, being able to hold space by yourself for extended periods of time is amazing. How do you feel like that's transferred into your, you know, life outside of meditation? How does that inner foundation support you in your life when you go tour, you know, when you're At home with your wife, with your kids, what does that look like for you? That strong foundation and self, how does that really support everything? I'd say foremost is ⁓ it's brought about more of an awareness of response. Yeah, like what's going on with me? It's it's kind of basically a really clearer way to like the inventory, like what's going on, what's trying to be communicated, what am I actually communicating? You know, what am I responding to and how do I do that? Somehow that seems more in focus. No matter what the dynamic is to be where go to the coffee shop, you know, deal with the family, you know, with my work, ⁓ people I work with. I I can kind of hear and understand things a little bit more clearly. Mm-hmm. An awareness. Yeah. And ⁓ so it's not all about like How do I feel with me? And how do I work with me? And how do how's me and the me of every it's like it also has to be because I'm the one that's experiencing this, but it's brought a lot of clarity to that. Like, what is that? Like what's what's really going on? Yeah. And to the degree that I I actually would know what's going on in these situations, it's become clearer to see the the nuance of that. Yeah. And the benefit of that is that. Whatever is going on in any realm, I go, you know, I don't I don't have any place here without there's nothing to be still, there's nothing to comment on, there's no thing to no dog in the hunt, you know, to jump in on something like that. That doesn't really go anywhere. I'm kind of seems like in the times I say that we live in, there's so many of those exchanges that you go well, that's really a fruitless maybe even damaging thing to jump in on because it it doesn't really matter other than to create more disturbance and mormony and you know bad feelings and all those other things. So it's easier just to draw out. And there's another clarity. Yeah. More and more clarity. Yeah, there's no reason to go in there. Yeah. It doesn't mean anything anyway, other than people get upset or so, you know, to be helpful and try to, you know Do something that might benefit somebody else and myself, say, yeah, there's something that I can do there that looks that looks real and it's it's good spirited and good natured. Yeah. Just say, you know there's some there's a there's the moment. But to see that and notice those distinctions is really all that really does come around to me dealing with myself and how do I see myself. You know, do and I think to me that's you know, when you talk about spiritual pursuits and what whatever we go talking about. basis of religious faith practices, cosmic consciousness, or all of it is like, how well do I really s see me? Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, as opposed to how well do I see you? It's like, do I understand? And I think this, I mean, to me, that's kind of like the lifelong journey. Well yeah, because you can't even see me unless you see yourself. Right. And what you're talking about is, you know, sort of like that witnessing consciousness. You know, you have a little space. Right. So you can actually have discernment. You discernment. Yeah. It's a good way to put it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm more discerning. Or as you know, as an old metaphor, it's like I'm not so lying on fly off the hand. Never heard that one? I ha heard that one. There you go. They flying off the hand. Yeah. I mean, and it it kind of keeps you at choice point, which is something I've talked about before. You know, it's When life's backing up against you and you don't have any space, you tend to be very reactive, you know, versus when you have space and you have discernment, then you can choose how you want to respond. And what this does is it constantly puts you in a place where you're showing up as the person you desire to be. Which drastically improves your relationship with yourself. And by improving your relationship with yourself, it bleeds out into your relationships with other people. She said it perfectly. I was gonna say all that, but she she said it. Okay. That's good. That's good way to put it. Yeah. Very verifying. I have my moments. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us. This has been an amazing conversation. I always enjoy talking to you. You too. And ⁓ before we close out, we always end with our favorite question on this podcast. You ready? Drum roll. What does the inner well mean to you? Where I go in peace and quiet to see what I might find. Maybe mind humility. Vulnerability. ⁓ good. I love that. Vulnerability. That's a great one. Okay, Crystal, thanks so much for joining us. And thank you guys for tuning in. We will see you next week on the Inter Well. That's a wrap on today's episode of The Inner Well. Please subscribe and leave a review. Your support means the world and helps others find us. And if this conversation added something to your day, don't be shy. Share it with someone it might resonate with. Also, please follow us on social for more between episodes and send in your questions, your stories, or the topics you'd like to explore with us. We genuinely love hearing from you and this podcast exists because of you. So keep showing up for yourself and we'll see you next week.