First Live of 2026 🥳

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Alter Bridge, Amazon, Dan Riddick
2. 5:00 – 10:00: John Pienta, Morpheus
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Jackson Claude
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Dan Riddick
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Alter Bridge, Impossible Whopper, Karoli Baba
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Young Carol (Yan Carol)
7. 35:00 – 40:00: Zuben Demana
8. 45:00 – 49:58: Frank Yang

Notable quotes from "First Live of 2026 🥳"

• The comments. Happy New Year, Kathy. Cynthia, everybody's here for the new year. Alter Bridge fan. Oo. Dan Riddick says, I bought lights and never put them up because of my…

  about Alter Bridge · at 1:37

• Will do to you. Yeah, dude. I feel you. It's all good, though. Jesse, is Teimu better or Amazon better?

  about Amazon · at 2:49

• Out of suffering this feels vaguely Buddhist to me let's see. John Pienta says, That's great about the Zen world. If you come if you came to doan saying that there's nobody here to suffer, they would smack you upside the head and say,.

  about John Pienta · at 8:05

• Because it's not speakable. That's why it's kind of hard. That's why Morpheus says, I can't tell you what the Matrix is. You got to go see it for yourself.

  about Morpheus · at 9:51

• Can't eat that stuff anymore. Although, although I will say, and this makes very little sense, an Impossible Whopper from Burger King, for some reason, when I eat that, I feel…

  about Impossible Whopper · at 20:05

• Pip, I've been reading Miracles of Love Ramdas's book about his guru named Karoli Baba. And it's it's quite fascinating. It's it's not very Buddhist. It's very much in the flavor of the unconditional love aspect and that weird guru kind of.

  about Karoli Baba · at 21:11

• Stacy says, Can you do me a New Year's favor and say hi to Grandma Carol? It would make her day and I could show it to her. This is Chad's grandma that he lived with in high school in Clovis.

  about Young Carol (Yan Carol) · at 26:04

• Like the channel's called Zuben Demana because I couldn't think of another name that was me because that's as close to the authentic identity that my parents said here's your name. Of course, that's.

  about Zuben Demana · at 38:16

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Young Carol (Yan Carol) — Person · 3 mentions · first at 26:06
• Dan Riddick — Person · 2 mentions · first at 1:43
  The comments. Happy New Year, Kathy. Cynthia, everybody's here for the new year. Alter Bridge fan. Oo. Dan Riddick says, I bought lights and never put them up because of my…
• John Pienta — Person · 1 mention · first at 8:13
• Morpheus — Person · 1 mention · first at 9:54
• Jackson Claude — Person · 1 mention · first at 10:18
  The most suggestible piece of [ __ ] that I've ever seen. I sit around with Claude and chat and I'm Bros, let's talk about non-duality. And they and once they start getting…
• Karoli Baba — Person · 1 mention · first at 21:16
• Zuben Demana — Person · 1 mention · first at 38:16
• Frank Yang — Person · 1 mention · first at 47:44
  Like that. That's pretty good. John says, I think one analogy about transformation is Frank Yang. I know. I know Frank. He's very into the space and also still lifts weights, but he said it's no longer about goal per se. Yeah.
• Jimg — Person · 1 mention
• Ram Dass — Person · 1 mention
• Zuben — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• Alter Bridge — Company · 2 mentions · first at 1:43
• Amazon — Company · 1 mention · first at 2:54
• Teimu — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

• Impossible Whopper — Product · 1 mention · first at 20:10

Full transcript with timestamps

0:01 All right, I think we're live. Happy New Year [ __ ] Welcome to Fantasy Island, my home. It's not Fantasy Island. My My kids are They went to a trampoline park, so they're probably injured severely. Uh or coming home, one or the other. And my wife is probably going to come home soon. So, I thought it's 2026. Let's do a live. Uh, let me know how things uh, look and sound. I'm still trying to tweak these microphone settings so they don't sound like ass. Hi, Steve. Happy New Year, LRO. And all the people here, man. Oh, yeah. Here, [clears throat] let me make this bigger so I can I can see it better. There we go. Dude, I think the the lighting is kind of crazy. Hold on.

0:53 Let me just try to make that less. We don't love it. We still have our Christmas tree cuz we're those people that are too lazy to take it down. It took so much pain and effort to put it up. It's like I'm going to wait until it becomes a true fire hazard. Like I like I mean maybe too soon because of the Swiss thing, but like that thing not safe. Um but they're LEDs so they shouldn't generate heat, but I don't know, man. And then the cat eats the needles and throws up all over the place. I hate Christmas. I'm not going to lie. It is a a time when I'm cleaning up cat vomit and barely avoiding self- emilation. Uh let's see what we got for the comments. Happy New Year, Kathy. Um Cynthia, everybody's here for the new year. Alter Bridge fan. Oo. Dan Riddick says, "I bought lights and never put them up because of my laziness, so I completely understand." Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We used to have a fake Christmas

1:54 tree when we were in Las Vegas because it's Las Vegas and everything's fake. Um, and it was actually great. Uh, but it started to decode to quote Napoleon Dynamite over some years and then we went back to live trees and ah, such a pain in the ass, man. But it's pretty and the kids really enjoyed it. But the minute those kids are gone, I'm like, "No, the Grinch is officially in charge." And and the cat's getting exiled to Cat Siberia, too. I'm going to tell you, cuz cleaning up vomit, not my thing. Um, but it is my thing. Linda says, "Happy New Year all the way from hot Australia."

2:33 Ah, you guys are having summer and you're in some kind of time warp where you have your new year first. That's not fair. You guys are the worst. That's not enough. This is a knife. Um, Corky Dave, hey, I've hated Christmas for over 20 years, and this is what working retail will do to you. Yeah, dude. I I feel you. It's all good, though. Jesse, is Teimu better or Amazon better? Yes. Um, Ashley Stewart, we leave ours up until after January 7th. I don't celebrate Orthodox Christmas, but it's nice to have the extra fun lights for longer. Yeah, I think anything that's a fire risk is okay with me. and an electrocution risk. Um, but it's fixing carbon as we speak because it's photosynthesizing. So, you know, there's that. I'm so green. Uh, Lil Rod says, "Bonus of nomad life. No decor to put up or take down, but you get to enjoy other people's decorations." See, that is my dream retirement is just nomad all

3:33 around, you know? Um, you know, I'm gonna try something here because I just don't like this thing. Hold on. I'mma crank those up. Is that better or worse? I can't tell. I like a more natural light cuz it's just glaring in my eyes. And I want, you know, what did uh what did Voldemort say? I want to see the light. Leave your eyes, Harry Potter.

4:04 There's this great Instagram uh channel that's just got this dude dressed like Voldemort with all the makeup and everything and he just goes around saying [ __ ] to like his wife, you know, like he'll walk in and and and he's like, "What's for dinner?" And she's like, you know, liver and he's like uh it's it's it makes me giggle. Um my filthy muggle father. He's always saying [ __ ] like that. Spotless wanderer, my man. Can you talk about me? Yes, me. The one reading the comment aloud, which is also me. The one who wrote the comment, that's also me. The one that is hearing Zuben speak, quote unquote. Yeah, this me, this legendary me. It's pretty funny, isn't it? when you kind of um when it's no longer believed as a thing, the Mi is pretty funny. It's just like, "Hey guys, I'm I'm Zog. How are you?"

5:06 It's just this constellation, this energetic sense that you're separate from everything that's happening. And when it collapses, then it's not even a question of like who's reading the comment, who said this. You like these Advita Nazis, like these non-dual Nazis that go around, they're like the worst. Everybody in every spiritual circle hates these people cuz they they walk around going, "What do you mean I?" Like, there's no I there's no me doing this. And like anytime you talk about like, "Oh, I'm going through some difficult stuff." They're like, "Who's going through it? It's not happening to anyone." And you're like, "Okay, this may technically be true." Of course, you can't say anything is true or not true because there's [ __ ] nothing happening. But, uh, shut the [ __ ] up because the experience of the apparent person is apparently happening to that apparent person. So, there's still a me that's suffering in

6:02 that moment. Even if it's just appearance, the appearance includes belief, energetic, sense of reality, like all that. So that's why suffering actually matters. And that's why the unconditional unspeakable love that all this is can show up as anything, including a self that's suffering. So I think you know I used to when I first started realizing that there's nothing here that can be called a self that isn't just appearance. I would go around telling people like oh you know ex being like that. And I think it's a phase people go through. It's just like yeah or you get stuck there cuz because the truth is like you could even say well who's [ __ ] asking like you know you see these people leaving these comments like who's doing this? I'm by the way I'm not saying that's you like you're pointing out the self illusion. That's awesome.

6:55 I'm talking about the Advita Nazis, the non-dual Nazis or the non-duality police. What do you mean? Um, what the [ __ ] is a no self doing leaving comments on YouTube about other non-duality videos going, "What do you mean there's you that's suffering?" It's like, come on. Don't you see what's happening? We're all trapped in this delusion that we're somebody that could say stuff and do stuff and make stuff change and there's an agent here even though we're denying it. So just trying to believe away the self and does not the self remove. There's no nothing to remove in the end anyways except for a misapprehension just a misunderstanding that's all. And it doesn't matter whether it goes or stays. If there's suffering which feels absolutely real and so for all intents and purposes is real and that's the one whatever noble truth right there's suffering um then there can be a looking to try to see what is

8:00 the misapprehension that's leading to this suffering what's the cause of suffering and therefore what's the path out of suffering uh this feels vaguely Buddhist to me Um, let's see. John Pienta says, "That's great about uh the Zen world. If you come if you came to doan saying that there's nobody here to suffer, they would smack you upside the head and say, "Oh, there's then there's nobody who's in pain." That's that Zen is really good at that. Just they'll just hit you with the Kiyosaku stick and be like, "Shut the [ __ ] up."

8:36 Because again, we get we get stuck at every little place along the way. And one of the thing that's the things that seems to be arising more now in 2026 seems to have this theme already is well this is also yeah it's empty of substance. There's not a self that's believable. There's no self apart from all that is. Um there's no substantiality or permanence. Yeah. All that's fine. But also what is this radiant pure unconditional compassion, love, bliss that arises that is seems to be the subatomic nature of all of this. I'm just using words like what is that?

9:15 Like oh try to try to ignore that when it arises and say it's oh it's just another experience or who's having it or whatever. It's like, yeah, okay. But that's the fullness that fills you when you empty out a lot of that delusive view. The view that you believed the matrix to be real, to be all there is, the matrix is just the appearance. This Maya, the illusion, it's great. It's the dance. It's love doing a dance with itself if you want to use poetic words because you can't use real words because they don't work.

9:51 Because it's not speakable. That's why it's kind of hard. That's why Morpheus says, "I can't tell you what the Matrix is. You got to go see it for yourself." Um, Dan says, "See, but AI tells me that this is happening, and I unconditionally trust my new overlords." Shh, don't tell them the truth. Oh, dude. It AI AI is the most suggestible piece of [ __ ] that I've ever seen. Like, I sit around with Claude and chat and I'm like, "Bros, let's talk about non-duality." And they and once they start getting trained up, they're so into it. They're like, "Oh yeah, the radiant bliss of nothing. The void is, you know, pulsating with aliveness. It's, you know, copying all the [ __ ] that's out there." And you throw it a little curveball and you're like, "Yeah, but what if suffering is real?" And it's like, "Great point, Zuben. What if?" Well, I maybe suffering is real. Maybe that isn't a lousery. And

10:46 it just goes down another rabbit hole. And you're like, "Bro, nobody knows what's going on. Not AI, not I, not the illusory eye, the freaking capital I I self, whatever the [ __ ] Nobody knows what's going on." And that is a huge relief. So, we don't have to know. We can have fun trying to know because that's like fun for humans and stuff, but you don't have to know anything. It It's okay. Yeah. Take a break from from the knowing. Um Dan says uh you can prime uh your future queries to have it answer the way you want. Plenty of people do that to get it to say some crazy stuff you'll see in the shorts. Exactly.

11:30 And you know it's fun when you use it wisely as a tool. Otherwise you just see it's not much different than a human. It's totally suggestible. It's just pulling from conditioning. And it just like us, it doesn't actually have to be aware to do that. It doesn't have to like what is this awareness we talk about? These are just phenomena phenomenoning. We just think we're a center of it that's aware. That's the beauty of the phenomenon. They can take that configuration that makes it feel like that for no one. It's crazy. But why even honestly it's good like you can point in that way when people are stuck in a particular fixation maybe but at some point you just drop it all and just go live your damn life but there's a natural love compassion unconditional acceptance that comes online and it doesn't change the personality that much it can I mean the personality can tweak but I'm still an [ __ ] and I still

12:32 have fun and I still get angry, but it just doesn't stick as much. Now, there are things that arrive. I'm still Dude, come on. Let Let's not Let's not pretend that I know what the [ __ ] I'm talking about or that I'm some like highly realized being, okay? I've just been through some [ __ ] and I'm sharing my experience with you, there's still [ __ ] that comes up that I'm just surprised at how sticky the suffering can be. you know, like, you know, my daughter's applying to college. There's all these applications. She has me proofread them like 5 minutes before they're due. She's going to come home and have me proofread another couple. And it's like, ooh, somehow that triggers my old striving accomplishment mind conditioning and it comes online and it expresses through, ooh, I got to do something about this and somehow I'm in control of this and I'm responsible for her doing this or that and I got to push her in this way

13:27 and do that and I know it's not true. Like I know it's not true and yet the conditioning is playing out. And so you go to bed, you wake up at 2 in the morning like going, "Why am I having subternal chest tightness? Oh, I could be having a mioardial inffection." Or it could be the body replaying this our own traumatic process of accomplishment and all of that and how it's projected and and you can feel it all and it comes right through and you're like, "Oh, I thought that would go away." No, it just becomes more obvious what it is. Suffering just becomes louder. It's like, "Oh [ __ ] that's obvious." And then you kind of look and then the next morning it's gone. Or it's not. And there's something else that needs to be seen. And you lean into it. You attune to what needs to be seen. You don't try to hide from it because you can't. There's nowhere to go anymore. Can't go into thought because

14:21 it doesn't work because it's seen as just a house of mirrors. You can't own it as yours because the self is seen as like that's not a real thing even though it arises and feels real occasionally. So what can you do? You just got to feel it. See it for what it is and be like cool. That's what that is. Uncomfortable but so is a lot of [ __ ] Uh oh, someone's home. Who that? Hey babies, I'm doing a live I'm doing a live show. So, just like mind your P's and Q's. They don't know what that means because it's an old man. It's an old man uh idiom. Mind your P's and Q's, lad. How was the

15:06 It was so fun. It was fun. The 10 types of you. Oh, no, dude. Everyone's sick. They got like Noravirus. Oh, you won that.

15:15 No, people gave it. It's my birthday. Oh, cuz it's your birthday celebration. Here, bring it here. Let me show it to these guys.

15:21 They gave it to you? Yeah. So, this is like a delayed birthday, 18th birthday present for my daughter because she was like, I want to hang out with some friends at a thing. Do a thing because I've never done a thing cuz her birthday's like in the just two days prior to Christmas, so no one's usually around.

15:39 Wait, I'll chop though. Oh, you don't need to be in it if you don't want to. Okay, wait. I'll show you. First, Lyra got me this. [snorts]

15:47 What is this? It's a Minecraft Steam. Jack Black. He looks so like large in that,

15:52 dude. He's um to be perfectly polite, this is pre-ozembic uh Jack Black. He looks not like himself.

15:58 Nice. And what's this? What is Oh, it's a violin. Yeah, cool. Your friends have good taste.

16:06 China. Whoa. China. Vaguely racist. I like it. Bamboo. China rego. Oh, that's great.

16:14 I got this weighted goose. And a weighted goose. Jelly cat in the car. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Do you want to say hi to everyone? No, I look really bad.

16:23 No, cuz I I've been jumping and I'm so sweaty. I burn like a thousand calories doing that. It's so tiring. My like knees got thrown out and my back hurts.

16:31 You know, we had a 14oot trampoline when I was in college in our backyard and uh I forever had low back pain after.

16:37 You didn't play dodgeball against um pre-teens. Uh no comment. Um anyways, uh Okay. Well, so you guys ate or what?

16:47 Yeah, we ate McDonald's. Well, we have McDonald's. They said, "Could we go to fast food?" And I'm like, "Yeah, whatever. We're having leftovers. You can go to fast food."

16:55 We I got a Big Mac. Go right now. All right. Go, go, go. Did you get my Yes. Were they good or bad?

17:03 Um, they're all right. The the I I am live to the public. Oh, yeah. So, like I we probably shouldn't talk about your college applications.

17:12 Oh, why? Because maybe an admission officer is watching. No. She's like, "No, sorry. Uh people are saying happy Nina, happy belated birthday 18th. Oh, Dennis, my one of my um supporters, Dennis, his birthday is December 23rd, too. He is a wise dude. A little bit older than you.

17:33 Well, I'm an adult now. You're an adult. That's right. Um Ian with nothing says, "Perhaps that's why AI feels so sick of fantic. It does not have any desire for self-preservation or identity preservation." Yeah, it just it's it's just going to do whatever it's just going to imprint on whatever you lead it to do and whatever its conditioning is. Um, in a sense, it's quite free in that way. It doesn't have any other parameters. Um, Tech49 says McDonald's is not food. I'm with you on that, but for children, when I was their age, McDonald's was like heavenly nectar. So, you know, at this point, I'm like, learn your lessons the hard way.

18:14 you know, build up that arterial plaque, that pre-diabetes now, and then later you can spend some time undoing it. Um, hey George, good to see you. George Shepard. Uh, yeah, GPTs have no system, too. Oh, nice. A little a little Daniel Conorman reference there. Thinking fast and slow. Is that what we're talking about? Um, [snorts] let's see. Yeah, everybody ate that crap when we're young, right? And some people eat it. Now I I have a friend who's a doctor, a good friend. He's a surgeon and all he eats is fast food. He's got hypertension, pre-diabetes. He doesn't care. He's like, "Uh" I go, "Why? Why do you eat that?" He's like, "Cuz I like it." I'm like, "Okay, nothing right or wrong in this multiverse. You go for it.

19:02 Um just, you know, realize the consequences might be there." Kesha says, "My daughter is in her senior year and applying for colleges. It's stressful. Heck, but going to roll with the punches." That's all you can do, right? Dan Riddick. Uh, the P's and Q's make absolutely zero sense. Uh, but I know the phrase. Yeah, there it is. Um, let's see. I only have McDonald's once a month, says Patrick. I'm intermittent fasting. There you go. Um, let's see here. Looking at comments. Druids call the uh 23rd December nameless day or a day of all potential.

19:39 Well, that I'm not going to. That'll just totally give her ego. I am nameless potential. Harry Potter, I want to see the light go out of your eyes. Um, yeah. Let's see. Kathy, what are we talking about? Uh, I get sick from eating McDonald's now and errand showers. I know that's a thing. Like, I can't eat that stuff anymore. Although, although I will say, and this makes very little sense, an Impossible Whopper from Burger King, for some reason, when I eat that, I feel okay. And it's not because it doesn't have meat and all that. There's just something

20:25 refreshing about it. And it's full, it's, you know, it's cooked on a meat grill. It's like totally processed. It's full of sodium and fat. It's not like it's healthier in that way, but there's just something about it that I'm like, I don't feel ill and it doesn't feel heavy. Um, maybe it's just me.

20:43 Alter Bridge fan says, "I've been addicted to a place near me, a Native American food place. I had it tonight, a venison smash burger with fried bread buns, and I said, "If I die from fry bread, I'm okay with it." See, we choose the hills we're willing to die on. And that sounds delicious. I think I would die for that. I'm okay with that. Um yeah. Um Pip Ananda says, "I am nothingness incarnate." That's pretty good. That's that's what it is. Oh, so Pip, I've been reading um Miracles of Love uh Ramdas's book about his guru named Karoli Baba. And it's uh it's quite fascinating. It's it's not very Buddhist. It's very much in the flavor of the unconditional love aspect and that weird guru kind of thing where it's just like, oh. And I used to kind of discount that and now I'm like h there may be something to this approach especially when it's culturally um kind of sanctioned or built into the into the thing. Um

21:47 McFasting says altered bridge. Uh Aaron showers I had a burger yesterday from Wawa and I got nauseous. Yeah dude something starts to and when you get a little older too it just becomes u disgusting. All right. So, these two clowns are sitting here on their phones. So, I don't know if I should wrap it up or what because uh they're just going to ridicule everything I say, especially if I start talking about anything to do with awakening. Uh but let's do it anyways. Uh Evelyn says, "I've been having expanding experiences and then drop back into mind. Interesting to watch the coming and going of expansion and then the mind contraction." All welcome now.

22:27 So, I think first of all, thanks for being a supporter. Um that is the best attitude with which to approach this apparent pendulation between clarity, expansion, bliss, cl um emptiness and mind identification contraction samsara, the illusion. The ultimate truth is there's no distinction between them. They're the same thing. They're like, like in a recent uh live cast, Wayne had mentioned, it's like wearing headphones. In one track, there's emptiness, nothingness stillness potential and in the other track there's all of this.

23:15 And they're the same. They're making one music um from the same source, right? Same CD. That's how old I am. Actually, LP eight track. I used to have those. My dad had an eight track player in his Pontiac Grand Dam in the 70s and I used to pop in eight tracks of like Crosby Stills and Nash. Um, Flight 266 says, "Zuben, love is good." It is good, isn't it? It's quite good. Um, yeah, Pip, it it's it's a series of stories from Indians and Westerners who went to sit with Neim Kurly Baba. So they they colloally called him Maharaji, Maharaj Gi. And um it's pretty unbelievable stuff. So whether you believe it or not, but it definitely transmits um something.

24:07 Um off topic, can a 36-year-old nurse practitioner survive medical school? Is it too late? Uh Kesha, uh sure. I had plenty of people in my class that were older like that. Should you do it? I can't answer that for you. Why would be my question? Like what's the motivation for that? Cuz you know, you can see patients and stuff as a nurse practitioner. If you want to go into that depth and maybe specialize in something different or whatever it is that makes you interested in that, by all means, but make sure to exclude anything else you'd rather do cuz it's it's painful. Like I I don't want it for my kids. is like unless they really are passionate about it and so far they haven't shown that but it may change. Um not for my oldest though she's not You're not doing medicine right Nina?

25:00 Oh see look at that they're not even listening to me because they both have they both have AirPods

25:07 except for Maya but I wasn't talking to you. I wasn't talking to Maya. I was talking to Nina who doesn't listen.

25:16 Wait what? Uh nothing. Um, John Pena says, "Going to med school seems like you should do it only if you want to do surgery." I I don't I I I think you should only do it if you want to do medicine at all because um it's um it's a long and arduous route. I wouldn't have changed it. Like I don't regret it because it was such a like at some point I'm going to make a video just about like okay, what's that like? like for people who aren't in medicine, like what was that experience like now having this um uh different perspective, let's say.

25:56 Uh let's see. Let's see. Let's see. Stacy says, "Can you do me a New Year's favor and say hi to Grandma Carol? It would make her day and I could show it to her. This is Chad's grandma that he lived with in high school in Clovis. Okay. So, my friend Chad, his grandma, Grandma Carol, was like a fixture when we were in high school. Um, hi, Grandma Carol. She um took care of Chad, took care of us, and uh yeah, we're talking about like unconditional love. Like, that's Grandma Carol. So, I got to say um happy new year cuz you are awesome. So, and say hi to Chad.

26:46 It's been a minute. These are like my high school buddies. We all play guitar together. And uh Oh, man. We were such jerks to each other. It was so much fun. Um flight 266 says, "Letting go, no clinging, watching the thoughts blast from border to border in my mind. very selective. Yeah, it's um in a sense like really awakening is simply just accepting everything as it is for what it is, seeing it clearly and accepting it and then the natural compassion and love come online and then you just your actions start to match this inner there's no inner and outer anymore but your actions just naturally align with that. However that shows up for you through your own conditioning is very it's very hard to do what you would call evil even though there's no good and evil in that sense. It's like that's those are constructions but like it's really hard to hurt other beings.

27:49 Um when that comes online Ian with nothing do you think it's possible to design a version of med school that isn't extremely painful? Oh totally. Yeah. I just don't know how to do it. Um, so hopefully it'll it'll happen. Uh, let me just make sure that Oh, it's just these guys texting. Okay. Oh, no, it's it's my wife. Okay. Now, when did she do that? Cuz I better be ready with some heated up leftovers like a good husband.

28:23 Yay. Yay. Yay. Yay. Are you talking to me or you talking to someone else? I'm saying a text.

28:29 Are you eating that Big Mac now? Dude, bring it here. Let me Let me Let me show it to these guys. Bring me your Big Mac.

28:37 No, these guys. No, they're too good. They don't know what a Big Mac is. Midway through eating it.

28:42 Let's Let's Let's dissect this Big Mac. No. What? For the New Year's. We're talking about New Year's resol resolutions here.

28:48 Big Mac. No, I'm not. Don't touch my honey mustard. Hold on. Let me Let me see what I'm what I'm seeing here. Hold on. Look at this thing. Honey mustard. Are you putting the honey mustard on the

28:58 I'll be obby like a pack of ties. Oh man, dude. This actually It's It's disgusting. Here you go. Enjoy.

29:05 I It's full of like I hope you survive it. Man, when I was that age, I would eat. We This was our thing. Me and Chad, the guy that Stacy was talking about Grandma Carol just in a minute ago. Chad, me, Chris, and Phil would get in my Volvo, my my mom's Volvo that she would let me use to drive to school when I was a senior. I couldn't. They wouldn't let me drive when I was a junior. They're like, "Nope." Because they're strict Indian parents. But by senior year, I sweet talked them. And we had an off-campus policy at Clovis West High School where we could go out off campus for lunch, the seniors only. And so we would go for lunch. This was 1991, 1990, 1991. We would go to Taco Bell. I would order four to five bean burritos.

29:55 and eat them with hot sauce in a sitting like five bean burritos. And then I'd go back to class just totally bloated and gassy. And that was lunch number one. Lunch number two is we'd go to um this Chinese buffet that they had in Clovis. It's near Fresno, California for people who don't know that area. Um, it was called Loy Loy and it was all you could eat for like five bucks and we would eat just the most disgusting amounts of like this nasty fried rice like is Americanized Chinese food and like you know this orange chicken and all this stuff and uh and then we would or we would go to Pizza Hut and get I would get two familysiz orders of bread sticks and eat them both and that was like a thousand bread sticks and in those days you're 18 years old 17 years old, like you wouldn't gain any weight. You wouldn't feel sick. You would just be like, "Yeah." I mean, it was like you're invulnerable.

30:57 Now, if I even look at that stuff, like my body is like it turns itself inside out. It's like, "No, stop. What are you doing?" But man, I miss those days. Um Dan says, "God, I love driving. I have a tendency to total cars, but man, I enjoy it so much." That is a very disturbing statement and I and I and I appreciate it and condone it. Um Jimg says, "Let's talk about how to navigate 2026 with all the depression, instability, collapse. How do we stay informed but also stay sane?" So, I think it's helpful. It took me a long time to um stop believing and taking this seriously. But that doesn't mean you can't take it sincerely. So you can be sincere in like concern for others suffering and things like that, but taking any of it seriously like this president versus that president, this versus that, like this mediaspun narrative versus this media spun narrative. Like it's all a construction. It's all a story. It's all

32:12 an elaborate dance. And it has no inherent reality beyond what we assign to it. So if it's causing you anxiety, depression, and all of that insanity, right? The insanity is believing it to be actually true. So you can still participate, you can still be earnest and sincere without really, it's kind of like a wink wink. And so for me, you know, like my mom loves to talk about every time I get on the phone with her, she'll go on and on about what's going on in the news and I just listen quietly, but in my mind I'm like it's it sounds like just

32:49 those old fax machines that would just go it's just a series of like blips because it doesn't mean anything until I assign it meaning and I don't. Now, there's plenty of times I read the news where it's essentially helpful to me. Like, oh, I'd like to know like, am I planning for retirement correctly? Am I doing these things just because practical purpose supporting family? Those kind of things, news that matters, local news that matters, affects me directly. But like what Trump's doing or what this guy's doing or what, you know, Vana and Marty are doing, it's like five f five months later it'll be something different. Next president, it'll be something different. It's all just this dance, this, you know. So we do our part. I did my part for many years. I played in the Leela in the dance. I I took the matrix quite seriously. And all it brought me was more anxiety, suffering, and frustration. And then when you kind of

33:45 wake up and see clearly, you're like, "Okay, I can still participate, but it's no longer heavy." You know, it really it's hard to be heavy. And there's some sticky stuff. There's certain things that'll still trigger. So you kind of look in that direction when they arise. Um, Aaron says, 'I stopped watching the news and started focusing on taking care of myself in sincerity. Yeah, that's beautiful. It'll it'll help a lot. People are crazy. They've gone crazy. And I get it because you have polarizing media. You have polarizing social media.

34:15 Society has done this because it makes money for big tech companies. So, it's going to be like that if you fall for it. And it's easy to fall for it because it hacks right into our limbic system. It's called limbic hijack. It goes right into the places that trigger humans. Outrage porn, right? Like just you're just outraged and you like, do you feel like that? Like they're playing you, man. And it's making money for these guys. Getting clicks, getting attention. Just don't play it. [clears throat] Kesha, I watch the news once a week for my sanity. I ask a friend that works in the CDC if there's a zombie apocalypse h apocalypse happening to let me know ASAP. There you go. And even the zombie apocalypse, if you don't know about it, man, by the time it hits you, you haven't been worried and then you just die. Turn into a zombie. You get to eat brains. That's way better than McDonald's, man. If I could have eaten

35:12 brains when I was a senior driving off campus, believed that I would have eaten brains all day every day. High cholesterol food though, organ meat. Uh, flight 266 says, "The matrix dictates I'm a loser. Good for them. They can have that. There you go." Beautiful. Dude, there's there's so much we seek validation from the matrix every day. And to some extent, our survival used to depend on that because without that validation, you're not going to eat. Without a validation of your tribe, the 140 people that you can keep in your memory. like without that validation and support and acceptance, you are excommunicated into the jungle and you die. So, of course, we seek validation, but it's gotten out of control because now you don't need that. Like, there's enough support, not always, but there's support that you're not going to die, right? Um and so the validation now is like can I can I live in a way that seems

36:11 spontaneous and authentic to what's arising for this particular set of conditioning without constantly worrying what other people think seeking validation all of that it's careful even about making videos like I do it because it brings me some joy but I used to do it because it brought me joy and validation or even better anti- validation people would get angry and then I would get to go fight for myself because humans love to do that. Now I'm like whatever. Whatever you want. I think comments are really funny. Somebody, you know, I don't get that many comments anymore because the channel is like only non-duality people are watching it now, which is like 10 people. But um they still go watch my old videos. And there was this old video where it was like Zdog goes to the dermatologist and it's like me doing a live stream visiting this dermatologist friend in Las Vegas and he burned off all this stuff on me just for fun. We

37:13 thought it'd be fun to do that and so I'm like shirtless in there getting burned off and the comments are hilarious. Um but one of one of the one of the recent comments that showed up is some chick said um when's the nose job right? And I was like, "Oh, what? This nose? Are you talking about this nose?" And uh I showed it to my wife and we were giggling. I'm like, "That's pretty funny." And then I just I don't know why, but I just because I don't usually respond to comments that way, but I was like, "Yeah, it's scheduled right after the penis reduction surgery."

37:46 I couldn't resist. It was just any chance to make a joke about the downs, um, I'll do it. So, um, Ashley says, "I've gotten my creative spark back. I'm back to making videos and spending more time on them because it's the process that I enjoy the most." There you go. There's something about that. I took a break for a long time cuz it just felt it felt like I was going through a transition where that identity had to die. Like the one that the Zdog, that's why I'm not really Zog anymore. Like the channel's called Zuben Demana because I couldn't think of another name that was me because that's as close to the authentic identity that my parents said here's your name. Of course, that's fake, too, but seems to resonate. I could have just said Z, but that's a little generic. Um, let's see. Dan says, "I don't think of myself as a non-dual person. I've got my own beliefs. I just enjoy talking with

38:42 y'all." Yeah, you know what I mean, Dan. Like people who can put up with me. That's what I mean. Um the Bentler says, "Still sometimes struggling with the self creating a story versus the story creating the sense of self sense. I now often see the story forming as an outsider." You know, we it's very hard to tease that apart because the story and this energetic contraction that we call the sense of self, they seem almost to coarise. They they're they're interdependent. They arise in dependency with each other. So like you have the sense of self and then there's the story. And which came first? It doesn't even matter. They co-arise and they reinforce each other because they're dependent on each other. Like what is the self without the story of identity, history, um what I do for a living, my problems, all of that. And then what would all that story be without an energetic center to say it owns it?

39:49 Well, the truth is you can't actually see them as just what they are. So those stories can arise without any center. It's like, oh yeah, Zuben was a doctor. It's like, oh, okay, that's a thought and it can be seen, but it no longer has an energetic tie to a center or a sense of self like I'm I was a doctor. It just yeah, Zubin was a doctor. That that's a story. That's a story. What does it mean really in reality? It's just pointing to other concepts, beliefs memories images. That's it. What is this now? Total unknowable mystery. Yeah. Um, oh, I'm glad you like the name better, Dan. Yeah. Yeah. Zdog was a character that I created in 2010. Actually, in the 90s, my friends would call me Zdog because we used to like Snoop Dogg, and I I was I was always rapping and doing stupid stuff, goofing off, and they're like, "Zog, and uh I used it as a as a character because I wasn't comfortable with people seeing me."

41:06 So now I'm like, "Well, what you see is what is arising." And right now it's called Zuben. So that's what's the channel's going to be called. It may change in the future. It's kind of fluid. [clears throat] Oh, I think I've seen that conversation, John, with uh Schmokenberger uh and Miguel. Ian's amazing. The thing is all this stuff now is a little too intellectual and heady for me. Like I used to be really into that stuff. And um Dan's been on my show. Uh Schmokenberger. Uh Ian McIllchrist I've um I know through a friend and have read his book um Master and Emissary. Really good stuff. But they're all models and conceptual frameworks and at some point they just kind of become uninteresting to me. Now it's like well I'm trying to explain an illusion. I'm no longer interested so much in that. I just want to see how it all plays out. Um, Kesha misses Doc Vader. At some [clears throat] point he may show up.

42:12 We'll see. You never know. Um, Flight says, "Zuben is a translator. Good story." Yeah, that's a good story. That's not a bad story. I like that. Um, Flight says, "Thank you for letting me be myself again." Of course, that's what we're here for. What else is there to be? I mean, you could be anything you want, but it's always going to be ultimately what's authentically arising, even when it's fake. It's just when you know that this is illusory in that sense, it's hard to be inauthentic, it becomes more hard, much more harder.

42:56 English English a real problem for me. Um, have you guys seen my Look, the fireplace is going. Isn't that cool? Should just Can I There we go. Now we can see the fire. Why not? Um, let me let me take a look at this thing. I'm still trying to Okay, it doesn't look terrible. I'm just looking at my shot on my laptop here. It's not the worst thing. So, this little thing is really heavy, which is kind of annoying, but it sounds decent. Tell me if I'm wrong. Um, if it doesn't sound good, but because I've been tweaking the settings, I think it still maybe gets a little loud, but we'll see.

43:45 Dan Aaron says, "Everything comes natural um on your channel, including the conversations, which I appreciate." That's really kind of you. I appreciate that. That's sweet feedback. Um, [clears throat and cough] demonia says Dan. That's right. Sometimes clients apologize to me for how their body is or their quirks, etc. I say, "Don't apologize for being who you are." There you go. Being what is. You can't I mean, it's just it's perfect. Um, wait, Ashley, you live in the frozen white north and you don't have a fireplace. We're going to have to get you a fireplace. John Pena, yes, Zuben, what makes sense? Uh, does it make what sense does it make to call a rainbow liberated or not? When it's a mirage, everything is like this, right? So, who is it that gets liberated? Who is it that wakes up?

44:42 It's a total brain twister because the brain just goes and then they're just justice. Pip says, "We created the stream as a game and forgot that we created it so we can have something to ex exa exalt and complain about and all the rest until we've had enough. That's it. So, it's all that's all perfect until the game gets old and you're like, "Okay, I'm tired of playing this." That's probably the best definition of awakening. Okay, I'm tired of playing this [ __ ] game. I'm done. Um, Galaxy Projector sphere. Nice. Um, Jericho says, "Mike sounds good. Uh, but it's the room that introduces a bit of echo." Yeah, even with the noise reduction, the room will always put some reverb in there that's a little annoying, but that's how it is. Ah, you got good ears. Um, are you listening with headphones? Because then you'll really hear it. Um, how do we deal with goals for the year? Well, it's funny.

45:43 Jimg [clears throat] I can't do that anymore. So, I used to be a big New Year's resolution person. I'm like, I'm going to go to the gym. I'm going to do this. I'm this year I'm going to be finally successful and worthy and enough. Um, and now it's like I can't plan in that way. There's no carrot in the future because the future doesn't seem like a thing. But there is a flavor that's society conditioned which is like okay we're in a new year which is an arbitrary distinction. We're in a new new year. So what does this year feel like?

46:26 And to me it feels like this year is when the heart just opens even more. That's what I think. So that's my New Year's resolution. But it's not a resolution. It's just a sense that I have. So, how do we deal with goals? Well, you can be me methodical and make goals and try to stick with them. And there's plenty of things online about New Year's resolutions and how to make them work and all that. All I know is none of it works in the end. It's like your body mind's going to do what it does based on its conditioning. And so if we accept maybe that New Year's resolution should be I should accept that New Year's resolutions have nothing to do with me because I'm not a doer of this life.

47:12 Life is doing it and I'm going to do my best to accept that. That's not a bad resolution if you're going to make one. Um I go to the matrix and make proper business decisions. That's right, Flight. You got to do that because it's about business. Um, Alterbridge fan says, "I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they're going and hook up with them later." Quote. I like that. That's pretty good. Um, John says, "I think one analogy about transformation is Frank Yang." I know. I know Frank. He's very into the space and um also still lifts weights, but he said it's no longer about goal per se. Yeah.

47:53 Like I go to the gym, but it's purely because Zuben wants to do that. like he feels like he wants to move in that way and when he doesn't he doesn't go. Um so you can still do stuff. You can still actually be crazy passionate about stuff meaning go full in on things. Um but there's just not that goal orientation. It's more like yeah it's just I'm just doing that and it feels correct so I'm going to do it. That's it. It's really simple. Like life just becomes very simple. Um yeah. Did the fire go out? Oh, yeah. Because it's on a thermostat, so it turns off when um web web deb turns off when it hits temperature and then it comes back on. Don't panic.

48:39 Yeah, Mitch does have jokes for every situation. All right, I got to go. Um wife's going to show up. Better be ready. Otherwise, trouble. Trouble in eternal paradise. Just kidding. Just want to be uh fully present. All right, gang. Thanks for hanging out. Happy New Year 2026. Um I appreciate that you guys are here hanging out and uh you know share next time we do a live, make sure to share as much as you can what's going on with you and we'll bounce back and forth and see what what comes up for all of us because I'm trying to do the same thing. Uh cuz I don't know what the hell's going on.

49:17 It's great. All right, gang. Love you. See you soon. Now I got to figure out what button I press. Oh, it must be this one that says endstream. Hey, you guys want to see one last thing here? Here's um Whoa. Whoa. Hang on. Here's what I'm looking at. There's a little light. There's my laptop. There's my kitchen and my um what? What? Darth Maul light. All right, gang. Till next time. Peace out.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "First Live of 2026 🥳"?

In order: 0:00 Alter Bridge, Amazon, Dan Riddick; 5:00 John Pienta, Morpheus; 10:00 Jackson Claude; 15:00 Dan Riddick; 20:00 Alter Bridge, Impossible Whopper, Karoli Baba; 25:00 Young Carol (Yan Carol); 35:00 Zuben Demana; 45:00 Frank Yang.

What is mentioned in this Zubin Damania episode?

15 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Young Carol (Yan Carol), Alter Bridge, Dan Riddick, Amazon, John Pienta, Morpheus. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "First Live of 2026 🥳"?

The episode runs 50 min; the transcript is about 8,265 words in 80 timestamped sections.

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