BITESIZE | A Monk's Guide To Finding Happiness & Thriving in Hard Times | Gelong Thubten #678

In this Bitesize episode, Buddhist monk and meditation teacher Gelong Thubten draws on his own journey from actor burnout to monastic life. Thubten explains why distraction and addiction are closely linked, because both push away emotional pain and discomfort. The real problem, he argues, is not the emotion itself but the resistance to it — the discomfort is really in the pushing. Learning to sit with what makes us uncomfortable, rather than numbing or scrolling through it, allows those emotions to transform. The conversation opens with Thubten's framing that learning to be with yourself is the most courageous and compassionate thing you can do.