Our guest today is Dr. Andrew harman, a Professor of Virology and Immunology at the University of Sydney School of Medicine and an ordained Buddhist who has much insight on how Buddhist practices and philosophy can help us deal with change, restlessness and uncertainty in our fast moving world.

He shares how acceptance of your reality can help bring about calm. Dr. Harman and Pooja talk extensively about how we may need to reset our definition of "happiness" – instead of desperately seeking out happiness through exciting, impermanent experiences, things, people or moments, we might instead think of happiness as a state of equanimity which is defined as mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper. Equanimity, according to Dr Harman, comes from doing the inner work and obtaining wisdom and insight from it.

In other words, from a Buddhist standpoint, real happiness is maintaining a state of inner peace no matter what is happening in the outside world.

In this very special discussion, Dr. Harman also answers how science and Buddhism go hand in hand, why Vipassana mediation may not work for some, and how Albert Einstein may be the best role model to date in helping us see how spirituality or religion can add value along with science in helping us live with more grace, calm, rootedness, and compassion.

Bio:

Andrew Harman is a Professor of Virology and Immunology at the University of Sydney School of Medicine where he is a level 3 supervisor in the theme of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation. He is a member of the Partnerships Advisory Group and the chair of the High School Liaisons working group. He is also the Deputy Director of the Centre for Virus Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research.

Andrew has been working at the Westhead Health Precinct since completing his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2002. He has extensive collaborations with surgeons at Westmead and other Western Sydney Hospitals who provide his research group with a large range of human tissues with which he conducts all his research. He leads two research groups at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, in the Centre for Virus Research and Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research. These groups investigate sexual transmission of HIV and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, such as Crohn's Disease.

Andrew’s technological expertise lies in the ability to isolate functionally intact immune cells from human tissue and to visualize immune cells within these tissues. He is an expert in characterizing human tissue immune cells using high parameter single cell technologies including flow cytometry, imaging mass cytometry and RNA sequencing. Andrew also has access to clinically relevant HIV transmission strains derived from infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa and has developed RNAscope technology to visualise these HIV strains interacting with target cells within 30 minutes of exposure.

Follow Professor Harman:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-harman-00a8b3123/

https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/andrew-harman.html#collapseprofileteaching

Follow & Attend the World Happiness Fest:

https://worldhappiness.foundation/fest/about/

More on this Podcast: https://www.calmandfreepodcast.com/

For more from Host Pooja Mottl: https://www.poojamottl.com/

Podcast Producer: https://www.go-toproductions.com/

Twitter @PoojaMottl: https://twitter.com/poojamottl

Instagram:

@TheCalmandFreePodcast https://www.instagram.com/thecalmandfreepodcast/

and @PoojaMottl https://www.instagram.com/poojamottl/

LinkedIn: @PoojaMottl https://www.linkedin.com/in/poojamottl/

Special Thanks :

Kris Kosach of the TPR Podcast for lending her VO for our Podcast Intro: https://www.sites.google.com/view/textproserocknroll/home

Jessica Panian https://www.jessicapanian.com/ for her help with our graphic design: https://www.jessicapanian.com/