Buddhist Themes in The White Lotus, Explained | Josh Bearman

Dan Harris

Dan deconstructs the Dharmic elements of the popular HBO show, with the co-host of The White Lotus Official Season 3 companion podcast.

Joshuah Bearman is a writer and film producer in Los Angeles. He has written for Wired, GQ, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and contributed to This American Life. Along with Jia Tolentino, Josh is the co-host of the The White Lotus Official Podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

  • How Josh became interested in Buddhism

  • How Mike White, the writer and creator of The White Lotus, became interested in Buddhism

  • Buddhist concepts and themes all three seasons of The White Lotus

  • Buddhist notions of self and identity

  • Some paradoxes and pitfalls of Buddhism

  • The perils of pleasure seeking

  • Craving certainty as a bulwark against anxiety

  • The importance of repetition of simple Buddhist ideas that we are programmed to forget

  • The Buddhist concept of attachment

  • The three jewels of Buddhism and the importance of relationships

Related Episodes:

Join Dan's online community here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Additional Resources:

More description

Dan deconstructs the Dharmic elements of the popular HBO show, with the co-host of The White Lotus Official Season 3 companion podcast.

Joshuah Bearman is a writer and film producer in Los Angeles. He has written for Wired, GQ, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and contributed to This American Life. Along with Jia Tolentino, Josh is the co-host of the The White Lotus Official Podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

  • How Josh became interested in Buddhism

  • How Mike White, the writer and creator of The White Lotus, became interested in Buddhism

  • Buddhist concepts and themes all three seasons of The White Lotus

  • Buddhist notions of self and identity

  • Some paradoxes and pitfalls of Buddhism

  • The perils of pleasure seeking

  • Craving certainty as a bulwark against anxiety

  • The importance of repetition of simple Buddhist ideas that we are programmed to forget

  • The Buddhist concept of attachment

  • The three jewels of Buddhism and the importance of relationships

Related Episodes:

Join Dan's online community here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Additional Resources:

2025-04-10 69 min
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