Adrian Schug
Subscribe to my newsletter and get weekly insights about the mind. I've been sending a new episode each Monday for more than 90 weeks! 🚀
The Dragon On My Arm 🐉
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 103 Last March, I got my first tattoo. Even though I only developed the concrete design recently, the motif had been clear for a long time. The idea had been maturing in me for almost ten years, so there is quite a lot to say about it. In this episode, I will try to summarize what the dragon on my arm is about — as well as I can. The Origins and History of Consciousness Last week, I mentioned Maps of Meaning (Jordan B. Peterson, 1999) as “the deepest book I ever managed...
My Spiritual Teachers 📼
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 102 Spiritual Teachers Most of my teachers don’t know that they are my teachers. That is one of the stranger features of the modern world. A person can shape your worldview, accompany you through years of your life, and become a quiet voice in your mind — without ever learning your name. Their teachings reach me through YouTube, Spotify, Substack, Audible. Even books are often digital now, and the physical ones usually arrive through the same invisible machinery of the...
Live As If You’re Chased by a Snail Assassin 🐌
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 101 Last weekend, I had a long conversation with two friends about the immortal snail meme. The rules are simple: Somewhere in the world, a random regular snail is chosen to become your nemesis. From that moment on, it is invincible. It always knows where you are. And if it ever touches you, you die instantly. The good news: it is still a snail. It does not fly. It does not teleport. It does not sprint through the night with tiny murderous legs. It just crawls. In the...
Happy 100 🎆
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 100 I started this project on June 9th in 2024, and sat down to write a new episode every single week. During this time, my process and even the appearance of the newsletter have changed a lot. But this description of myself from the very first episode is still perfectly accurate: I love long walks and pondering the meaning of it all. I am especially fond of questions regarding consciousness—what is it? How does it work? Why do we suffer? You get the idea. Exploring my...
The Inner Turtle 🐢
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 099 Some people can simply cry, allow themselves to be touched, and receive comfort. I find that impressive—because something in me immediately pulls back when others get too close. That’s why this week I’ve been asking myself why it can be so difficult to accept affection. Affection sounds harmless at first. Warm. Human. Connected. But maybe even this coin has two sides. From the perspective of the receiver, affection can suddenly feel threatening. Not because it is...
Why You Should Visit The Underworld 🔦
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 098 Surprising Darkness The time after my board exam, which I passed a month ago, was surprisingly dark. I had not felt that bad in a long time. At first, this seemed absurd to me: I had passed the final exam, withstood the final boss of medical training, climbed a few more rungs on the great ladder — and yet, instead of triumph, I suddenly found myself surrounded by a deep darkness. Looking back, it seems less mysterious. Sometimes you have to change mountains in order...
The Tavern 🥛
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 097 The YouTube project I’ve been thinking about for at least a year is finally taking shape: The Tavern. I've always enjoyed making videos, and it’s been part of my plan to pick up that interest from the beginning. Now I am committed to a challenge of making seven videos in seven months. You can watch the first one here - or continue the newsletter to read the script 👇 “Oh, sorry, Sir, no dogs bigger than the mark on the sign are allowed.” A sign at the door reads: ‘No...
The Ripple You Call Self 🍎
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 096 Everything you experience appears in consciousness. A sound.A thought.A feeling.A sudden impulse.The image of a friend.The image of yourself. All of it shows up in the same place: the open field of awareness, the light in which your life unfolds. That simple observation is part of what makes meditation so strange. It reveals that there is nowhere else your life could ever happen. Not outside of consciousness. Not somewhere behind it. Every color, every memory, every...
Your Mind Is All You Have 🫧
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 095 The question that forever grips me: How does consciousness emerge from (seemingly) unconscious processes? Modern science, centered on matter, often sidesteps that question. Consciousness becomes a byproduct—an accidental side effect of electrochemical processes in the brain. But even within this assumption, the core mystery remains untouched: How does the vivid experience of my life arise from the soulless wetness that constitutes my brain tissue? It can feel like...
My Final Exam Turned Into an Ego Death 💀
LIFE ON URTH - Episode 094 Ready After twelve years of medicine, I faced the final challenge of my training last week: the specialist exam. Six years of study, six years as a resident – everything led up to this moment. In recent months, preparation clearly took center stage. Anyone who has read the previous episodes knows that the material eventually spread into all areas of my life. In Sri Lanka, I even found myself one evening sitting with my wife’s mother and grandmother, explaining how...
Subscribe to my newsletter and get weekly insights about the mind. I've been sending a new episode each Monday for more than 90 weeks! 🚀