Ep297: Boarding on Insanity - Piers Cross
Piers Cross is an ex-Buddhist monk, coach, and creator of the documentary “Boarding on Insanity”.
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Piers explains the British boarding school system, examines its history and social context, and reveals how and why boarding school attendance is seen by many as a pathway to power.
Piers recalls his own boarding school experience, the trauma and subsequent breakdown it caused, and describes the dynamic of the “privilege double-bind”.
Piers recounts his years as a Buddhist monk, how he navigated suicide attempts and self harm with meditation and community support, and the powerful mystical experiences he encountered during his religious practice.
Piers lists over two dozen leading figures in the arts, business, and politics who attended boarding school and reflects on the possibility of a leadership class affected by abandonment and dissociation by elite educational institutions.
00:00 - Intro
01:05 - Military family upbringing and alcoholic father
03:42 - Going to boarding school at 11 years old
05:36 - History of British boarding schools
08:23 - Pathway to power
10:19 - Oxbridge emphasis
11:37 - The old boys network and breaking parental attachment
14:42 - Is the education better?
17:48 - IQ vs emotional intelligence
20:31 - A typical day at boarding school
23:30 - Piers’ boarding school trauma and learning to dissociate
27:07 - Suicide of Piers’ best friend
29:37 - Resilience vs dissociation and avoidant attachment
32:48 - Resurfacing trauma in the 30s and 40s
33:28 - Richard Branson, David Cameron, Bear Grylls, and John Peel
34:36 - Trauma of neglect
36:53 - Idealisation, cover up, and not listening to children
41:45 - The privilege double-bind
47:32 - After boarding school & city career
51:03 - Depression and breakdown
53:07 - Laughed at by the doctor
54:31 - Death of Piers’ father and work in Africa
56:41 - 3.5 years in a Buddhist monastery
59:37 - A sense of coming home
01:02:22 - Taking the 8 precepts
01:03:30 - Ordination, self harm, and suicidal ideation
01:06:31 - The support and kindness of the other monks
01:09:26 - Struggles with meditation
01:12:03 - Reading scriptures and other Buddhist books
01:14:00 - Tastes of transcendence
01:14:55 - Profound experience of childlike mind
01:16:35 - Healing avoidant attachment
01:20:10 - Working with dreams
01:21:10 - Tears and connecting to emotion
01:22:41 - Buddhist doctrine about suicide and hell
01:25:14 - The power of initiation
01:27:13 - Leaving the monastery
01:28:08 - Piers shows his journal
01:29:33 - After the monastery and work with board school survivors
01:33:15 - “Boarding on Insanity” documentary
01:33:28 - Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Justin Welby
01:37:05 - Cover ups and a societal flip
01:39:30 - Prince Charles, Stephen Fry, Ranulph Fiennes, Gabriel Byrne, Roald Dahl, Harry Windsor,
01:41:00 - JFK, Princess Diana, Charles Spencer, Aldous Huxley, Richard Beard, Jeremy Paxman,
01:41:26 - Elon Musk, Mini Driver, Eddie Izzard, Princess Catherine, Rupert Murdoch,
01:44:46 - Piers’ 3hr daily practice
01:46:44 - Taoist Tantric Arts
01:47:59 - Piers’ advice for taking on new practices
01:49:37 - Piers’ meditation practice
01:51:02 - Closing remarks and advice for ex-boarders
To find our more about Piers Cross, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James