Awake in the World Podcast
506 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★★ - 108 ratingsAwake in the World Podcast is a library of talks on a wide-range of topics, including bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience. Michael Stone (1974-2017) was a Buddhist teacher, author, and mental health advocate. His legacy is stewarded by Carina Stone. Podcast funded by Patreon (patreon.com/michaelstone).
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Episodes
Best of Awake in the World: Ahimsa (Non-harming)
May 08, 2022 14:00 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. Michael interviews Pat Smith, physician and abortion provider, on the precept of non-harming. Michael and Pat discuss ethics versus political ideologies, the relationships between how we are in the world, our belief system, and our values, and the influences of formal meditation.
The Walls of the Mind
May 01, 2022 14:00 - 46 minutes - 57.8 MBMichael explores the line in the Heart Sutra: “With no hindrance in the mind. No hindrance therefore no fear.” He covers the three “traditional” hindrances: karma, the kleshas and anaya, and talks about creativity, groundlessness and the importance of community. Recorded on May 5, 2009.
To Stop the Estrangement Between Us
April 24, 2022 14:00 - 58 minutes - 72.8 MBIn this talk about the Heart Sutra Michael explains how it functions to counter what John Cage calls “the authoritarian structures” of our minds, including the tendency to create “frames” and contract around our sense of separateness. Recorded on March 31, 2009.
Best of Awake in the World: Fear, Dread & Anxiety - The Buddha in the Forest
April 17, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. On retreat, Michael speaks about the Buddha’s instructions for practicing alone in the wilderness, how past actions haunt the body, how to turn towards anxiety, and a moving story about his son and autism. Wisconsin. Recorded on March 25, 2017.
Working with Wanting
April 10, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBIn this talk to clinicians Michael focuses on mindfulness of feeling (the second foundation) and in particular, the feeling of wanting or craving. Recorded on March 28, 2008.
Best of Awake in the World: The Creative Task of Performing One’s Life
April 03, 2022 14:00 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. Michael provides a reflection on the retreat with Stephen and Martine Batchelor. He speaks to making a practice of our lives where all our roles, our actions are interconnected. Michael examines the end of the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra. Recorded March 30, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part Seven
March 27, 2022 14:00 - 15 minutes - 15.6 MBMartine Batchelor explains and explores ceremonial offerings in Korean Zen practice. Martine Batchelor, a former Buddhist nun, studied Zen Buddhism under the guidance of Kusan Sunim and is the author of several books. Recorded on March 28, 2010 at Centre of Gravity in Toronto, Ontario.
The Secular Buddha: Part Six
March 20, 2022 14:00 - 41 minutes - 43.2 MBStephen Batchelor reflects upon secular Buddhism and revisits the Four Noble Truths, primary Buddhist ideals, assumptions, and dogmas. Recorded on March 28, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part FIve
March 13, 2022 14:00 - 9 minutes - 9.38 MBMartine Batchelor leads a meditation practice based on a Korean technique, using the question “What is this?” as an object to come back to. Recorded on March 28, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part Four
March 06, 2022 15:00 - 50 minutes - 53.1 MBIn this talk Stephen Batchelor muses about the Buddha’s “breakthrough” and his embrace of first person analysis (based on attention, introspection and reason) to reveal a fundamentally contingent world. Recorded on March 27, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part Three
February 27, 2022 15:00 - 26 minutes - 28.6 MBGuest teacher Martine Batchelor explains how the point of contact between sense and sense object is the moment when the choice between grasping and not grasping takes place. Not grasping allows for creative engagement—an attitude of stability and openness, so that we can meet problems in new and different ways. Recorded on March 26, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part Two
February 20, 2022 15:00 - 57 minutes - 60.5 MBIn this podcast guest teacher Stephen Batchelor asks “What did the Buddha awaken to?” Drawing largely on the Buddha’s First Sermon (Turning the Wheel of Dharma) he elucidates the Four Truths, the actions required by them and the cyclical, processual nature of these teachings. Recorded on March 26, 2010.
The Secular Buddha: Part One
February 13, 2022 15:00 - 56 minutes - 62.5 MBGuest teacher Stephen Batchelor explains his interest in Secular Buddhism, which returns the word “secular'' to its etymological root, “saeculum,” meaning “this age” or “at this time in this world.” He describes some of the historical and societal circumstances surrounding Gautama Buddha’s teaching and argues for a return to what the Buddha taught in the Pali Canon to “recover what lies on the ground floor.” Recorded on March 26, 2010.
A Performed Meditation
February 06, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBThis Awake in the World Podcast features guest speaker Christopher House, who was the artistic director of the Toronto Dance Theater for twenty-five years (he retired in 2020). He describes his studies with the American experiential choreographer Deborah Hay (author of My Body, the Buddhist) and her unique, subversive, present-centered approach to choreography and performance. Recorded on March 23, 2010.
Embodying the Buddha's Teachings
January 30, 2022 15:00 - 26 minutes - 30.4 MBIn this podcast episode, Michael introduces the bodhisattva path and the paramitas. The bodhisattva ideal is you at your best – rather than simply a code of ethics, it is the cultivation and realization of your particular form of creativity, responsiveness, and compassion. This talk is an excerpt from our Six Practices for Awakening the Heart online course. Drawing on ancient Buddhist knowledge, this 7-week online course offers six practices for becoming more compassionate, courageous, and i...
A Civilizing Practice
January 28, 2022 15:00 - 44 minutes - 47.6 MBMichael explores Patanjali’s teachings on samadhi (Pada 1, 41-51) and points out that if practice becomes too self-focused and too centered on achieving “special” mind states it can be easily co-opted by social forces like institutionalized greed, hatred and delusion. He argues that practice was meant to lead to a cultural and civilizational awakening, not just personal liberation. Recorded on March 16, 2010.
Uncovering the Roots
January 13, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 85.9 MBIn this deep dive into the first four lines of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra Michael talks about the nature of awareness and the goals of yoga. Recorded March 14, 2010.
Waiting for a Ride
January 09, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBStarting with a poem by Gary Snyder, Michael explores the Fourth Pada of the Yoga Sutra and argues that without the experience of a solid meditation practice it cannot be comprehended. Patanjali, he says, “is leaving you speechless.” But waiting at the airport watching everything come and go, isn’t a bad analogy. Recorded on March 9, 2007.
Best of Awake in the World: Forgiveness
December 31, 2021 15:00 - 49 minutes - 48 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode from a New Year's retreat. A tender and personal talk Michael gives during silent retreat about his father, forgiveness, and how we need to practice forgiveness all the time. He talks about how, and why. He talks about the painter Hellen Frankenthaller’s death and practicing in good times and bad. Recorded on December 29, 2011.
Best of Awake in the World: Love - Sometimes We Can Really Show Up
December 26, 2021 15:00 - 32 minutes - 31 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. An hour before New Year’s Michael gives a quiet talk on the Heart Sutra and Forgiveness. “When I hold someone’s hand as they are dying I chant the Heart Sutra. Or when I watch my son sleeping.” A tender and quiet talk on silent retreat. Recorded on Dec 31, 2011.
Best of Awake in the World: Being Independent in our Practice
December 19, 2021 15:00 - 54 minutes - 57 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode from a New Year's retreat. Michael Stone talks on silent retreat about how meditation works over the long-haul, how to practice with a teacher that encourages independence, and how to live without gain. This is the second last talk of the year and the group was in deep silent practice, and it was snowing. Recorded at Sugar Ridge Retreat Centre in Midland, Ontario on Dec 30, 2013.
Best of Awake in the World: Save a Ghost!
December 12, 2021 15:00 - 44 minutes - 57.1 MBThis week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode from a New Year's retreat. Michael speaks about modern Buddhism as a “culture of awakening,” and then talks on the Zen koan “Save a Ghost.” We are broken. That’s why meditation is an ambulance service for love. Mindfulness is a practice of mourning. The dead live on in us as ghosts and as we mourn we make them into culture. Recorded during the Silent New Year’s Retreat in Chapin Mill, New York.
Obstacles as Traction
December 05, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 30.6 MBIn this talk, Michael explains that the way we choose to view the obstacles we encounter in practice can either take us off the path, or allow us to use them as signposts that help us move forward. He argues that social action, spiritual practice and psychological awareness are all required if we wish to wake up. Recorded on March 7, 2006.
Life Is Outsideless
November 26, 2021 15:00 - 1 hour - 40.5 MBDrawing on several ancient texts, Michael describes practice as a deep investigation into the nature of how things are and how we are—which requires letting go of our tendencies to create categories, cling to preferences, and grasp for the unattainable. Recorded March 5, 2008.
The Lotus Sutra: Where's the Love?
November 21, 2021 15:00 - 58 minutes - 73.2 MBIn this second talk on the Lotus Sutra Michael provides some background about the role the text plays following the emergence of the Mahayana and Tendai traditions, shifting the emphasis from personal liberation to compassion and interdependence. He considers the mythical, fantastical style of the text and how it challenges orthodoxy in order to promote a path of service. Recorded on March 3, 2011.
Feeling is the Best Technique
November 14, 2021 15:00 - 30 minutes - 15.2 MBThis thirty-minute guided meditation focuses on the physical body, and describes how physical choices like setting up the gaze can help to monitor and settle the mind. Recorded on June 28, 2008.
Anger and the "Contentious" Heart
November 07, 2021 15:00 - 54 minutes - 28.9 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael talks about anger, the R.A.I.N. practice, and how to be more skillful in working with afflictive emotions. Recorded on June 27, 2008.
Who is Breathing?
October 31, 2021 14:00 - 31 minutes - 27.8 MBIn this thirty minute guided meditation Michael offers an introduction to investigation, using the question “who is breathing.” Recorded on June 26, 2009.
Every Breath Is Brand New
October 24, 2021 14:00 - 39 minutes - 38.7 MBA forty-minute guided meditation on the First Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Breathing. Recorded on June 24, 2009.
The Five Aggregates
October 17, 2021 04:00 - 47 minutes - 48.5 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast guest teacher Norman Feldman unpacks part of the Buddha’s First Discourse, with a focus on the ending of dukkha and the five aggregates. Recorded on June 23, 2009.
Last Night's Rain
October 10, 2021 14:00 - 30 minutes - 32.1 MBIn this talk Michael considers the first two of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in terms of the three characteristics (impermanence, interdependence and not-self). He describes how these foundations are techniques we can use to discover and dismantle self-constructed suffering. Recorded on June 25, 2009.
Confronting & Managing Our Fears, Part 2
October 03, 2021 14:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael provides some background about the “Fear and Terror Sutta” (Bhaya-bherava Sutta) and discusses the importance of mindfulness in coping with fear, dread and anxiety. This talk, shared in two parts, is an excerpt from Michael’s six-week online course, Big Heart Powers, examining topics like the characteristics of fear and anxiety, how they become embodied, common responses to fear, and the Buddha’s recommendations for managing fear. For more details...
Confronting & Managing Our Fears, Part 1
September 26, 2021 13:59 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael provides some background about the “Fear and Terror Sutta” (Bhaya-bherava Sutta) and discusses the importance of mindfulness in coping with fear, dread and anxiety. This talk, shared in two parts, is an excerpt from Michael’s six-week online course, Big Heart Powers, examining topics like the characteristics of fear and anxiety, how they become embodied, common responses to fear, and the Buddha’s recommendations for managing fear. For more details...
Free, a Genius, an Embarrassment
September 20, 2021 22:19 - 42 minutes - 45.1 MBUsing Philip Whalen’s poem “Further Notice” for inspiration, Michael describes how to establish a consistent meditation practice and offers suggestions to help with motivation. Recorded on June 21, 2009.
Putting Attention Right Where Things Are Born
September 12, 2021 22:52 - 48 minutes - 45.5 MBIn this podcast Michael explores the dynamics of meditation, and the need for us to let our assumptions about what meditation is fall away. Recorded on June 16, 2009.
Free to be Nobody
September 07, 2021 02:08 - 1 hour - 40.2 MBIn this talk on the theme of freedom and discipline Michael argues that true freedom comes with unravelling the layers of self-making that are deeply habitual—including striving, intellectualizing, clinging and story-telling. Awareness of these tendencies can create space for contentment, presence and new possibilities. Recorded on June 11, 2008.
The Eyebrows Don't Know Anything
August 29, 2021 20:53 - 50 minutes - 58.8 MBIn this talk, which took place during a retreat at Sugar Ridge, Michael delves into the koan titled “Not knowing is the most intimate” (Miscellaneous Koans Case 62). He explores ideas about home and pilgrimage, stages of mindfulness practice, commentaries on commentaries, and a funny story about “the supreme power of the useless.” Recorded on June 5, 2010.
Gladness of the Heart
August 22, 2021 23:22 - 47 minutes - 52.1 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast guest teacher Norman Feldman explores metta practice and how it compliments and supports insight (Vipassana) practice, as well as allowing us to open to dukkha so we can see its origins and free ourselves. Recorded on June 4, 2010.
Shifting Our Stories
August 15, 2021 23:48 - 47 minutes - 49.6 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael speaks about the power of story-telling and how the stories we construct, individually and culturally, can either heal and transform us—or shut us down. Once we get still enough to see the story-teller (ahaṃkāra) at work, we can consciously choose to shift the story towards realization and connectedness. Recorded on June 4, 2009.
The Two Darts: A Buddhist Psychology of Pain
August 09, 2021 00:42 - 58 minutes - 30 MBIn this Awake in the World Podcast Michael explains the teaching of “The Two Darts” (the Sallatha Sutta) and asserts that the Buddha offers a useful and supportive model for working with pain—whether it is physical, emotional, or cultural in origin. Recorded on June 19, 2007.
Ducks’ Legs Are Short, Cranes’ Legs Are Long
August 02, 2021 02:40 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBIn this Awake in the World Podcast Michael covers the ninth part of the Genjokoan that begins, “A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims there is no end to the water.” He argues that realization comes with knowing what nourishes you—and then “you can do you.” Recorded on July 29, 2010.
Cherishing All Life
July 26, 2021 02:21 - 54 minutes - 49.4 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast, guest teacher Trudy Goodman gives a talk on sila, the ethical foundations of the eightfold path (wise livelihood, wise behaviour, and wise speech). Recorded on July 18, 2009 at a mindfulness for clinicians program with Leading Edge Seminars.
Ordinary Mind is the Way
July 19, 2021 01:53 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael talks about the tendency we have to amplify suffering by creating a self that we think is separate and “special,” and how in our quest to be enlightened we can often get tripped up by the same instincts.
Water Holding and Nestling the Moon
July 12, 2021 01:44 - 45 minutes - 42 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael muses about the section of the Genjokoan that starts, “Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water….” Along the way he weaves in Kannon, koans, zen poetry, and Bob Dylan. Recorded July 22, 2010.
Eyes You Have Seen Seeing You in the Face of Others
July 05, 2021 01:16 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael focuses on emptiness or boundlessness as a way of talking about interdependence, and Dogen’s views (from the Genjokoan) about enlightenment and delusion. The talk includes a reading of Robert Bringhurst’s poem, “Dogen.” Recorded on July 9, 2010.
Only Insofar as One Is Speechless...Part Two
June 28, 2021 00:18 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael continues his exploration of Dogen’s Genjokoan and ponders the question, “How do you know you’re awake?” Recorded on July 8, 2010.
Only Insofar as One Is Speechless...Part One
June 21, 2021 02:39 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael delves into the capacity of questioning to pull us back into our lives, but only if we can practice in the paradoxical space of not-seeking, not conceptualizing, and not clinging to our habits. Recorded on July 8, 2010.
Make Yourself Available
June 14, 2021 01:54 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael muses about understanding in the poetic sense—what’s under the point of view we choose to stand in? He touches on karma, habits, projection, doubt and our fraught relationship with time. Recorded on January 25, 2008
The Mind as a Process
June 06, 2021 22:21 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael gives advice and practical tips for dealing with some of the struggles that come up during sitting practice, such as sleepiness, rumination, or difficult emotions like anger. Recorded on January 22, 2008.
The Neighbour's Dog is Barking
May 30, 2021 23:21 - 51 minutes - 47 MBIn this Awake in the World podcast Michael begins by stating that “this practice is a matter of life and death” and describes how yoga can help us see our patterns of conditioning, and help us to embrace both the light and the dark aspects of our lives. Recorded on January 23, 2007.