Deconstructing Yourself
108 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 386 ratingsDedicated to liberation in all its forms, Deconstructing Yourself is passionate about fearlessly investigating, attempting, and questioning all things to do with awakening, meditation, mindfulness, brain hacking, consciousness, neurofeedback, and more.
Your host Michael W. Taft interviews some of the most interesting thinkers, authors, and teachers around, as well as other offerings. In this hard-hitting, radical, and fun podcast we look at secular post-, non-, un- Buddhism, Vajrayana, nondual Hindu Tantra, philosophy, the neuroscience of the sense of self, neurofeedback and the consciousness hacking movement, aspects of artificial intelligence, entheogens, and much more.
If you’re looking for fresh directions, free from dogma and conformism, think of the Deconstructing Yourself podcast as the radical cafe where you can hear from the most interesting luminaries either from the outside edges of dharma, or a fresh take from more traditional teachers. If you’re interested in more, check out the Deconstructing Yourself website at https://deconstructingyourself.com.
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Episodes
Meditating with Buddhist Sutras, with Michael Owens
December 28, 2019 15:28 - 1 hour - 70 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with Michael Owens, a Buddhist teacher and author, about being a monk in Taiwan, Buddhist sutras as portals to alternate realities, understanding dependent origination, the nondual ground and extreme psychedelia of the Mahayana sutras, the Vimalakirti Nirdeśa Sutra, explaining the "inconceivable," Suchness as the opposite of Emptiness, and more. Michael Charles Owens is a Buddhist teacher, translator, and author. Michael uses a sutra-based curriculum that d...
Reversing the Stack— A Nondual Practice Map, with Michael Taft
November 22, 2019 03:03 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBIn this episode, host Michael Taft remixes his map of deconstructing sensory experience, and talks about how to use it to work in nondual traditions. Essentially the idea is to reverse the stack by starting out with Stage 4 (pure awareness) and then working your way up to stage 3, etc. Michael also spends some time talking about maps of meditation, problems therewith, and why he is already reworking this map after a short time. Show Notes 0:25 – Introduction 2:11 – Michael’s reas...
What Does Dreaming Have to Do with Meditation? with Andrew Holecek
October 23, 2019 14:01 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with Dream Yoga expert Andrew Holecek about how the dream state (and dreamless sleep) can effect meditation practice. Topics include: the fantasy-filling model of lucid dreaming vs. spiritual awakening; dream yoga, sleep yoga, and Bardo yoga; the love of napping, meditation in a dream or in dreamless sleep; reification as the "original sin of Buddhism"; lucid dreaming for meditators; and much more. Andrew Holecek has completed the traditional three-year Bud...
Deconstructing Sensory Experience, with Michael Taft
September 24, 2019 12:43 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBIn this episode, host Michael Taft shares a map of deconstructing sensory experience. This is intended to help orient you to your vipassana meditation practice; helping you to understand where you’re at, where you’re going, and what to look for next. A basic map of vipassana. Note: this is only a map, only a model. Just like a menu is not food, this model is not claiming to be reality. It’s just a handy way to help you orient your practice. This model doesn’t count for nondual med...
Vajrayana, Engineering, and Jiu Jitsu, with Rin’dzin Pamo
August 13, 2019 15:23 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with Vajrayana teacher Rin’dzin Pamo about Vajrayana meditation practice currently, adapting practices for our times, their practice of The Mind Illuminated, the role of the guru in practice, how meditation practice is like engineering (and Jiu Jitsu), and much more. Rin’dzin Pamo (also known as Charlie El Awbery) is a British born Vajrayana practitioner living in the US. They were an apprentice in the Aro gTér tradition of Tibetan Buddhism for twenty years...
Why Metadharma?, Pt. 2, with Vincent Horn
July 31, 2019 03:52 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBWhy Metadharma? is an unusual episode of the Deconstructing Yourself podcast, in that it’s Part 2 of a joint interview between Vince and Michael Taft. Part 1 appeared on the Buddhist Geeks podcast recently, and they continue the conversation here. The topic of these discussions is a subject that both speakers are actively developing, called “metadharma.” In brief, metadharma refers to the many different ways that the dharma is being adapted, remixed, and redefined to meet the uniqu...
Meditation, Emotions, and the Bio-Emotive Framework with Douglas Tataryn
July 14, 2019 12:13 - 1 hour - 73.4 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with clinical psychologist and life coach, Douglas Tataryn, Ph.D. about meditation and psychology. Topics include his work with meditation teachers such as Culadasa, the “wake up, clean up, grow up, and look around” model, Wilber’s integral model. working with trauma and the dark night, and his system of emotional processing known as the Bio-Emotive Framework. Douglas Tataryn received his PH.D. in 1991 and worked as a professor for 10 years in epidemiology ...
Loch Kelly on Awareness, Freedom, and Effortless Mindfulness
July 03, 2019 20:54 - 1 hour - 87.2 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with Loch Kelly on nondual practices, contemporary forms of ancient awareness techniques, dzogchen, mahamudra, advaita, the role of psychotherapy in awakening, the need—or not—for a guru, open-hearted awareness, internal family systems therapy, and more. Loch Kelly is an author, meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and founder of the non-profit, Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch teaches in a non-sectarian lineage based in the earliest non-dual wisdom t...
Culadasa on Meditation and Therapy
June 02, 2019 13:21 - 1 hour - 72.1 MBIn this special episode, Culadasa talks about the domains of meditation and psychotherapy, where their areas of effectiveness overlap and where they don’t. He also shares a powerful personal story of his own emotional processing work after awakening—why it was needed and how it helped. Culadasa has been practicing Buddhist meditation for over four decades, and is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha, where he teaches meditation and Buddhism from a modern, progressive sci...
Meditation for the End of Civilization, with Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
April 21, 2019 14:35 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBHost Michael W. Taft speaks with bestselling author and meditation teacher Rick Hanson about how to maintain resilience in the face of the coming potential collapse of civilization, the problem with agriculture, meditation methods to build inner strengths, Rick’s upcoming book Neuro-dharma, and more. Rick Hanson, PhD, is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books include Buddha’s Brain, Hardwir...
The Liberating Practice of the Fire Kasina, with Daniel Ingram
March 27, 2019 13:52 - 1 hour - 68.7 MBAuthor and meditation teacher Daniel Ingram speaks with host Michael W. Taft about how the Fire Kasina practice can be used as an insight practice. Subjects include: the background of kasina practice in the Thervada tradition, using kasinas to go into jhana, how vipassana practice interacts with jhana practice, meditation on the Three Characteristics, and detailed instructions for doing the Fire Kasina practice Daniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma p...
Meditation, Madness, and Psychology, with Tucker Peck
March 08, 2019 01:03 - 1 hour - 66.5 MBTucker Peck, meditation teacher and clinical psychologist, talks with host Michael Taft about how whether awakening (both in the traditional “stream entry” sense or in other definitions) actually “fixes” a person’s psychology or not. Topics include: the validity of the Progress of Insight model, Tucker’s hellacious Dark Night experience and the dukkha ñanas in general, when to switch from shamatha to vipassana practice, whether people who have mental illness should practice meditati...
Embodying Awakening, with Mukti
February 11, 2019 00:12 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBNondual spiritual teacher Mukti talks with host Michael Taft about the debate between the Direct and Progressive paths of realization, working with energetics and embodiment, her childhood background in the Self Realization Fellowship of Paramahansa Yogananada, pointing out the sense of space in realization, her own experience of awakening, and more. Mukti is a spiritual teacher, whose name originates in Sanskrit and is most often translated as “liberation.” Mukti has been the Asso...
Deconstructing the Heart Sutra, with Jayarava Attwood
January 20, 2019 11:12 - 59 minutes - 54.4 MBBuddhist scholar Jayarava Attwood speaks with host Michael Taft about the history of the Pali Canon, how ideas about karma & dependent arising contradict each other, the shifting grounds under the apparent solidity of the suttas, monism vs. pluralism, meditation as a subjective or objective practice, and the fact that the Sanskrit Heart Sutra is a forgery, Jayarava is a longtime member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, who writes about the history of ideas in Buddhism. Since 2012 he ...
Robert Anton Wilson, High Weirdness, and Buddhist Meditation, with Erik Davis
December 14, 2018 15:49 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBMichael Taft speaks with Erik Davis about author Robert Anton Wilson, anarchism in the 1970s, Terrence McKenna, P.K. Dick, psychedelics, cultures of awakening now and then, Zen practice, and more. Erik Davis is an author, podcaster, award-winning journalist, and popular speaker based in San Francisco. He is probably best known for his book TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information, a cult classic of visionary media studies that investigates how our fascinati...
What Can AI Tell Us about the Human Mind? with Joscha Bach
November 18, 2018 18:41 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBHost Michael Taft speaks with Joscha Bach about artificial intelligence; the sense of self; building a civilizational intellect; what it is like to be a mind?; the relationships between motivation, emotion, and behavior; the “cargo cult” model of civilization; what is learning?; how artificial minds may be different from human minds, the enlightenment industry, the Tower of Babel myth; and much more. Dr. Joscha Bach is an Artificial Intelligence researcher at MIT and Harvard who wo...
Doubt, Faith, and Fun in Meditation Practice, with Daniel Ingram
October 23, 2018 01:17 - 1 hour - 68.3 MBDaniel Ingram and Michael Taft talk about the Fire Kasina practice, how making mental objects the focus can lead to deep awakening, balancing wisdom and faith, processing trauma with meditation practice, and how beauty can be a great support and inspiration on the path. Daniel shares about his experiences and spiritual development with Fire Kasina work, co-teaching with Culadasa, the increasing numbers of people attaining stream entry, and the over-diagnosis of attainment. Also disc...
Feminism, Sexual Misconduct, and the Guru in Buddhism, with Chandra Easton
October 11, 2018 00:24 - 1 hour - 75.8 MBChandra Easton and Michael Taft talk about gender and sexual misconduct in Buddhism, why compassion must be a part of spiritual practice, and the place of the guru in modern culture. Chandra shares her personal story of dealing with sexual misconduct at the hands of her teacher, tantric practices as a technology for awakening, internalized patriarchy, and how love and kindness is the whole point of spiritual practice. Also included are guidelines for choosing a teacher, reimagining ...
Deconstructing Michael, with Erik Newton
September 18, 2018 23:37 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBTurning the tables on the usual show format, host Michael Taft gets interviewed by Erik Newton. They talk about the meaning of awakening, the paradox of suffering, the end of seeking, the value of personal experience vs. scriptural understanding, Erik’s awakening experience, new technologies of awakening, the genesis of the Deconstructing Yourself podcast, and more. Erik Newton is a lawyer and was the head of a successful family law firm, which gave him the opportunity to take part...
Emptiness, Liberation, and Beauty, with Rob Burbea
August 27, 2018 14:58 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBIn this episode host Michael Taft speaks with Rob Burbea about Rob’s book, Seeing That Frees, the power of perception (ways of seeing), his creative methods of working with meditation practice, meditating with a more analytical vs more phenomenological focus, how analytical meditation works, Rob’s “soulmaking dharma,” the emptiness of conceptual frameworks, facing the end of life, and the meaning of emptiness. Rob Burbea is a meditation teacher, musician, author, who teaches at Gai...
Walking, Nature, and Engaged Buddhism, with Christopher Titmuss
August 14, 2018 03:36 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBIn this episode, host Michael W. Taft speaks with senior dharma teacher Christopher Titmuss about yatra—meditative pilgrimage without a destination—the power of nature, the importance of deconstructing the self, the psychedelic 60s, Vietnam, engaged Buddhism, the role of spiritual practice in the current world crisis, and the central role of liberation in meditation. Christopher Titmuss is an insight meditation teacher, author, and former Theravada Buddhist monk. He is the co-found...
Lucid Dreaming, Meditation, and Consciousness, with Evan Thompson
June 30, 2018 19:53 - 1 hour - 67.5 MBIn this episode, philosopher, author, and meditator, Evan Thompson speaks with host Michael Taft. Topics include: the meaning of awakening; lucid dreaming and noticing the construction of the waking state; the 3-fold structure of Awareness, Contents of Awareness, and then Identification with Contents; The cosmopolitanism of Buddhism, and the myth of Buddhist exceptionalism; consciousness hacking and psychedelics; and much more. Evan Thompson, PhD, works on the nature of the mind, t...
Are More People Achieving Stream Entry These Days? with Culadasa
June 11, 2018 17:26 - 1 hour - 75 MBIn this episode host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher, neuroscientist, and author John Yates, also known as Culadasa. Topics covered include: Are more people achieving stream entry these days?, a clear definition of stream entry, the Buddha’s concept of yathābhūtañāṇadassanaṃ or “seeing things as they really are,” reaching a tipping point of stream enterers to avert the coming world disasters, tips for meditation in action, using consciousness hacking and/or drugs to acce...
Emotions, Stress, and Heartbreak, with Eve Ekman
May 29, 2018 16:27 - 1 hour - 81.2 MBIn this episode emotions researcher and meditation teacher Eve Ekman speaks with Michael W. Taft about embodied emotions, the difference between suppression and healthy expression, impermanence of sensation and moment by moment contact with emotion, emotion-laden cognitions, HH the Dalai Lama, punk rock and Gilman St., surfing, being nice to cats, the Vagus nerve and kundalini, the epidemic of stress and burnout, modern dystopia, struggling with cynicism, the embedded ethnography of...
Why Good Teachers Go Bad, with Shinzen Young
May 18, 2018 14:36 - 1 hour - 81.1 MBIn this special one-year anniversary episode, Shinzen Young talks with host Michael W. Taft about becoming a meditation teacher, the unrealistic paradigm about what meditation delivers, Shinzen’s codependency disaster, Bill Hamilton, the great unsung hero of vipassana in the Western world, homology theory, how science can influence meditation in the West, sociopathic teachers, and what we can do to make sure that good teachers don’t go bad. Who is a teacher? What’s the family test? ...
Deconstructing Dependent Arising, with Leigh Brasington
April 29, 2018 14:42 - 1 hour - 55.3 MBLeigh Brasington speaks with host Michael W. Taft about Dependent Arising. Dependent Arising, also called Dependent Origination, is a Buddhist theory of reality that is famously complex, arcane, important, and fascinating. In this episode they discuss early Buddhist metaphysics, Pratītyasamutpāda—the “curious old rune”, the four noble truths version of Dependent Arising, the Vedic Hymn of Creation, Leigh’s model of SODAPI (Streams of Dependently Arising Processes Interacting), and h...
Seeing Your Blind Spots, with Kelly Boys
April 15, 2018 00:39 - 44 minutes - 40.3 MBKelly Boys talks with Michael Taft about integral restoration, nondual awakening, the work of Kahneman, spiritual bypassing, gendered aspects of awakening and spiritual teaching, when knowing less is better, engaged Buddhism, Christianity and the experience of being held, digging into illusory egoic material, and how to see your own blind spots. Kelly Boys is a consultant with the United Nations Foundation where she helped to create and works to deliver a mindfulness and well-being...
Popping the Bubble of Projection, with Daniel Ingram
April 02, 2018 14:10 - 58 minutes - 53.4 MBDaniel Ingram talks with Michael W. Taft about teacher-student models, graduate school models of practice, creating meditation peer groups, working with “co-adventurers” on the spiritual path, overcoming projection as a teacher, and more. Daniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma practitioner. He famously exploded the Buddhist world when he declared himself to be an arhat and published the seminal text Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: an Unusu...
Standing at the Edge, with Roshi Joan Halifax
March 15, 2018 05:20 - 45 minutes - 42 MBRoshi Joan Halifax speaks with host Michael W. Taft about her new book, Standing at the Edge, the shadow sides of altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, engagement, and rays of hope in current times. Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D. is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order and founder of Pr...
Eddies in the Mind Stream – with Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
March 01, 2018 15:44 - 1 hour - 97 MBRick Hanson and Michael Taft discuss the tension between accepting how you’re feeling and changing how you’re feeling, spiritual bypassing, how to cultivate positive states of mind, the quivering potentiality at the front edge of now, the three branches of attention, why Buddhist aggressiveness is not an oxymoron, and, of course, ewoks. Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of ...
Eddies in the Mind Stream, with Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
March 01, 2018 15:44 - 1 hour - 97 MBRick Hanson and I discuss the tension between accepting how you're feeling and changing how you're feeling, spiritual bypassing, how to cultivate positive states of mind, the quivering potentiality at the front edge of now, the three branches of attention, why Buddhist aggressiveness is not an oxymoron, and, of course, ewoks. Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books incl...
Diving Deep into the Jhanas with Leigh Brasington
February 05, 2018 03:32 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBConcentration master Leigh Brasington talks with Michael W. Taft about the jhanas, a Buddhist system of eight altered states of consciousness that arise in states of high concentration. The conversation dives deep into practicing each of these eight states, how the jhanas relate to vipassana practice, ways to work through major challenges that may arise, the so-called “powers” that are ...
Diving Deep into the Jhanas, with Leigh Brasington
February 05, 2018 03:32 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBConcentration master Leigh Brasington talks with Michael W. Taft about the jhanas, a Buddhist system of eight altered states of consciousness that arise in states of high concentration. The conversation dives deep into practicing each of these eight states, how the jhanas relate to vipassana practice, ways to work through major challenges that may arise, the so-called "powers" that are often attributed to concentration practice, and much more. Leigh Brasington has been practicing m...
Enlightened Sexuality with Jessica Graham
January 22, 2018 03:39 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBIn this episode, I talk with Jessica Graham about her book Good Sex, the #MeToo movement, the power of self love and acceptance, a beginner’s guide to spiritual awakening through sexuality, mindful masturbation, aspects of puritanism in Buddhism, the meditative way to work with “love drugs,” and much more. Jessica Graham is a spiritual teacher, sex and intimacy guide, and ...
Enlightened Sexuality, with Jessica Graham
January 22, 2018 03:39 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBIn this episode, I talk with Jessica Graham about her book Good Sex, the #MeToo movement, the power of self love and acceptance, a beginner’s guide to spiritual awakening through sexuality, mindful masturbation, aspects of puritanism in Buddhism, the meditative way to work with "love drugs," and much more. Jessica Graham is a spiritual teacher, sex and intimacy guide, and author. Jessica began studying meditating in earnest a decade ago and started teaching soon after. Jessica is a...
Consciousness, Spirituality, and Intellectual Honesty – with Thomas Metzinger
December 29, 2017 06:13 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBThomas Metzinger and Michael W. Taft discuss having moral integrity with yourself, intellectual honesty in the pursuit of spirituality, the overlapping goals of science and spirituality, the possibility of a fully secularized spirituality, neurofeedback and virtual reality, mortality denial, the simulation hypothesis, and a whole bunch more. Thomas Metzinger is full professor and director of the theoretical philosophy group and ...
Consciousness, Spirituality, and Intellectual Honesty, with Thomas Metzinger
December 29, 2017 06:13 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBThomas Metzinger and Michael W. Taft discuss having moral integrity with yourself, intellectual honesty in the pursuit of spirituality, the overlapping goals of science and spirituality, the possibility of a fully secularized spirituality, neurofeedback and virtual reality, mortality denial, the simulation hypothesis, and a whole bunch more. Thomas Metzinger is full professor and director of the theoretical philosophy group and the research group on neuroethics/neurophilosophy at t...
Reality Let Loose, with A. H. Almaas
December 14, 2017 20:44 - 1 hour - 69.9 MBIn this episode, host Michael Taft speaks with spiritual teacher and author Hameed Ali, more often known by his pen name, A. H. Almaas. Almaas is the creator of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization, which is a contemporary teaching developed within the context of both ancient spiritual teachings and modern depth psychology theories. Almaas has authored eighteen books about spiritual realization, including the Diamond Heart series, The Pearl Beyond Price, The Void, The Unfolding...
Reality Let Loose — with A. H. Almaas
December 14, 2017 20:44 - 1 hour - 69.9 MBIn this episode, Michael Taft speaks with spiritual teacher and author Hameed Ali, more often known by his pen name, A. H. Almaas. Almaas is the creator of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization, which is a contemporary teaching developed within the context of both ancient spiritual teachings and modern depth psychology theories. Almaas has authored eighteen books about spiritual realization, including ...
Attention, Awareness, and the Great Adventure – with Culadasa
December 04, 2017 17:35 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBCuladasa talks with Michael W. Taft. After decades of Buddhist practice, Culadasa exploded on the scene a few years ago with his groundbreaking book The Mind Illuminated, an incredibly comprehensive guide to meditation. It’s an erudite mixture of neuroscience, traditional Buddhist practice, and Culadasa’s own ideas about how to gt the most out of practice. In this episode we talk ...
Attention, Awareness, and the Great Adventure, with Culadasa
December 04, 2017 17:35 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBCuladasa talks with Michael W. Taft. After decades of Buddhist practice, Culadasa exploded on the scene a few years ago with his groundbreaking book The Mind Illuminated, an incredibly comprehensive guide to meditation. It’s an erudite mixture of neuroscience, traditional Buddhist practice, and Culadasa’s own ideas about how to gt the most out of practice. In this episode we talk about his definitions of attention and awareness, how his system compares to that of his friend teacher ...
The Craving Mind – with Judson Brewer
October 25, 2017 01:40 - 1 hour - 61.1 MBWhat do the neurocorrelates of enlightenment, the activation of the posterior cingulate cortex, and the extinction of craving all have in common? They relate to the work of Judson Brewer. Jud talks with Michael W. Taft about his brain biofeedback machine, the neurophenomonolgy of effort vs. non-effort, the feedback loop of reward-based learning, working with the black hole of anxiety, ...
The Craving Mind, with Judson Brewer
October 25, 2017 01:40 - 1 hour - 61.1 MBWhat do the neurocorrelates of enlightenment, the activation of the posterior cingulate cortex, and the extinction of craving all have in common? They relate to the work of Judson Brewer. Jud talks with Michael W. Taft about his brain biofeedback machine, the neurophenomonolgy of effort vs. non-effort, the feedback loop of reward-based learning, working with the black hole of anxiety, self-referential thinking as a kind of addiction, and much more. Judson Brewer is an MD-PhD and a ...
Meditation, Magick, and the Fire Kasina, with Daniel Ingram
September 27, 2017 09:05 - 1 hour - 80.1 MBIn this session, host Michael W. Taft and radical dharma author and practitioner Daniel Ingram discuss the Fire Kasina practice, meditation and magick, working with archetypal forces and entities, Daniel’s description of a fruition experience, siddhis and visionary experiences, Daniel’s wizarding worldview, and much more. We also discuss the second edition of his classic work Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, as well as his new book on the Fire Kasina. Daniel Ingram is an...
Meditation, Magick, and the Fire Kasina – with Daniel Ingram
September 27, 2017 09:05 - 1 hour - 80.1 MBIn this session, host Michael W. Taft and radical dharma author and practitioner Daniel Ingram discuss the Fire Kasina practice, meditation and magick, working with archetypal forces and entities, Daniel’s description of a fruition experience, siddhis and visionary experiences, Daniel’s wizarding worldview, and much more. We also discuss the second edition of his classic work Mastering the Core Teachings of ...
Enlightenment’s Evil Twin, with Shinzen Young
September 08, 2017 05:00 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBMeditation teacher and neuroscience consultant Shinzen Young and host Michael W. Taft talk about what mindfulness teachers are getting wrong, Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements, informed consent for awakening, effective strategies for dealing with the Dark Night of the Soul, and the phenomenon that Shinzen calls “Enlightenment’s Evil Twin.” Learn more about Shinzen Young at Shinzen.org. Also here is a pdf of Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements. Show Notes ...
Enlightenment’s Evil Twin – with Shinzen Young
September 08, 2017 05:00 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBMeditation teacher and neuroscience consultant Shinzen Young and host Michael W. Taft talk about what mindfulness teachers are getting wrong, Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements, informed consent for awakening, effective strategies for dealing with the Dark Night of the Soul, and the phenomenon that Shinzen calls “Enlightenment’s Evil Twin.” Learn more about Shinzen Young at Shinzen.org. Also read his ...
Pattern and Nebulosity – with David Chapman
August 07, 2017 17:11 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBScientist, programmer, and author David Chapman talks with Michael W. Taft about metarationality, emptiness and form, nihilism, tantrism, dzogchen, Kegan’s stages of development applied to meditation, vampire romance novels, and the importance of being able to switch reality tunnels. David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer, and Buddhist practitioner. He’s been practicing Vajrayana Buddhism in the Aro Ter tradition ...
Pattern and Nebulosity, with David Chapman
August 07, 2017 17:11 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBScientist, programmer, and author David Chapman talks with Michael W. Taft about metarationality, emptiness and form, nihilism, tantrism, dzogchen, Kegan’s stages of development applied to meditation, vampire romance novels, and the importance of being able to switch reality tunnels. David Chapman is a writer, computer scientist, engineer, and Buddhist practitioner. He’s been practicing Vajrayana Buddhism in the Aro Ter tradition for 20 years. David is a leading proponent of metara...
The Great Unbundling, with Vincent Horn
July 14, 2017 22:52 - 1 hour - 64.9 MBIn this episode I talk with mindfulness teacher and co-founder of the Buddhist Geeks project, Vincent Horn. Vince is part of new generation of teachers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. In this session, Vince and I discuss the radical sense of experimentation, the Great Unbundling of the Dharma, ways the mindfulness and awareness practices complement each other—which is turning out to be something of a theme on the show lately—, the perhaps greatly exaggerated repor...