Josh & Terry Summers
218 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsCreative and functional approach to the spiritual path, weaving insights and practices from Yin Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and ancient wisdom traditions
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Episodes
St. Anthony's Valentine | Dharma Talk with Josh
February 21, 2022 11:00 - 50 minutes - 71.7 MB"More than anything, there is a value placed on listening as closely as possible to the mysterious silence that supports existence, which is both the actual silence of the desert landscape and the silence of the self in contemplation. They listened to this silence with hopes of transforming their identities and reimagining community." - Douglas Christie The post St. Anthony’s Valentine | Dharma Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.
A Functional Approach to Harmonizing Qi with Yin Yoga | Talk with Josh
February 17, 2022 11:00 - 42 minutes - 60.6 MB"As a teacher, you won't be able to address the specific needs of each individual. However, what you can offer is a creative way of working with posture, breath, intention and attention so that student and customize - within their own experience - a way to nudge their particular pattern, whatever it might be, towards homeostasis." - Josh Summers The post A Functional Approach to Harmonizing Qi with Yin Yoga | Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.
What is Qi? | Talk with Josh (republished)
February 14, 2022 11:00 - 34 minutes - 48.8 MB"Qi produces the human body just as water becomes ice. As water freezes into ice, so Qi coagulates to form the human body. When ice melts, it becomes water. When a person dies, they become spirit again. It is called spirit, just as melted ice changes its name to water." - Wang Chong (Taoist philosopher, AD 27-97) The post What is Qi? | Talk with Josh (republished) appeared first on Josh Summers.
My Take on Yin Yoga and Chinese Medicine | Talk with Josh
February 10, 2022 11:00 - 34 minutes - 48.8 MBYin Yoga collaborates with the organs of Chinese Medicine to support holistic health. It's not just a matter of stimulating the channels; it's a matter of optimizing organ health through the integration of posture, breath and psycho-spiritual practice. - Josh Summers The post My Take on Yin Yoga and Chinese Medicine | Talk with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Language of Jazz | Aaron Goldberg
February 07, 2022 14:25 - 1 hour - 138 MB"Everything I play is a reaction to everything that I just played and to what everybody else is playing at that moment. Great jazz is played when multiple people play together with that kind of necessity and mindset." - Aaron Goldberg The post The Language of Jazz | Aaron Goldberg appeared first on Josh Summers.
Corks and Stones | Guided Meditation with Josh
January 31, 2022 11:00 - 17 minutes - 25.5 MBMindfulness functions like a stone that doesn't stop the flow of the river, rather it comes to a deeper and calmer relationship to the flowing content of the river of experience. - Josh Summers The post Corks and Stones | Guided Meditation with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Yoga of Grief | Donna Brooks
January 27, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 138 MB"One of the paradoxes about life is that when we're really open to life, the tremendous suffering and the tremendous joy can coexist." - Donna Brooks The post The Yoga of Grief | Donna Brooks appeared first on Josh Summers.
Digging Deep | Dharma Talk
January 24, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutes - 27.4 MBWhen you dig the well deep enough, you realize we're all drinking from the same source. - Abdullah Ibrahim The post Digging Deep | Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Winter's Listening | Guided Meditation with Josh
January 20, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutes - 27.4 MBListen to the movement of experience and listen to the space within which this occurs. - Josh Summers The post Winter’s Listening | Guided Meditation with Josh appeared first on Josh Summers.
Yang Vipassana Meditation | Dharma Talk
December 21, 2021 11:00 - 53 minutes - 75.2 MBThe only job of a yogi is to note the object that is most predominant, moment by moment. - Sayadaw U Pandita The post Yang Vipassana Meditation | Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Divine Algorithm Sutta | Robert Wright
December 16, 2021 11:00 - 2 hours - 201 MBUltimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. - Robert Wright The post The Divine Algorithm Sutta | Robert Wright appeared first on Josh Summers.
Relaxing the Breathing | Dharma Talk
December 13, 2021 11:00 - 46 minutes - 65.4 MBBuddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped by both past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. This constant opening for present input into the causal process makes free will possible. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu The post Relaxing the Breathing | Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Power of Mythos | Bernie Clark
December 09, 2021 11:00 - 2 hours - 178 MBThe point of a map isn't to be right. The point of a map is to help me with something; it's to be useful. - Bernie Clark The post The Power of Mythos | Bernie Clark appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Karma of Breathing | Dharma Talk
December 06, 2021 11:00 - 49 minutes - 70.3 MBBuddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped by both past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present. This constant opening for present input into the causal process makes free will possible. - Thanissaro Bhikkhu The post The Karma of Breathing | Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Attention Collapse and Inner Climate Change | Howard Axelrod
December 02, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 120 MBThe kind of attention you rely on, and the kind of attention you let atrophy, ultimately becomes a decision about what you value as worth perceiving. - Howard Axelrod The post Attention Collapse and Inner Climate Change | Howard Axelrod appeared first on Josh Summers.
Gratitude For Good Karma: Dharma Talk
November 29, 2021 11:00 - 42 minutes - 60.8 MBA person of integrity is grateful and thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness is advocated by civil people. - Buddha, Katannu Sutta The post Gratitude For Good Karma: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
From Patience to Peace: Dharma Talk
November 22, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 71.2 MBIf you sit and patiently endure, you find your mind going into a state of calm. That calm occurs because there's no more trying to become something or trying to get rid of something. - Ajahn Sumedho The post From Patience to Peace: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Peace Within Uncertainty (Part 2): Dharma Talk
November 15, 2021 11:00 - 50 minutes - 71.2 MBYet, along with sorrow, there is the backdrop of consciousness, the inner atmosphere that holds whatever arises, like the sky holds lightning... Through our practice of meditation, access to the backdrop becomes possible. - Narayan Liebenson The post Peace Within Uncertainty (Part 2): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Peace Within Uncertainty: Dharma Talk
November 08, 2021 11:00 - 45 minutes - 41.5 MBRecognition of the Yin Will allows for the creation of the virtue of Wisdom. This Wisdom is not about knowing things. In fact, it is more about being deeply connected to the Unknown... Wisdom is a recognition of a deep knowing that infuses life. - Ted Kaptchuk The post Peace Within Uncertainty (Part 1): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Robert Wright: War, Peace and Cognitive Bias
November 04, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 146 MBUltimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. - Robert Wright The post Robert Wright: War, Peace and Cognitive Bias appeared first on Josh Summers.
Vipassana on the Path: Dharma Talk (Episode 145)
November 01, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 41.5 MBWithin the process of Vipassana meditation, the meditator develops and rests within a capacity to remain calm and clear towards the entire display of visceral, cerebral and environmental content. - Josh Summers The post Vipassana on the Path: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Basic Vipassana Instructions (Part 2): Dharma Talk (Episode 144)
October 14, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 41.5 MBJust as sounds arise and cease naturally within the field of awareness, when attending to their body, the meditator begins to perceive the same impersonal display of sensations arising and ceasing within the stillness of the mind. - Josh Summers The post Basic Vipassana Instructions (Part 2): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Basic Vipassana Instructions (Part 1): Dharma Talk (Episode 143)
October 07, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 51 MBWhen we shift into a vipassana lens of practice, there are no distractions. Each experience the meditator encounters becomes the practice, itself - an experience to see clearly and relate to with compassion. - Josh Summers The post Basic Vipassana Instructions (Part 1): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Key To Stillness (Part 2): Dharma Talk (Episode 142)
October 03, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 49.2 MB"Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss or tranquility, nor is it attempting to become a better person. It is simply the creation of a space in which we are able to expose and undo our neurotic games, our self-deceptions, and our hidden fears and hopes." - Chogyam Trungpa The post The Key To Stillness (Part 2): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
David Barash: Buddhism and Biology (Episode 141))
September 30, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 63.6 MB"We do not confront the world; rather, the world confronts itself, temporarily masquerading as each of us." - David Barash The post David Barash: Buddhism and Biology appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Key To Stillness (Part 1): Dharma Talk (Episode 140)
September 27, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 48.9 MB"This mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful. Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind." - Ajahn Chah The post The Key To Stillness (Part 1): Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
A Still Forest Pool: Dharma Talk (Episode 139)
September 20, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 59.3 MB"Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things." - Ajahn Chah The post A Still Forest Pool: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Metta, Vipassana, and Creativity: Dharma Talk (Episode 138)
September 13, 2021 10:00 - 20 minutes - 29.9 MBJust as a musician learns musical etudes to develop and refine their capacities for musical expression, a contemplative can learn meditative etudes - exercises that nurture the capacities of the Heart/Mind. The post Metta, Vipassana, and Creativity: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
The August Pause: Season Finale (Episode 137)
August 09, 2021 10:00 - 12 minutes - 19.4 MBMany thanks to all the listeners and members of the River Bird Sangha. We look forward to reconnecting in September. The post The August Pause: Season Finale appeared first on Josh Summers.
Robert Wright: Existential Psychological Threats (Episode 136)
August 02, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 131 MB"I would say that cognitive empathy is a strength that needs to be built, cognitive empathy being the ability to look at things from the perspective of other people. And one thing the explain-excuse conflation does is undermine cognitive empathy." - Robert Wright The post Robert Wright: Existential Psychological Threats appeared first on Josh Summers.
Lauri Glenn: Self-Compassion in Practice (Episode 135)
July 26, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 107 MB"When we meet difficulty with a kind and loving heart, compassion naturally arises. Often easy to feel for others, self-directed compassion can get blocked by old belief patterns and cultural conditioning. However, self-compassion can be awakened through a few simple steps that echo the Four Noble Truths." - Lauri Glenn The post Lauri Glenn: Self-Compassion in Practice appeared first on Josh Summers.
Linda Modaro: The Dharma of Experience (Episode 134)
July 19, 2021 10:00 - 19 minutes - 28.9 MB"We aren't looking to get away from our personal lives [in this approach]... but we're given permission to bring what's alive in our lives into our meditation practice." - Linda Modaro The post Linda Modaro: The Dharma of Experience appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Subjectivity of Conventional and Absolute Reality: Dharma Talk (Episode 133)
July 05, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 56.7 MB"It would be well if you directed your mind to the deathless element." - Venerable Sariputta, senior disciple of the Buddha The post The Subjectivity of Conventional and Absolute Reality: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
On Transcending Tribalism: Dharma Talk (Episode 132)
June 28, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 64.9 MB"The political problems that impede the evolution of international governance are rooted in human psychology - mainly in what is sometimes called "the psychology of tribalism." This psychology consists largely of cognitive biases, notably including confirmation bias and attribution error." - Robert Wright The post On Transcending Tribalism: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Linda Modaro: Spiritual Friendship and the Development of View (Episode 131)
June 24, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 114 MB"So much can go bongo tingo in conversations, what with misunderstandings and mixed intentions... and yet, so much can go right to the heart of the matter. Bringing our meditation sittings into a conversation with another person changes the conversation to a relationship - one of developing trust, care, and collaboration. The Dharma is between us." - Linda Modaro The post Linda Modaro: Spiritual Friendship and the Development of View appeared first on Josh Summers.
On Seeing Clearly: Dharma Talk (Episode 130)
June 21, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 64.1 MB"... the path is not about seeing something in particular; instead, it's about seeing clearly. And we have the potential to do that, a potential that has to be realized." - Ajahn Sucitto The post On Seeing Clearly: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Howard Axelrod: Skills of Perception (Episode 129)
June 14, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 61 MB"...seeing clearly is an ongoing balancing between seeing within a framework and seeing beyond a framework, between seeing with knowledge and seeing with wonder." - Howard Axelrod The post Howard Axelrod: Skills of Perception appeared first on Josh Summers.
The Power of Writing: Dharma Talk (Episode 128)
June 07, 2021 10:00 - 18 minutes - 27.6 MB"One benefit of a journaling practice is that it enables me to 'look upon' my thinking with a little more distance and objectivity. The activity of writing itself (a Yang sort of doing) brings a sense of order to the sometimes chaotic (Yin-like) dimensions of my consciousness." The post The Power of Writing: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Buddha Knowing Dharma: Dharma Talk (Episode 127)
June 01, 2021 10:00 - 33 minutes - 48 MBAccording to Joseph Campbell, mythology concerns the cosmological, sociological, pedagogical, and mystical dimensions of life. "If the mystical dimension is not there, you don't have a mythology, you have an ideology (Campbell, Mythos)." Meditation is a ritualized application of mythical pedagogy to realize for oneself the mystical union with all of life. The post Buddha Knowing Dharma: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Robert Wright: More Dharma of Bob (Episode 126)
May 27, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 100 MB"It's hard to build coherent international governance on a foundation of incoherent nations. An America lacking in cohesion, divided along red-blue lines, won't have the political will to do ambitious, politically difficult things. Such as: crafting and then participating in new forms of international cooperation designed to prevent things like pandemics, environmental calamities, and arms races in space or in bioweapons or in AI." - Robert Wright The post Robert Wright: More Dharma of Bob ap...
Expanding the Zone of Peace: Dharma Talk (Episode 125)
May 24, 2021 10:00 - 50 minutes - 47.6 MB"When we practice with all conditions, we gain improvisational skills for life; we learn how to creatively adapt to things outside our comfort zone, thereby widening the experience of peace that is independent of conditions." The post Expanding the Zone of Peace: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Yin Meditation: The Rhythmic Pulse of Consciousness (Episode 124)
May 20, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 89.1 MB"You know, you get a lot of people who are supposed to be hip. And they act like they're supposed to be hip, which makes a big difference. But being hip isn't a state of mind, it's a fact of life." - Cannonball Adderley "In meditation, there's nothing to change other than one's capacity to witness and flow with the changes of experience." - Josh Summers The post Yin Meditation: The Rhythmic Pulse of Consciousness appeared first on Josh Summers.
Improvising Through Fear: Dharma Talk (Episode 123)
May 17, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 58.5 MB"The more we realize that most of our views of ourselves, of others, and of presumed limits regarding our talents, our health, and our happiness were mindlessly accepted by us at an earlier time in our lives, the more we open up to the realization that these too can change. All we need to begin the process is to be mindful." - Ellen Langer "Life is change; and if you don't like it, it doesn't think much of you either." - Josh Summers The post Improvising Through Fear: Dharma Talk appeared fir...
Dr. Ellen Langer: Mindfulness Without Meditation (Episode 122)
May 13, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 58.2 MB"Social psychologists argue that who we are at any one time depends mostly on the context in which we find ourselves. But who creates the context? The more mindful we are, the more we can create the contexts we are in. When we create the context, we are more likely to be authentic. Mindfulness lets us see things in a new light and believe in the possibility of change." - Dr. Ellen Langer The post Dr. Ellen Langer: Mindfulness Without Meditation appeared first on Josh Summers.
Flowing From Self-Doubt to Confidence: Dharma Talk (Episode 121)
May 10, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 44.5 MB"To borrow language from music training, meditative training can be seen as a development and refinement of capacities for improvisational flow within and across the changing landscapes of rhythmic (physical), harmonic (energetic and emotional), and melodic (thinking) patterns of being." - Josh Summers The post Flowing From Self-Doubt to Confidence: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
On the Varieties of the Sleepy Experience: Dharma Talk (Episode 120)
May 03, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 61.5 MBOne form of drowsiness and low energy that can arise in meditative practice is the sort that stems from discouragement and disappointment. Very often, unacknowledged expectations can fuel a subtle frustration within one's practice, and that discouragement, in turn, can zap one's enthusiasm for practice. The key is to remember the simple orientation of practice: The only experience to have in mindfulness practice IS the experience that one is having, plain and simple. The encouragement is to h...
Howard Axelrod: The Point of Vanishing (Episode 119)
April 29, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 94.7 MBDuring his junior year of college, a tragic accident during a game of pick-up basketball disrupted Howard Axelrod's course in life. As a way to make sense of himself and of life, Howard did what I've only fantasized of doing: He went to live in the woods, in utter solitude, for a very long time. The post Howard Axelrod: The Point of Vanishing appeared first on Josh Summers.
A Tale of Two Selves: Dharma Talk (Episode 118)
April 26, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 55.4 MB"The 'transcendent' big 'S' Self is one hundred percent present on and within each and every experience. In fact, the Self is what is conscious of every experience." - Josh Summers The post A Tale of Two Selves: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Fundamental Wrongness to Unconditional Rightness: Dharma Talk (Episode 117)
April 19, 2021 10:00 - 52 minutes - 73.7 MB"The path tends to move along a continuum from personal dukkha - or fundamental wrongness - to a transformational awakening - or unconditional rightness." - Josh Summers The post Fundamental Wrongness to Unconditional Rightness: Dharma Talk appeared first on Josh Summers.
Jenny Odell: How To Do Nothing (Episode 116)
April 15, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 107 MB"To me, the only habit worth 'designing for' is the habit of questioning one's habitual ways of seeing, and that is what artists, writers, and musicians help us to do." - Jenny Odell The post Jenny Odell: How To Do Nothing appeared first on Josh Summers.