Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke The Gradual and Direct Paths of Awakening with Stephen Snyder | Living Mirrors #147
Jun 18, 2025
Join Stephen Snyder, a seasoned Dharma teacher in Zen and Theravadan traditions, as he delves into his 50-year meditation journey. The discussion unwraps the gradual and direct paths to awakening, exploring personal identity reshaping through meditation. Snyder emphasizes the balance between effort and effortlessness, sharing insights on techniques like jhana practice and Anapanasati. He also addresses the significance of authenticity in spiritual pursuits and highlights the transformative nature of cessation in meditation, offering a fresh perspective on awakening.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Awakening Rewrites Identity
- Realizations rewrite our identities and perceived histories.
- Meditation slowly erodes fixed identity and false core beliefs, fostering a 2.0 version of self.
Seeing Skeletons During Retreat
- Stephen Snyder experienced a retreat practice where he saw everyone as skeletons, including a visible break on one person's arm.
- This illustrated how deep meditative states can alter perception profoundly, revealing subtle physical details.
Ancient Meditations on Subatomic Particles
- Buddhist meditation on subatomic particles (kalapas) predates modern physics.
- Such practices suggest ancient direct contact with fundamental particles through deep meditation.
