Deconstructing Yourself

In 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 Notes0:25 – Introduction2:11 – Michael’s reasons for opposing maps, and creating the Deconstructing SensoryExperience map5:05 – Critiques Michael has heard about the map since first presenting it, and his responses10:13 – Brief review of stages 1-4 of the map14:41 – The logic behind putting cessation as stage 5 in the previous map; why it’s nowremoved from the map18:19 – How each stage is useful and no stage is lesser than the others21:13 – Description of stage 4, pure awareness; how this stage is viewed in other traditions25:43 – Reversing the stack, using this model bidirectionally29:56 – The observer trap and how reversing the stack overcomes this problem34:34 – OutroNote: 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 meditations, high-concentration/jhana practice, etc. It is only to help you with your vipassana practice.These are not discrete or digital stages. They are analog, and shade into one another. Each stage is desirable and useful for various things. No stage is somehow better than another.In vipassana practice, however, we are usually attempting to tranverse the stack from stage one to stage four.When doing nondual practices, we transverse the stack from bottom to top (4 -> 1) and do what we might call “nondual vipassana” or something akin to many Mahamudra practices—which is what this episode describes.Level 1 - Conceptual - Thinking about sensory experience objects using words.Level 2 - Phenomenal Object - Contacting the phenomenology of sensory experiences in the form of objects.Level 3 - Flow / Change - Contacting the phenomenology of sensory experiences as vibration, waves, or change.Level 4 - Pure Awareness - Noticing awareness itself with no content. Please support this podcast by contributing on Patreon See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host 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 Buddhist meditation retreat and offers seminars internationally on meditation, dream yoga, and the art of dying. He is the author of many books, including Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep. Andrew is masterful at joining the wisdom traditions of Asia with the knowledge of the West. He holds degrees in classical music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery. Andrew Holecek's websiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Taft shares a map of deconstructing sensory experience for vipassana meditation practice. The stages range from conceptual to pure awareness, emphasizing sensory clarity and impermanence. The map serves as a guide for deepening awareness and concentration during meditation.

Host 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 and are an experienced Dzogchen meditator and mentor. Rin’dzin received the London School of Economics Fei Xiaotong prize for their Masters research on the Chinese tech industry. They worked on international development projects in India, Africa and the Middle East and as a program director for Amnesty International. Rin’dzin writes at VajrayanaNow.com and has recently been publicly journaling their progress through Culadasa’s system The Mind Illuminated. Help to support the Deconstructing Yourself podcast at Patreon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vincent Horn, part of the new generation of dharma teachers, discusses 'metadharma' and its implications. They explore the power of social practices and the role of psychology in metadharma. They also discuss the Big Mind Method and its psychological applications. The podcast touches on the Buddhist Geeks Farm, a contemplative community startup project, and the intersection of Buddhism and the Extinction Rebellion movement.

Douglas Tataryn, a clinical psychologist and life coach, delves into the intersection of meditation and emotional processing. He shares insights from his extensive meditation journey and discusses the Bio-Emotive Framework, a novel approach to understanding emotions in mental health. The conversation highlights the crucial difference between core feelings and traditional emotions, and the role of meditation in achieving emotional clarity. Tataryn also touches on the impact of childhood experiences on emotional development and the importance of confronting emotions in healing.

Host 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 traditions, modern science, and psychotherapy.Loch Kelly’s WebsiteSupport the Deconstructing Yourself podcast via Patreon.Show Notes:00:43 - Intro03:05 - Loch’s meditation background06:59 - Shifting from concentration practice to choiceless awareness practice10:01 - Meeting Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche12:23 - The experience vs explanation of ‘pure awareness’ in different traditions14:38 - Mahamudra15:31 - The dualism in stopping halfway at ‘pure/spacious awareness’17:54 - Recognition vs realization20:02 - The possibility of ‘awake awareness’ in different traditions22:53 - Contacting nondual awareness24:00 - How can awareness be aware of awareness, if you are not aware from awareness?28:10 - The contemporary teaching of unhooking ‘local awareness’34:42 - The vipassana model/map vs natural awakenings37:42 - Upgrading the mahamudra map and instructions (from ‘pure awareness’ to ‘awake awareness’) 43:07 - The four or five levels of the mind in mahamudra (1. everyday mind, 2. subtle mind, 3. pure awareness, 4. simultaneous mind, 5. open-hearted awareness/bodhicitta)46:13 - Thoughts and emotions in ‘open-hearted awareness’50:09 - Teaching moving from ‘spacious awareness’ to ‘awake awareness’56:02 - Wonder, freedom, and joy in wisdom mind01:02:14 - Postural yoga and pranayama in mahamudra01:05:18 - Integrating ‘one-pointed awareness’ into the ‘field of awareness’01:08:37 - Psychotherapy as a “preliminary” practice01:10:42 - The “crazy yogi”: waking up without growing up01:13:32 - The healing power of ‘open-hearted awareness’ in IFS (Internal Family Systems)01:16:40 - The role of the guru in different traditions; “energetic transmission”01:21:37 - Don’t stop halfway and come on in the water!01:27:30 - Teaching vipassana in a nondual way01:32:47 - Loch’s latest teaching- and personal inquiries01:35:14 - OutroWhat does nondual mean?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Culadasa, a seasoned Buddhist meditation practitioner, discusses the overlap and divergence of meditation and therapy, highlighting how they address inner conflicts. He shares insights on minimizing psychological distress during insight experiences and the effects of different meditation practices on psychological material. Culadasa reflects on integrating therapy and meditation in Buddhism for comprehensive healing and personal growth.

Host 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, Hardwiring Happiness, and the new book Resilient. Rick began meditating in 1974, has trained in several traditions, and teaches at meditation centers around the world.Show Notes0:25 – Introduction1:56 – Michael talks about Rick’s background in meditation and his public persona, then introduces the topic for this episode, the potentially apocalyptic future7:30 – How growing strengths and resources inside, and turning states into traits, gets trivialized as ‘positive psychologizing’12:59 – Punctuated equilibrium: things tend to go along steadily until the bottom drops out; knowing that apocalyptic scenarios can occur, giving thought to what one can do that’s rational, given one’s values, resources, karmas and responsibilities in life16:54 – The game-changing threats of thermonuclear exchange, runaway AI, totalitarian regimes exploiting surveillance technology and genetic engineering, climate change21:03 – Working in practice with impermanence and remembrance of death26:36 – “Time held me green and dying, though I sang in my chains like the sea” – claiming to oneself again and again, in the face of forces that make one feel powerless, what one can do inside one’s own mind; counteracting learned helplessness35:09 – The balance of compassion and equanimity in facing death and environmental destruction; different paths to developing compassion and equanimity46:15 – How the move away from living in small hunter-gatherer bands changed people’s relationship with governance; the lack of common welfare, common truth, and common justice54:33 – Reclaiming healthy human politics; valuing truth and shutting down attacks on truth; encouraging the pooling of resources among nonprofits with a common cause1:05:04 – Rick’s upcoming book, Neuro-dharma; short description of the seven practices in the book which stimulate and strengthen the underlying neural basis for wholesome, transformative qualities of mind1:14:25 – OutroYou can help to create future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author 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 practiceDaniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma practitioner. He is the author of the seminal text Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha — now out in its second edition- and also the main force behind the radical dharmaoverground website, which specializes in a brand of unusually-frank discussion of meditation.The book Michael mentions is Theravada Meditation by Winston KingDaniel explains how jhanas and ñanas can be matched across systems in this video.The Fire Kasina websiteShow Notes0:25 – Introduction2:13 – Michael’s experience with the fire kasina at Denman Island, realizing the practice can lead to awakening5:34 – Setting the general context for using any kind of kasina, and how it fits in with Theravada practice9:25 – How and why Daniel started kasina practice, objects he used; whether there’s something special about the fire kasina14:22 – Elemental imbalance, taking other elements (air, water, earth) besides fire; once you can do one element really well, you can get all the other colors and elements17:00 – Using kasina practice to enter the jhanas or develop jhanic factors; how insight slips into concentration practices21:21 – Beginning to describe the stages of working with a fire kasina, and what it means for jhanic factors (and the nanas)23:48 – The appearance of the red dot nimitta and its characteristics27:45 – The first jhanic factors that come with tracking and steadying the red dot nimitta; changes in the color of the nimitta and the dropping of sustained thought (being second jhanic factors); the second vipassana jhana’s correlation with the Arising and Passing Away30:33 – The appearance of the black/dark dot and entering the murk; the gifts and challenges of practicing with the murk; Neko’s triad of patience, faith, and curiosity37:57 – Learning color, image, and movement control in the murk; bringing in insight elements42:08 – Exiting the murk and entering fourth jhanic territory; what the transition from third to fourth jhana looks like47:20 – Things a practitioner can look for to know when they’ve made the transition to fourth jhana / fourth jhanic factors52:22 – Descriptions of the first through fourth ‘screens’, how the screens don’t perfectly correlate with the jhanas54:16 – Moving from fourth jhanic territory to awakening; cultivating the three characteristics1:02:50 – The challenge of taking the fire kasina to the immaterial type jhanas1:04:38 – What’s most exciting to Daniel about this practice and why he continues to do it1:09:21 – Community and learning resources for people who want to work with kasina practice; warnings about doing the practice intensely or without a support system when one has a serious mental health diagnosis1:14:51 – OutroYou can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.