Deconstructing Yourself

Nondual teacher and psychotherapist Stephan Bodian and host Michael Taft discuss how and why narcissists rise to the top of spiritual organizations, the ways that nondual traditions like Zen may be especially prone to teacher misbehavior, the problem with “crazy wisdom” teachers, as well as exploring Stephan’s own spiritual journey with Suzuki Roshi, Maezumi Roshi, Jean Klein, and more.  Stephan Bodian is a psychotherapist and a teacher in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen and Advaita Vedanta. After training as a Zen monk and studying Advaita with Jean Klein, he received Dharma transmission from Adyashanti in 2001. His books include Wake Up Now; Beyond Mindfulness; and Meditation for Dummies.Learn more about Stephan Bodian's work at stephanbodian.orgPlease support this podcast by contributing on PatreonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cognitive scientist and philosopher Evan Thompson discusses his book 'Why I Am Not a Buddhist' and challenges the myth of Buddhist exceptionalism, the misinterpretation of the concept of no self, the interaction between science, Buddhism, and philosophy, recognizing ritualistic practices, and exploring death.

John J. Prendergast, a nondual teacher and psychotherapist, dives deep into the heart as a gateway to infinite space. He explores the 'dark matrix' of grounding and how the body embodies emptiness, shifting from reactivity to creativity. Prendergast shares insights on energy work in meditation, offering practical guidance for navigating trauma and letting go of control. He illuminates the abyss as a source of potentiality, revealing the vibrant interplay between the heart and ground in spiritual practice.

Nondual teacher and psychotherapist Loch Kelly speaks with host Michael Taft about what nondualism is, schools of effort vs. non-effort (and those in between), the five foundations of effortless mindfulness, awake awareness and rigpa, stabilizing nondual awareness, balancing the brain's default mode network, 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. Learn more at lochkelly.orgRead more about nondual awareness here.Please support this podcast by contributing on PatreonSee 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 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 draws from a variety of traditions to teach the history, philosophy, and practice of Buddhism. His teaching style weaves humor and storytelling with modern scholarly research to create a unique learning experience. He teaches regularly for the San Francisco Dharma Collective and he also runs Lotus Underground, a repository of his teaching activities, audio recordings, and writings.MC Owens - Lotus Underground on SoundcloudSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.