Awareness Explorers

In this episode we talk to Michael McCord, president of San Francisco Zen Center, on bringing Zen practices into daily life and work, and how enlightenment is seen as an ongoing process of increasing awareness, not a fixed end state to achieve. • Includes a guided meditation introducing the Zen practice of breath counting. To learn more about Michael McCord, please visit these San Franciso Zen Center pages:  https://www.sfzc.org/ https://blogs.sfzc.org/blog/2024/09/10/meet-sfzcs-new-president-michael-mccord/ https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/sozan-michael-mccord and on YouTube:  @SFZenCenter Or email him at: michael.mccord@sfzc.org The Zen manual discussed in this episode is the Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook).  This site has links to a few translations:  https://www.themathesontrust.org/library/instructions-cook-tenzo-kyokun Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:  # 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 joy All time chart  # 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart  # 47 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy,  Jonathan and Brian

In the conversation, Stephen Zerfas, CEO and co-founder of Jhourney, shares his journey from desperation to discovering transformative jhana meditation states. He explains how jhanas facilitate a positive feedback loop between attention and emotion, helping cultivate profound experiences of gratitude and peace. Stephen discusses using technology to enhance meditation retreats and emphasizes the importance of integrating these practices for emotional processing. Listeners enjoy a guided meditation while exploring the interplay of phenomenology and mindfulness.

Discover how to navigate the storm of bad news while awakening your inner peace. Delve into the balance between acceptance and action, with personal stories that inspire hope. Embrace your emotions and learn the power of processing distressing news through meditation. Explore the importance of self-awareness and intentional contributions to society, all while fostering connections in divisive times. Join in for thoughtful discussions on adaptability and personal growth amidst chaos.

In this episode we discuss the concept of the Middle Way and explore how to move beyond polarities in spiritual practice and daily life, thus finding a balance between extremes and recognizing the interconnectedness of all things. • Includes a guided meditation in which we bring two opposite energies together to sense how they are intertwined and to feel a balance and a gentle equilibrium as we use breath to weave the two together. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:  # 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 joy All time chart  # 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart  # 47 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy,  Jonathan and Brian Photo by Greg Jewett on Unsplash 

Kat van Oudheusden, author of *Seeing No-Self* and *Beyond Illusion*, shares her transformative journey toward recognizing the illusion of separation. She discusses the playful intersection of self-help and non-duality, challenging traditional views on personal growth. The conversation dives into embracing 'no-self' for true freedom and the complexity of navigating fears in self-inquiry. Kat also explores the duality of separateness and oneness, encouraging deeper awareness of our inherent connections and the liberation that comes from letting go of rigid identities.

In this engaging discussion, Samuel Jacob, a contemporary spiritual teacher specializing in radical self-inquiry, reveals the path to present-moment awareness and innate happiness. He emphasizes transforming challenges into opportunities for growth and the profound connection between joy and existence. Listeners are invited to explore radical self-inquiry and its potential for deep peace through a unique guided meditation. Jacob’s insights encourage embracing life's moments, highlighting our inherent connection to the universe and the simplicity of being.

In this episode we explore the concepts of the inward and outward facing paths. They are presented as different approaches in various traditions that, if pursued to their core, eventually arrive at a direct experience of a unified life. • Includes a guided meditation that extends the ancient neti neti practice of excluding all concepts of what you conceive yourself to be, and then re-including all so-called outer experience, thereby seeing that all is awareness and not separate from your true self. Short phrases to help you get a handle on the inward and outward facing paths:      Nothing you can name or conceive of is awareness. Nothing you could name or conceive of is not awareness.      Meditating with your eyes closed and looking within at awareness, and meditating with your eyes open and looking at the world as awareness.      “Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” ― Nisargadatta Maharaj The song Jonathan mentioned in this episode is “Impermanence” by John Astin:  https://music.apple.com/us/song/impermanence/72793994 Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:  # 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart  # 7 in the Top 100 joy All time chart  # 5 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart  # 45 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website: https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit https://findinghappiness.com/ and https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash     

In this episode, we interview John Travis, founding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center, exploring his spiritual journey and teachings, and his emphasis on the importance of integrating mind, heart, and body in spiritual practice. • Includes a guided meditation grounding attention in the body and sense perceptions as a pathway inward to the recognition of awareness as encompassing everything, thus breaking the illusion of separateness. To learn more about John Travis, please visit:  https://www.mtstream.org/ and  https://www.mtstream.org/john-travis Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:  # 6 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart  # 7 in the Top 100 joy All time chart  # 6 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart  # 8 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart  # 45 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian

In this episode, we discuss the relationship between trauma and spiritual awakening, and how trauma can not only obscure awareness but can also catalyze awakening. We also describe some effective trauma healing approaches. • Includes a guided meditation helping us to see an upsetting incident from the past within the larger peaceful space of pure awareness, which is unshaken by traumatic experience, and which holds and supports everything. The YouTube playlist mentioned in this episode: Spiritual Laughter Particularly, “Jeff Foster - All That's Left is Laughter” Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has made the following top listener charts on Goodpods:   # 5 in the Top 100 awakening All time chart  # 6 in the Top 100 joy All time chart  # 5 in the Top 100 awareness All time chart  # 7 in the Top 100 consciousness All time chart  # 44 in the Top 100 meditation All time chart To learn more about Awareness Explorers, and to listen to all of our podcast episodes, please visit:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/ If you want to listen to the meditations alone, you can find all of our meditations excerpted either in this playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAVvivvVVGNfQgJxbWB6dF6Z Or on our Awareness Explorers website:  https://www.awarenessexplorers.com/meditations To Support Awareness Explorers, please consider clicking the "Donate" button on any AwarenessExplorers.com page, or becoming a Patreon supporter:  https://www.patreon.com/awarenessexplorers NOTE: If you are a Patreon supporter and have not been receiving our bonus material, please check to make sure that the email address you have on Patreon is an active one. To learn more about Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor, please visit  https://findinghappiness.com/ and  https://www.playawarenessgames.com/ You can listen to all of our episodes on this YouTube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLThffcko0gAXyaArC4OyY0y84CZ8uSb_n Enjoy, Jonathan and Brian Photo by Fernando @cferdophotography on Unsplash 

Dive into the fascinating world of intuition as the hosts explore its profound nature and its role in personal awakening. Discover how to harness intuitive insights by quieting the mind and asking the right questions. Anecdotes illustrate the balance between gut feelings and rational thought, emphasizing self-awareness in decision-making. A guided meditation is included to help clear mental blocks and enhance receptivity to intuition. Tune in for fresh perspectives on accessing innate wisdom and cultivating joy in everyday life.