Awake in the World Podcast
Michael Stone
Awake in the World Podcast is a library of talks on a wide-range of topics, including bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience. Michael Stone (1974-2017) was a Buddhist teacher, author, and mental health advocate. His legacy is stewarded by Carina Stone. Podcast funded by Patreon (patreon.com/michaelstone).
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 9, 2022 • 58min
What Are You Committed To? Part Two
Michael explains ahimsa, the importance of attention, the role of asana, and the meaning of samadhi. (The talk ends abruptly. We suspect the recorder ran out of battery). Recorded on November 16, 2007.
Oct 2, 2022 • 48min
What Are You Committed To? Part One
Michael gave this talk in France in 2007. He presents yoga as a practice of intimacy and argues that its goal is compassion and relationship rather than unity. Recorded on November 16, 2007.
Sep 25, 2022 • 47min
Best of Awake in the World: From Fear to Sympathy
This week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. How to meet others who are in fear or anxiety, how to help anxious kids, how to validate the feelings of other people without exacerbating what’s going on for them, and how to develop concentration (jhana) practice. Wisconsin. Recorded March 26, 2017.
Sep 18, 2022 • 59min
Best of Awake in the World: Patience is a Practice of Attunement
This week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. Long-term practice requires patience more than discipline. Practice frustrates our results oriented mind. You need patience to stay with life for the long haul. The paradoxes of karma. Recorded on April 2, 2013.
Sep 11, 2022 • 51min
Eliminate "Why"
In this Remembrance Day talk Michael considers the relationship of stillness and action, bearing witness, non-violence and letting go of “why?”. Recorded on November 11, 2008.
Sep 4, 2022 • 44min
Mindfulness & Situational Ethics
In this podcast episode, Michael discusses how mindfulness applies to situational ethics, exploring in practical detail the two wings of the practice: calming (samatha) and insight (vipassana). This lecture was part of an older version of Michael's online course, Embodying Ethics & Vows in Modern Life (recorded in 2015).
Aug 28, 2022 • 57min
Poetry Night
In November 10th, 2009 Michael hosted a poetry reading night and invited author, Sarah Selecky, and poet, Erin Robinsong, to choose and read poems that highlight the importance of art to spiritual practice. He opened the evening by talking about the profound ways that language can either keep us stuck in a false representation of the world or open us up to new possibilities. Recorded on November 10, 2009.
Aug 21, 2022 • 31min
This Is the Way It Is
In this guided meditation practice Michael provides suggestions for cultivating equanimity and radical acceptance. The instructions last approximately fifteen minutes, followed by fifteen minutes of silence before the bell. Recorded on November 10, 2008.
Aug 15, 2022 • 32min
A Culture of Awakening
In the face of our global environmental crisis Michael argues that it’s not enough to only work with our individual greed, anger and delusion–we must create a culture of awakening that integrates individual practice, a cultural recognition of interdependence (deep ecology), and collective, ethical action. Recorded on November 9, 2007.
Aug 7, 2022 • 1h 11min
What Are You Going to Let Go Of?
Starting with a poem by Hafiz about haggling with God, Michael offers insights about ways to simplify and deepen practice, giving and receiving, renunciation, and ideas we need to let go of. Recorded on November 8, 2007.
