Awake in the World Podcast

On retreat, Michael speaks about the Buddha’s instructions for practicing alone in the wilderness, how past actions haunt the body, how to turn towards anxiety, and a moving story about his son and autism. Wisconsin. Recorded March 25, 2017.

For the purposes of meditation, what you’re thinking about is not important. But as we pay attention to thinking in meditation, you might notice other aspects of the process of thinking besides the content. So, for example, if you’re thinking words or images, what’s the quality of the inner voice? What’s the quality of the pictures that you see? Recorded 2017.

See if you can find out where in your body that emotional state or mood is most manifested, most expressed. What sensations or feelings in your body let you know that you’re having this emotional state? See if you can notice how the emotional state is expressed through your body, through sensations in your body. Recorded December 2017.

Nothing needs to be refused. Let the breath travel the body without picking up speed. The clouds of thought haul across the sky. Let them come and go. Let the breath move the way blood moves: let it find its own rhythm. Recorded 2017.

Tuning into breath in the nostrils to explore subtle sensations and bring mind into its natural state. Recorded 2017.

Mindfulness of the breathing body in the abdomen to settle thoughts. Recorded 2017.

Using sound as an anchor to ground attention. Recorded 2017.

Michael explores practicing without an idea of gain, the Universal Self, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Pattabhi Jois, the Buddha and Shunryu Suzuki. How can you blend your breath with the larger self? Moksha Westshore, B.C. Recorded February 18, 2017.

Michael integrates a discussion of spiritual bypassing (using practice to avoid dealing with painful feelings and unresolved emotional habits) with a teaching on using labeling to let go of ruminating thoughts and overthinking. Victoria, B.C. Recorded January 22, 2017.

How to not leave your body, even when it feels untrustworthy. We can always turn to the body in pain, grief, and even in altered states of consciousness. Anxiety, compassion, and equanimity always play out in your body. Victoria, B.C. Recorded January 19, 2017.

Bringing distractions back into the beginning of the inhale. Victoria, B.C. Recorded January 17, 2017.

**BONUS** Michael Stone and Matthew Remski read personal letters they wrote to each other as expectant fathers. These letters later become their co-authored book, "Family Wakes Us Up." They explore their process as fathers, as parents, and as two people integrating spiritual practice and the demands of parenting. This podcast is from our archive and was recorded November 23, 2013, in Toronto.

Michael uses an old Zen tale, a troubled story about him falling in love with his wife, and quotes from Shunryu Suzuki, to describe the practice of not-knowing and not holding onto anything. He ends with a very interesting and subtle meditation instruction on breathing. Chapin Mill, New York. Recorded December 31, 2016.

Michael explores the sensitive topic of knowing when to pull out of relationships, kindness to one’s self, emptiness, love, and a story about appreciating that you and others are divine. Chapin Mill, New York. Recorded December 30, 2016.

On silent retreat Michael speaks about bowing, forms of practice, gratitude, extending meditation beyond the cushion, and appreciating the practice of others. Recorded at Chapin Mill, New York, on December 29 2016.

Michael unpacks different kinds of blame, both inward and outward, followed by a description of projection and the link between blame and projection and how they cover over underlying feelings. Then he describes how we can make room for gratitude, as taught in the Tibetan Lojong teachings. Recorded in Ottawa on December 10, 2016.

Deep listening, wisdom, and the ability to do extraordinary things. Salt Spring Island, B.C. Recorded in December, 2016.

Tibetan Buddhist Teachings for transforming what’s unpleasant, letting go of grasping, and the 3 treasures of awakening, reality and community. Portland, Oregon. Recorded on December 4, 2016.

A talk, followed by a guided meditation on inhaling suffering and exhaling peace. A practice of learning how to exchange your happiness for someone else’s suffering – how to train your heart to do what it doesn't want to do. Portland, Oregon. Recorded December 3, 2016.

A lively discussion on meditation and the Tibetan Lojong Practices for Training in Compassion. Portland, Oregon. Recorded on December 3, 2016.

What’s happening right now in our lives can be the raw material that shows us the path of awakening & compassion. In Portland, Michael teaches from the Lojong Training in Compassion. Portland, Oregon. Recorded December 2, 2016.

Michael explores how mindfulness and meditation practice can heal shame and trauma and how these symptoms manifest in relationship. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Recorded on November 20 2016.

In Berlin Michael talks about Zen Case 55 of the Blue Cliff Record “Tao Wu's Condolence Call.” He talks about the Yoga Sutra, not being afraid, and how an awakened person has a very wide palette of emotion, it’s just they don’t grasp so much. Recorded at YogaSpirit in Berlin, Germany on October 20, 2016.

A ship is safe in the harbour, but that’s not what ships are built to do. Michael talks about the ways that we can balance calmness with vitality, how not to be afraid of our power, and how balanced energy can have superhero qualities. Recorded in Copenhagen, September 27 2016.

Using a Zen koan about the Pang family, Michael talks about wholehearted activity, compassion, and throwing yourself to the ground when someone falls down. He ties this into the refugee situation in Europe, racism, and how to take compassionate action when we have no idea what to do. Recorded in Copenhagen on September 25, 2016.