Deep Psychology

Our usual thinking is to pin the cause of the fear on the brain. So we say “we feel fear because x area of the brain activates. If it didn’t activate, we wouldn’t feel fear. It’s because of my brain” How can your brain “cause” fear? How can a squidgy lump of flesh cause fear? This is a snippet from my Wednesday 8th April episode, The Limits of Brain Science (#139). Philosophy category: https://pla...

This episode examines the relationship between the brain and experience, and challenges the common view that the brain explains our experience. We explore the basic fact that the brain is physical (tissue, chemistry, electrical activity) and experience is subjective (thoughts, emotions, sensations). These are two distinct types of phenomena that reliably correlate but cannot be couched in one anot...

Science does not truly question the idea of self. Even though neuroscience itself would say that the self is simply a result of brain activity and isn’t actually a thing, neuroscientists themselves do not live out this wisdom. Also, science confuses accumulation of knowledge with wisdom. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 1/4 episode, The Hidden Dogma in Scientific Thinking (#138). Episode catego...

Science does not pay attention to epistemology and philosophy - it focuses exclusively on calculation and application. It is also highly skeptical, but rarely of itself. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 1/4 episode, The Hidden Dogma in Scientific Thinking (#138). All my philosophy episodes: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/41de4d4f-0232-4c5d-bb84-436add43f6f9 Explore my 200-episode podcas...

A key and mostly overlooked issue is that science is an echo chamber. Much of science operates through repetition, imitation, and inherited frameworks rather than original insight - and this underlies scientific training too. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 1/4 episode, The Hidden Dogma in Scientific Thinking (#138). All my philosophy episodes: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/41de4d4f-0...

Scientific practice contains certain philosophical assumptions. These are treated as facts and then passed on. And they are unexamined. That is, they are dogma. In episode 1 of my April series on the philosophy of science, we uncover these hidden assumptions and help you free your mind from scientism. Next listen: The Limits of Brain Science (#139) ; Science is Addicted to Explanations (#140) My p...

To engage in spiritual learning, you must believe you don't know your true nature, and then go out and try to find it. Yet, nobody can truly tell you what it is. It is a discovery you must make. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 25/3 episode, What Spiritual Teaching Can't Do (#137). Newsletter & books: https://deep-psychology.com/my-links Explore my 200-episode archive by category : https://...

Spiritual teaching itself is built on an illusion. Furthermore, there are several hidden reasons why spiritual teachers teach - and they are not all pretty! This is a snippet from my Wednesday 25/3 episode, What Spiritual Teaching Can't Do (#137). Newsletter & books: https://deep-psychology.com/my-links Explore my 200-episode archive by category : https://deep-psychology.com/#pod-cats

The core flaw in spiritual teaching are the assumptions underlying it. Here is the top hidden assumption. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 25/3 episode, What Spiritual Teaching Can't Do (#137) Newsletter & books: https://deep-psychology.com/my-links Explore my 200-episode archive by category : https://deep-psychology.com/#pod-cats

I have hundreds of episodes, so I wanted to help you navigate them. Here are the most fundamental episodes: What is Psychology? (#143) The Power of Meditation (#1) Your Psychology = Your Life (#145) Psychospirituality (#80) Everything else comes from there. Explore my 200-episode archive by category : https://deep-psychology.com/#pod-cats My newsletter and books : https://deep-psychology.com/my-li...

There is a fundamental limit to spiritual teaching: it cannot give you recognition of your true nature, and your true nature cannot be conceptualised. This goes to the heart of spirituality. Furthermore, to teach, the teacher must defile their own true nature. Next listen: Why Meditators Stall on the Path (#136) ; Is Enlightenment the Right Word (#135) Newsletter & books : https://deep-psychol...

The true meditative path is one that is grounded right here, right now. To continue on the path is to be fully here in all situations, and to never turn away from This. The extent to which you do that is the extent to which you are truly walking the path home. This episode is a snippet from my Wednesday 18/3 episode, Why Meditators Stall on the Path (#136) All my episodes on spirituality: https://...

Meditators often perpetually want to get somewhere else. In fact, this is one of the core markers of the human experience: there is always a subtle turning away from the present. This inevitably comes into meditation itself: meditators are not there to be there, but to be elsewhere. This episode is a snippet from my Wednesday 22/3 episode, Why Meditators Stall on the Path (#136) Explore all my epi...

Meditators often have wildly unrealistic expectations regarding what meditation is, what its effects are, and where it eventually leads us. This is especially prevalent among newcomers, who have often been marketed on the idea that a little meditation will immediately render you calm, peaceful and wise. This is a snippet from my Wednesday 18/3 episode, Why Meditators Stall On The Path (#136) Explo...

From my practice and experience, three simple reasons explain why meditators stall on the path and fail to reach the deep insight taught in various guises by all spiritual traditions. Next listen: What Spiritual Teaching Can't Do (#137) ; Is Enlightenment the Right Word? (#135) Explore all my episodes on spirituality: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/d173b606-7b30-4e9b-b05b-de22c39973b4 Expl...

Nowadays, I tend to use the word recognition to describe awakening: here's why. This is a snippet from my episode Is Enlightenment the Right Word? (#135) Explore all my episodes on spirituality: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/d173b606-7b30-4e9b-b05b-de22c39973b4 Explore my 200-episode podcast library: https://deep-psychology.com/#pod-cats Newsletter & books: https://deep-psychology.com...

Enlightenment is our default word for spiritual awakening or deep spiritual insight. While it may serve and inspire certain students to engage in spiritual work, I also believe it is problematic and that better options exist. This is a short snippet from my episode on 11th March, Is Enlightenment the Right Word? (#135) Explore all my episodes on spirituality: https://player.captivate.fm/collection...

Despite problems, the word enlightenment does capture two real aspects of awakening: transformation and insight. This is a short snippet from my episode Is Enlightenment The Right Word? (#135) Explore all my episodes on spirituality: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/d173b606-7b30-4e9b-b05b-de22c39973b4 Explore my 200-episode podcast library: https://deep-psychology.com/#pod-cats Newsletter &...

We use the word enlightenment all the time in spirituality. But it might actually be one of the most misleading words in the entire field. It suggests a climactic transformation, a final state, something rare and special. Yet the lived experience of awakening is usually quieter, slower, and far more ordinary. Next listen: Why Meditators Stall On The Path? (#136) ; What Spiritual Teaching Can't Do...

Perhaps 1% or fewer practitioners reach late-stage meditation, where awakening has permanently altered one’s perception. Late stage says: “There is no centre for awakening to happen to.” This is a snippet from my episode from Wednesday 11/3, The Three Stages of Meditation (#134) Explore all my episodes on spirituality: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/d173b606-7b30-4e9b-b05b-de22c39973b4 Exp...

Mid-stage practitioners constitute perhaps 5–10% of meditators. This is the stage where awakening begins to stabilise. A core feature of this stage is that thoughts lose their unquestioned authority. They are still present, but they are no longer automatically taken as reality. Thoughts are seen as appearances rather than truths: as thoughts, nothing more, nothing less. This is a snippet from my e...

At the early stage, meditation is something you do. It is an activity during the day, set apart from life, distinct from the rest. Awakening is imagined as a future event: a breakthrough, a shift, a permanent state waiting at the end of sufficient effort. This is a snippet from my episode on Wednesday 4th March, The Three Stages of Meditation & Spiritual Insight (#134). Explore all my episodes...

We tend to see meditation as a single spiritual practice experienced equally by all. It seems meditators sit, practice their technique, attend retreats and accumulate hours. What’s missing is the developmental dimension of meditation. This practice unfolds in recognisable developmental stages. These are not rigid categories, but shifts in identity, perception and relationship to experience. What c...

Meaning, meaningnless and ameaningful are three different words. Meaning and meaninglessness imply one another. Questioning the meaning of life is not a symptom of meaninglessness. We are obsessed with meaning, and yet life could be ameaningful. This is a snippet from my episode What is the Meaning of Life? (#133) Explore all my episodes on philosophy: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/41de4d...

The question "What Is The Meaning of Life?" is fraught with difficulties and blindspots. It's so tempting to overcomplicate it, to oversimplify it, or to blindly rely on others to tell you the answer. This is a snippet from my episode What is the Meaning of Life? (#133) Explore all my episodes on philosophy: https://player.captivate.fm/collection/41de4d4f-0232-4c5d-bb84-436add43f6f9 Explore my 200...