Everyday Sublime Podcast | Body, Mind + Beyond

In this talk, I announce the time and schedule changes to the River Bird Sangha’s programming and how to channel the support of the sangha to realize the dharma within your own experience. Free When You Subscribe: Join our newsletter and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Qi Gong and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and...

In this episode, I speak with my friend and former Buddhist monk, Greg Burdilis about our time practicing together in Burma. We discuss the highs and lows of life on an intensive vipassana meditation retreat. Greg and I plan to have more conversations about deep practice and we welcome your questions. Email me at josh@joshsummers.net if you would like us to explore a topic or theme. Free When You...

In this talk, Josh discusses the process and energy of Recognizing, Realizing and Releasing conflicts and challenges as they arise in our practice and life. Free When You Subscribe : Join our newsletter and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with two Free weeks of Yin Yoga, Qi Gong and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

In this talk, Josh explores the important role of relaxation, rest and receptivity for the development of calm clarity in Yin Samatha-Vipassana Meditation. Free When You Subscribe: Join our newsletter and get your copy of Josh’s new FREE ebook, The What, Why and How of Yin Yoga along with TWO FREE weeks of Yin Yoga, Qi Gong and Yin Meditation classes with Josh and Terry. www.joshsummers.net

“Enlightenment is an accident, but some activities make you accident-prone.” - Krishnamurti In this talk, Josh offers reflections on the most important element of a personal spiritual practice. Weekly Online Yin Yoga, Qi Gong and Meditation Classes with Josh Summers and Terry Cockburn, PLUS access to our replay library of workshops, classes and tutorials. https://joshsummers.net/classes/ Functiona...

Every meditator will confront their ego’s attempt to meditate from the back seat. The ego will try to control, influence and manipulate the entire process. In this talk, Josh suggests how to work with this energy. “Yesterday’s insights are like yesterday’s fish, unrefrigerated.” – Larry Rosenberg

In this talk, Josh reflects further on Zhuang Zi’s Butterfly Dream and how the parable offers clues and questions for deepening an understanding of self and consciousness. "Within the dream state, unless we’re lucid, we tend to be held captive by the content of the dream. But in waking up, we open to the possibility of being captivated by experience." - Josh Summers

In this talk, Josh connects the famous parable of Zhuang Zi’s Butterfly Dream to the practice of moment to moment mindfulness. “I, Zhuang Zi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuang Zi. Soon, I awakened and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know w...

In this episode, Josh shares reflections and a guided meditation on breath awareness, and how breath awareness supports calm clarity on the path. “Mindfulness is remembering how to observe the mind’s attention as it moves moment-to-moment and remembering what to do with any arising phenomena!” – Bhante Vimalaramsi

Breathing from the belly is a practice found in various Buddhist and yogic traditions. In this short talk, Josh shares how to engage with this exercise. “You must realize that the center of the universe is the pit of your belly.” – Harada-roshi

Amidst all the dizzying changes of our world, Josh reflects on how practice provides a ballast of stability in the middle of the storm. “We can and must, each of us, individually, be a ballast, a reminder of what is good and right, of peace and justice, of supporting the environment, of trusting in individual experiences, voices, choices and stories.” – Nadia Colburn

In this short reflection, Josh introduces the spiritual story about Bahiya, a spiritual seeker who faced his doubts about the path, directly. “Then, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will only be the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you sho...

In this talk, Josh reflects on a student’s question: Do the hindrances in meditation (and life) eventually disappear? Or will they always be part of life? “Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind of mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

In this talk, Josh responds to questions about the relationship between dharma practice and the many crises that are burning in our world. “It is not billionaires or technology that will save us, but instead a ‘vitalist mass movement,’ driven by human spirit that may actually be magical enough to change hearts and minds across the world.” – Amitav Ghosh

In this episode, Josh interview’s Amiel Handelsman on why it’s important to deracialize people as part of combatting racism. “Racial essentialism keeps racism alive. The more entrenched racial categories are in the public mind, the easier it is for white power advocates to use them for their own nefarious purposes—and for the rest of us to slip into old stereotypes and cognitive biases.” – Amiel H...

In this talk, Josh reflects on how dharma practice transforms and deracializes consciousness. “Because, as the first line of the Dhammapada says, ‘All that we are is the result of what we have thought,’ the transformation of ‘sociological and psychological structures’ must take place initially in our own minds – and those of others – if we truly hope to address the root cause of social suffering.”...

In this talk, Josh offers a dharmic interpretation of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” and how meditation helps free us from being defined by conceptual projections and awakens us to a direct experience of the way things are. “And if he were forcibly dragged up the steep and rugged ascent and not let go till he had been dragged out [of the cave] into the sunlight, the process would be a painful one...

In this talk, Josh explores the conditioned “self,” and how meditation awakens us to this conditioning. Sometimes these awakenings can feel quite shocking, similar to culture shock. "In becoming aware of our conditioning, we can then practice ways of creatively establishing more skillful habits of relationship and engagement." - Josh Summers

The teachings of the Buddha, known as the Dharma, are like a map that shows the spiritual seeker how to walk the path of awakening. Josh reflects on this map and how sometimes symbols on the map can get lost in translation. "I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that ancient path, that ancient road? It is just this Noble Eightf...

In awakening to our conditioning, just like the Buddha, we can creatively collaborate with new forms of conditioning informed by compassion and wisdom. - Josh Summers

In this episode, Josh talks with Mushroom Revival founder, Alex Dorr, about how functional mushrooms can support mental and physical health. "We share over 50% of our DNA with fungi. We're more closely related to fungi than plants." - Alex Dorr Mushroom Revival:   Revive your health with the help of functional mushrooms in every form. Always organic, non-gmo, vegan, gluten free, lab tested, a...

With time, practice will reveal our unresolved wounds that are still wound within the conditions of original trauma. - Josh Summers

The conscientious young monk Meditating three years alone Can no longer be moved By the four worldly winds. - from fictional Zen story told by Ajahn Brahm

Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup? - Zen Master Nan-in

Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings. - Buddha (from the Metta Sutta)