Deconstructing Yourself

In this episode host Michael Taft speaks with Rob Burbea about Rob’s book, Seeing that Frees, the power of perception (ways of seeing), his creative methods of working with meditation practice, meditating with a more analytical vs more phenomenological focus, how analytical meditation works, Rob’s “soulmaking dharma,” the emptiness of conceptual frameworks, facing the end of life, and the meaning of emptiness. Rob Burbea is a meditation teacher, musician, author, who teaches at Gaia House in Devon, England. Rob is the author of the groundbreaking meditation practice book entitled, Seeing that Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising. I personally love this book, and find it to be one of the most useful and in-depth book out there on the deeper ends of practice. I recommend the book highly, and Rob and I discuss it at length in this episode. Show Notes (coming soon)

In this episode, host Michael W. Taft speaks with senior dharma teacher Christopher Titmuss about yatra—meditative pilgrimage without a destination—the power of nature, the importance of deconstructing the self, the psychedelic 60s, Vietnam, engaged Buddhism, the role of spiritual practice in the current world crisis, and the central role of liberation in meditation. Christopher Titmuss is an insight meditation teacher, author, and former Theravada Buddhist monk. He is the co-founder of Gaia House, a large Buddhist retreat center in Devon, England, where he has been teaching since the early 1980s. A renowned proponent of engaged Buddhism, Christopher is the author of numerous books, and twice ran for election as a top Green Party candidate in England.  

In this episode, philosopher, author, and meditator, Evan Thompson speaks with host Michael Taft. Topics include: the meaning of awakening; lucid dreaming and noticing the construction of the waking state; the 3-fold structure of Awareness, Contents of Awareness, and then Identification with Contents; The cosmopolitanism of Buddhism, and the myth of Buddhist exceptionalism; consciousness hacking and psychedelics; and much more. Evan Thompson, PhD, works on the nature of the mind, the self, and human experience. His work combines cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially in Asian traditions. His most recent book, Waking, Dreaming, Being, examines the self and consciousness in neuroscience, meditation, and philosophy. Show Notes 1:50 – Evan’s personal practice and retreat in Nelson, British Columbia. 4:55 – Central metaphor of awakening from sleep-wake cycle. Fractal nature of awakening. 8:50 – Phenomenal sense of insight into waking up, false awakening. 11:40 – Is waking up a recurring process as in the ordinary sleep-wake cycle? 15:10 – Awakening as metaphorical concept and not a state. Ethics, values tied to awakening. 17:15 – Embodied nature of consciousness and awakening. 19:55 – Extended consciousness involving brain, body and environment vs panpsychism. 23:35 – Meditation is not first person science, more similar to dance and martial arts. 28:25 – Basic structure of Waking, Dreaming, Being based on Upanishads. 29:05 – Unpacking the Upanishadic structure in the context of meditation. 33:45 – Lucid dreaming for cultivating awareness rather than dream control. 37:45 – Connection between framing of dream and waking states. 38:50 – Consciousness versus contents of consciousness. Sense of self while awake, dreaming. 43:25 – Neuroscience of self and memory while dreaming. 45:30 – Neuroscience of self and memory while awake. 46:20 – Brain as active while asleep as awake, but in different local and network ways. 48:00 – Sleep needed for memory consolidation, learning and self regulation. 49:35 – Meditation not only limited to brain but an activity practiced in a social context. 53:05 – Meditation embodied in a wider context that may be missed in brain only fMRI scans. 55:40 – Wings needed for flight but flight is not in the wings, brain needed for meditation … 56:55 – Meditation reduced to neuroscience correlates may be too reductionist. 58:05 – Neuroscience being used to “prove” Buddhism. Fetishizing Buddhism. 1:00:35 – Buddhism is a religion despite claims to the contrary, a lot of Buddhist exceptionalism. 1:03:00 – Critique of Buddhist exceptionalism in new book. Cosmopolitan Buddhism preferred. 1:05:35 – Evan’s book in progress Why I am not a Buddhist. 1:07:05 – Hopeful signs in greater sensitivity to environment, equality. 1:10:05 – Unbalanced approach to psychedelics. Consciousness hacking as fear of death. 1:13:20 – Outro  

In this episode host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher, neuroscientist, and author John Yates, also known as Culadasa. Topics covered include: Are more people achieving stream entry these days?, a clear definition of stream entry, the Buddha’s concept of yathābhūtañāṇadassanaṃ or “seeing things as they really are,” reaching a tipping point of stream enterers to avert the coming world disasters, tips for meditation in action, using consciousness hacking and/or drugs to accelerate insight, paṭiccasamuppāda – the interpenetrating nature of phenomena, quantum entanglement and individual minds, the nondual viewpoint, an explanation of reincarnation and past life experiences, and much more. Culadasa has been practicing Buddhist meditation for over four decades, mainly in Tibetan lineages. He is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona where he teaches meditation and Buddhism from a modern, progressive scientific perspective. His groundbreaking book, The Mind Illuminated, is a modern road map to Buddhist meditation for a Western audience which combines age-old wisdom teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Learn more at culadasa.com. Show Notes (coming soon)  

In this episode emotions researcher and meditation teacher Eve Ekman speaks with Michael W. Taft about embodied emotions, the difference between suppression and healthy expression, impermanence of sensation and moment by moment contact with emotion, emotion-laden cognitions, HH the Dalai Lama, punk rock and Gilman St., surfing, being nice to cats, the Vagus nerve and kundalini, the epidemic of stress and burnout, modern dystopia, struggling with cynicism, the embedded ethnography of heartbreak, and much, much more. Eve Ekman PhD, MSW designs, delivers and evaluates trainings on the development of emotional awareness and the cultivation of deep seated contentment. Eve draws from educations and life experience in clinical social work, integrative medicine and contemplative practice. Eve is a second generation emotion researcher and has had meaningful collaborations with her father, renowned emotion researcher Dr. Paul Ekman. Their most recent project, The Atlas of Emotions, is an online visual tool to teach emotional awareness, a project commissioned and supported by the Dalai Lama. Eve is a founding teacher for Cultivating Emotional Balance, an evidenced based training with a rich contemplative science lineage of Western and Eastern approaches to emotional and genuine happiness. eveekman.com atlasofemotions.org

In this special one-year anniversary episode, Shinzen Young talks with host Michael W. Taft about becoming a meditation teacher, the unrealistic paradigm about what meditation delivers, Shinzen’s codependency disaster, Bill Hamilton, the great unsung hero of vipassana in the Western world, homology theory, how science can influence meditation in the West, sociopathic teachers, and what we can do to make sure that good teachers don’t go bad. Who is a teacher? What’s the family test? These questions and more. Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant.His systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation, known as Unified Mindfulness, has resulted in collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Vermont in the burgeoning field of contemplative neuroscience. You can learn more about Shinzen on his website shinzen.org. Show Notes 1:40 – Shinzen Intro 3:00 – Shinzen talks about Homology Theory 7:50 – Meditation and science complement each other like algebra and geometry 9:30 – Coupling of science and contemplative practice 12:50 – What science can teach contemplative practice 13:49 – In some ways scientists have less ego than meditation masters 15:50 – All meditators are teachers 20:55  – Ability of a “professional meditation teacher” to lead students through all goals 24:24 – Why meditation teachers should have respectful but open and unhurried dialog to improve the field 36:44 – Improving science by reducing ego in other ways via Meditation 38:25 – The contradiction of advanced meditators exhibiting unacceptable behavior 42:44 – The high profile flagrant behavior of a few tends to overshadow the overall positive impact of practice 46:30 – What’s missing in the case of advanced meditators who go morally off track 59:30 – Unrealistic paradigms of what liberation and meditation delivers and how it’s possible to do wrong from a place of emptiness 1:10:20 – Role/Power of a meditation teacher and culture 1:16:01 – Plane crash analogy and Shinzen’s story of going off-track 1:21:40 – The feedback that helped Shinzen fix co-dependence 1:24:50 – Bill Hamilton, “the great unsung hero of vipassana in the West”  

Leigh Brasington speaks with host Michael W. Taft about Dependent Arising. Dependent Arising, also called Dependent Origination, is a Buddhist theory of reality that is famously complex, arcane, important, and fascinating. In this episode they discuss early Buddhist metaphysics, Pratītyasamutpāda—the “curious old rune”, the four noble truths version of Dependent Arising, the Vedic Hymn of Creation, Leigh’s model of SODAPI (Streams of Dependently Arising Processes Interacting), and how to use the teaching of Dependent Arising in practice and in life. Leigh Brasington has been practicing meditation for decades and is the senior American student of the late Venerable  Ayya Khema. Leigh began assisting her in 1994, and began teaching retreats on his own in 1997. He teaches in Europe and North America and is the author of the book Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas. Find more about Leigh’s teaching and schedule at leighb.com.   You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Kelly Boys talks with Michael Taft about integral restoration, nondual awakening, the work of Kahneman, spiritual bypassing, gendered aspects of awakening and spiritual teaching, when knowing less is better, engaged Buddhism, Christianity and the experience of being held, digging into illusory egoic material, and how to see your own blind spots. Kelly Boys is a consultant with the United Nations Foundation where she helped to create and works to deliver a mindfulness and well-being program for UN humanitarian aid workers on the front lines in the Middle East and beyond. She is also a freelance producer at Sounds True Publishing and the author of the forthcoming book entitled The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What’s Right in Front of You. Kelly is a mindfulness teacher and founding advisor for the meditation app Simple Habit. She teaches retreats and workshops at spots like the Esalen Institute.   Show Notes coming soon You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Daniel Ingram talks with Michael W. Taft about teacher-student models, graduate school models of practice, creating meditation peer groups, working with “co-adventurers” on the spiritual path, overcoming projection as a teacher, and more. Daniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma practitioner. He famously exploded the Buddhist world when he declared himself to be an arhat and published the seminal text Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: an Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book in 2008. He is also the main force behind the radical Dharma Overground website, that specializes in a brand of unusually-frank discussion of meditation practice. You can learn more about Daniel at his website, www.integrateddaniel.info. You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.  

Roshi Joan Halifax speaks with host Michael W. Taft about her new book, Standing at the Edge, the shadow sides of altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, engagement, and rays of hope in current times. Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D.  is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order and founder of Prajna Mountain Buddhist Order, her work and practice for more than four decades has focused on engaged Buddhism. Her books include: The Fruitful Darkness, A Journey Through Buddhist Practice, Being with Dying, and her forthcoming, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet. Upaya Zen Center Standing at the Edge on Amazon You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.  

Rick Hanson and I discuss the tension between accepting how you’re feeling and changing how you’re feeling, spiritual bypassing, how to cultivate positive states of mind, the quivering potentiality at the front edge of now, the three branches of attention, why Buddhist aggressiveness is not an oxymoron, and, of course, ewoks. Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author. His books include Buddha’s Brain, Hardwiring Happiness, and the new book Resilient. Rick began meditating in 1974, has trained in several traditions, and teaches at meditation centers around the world. You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Concentration master Leigh Brasington talks with Michael W. Taft about the jhanas, a Buddhist system of eight altered states of consciousness that arise in states of high concentration. The conversation dives deep into practicing each of these eight states, how the jhanas relate to vipassana practice, ways to work through major challenges that may arise, the so-called “powers” that are often attributed to concentration practice, and much more. Leigh Brasington has been practicing meditation since 1985 and is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema. Leigh began assisting Ven. Ayya Khemma in 1994, and began teaching retreats on his on in 1997. He teaches in Europe and North America and is the author of the book Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas. Find more about Leigh’s teaching and schedule at http://leighb.com. A page rife with fascinating jhana links and docs. Show Notes 0:31 – Introduction 1:59 – The Jhanas, de-emphasis on jhana practice in American practice, the Visuddhimagga, Paw Auk Sawadaw,  overview concentration vs vipassana 5:23 – The variety of systems of jhana, why there are differences in what counts as jhana,  sermons, meditation instructions and one on one interviews 8:08 – The Jhanas – specific states 10:16 – Did the Buddha learn the jhanas from his teachers? 12:19 – The Buddha’s unique contribution – a well-concentrated mind can more accurately investigate reality – vipassana 13:21 – Redefinition of the jhanas over time – Sutta to Abhidharma to Visuddhimagga 15:37 – What makes concentration a jhana? 17:36 – Jhana from a light switch or other object how to generate it, access concentration, feedback loops to generate piti-sukkha 19:41 – Piti-sukkha  gleeful happiness  – variety of experience among meditators 20:23 – How long does attention need to be there?  Indistractability, and when to switch between access concentration and the first jhana 22:26 – Why is this better than meditating on a cloud? Why meditate on piti-sukkha? A great way to set up your vipassana practice. 24:34 – The higher jhanas, discussion of emotions with bodily components vs emotions as embodied with mental aspects. 27:10 – Focus in the first four jhanas on the mental aspect of the emotion vs. the physical aspect 28:36 – How long does it take to learn the jhanas 29:36 – Unresolved psychological stuff may show up as a function of concentration, getting those up and out, 32:04 -Example feeling of unworthiness, low self esteem, how to handle it, 35:21 -Purification practice 39:55 -Unwise action that won’t lead to the results you are hoping for, social media, where people are trying to get happiness and be safe 42:21 -Strong piti in first jhana, moving from first to second jhana 45:21 -Jhanic states and neurotransmitters and transition to third jhana, varying time in different jhanas 47:56  -The Difference between the second and third jhana, third jhana afterglow 49:38  – Moving into the fourth jhana, attention on the quiet stillness wherever you find it 52:16  – Hanging out in the fourth jhana, and insight practice 55:28  – Misinformation on the jhanas 57:48   – The four immaterial jhanas 1:00:40   – Getting to the fifth jhana 1:02:17   – The sixth, seventh, and eighth jhanas 1:05:03   – The ninth jhana – cessation of feeling and perception 1:07:17  – Weird experiences with jhanic concentration, powers 1:13:40 – Which jhanas are helpful for insight practice, even access concentration helps, 1:15:01  – The jhanas and retreat

In this episode, I talk with Jessica Graham about her book Good Sex, the #MeToo movement, the power of self love and acceptance, a beginner’s guide to spiritual awakening through sexuality, mindful masturbation, aspects of puritanism in Buddhism, the meditative way to work with “love drugs,” and much more. Jessica Graham is a spiritual teacher, sex and intimacy guide, and author. Jessica began studying meditating in earnest a decade ago and started teaching soon after. Jessica is also passionate about exploring sexuality and helping others heal, evolve, and awaken sexually. She is the author of Good Sex: Getting Off without Checking Out .Jessica is also an award-winning actor and filmmaker. And, of course, Jessica is the author of many of the articles on the Deconstructing Yourself blog. Read Jessica’s series of posts on Mindful Sex Visit Jessica’s website Show Notes (coming soon)   You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Thomas Metzinger and Michael W. Taft discuss having moral integrity with yourself, intellectual honesty in the pursuit of spirituality, the overlapping goals of science and spirituality, the possibility of a fully secularized spirituality, neurofeedback and virtual reality, mortality denial, the simulation hypothesis, and a whole bunch more. Thomas Metzinger is full professor and director of the theoretical philosophy group and the research group on neuroethics/neurophilosophy at the department of philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. He is the founder and director of the MIND group and Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies, Germany. His research centers on analytic philosophy of mind, applied ethics, philosophy of cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. He is the editor of Neural Correlates of Consciousness and the author of Being No One and The Ego Tunnel. Thomas Metzinger’s website. A video of Metzinger’s Spirituality and Intellectual Honesty talk. Read an interview with Thomas Metzinger, entitled “What Is the Self?” Show Notes 0:25 – Introduction 2:53 – Interesting times in the world 4:12 – Summary of Thomas’ talk, “Spirituality and Intellectual Honesty” 7:46 – Impact and divided reactions to “Spirituality and Intellectual Honesty” 12:43 – Internal moral integrity: belief formation & authority 17:05 – Needing a teacher, master or guru 21:10 – Surrender, Western enlightenment and the “crazy corner” 24:13 – Getting science to say something interesting about human experience 26:08 – Neurofeedback glasses for walking meditation; taking meditation into life 30:00 – Virtuality and nothingness, consciousness as virtual reality 34:03 – Suchness; spirituality as de-immersion from conscious experience, meditating on artifacts 36:20 – The feeling of being real, transparently and opacity 38:55 – Hyperreality & derealization: hallucinogens, religious ecstasy and seizures 40:42 – VR meditation, getting in touch with virtuality 42:28 – Reaching earlier brain processing stages through meditation or hallucinogens 45:43 – The Ruining Innocence podcast: a half-serious criticism of taxonomies and discussing meditation 49:33 – Thomas’ thoughts on the Arrow of Attention; correlates in neuroscience 53:20 – Mindfulness of inattention and avoidance, pitfalls of mindfulness 56:07 – Discussing Douglas Harding: the Headless Way and immersion; more discussion of the Arrow of Attention 1:00:14 – The self as a visual metaphor; the pre-3D lump of sensations and motor babbling 1:03:23 – Thomas’ recent studies of subjectivity: the epistemic agent model of self 1:09:48 – How it transpires that the Self is not conscious 1:11:34 – Questioning science’s value for practice; the moral imperative of trying to improve contemplative practice 1:15:12 – Thomas’ critique of the perennial philosophy; strategies of mortality denial 1:22:07 – The simulation hypothesis; thoughts in the mind of god 1:25:41 – Is suffering real, and how deep does reality go? 1:29:05 – A hypothetical merging of science and subjectivity

In this episode, I speak with spiritual teacher and author Hameed Ali, more often known by his pen name, A. H. Almaas. Almaas is the creator of the Diamond Approach to Self-Realization, which is a contemporary teaching developed within the context of both ancient spiritual teachings and modern depth psychology theories. Almaas has authored eighteen books about spiritual realization, including the Diamond Heart series, The Pearl Beyond Price, The Void, The Unfolding Now, and The Point of Existence. I met Almaas at his office in Berkeley, where we sat down for a comfortable chat about attachment to the nondual viewpoint, a way of awakening that he calls the “unilocal,” the role of instinct in the spiritual quest, the essential activation of continuous awakening, integrating awakening with the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger, and much more. He’s a fascinating guy with a lot to say, and so I’m very happy to present to you the episode that I call “Reality Let Loose.” Find out more about Almaas at his website. Show Notes 00:25 – Introduction and summary 02:07 – The Alchemy of Freedom & the many faces of true nature 05:22 – The second turning, nonduality & the third turning, the presence in the Void 08:57 – Exploring the presence: unilocality and the experience of containing everything 14:55 – The fourth turning: singularity & the delight of freedom 19:42 – Immense lightness & the sliding scale of emptiness 23:10 – More on the fourth turning: the view of totality & the pain of going past non-duality 30:50 – Non-duality as part of a sequence of awakenings 33:39 – More fourth turning awakenings: not-anything, non-condition 38:34 – The philosopher’s stone & the dynamic, quantum nature of reality 42:30 – Working with true nature & endless awakenings 46:23 – Learning to accept the view of totality & moving beyond belief 51:32 – Aliens, red sulfur, & no-end 58:47 – All spiritual paths are valid 1:00:00 – Almaas’ upcoming books: phenomenology of awakening 1:05:33 – Upcoming, continued: instinct & awakening 1:09:19 – Lifeforce, enlightened aliens & the self-revealing nature of true nature 1:12:00 – True nature without consciousness & the mystery at the source of awareness 1:13:34 – Concluding remarks: practice is realization 1:16:16 – Outro     You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by <a href=”https://www.patreon.com/michaeltaft”>contributing through Patreon</a>.