Awake In The World Podcast

This wide-ranging talk, delivered in Vienna (2007), covers the internal, psychological and potentially transformative aspects of Ashtanga practice. Touching on Freud, the yamas, karma, interdependence and impermanence Michael argues for a yoga of relationship, creativity and change. Recorded on November 23, 2007.

In this 2008 talk on the nature of the self Michael considers a framework of “four selves,” the Buddha’s teachings on not-self, and Hakuin’s assertion that, with practice, the self becomes wisdom and compassion–as spontaneous as “beads rolling on a tray: sudden, ready, uninhibited.” Recorded on November 8, 2008.

In this talk Michael covers our tendency to compose narratives that create a separate self (and then judge it), and a paradox: we have to take care of ourselves in order to forget ourselves. Recorded on November 16, 2009.

Michael leads a thirty-minute meditation mainly focused on feeling the body. Recorded on November 16, 2009.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this talk Michael covers balancing form and creativity in practice, the trouble with ideas of purity and accomplishment, and how the five koshas might be applied within asana practice. Recorded on November 6, 2008.

This thirty-minute guided meditation focuses on noticing and letting go of commentary. Recorded on November 4, 2008.

This talk, given to a group of clinicians, begins with a meditation practice (ending at 12:07). What follows is a wide-ranging discussion about mindfulness techniques, their origin in the Satipatthana Sutta, and participants’ experiences and insights. The talk ends with a brief meditation on sound led by Michael.

This week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. In the Zen tradition, there is a saying, “Reaching the mystery is nothing but breaking through and grabbing an ordinary person’s life.” The mystical experience turns out to be this present moment. Part of a series of talks on the Buddha before Buddhism. Recorded at Centre of Gravity on June 23, 2013.

This week we're revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. 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.

In this talk Michael explores anatta (not-self) and emptiness as strategies versus “things.”He argues that sitting practice is required to get beyond language and investigate the habits of mind that obscure our understanding. Recorded on May 28, 2008.