Deep Psychology

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.

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.Books & fortnightly newsletter: https://deep-psychology.com

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.Newsletter & books: https://deep-psychology.com

Nowadays, I tend to use the word recognition to describe awakening: here's why.Books & Newsletter: 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?

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? on Wednesday 11/3.

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.

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.

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 episode The Three Stages of Insight Work from the 4th of March.Newsletter, books + coaching: https://deep-psychology.com

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.