Awake in the World Podcast
Michael Stone
Awake in the World Podcast is a library of talks on a wide-range of topics, including bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience. Michael Stone (1974-2017) was a Buddhist teacher, author, and mental health advocate. His legacy is stewarded by Carina Stone. Podcast funded by Patreon (patreon.com/michaelstone).
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 15, 2022 • 32min
A Culture of Awakening
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.
Aug 7, 2022 • 1h 11min
What Are You Going to Let Go Of?
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.
Jul 31, 2022 • 38min
Form That You Can See Through
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.
Jul 24, 2022 • 34min
Clouds in the Sky
This thirty-minute guided meditation focuses on noticing and letting go of commentary. Recorded on November 4, 2008.
Jul 17, 2022 • 1h 12min
A Pilgrimage Inside Body and Mind
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.
Jul 10, 2022 • 54min
Best of Awake in the World: Buddha's Last Word
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.
Jul 3, 2022 • 49min
Best of Awake in the World: Spiritual By-passing & Mindfulness of Thinking
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.
Jun 26, 2022 • 1h
I Had to Stop Reading
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.
Jun 19, 2022 • 55min
Do People These Days Need Enlightenment?
Michael considers the final lines of the first pada of the Yoga Sutra through the lens of a Buddhist koan: Case 62 of the Book of Serenity. Recorded on May 25, 2010.
Jun 12, 2022 • 42min
What Can You Do About the World?
In this talk Michael looks at the five kleshas and their corresponding cultural samskaras through the practice of working with a koan–an exercise in not knowing. He also describes Bernie Glassman and Grover Gauntt’s street retreats and their three guiding principles: bearing witness, not knowing and taking loving action. Recorded on May 18, 2010.
