We explore the stories of everyday people who have had their lives changed by the blissful and therapeutic states of jhana meditation. The jhanas are profoundly altered states of meditation that are a growing trend among meditators and scientists. We believe pragmatic instruction and feedback can save you months or years of stagnant practice. We've heard from hundreds of regular people who meditate (from engineer to musician) that have had their lives transformed by these states. Now, you ca ...
…
continue reading
Stephen Zerfas Podcasts
Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor explore ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. Includes guided meditations with each podcast episode.
…
continue reading
This is the only podcast we know of devoted to the teaching of meditation. We interview teachers and others about the process of teaching, how they became teachers, their thoughts on who should and shouldn't teach, tips for new and veteran teachers, and more. While teachers and prospective teachers of meditation will of course find lots to learn here, this is also a great resource for anyone who wants to peer behind the curtain of being a meditation teacher. You can learn more about your hos ...
…
continue reading
In this episode we talk to Stephen Zerfas, co-founder of Jhourney, which offers retreats facilitating rapid access to jhana meditation states, described as positive feedback loops between attention and emotion, offering profound states of gratitude, peace and non-duality. • Includes a guided meditation focusing on relaxing the body while turning ou…
…
continue reading
In this episode we talk to Michael McCord, president of San Francisco Zen Center, on bringing Zen practices into daily life and work, and how enlightenment is seen as an ongoing process of increasing awareness, not a fixed end state to achieve. • Includes a guided meditation introducing the Zen practice of breath counting. To learn more about Micha…
…
continue reading
In this episode we discuss strategies for handling bad news as an awakening person, balancing awareness and action.. • Includes a guided meditation addressing the dichotomy between taking action and acceptance, and how to bring these two seeming opposites into a workable equilibrium. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the…
…
continue reading
In this episode we discuss the concept of the Middle Way and explore how to move beyond polarities in spiritual practice and daily life, thus finding a balance between extremes and recognizing the interconnectedness of all things. • Includes a guided meditation in which we bring two opposite energies together to sense how they are intertwined and t…
…
continue reading
In this episode, we talk to Kat (Katrijn) van Oudheusden, author of Seeing No-Self, and Beyond Illusion, about discovering the illusion of separation, and her set of essential inquiries that use empirical investigation of direct experience to point to our true nature. To learn more about Kat van Oudheusden, please visit: https://katoudheusden.com/ …
…
continue reading
In this episode we talk to Samuel Jacob, a contemporary spiritual teacher specializing in radical self-inquiry. He emphasizes the immediate availability of awareness, completeness, and happiness in the present moment. • Includes a guided meditation focusing on being aware that all appearances arise “here” without effort, and emphasizing the relaxat…
…
continue reading
In this episode we explore the concepts of the inward and outward facing paths. They are presented as different approaches in various traditions that, if pursued to their core, eventually arrive at a direct experience of a unified life. • Includes a guided meditation that extends the ancient neti neti practice of excluding all concepts of what you …
…
continue reading
1
Learning Meditation: Anusheh. Meditation (Kinda) Resolved My Anxiety.
59:29
59:29
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
59:29
Upali interviews Anusheh, who began practicing The Mind Illuminated in order to improve her anxiety. While it did help, it was a more convoluted path than she had been expecting. One topic she and Upali talk about is the idea that striving is actually helpful, in that it causes you to burn out enough that you stop doing it, which is the route to go…
…
continue reading
In this episode, we interview John Travis, founding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center, exploring his spiritual journey and teachings, and his emphasis on the importance of integrating mind, heart, and body in spiritual practice. • Includes a guided meditation grounding attention in the body and sense perceptions as a pathway inward to th…
…
continue reading
1
Stephen Zerfas: Making the Jhanas Accessible
53:29
53:29
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
53:29
Stephen Zerfas, founder of the Jhana startup Jhourney (get it?), covers a wide range of topics in today's interview. He and Tucker talk about the relationship of the jhanas to the rest of the path, how Stephen has succeeded in getting so much publicity, and how the larger Dharma community has responded to a tech startup teaching meditation retreats…
…
continue reading
In this episode, we discuss the relationship between trauma and spiritual awakening, and how trauma can not only obscure awareness but can also catalyze awakening. We also describe some effective trauma healing approaches. • Includes a guided meditation helping us to see an upsetting incident from the past within the larger peaceful space of pure a…
…
continue reading
1
Learning Meditation: Yuri. Using Meditation to Cope with War
1:10:09
1:10:09
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:10:09
Upali interviews Yuri, a Ukranian-British meditator. Yuri talks about how difficult his first retreat was, and how permanently his life changed following this. He then goes into how much better he became as a father as a result of his meditation practice. Later, Upali asks Yuri about what it was like when his country was attacked while his family w…
…
continue reading
In this episode we discuss intuition, its nature, how to access it, and its relationship to awakening. • Includes a guided meditation helping you to cultivate the open receptivity required for intuition. Don't forget to subscribe for more ingenious ways to tap into the ever-present stillness and joy of our true nature. NEWS: Awareness Explorers has…
…
continue reading
1
Dr. Tucker Peck: Freedom is the Opposite of Community
38:00
38:00
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
38:00
Upali interviews Tucker in this episode. In a wide-ranging conversation, they touch on: Many of us look for self esteem to pretty much everyone we meet, or to no one at all, rather than in a sane place. Doing what you'd like to do, and being in community, are opposite stances. How do we balance these? Tucker talks about Sanity & Sainthood, both the…
…
continue reading
In this episode we talk with Robert Rugg, author of Awakening to Effortless Being: Realizing Your Infinite Self, about his spiritual journey, his teachings on effortless being, his approach to self-realization, and how to incorporate the principles of wholeness into daily life and interactions with others • Includes a guided meditation inviting us …
…
continue reading
1
Learning Meditation: Kacee. Dealing with Overwhelm in Meditation
51:20
51:20
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
51:20
Kacee is the first in a series Upali will do with guests who are longtime students, rather than teachers, of meditation. Kacee talks about a number of changes over her years as a practitioner, including her view of what to do when practice makes you feel worse, her view on integrating parts work into her meditation practice, and she deals with the …
…
continue reading
In this episode we explore the topic of rituals and their impact on experiencing deeper peace, love, and joy in life. • Includes a guided meditation in which we reflect on past meaningful ritual experiences, imagine new possibilities for personal rituals, and consider timing and context for implementing new rituals. Don't forget to subscribe for mo…
…
continue reading
1
185: Pernille and Todd Lent Damore, Guest Explorers
1:46:25
1:46:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:46:25
In this episode we talk to Pernille and Todd Lent Damore, founders of the Awakening Curriculum, about the Wheel of Identification, which is their framing of the Ten Buddhist Fetters, as well as practical applications to wake up moment to moment in the midst of everyday life. Their focus is on direct experience with no resistance and no labels. • In…
…
continue reading
Dharma teacher North Burn has been on a meditation retreat for most of the last twenty years. He teaches a 3-month retreat each spring in California. Tucker talks with North about choosing a monastic life rather than dating, marriage, and a career. North opens up about his relationship with his own teacher, including a period where their relationsh…
…
continue reading
In this episode we look at twenty-five possible qualities of being an ideal human, and explore their relevance to awakening. • Includes a guided meditation taking several qualities of an ideal human, and sending them in a circle from fully imagining them to be your experience, through letting them go, to being with the wordless knowingness that you…
…
continue reading
1
183: Amy Albright and Drew Pierson, Guest Explorers
1:13:21
1:13:21
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:13:21
In this episode, we discuss neurofeedback, consciousness, and practical techniques for achieving higher states of awareness with Dr. Amy Albright and Dr. Drew Pierson , founders of Holon, a blend of science, technology, and spirituality. • Includes a guided practice combining breath awareness, skin sensation, and tailbone alignment to help connect …
…
continue reading
