Deconstructing Yourself

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

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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.

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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.

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

1:15:17 - The importance of the jhanas

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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

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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

1:31:29 – Outro

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In this episode, host Michael Taft speaks 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.

Michael writes: 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

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Culadasa talks with Michael W. Taft. After decades of Buddhist practice, Culadasa exploded on the scene a few years ago with his groundbreaking book The Mind Illuminated, an incredibly comprehensive guide to meditation. It’s an erudite mixture of neuroscience, traditional Buddhist practice, and Culadasa’s own ideas about how to gt the most out of practice. In this episode we talk about his definitions of attention and awareness, how his system compares to that of his friend teacher Shinzen Young, how the meditative brain works, dealing with aging and death, and much more.

Learn more about Culadasa and his teaching at culadasa.com

Show Notes

0:15 – Introduction and overview

2:30 – Culadasa’s system vs. Shinzen Young’s: stability of attention

7:55 – Sustained attention and effortlessness

10:20 – Culadasa’s system vs. Shinzen Young’s: sensory clarity and peripheral awareness

19:55 – Mindfulness as the optimal interaction between attention and awareness

22:55 – Conceptual overlays and the lower limits of conscious perception

32:50 – Attention selects objects from peripheral awareness

35:00 – The interactive role of attention and awareness in maintaining mindfulness in daily life

38:30 – How strong mindfulness affects emotions, wholesome and unwholesome behavior, and the practice of virtue

43:50 – The importance of the Eightfold Path post-awakening

47:20 – The Ten Fetter, Four Path Model: characteristics of paths and the dropping of fetters

59:49 – Spiritual development does not end at Fourth Path

1:01:57 – Old age, sickness and death are part of the Great Adventure

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What do the neurocorrelates of enlightenment, the activation of the posterior cingulate cortex, and the extinction of craving all have in common? They relate to the work of Judson Brewer. Jud talks with Michael W. Taft about his brain biofeedback machine, the neurophenomonolgy of effort vs. non-effort, the feedback loop of reward-based learning, working with the black hole of anxiety, self-referential thinking as a kind of addiction, and much more.

Judson Brewer is an MD-PhD and a thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, having combined nearly 20 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research.

A psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for addictions, Brewer has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including both in-person and app-based treatments. He has also studied the underlying neural mechanisms of mindfulness using standard and real-time fMRI. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Fetzer Trust among others.

Check out Jud’s recent book, entitled, The Craving Mind.

In this TED talk, Jud describes how to “get out of your own way.”

Show Notes

3:37 – Has Jud found the neurocorrelates of enlightenment?

4:40 – The Default Mode Network and science, the PCC – Craving and tanha – Details of fMRI experiments

5:57 – Trying, Flow and PCC activity, contraction vs. expansion

9:36 – Jud’s own practice in the scanner, metta, calibrating the scale of exp/con

20:45 – High concentration vs. effortlessness – no force necessary – 7 factors of awakening

28:54 – What has Jud found? Excitement vs. happiness – a learning tool

30:30 – What we see with experienced meditators / Best use of his neurofeedback technology

36:09 – Michael’s experience in the device

38:30 – Neurophenomolgy effort vs. non-effort, and the feedback loop of reward-based learning – the perpetual Skinner box of relative rewards – anger vs. kindness

42:30 – Addiction – allcohol, cocaine, smoking – smoking tastes bad when you pay attention

45:50 – Paying attention to eating – Joie de vivre – PCC and digital therapeutics – apps

53:24 – The trickiness of the black hole of anxiety – Unwinding Anxiety app

56:20 – Do we have to practice abstinence or not? – Is addiction a disease?

1:00:27 – Jud’s new book, The Craving Mind

1:01:37 – Self-referential thinking as a kind of addiction – Instagram addiction

1:04:05 – Meditation from the Lab – Dependant Origination (PDF Download) – Siddhis

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In this session, host Michael W. Taft and radical dharma author and practitioner Daniel Ingram discuss the Fire Kasina practice, meditation and magick, working with archetypal forces and entities, Daniel’s description of a fruition experience, siddhis and visionary experiences, Daniel’s wizarding worldview, and much more. We also discuss the second edition of his classic work Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, as well as his new book on the Fire Kasina.

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, which he founded together with Vince Horn, 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 download a free PDF of The Fire Kasina book here.

Show Notes

00:25 – Introduction and overview

2:10 – Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha 2, its purpose and release

4:55 – The fire kasina: what it is, what happens as concentration increases, and how it provides immediate feedback on the strength of concentration

8:01 – Fire kasina’s benefits beyond concentration: insight, crafting your reality, fusion of śamatha and vipassanā

12:57 – The awakening components of fire kasina practice, fruitions

17:28 – The ontological status of deities seen during fire kasina practice and the meaning of joint powers experiences

22:50 – Daniel’s fire kasina experiences and teaching the practice to others

29:42 – The line between madness and meditation

35:30 – Siddhis, synchronicities, and the collective unconscious

40:22 – Daniel’s cutting edge in practice and use of magick

51:24 – Dzogchen and the post-magickal

59:19 – Deconstructing sensory experience into fruition

1:10:44 – What meditation teachers get wrong: lack of warning about potential dangers

1:21:49 – The cross-pollination and experimentation the internet affords the meditation scene

1:24:51 – The Fire Kasina, a book with Shannon Stein

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Listen to more with Daniel Ingram.

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Meditation teacher and neuroscience consultant Shinzen Young and host Michael W. Taft talk about what mindfulness teachers are getting wrong, Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements, informed consent for awakening, effective strategies for dealing with the Dark Night of the Soul, and the phenomenon that Shinzen calls “Enlightenment’s Evil Twin.”

Learn more about Shinzen Young at Shinzen.org.

Also here is a pdf of Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements.

Show Notes

0:25 – Introduction and overview

2:38 – Defining mindfulness, and what mindfulness teachers can improve on

15:20 – Fulfilling the ethical duty to inform students about the possibilities and challenges of deeper meditation work

20:05 – The Dark Night and DP/DR, and the amount of guidance students need to integrate emptiness

25:24 – Addressing student concerns about becoming derailed or idle if they make spiritual progress

28:24 – Clarifying what the Dark Night is, what it might look like, and how to address it prophylactically and remedially

51:31 – More about what mindfulness teachers can improve on

1:19:28 – Frosting Shinzen’s buns by shutting down a meditator’s no-self experience

1:26:06 – Being careful not to set up barriers that keep people away from practice

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