In this episode I am once again joined by Stephen Snyder, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of several books including ‘Buddha’s Heart’, ‘Trust in Awakening’, and his latest release ‘Liberating the Self’.

Stephen emphasises the importance of working with personality structures even after Buddhist awakening, and offers methods to resolve trauma and destructive patterns to unlock hidden spiritual strength.

Stephen warns about the dangers of achieving enlightenment without dealing with one’s personality patterns and trauma, reflects on the inner experience of enlightened Zen masters who behaved badly, and gives his advice for teachers and practitioners who think they no longer need to practice.

Stephen also reports a high success rate of awakening and other mystical experiences among his students, shares his approach to retreats and 1-1 teaching, and describes advanced Theravada meditation techniques such as kasina and skeleton meditation.

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Video versions: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep298-liberating-the-self-stephen-snyder

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro

01:03 - High rate of awakening at Stephen’s retreat

03:05 - What is the secret sauce?

04:40 - Limitations of the Zen retreat style

06:17 - Stephen’s experimental approach and heart emphasis

07:14 - Minimum requirement to qualify for Stephen’s retreats

08:58 - Why the Theravadans struggle the most

10:00 - Stephen’s online trainings

12:09 - The art of 1-1 meditation teaching

13:08 - Seeking confirmation for spiritual experiences

13:53 - Stream of consciousness sharing

14:58 - Stephen’s new podcast

16:44 - Liberating the Self and Stephen’s writing output

18:20 - Zen ignores personal and psychological work

19:52 - Theravadan shamata and no-self practices

20:42 - Reifying awakening and reassertion of the sense of self

23:22- Bad behaviour by enlightened people

25:35 - Work on your incongruent behaviour before or after awakening?

27:34 - Post-awakening work vs therapy

29:08 - We all have a full range of negative emotions and personality patterns

31:10 - Stephen’s childhood hatred

31:46 - Transforming negative emotions

32:07 - Misbehaving Zen masters

33:21 - What is the inner experience of a misbehaving Zen master?

34:5 0 - The benefit of Western depth psychology

36:04 - Is Stephen done?

37:51 - Advice for advanced meditators and teachers who think they’re done

41:07 - Stuck in a good place and shifting to concepts

41:08 - Recognising when you have gone off track

42:55 - Contentment vs complacency

43:36 - Challenging emotions and outdated personality patterns

44:12 - Resistance to peace

47:44 - Destabilising effect of spiritual practice

49:41 - Why bother with the deep path?

52:05 - Unlocking profound spiritual qualities

54:34 - Awakening stories

55:04 - The traditional kasina meditation path

58:42 - Skeleton practice and skeleton visions

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Previous episode with Stephen Snyder:

- https://www.guruviking.com/search?q=Stephen%20Snyder

To find our more about Stephen Snyder, visit:

- https://awakeningdharma.org/

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James