Guest Speakers

A 15-minute guided meditation on mudita (appreciative joy) with psychotherapist and dharma teacher Brian Williams. Co-taught with Michael. Enso Foundation, Kelowna.

15 Minute Guided Meditation on Appreciative Joy w/ Brian Williams

Molly Boeder Harris co-teaching with Michael on trauma sensitivity during the Meditation Facilitation Program. Vancouver, 46 min.

Trauma Sensitivity in Meditation, Mindfulness & Yoga ft. Molly Boeder Harris

Molly Boeder Harris co-teaching with Michael on trauma sensitivity during the Meditation Facilitation Training. Vancouver, 25 min.

The Environment in Trauma Awareness ft. Molly Boeder Harris

Molly Boeder Harris co-teaching with Michael on self-soothing and trauma awareness during the Meditation Facilitation Training. Recorded in Vancouver, 59 min.

Your Body is Trying to Support You: Self Soothing & Trauma Awareness ft. Molly Boeder Harris

Molly Boeder Harris co-teaching with Michael on trauma sensitivity for meditation facilitation. Vancouver, 53 min.

Safety, Flight, Fight, and Freeze: Trauma & the Brain

Norman Fischer facilitates discussion about meditation, prayer, loss, compassion to oneself, and the liberation of sitting still even when it seems useless. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.

Awake in the World Podcast

You Can't Get Anywhere With Meditation! w/ Norman Fischer

**BONUS** Norman Fischer talks on not speaking destructively, not criticizing the faults of others, and working with conflict. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.

Awake in the World Podcast with Michael STone

The Discipline of Relationship w/ Norman Fischer

**BONUS** Love and compassion are necessities for basic sustainability. Norman Fischer gives a lecture to a packed house in Toronto on the importance of love, care, and ordinary suffering. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.

Awake in the World Podcast with Michael Stone

Life is Hard w/ Norman Fischer

Followed by a talk on how meditation unfolds, and how to use the space of meditation to investigate experience. Recorded on retreat co-taught with Michael Stone, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, California. 60 min.

The Deep Request: 30 Minute Guided Meditation w/ Paul Haller

Zen teacher Paul Haller guides a gentle and clear meditation on noticing what it is to attend to experience.  Recorded on retreat co-taught with Michael Stone, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, California in June 2016.

30 Minute Guided Meditation w/ Paul Haller

Caitlin Lambstrom gives a dharma talk on silent retreat about avoiding burnout, using effort wisely, getting rest, and being inspired by something greater than yourself. Salt Spring Island, Canada. 40 min. Recorded August 26, 2016.

Effort, Monarch Butterflies, and Meditation Lessons in Farming

**BONUS** Michael Stone and Matthew Remski read personal letters they wrote to each other as expectant fathers. These letters later become their co-authored book, "Family Wakes Us Up." They explore their process as fathers, as parents, and as two people integrating spiritual practice and the demands of parenting. This podcast is from our archive and was recorded November 23, 2013, in Toronto.

How We Practice in Family

An 8-minute guided meditation with Martine Batchelor. Centre of Gravity, Toronto. Recorded March 28, 2010.

What Is This? Short Guided Meditation

Stephen Batchelor reflects upon secular Buddhism and revisits the Four Noble Truths, primary Buddhist ideals, assumptions and dogmas. Centre of Gravity, Toronto. Recorded March 28, 2010.

The Secular Buddha

Gifted school teacher Kristie Burnett offers a funny and brilliant presentation on how she brings meditative practices to kids. She describes class plans, games, managing emotions, rethinking the role of a teacher, collaboration, problem solving, and how to model mindfulness with young people and why. Toronto, ON. Recorded May 4, 2017.

Mindfulness in the Classroom

An incredible talk by Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara on Zen poetry and practice during her annual visit to Centre of Gravity. Enkyo Roshi is the abbot of Village Zendo in Manhattan (www.villagezendo.org). Recorded at Hart House, Toronto on February 25, 2011.

Roshi Enkyo O'Hara on Zen Poetry

Roshi Enkyo gives a morning dharma talk during a weekend retreat with Centre of Gravity. Recorded at Hart House, Toronto on February 26, 2011.

What is the Great Meaning?

Contemporary debates about intellectual property and the practices of meditation and yoga are both built around a questioning of ideas of property, ownership, self and other. In this talk, Marcus Boon, writer, journalist and Professor of English at York University in Toronto, explores the relationship between interdependence and imitation, on the yoga mat and off, along the way reflecting on recipes, hip-hop, file sharing, laughter, money, maternity, and practice. Recorded at Centre of Gravity, Toronto on March 18, 2011.

In Praise of Copying by Marcus Boon

Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara talks about the Lotus Sutra and the parable of the burning house. Even in the world of the dharma we can get caught up with playthings and forget that we're living in a burning house. It looks like we’re living in a comfortable place, but half the world is starving. It can be hard to see the suffering that is all around us.

Read the notes and transcription: https://michaelstoneteaching.com/2014/10/23/burning-house-betrayal-as-innovation-by-roshi-pat-enkyo-ohara/

Betrayal, Awakening, and Living in a Burning House

Matthew Remski talks about his book, Threads of Yoga, a remix of Patanjali's sutras. He reads excerpts from his own book, and also speaks about Patanjali's ideas which make up one of the most popular texts in modern Yoga culture. Recorded on December 11, 2012.

Threads of Yoga, by Matthew Remski

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).