Tibetan Buddhist Teachings for transforming what’s unpleasant, letting go of grasping, and the 3 treasures of awakening, reality and community. Portland, Oregon. Recorded on December 4, 2016.

Turning Things Around

Deep listening, wisdom, and the ability to do extraordinary things. Salt Spring Island, B.C. Recorded in December, 2016.

All Roads Run Right Through the Capital

Michael unpacks different kinds of blame, both inward and outward, followed by a description of projection and the link between blame and projection and how they cover over underlying feelings. Then he describes how we can make room for gratitude, as taught in the Tibetan Lojong teachings. Recorded in Ottawa on December 10, 2016.

From Blame to Gratitude

On silent retreat Michael speaks about bowing, forms of practice, gratitude, extending meditation beyond the cushion, and appreciating the practice of others. Recorded at Chapin Mill, New York, on December 29 2016.

Moment To Moment Non-Stop Flow

Michael explores the sensitive topic of knowing when to pull out of relationships, kindness to one’s self, emptiness, love, and a story about appreciating that you and others are divine. Chapin Mill, New York. Recorded December 30, 2016.

Seals, Owls & Letting Go of Destructive Relationships

Michael uses an old Zen tale, a troubled story about him falling in love with his wife, and quotes from Shunryu Suzuki, to describe the practice of not-knowing and not holding onto anything. He ends with a very interesting and subtle meditation instruction on breathing. Chapin Mill, New York. Recorded December 31, 2016.

Not Picking & Choosing

Bringing distractions back into the beginning of the inhale. Victoria, B.C. Recorded January 17, 2017.

15 minute Guided Meditation on the Breathing Body

**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.

Awake in the World Podcast

How We Practice in Family

How to not leave your body, even when it feels untrustworthy. We can always turn to the body in pain, grief, and even in altered states of consciousness. Anxiety, compassion, and equanimity always play out in your body. Victoria, B.C. Recorded January 19, 2017.

My Body is My Teacher Now

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.

Spiritual Bypassing & Mindfulness of Thinking

Michael explores practicing without an idea of gain, the Universal Self, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Pattabhi Jois, the Buddha and Shunryu Suzuki. How can you blend your breath with the larger self? Moksha Westshore, B.C. Recorded February 18, 2017.

You Can’t Make A Person Into a Buddha

Using sound as an anchor to ground attention. Recorded 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation: Receptive Listening

Mindfulness of the breathing body in the abdomen to settle thoughts. Recorded 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation: Mindfulness of the Breathing Body

Tuning into breath in the nostrils to explore subtle sensations and bring mind into its natural state. Recorded 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation: Tuning into Breath in the Nostrils

Nothing needs to be refused. Let the breath travel the body without picking up speed. The clouds of thought haul across the sky. Let them come and go. Let the breath move the way blood moves: let it find its own rhythm. Recorded 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation: Feeling the Sensations of the Body

See if you can find out where in your body that emotional state or mood is most manifested, most expressed. What sensations or feelings in your body let you know that you’re having this emotional state? See if you can notice how the emotional state is expressed through your body, through sensations in your body. Recorded December 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation: Unstable Emotions

For the purposes of meditation, what you’re thinking about is not important. But as we pay attention to thinking in meditation, you might notice other aspects of the process of thinking besides the content. So, for example, if you’re thinking words or images, what’s the quality of the inner voice? What’s the quality of the pictures that you see? Recorded 2017.

20 min. Guided Meditation on Thinking

On retreat, Michael speaks about the Buddha’s instructions for practicing alone in the wilderness, how past actions haunt the body, how to turn towards anxiety, and a moving story about his son and autism. Wisconsin. Recorded March 25, 2017.

Fear, Dread & Anxiety: The Buddha in the Forest

How to meet others who are in fear or anxiety, how to help anxious kids, how to validate the feelings of other people without exacerbating what’s going on for them, and how to develop concentration (jhana) practice. Wisconsin. Recorded March 26, 2017.

MST

Peter Simonsen