by Michael W. Taft Mille viae ducunt homines per saecula Romam hen I started meditating in my teens, I believed in Enlightenment. I was going to get to the Big E, which involved having certain mind-blowing experiences. You’d see the Light, or God would open her kimono, or whatever, and after that you’d glow in the dark. I was super …
The Universe Is NOT One
Actually, it might be, but who knows? by Michael W. Taft If you’ve ever practiced in a nondual tradition, you’ve heard the phrase, “The Universe is ONE,” probably a few million times. It’s a staple of how nonduality is communicated, “we’re all connected,” “there is no separation,” “it’s all one big consciousness.” In the traditional versions of these teachings, they …
Mindfulness of Emotions Download
I’m excited to let you know that I’ve put together a special excerpt from my bestselling book The Mindful Geek. I think it will really help you when it comes to coping with difficult emotions. It talks about the evolutionary background of emotions, where they come from, and what they’re for, and how to deal with them. Most importantly, I …
Nonduality and Mindfulness — Two Great Traditions that Go Great Together
by Michael W. Taft In the context of American spiritual practice nondual traditions and mindfulness traditions appear to be in sharp contrast. Nonduality is often associated with the “doing nothing” schools of meditation, and mindfulness meditation is often very effortful. Mindfulness meditation masters in the States commonly refuse to even discuss enlightenment, whereas nondual teachers never stop talking about how …
Wake Up and Enjoy Your Life with Mindfulness
by Michael W. Taft Sometimes I feel like I’m sleepwalking through life. There’s this sense of everything being distant, unfocused, numb. I’m working, eating, talking, sleeping, but I’m just going through the motions. Coffee takes me up, carbs take me down, but the whole experience is dull, boring, repetitive, predictable. Eventually it all feels like a chore and a burden. …
Pain Relief with Mindfulness: The Safe Haven
by Michael W. Taft I remember throwing out my back one time, which caused terrible pain in one leg. I went to doctors, chiropractors, took medications, all of which helped. But still as I was walking around, it felt as if my leg was on fire, with hot lava swirling in the thigh and knee, burning my flesh. Searing pain …
Willfully Altering Your Brain: An Interview with Michael W. Taft
Michael W. Taft was recently interviewed about mindfulness meditation by the fabulous David McRaney on his podcast “You Are Not So Smart.” Click the white arrow in the red circle below to listen to the interview. Here is part of David’s intro to the interview: In a way, you can simply will yourself into a new physical form – that …
Coping with Emotions using Mindfulness
In this author talk at Google, Michael Taft looks at emotional intelligence — how we can work with our own emotions much more effectively using evolutionary biology, psychology, and mindfulness meditation. And Star Wars. A crash course in mindfulness of emotions. Although emotional sensations can arise anywhere in the body, they are much more likely to arise in the …
The Meditation Induction — How to Meditate Deeply
by Michael W. Taft Mindfulness is awesome because it features a few simple rules that can be recombined to create thousands of different meditation techniques. You could practice a different meditation every day for the next ten years, never repeat yourself, and continuously make progress. With all that variety, however, it helps your meditation practice if you begin each session …
SATISFACTION: Getting the Most Out of Your Life with Mindfulness
by Michael W. Taft ou can’t wait for your romantic getaway in paradise with your partner. You buy tickets for a dream vacation, imagine all of the things you’ll do, make the plans, the dates, the airline and hotel reservations. It’s a major effort, and finally the big day comes when you board the plane and fly away to heaven. …
The Mindful Geek Is Out!
Want to get the benefits of mindfulness without having to join a religion? Want to learn to meditate within a completely scientific, secular worldview? Let me tell you a bit about my new book, which just got published. Called The Mindful Geek, it shows you how to derive the real world benefits of hardcore mindfulness meditation without having to drink …
Coping with Intense Emotions in Meditation
Using Mindfulness to Work with Overwhelming Feelings by Michael W. Taft In the movie Blade Runner, the replicant Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer, has a problem. As a genetically-enhanced human-like Nexus 6 organism, he’s been given a brilliant mind and a super-human body by the Tyrell Corporation who created him. He is used to do dangerous and difficult work in space …
Finding Meaning with Meditation
by Michael W. Taft “Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.” ~ Joseph Campbell If you Google the phrase “meaninglessness of life,” you’ll get almost half a million hits. Quotes from great thinkers and pages from philosophy sites wrestle with the …