by Michael W. Taft Thomas Metzinger is a German philosopher. As of 2011 he holds the position of director of the theoretical philosophy group at the department of philosophy at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and is an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and on the advisory board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation. From 2008 …
Nondual Meditation: One Practice of Total Awareness
There are many pathways into nondual awareness. Most forms of meditation, if you push them to their farthest limit, will take you into a nondual experience. Which one(s) will work for you is a matter of practice and experience. In this post, I’ll lead you through one practice that I’ve found works well for people who’ve done a fair amount …
Meditation: The Cosmic Joke
by Michael W. Taft God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. The lines of the famous Serenity Prayer (written by Reinhold Niebuhr) suggest that there are two types of situations in life: those we can change and those we cannot. If we …
Just Keep Meditating: Cultivating Acceptance in Meditation Practice
by Michael W. Taft Meditation works best if you do it every day. Establishing and maintaining that kind of steady, daily practice presents a challenge, even for people with a strong motivation to sit. For example, in the past, I’ve traveled to India for meditation intensives. These trips were expensive—both in time and money—and required engineering my entire life around …
Dimensions of Focus and Concentration
Want to learn how to focus and concentrate? Start here What do you think of when you think of focusing? For most people it means narrowing the attention to a single point. But actually there are several dimensions of focus or concentration that are relevant. We can think of concentration as having at least three important dimensions: Width (or “scope”) …
What Is the Meaning of Concentration and Focus?
More than you ever wanted to know about the etymology and history of words for attentional stability by Michael W. Taft The Oxford English Dictionary defines the meaning of concentration as: The keeping of the mental faculties fixed on one object or set of objects. Keeping your mind on one subject at a time, in other words. One way to …
The Sensuality of Everyday Experience
How to Use Sensory Clarity to Deepen Your Mindfulness Meditation Practice—and Enliven Your Life by Michael W. Taft Once some friends of mine were trying to get pregnant, and were having a hard time. They went to all the usual doctors, but—even though everything was deemed to be in working order—no baby. Eventually, the doctors said there was only one …
5 Reasons Your Mindfulness Practice Has Stalled & How to Reboot It
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by Michael W. Taft I make my living as a meditation teacher. And in the last two months or so—as I’m sure you are perfectly aware—people have been freaking out. The election, the reality tv mogul, the surreal and terrifying descent of our country, has people profoundly worried and upset. As a teacher, they ask me what to do. How …
Meditation Will Wreck Your Life
by Michael W. Taft During the “Calvin and Hobbes” part of childhood, I had a very clear career goal. My grade school teacher asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up, and the other children raised their hands, saying things like fireman, doctor, and archeologist. I, on the other hand, ardently desired to become a Viking. I …
The Mindful Wisdom of Pokémon Go
by Michael W. Taft I have to admit it: Pokémon Go is one of the funnest games I’ve played in a long time. I’m old enough to have missed the Pokémon phenomenon when it first came around, but it’s easy to see why the game is taking the world by storm. (It’s been downloaded by more than 30 million people …
Follow the Threads — Mindful Awakening
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 …