Host Michael W. Taft speaks with Tantra scholar and teacher Christopher Wallis about the word “enlightenment” in English and the words in Sanskrit it is typically the translation for; the differences between awakening and liberation; karma, samskara, and the deep unconscious; the importance of spiritual practices that include the body versus a more mental orientation, the teachings of Abhinavagupta, and the centrality of embodied awakening.
It’s this radiant, vibrant display in awareness rippling with color, light, sound, feeling, energy and yet also oddly unfindable or unlocatable and even what knows it is unknown. Now when I sound this bell. What’s the question? The question is what knows this sound?
Join host Michael Taft as he speaks with meditation teacher and author Andrew Holecek about “reverse meditation,” the practice of using difficult experiences as the focus of our meditation, how this moves us through our perceived limits and allows us to recognize the perfection of the moment, and allows us to make any situation a profound and excellent meditation.
ow breathing in, take the image of Avalokiteshvara into your heart. Breathe Avalokiteshvara directly into your own heart where the image plugs in and begins to radiate powerfully from your own heart. So that the energy and wisdom and compassion of Avalokiteshvara, which translates as the one who hears the cries of the world, starts beaming out from your being.
antra is a spiritual movement, which began in the five hundreds or the sixth century, in our Western calendar, and spread throughout all of South Asia, initially, as well as later East Asia and Southeast Asia. And I call it a spiritual movement because Tantra itself is not a religion, but rather a way of doing religion, one might say. So all the major religions in South Asia at that time developed a tantric component, that is to say, Tantra first appeared within the religion called Shaivism, which is the religion of Shiva and Shakti, now subsumed into Hinduism, and that’s been true for the last seven or eight hundred years. And then it propagated from there into Buddhism and Vaishnavism, and so on.
Allowing each in-breath to be nurturing, each out-breath to return the mind to space, absolutely vast, open, uncongealed space. If it wants to re-congeal, okay, it can happen on the in-breath with the nurturing quality, but then, on the out-breath, again it just falls open to become the sky without any effort at all, zero effort to do that.
And so Earth energy is rising up spreading out through the trunk and branches and leaves of the tree. This ancient, grounded, humble energy that is paradoxically both humble and noble. And the branches of the tree spread out into the vast, open sky, and the brilliant warm, healing, sacred light of the Sun is soaked up by all the leaves of the tree and runs down the branches and into the trunk.
From the Deconstructing Yourself Podcast Here’s the original audio recording: A Few Stray Points about Nonduality with Jake Orthwein. Michael Taft: Hello and welcome to Deconstructing Yourself, the podcast for meta-modern mutants interested in meditation,… Read More »Transcript of: A Few Stray Points about Nonduality, with Jake Orthwein
When awareness recognizes itself, recognizes what it’s always been it feels a kind of joy. It’s just the joy of openness, the joy of no constriction, and also the joy of connection. There’s no lack of connection and togetherness. Just notice that kindness and joy and connection radiating out in all directions, bringing relief in all directions to everyone everywhere. Kindness, peace, and ease to all beings everywhere.
Michael Taft is interviewed by Jake Orthwein about the various kinds of nonduality, as well as the crucial distinction between the two main types of nonduality.
Join host Michael Taft as he continues his talk with translator, author, and teacher Ken McLeod about Ken’s new book: The Magic of Vajrayana, and issues around receiving initiations and empowerments, the experiential component, aspects of White Tara and Mahakala practices, the power of mystical poetry, and the future of Vajrayana in the West.
Join host Michael Taft as he talks with translator, author, and teacher Ken McLeod about the subject of Ken’s new book: The Magic of Vajrayana, particularly the tripartite practice structure of guru, deity, and protector in Tibetan Buddhism.
Nondual Guided Meditation with Michael Taft Okay, so let’s begin. I want you to simply check in with yourself, ask yourself the question; what’s it like to be me right now? And by me, I… Read More »The Burning Fire of Awareness