About
We’ve inherited Michael’s teachings and, through them, can continue to share in his mission to creatively respond to our personal, social, environmental, and economic challenges.
On July 16, 2017, my partner, Michael Stone—an internationally-recognized Buddhist teacher, author, host of the Awake in the World podcast, and mental health advocate—died, having succumbed to bipolar disorder.
A few days before he died, Michael was asked how he wanted his teachings to make people feel. He replied with the words “ignited and consoled.”
As Michael’s partner, I knew a full version of him. One thing I know for sure is that Michael would want his work to continue. I feel I can be a voice for him now—that I can articulate closely what would be true for him going forward.
But why continue?
Michael wanted to live in a world where people are inspired to actively respond to our personal, social, environmental, and economic challenges. He made that his mission and invited others to do the same. We’ve inherited Michael’s teachings and, through them, can continue to share in this mission.
Michael was on the cusp of revealing publically how his life was shaped by bipolar disorder. It was complicated though. As a spiritual teacher for whom so many looked to for stability, he wondered if it was better to hide his own fragility. As a psychotherapist, he was trained to put his own stuff aside in order to work with others. He was also a human who felt—and was allowed to feel—the stigma, shame, and self-consciousness that comes with a mental health diagnosis in a culture that largely doesn’t know how to deal with neurodiversity.
Michael loved his students and he loved his work. The practices he shared through workshops, retreats, and writing were a life raft for him. His work inspired and grounded him. As a neurodiverse person living with internal instability, he channeled his challenges and the insights gleaned from his experience into tools that he could share with others. It could be argued that it was in experiencing these challenges that Michael became so effective as a teacher and communicator. For someone facing his kinds of suffering, he did really, really well.
Considering his practice and teaching, it’s easy to wonder how he could’ve died. We could instead ask, how did he live so well considering the power of his neurodiverse wiring? What can we learn about our own minds and hearts from someone who visited the front lines of the mind?
There is an all too common theme in yoga and dharma worlds: if you practice deeply enough, you will heal, and if you don’t heal, your practice or something in you is flawed. This is not true. Meditation is a tool, not a cure. It is not a panacea, and can even be counterproductive for people with severe challenges. It’s not the only way we manage something—it’s not alternative medicine, it’s a practice that can be helpful (and it can also have side effects). It needs to be understood in the wider context of one’s life. We need to know how to use it wisely, and when we need something else. And we need other forms of support when we face challenges—counselling or psychotherapy, friends or family who are watching out for us, and access to emergency support including crisis numbers.
Weeks after Michael died, I emailed a friend in the middle of the night saying I felt stuck—which at three in the morning means ruminating (at three in the afternoon it means chips). So, she replied with a quote from Michael Eigen from Kabbalah and Psychoanalysis, the gist of which is:
“Wherever you are, there are sparks to be mined. Sparks of life to be released in whatever place you find yourself, sparks to be experienced, worked with, created—transformative moments… Whatever your psychic space might be—despair, age, love, hatred, sadness, fear, joy—wherever you are, a spark is waiting for you, for you alone, because only you can contact, distill, release, explore, and be a vehicle for your unique set of sparks…”
“We are the tender of the sparks. Not just the tender of the garden, but tender of the sparks in our garden. Sparks grow in our garden and gardens grow in our sparks.”
Michael was a tender of sparks. He wanted to ignite. He wanted to console. We don’t have Michael to carry us forward, but he left us with the tools and the resources we need to be ignited and consoled—to tend our own sparks and learn to soothe ourselves, which is what he wanted for us.
Michael’s life was interrupted, but the teachings need not be. We activate our connection with Michael through practice; that is the lineage. This is the way we continue together. In this way, the teachings survive the teacher.
To stay connected, please make sure you’ve subscribed to our mailing list so that you receive our newsletters.
The Community Library is available with the same accessibility as before and will continue to be as long as we have people supporting it. Dana is the practice of generosity. It builds community and teaches us how to support others. Patreon is a platform we use to help facilitate the practice of generosity. Please consider pledging a monthly amount in support of the Community Library and Michael’s legacy. Every little bit helps.
The heart of the Community Library is the Awake in the World podcast. Over a half a million people have downloaded the podcasts to help them in their practice. Not sure where to start? These are the most popular podcasts to date:
- 20 min. Guided Meditation: Mindfulness of the Breathing Body
- Fear, Dread & Anxiety: The Buddha in the Forest
- 15-minute Guided Meditation on Breathing
Please also visit our Online Courses page. Michael had put together and filmed several online courses before he died. They’re crafted for students who wish to learn more about topics that may not be covered at their local yoga studios or meditation centres, or in the books they’re reading. As always, they’ll be facilitated by some of our wonderful collaborators.
Thank you for being here. May we continue to tend the sparks together to contribute to a world of compassion and collaboration.
~ Carina Stone
Steward, Michael Stone Teachings