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Summer Silent Retreat pt.4: A Block of Ice Makes A lot of Water
Michael explains Nirvana, the Deathless, Buddhist practice without religion, and a re-thinking of the core teachings of the Buddha. Michael draws on Stephen Batchelor’s idea of The Four Tasks that we can practice as the realization of Nirvana. Recorded at
Mindfulness & Social Action: Towards a Secular Spirituality
In this simple and profound lecture, Michael explores how the most radical thing that anyone can do is tell the stories that are not being told. He links together contemporary issues like climate change, economic inequality, and the atrophy of
Summer Silent Retreat pt.3
When you’re feeling Stuck. Michael gives a talk on the “killing” energy of Mara, the power of being blocked and unfulfilled. He talks about how the Buddha worked with being attacked by the hell realms. Waking up is always followed
Summer Silent Retreat pt.2
Michael Stone gives a focused and detailed thought about meditation technique and using your body to develop concentration. He goes through meditations on sound, the nostrils, the belly and approaching the objects of meditation with sthira (steadiness) and sukkha (well-being).
Summer Silent Retreat pt. 1
When you have imbalanced attention how can you live an intentional life? Michael talks about being on retreat, two categories of thought, introduces the Dvedhavitakka Sutta and talks about how deeply wanting to wake up is a delicate thing in
Guided Meditation
All your life, you’ve been searching, without knowing it, for exactly this moment. Michael Stone gives a guided meditation on the city, the body and the breath.
Relationship is the Key to Awakening
Michael Stone discusses recent book Family Wakes Us Up and how family life – from working through communication troubles, to giving up fixed ideas of how we think things should be – can be a vehicle for cultivating intimacy, transforming
Hope Without Optimism
On Silent Retreat Michael Stone explores the Zen koan “Why Can’t the Tail Pass Through” along with thoughts on hope, optimism, and despair. He describes “mindfulness as a political tool” and how we don’t need a revolution, we need “embodied,
Waking The Political Body
Pascal Auclair co-teaches with Michael and explores the work of Joanna Macy and Aung San Suu Kyi and the work that reconnects.
Transforming Pain
Michael begins teaching on the Two Darts and explains how physical and emotional pain are connected and how when we feel physical pain (first dart) it’s followed by a mental response (second dart). Then Michael teaches a guided meditation that
Lotus Sutra 19: The End is Forgiveness
The Lotus Sutra violates all of our ideas about space and time. The second half of the text lays a particular emphasis on the idea that it isn’t necessary to perfect yourself to become a Buddha. The chants, the prayers,
Lotus Sutra 18: Situational Ethics
The Lotus Sutra is forever promising that the Lotus Sutra will be taught, but it never happens. It is promised, remembered, its benefits extolled, its virtues highlighted, but the thing itself is missing. This teaching is about an emanation that
About the Community Library
Michael was a great archivist and the Community Library was—and continues to be—a labour of love. Everything in the Community Library is available for free. Anyone, anywhere can have instant access to material that will help them deepen their practice and contribute to a culture of compassion and collaboration.
Libraries are places where we gather alone together. They are known to be places of refuge for seekers, as well as those who are marginalized. This library is no different. It helps us nourish our beautiful, international community without walls. Now, it will also help keep Michael’s legacy alive.