Podcast
Latest Podcast Episode
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or SoundCloud // Support the podcast on Patreon
The joke used to be that every time Michael opened his mouth what he said was archived here. We couldn’t be more grateful for that now because it is one of the best ways Michael’s teachings will live on.
The Awake in the World Podcast is the heart of the Community Library. Talks are on a wide-range of topics, including: bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change.
This podcast has been created so that anyone can have instant access to Michael’s teachings. It has been made possible due to generous donations from members of the community. In the six years that the podcast has been available, over half a million people have pressed play as a way to be more—like the name says—awake in the world.
Each podcast is between 30-60 minutes long. As always, you’re encouraged to follow along weekly as part of your practice. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience.
Generosity & Not Being Possessive
Michael interviews Simone Moir, Registered Psychotherapist, on the precept of aparigraha (non-greed) and the practice of generosity. They discuss what comes up around possessiveness, addiction and obsession, embracing impermanence, the importance of relationship and knowing the importance of boundaries.
Ahimsa (Non-harming)
Michael interviews Pat Smith, physician and abortion provider, on the precept of non-harming. Michael and Pat discuss ethics versus political ideologies, the relationships between how we are in the world, our belief system, and our values, and the influences of
Fear, Whirlpools & Recalling the Past
The Buddha’s experience of absorption in the forest, and how he turned to the experience of pleasure in his body to stabilize during anxiety and dread.
I Saw You Fall, So I Helped (Portland)
Michael talks about what it means to be deeply involved in a life of care and openness; that you don’t need a badge. This lecture is about offering our Bodhisattva spirit to others, no matter what. It’s about making a
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
Nobody’s Life Is Just Their Own
A conversation between Zoketsu Norman Fischer and Shoken Michael Stone.
How Yoga Comes To Life
Michael discusses how meditative practice is about dropping our stories in order to become more engaged in our lives, cities, families, communities, and politics. Paying attention is really powerful.
The Three Characteristics
In this Awake in the World podcast episode, Michael speaks about the three characteristics: dukkha, impermanence, and emptiness.
How the Occupy Movement Can Deal With Conflict
Michael speaks at Occupy Vancouver on November 6, 2011. “We are failing in our culture from a lack of imagination. And what we’re achieving here is space for imagination.” Originally shot by Ian MacKenzie and watch the post-speech piece Love
I’m on Fire — The Fire Sermon
This podcast episode was recorded at Centre of Gravity in Toronto. The evening begins with Priya Thomas covering Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire,” then Michael reads the Fire Sermon and gives a talk on the way we burn with lust,
Taking Care of Ourselves, Taking Care of the World
Michael Stone explores the integration of yoga and Buddhism, and how we can live a life fully engaged with the suffering of the world while also taking care of ourselves. Recorded during a day-long workshop and fundraiser for New Leaf
Wisdom, Emptiness, and Indigenous Healing
This was the final talk during silent retreat at Stowel Lake Farm on Salt Spring Island, August 2016. Michael talks about the relationship between emptiness, Buddhism, and the need for healing with First Nations. It was an inspiring and powerful
Support the Library
The Community Library will continue as long as we have supporters. The more support we have, the more we can ensure that the teachings Michael left behind can be available for free to anyone in the world.