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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.
Yoga Sutra, Chapter 3: A Moment in Time
Can you see each thing in your life—whether objects or the people around you—as a moment in time? The mind is like a tourist constantly taking photos; meditation allows for the coming and going of everything. What’s happening is really
So, What Really Matters?
Michael begins talking about the death of his mentor—maverick psychologist James Hillman. When death comes the only thing that’s important is your heart, not your accomplishments. So what really matters?
Yoga Sutra, Chapter 3: Samskara and Neuroplasticity
Drawing on research with people who have healed from stroke, Michael compares the Sanskrit term samskara with modern neuroscience and ties this into the genetic level of meditation practice. “Meditation turns genes on and off in each moment restructuring genetic
Yoga Sutra, Chapter 3: The Flow of Attention, Waking from the Dream
The mind in concentration is like a flame in a windless space. Michael describes what happens in the mind when concentration is so focused that hindrances and distraction don’t arise. Michael parallels this process with the Occupy movement.
Sandokai, Part 3: Remember One-ness in Everything You Do
Michael gives a talk on the Sandokai during the 2011 autumn intensive. Michael talks about taking the meditation group to sit in court and bear witness, remembering oneness in everything you do, and not taking things so personally.
Sandokai, Part 2: Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness
The most esoteric practice is being a human. Michael talks on the relation between the absolute and relative, religious life and the everyday mess we’re in. What does it mean to have Buddha mind? Do you have it? Do you
Sandokai, Part 1: Practice is Transmitted Through Intimate Relations
Michael talks in detail on the Chinese poem “Sandokai” during a 5-day Intensive at Centre of Gravity. Can you remain human? Can you see the way “one-ness” and “difference” support one another? Can you go beyond transcendence and drop deeply
Yoga Sutra, Chapter 3: Making the Unwanted Wanted
What is meditation? How do you settle your attention on a moving field? Michael talks on the second line of the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra and how most of the world is operating in the realm of non-thinking.
Yoga Sutra, Chapter 3: The Other Shore will Come To You
Centre of Gravity re-opens after the summer break with a talk on the Yoga Sutra, meditation, and how to practice without making the other shore separate from us.
Lotus Sutra, Part 20: Forgiveness as the Heart of Practice
The deepest practice a bodhisattva can ever do is to listen deeply. The deepest thing we can ever experience is having a change of heart.
Lotus Sutra, Part 19 (2)
Discussion about contemplating someone in your life who you have a hard time seeing as a Buddha. Buddha Nature is your imagination and the way you can re-see people who have wounded you.
Lotus Sutra, Part 19 (1)
There is nowhere you can stand that is not a place the Buddha hasn’t practiced. The Buddha was enlightened right where you are standing. If you can see others as a Buddha, even animals and trees, you are a Buddha.
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