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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.
No Attributes: How Do You Know If Someone Is Awake? (Diamond Sutra 6 of 6)
Because the Self is absent when we are awake, we cannot know if we are awake because we are one with our activity. So how do we know when someone is awake? Isn’t it all projection? This is the final
Life is Hard w/ Norman Fischer
Love and compassion are necessities for basic sustainability. Norman Fischer gives a lecture to a packed house in Toronto on the importance of love, care, and ordinary suffering. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.
The Discipline of Relationship w/ Norman Fischer
Norman Fischer talks on not speaking destructively, not criticizing the faults of others, and working with conflict. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.
You Can’t Get Anywhere With Meditation! w/ Norman Fischer
Norman Fischer facilitates discussion about meditation, prayer, loss, compassion to oneself, and the liberation of sitting still even when it seems useless. This episode is from our archive and was recorded March 16, 2014.
Letting Go of Control (Diamond Sutra 5)
There are hungers we just can’t satisfy. So how can we open to desire without grasping? There’s no satisfaction at the end of the money or fame path. Meditation is controlling your posture and mind in order to let go
Life is Like a Funeral (Lotus Sutra 14)
Michael talks about the five kinds of fear, community and how it grows, a poem by Leonard Cohen, generosity, and then he reads his own poem about his mother.
Labeling Thoughts & Acknowledging What’s Present (Diamond Sutra 4)
Michael talks about wedding Vows in community, labeling our thoughts so we can honour them, and how generosity is about the way we give our attention. The most profound gift we can give others is our attention. It’s a form
Attuning to Ourselves & Others (Diamond Sutra 3)
The benefit of our practice must be wider than the benefit to our body. How wide do you draw the circle of self? Self-soothing. Michael talks about “a secure base” and how to manage reactivity that’s both inside and outside.
How Does a Buddha Stand, Walk & Control Thoughts? (Diamond Sutra 2)
What does being alive feel like? Michael tells the story of Subhuti and the questions he asks the Buddha about how to practice. Haven’t we been blessed with greatest of trusts? Aren’t we all blessed? Isn’t meditation learning how to
The Diamond of Practice (Diamond Sutra 1)
The first in a series of six talks on the Diamond Sutra. Michael speaks on the three aspects of ourselves we can let go of through practice: Possessiveness (This is mine); Conceit (This is me); and Beliefs about what the
Can You Return to the Breath?
As the breath becomes smooth and slow, the mind settles and we become less interested in wanting “an experience.” Be kind to yourself, cultivate an un-agitated heart, and live a life that connects. London.
Anxiety & Meditation
Michael explains how we can cultivate a field in which anxiety can arise and change, surrounded by spaciousness. We have forces of good inside us, we aren’t fated to live out our history, and we are loveable just as we
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