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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.
Self-Portraits
Starting with Dogen’s Self-Portrait, Michael explores different ways of viewing self-hood and argues for a “useful” doubt in respect to the self (not the kind that leads to indecision, but the kind that opens us up to new possibilities).
The Whisk, the Staff, Three Heads and Eight Arms
In this talk Michael unpacks Dogen’s essay on The Time Being and argues that an unhealthy relationship with time can be one of our biggest discontents.
The Problem is the Wanting
Micheal explores the difficulty of being immersed in a culture of desire, our tendency to want to be something other than what we are, and our notion that practice is going to get us somewhere.
Anxiety & Meditation
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. 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
The Center of the Storm is Calm
In this talk on the Yoga Sutra Michael highlights the fluctuations of consciousness, kaivalya, and four kinds of nirodha.
Best of Awake in the World: My Body is My Teacher Now
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. How to not leave your body, even when it feels untrustworthy. We can always turn to the body in pain, grief, and even in altered states of consciousness.
Three Principles of Peacemaking
This talk explores Bernie Glassman’s guiding principles for taking practice into daily life: not knowing, bearing witness and taking loving action.
Without Holding On
Michael guides a meditation on the breath, with an emphasis on letting go of grasping.
Only Fools Understand Yoga
In this talk Michael describes ujjayi breathing as a meditative practice, explains that the goal of yoga is not samadhi, and argues that “realization” automatically cycles back to the yamas—and demands action in response to suffering in the world.
Are Stiff People Less Awake?
Michael speaks about the eight limbs of Ashtanga and how to practice them. He argues for the importance of a sitting practice as well as asana. (Unfortunately the last half of this talk failed to record, so it ends abruptly).
Best of Awake in the World: Not Being Possessive and the Gift of Fearlessness
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. Michael Stone gives a talk during the ethics course about the precept of Aparigraha, and using our imagination.
Vande Gurunam
In this talk inspired by “bowing to reality,” Michael covers impermanence, story-telling and his view of the three most common ways we try to deal with our dukkha.
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.