Embodying the 21 Taras with Chandra Easton
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
3w ago
Host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher Chandra Easton about her new book Embodying Tara: 21 Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom, the background of Green Tara, why there are 21 different manifestations, the inspirations for the book. Chandra's lifelong relationship with Green Tara, and we take an especially deep dive into manifestation number thirteen, the so-callled "Demolition Tara." The post Embodying the 21 Taras with Chandra Easton appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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Resting as Awake Awareness
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
1M ago
This practice in a way is completely trusting the always already wide awake, wide open nature of experience and that there's nothing at all we do that can improve that. But, we can let go of the things that distract from it; let go of all the involvement with doing doing doing doing doing; the feeling of doing; the sense of taking control; or changing, or suppressing, or denying, or expanding, or all that stuff that distracts us from this already existing wide awakeness which has always been there. The post Resting as Awake Awareness appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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Meditate Outside the Mind
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
1M ago
I want you to look with a lot of curiosity, a lot of openness, and just see if you can notice exactly where that's coming from. Where is the stream of thoughts arising from? Where is it arising, just in your own experience. This isn't something you can figure out, you have to just listen, or look, or feel. Just keep trying to notice, where does that stream of thought originate? If you look very carefully, you'll notice it's not coming from anywhere. All that stream of thinking, all those thoughts that we spend so much time engaging with, it's not coming from anywhere. Then look, and see if you ..read more
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Finding Space and Freedom
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
1M ago
Good. Now allow awareness to come back into the body, but notice it like new. The feeling of body sensations, how they're just kind of hanging out in that space. It's not like there's some space behind your body, it's like this vast space has this tiny little bit of body sensation arising in it. Pleasant or unpleasant, but vivid and bright, various and interesting, all kinds of body sensations. Emotions, feelings, being nervous or joyous or disappointed or frustrated or whatever. Maybe all at once. That's all bright and colorful and interesting and kind of weird because it's just hanging out i ..read more
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Can You Learn Meditation from an AI? – with Shinzen Young
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
1M ago
Host Michael Taft talks with teacher Shinzen Young about Shinzen's decades-long dream of computer-based meditation instruction, his current creation of a rule-based, expert system based on Artificial Intelligence, the upcoming major upheavals in science and culture that AI will bring, the problems inherent in AI, and Shinzen's most positive vision for the future. The post Can You Learn Meditation from an AI? – with Shinzen Young appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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Gratitude for Simply Being
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
2M ago
Furthermore, you may notice that this expression of space as body and mind doesn't stop there. It radiates outward. This joyous expression of beauty and profundity radiates outward touching all other expressions, and all those other expressions radiate back to you. So even as this wakefulness, this wide open clarity and presence, bubbles forth into a body and a mind and a person, that bubbling forth can look back at its own source and just say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. The post Gratitude for Simply Being appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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Transgression with Erik Davis
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
3M ago
Host Michael Taft speaks with author and journalist Erik Davis about the power of partaking in the forbidden and the loss when formerly forbidden things become normalized, particularly in the case of psychedelics; Tantric and Christian modes of transgression, power relationships and the guru, hedonism, rule-breaking, the desire for having safe spiritual practice environments, and the role of risk in spiritual development. The post Transgression with Erik Davis appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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Outside the Vacuum Cave
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
4M ago
Michael:  Awake space is rigpa. Technically, literally, rigpa is just the Tibetan word for knowledge–just regular knowledge–like any kind of knowledge, but when it's used in a Dzogchen context, it means awake space. Just like the Sanskrit word for it would be vidya, which is just knowledge. The post Outside the Vacuum Cave appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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A Conversation with Sam Harris
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
4M ago
Host Michael Taft speaks with author, philosopher, and neuroscientist Sam Harris about aspects of meditation, the fusion of vipassana and nondual practice as the “gold standard” for practitioners, insights into selflessness through mindfulness and concentration,The distinction between moment-to-moment experiences and peak experiences, personal experiences with MDMA and psilocybin, the role of psychedelics in initiating spiritual introspection, concerns about the misuse of psychedelics and potential pitfalls, and more.  The post A Conversation with Sam Harris appeared first on Deconstructi ..read more
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The Simplest Thing
Deconstructing Yourself
by Michael W. Taft
4M ago
When we're caught up in thinking, it's like we've put ourselves in a cage. The minute you drop engagement with the thought. Again, the thoughts can still happen, we're not stopping, we're dropping the engagement. The minute you drop the thought, you're out of the cage!  The post The Simplest Thing appeared first on Deconstructing Yourself ..read more
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