Awake in the World Podcast

A master is dying & a student asks him how he is feeling. Michael uses this Zen story to explore letting go of expectations and blame. He also talks about being to diffuse or too sharp in our reactivity. Richmond, Virginia, 1 hour.

Michael explains how kundalini, moksha and other Hatha Yoga terms are metaphors for awakening. He then talks about intimacy, creativity and the false self. A very clear talk about common haha yoga terms. University of Toronto. co-taught with Kathryn Bruni-Young. 1 hour.

During a 5-day intensive Michael explores key terms from a 15th century text on yoga and talks about mental habits, yoga postures, and the ways that the habits of mind and body are actually the path. Michael explains savasana, corpse pose. University of Toronto. co-taught with Kathryn Bruni-Young. 1.5 hours.

Michael explores Patanjali’s teaching on pratyahara in both meditation and daily life. We don’t really understand why things happen in our life, and yet we hold so much in our bodies. He talks about settling the self, the fact that there is no inside or outside, and the way others change when we do. Antibes, France. 1 hour. (translation: Cecile Payne).

Michael translates Patanjali’s teachings on ethics, posture, steadiness, and not holding onto anything. He also speaks about greed, anger and non-duality. Antibes, France. 1 hour (translation: Cecile Payne).

Michael Stone is interviewed by CBC Regina about SIT UP HERITAGE - an outdoor urban day-long retreat in Regina's Heritage Community. Recorded May 2015.

Michael reads from his new book and then opens up in a very personal talk about fathering, his doubts about the nuclear family, co-parenting in a split-family, his relationship with writing about family, and his friendship with Matthew Remski. 1 hour. Banyen Books, Vancouver, B.C.

Sofia Forman gives her first dharma talk on trust, death and her process of practice. Silent New Year’s Retreat, Chapin Mill, New York, 35 min. Photo credit: Andréa de Keijzer

Michael speaks about modern Buddhism as a “culture of awakening,” and then talks on the Zen koan “Save a Ghost.” We are broken. That’s why meditation is an ambulance service for love. Mindfulness is a practice of mourning. The dead live on in us as ghosts and as we mourn we make them into culture. Silent New Year’s Retreat, Chapin Mill, New York, 45 min. Photo credit: Andréa De Keijzer

Michael Stone gives a talk at the New Year's Silent Retreat in New York on depression, mental health, the negativity bias in the brain, and how we can have reverence for every moment of our lives. He talks about the Dalai Lama, photographer Nan Goldin, neuroscientist Rick Hanson, Yun-Men, and how to find your light. New Year's Silent Meditation Retreat, Chapin Mill, New York, 42 min.

Join renowned activist Judy Rebick and Buddhist teacher Michael Stone for an evening of discussion about the intersection of spiritual practice and social action. What inspires social action? How do we stay motivated? How do we cope with burnout? And how can we collaborate, so that independent struggles can join forces to create incredible change? (Unfortunately, this talk cuts off part way through.)

When someone is enlightened, what are they enlightened about? Michael uses the dhammapada to talk about caregiving, taking care of yourself, and then he offers a list that sums up a new ay of thinking about spiritual practice in this century. He ends with a reading from his book “Family Wakes Us Up.” Copenhagen. 1.2 hours.

Michael explains how interdependence, in Buddhist psychology, begins at the level of perception. We can have many versions of ourself, we are a novel. Importance of the ego. If you numb negative emotions, you also numb positive emotions. Copenhagen. 80 min Photo credit: Andréa de Keijzer

Michael tells the story of King Pasenadi and other Buddhist teachings on caring for ones-self as a means to not hurting others, instructions for meditation on impermanence, aware of awareness, and not clinging to our identity. Copenhagen. 1 hour. Photo credit: Andréa de Keijzer

Students from Denmark, Germany and Sweden talk together about working with ethics in the realms of sexuality, marriage, family and work. Copenhagen 50min Photo credit: Andréa de Keijzer