Podcasts about culadasa

Soon after retiring, Tracy Budd, who had a strong meditation practice, embarked on an exploration of meditating for four hours a day following the Elephant Path and the teachings of Culadasa. In this interview we explore what happened over the course the year, the breakthroughs, the breakdowns, the insights and what he learned about doing intensive practice at home. You'll find this interview inspiring, particularly if you have ever had fantasies of putting everything aside and doing the kids of practices reserved for monks and renunciates.

Episode 29: Much is made of the difference between Progressive and Direct paths to enlightenment or awakening. Yet, in the great spiritual traditions both are acknowledged and used appropriately. Stephen and Kevin explore the benefits and pitfalls of each approach and how they can be integrated into a comprehensive spiritual practice.For more information on Subtle Energy Meditation, including the 10-week SEM Course, Raising Our Vibration book, and online community of practice, visit: https://raisingourvibration.net

See the video version of this call on YouTube. ►YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkSvzBWLh5s Find the full video chats on the Dhammarato Dhamma YouTube channel. ►YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DhammaratoDhamma Weekly Sangha calls, everyone is welcome! ►The Sangha US - https://join.skype.com/uyYzUwJ3e3TO ►The Sangha UK - https://join.skype.com/w6nFHnra6vdh To meet Dhamma friends or volunteer to help spread the Dhamma, join our discord. ►Discord - https://discord.gg/epphTGY To unite the growing interest in Buddhism with the hundreds of Buddhist wats in the West, we are in the process of starting the Open Sangha Foundation. If you want to learn more or volunteer to help, join the discord link above and navigate to the "open-sangha" text channel. We are in the process of timestamping and organizing the 1000+ Dhammarato skype calls on this channel. If you would like to help with the process, find more information here - https://bit.ly/3H1EWSA What do the numbers in the title mean? The number by the name of the student indicates the total amount of recorded calls with Dhammarato. The date in the title indicates the date the call was recorded.

In this episode I host a third dialogue between Dhammarato and Daniel Ingram, this time on the vipassana meditation method of the highly influential Burmese monk Mahasi Sayadaw. While Daniel's own path has been deeply informed by the Mahasi Method, Dhammarato has critiqued it as incomplete - particularly as it has been applied by the American Vipassana movements that it influenced. In this episode Daniel and Dhammarato share their own experiences of the method, reflect on its changes from Mahasi to U Pandita to America, and reveal rarely seen teachings from Mahasi's own writings. Daniel and Dhammarato also debate different approaches to working with meditation hinderances, compare the results of Mahasi practitioners to those of fire kasina meditation and Culadasa's ‘Mind Illuminated' school, and address topics such as the Dark Night, Stream Entry, and perennialism. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep125-the-mahasi-debate-dhammarato-daniel-ingram/ 
Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast'. … Topics Include: 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Dhammarato vs Daniel on the internet 03:55 - Daniel's practice history with the Mahasi Method 12:47 - Who was Mahasi Sayadaw and what was his emphasis? 16:16 - Dhammarato's experiences with the U Pandita and the Mahasi method 18:52 - ‘U Pandita was not the nicest of people' 19:20 - What was lost in the translation of Mahasi's method to America? 29:46 - Dry vs wet vipassana 31:08 - Daniel on rare and surprising Mahasi teachings 32:52 - U Pandita's stern personality 34:45 - The joyful vibe at the Malaysian Buddhist Meditation Centre 37:53 - Open discussion of attainments 38:47 - Does Mahasi noting dwell on hinderances and cause Dark Nights of the Soul? 39:57 - Do different people need different meditation methods? 46:16 - How to deal with hinderances 49:52 - Comparing Mahasi, TMI, and Fire Kasina 01:00:21 - Is there a good side to hindarances? 01:07:03 - Is the Dark Night inevitable or a sign of practice gone wrong? 01:23:42 - Dhammarato's rock bottom and investigation vs noting 01:29:03 - The richness of the full Buddhist tradition 01:30:28 - Different definitions of stream entry and Daniel's personal experience 01:35:47 - Perspective on practice 01:40:33 - Daniel's concluding reflections on the varieties of insight experiences 01:42:59 - Has Daniel nuanced his perennialsm? ..
 Dhammarato Episode Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkzlKFgdknyGISEfksirYaYpsrXdf8va Daniel Ingram Episode Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkzlKFgdkny_MJSecHyvKHPpvxTskBAC … To find out more about Dhammarato, visit: - https://dhammaratoblog.wordpress.com/ - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxg5GJFsRqnS-YLTzyrjLQ To find out more about Daniel, visit: - https://theeprc.org/ - integrateddaniel.info … 
For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com … Music ‘Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Have you been struggling to keep a consistent meditation practice? Switching around between different types, trying to find the right one for so long that you eventually forgot why you were even doing it in the first place? This is a common complaint many aspiring meditators face. Without a clear understanding of why we are doing what we are doing and a way to know that we are doing it right, we are destined to fall off track. In comes The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa (John Yates, PhD). The Mind Illuminated is the result of 50,000 hours of meditation and decades of neuroscience study. This book is arguably the clearest, most systematic, and well-researched meditation manual ever written. In this episode of the HighExistence podcast, Jon Brooks and Eric Brown discuss the 6 steps Culadasa recommends in the book to prepare the mind for practice. But these 6 steps, as you'll see, have far reaching applications beyond just meditation. “This stuff is not separate. The lessons you learn in mediation are lessons that apply to life. The stuff going on in your life will carry on into your mediation practice.” — Eric Brown, HEx Podcast #47 IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Why you should meditate Culadasa’s 6 steps for preparation for meditation How TMI has impacted not only Eric’s meditation practice, but his life Is enlightenment actually possible? What does it take to get there? Meditation as a tool for tragedy How to find and renew the motivation to do anything The first 3 stages of the meditation journey Meditation as a microcosm for life The importance of posture How showing up is all you need to do The value of taking a moment to clarify intent before starting anything MUCH MORE… (Please remember to leave a review because it helps us improve the podcast!)

I recently read one of the best Buddhist meditation books I've ever come across. The book is The Mind Illuminated. The author of this book, John Yates, aka Culadassa, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and over 50,000 hours of meditation practice in the bank. It's the kind of book that exudes expertise on every page. In the appendix of TMI, Culadassa shares a technique called “The Daily Mindful Review,” which is the best method he has ever discovered for increasing mindfulness in daily life. I went ahead and adapted this to add Stoic elements, and the result is what I consider to be the most powerful guided reflection I've ever created. Do this daily, and you will be astounded about the changes you make in the next 30 days. Those changes will include: More mindfulness Less heaviness Better decisions Drastically better relationships Improved habits More compassion And the list goes on… ----MY FREE COURSE:

In this episode I am joined by John Yates, PhD, aka Culadasa. On the 19th of August 2019, the board of Culadasa’s organisation Dharma Treasure released a public letter which denounced Culadasa for the Buddhist moral failings of sexual misconduct, wrong speech, and taking what is not freely given. Culadasa issued two short statements at that time and then recently, on January 13th of 2021, released a 33-page account of the years leading up to the board’s letter. In this interview Culadasa discusses his account, which disputes the board’s accusations, and reveals the circumstances that led to his public denouncement. Culadasa also discusses the professional and personal consequences of the letter, and reflects on the psychological and spiritual lessons he has learned. Topics include: 0:00 - Intro 0:54 - The accusations 10:11 - Summarising Culadasa’s 33 page account 12:29 - Why did Culadasa keep his and Nancy’s separation private and delay divorce proceedings? 18:45 - Why didn’t Culadasa tell the board about the separation during the initial meetings? 21:28 - What did Culadasa think the board was doing when they questioned him? 24:54 - Why did Culadasa admit to adultery in his initial response if he was in fact separated? 29:30 - Why did Culadasa recently release a 33-page account? 32:09 - Why did Nancy go to the board with accusations of adultery? 53:23 - What did the board stand to gain from Culadasa’s demise? 1:03:03 - What is Culadasa’s current financial situation? 1:10:06 - Psychological blindspots and spiritual plateaus 1:11:34 - Culadasa’s personal reaction to the destruction of his reputation 1:16:21 - Lessons learned from this situation and Culadasa’s current practice 1:26:40 - What’s next for Culadasa? 1:29:32 - Further comments about the structure of the board’s letter … Resources: - Dharma Treasure Board letter, 19/08/2019: https://mailchi.mp/dharmatreasure/new-teacher-training-course-other-happenings-at-dharma-treasure-3007417?e=693097afaa - Culadasa’s initial response, 23/08/2019: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/cu5lz0/this_is_not_an_appropriate_time_for_me_to_respond/ - Culadasa’s 33-page account 13/01/2021: https://www.guruviking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/A-Message-from-Culadasa-01-12-21.pdf To find out more about Culadasa, visit: - http://culadasa.com/about/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

We discuss meditation, neuralink, and America's crumbling infrastructure - especially shipping and receiving. Please...somebody fix shipping and receiving. Enjoy! Deyus Life is a show about interesting people and interesting conversations. Have a question or want to be featured on the show? Email deyuspod@gmail.com or visit deyuslifepod.com. We read and respond to EVERY email - including yours.

This week we coming at you with a special quarantined episode, with a casual discussion on our day-to-day during this social distancing, meditation (of course bro always bro), and the differences between the physical, astral and causal realms. PODCAST Instagram: http://bit.ly/2X7geJU AAKRIST Instagram: http://bit.ly/2WhDUOT GIOVANNI Instagram: http://bit.ly/2Wr0PY2 REFERENCES: • "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa: https://amzn.to/2wogWL3 *found out shortly after recording that he recently got charged with sexual misconduct, so approach this book with skepticism • Road Through the Ten Stages of Meditation: https://bit.ly/3boW2KC • Yoga with Adriene: https://bit.ly/2JmHizX • "The Art of Expressing the Human Body" by Bruce Lee: https://amzn.to/2UuH4vv • Duncan Trussel Family Hour Ep. 375: https://bit.ly/2WKj4rf • "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda: https://amzn.to/3bvgDO5 HIGHLIGHTS: • Quarantine daily routine (4:01) • Ten Stages of Meditation (8:50) • Pain while sitting (16:56) • Physical, Astral and Causal World (30:13) *sponsored by Seam Reaper Studios & The Dojo Club

Culadasa, meditation teacher and author of ‘The Mind Illuminated’, is my featured guest in this episode of the Guru Viking Podcast: Pandemic Series. 

 Please share these episodes among those who might find them helpful, and let me know what you think in the comments below. 
... https://www.guruviking.com/ep35-culadasa-pandemic-edition-guru-viking-podcast/ Audio version of this podcast also available on iTunes and Stitcher – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … I am producing a special series of the Guru Viking Podcast to support those affected by the pandemic. 

 I'll be asking my guests questions like how to work with anxiety, fear, and panic? How to work with isolation? How to work with sickness and death? And how to help others having those experiences? Fear, sickness, death are perennial human experiences, and so my hope is that these episodes will be of use not only to those who are being affected now in this situation, but also of use to others beyond it. … 0:55 - Guidance for those who are afraid or panicked. 04:37 - Meditation strategies for working with fear
 09:24 - Guidance for those who are sick.
 20:39 - Guidance for those who are dying. 28:04 - Guidance for those in isolation. 30:24 - Concluding comments. 
…
 Check out my previous interview with Culadasa: - https://www.guruviking.com/ep13-culadasa-guru-viking-interviews/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: – www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

Link: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/16/is-enlightenment-compatible-with-sex-scandals/   Last year I reviewed The Mind Illuminated, a meditation guide by Buddhist teacher Upasaka Culadasa. Last month, Culudasa’s Buddhist community accused him of cheating on his wife with prostitutes for many years. Culadasa doesn’t seem to agree with the exact details of the accusations, but he also doesn’t seem to deny that there was something in that general category of thing. What can this teach us about enlightenment? Culadasa has been meditating and studying Buddhism for over forty years and trained under some of the greatest teachers of his generation. I don’t know if he’s claimed to “be enlightened” in so many words, but he’s written books that describe how to reach enlightenment and that assert you can do it in a few years if you follow his advice, which sounds a lot like claiming enlightenment by implication. Other self-proclaimed enlightened Buddhist teachers seem to respect him and treat him as being at around their level. And if Culudasa wasn’t enlightened, there’s a long list of other Buddhist masters with similar misdeeds. The Atlantic points out that three of the four great founders of American Zen “caused major public sex scandals”; the fourth, Shunryu Suzuki, was spotless, but his successor Richard Baker caused a major public sex scandal. The two most famous US teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, Chongyam Trungpa and Sogyal Rinpoche, both caused major public sex scandals. Trungpa’s immediate successor Ösel Tendzin caused a particularly horrifying major public sex scandal, and the current head of Shambhala Buddhism, Sakyong Rinpoche, also caused a major public sex scandal. These teachers were among the most accomplished of our time. Many were officially certified as enlightened by

This week on Bit of A Tangent we discuss the little known but unbelievably important concept of ‘slack' - what it is, why having too little of it can be deadly and how to get more of it! We also discuss the difference between attention and awareness and how can help you live a more engaged life, a simple rule of thumb to know when you're using your time on earth well, and a quick trick to train your mind to dive straight into deep focus when you need to! Lastly, we discuss how we've set up our personal devices to get the most out of them while minimising distractions and as a bonus this episode we mention two other podcasts we're loving at the moment!   ---------- Shownotes: Slack and the Sabbath sequence by Zvi on Lesswrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HXkpm9b8o964jbQ89 Main Lesswrong post on ‘slack': https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HXkpm9b8o964jbQ89/p/yLLkWMDbC9ZNKbjDG Farnam Street Mental models: https://fs.blog/mental-models/  Lying by Sam Harris: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18869177-lying  Jared's essay on Algorithms: https://jaredtumiel.github.io/2019-08-11-use-algorithms/  Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40672036-digital-minimalism?ac=1&from_search=true  The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25942786-the-mind-illuminated?ac=1&from_search=true  Naval Ravikant's tweetstorm (some ideas mentioned definitely came from here): https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936  Deep work by Cal Newport:: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work?ac=1&from_search=true  Stayfocused (android app): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stayfocused&hl=en_US  StayFocusd - chrome website blocker:  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stayfocusd/laankejkbhbdhmipfmgcngdelahlfoji  David Epstein – Wide or Deep? - [Invest Like the Best, EP.133]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-epstein-wide-or-deep-invest-like-the-best-ep-133/id1154105909?i=1000439925357  Good One: A Podcast About Jokes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1203393721 

Host Michael Taft speaks with Vajrayana teacher Rin’dzin Pamo about Vajrayana meditation practice currently, adapting practices for our times, their practice of The Mind Illuminated, the role of the guru in practice, how meditation practice is like engineering (and Jiu Jitsu), and much more.Rin’dzin Pamo (also known as Charlie El Awbery) is a British born Vajrayana practitioner living in the US. They were an apprentice in the Aro gTér tradition of Tibetan Buddhism for twenty years and are an experienced Dzogchen meditator and mentor. Rin’dzin received the London School of Economics Fei Xiaotong prize for their Masters research on the Chinese tech industry. They worked on international development projects in India, Africa and the Middle East and as a program director for Amnesty International. Rin’dzin writes at VajrayanaNow.com and has recently been publicly journaling their progress through Culadasa’s system The Mind Illuminated. Help to support the Deconstructing Yourself podcast at Patreon.

In this episode I have a talk with Dr. John Yates or Upasaka Culadasa. We talk about his current book, The Mind Illuminated. A book that bestselling meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg raves “brings the path of meditation to life.” We talk on why he wrote it and what are important things to know when reading it. We talk about his new upcoming book, what the buddha really taught, online internet forums and insights, the somatic and psychological aspects of human development and what exactly is awakening?    You can win a signed copy of his work 'The Mind Illuminated'. Find out more on how to participate here:  https://projectmindfulness.com/giveaway/ 

Host Michael Taft speaks with clinical psychologist and life coach, Douglas Tataryn, Ph.D. about meditation and psychology. Topics include his work with meditation teachers such as Culadasa, the “wake up, clean up, grow up, and look around” model, Wilber’s integral model. working with trauma and the dark night, and his system of emotional processing known as the Bio-Emotive Framework.Douglas Tataryn received his PH.D. in 1991 and worked as a professor for 10 years in epidemiology and psychosocial oncology. In 2001 he entered private practice where he applied and continued evolving what he now refers to as the bio-emotive framework, a new way of understanding the emotional system and its unappreciated role in many of our most common mental health disorders. Doug began what became a very intensive meditation practice back in 1975 and he and his wife receive and give teachings within the Namgyl Rimpoche stream of the Karma Kagyu lineage.ResourcesDr. Tataryn’s website has lots of resources, some free and some for pay: https://bioemotiveframework.comYou’ll find thought provoking interviews and video recordings with Douglas Tataryn at this link: https://bioemotiveframework.com/blog/Upset about a recent event? Use one or both of these forms to turn that upset into a better understanding and expression of how you are feeling about it. 1. This is help you find the inter-personal feelings about the situation: http://tinyurl.com/BEFstress2. This form will guide you through the core feelings related to the situation. We tend to take core feelings very personally and often feel we are the feelings instead of being someone who is having those feelings: Http://tinyurl.com/BEFCoreHear Culadasa speaking about his work with Douglas Tataryn here.Listen to more more about meditation and psychology with Tucker Peck.Support the Deconstructing Yourself podcast via Patreon.

In this special episode, Culadasa talks about the domains of meditation and psychotherapy, where their areas of effectiveness overlap and where they don’t. He also shares a powerful personal story of his own emotional processing work after awakening—why it was needed and how it helped.Culadasa has been practicing Buddhist meditation for over four decades, and is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha, where he teaches meditation and Buddhism from a modern, progressive scientific perspective. His groundbreaking book, The Mind Illuminated is a modern road map to Buddhist meditation for a Western audience which combines age-old wisdom teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.Dharma Treasure website: https://dharmatreasure.org/Dr. Douglas Tataryn’s website: The Bio-emotive FrameworkShow Notes0:25 – Introduction2:54 – Michael opens up the intended direction of this show, what meditation can improve and heal and what psychology can improve and heal, where the two might overlap, and places that maybe only psychology can handle.4:35 – Culadasa begins discussing how inner conflicts and baggage are brought to the surface and handled in the meditation system described in The Mind Illuminated.10:47 – Minimizing psychological distress when beginning to have insight experiences.13:52 – Different effects of samatha versus vipassana on noticing and working with difficult psychological material; how the arising of such material may unfold in Culadasa’s meditation system.19:48 – The necessity of sati and introspective awareness in samatha practice to eliminate dullness and trigger purifications; how to progress from attending to bodily sensations, to emotions, to any associated mental content.23:32 – Practicing samatha in the way it was intended to be practiced is training the mind in vipassana at the same time.27:25 – Spiritual bypassing – how people with high meditative skill can fail to notice harmful behavior patterns; how the changes that awakening brings can make it easier to bypass difficult material.33:23 – Culadasa’s health journey and first meeting with an integral oncologist.41:32 – Example of using bio-emotive therapy and noticing somatic reactions; how Culadasa’s practice had downweighted negative emotions and this type of therapy helped to reconnect with them.45:14 – How path attainments affect the sense of self; how older structures in the brain linked up with newer emotional structures and created the sense of self.50:00 – How certain patterns became established in Culadasa’s life and were then uncovered with bio-emotive therapy; viewing these patterns as different personalities.58:34 – Repeating unhealthy patterns despite having an advanced meditation practice; how the Dharma itself can provide some rationalization for such behaviors when their root in unresolved psychological material isn’t recognized.1:04:04 – Culadasa describes his current status, feeling highly resolved with his patterns after becoming aware of and working with them, and essentially being in remission from cancer.1:05:34 – Psychology as an integrated part of the practice of meditation; the possibility of merging psychology and Dharma in the West; the importance of somatic work and treating the body/mind as one unit.1:09:39 – Differences in how forms of Buddhism have treated the area of emotions; using current science to go beyond what previous traditions have had access to; taking people beyond normal states of dysfunction to states of minimal to no dysfunction.1:14:25 – OutroYou can read a transcription of the entire show here.You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.) combines Buddhist teachings with an emerging, scientific understanding of the mind. A neuroscientist with over four decades of meditation experience, Culadasa is the author of The Mind Illuminated and former director of Dharma Treasure. Culadasa was the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona and wrote The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Using Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science. He is a meditation master with over 40 years of experience practicing and teaching in the Tibetan and Theravadin meditation traditions. Among his teachers were Upasaka Kema Ananda and the Venerable Jotidhamma Bhikkhu. Culadasa has also taught and worked in the fields of neuroscience, physiology, and healthcare education. He combines an understanding of ancient techniques with modern scientific research, bringing unique insights to the mind. In this episode, we discuss how Culadasa first got into meditation and the profound cognitive transformations that have resulted from his years of meditation practice.   FitMind App: http://bit.ly/afitmind  Website: www.fitmind.co

Tucker Peck, meditation teacher and clinical psychologist, talks with host Michael Taft about how whether awakening (both in the traditional “stream entry” sense or in other definitions) actually “fixes” a person’s psychology or not. Topics include: the validity of the Progress of Insight model, Tucker’s hellacious Dark Night experience and the dukkha ñanas in general, when to switch from shamatha to vipassana practice, whether people who have mental illness should practice meditation, and much more.Tucker Peck, Ph.D., is a meditation teacher and clinical psychologist whose specialties include working with advanced meditators and using meditation to help those suffering from psychological disorders. Tucker is a published author on the scientific study of meditation, focusing on how meditation affects the brain and is a faculty member of the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Tucker was also a founding board member of Culadasa’s Dharma Treasure sangha.Tucker Peck’s websiteShow Notes0:25 – Introduction2:54 – Tucker’s teaching activities, how his background in clinical psychology influences teaching meditation5:26 – The myth that you can lose your psychology/personality/emotions by meditating enough; getting smacked in the face with emotions on retreat8:29 – How Tucker got into meditation; hitting A&P, and the heart opening13:43 – How Tucker got into clinical psychology; his long Dark Night experience, and using choiceless awareness to get out of it23:49 – Progressing towards first path; magga phala; how seeing nonself changed the experience of practice29:23 – How stable attention helps mitigate Dark Night effects; purification through samatha33:43 – Tucker’s challenges learning to practice with The Mind Illuminated; description of the TMI stages; when to introduce vipassana practices41:19 – Whether Tucker’s students are getting stream entry and whether the samatha-first way of working mitigates Dark Night effects in his students; the fetter model, and having only positive emotions45:47 – The potential for spiritual bypassing with attainment; “wake up, clean up, grow up”; the equanimity windshield; the need for unbiased feedback about one’s behavior and how it’s affecting people55:17 – Working with mental content outside of meditation, through psychotherapy; will meditation practice help people who have mental illness?; modifying the practice for people with bipolar or manic symptoms, etc.1:03:25 – Tucker’s experience of the path model; reduction in craving; seeming to go from dramatic changes back to normalcy, but with life altering differences; the individuality of each person’s path of purification1:12:28 – OutroFeel free to support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

In this episode I am joined by John Yates, PhD, aka Culadasa. Culadasa is a meditation master with more than four decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions. A former professor, he taught physiology and neuroscience for many years, and later worked in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. His book ‘The Mind Illuminated’ has been described as ‘a rare and valuable treasure’ and has been enormously popular among dedicated meditators for it’s incredible clarity and usability even to very advanced stages of practice. In this interview we talk about how Culdasa’s traumatic upbringing led to him to being homeless on the streets at 15 years old and why even years in Catholic seminary didn’t provide the answers he was looking for. We discuss his initially frustrated attempts at meditation practice, the colourful cast of characters of his teachers, and the one key discovery changed everything. - Culadasa’s traumatic upbringing - Running away from home at 15 and the search for truth - Entering Catholic seminary in search of the truth - Experiments with psychedelics in the 60s - Early attempts at meditation and learning Transcendental Meditation - Discovering Buddhism - What was lacking in the seminary - Doctrinal disagreements with Catholicism - Virtuoso Buddhism vs village Buddhism - Living on the streets and recovering from a traumatic childhood - Achieving a PhD with no high school education - Glimpses of emptiness - Meeting Upasaka Kema Ananda in Winnipeg, Manitoba - Encountering Namgyal Rinpoche (aka George Dawson) - Blending Kagyu and Theravadan practice - Struggles with the Mahasi meditation technique - Introduction to shamata (calm-abiding) practice - Common misunderstandings about shamata - Key distinctions about attention and awareness - Revisiting Mahasi-style meditation - Stages of samadhi - Culadasa’s personal journey of insight - How Culadasa attained stream entry - Falling away from meditation and taking up shamanism - Further path attainments - Second path practice and meditation on mind states - Craving and dissatisfaction - Mara I have seen you! - The mechanics of path attainments - The two edged sword of the human mind - Developing compassion - Waking up, cleaning up, and growing up - Implications of facing death For the video version of this interview visit: https://youtu.be/roTWZ9GcBMY To find our more about Culadasa, visit: https://dharmatreasure.org/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

I. The Mind Illuminated is a guide to Buddhist meditation by Culadasa, aka John Yates, a Buddhist meditation teacher who is also a neuroscience PhD. At this point I would be more impressed to meet a Buddhist meditation teacher who wasn’t a neuroscience PhD. If I ever teach Buddhist meditation, this is going to be my hook. “Come learn advanced meditation techniques with Scott Alexander, whose lack of a neuroscience PhD gives him a unique perspective that combines ancient wisdom with a lack of modern brain science.” I think the world is ready for someone to step into this role. But Culadasa is not that person, and The Mind Illuminated is not that book. I am trying not to read too many books on spiritual practices until I’m ready to practice some spirituality. I made an exception for TMI because lots of people recommended it to me for its description of how the brain works. This seems like the sort of thing that Buddhist meditation teachers who are also neuroscientists could have insight on, so I decided to check it out. Tradition divides meditation into two parts: concentration meditation, where you sharpen and control your focus, versus insight meditation, where you investigate the nature of perception and reality. TMI follows a long tradition of focusing on concentration meditation, with the assumption that insight meditation will become safer and easier once you’ve mastered concentration, and maybe partly take care of itself. Its course divides concentration meditation into ten stages. Early stages contain basic tasks like setting up a practice, focusing on the breath, and overcoming distractability. Later stages are more interesting; the ninth stage is learning how to calm the intensity of your meditative joy; apparently without special techniques “overly intense joy” becomes a big problem. I usually hate meditation manuals, because they sound like word salad. “One attains joy by combining pleasure with happiness. Pleasure is a state of bliss which occurs when one concentrates focus on the understanding of awareness. Happiness is a state of joy that occurs when one focuses concentration on the awareness of understanding. By focusing awareness on bliss, you can increase the pleasure of understanding, which in turn causes concentration to be pleasant and joy to be blissful, and helps you concentrate on understanding your awareness of happiness about the bliss of focus.” At some point you start thinking “Wait, were all the nouns in that paragraph synonyms for each other?”

Daniel Ingram and Michael Taft talk about the Fire Kasina practice, how making mental objects the focus can lead to deep awakening, balancing wisdom and faith, processing trauma with meditation practice, and how beauty can be a great support and inspiration on the path. Daniel shares about his experiences and spiritual development with Fire Kasina work, co-teaching with Culadasa, the increasing numbers of people attaining stream entry, and the over-diagnosis of attainment. Also discussed is Michael’s experience with faith and guru based practice, the effects of of impermanence insight on concentration, “hindrances for smart people,” rapture, and more.Daniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma practitioner. He is the author of the seminal text Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha — now out in its second edition — and also the main force behind the radical dharmaoverground website, which specializes in a brand of unusually-frank discussion of meditation. Links Dharma TreasureThe Mind Illuminated (TMI) Shinzen YoungShannon Stein/The Hermitage DY Fire Kasina Interview Trauma Sensitive MindfulnessThe Body Keeps the ScoreDY Stream Entry Interview with CuladasaShow Notes2:26 – Daniel’s recent visit to Dharma Treasure4:34 – Daniel’s teaching model9:11 – Fire Kasina update12:16 – The “Play and Fun” of Fire Kasina work17:23 – Waking up the mind25:14 – How Daniel processed trauma from working in emergency medicine27:12 – Hindrances for smart people29:22 – How skillful faith can clear the way through the analytical mind32:45 – Michael’s shift from sarcasm and skepticism to beauty and love36:57 – The inspiration and dignity of beauty in spiritual practice40:47 – Daniel’s journey to embracing faith44:57 – Pragmatic faith47:05 – Working with analytical thinking51:02 – The meta-hindrance of self-loathing54:05 – Addressing attachment to intellect and drivenness in spiritual practice58:18 – Daniel’s tips for Vipassana practitioners1:01:48 – Rapture and awakening1:05:49 – The analogy of the kazoo player1:12:25 – How the insight of impermanence changes the experience of concentration1:16:29 – Stream entry and the over-diagnosis of attainment You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

If you've ever wondered about the brain science of meditation, and how to begin, then do we have The Mind Illuminated show for you! Today I'll be talking with Culadasa, also known as John Yates, PhD, a meditation master in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions, a former professor of psychology and neuroscience and the author of an amazing book on Meditation , the Illuminated Mind. And that's just what I want to talk with him about today, about integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science to dive deep into meditation! Meditation and the Brain Self-Improvement and Self-Help Topics Include: What's the importance of our connection to the land? What did he learn from his early childhood that affected his spiritual growth and desire to later learn about the brain? What did he learn from his mother about different world views? How did he end up in and out of seminary – and later on to a PhD for the brain? What did Maharishi and the Beetles have to do with anything? Why do we meditate? What is the higher goal of meditation? What do monkeys and elephants have to do with meditation? What exactly is meditation doing for the brain? What are the ten stages of meditation? What is a meditation object? How does a meditation object help the mind? What is the true meaning of mindfulness? What does mindfulness do for the brain? What is the essence of mindfulness? How does mindfulness help one's life? How do we move past the difficulty of beginning to meditate? How do we make it easier to meditate? What are the changes going on to the brain throught he process? What is the problem of forgetting and mind-wandering? How do we overcome impatience and cultivate joy? What does it meant to develop mental power? What in the world's the zen lurch? What is meditative joy? What is a cessation event? What are insight experiences? What does compassion have to do with anything? For more Info Visit: darmatreasure.org Culadasa, aka John Yates, PhD on Meditation, Mindfulness & the Neuroscience Behind It!!! Health | Fitness | Inspiration | Motivation | Spiritual | Spirituality | Inspirational | Motivational | Guided | Self-Improvement | Self-Help | Inspire For More Info Visit: www.InspireNationShow.com 

Culadasa is a meditation master with over 4 decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadan Buddhist traditions. He taught classes in neuroscience and psychology at the Universities of Calgary and Brittish Columbia. He now lives in the Arizona wilderness and leads the Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sanga. His book on meditation, The Mind Illuminated, is the book Eric calls the best book on meditation he's ever read. This is a two-part interview. In this episode, part one, Eric and Culadasa talk about how the mind and brain works - knowledge that is essential to understand before one can successfully implement the meditation techniques that will be discussed in part two. These techniques have the very real potential of transforming your meditation experience. So listen up in this episode and get ready to radically re-understand this thing we call the mind.Please Support The Show with a Donation Visit oneyoufeed.net/transform to learn more about our personal transformation program.Sanebox helps organize your email inbox for a www.sanebox.com/wolf free trial for 2 weeks and a $25 creditEric just replaced his entire sock drawer with all Bombas socks because of how much he loves them get 20% off first purchase www.bombas.com/wolf offer code WOLF In This Interview, Culadasa and I Discuss...His book, The Mind IlluminatedThe power of setting an intention for meditationGetting all of the mind on board for meditatingAccepting whatever comes upTrying to enjoy your meditation, celebrating the times you come back to the present moment vs scolding yourselfRoadmap of the stages of meditation over timeHow knowing the developmental nature of things over time can be problematicThe difficulties of being a beginner at anythingLooking for the pleasure and joy in wherever you are The 4 step process of settling in to meditateFeeling your breath at the noseThe Mindful ReviewBeing aware of the motivation behind your thoughts and speechWhat could I have done differently?Please Support The Show with a Donation

Culadasa is a meditation master with over 4 decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadan Buddhist traditions. He taught classes in neuroscience and psychology at the Universities of Calgary and Brittish Columbia. He now lives in the Arizona wilderness and leads the Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sanga. His book on meditation, The Mind Illuminated, is the book Eric calls the best book on meditation he's ever read. This is a two-part interview. In this episode, part one, Eric and Culadasa talk about how the mind and brain works - knowledge that is essential to understand before one can successfully implement the meditation techniques that will be discussed in part two. These techniques have the very real potential of transforming your meditation experience. So listen up in this episode and get ready to radically re-understand this thing we call the mind.Visit oneyoufeed.net/transform to learn more about our personal transformation program.New science and research has changed the formula of improving hair and stopping hair loss 1st months supply with a subscription for $10 www.nutrafol.com promo code WOLF Read or listen to thousands of nonfiction book summaries all on your phone in under 15 minutes www.blinkist.com/wolf to start your free trial or get 3 months off your yearly plan In This Interview, Culadasa and I Discuss...His book, The Mind IlluminatedHow the mind and the brain worksThe basic distinction between attention and awarenessHow when we give labels to something we can know and understand it betterThe moments of consciousness modelNon-perceiving moments of consciousnessThe dullness of meditationSleepiness in meditationThe goal of vipassana is to increase the total power of our cognitive abilitiesThe mind system model (how the mind works)The conscious and unconscious mindSensory sub-mind (taking in info through senses)Discriminating sub-mind (cognitive thinking/feeling)These sub-minds are competing for attentionThe conscious mind is a place that the sub-minds project intoThe power of setting intentions on the sub-mindsThe role of the narrating sub-mindWe are a collection of the processes of the sub-mindsMaking intellectual sense of the experience of not-self

In this episode host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher, neuroscientist, and author John Yates, also known as Culadasa. Topics covered include: Are more people achieving stream entry these days?, a clear definition of stream entry, the Buddha’s concept of yathābhūtañāṇadassanaṃ or “seeing things as they really are,” reaching a tipping point of stream enterers to avert the coming world disasters, tips for meditation in action, using consciousness hacking and/or drugs to accelerate insight, paṭiccasamuppāda – the interpenetrating nature of phenomena, quantum entanglement and individual minds, the nondual viewpoint, an explanation of reincarnation and past life experiences, and much more.Culadasa has been practicing Buddhist meditation for over four decades, mainly in Tibetan lineages. He is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona where he teaches meditation and Buddhism from a modern, progressive scientific perspective. His groundbreaking book, The Mind Illuminated, is a modern road map to Buddhist meditation for a Western audience which combines age-old wisdom teachings of the Buddha with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Learn more at culadasa.com.You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

Meditation teacher and author Culadasa joins me to discuss his four decades of Buddhist practice, the ten stages of meditation, and his book The Mind Illuminated. This podcast is sponsored by ONNIT. Go to https://www.onnit.com/hustle to get 10% off when you check out. ★★★★★ Please take a minute to rate The Astral Hustle with 5 stars on iTunes. It helps the podcast grow and brings the guests you want to hear. In the iTunes app, click on Library, select The Astral Hustle, then simply scroll down and pick a star rating. Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and what have you, and so forth.

If you've ever had surprising synchronicities, or coincidences in your life, then do we have the show for you. Today we'll talk about magical conicidences, what they mean, why they're hear, and how you can use them to stear your life! That plus we'll talk about miracle journals, whoops phone calls, why it's all about the horses, orange dragons, older poochies, smiling posing gators, happy water moccassins, and what in the world happens at the airport, when you're dressed like an orange marshmallow, and you're meditating. Magic Universe Self-Improvement & Self-Help Topics Include: 1. What synchroniticities mean? 2. How we bring about magic in our lives? 3. What's a miracle journal? 4. How to know you're living in a magical universe? 5. How to see into the fabric of the universe? 6. What horses have to do with synchronicities? 7. What smiling alligators have to do with anything?  8. What are kundalini breaths? And kundalini swans?  9. How we can move energy through our bodies? 10. What is the sound of the vibration of the earth? 11. What we can learn from Culadasa about awareness and attention? 12. What was the magical experience that happened with double grammy-award winner Robert Mirabal in Taos, New Mexico. 13. How to feel electricity or chi moving through your body? 14. How to jump in the flow of magic 15. Check out Robert Mirabal and John Tesh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkPBy_60MIA 16. For more info visit www.FireItUpWithCJ.com CJ Liu On Coincidences, Synchronicities & Bringing Magic Into Your Life! + Law of Attraction | Health | Fitness | Inspiration | Motivation | Spiritual | Spirituality | Meditation | Inspirational | Motivational | Self-Improvement | Self-Help | Inspire For More Info Visit: www.InspireNationShow.com     

Culadasa talks with Michael W. Taft. After decades of Buddhist practice, Culadasa exploded on the scene a few years ago with his groundbreaking book The Mind Illuminated, an incredibly comprehensive guide to meditation. It’s an erudite mixture of neuroscience, traditional Buddhist practice, and Culadasa’s own ideas about how to gt the most out of practice. In this episode we talk about his definitions of attention and awareness, how his system compares to that of his friend teacher Shinzen Young, how the meditative brain works, dealing with aging and death, and much more.Learn more about Culadasa and his teaching at culadasa.comShow Notes0:15 – Introduction and overview 2:30 – Culadasa’s system vs. Shinzen Young’s: stability of attention 7:55 – Sustained attention and effortlessness 10:20 – Culadasa’s system vs. Shinzen Young’s: sensory clarity and peripheral awareness 19:55 – Mindfulness as the optimal interaction between attention and awareness 22:55 – Conceptual overlays and the lower limits of conscious perception 32:50 – Attention selects objects from peripheral awareness 35:00 – The interactive role of attention and awareness in maintaining mindfulness in daily life 38:30 – How strong mindfulness affects emotions, wholesome and unwholesome behavior, and the practice of virtue 43:50 – The importance of the Eightfold Path post-awakening 47:20 – The Ten Fetter, Four Path Model: characteristics of paths and the dropping of fetters 59:49 – Spiritual development does not end at Fourth Path 1:01:57 – Old age, sickness and death are part of the Great AdventureYou can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

If you've ever wondered about the brain science of meditation, and how to begin, then do we have The Mind Illuminated show for you! Today I'll be talking with Culadasa, also known as John Yates, PhD, a meditation master in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions, a former professor of psychology and neuroscience and the author of an amazing book on Meditation , the Illuminated Mind. And that's just what I want to talk with him about today, about integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science to dive deep into meditation! Meditation and the Brain Self-Improvement and Self-Help Topics Include: What's the importance of our connection to the land? What did he learn from his early childhood that affected his spiritual growth and desire to later learn about the brain? What did he learn from his mother about different world views? How did he end up in and out of seminary – and later on to a PhD for the brain? What did Maharishi and the Beetles have to do with anything? Why do we meditate? What is the higher goal of meditation? What do monkeys and elephants have to do with meditation? What exactly is meditation doing for the brain? What are the ten stages of meditation? What is a meditation object? How does a meditation object help the mind? What is the true meaning of mindfulness? What does mindfulness do for the brain? What is the essence of mindfulness? How does mindfulness help one's life? How do we move past the difficulty of beginning to meditate? How do we make it easier to meditate? What are the changes going on to the brain throught he process? What is the problem of forgetting and mind-wandering? How do we overcome impatience and cultivate joy? What does it meant to develop mental power? What in the world's the zen lurch? What is meditative joy? What is a cessation event? What are insight experiences? What does compassion have to do with anything? For more Info Visit: darmatreasure.org Culadasa, aka John Yates, PhD on Meditation, Mindfulness & the Neuroscience Behind It!!! Health | Fitness | Inspiration | Motivation | Spiritual | Spirituality | Inspirational | Motivational | Guided | Self-Improvement | Self-Help | Inspire For More Info Visit: www.InspireNationShow.com 

Important Message from the Dharma Treasure Board of Directors As the message at the above link indicates, “John Yates (Upasaka Culadasa) has engaged in ongoing conduct unbecoming of a Spiritual Director and Dharma teacher”. His interview remains on BatGap because … Continue reading →

Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.) is the director of Dharma Treasure Buddhist Sangha in Tucson, Arizona and author of "The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide Using Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science". He joins host Vincent Horn to discuss the themes in "The Mind Illuminated", and to describe how his life as a professor of physiology and neuroscience intersected with Buddhism. UPDATE: This is an edited version of a much longer interview. The rest of the interview--detailing the 10 stages of concentration--will be released soon in the Buddhist Geeks Dojo. Culadasa will be joining the Dojo community on October 6th for a Practice AMA (“ask me anything”). You can get a trial month to check it out and join that event. Links - Culadasa.com [http://culadasa.com/] - "The Mind Illuminated : A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science" [ http://amzn.to/1V0tdtx ] - Dharma Treasure [ http://dharmatreasure.org ]