Podcasts about stream entry

Ordinary experience is governed by the endless round of the Wheel of Life, which can be gradually halted by treading the spiral path to Enlightenment until progress becomes irreversible. Excerpted from the talk entitled Stream Entry given by Sangharakshita in 1965 as part of the series The Meaning of Conversion in Buddhism. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB

Michael Stroe (@Plus3Happiness) is a phenomenologist and “happiness concierge.” Through a combination of the Buddhist Fetters & somatic practices, he's allegedly reduced his suffering by ~90%. He claims to consistently live at 9/10 life satisfaction and has skillfully guided others into similar transformations. Today we demystify his journey and discuss concrete practices for oneshotting procrastination, reducing reactivity and permanently raising the floor of your happiness (seriously).Watch on YouTube:Transcript — Michael Stroe​[00:00:00] Daniel Kazandjian: Michael Stroe, welcome to the Metagame.Michael Stroe: Well, thank you for having me. How you doing?Daniel Kazandjian: I'm doing great. I'm really excited for this conversation. You famously, through a combination of Buddhist practices and somatic practices reduced your suffering by around 90%, whichMichael Stroe: Even more these days.Daniel Kazandjian: And now you're teaching other people how to do that, which is fantastic. How did you figure that out? Like what, what's the story there?Michael Stroe: As many great things happened by mistake, it's a total mistake. I was on a more or less sabbatical in like 2023 in Barcelona. Uh, not in a great place in life, honestly.Daniel Kazandjian: Hmm.Michael Stroe: and towards the end of the trip, someone actually, someone that, someone being Frank Yang, which you might be familiar with,Daniel Kazandjian: Mm-hmm.[00:01:00] Michael Stroe: Shared, Kevin Schanilec's website, which I've messaged, and he was very succinct as like, “try Liberation Unleashed” being a Liberation Unleashed being this forum for, for these practicesDaniel Kazandjian: Can you say that again? LiberationMichael Stroe: unleashed. Yes,Daniel Kazandjian: Unleashed. Yeah.Michael Stroe: Yes. And very quickly realize that the way they're doing it is one practice at a time and it's months of work. My ADHD Mind, uh, was like, yeah, but what if we do everything all at once? Um, instead of doing one practice at a time, I basically did eight of them daily for a couple of hours.'cause that's how you do it. Uh, in a bunch of days I had a perceptual shift, which was very interesting, and a bit of a honeymoon for like two days. Uh, that was something that I found funny that um, some people speak of these, uh, awakenings or whatever in terms of like, oh, months of bliss. And I just had two days and on the second day I was in an airport delayed for like five hours, which I was chill about.[00:02:00] But that wasn't necessarily like, whoa, I'm so alive. They're like, yeah, that's not happening. It was a bit better than usual. That perception shift coincided with a bit of a, what should I put it? Less? Uh, stress, let's call it initially. ‘cause I didn't know what was happening. Just less stress, less, uh, overthinking, less, chatter.And actually one of the, one of the few things that I found really interesting somehow coincided with great sleep. I don't know how to explain it seconds to sleep.Daniel Kazandjian: Wow.Michael Stroe: I found it very interesting because I used to get like one hour, two hours, three hours to get to sleep. And I just have ideas and sit in bed for just 30 seconds. I was out and I'm like, okay, this is an interesting benefit. Not gonna lie. Uh, I don't even care about all these benefits, I'm sleeping. Like that's, that's enough. And from then on I sort of returned to simply the scene, the, the initial website where I was guided, uh, to Liberation Unleashed.And I've done the practices on attachment and version. Okay.[00:03:00] And I should mention that immediately after stream entry, which would be the first shift that I had where it kind of, you notice that there's just the body mind, there's no little guy driving this, uh, body around. Um, you start to be aware of the fact that you kind of don't like a lot of the things that are happening.You're trying to pull out experience to such an extent. And, I had 10, 15 years of anxiety and other things on and off. Um, when I started looking at them, uh, I sort of noticed that I had a sort of a version towards so many things even after the first shift in like two more weeks had another one where, oh, like I, my, my, like that was the point where anxiety got reduced both in size and intensity and that was a big deal, even more of a big deal than the first one. ‘cause the first one is, like I said, it was nice, I was sleeping better, but also realizing how much you hate your experience,[00:04:00] let's call it, put it into a certain perspective and realize that from whatever anxiety I used to have or whatever intensity, it went down by like 60, 70%, at least in duration.Michael Stroe: One of the things I've noticed is actually, I used to have anxiety for days and weeks at a time about some stupid thing, or in general, like a generalized anxiety. And I realized that I couldn't. Get anxiety going for more than 30 minutes. As in, if someone distracted me, I forgot I had anxiety, and I'm like, huh, don't understand what's happening.Why do you mean like, I forgot I had anxiety. What do you mean? Like that makes no sense. And sort of like this continued, uh, after a bunch, uh, more time, a few other shifts, but this one especially, were like, oh, there's a dare there. Which for me, there were years of trying self-development, failing at meditation, um, or is nothing working actually.You sort of like, you do all these self-development things.[00:05:00] You, you're gonna do your finances and orders, like you're not happy. You're gonna get a great job, not happily encouraged to do these things. It's like, okay, but like what works? Um, and I had a notion that there's a debt there, but I didn't have a notion about what's possible.It's sort of like more of a faith, even though I'm not religious, more of a fate that it's possible. I didn'tDaniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: I feel like maybe some of the people that I was following were somewhat trustworthy in this sense.Daniel Kazandjian: So, you just, so to recap, you had 10, 15 years of suffering with like, maybe above average levels of anxiety, is that what you're saying?Michael Stroe: Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: Were months at a time where I was to be okay. And the, the moments where I was okay were just the moments where I wasn't doing anything. As you know, I was mostly taking sabbaticals, which is not necessarily a great thing in the sense of like, if you're not active in society, you're feeling great.It's like saying, oh, I'm feeling great on vacation, but I hate my job.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So from that, the practices at On Liberation Unleash, the first thing,[00:06:00] Daniel Kazandjian: the thing that allowed you to sleep fast and stuff was, was that stream entry.Michael Stroe: Yes. That would be stream entry. Yeah. AndDaniel Kazandjian: So just,Michael Stroe: Obvious. Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Just to bring people on board with that, what is stream entry?Michael Stroe: Stream Entry, if I am to take away from the woo stuff, it's like realizing there's no self, but the problem with realizing there's no self, it's so, uh, abstract, but we, no one, no one know what it means, but it's provocative.But if I'm to be a very mundane phenomenologist, it's just the sense that I'm no longer the little guy in the behind the eyes. I used to call it behind the eyes or behind the, an experience that sort of looks like a watches experience from afar a bit.Daniel Kazandjian: Mm-hmm.Michael Stroe: So realizing that, oh, I guess there's nothing separate from the body, mind world. There's just the body and mind. And my identity is more so that of a witness, uh, not of the tour, let's call it. And it's very simple. Like it's mundane. One of my, uh, most treasured experiences, right? When someone says, uh.[00:07:00] Is it almost disappointing that there is not more there? Because that's what you kind of know. Like, okay, like yeah, they got it. And it's like, of course, like after enlightenment, it's just, just ordinary experience. Um, and yeah, basically just the sense of no longer identifying as the doer. It'sDaniel Kazandjian: Mm-hmm.Michael Stroe: There's no one moving the body mind, just the body mind moving itself. Uh, it doesn't need a do or it's all conditioning. And so,Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: freeing.Daniel Kazandjian: So, so, uh, we might get into more details on this, but what's interesting to me is what you said after that was when you realized that you had a lot of aversion to things.Michael Stroe: Yes.Daniel Kazandjian: So is it that stream entry kind of brought awareness to the suffering that was already, like, you weren't feeling your suffering fully, and then something shifted in terms ofMichael Stroe: Yeah. Um, what happens prior to stream entry? You take all these things as identity. This is mine. Then through stream entry,[00:08:00] You start seeing them as more of an objective, uh, phenomenon or objective processes. Basically what I used to call, uh, um, what I was seeing afterwards as, oh, you know, like some contractions and so on, it used to be like my anxiety, my social, whatever. And it was, it was getting, uh, caught up as identity. And once I was able to see these processes, just those objective processes that I'm able to watch, uh, there is, uh, a subtle detachment. I don't mean detachment in, uh, sort of like going away, but they're actually going towards them.What I'm able to see them for whatever, which is a bunch of thoughts and sensations and that has a very interesting side effect of actually realizing that these are happening, these are conditions and they've been happening for so long. And if beforehand they used to be like, oh, uh, it's me, it's, I'm, I'm bad like this. I'm bad like that. I'm not good enough for whatever. It's like, oh, there's this process. Of these sensations appearing and this story about not being like this or not being like that?[00:09:00] Daniel Kazandjian: Do you have a personal anecdote about that? really illustrates this point?Michael Stroe: Uh, yes, actually, I can tell you how, uh, we, the weakening of a version happened.Daniel Kazandjian: Hmm.Michael Stroe: Uh, there was this particular day I was in my parents' house in the countryside and for some reason, some of my friends, not just one, were not answering my messages. And I used to have anxiety about this thing for, uh, both relationships and of both kinds of friends and, and anyway, about people not responding.And I used to have three friends and it's like they were not answering my messages and I was kind of going in a loop. What did I do? What did I say? Did I say something? And I was just, I had the moment of watching. I was like, okay, there's this weird process. There are some sensations that are kind of like, not pleasant, but I'm going through all these thoughts.And what happens is that I'm making it worse, but what is this? I was like, there are some sensations I had the moment. The sensations are not that bad. And also, I don't know how I'm making this. Like they're just here.[00:10:00] And that was the moment, like, oh yeah. It's like, why, why am I, what, why am I doing this to myself? And I was moments like, ah, yeah, it's okay. Oh, it's like, I best I'm gonna like if, if this is how bad it feels not to, uh, receive, uh, attention or whatever it was at the time. Like, I don't even remember fully what I was like, it's not that bad. was like, huh. A bit of like, oh, this is no big deal.Yeah. I can just go about my day. Like, I thought it was gonna be worse. The anticipation of this being so bad was what I was amplifying but the sensation themselves was like some amount of contraction in the stomach area. Like, uh, one out of 10. Not a big deal.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah, so it's almost that there, the raw sensation itself is relatively benign, but then there's some sort of mental content, some story at adding to it.Michael Stroe: Yeah. The mental tension. Like a rat, like basically a rat in a cage.[00:11:00] Michael Stroe: Um, and going through all these stories, going through all these machinations in order to, and this is very important in order to seemingly try to change the sensation, like what should I say for this person to respond to me?Michael Stroe: And then it dawned on me that actually I was not trying to have them respond. I didn't think it was gonna sound bad, but also I didn't necessarily care about them responding. I actually cared about me not having the sensations. And this is one thing that I usually show to people, which is like, if this sensation would be the same, but you were happy, you wouldn't care about the sensation.If you were content with how things are. Whatever happens, happens, you can still be pretty, pretty okay with it. But the problem for me was not the situation, which is like all these people not responding to my messages, like the, the, the anxiety or the amplification was just happening. It's like, I just don't like how I feel right now.I hate this and probably this is the reason why. It's like, is this the reason why it's like, not just some conditioning there. But Yeah.[00:12:00] Daniel Kazandjian: And so what were the practices that allowed you to create a little bit of distance with those sensations and stories?Michael Stroe: I think at, at, at the time I didn't necessarily like I had the materials, right, but the materials were something like, oh, notice in this moment that what you're trying is to look for some other reality than the one you have. Basically that moment I had these people that were not responding to my messages, and the thing that I was was like, oh, I don't have a reality where they're responding to my messages.In current practice, I would frame it like, oh, I didn't get a response from my friends. It's like, oh, I'm looking for this reality somehow. It feels differently and things are different. So it's like, not necessarily that I wanted things to be different, I wanted to feel differently. Oh, I don't have friends that respond to my message quickly.So like, sure. I guess.But when, when, when we were seeing that actually the practice was just seeing things and just feeling a bit to it, it's not a big deal.[00:13:00] And definitely, my practice was a bit different from the one I, uh, show to people right now. Uh, at the time I was doing more inside Heavy, which would be staying that mental tension and seeing that it's just a sensation that we can do something about it.Right now. I ask people to do both that, but also like just sitting with a so-called pain and letting it dissipate.For me it was just sitting in that tension. It's like, okay, I'm sitting in that tension. So what? And it's like, okay, it's not that pleasant, but also. There's no other reality available.There's no other Michael. Sometimes I, I, when I see people being stuck in, it's like, what is your quantum duplicate that somehow has some other sensation? They're not. It's like, okay, so I guess this is what you have right now. Is it that bad? And sometimes I make these weird analogies, which is like, imagine you've hit your leg very badly in the furniture.Would you trade these sensations for those sensations? Like, no, you go. Then sit with these ones. Maybe you appreciate them more,[00:14:00] Daniel Kazandjian: Hmm. Um, I wanna get back to your story, but one thing I'll, I'll, highlight is what your practice wasn't. It wasn't trying to understand why you happen to be so sensitive to people texting you and it, and like going into the deeper reasoning for your emotions. It wasn't that at all. It was focusing on the sensations themselves.Michael Stroe: Yeah. And what I found is there are cases where the, let's say the story unbundling, which I would call it, is helpful.For the sake of reducing suffering, there is minimal need for that. You need to see that the story is a story, which is a bunch of thoughts, and the sensations are conditioned, arising and the like.The impression is that, oh, this anxiety, for example, right now for me, it's happening because of what's happening. But the reality, no, it's happening because all the baggage from the back, all my priors that are being, uh, involved in this particular situations, out of which, let's call it this gate out, which, the anxiety comes up is through this situation,[00:15:00] it's actually the baggage that's to blame, let's say for this. One of the things I usually do, um, lately is, uh, to ask people to, okay, has some meaning, whatever story, right? My story, I was like, there's meaning, and my friends are not pointing my messages. Okay, why is there more meaning to that particular thought compared to my body? 70% water?It's like. Uh, somehow one is more meaningful than the other, but they're both, let's say language markers.They're both tokens and somehow one has more meaning than the other. It's like, is it the meaning or they're just both neutral, but the charge is just because of the conditioning and it helps a bit putting on the per circuit. Like you have two stories or you have two sentences. is charged, one is not charged.It's like, how exactly is the story charged experience wise? What exactly is the charge? Oh, some sensations. Yes. So it's not the story. And through just sitting with them, they eventually were like, oh, I guess the story.[00:16:00] It was the sensations that I was resisting.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah. maybe it'd be worth spelling this out a little bit more. It's like there's a storyMichael Stroe: Yes.Daniel Kazandjian: And then there's a sensory experience in the body, like some, some knot in your gut or something like that, or like a buzzing sensation somewhere. And then those two things are very tightly coupled or correlated. And so the story itself feels charged.What's the process of disentangling those two things?Michael Stroe: Well, the first step is usually to take away from the story as in, oh, this thing happened, this thing happened, this thing happens. It's like, okay, all those things happen, but what's happening right now? It's like me, I'm looking for some other reality in the one available. It's like, okay, um, I don't have this reality that I'm looking for where this other thing happened.So it's like, okay, in this moment, right now, what you have, uh, this sensory reality and some thoughts, it's like, okay, that brings you a bit further, into the present, right? So it's like, okay, you make a sentence,[00:17:00] and that sentence is almost like a summary of what happened, but in a very factual way.Right. Like very factual. It's like they didn't say this, okay, so I don't have this experience where I'm looking, I'm looking for them to be different. The next step would be putting the sensations into perspective. And actually that's a very big one.of the things that I notice is if I ask someone, which I have a lot of track questions during my inquiries, I, I need to mention that, uh, I usually ask them, it's like, okay, on a scale of one to 10, how bad are these sensations?And I've gotten some weird responses for some very meaningless situations. Like this email being an eight out of 10, right? Um, it's like, okay, that like an eight out of 10, an email, like he, that torture, that torture level pain, right? So if you ask people, uh, in, in that way, they're gonna, um, compare it with the ideal, how they would prefer to feel in this moment.So it's like, okay, okay, put it in a bit of a perspective, like compared to some actual pain, which is a breaking leg, I think breaking leg is the one I use most often.It's painful enough. And if you try to imagine it's like.[00:18:00] That would be a bad one. It's like compared to breaking a leg, how bad is this pain?It's like, okay, it's one or two. It's like, oh, now we got some perspective. Now we got a foothold to just sit with the sensations. Right? And, and going through these a few steps, uh, you've basically taken away from the story. You've reduced it to something, you are looking for some other reality, and then you have the intensity dropping a bit.Quite a bit actually. And then the last thing is like, okay, I want you to see with the sensation, it's called being called staying in the gap. And what I mean by staying in the gap, it's you tone descendants. I didn't get the response from my friends, right? Some sensations are appearing and being in the gap.It means seeing with those sensations until the thoughts that are happening, the thoughts that are happening somehow it seems. They can, uh, act upon these sensations somehow seem to be about these sensations. And the more you stay in the gap with a sensation, with thoughts,[00:19:00] eventually it's such a, uh, a long time between the sensations appearing and the thoughts that it's like this couldn't be connected.Michael Stroe: It's there's no way that these, there's a way for, for these sensations to be changed by this thought that happened a minute later. Like there's no way of causality in such a way. So it's like,Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: There's two channels. You have the channel of the thoughts, you have the channel of sensation, and it might seem initially that they're glued somehow, but then it becomes, uh, obvious that no, the sensations are conditioned in a certain way.The thoughts are conditioned a certain way, but there is no, uh, uh, glue in between. There is almost one of the metaphors I use lately actually, the, the channel of sensation is the basketball game the channel of, uh, thoughts or stories is the sports commentary. No amount of sports commentary will change the basketball game.Whoever is your favorite basketball player, whether it's LeBron or whatever, it doesn't even matter. It's like he's not gonna suddenly start shooting trees just because the sports come. It's like, oh, you're shooting wrong. It's like, yeah, that's not gonna happen.[00:20:00] And it's a bit of a, of a more immediate, um, metaphor that it's helped is like, oh, I'm trying to change the game by just commenting on it.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah, yeah, I love that image. Um, you used the word, uh, conditioning a few times, so like, because of conditioning, there's the glue between the sensations and the thoughts and the stories. How, what do you mean by conditioning here? How does that process work?Michael Stroe: Yeah. By conditioning, I mean all the situations and experiences that have left an imprint on the body mind, they've made a, they made a dent, whether it's in personality, whether it's even in the body. We have a discussion sometimes about VA computation, like.The body does keep the score right. and that conditioning is basically everything you would, uh, actually both, uh, uh, positive and negative. You can have positive conditioning, right? Uh, both, uh, pleasant and negative experiences that make a mark in that condition.[00:21:00] Future experiences based on prior experiences. If you wanna use priors, because we're more in rational spaces, we can use priors, but I'm mostly speaking about the priors at the level of, uh, memories oftentimes and bodily, uh, contractions.Michael Stroe: That's what we use mostly for this.Daniel Kazandjian: So is that like, let's say when I'm younger and I have less awareness,Michael Stroe: Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Something happens to me, you know, maybe I feel a sense of social rejection, um, because I don't know, the girl I like didn't text me back or something like that. And then it prompts a really big physiological response that I know.Michael Stroe: Yes.Daniel Kazandjian: Correlate with the story of like, girls not texting me back, and then that's conditioning. That's like the prior.Michael Stroe: Yes. That's basically the pairing of some sensations with some stories.Daniel Kazandjian: Mm-hmm.Michael Stroe: Often, whether the stories can be like a visual memory. Like myself in that situation where I used to feel this way, and it's like, oh, when that happens,[00:22:00] this is, uh, this is the thing. And, and also like when I have that, those pairings, those pairings actually create a certain amount of one unidimensional response.When I feel the sensations, I need to double text them or I need to say, I need to say, I need to say something. I need to say something to them. Right. Um, there is a sense where the degree of freedom is being traded for, uh. A sense of apparent control, right. In that case, uh, the one we mentioned for like, uh, not receiving a message.When I, when this happens, then I do this. But by having, just when a then BI have a degree of conditioning or a degree of conditional, uh, response that actually prevents me from seeing there are maybe 10 other options. And that tends to shrink our personal freedom to such an extent that we often don't realize that we're doing it.[00:23:00] Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah. So let's come back to your story. You got, you got the stream entry. Then you start to recognize the conditioning and all the ways in which you had aversion to your experience. What happened after that?Michael Stroe: Um, I found a guide, a lovely lady in Italy that was recommended to me by some other guide in fairs. She had some availability and we started working together and I started working on the big issues. Right now, when I work with people, I think I work a bit differently.We used to work, we used to work directly with big stuff. One of the big things I had the most directly, which was something like some past relationship thing, and then I started working with a bunch of them. But the reality is, looking back, like I had a certain degree of buy into the processWhen I used to guide the same way with folks that weren't necessarily as bought in or[00:24:00] believing in the process, I can say I had like 25 to 30 people quit after the first month because, um, instead of having more of an upstream, slowly gliding your way to more wellbeing, it's more abrupt. It's like you, you have reactivity that happens in two stages, weakening and breaking.With two big issues, you're gonna have the weakening and then the breaking. But if you don't go with the biggest ones and you just go with. You, you can, you can have more of a smoother path.Okay, what's the biggest thing I can think of? Like, oh, there's this, uh, memory from a relationship. And because I have this memory, I won't have happy relationships in the future. Right.And to work with this, and I can definitely tell you that between getting a weakening of reactivity or a version by myself and dropping, it's been like a month and a half where I cannot necessarily say that was progress.And I, uh, at the level of pedagogy,[00:25:00] I found that actually to be a big issue because I was crazy enough to believe because I got the benefits fast, let's say, and I was on my own. So it's always easy to believe in the process, but I can definitely understand someone being like, I wanna stop.So, and then in another month and a half, um, I kept working with bigger and bigger things. Right now, I, sorry, I separate things and things. Keeping you up at night, which is like immediate short term things that are causing suffering at the moment. And then the next one would be, uh, big goals and desires.The second category. And by starting to work with Maria, I was already working on the big stuff, which is not necessarily ideal if I'm gonna be honest. I don't have the emotional capacity right now. I feel that I end up in a point where I actually help people build the emotional capacity as we're dropping a version.Otherwise it can feel very jarring and that can make people not want to keep the process until finished. Right.[00:26:00] I'd say like a month and a half, beginning of December, 2023, I started noticing that things were kind of like, uh, water of a duck spec. That's what I would call it. Things were smoother. That was kind of where I started noticing. I kinda cannot say, and this is so like a bigger discussion, but. I cannot say I have bad days. A version basically is this mental chaining, uh, of some pain that happened and, and keeping it with you during the entirety of your day, even though it was like two minutes or five minutes of unpleasant sensation.So when that no longer happens, a version by the way, dropping a version is called dropping into non-conceptual. That's basically when you drop the associated between, uh, stories and sensations. And once that, that was dropped, it's like, yeah, you can still feel pain, you can still feel unpleasant sensation, but you're no longer chained as your day goes on into a big feeling that basically colors the entirety of your 24 hours.[00:27:00] And that was the last, so like the, the last days where I've noticed, uh, bad days. So I cannot say that I have had bad days since then. Okay. I hadDaniel Kazandjian: Wow.Michael Stroe: unpleasant situations for a few hours or whatever, but the amount of pain was actually low and there was no suffering. Even once, like, I had someone, like almost lost a friend a bunch of months ago, and there was crying, there was pain. There was no way of me imagining that there are some other sensations available and I fell through it. I cry. Uh, just what seemed natural there was necessarily suffering or resistance and it's, it's also a very point to be, it's not relatable.I cannot explain it for it to make sense. If someone doesn't have it almost seems like I'm trying to sell someone on these. Grant benefit, uh, uh, by now, uh, where it's like, oh, it's so amazing. It's like drugs.[00:28:00] It's like, it is amazing, but also it makes no sense how this could, uh, be experienced. Right?And then when that happened in a few more weeks, I dropped into non duality again. It is a very fast process. I think there is a certain extent to which all these shifts are happening fast when someone really wants it. And I know that the Buddhist say desire is the root of all suffering, but that's a mistranslation.Was the root of suffering. And that's a different, more moment to moment, uh, thing. being open, it's like, yeah, I really want, this has led to very fast progress. And I think actually, um, suffering wise, actually this one actually made the most, uh, difference just dropping a version. I used to have so much of it.It's to color my days to such an extent, days, months, years, whatever you wanna call it, that once it drop, it's like, okay, yeah, I did not expect this was possible.[00:29:00] It's easy to say that it's not possible or there could not be something like this. Okay. It's not perfect, but it's amazing. It's sort of like, that's how I would call it. No, it's amazing. And, and luckily right now, I, I, I feel like I'm not speaking from a standpoint of just me at, with her, there are a bunch of friends, some of them that you already know that have gotten the same experience and they have the same experience or like, no, it's pretty great.Michael Stroe: No,Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah,Michael Stroe: great. Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: I know you, you also tried to make this a little more legible for people by like mapping it on to commonplace positive experiences.Michael Stroe: Yes.Daniel Kazandjian: You know, and I know it's a totally imperfect process or whatever, but it gives people a sense.Michael Stroe: Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: maybe you can tell the listeners that, like how different stages mapped onto like the, these commonplace positive experiences.Michael Stroe: I was trying to do this with a friend a bunch of times ago because I was thinking,[00:30:00] what's the marginal value of the next dollar? But actually it was more so what's the marginal value of the next million dollars? It's like, what do you even buy with a bunch of money that gives you happiness? I put my own happiness into, okay, what would I trade this for?And it's for, for as much as it's gonna sound, it's farfetched, I would say, like, I don't know, tens of millions to be like, you have no physical worries for the rest of your life. You would still end up in the place where you're pursuing this.It's already that good. Like there's no convincing. Like I would rather take my pain from years ago just to have it. Yes. So the first, the first steps, treatment three, first one to three. I've humorously, uh, called it getting a free sandwich daily. Um, which is okay. It's nice. Like there are some days when, when a sandwich can, can make you feel a bit better.Uh, it's, it's nice. Um, you got a sandwich, you have a bit of a brighter day, right? There are days where a sandwich does not do anything.[00:31:00] I'm gonna throw that off, right? Uh, and I'll be experimenting, weakening. Um, it's a bit of a, a bit, uh, higher and I would call it almost like having a very relaxing massage daily, right?And it's great. Like you go to have a massage, it's great. You, you are relaxed now, you enjoy your day more. Maybe you are smiling more. It can make most days a bit, uh, sunny, right? also like when, some really bad things are happening and massage probably won't be enough. And there are certain categories of things where.A massage won't do anything like, you know, loss and so on. Um, but the real, the real, uh, thing happens with the dropping of reactivity. And the reason why I call that, um, basically, um, being in a, a, a pretty good vacation all the time is because you no longer want or expect to always feel good.[00:32:00] But that has the interesting side effect of making most days pretty amazing. Dropping reactivity or no longer, like I know, don't want to feel good all the time. And because I don't necessarily want or try to feel good all the time, I'm actually feeling good most of the time.It was the suffering or other, the resistance to those few moments. We were feeling some pain that was coloring all these other moments negatively, let's call it.But when you no longer want that, it does feel pretty, uh, vacay vibes, uh, it's okay. I'm on vacation most days. I don't necessarily need to be somewhere, I don't necessarily need to have a fancy dinner. A lot, a lot of what humans imagine they would feel during a vacation where they're away from work.You can have here and now with work, with life, with all these, uh, trappings of daily life, and it's pretty amazing. And that would be what we spoke so far, which is the trapping already. [00:33:00] And there's a bit of a, there's technically two more steps, but I usually, I only, uh, speak about the first, uh, uh, one, uh, in this, in this, uh, next, uh, in next year row, which is like the fourth, uh, range, I would call it, uh, dropping form and formlessness.And for those that are familiar with Buddhist, uh, terminology, that would be non-duality. And “I-ness”. I-ness probably it's a bit less, uh, common, but no is very obvious. uh, or getting into no. Minus the stories that, uh, were all one and so on. it's a, it's a small, actually a small gain in, in pleasure.You have more of a sense of connection with everything or everyone. You no longer have the sense of things or people being distant from you. You have the sense that you're in one world simulation, which is interesting, but I found it compared to not having a version not as consequential.[00:34:00] I have expected, based on how all the spiritual people are selling nonduality to feel amazing, connected. It's like you do feel connected or actually it's more correctly framed, disconnected. Like, I'm not, we are not all one necessarily, which is like, uh, further inside it's like, okay, we're all in one.It's like we're close by distance is an illusion. Pretty great. Pretty great, right? But in terms of suffering reduction, I would've expected it to be more, but it was like 5%. A cool 5%, right? But not what I expected and this wouldDaniel Kazandjian: You're like, disappointed.Michael Stroe: I'm gonna be honest a bit, a bit.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: I would've expected more people to have sold it to me as this grant thing where everything is amazing. It wasn't necessarily, and this would correspond with the third six, right?And I actually feel that third seven is more impactful, which would be “I-am-ness” consciousness and so on. Uh, the reason why this one actually was, um, profound, I would start with the sense of time.[00:35:00] Sense of time kind of goes away and you realize there were a bunch of sensations and thoughts. When that happens, you have to be a bit more clumsy with your appointments. I'm gonna give people that warning.That's gonna happen, but you no longer have the time pressure. I need you to do this, I need to do that. If you heard people speak about timelessness or the experience of timelessness, this is basically what they were speaking of just now. Just now, just now. And it's pretty amazing. That's just one aspect.The second aspect that I've seen, um, this actually has to do with, um, almost, um, dropping the notion that somehow things are existing in opposites. Where it's like, in this case, it's ugly and beautiful you're dropping the opposites as real categories when, when the opposites seem to be integrated as neither this nor that, neither ugly nor beautiful.I found that everything is more beautiful.[00:36:00] Very few people will be able to relate to this, but there was a joke going around on Twitter a bunch of time ago, which is like, Would you rather get plus three to your own, uh, beauty, or would you give plus three to everyone?And this is in a way giving plus three to everyone's beauty. course, beauty being in the eye of the beholder, uh, but everything from a wall to a flower to whatever you want to tends to become way more, uh, beautiful by, um, via negative, which is no longer saying, saying it's mundane or, uh, boring or whatever you would project upon it.That cancellation of the extremes makes it way more likely that everything is like, has a certain beauty, has a certain vividness to it, that I. I actually wasn't told that it's gonna happen. Uh, but I found it very, very obvious and I'm sometimes, uh, I'm, I'm being caught in, in the metro and[00:37:00] I'm just looking at people with a certain fascination regardless of how they're looking or whatever their gender is, because there is a sense of, wow, look at all these ways that the reality is happening.All these ways that, uh, things have manifested, right.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: And I guess, uh, the last one, which is very interesting and some might relate it, um, is no longer making things out of images. Here's what I mean. You're looking around the room or you're looking around something. You're noticing, let's say, uh, a basket.The mind or the brain is like, oh, that's a basket. It makes a thing almost like the image that you would see it and gives it a thinness, uh, substantiality. When you just take things as they are, it's an image or if you want to interact with it you can go touch it and so on. But when you compulsively make it a thing, the mental chatter drops a lot.[00:38:00] Michael Stroe: I used to have problems where I used to work in advertising, like outdoor advertisements and I was like Coca-Cola, and it's like, oh, I like, like all these, uh, ads I used to see in the brain were automatically naming them. That goes down because okay, I'm seeing an image, but I don't necessarily need to make it a substantial thing.That drops a lot of the mental chat and also like the compulsiveness of interacting with the world. Um, the benefit of this mostly is that life tends to become very movie-like at this point. When you no longer imagine that things have very distinct boundaries and everything becomes more fluid in that sense, you no longer have the image, the, the, the image that somehow you are outside of the world somehow.You, you, it's one big singularity, if you wanna call it. Um, that tends to make things very easy to move around. If you ever heard, and this is a bit of a, I'm not sure I would give it a trigger or warning,[00:39:00] but I would be mindful that sometimes when in Buddhist, a lot of people know this, know that they're actually very dumb ways of giving insight. For example, if you heard that there is no body, that's one of the dumbest ways of framing it.The actual framing would be the body arises together with everything else. And that wouldn't necessarily give people any type of, uh. Scaries. It's like, oh, okay. So the body is just part of the Raja. And the sense of the body as a thing, as a monolith was just the brain taking a bunch of this junk, uh, sensation and constructing a mental model of what the body would look like.With the seven photos, you no longer need to construct a body as a monolith. You just take sensations as different pings. I used to call it the same way that rain drops. That's how you feel. You no need to hold the frame of there is a body in, in a very, um, uh, experiential way or like one big block of stone.[00:40:00] Have this, the sensations, the body's still there, the organ is still there. You no longer hold the concept of it being a monolith and that I've actually found very relaxing and super easy to do, uh, hard things, physical hard things, or go without sleep for a long time because the body seems to be way, uh, way easier.To process. It's like, oh, there is some unpleasant sensation from tiredness. Okay. Like, it's not that the whole body is tired, it's like tiredness, uh, expresses itself as just this one muscle in the back that it's aDaniel Kazandjian: Yeah, yeah.Michael Stroe: You're no longer like, oh, the body is tired. It's like, no, it's just some sensation. It's not pleasant. That's it. So it's easy to bounce back.Daniel Kazandjian: Um, so this reminds me of a meditation prompt. Uh, it's like a direct pointing prompt of just experiencing the body. Just see, see if you can experience the body as a cloud of sensations as opposed to. The, the mental map or like, maybe a simple one that, that I noticed was if someone says, pay attention to your hand, the sensations in your hand,[00:41:00] you might think you're doing that, but then you'll notice that often there's also an image of the hand and like a sense that you're up here and you're looking down at your hand and like there's a bunch of other stuff happening quite habitually that isn't just the raw sensations of the hand and the raw sensations of the hand are something like, like texture and, and heat and tension and like these more, uh, simple constituent elements.And then the same applies for pain. Or I've noticed when I've had issues with chronic pain, if I just do this type of exercise, it just gets deconstructed into a bunch of neutral sensations.Michael Stroe: Yeah. Direct pointers of this nature are very useful because we tend to interact with the word via abstraction or via fabrication.[00:42:00] But once you see, like into the, let's call it, you realize that, oh, it's actually easier to bear. And as you mentioned, there are a lot of these small pointers that you can give someone that make actually a big dent in your experience, uh, especially are of suffering and pain they finally see experience as is not through the conceptual map.And one of the, because you mentioned the one with the conceptual map, one of the things I actually ask people during the stream entry conversation is, uh, can they imagine an actual tactile sensation? Like, okay, let me try to imagine my feet standing on the floor. So it's like, are you really imagining a sensation or are you imagining the mental body map and where it would happen, is like, oh yeah, no, I'm, I'm imagining the mental body map.There's no way for me to. Imagine a sensation the same way. It's like Exactly. So that helps put things into perspective between what's direct sense experience and what's abstract experience. And you can use abstraction.[00:43:00] It's just though you never confuse abstraction, if you want to call it, the abstraction would be context, right? And enlightenment is just untangling more and more of the context of identity or of concepts into the components of, um, what we would call experience, like context and content. Like that's, that's like the more you take, uh, context and make it content, that's the more enlightened you are, if you want.Michael Stroe: Call it like that.Daniel Kazandjian: I wanna see if we can help people on this a little bit. Obviously, you know, reducing your happiness by 90 or reducing your suffering by 90% orMichael Stroe: Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Nine outta 10 happiness is like a pretty good sell. But one of the things you've mentioned, and it's also implicit in the stories that you shared, is this idea of freedom. How there's actually just more degrees of freedom around different areas of life.[00:44:00] And so I wonder if you can speak a little bit more about freedom and then some of the other kind of tangible benefits that you've discovered through this journey.Michael Stroe: Yeah. Um, the biggest degree of freedom, I would say, does come from aversion attachment.I used to have this notion that I should make this amount of money by this age, and I would say that's very common for type A. Uh, once I was no longer held by that attachment, I could actually work toward that direction.Well, in the past I used to be very contracted around not having, that would actually mean and turn, uh, into procrastination. And that's a very common experience where it's imagined that procrastination is somehow. An issue of the situation. I don't have this, I don't have that, but most often with the people at work, we end up seeing that procrastination is just an emotional issue.Procrastination being just the resistance to how I'm feeling and most often how I'm feeling is not that bad.Freedom, it turns out, is a very common conversation for me. It's like, if meditation takes away my ambition?[00:45:00] It's like, wouldn't that be bad? It's like, well, let me frame it differently.Uh, if you were to lose some of these things probably you weren't interested in, but you're gonna do way more of the things that you actually want to do. And none of the people that I know have gotten, uh, this far have somehow lost their ambition. They will have families, they're still doing things, they're doing more things.They're no longer imagining that things should look a certain way and they're not looking a certain way. Turns out that the freedom of choice increases and. From the standpoint, like prior to stream, I imagine that I'm, I have agency in this, uh, frame of, uh, I sort, I control the body mind and I'm me, the self controlling the body mind.It's gonna act on the world. It's like integrating, seeing just the body mind, working with the world. I now see that there are more choices by degree of not denying that there are actually some limitations. Like, I cannot[00:46:00] I cannot, uh, suddenly start, uh, in some language. I haven't spoken before.And, but by seeing the limitation, you actually gain the freedom by denying the limitations that are inherent to, to experience. I'm actually not seeing freedom because I keep holding on to my ideas of what I should be able to do instead of seeing what I'm able to do. So without shooting the experience, you can see the things that could be happening and it becomes, uh, pretty easy.Uh, a pretty, pretty obvious experience after you get it, but before it's sort of like cloudy. in, in terms of freedom, I would say the biggest freedom I found was to, to take on projects or, or, uh, do things that I previously seemed to be unapproachable. Uh, it's my identity, like, oh, who's little me?[00:47:00] Like, uh, imposter syndrome. oh, look at all these people. Um, they're, they're from a big, this big, uh, university. How can I work with them? Right? All these notions of, of importance, it's like, who? Little me.That's from a small town in this eastern European country. Uh, so when you drop identity, it's like, okay, whenever I had that, it's like, oh. They're gonna see that I'm an imposter. Can you see how that is just a sensation in this moment right now, that being an imposter is just a sensation that's all there is to, and some thoughts, but what bothers you is not as much the thought level as much the sensation level. How does feeling an imposter or rather being an imposter, because it seems like I'm being an imposter and it's very common for prior to experiment to have the experience of I am this, I am that, versus, this sensation appearing there is this pattern occurring.So when I no longer make this about some me, some, some, uh, constant identity and adjusting as a pattern, I'm able to actually clean it out because I don't feel every time I'm doing healing that I'm somehow, uh, attacking myself.[00:48:00] Almost a lot of people try to do healing and it goes nowhere. And this is my opinion around therapy.The reason why therapy actually doesn't work is because they have this view of this monolith called self Instead of being a bunch of almost decentralized projects, um, when someone gets stream entry, they finally realize that all those were processes and they weren't necessarily constant and they weren't necessarily owned and they weren't necessarily present.Oftentimes, like the memories Hmm.We identify as, or with any memory, if I, I would invite the, the listeners, any memory they have, if they bring it out, I want them to realize that the experience of a memory, it's a bunch of thoughts and sensations happening now and. I hope they see that this means that the past can only be experienced as a bunch of thoughts and sensations happening now.They cannot experience the past in any meaningful way other than sensations and thoughts happening now. So when that happens, you no longer get lost that much into the thoughts, uh, of the past or into memories, or[00:49:00] you keep identifying with this version of you from 10, 15, 20 years ago that is actually not here. So you're able to be with a, with a, you have the, the freedom to be here now and realize that you have some references to some other so-called past experience. But what you have is just, uh, an, a reference to some memory, some thoughts happening now. that brings you to, like, you need, know, the whole power of now, right?You, to do something to be in the power of now. And this is the funniest one, which is I ask them to, okay, try to imagine the, the, the past and it's just a bunch of thoughts and sensations now. And then imagine your favorite meal in a bunch of hours and see that there are a bunch of thoughts and sensations happening now.And then I asked them, is there some other place other than, than now to be like, do you need to do something to be now? It's like, no. You just have the impression that somehow you are not now. And that opens up a lot of, uh, opportunities to clean up. I think that's the most important when I no longer, um, think that somehow I'm the same guy was five years ago in that relationship,[00:50:00] It brings the possibility of me being like, oh, wait, that relationship, it's a bunch of thoughts and sensations happening now.And that's not something I do. It's just when, when a thinking of the memory occurs, sensations come up. It's like, I did not make those sensations. I did not do the sensing somehow, I didn't do the feeling as much as the feeling happened. And there are a few, uh, pointers for these that make it immediately obvious, but at each level as you go to a pad, you realize almost, uh, in a way actually find that the Buddhist path is very consistent with the Keegan stage.Instead of like me, uh, having this experience, you make everything an object and you basically make more and more of your identity on an object that you can work with.Uh, eventually you make all of your identity. Actually, Reen enlightenment would be a bit past even Kegan five because you make everything,[00:51:00] you make everything an object that can be worked with and you no longer see it as a subjective context.Michael Stroe: Um, yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Let me let, let, no, that was great. I, so we're talking about freedom and then, um, the, the freedom from. You're past in a way, and I, I kind of wanna sharpen up this therapy thing ‘cause you said something very provocative, which is the reason why therapy doesn't work is the way I understood. It's almost like it's reifying the self.Daniel Kazandjian: Right. It's a discursive practice that's assuming the self actually exists.Michael Stroe: Yes, and it's assuming that identity is an experience instead of like, what's experienced is just a bunch of thoughts and sensation.The way I would frame it, it actually, it, it actually applies both to stream entry and work with reactivity. For stream entry is assuming that somehow you, you can have the experience of the memory or your, uh, basically bringing up something from the past and it's like, oh, that's still happening, that's still active, that's still real.The memory of being this age and having this experience instead of seeing the experience for what it is,[00:52:00] it's like, oh, a bunch of thoughts and sensations happening now, and that's the first one. They're making a thing out of something. That's another experience, and that's the first aspect of considering identity a constant.Right? The second aspect of the, the reason why therapy doesn't work is because action therapy always works after the gap. If I want to, if, if I should, uh, remind people what I mean by the gap. The gap being the space of just sensations. No dots have started to try to change your experience. So let's say I go to a therapist and I wanna speak about this thing that happened to me in a relationship.I'm gonna draw on and on and on and on and on about what happened. But I'm already into the experience of trying to justify the sensation or change the sensation. I'm past the gap, and at no point I'm actually feeling my, my feelings. Feeling my feelings does not mean sobbing and going through this, oh, this person did this to me and they, this, this, to me.It's like, that's not what, staying with the sensation, that's not feeling your emotion, feeling your emotions or feeling your sensation is just the act of sitting with the initial sensation.[00:53:00] The one with the, the, this issue just started, the ones that you feel without needing to add the layer of, or conceptually the layer of thoughts or the layer of judgment.And because most therapies working in the space of reactive already, they're past the gap. They're the inner version already. Hmm.Most people don't make meaningful progress. Because they're actually not feeling their emotions. They are more or less feeling the amplified sensation, but not the, the, the, the crux or the core of the issue.They're feeling all the fabrication around the issue.Daniel Kazandjian: Let's see if we could apply this to an example. Like let's say, um. Uh, just totally random example, let's say I had a very critical father who whenever he was in the room, his presence, um, warranted like a hyper vigilance in me and my siblings because, and, and he's a bit volatile.[00:54:00] So we just have to be on edge, you know, whenever he's around. And then, so something at a young age developed to protect myself from, from that mechanism or from the potential of attack or something like that. And then it's still latent in the body. And maybe, maybe it's influencing the way I relate to authorities as an adult.And I come to therapy, I come to you who you're like, therapy doesn't work, but we got this other approach.Daniel Kazandjian: How would you,Michael Stroe: therapy for what is, what is me teaching? not trying to take the clients from the therapist. I'm just saying what works and what doesn't.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah. What, what would work to, to deal with a situation like that?Michael Stroe: First it would be bringing up the memory. And when you bring up the memory, it's immediately coupled with a bunch of sensations, right? Like, it's very obvious that like, you might tell there's something, there might be a lock in, right?Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: So where it's like you have the grand story that they were this, they were there.It's like, okay, but like, that's not happening right now. Me and you, let's say we're in the same room. We're just sitting on a couch, just vibing.[00:55:00] So it's like, oh, what happens right now? It's a bunch of mental phenomena, stories, thoughts, images, and some sensations. It's like, okay, take away the whole, he was this, he was that.He was like, what's happening here at this moment? Oh, a bunch of thoughts. Okay. I want you to notice that. Regardless of what happened in the past, that's not what is happening right now. You might behave as if it was a real, real thing, but if you foresee that your memory of it, it's a bunch of thoughts and some not so pleasant contractions in the body happening right now, you first gain a bit of distance from it.Distance in a good way, not trying to dissociate.There are some sensations in my body right now. I have a mental image of what that happens. And I would ask, okay, you notice that in this moment you're thinking of that story and imagine that reality should be a certain way for you right now.Almost like trying to, um, rewrite the past, which is in a way, making a sentence or what we describe. It's like, oh, I didn't have a father that was,[00:56:00] let's say, uh, warm and I'm just making it up right now. Right? It's like when you tone that, is that the thing that you actually wanted back then?It's like, yeah, I wanted to, it's like. what you have right now, even though you didn't have then, it's just a bunch of sensation. And I ask them, okay, if you feel those sensations, but like, don't go into thoughts that are just chatter now. At this moment. You have those crappy sensations, but are they that bad?That's why I make the framing around like compared to an actual pain, how bad they are, and I ask them to stay with it. And if they get lasting thoughts, I bring them back. It's like, no, no, no, no. You're in this room right now. Your father, whoever it is, it's not here. You're safe. You're with me. Like, or even if they're in their, in their own room, they're safe.What do you have right now? It's a bunch of sensations. Like, do you need to do something about those sensations? Can you just relax a bit into them? Can you give them 1% at a time to just be there and let them dissolve?[00:57:00] And over time that decreases, they're not here, not an experience. Would be the point of imagining, oh, it's this, this created this problem. This problem is this problem. if you wanna untangle, but at the level of suffering, most often. I've seen, uh, I, I'm not gonna give a percentage. Most people end up not having the benefits that I want because they're going like, oh, he was like this and he used to do this.And you, it's like if they, if they lock into the past, they're already not in the room with you. They're basically like lost in thoughts that they're already passed the gap in a space of just fabrication and this, just seeing the difference between what's here right now and what's fabrication or constructionDaniel Kazandjian: You know, the concept of memory reconsolidation and like, uh, therapy literature.Michael Stroe: Yeah.Daniel Kazandjian: Do you wanna do a quick summary of that?Michael Stroe: Uh, yes. I'm not super technical and I can, I best tell you myDaniel Kazandjian: Well, let, let me actually just say how I mean it. ‘cause like, we don't need to get academic about it. It, but it's this idea that like, uh,[00:58:00] There's all these different therapeutic healing modalities, inner work modalities, and to the extent that any of them are effective, they seem to share one thing in common at, at least this is the thesis, which is they allow you to reconsolidate refactor negative memory memories into positive ones by presenting. or neutral ones by presenting disconfirming evidence. So you're having, we're having a conversation in a safe environment about something that happened when it felt unsafe. Maybe we spend time with the sensations instead of the story,And then the system changes. It's a prediction because you're predicting something bad's gonna happen,but it doesn't. And then if you just see that very clearly, then your system updates and then you no longer have activation around that.Michael Stroe: Oh, uh, yeah, definitely. I feel like in a therapeutic sense, they kind of try to change the story as well, if I'm not mistaken.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: like in our approach, it would be mostly just.[00:59:00] Sitting with the sensation and they become neutral and then the story, it's like, okay, he did that. It is probably process wise, we would stay a step, uh, closer to experience. We wouldn't necessarily try to change the story.Daniel Kazandjian: Yeah.Michael Stroe: What it's worth, I want everyone to know that I actually don't think that enlightenment, Buddhism, or fairs have the answer to all the problems. And I think some, uh, therapeutic modalities should be used, especially after stream entry, but stream entry is super fast.But I think if you want to change your patterns, you would first do the feeling and then okay, what would ideally do here? Right. Funnily enough, funnily enough, there is a degree to which feeling your sensation about an issue changes behavior immediately. Even though we are not necessarily doing, uh, a change in the story, uh, this oftentimes actually happens with issues around procrastination.That's the one I actually have seen the most when you no longer have this, oh, this is gonna suck if I'm gonna have to do this. immediately like, oh, I, I feel okay, I'm just gonna do it.[01:00:00] Uh, and we, we in this case with, let's say, let's be less than pleasant with, uh, a parent that happens, but less to a degree. Whereas I would say that, oh, the people that I've worked with necessarily all of a sudden go and all of them repair their relationship. They feel they are if they choose later to work on this and process this and change the relationship. That's almost, um, a side process that it canBut I wouldn't say that this one actually solves it like that.Daniel Kazandjian: Um, I think it'd be nice if we did like a very concise, uh, procrastination protocol, so. Let's say someone listening to this is like, fuck, there's that thing I gotta do, and I keep putting it off step by step. How might they deconstruct it using your method?Michael Stroe: Yeah. So it'll be like this. Oh, I have this thing. Let's say I have, I have this project and there is a deadline on Friday, right? Let's say today is Wednesday. Sorry.The reality is like all those grand stories, like, oh, if this is, if I'm not gonna do this, my boss, my this might be like, okay, okay.[01:01:00] Okay. Right now what you have with this situation, you have some sensation, you have some thoughts, and you're also like some resistance to how the sensations feel. But let's take a step back and all of the, the stories we can sum it up as, I don't know if I finished the project by Friday, that's the, the thing, it can be either, uh, uh, a, a, an uncertainty problem, right?That I usually frame, I usually frame it on two things. Procrastination, especially either something that you feel like it's missing or something that you don't know.It's the first one where you feel like something is uncertain, like I don't know if I have the time to be or if I know if I'll finish the project by Friday.Okay. How does that feel in the body? Oh, it's a sensation in my gut. It's a four out of 10. It's like, whoa, we have a big one. Right. And that's when I asked them, it's like, okay, but compared to breaking, like how bad is that sensation? It's like one. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it's like, oh, it's a one out of 10 for the fact that I don't know if I'm gonna finish the project by Friday, or I don't know if this task will get done.Okay. Or I, or, or the other framing is I haven't done X project.[01:02:00] Maybe the deadline is not there. Especially for personal projects, I work with a bunch of people that are self-employed. It's like, oh, I haven't done this project. And there's no one, there's no boss to tell them to do this. So in those cases, it would be like, oh, I haven't done X project.Okay. How does that feel in the body, that sensation? It's not that, that it doesn't even bother you that you have done or haven't done that situation. What bothers you is this sensation? So give it like 30 seconds. Okay. Oh, I haven't done this project. Does it feel that bad? Oh no. It's like, and it's like so fast, like two minutes.For most people, if it's not a big deal, it's like a two minute thing, like feeling your sensations. Like, okay, are you gonna do the thing? Yeah, I'm gonna do the thing, whatever. That's it.Daniel Kazandjian: Step one, you, you, you notice that you're procrastinating because I think sometimes you don't even realize that you're doing it. You're just like avoiding your life and then you're like, oh shit, I'm procrastinating. It's due tomorrow. Okay. You notice it.[01:03:00] You just sit and feel what's happening in your body, like what's the,Michael Stroe: I would actually, first, the next step would actually be putting things into perspective. It's you looking for some other reality than the one you have available. And it's very because sometimes like, oh, but what you're initially feeli

(Gaia House) Stream-entry not as an attainment but an image of the committed practitioner; reflections on identity view - sakkāyadiṭṭhi.

A talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu entitled "The Rewards of Stream Entry"

Send us a textI'm thrilled to share the latest episode of the "Endless Possibilities Podcast" with you. This time, I had the pleasure of diving deep into the realms of spiritual awakening, energy healing, and the nature of existence with the insightful Morgan Smith. Here's a sneak peek into our enlightening conversation:Key Takeaways from Our Conversation:The Trap of Ego and Labels:We often get overly identified with our roles and labels, leading to suffering.Recognizing these attachments can help us break free from the "us versus them" mindset.The Journey of Awakening:The importance of addressing unresolved traumas for spiritual growth.Personal stories of healing and the ongoing journey of self-discovery.Unity Consciousness:Join us in this episode as we explore the depths of our identities, the nature of reality, and the journey toward spiritual awakening. It's a conversation filled with profound insights and heartfelt moments that I believe will resonate with you deeply.**Introduction to Spiritual Awakening (00:00:00)****Podcast Welcome (00:00:41)****Guest Introduction (00:00:50)****Stages of Awakening Discussion (00:01:15)****Ignorance and Identity (00:02:46)****Attachment to Labels (00:03:21)****Understanding Dukkha (00:04:18)****Separation and Ignorance (00:05:14)****The Nature of Play (00:06:57)****Jim Carrey's Awakening (00:07:31)****The Role of Family (00:08:43)****Breaking Out of Ignorance (00:10:15)****Feedback Mechanism of Life (00:10:32)****Lifetimes of Learning (00:11:00)****Experiences of Past Lives (00:11:35)****Spirituality in Past Lives (00:12:28)****Understanding Parallel Lives (00:13:18)****Oversoul and Individual Experiences (00:15:02)****The Complexity of Atman and Brahman (00:16:02)****The Cycle of Life and Death (00:17:53)****Illusion of Reality (00:18:52)****Understanding the Interchangeable Terms (00:19:52)****The Nature of Brahman (00:20:38)****Ignorance and Levels of Awareness (00:20:53)****The Drive for Truth (00:22:24)****The Game of Ignorance (00:22:48)****First Awakening Experiences (00:23:05)****The Journey of Discovery (00:24:47)****Hypnotherapy and Awareness (00:25:38)****Stream Entry and Self-Realization (00:26:59)****Stages of Self-Realization (00:29:09)****The Essence vs. Ego (00:30:56)****Freedom from Identification (00:31:03)****The Ongoing Nature of Awakening (00:33:06)****Trauma and Awakening (00:35:30)****Childhood Triggers and Healing (00:39:30)****Shadow Work and Healing (00:40:05)****Collective Awakening (00:42:01)****Unity Consciousness Experience (00:42:44)****Essence and Expansion (00:43:31)****Meditative State Realization (00:46:14)****Awareness Dropping into the Heart (00:48:01)****Kundalini Activation (00:49:55)****Purging and Physical Discomfort (00:51:17)****Emotional Expression During Awakening (00:53:25)****Guru Dynamics and Shadows (00:56:51)****Inner Reflection and Healing (00:58:23)****Understanding Unity Consciousness (00:59:03)****The Role of Judgment (01:00:07)****Experiencing Creation (01:01:03)****Going Beyond Creation (01:02:03)****Near-Death Experiences (01:06:37)****Merging with Divine Light (01:07:56)****The Nature of Avatars (01:09:15)****Understanding Brahman (01:10:00)****Experiencing Divine Mother (01:14:09)****Simultaneous Creation and Destruction (01:16:50)****The Power of the Divine Feminine (01:19:20)****Experience of Ultimate Love (01:19:51)****The Essence of Existence (01:20:58)****The Duality of Experience (01:21:44)https://www.youtube.com/@EndlessPossibilitiesPodcast

In this session, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview Gil Fronsdal about "Naturalistic Buddhism", the experience of jhāna, Stream Entry, Insight Meditation Center's reliance on dāna, parenting, and other topics. Gil is the founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California and the Insight Retreat Center in Santa Cruz, California.

A talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu entitled "The Path to Stream Entry"

A talk by Thanissaro Bhikkhu entitled "The Path to Stream Entry"

During this talk, Allie Vaknin provides insights regarding the four stages of Nirvana experience: Stream Entry, Once-Returner, Non-returner, and Arahant.  The recording includes comments from various participants in the meeting. Next week's talk will provide an overview of the Fourth Noble Truth, The Noble Eightfold Path; subsequent talks will address each element of the Noble […]

My fellow travelers of the aural universe, I'm so very happy to have you all here as we lazily flow into a continuation of the Mental Drift series. As with any amalgamation that is woven, special consideration is given to those of you that may feel alarmed by disruptive and angular sonic anomalies. Our mission here at the Spaceman's Transmissions laboratory is optimized towards the analyzation of our sketches. It is during these rigorous processes that the removal of diluted mish-mash and scratchy, if not, dull and turbulent static are discarded. Dear listeners, we have baked you a morsel of mental release made with only the freshest natural ingredients. All allergy free. This sweetly baked bite-sized snack is a mere hour(ish) of an escape journey, and is one which requires only a very tiny fraction of of your devotion. This will allow you to paint your grey matter with colorful light and provide your creative spirit a smooth path inward towards your cerebral control center. Allow the gears of your mind the pleasure of connecting with what really matters: you! Sink deep into your own universe, you owe yourself that. There will be no bumps or turbulence along the way, as we are drifting calmly and slowly upon a mental breeze of comfort and beauty. Take a moment to gaze skyward and marvel at how wonderful you are. Celebrate your uniqueness with a smile and a sense of motivation towards your utopian sunset. Don't hurry through this journey. Rather, let the slight breeze set the course of the voyage. It will steadily (and purposefully) carry you to where your creative oasis resides. Stay there awhile, and rejoice over the beauty of everything around you. Your old boy Tonepoet is there to ensure that your mellow flight of peace is every bit as rejuvenating as it should be.    Revisit Spaceman's Transmissions often, and invite your loved ones along so that they, too, may take advantage of the mental reset that we afford everyone. The journey was, is, and always will be a free ticket to the calm skies within your amazingly underappreciated personal space: the galaxy between your ears.   Turn on, tune in, drift away...   https://www.tonepoet-music.com https://www.facebook.com/tonepoetmusic     TRACK LISTING “Station ID” by Tonepoet's Daughter from Goodnight, Lady (Start Time: 00:00) “Space Travel” by Ancient Astronaut from Through The Tunnel of Love (Start Time: 00:31) “Two Divers” by Isik Kural from Maya's Night (Start Time: 02:42) “Follow the Stream Entry” by J. Arif Verner from From A Distant Horizon [Remastered Edition] (Start Time: 04:43) “116” by Hidden Sky from 3 (Start Time: 08:24) “Nummer 2” by Anne Mueller from Heliopause (Start Time: 11:11) “Words Appear Lost” by An Imaginal Space from Anniversaries (Start Time: 16:41) “Layered Sun” by William St Hugh from Anomaly (Start Time: 17:57) “Before We Were Born (Bonus Track)” by Hammock from The Sleepover Series, Volume Two (Start Time: 20:09) “Audition” by Jim Wallis from Return Train (Start Time: 26:18) “Through Summer Rooms” by John Foxx from The Complete Cathedral Oceans (Start Time: 31:03) “Hypermorph Swingstellar X” by Rikaar from Malin 1 (Start Time: 36:39) “Damaged” by Endless Melancholy from A Perception Of Everything (Start Time: 41:30) “Live and Die (Excerpt)” by Spencer Bott from Abstract Reflex (Start Time: 45:53) “Icebergs Melt (Excerpt)” by Static Storm from Burial At Sea (Start Time: 48:18) “Empty Packs Of Thai Cigarettes” by Benoît Pioulard from These Clouds… (Start Time: 50:58) “Carta Atlántica II (Excerpt)” by bahía mansa & Yama Yuki from Cartas Náuticas (Start Time: 55:09)

Clarifying some common misconception about what it takes to become a sotapanna and how can a lay person do it. For a new essay by Bhikkhu Anigha also see: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/what-the-jhanas-actually-are/ If you wish to support our work, the Hillside Hermitage Sangha and this channel you are very welcome to do so via: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us/

'A Guide to Stream Entry' - A Dhamma talk given by Ajahn Anan on 25 Sep 2023, translated from Thai to English. To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7.15pm - 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).

The Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths are eminently practical. They are not just a theory or mental gymnastics, but they are directly applicable to our life with it's pains and pleasures, it's disappointments and tribulations. They can be experienced right here and now in our own conscious experience. In this guided meditation, Ajahn Dhammasiha encourages us to observe with mindfulness and awareness how craving arises in our mind, and how it creates tension, stress, suffering for our mind. These are the first and second noble truth in action, right here and now in our awareness. Similarly, we can observe how the moment we can let go of that craving, the tension, stress and suffering recedes. This is, at least partially, the third and fourth noble truth in action, right here and now in our awareness. Naturally, our letting go is usually only partial, not deep enough to really experience the third noble truth fully, i.e. the experience of Nibbāna, or the arising of the Dhammacakka at the experience of Stream Entry. But whenever we succeed in letting go based on wisdon and insight, and then observe mindfully how suffering diminishes, we gradually train our heart to disengage and detach. One day, as wisdom sharpens and insight matures, we will be able to fully let go of craving and experience the total end of dukkha: Freedom, release, Nibbāna. Our Podcast on our own Dhammagiri Website, no need for any special app, just listen in any browser: https://www.dhammagiri.net/podcast More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

If you wish to support the monks of the Hillside and this channel you can do so by donating at: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us For other forms of Dhamma Teachings see: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings

In this talk, Ajahn Nisabho details the stages of Awakening described by the Buddha, and emphasizes the importance of practicing for Stream Entry, the first stage of Enlightenment.

Ajahn Karunadhammo reflects on contemplation of the five aggregates, leading to stream entry. This talk was offered on January 28, 2023 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

For most people, continual spiritual effort is required to counteract the 'gravitational pull' of mundane existence. However, there is a point on the path of ethics, meditation and Wisdom beyond which the Transcendental becomes the dominant influence, and one has 'entered the stream'. From Triratna's founder Sangharakshita, excerpted from the talk Stream Entry: the Point of No Return, as part of The Higher Evolution series, 1969. *** Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts Bite-sized inspiration three times every week. Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast:  On Apple Podcasts | On Spotify | On Google Podcasts A full, curated, quality Dharma talk, every week. 3,000,000 downloads and counting! Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone: donate now! Follow Free Buddhist Audio: YouTube  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Soundcloud

Prasadachitta talks about the appeal of Buddhism and the concept of 'Stream Entry' -- the initial point at which one is drawn to Buddhism and enlightenment. He shares what drew him to Buddhism and how it relates to the concept of faith. Then he explores how expanding our thinking about what is possible and worthwhile can enliven and broaden our practice. He explains that Stream Entry involves the falling away of: Doubt and indecisionA fixed identitySuperficial rights and ritualsHe also responds to the question of the role of worship in Buddhism, that what we worship and appreciate is actually the value of the dharma.  ____________ Prasadachitta was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2011 and he became the Chair of the San Francisco Buddhist Center in April 2022. He was born on a “back to the land” commune in rural Northern California and that background has inspired his engagement with others in building the SFBC's rural meditation center called Dharmadhara. He also helped to establish a community of sangha members who support the retreats there. He supports himself as a documentary filmmaker and photographer but his real life's work is training others who want to practice Buddhism within the Triratna Buddhist Community. Support the show______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: Donate Learn how to participate live Find our schedule of upcoming speakers Join our mailing list or discussion forum Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. This is an EXTRACT from the Full Unduvap Poya Dhamma session (on 7 December 2022) explaining the Buddha's teaching of the Seven Knowledges that arise from possessing the noble right view: making one ready to realise the fruit of Stream Entry, or one has attained and is able to maintain the fruit of the attainment as a concentration. Often people use this as a checklist to determine if they are ready to attain or have attained to fruit of the path. Or apply it as a basis for how to identify a stream enterer. A table of these seven knowledges for easy reference has been posted to our YT Community page and to Telegram (https://t.me/suttameditationseries/633) This follows on from an earlier Dhamma Q&A on "How can you identify a stream enterer?" - https://bit.ly/3Y5vtDe (video) or https://bit.ly/3UEDoVe (audio) For the Full Unduvap Poya Dhamma session AND the list of sutta references (on 7 December 2022) - https://bit.ly/3h5EKue (YT video) or https://bit.ly/3VZmTUQ (audio) The video of this Extract has also been published to the Sutta Meditation YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loKrTXAbY3s Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai To find the YT Sutta Meditation Series playlists visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/SuttaMeditationSeries/playlists, or click on 'Playlists' in the top menu bar. Selected tables, slides and documents are shared via the Sutta Meditation Series Telegram channel - https://t.me/suttameditationseries For all enquiries - suttameditationseries@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Role models play an important part in all of our lives, whether we seek them out or not. And whether we walk the Buddhist Path or not, they can have the power to shape the direction we take and the ability to influence the decisions that follow on from there. For Buddhist practitioners, the Buddha is our most eminent role model, teacher and the Perfectly Enlightened One. And there are also many noble and great disciples of the Buddha. In this session we delve into the story of Jīvaka Komārabhacca, an accomplished lay disciple of the Buddha who was also the physician of the Sangha headed by the Buddha. Due to his skill as a doctor and other good qualities, he was foremost among the Buddha's lay followers who people had confidence in. He also realised the fruit of stream entry despite leading a very busy life. Jīvaka Komārabhacca's story is a very interesting one. He had plenty of encounters with wealthy merchants, families, kings, the Buddha and the Sangha. His story is inspiring for a number of reasons, including the qualities he demonstrated, his skill at healing, his devotion to the Triple Gem, his good fortune to regularly interact with the Buddha, his influence over some of the Vinaya rules, his Dhamma questions, and his attitude towards wealth. We can learn much from Jīvaka's wonderful example. Some of the suttas referred to in this Dhamma talk: — Chaṭṭhavagga (AN 1.248–257) — Sattavagga (AN 1.258-267) — Sāmaññavagga (AN 6.128) — Cīvarakkhandhaka (Kd 8) — Mahakhandhaka (Kd 1) — Khuddakavatthukkhandhaka (Kd 15) — Sanjiva Jātaka (Ja 150) — Saṅkicca Jātaka (Ja 530) — Cūḷaseṭṭhi Jātaka (Ja 4) — Sattigumba Jataka (Ja 503) — Cullahamsa Jataka (Ja 533) — Jīvaka Sutta (AN 8.26) — Jīvaka Sutta (MN 55) — Jīvakapañhavatthu (Dhp 90) — Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), — Cūḷapanthakavatthu (Dhp 25), In learning about such noble beings, we can delight in their lives and accomplishments; recognise the importance of seeing them as worthy role models; and use it as inspiration towards progress on the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. Bohoma pin (much merit) to the kalyanamitta who contributed towards producing this Dhamma session. Much mudita. The video of this talk has been published to the Sutta Meditation YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDRqTMpdeq8 Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai To find the YT Sutta Meditation Series playlists visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/SuttaMeditationSeries/playlists, or click on 'Playlists' in the top menu bar. Selected tables, slides and documents are shared via the Sutta Meditation Series Telegram channel - https://t.me/suttameditationseries For all enquiries - suttameditationseries@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Ajahn Nisabho describes the Buddha's teachings regarding the first stage of awakening, or Stream Entry.

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. In this Dhamma session, we are addressing a Dhamma question (or topic) on the Dhamma-follower (dhammānusārī), Faith-follower (saddhānusārī), and Stream Entry. In addressing this topic, we delve into the Buddha's words on these two kinds of persons, the fixed course of rightness, and how they enter the stream; reference to learning ability; the importance of developing the spiritual faculties (indriya); understanding the distinction between this two kinds of persons and the stream-enterer; revisit the definition of "the stream" and the factors leading to Stream Entry; reinforce the benefit of thoroughly learning the Dhamma; look into the commentarial reference to the “cūla sotāpanna”; and take in the Buddha's encouragement that this is a gradual training, gradual practice and gradual progress. Suttas referred to directly or indirectly: — Kīṭāgiri Sutta (MN 70) — Paṭhamavibhaṅga Sutta (SN 48.9) — Paṭipanna Sutta (SN 48.18) — Ugghaṭitaññū Sutta (AN 4.133) — Cakkhuvagga (SN 25.1-10) — Sotānugata Sutta (AN 4.191) — Sāsanapaṭṭhānadutiyabhūmi (Pe 2) — Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) Bohoma pin (much merit) to the person that asked this question. A VIDEO of this FULL SESSION with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjyG5e_PqxE Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Can Contact with the UFO Phenomenon trigger an Awakening Experience? In this video we explore those themes in the contexts of the Therevadan Buddhist Progress of Insight maps!

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

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Another session to accompany the second module in the Youth Dhamma Gradual Teachings series looking into Buddha's Gradual Instructions to Lay People on VIRTUE (sīlakathaṁ) In this additional episode, we look at VIRTUE AS A FACTOR OF STREAM ENTRY. When it comes to the mundane path, virtue plays a key part in rebirth in a good destination as a result of merit-making and good conduct. However, on the supramundane path, virtue is only part of what helps us to walk the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the way out of all suffering. In this session we examine — why it's important to enter the stream and one of the Buddha's similes to explain that — how virtue helps us to slant, slope and incline towards liberation — "virtue dear to the noble ones" (ariyakantehi sīlehi) as a factor of stream entry and explain a little of what the Buddha teaches on this and how to develop it — and link to our "Metta School" meditation — how we purify our conduct and look at the Simile of Heartwood to understand where virtue fits into developing our Path and Practice. Some of the suttas that are mentioned directly or indirectly in this session: — Samudda Sutta (SN 13.7) — Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) — Dutiyamahānāma Sutta (SN 55.22) — Paṭhamasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) — Karaṇīyametta Sutta (Snp 1.8) — Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) — Mahāsāropama Sutta (MN 29) **For the full poya Dhamma session on BUDDHA'S ADVICE TO LAY PEOPLE ON STREAM ENTRY - Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) - EPISODE 80 - https://bit.ly/3q0YUYx If you have any questions or comments regarding this talk, please email them to suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com or leave a voicemail message via anchor.fm A VIDEO of this FULL SESSION with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QajzGqUvJNA AND on Spotify as a video podcast Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

This Sunday talk was given by Ajahn Amaro on 17 October 2021 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK. It's an audio version that was firstly live-streamed on Amaravati's YouTube channel during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The post Holy Shift: the Liberation of Stream Entry appeared first on Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.

This Sunday talk was given by Ajahn Amaro on 17 October 2021 at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, UK. It's an audio version that was firstly live-streamed on Amaravati's YouTube channel during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The post Holy Shift: the Liberation of Stream Entry appeared first on Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.

In this episode of Meta Perspective we are joined by Janusz Welin of Deep Mindfulness Collective. We discussed Mindfulness, Awakening, Vipassana, Stream Entry, and navigating the territory of The Path. See Here: https://youtu.be/u02xe7EKGE8 Janusz Links: Website: https://deepmindfulness.io/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/DeepMindfulness Instagram: https://instagram.com/deepmindfulness?utm_medium=copy_link

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Another session to accompany the first module in the Youth Dhamma Gradual Teachings series looking into Buddha's Gradual Instructions to Lay People on GIVING (dānakathaṁ) We look into the significance of developing giving and generosity as a factor stream entry. In this short session we examine: — what is stream entry? — why is stream entry important? — what does the Buddha say about generosity as a factor of stream entry? — how Anathapindika entered the stream (note - forgot to mention lay disciple, Visākhā entered the stream at 7yo) — how the gradual teachings or instructions that we are learning together help with the process of entering the stream and leaning towards Nibbana Some of the suttas that are mentioned directly or indirectly in this session: — Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) — Nakhasikhā Sutta (SN 13.1) — Thapati Sutta (SN 55.6) — Sudatta Sutta (SN 10.8) If you have any questions or comments regarding this talk, please email them to suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com or leave a voicemail message via anchor.fm A VIDEO of this FULL SESSION with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDCt8yyZ1c AND on Spotify as a video podcast Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

2021.09.21 | In this talk, Ajahn Anan tells the story of Lady Uttarā and Lady Sirimā, and how it is possible to go from a heart afflicted by very strong, painful emotions to seeing the Dhamma. To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm - 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).

Leigh Brasington - Right Concentration In this episode of Meta Perspective we discussed Right Concentration; The Jhanas, Insight practice, Stream Entry and Dependant Origination. See the video interview on the Meta Perspective YouTube channel.

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. A question received following the Esala Poya Dhamma Session on the Four Noble Truths: “From the Stream Entry talk and subsequent Q&A, I think I understand what is meant around “not clinging to virtue and observances” – that virtue does not definitively lead to ultimate liberation, the Noble Eightfold Path does. My question is to do with the four developments and the Noble Eightfold Path, that you outlined in the Four Noble Truths talk. It seems that the virtue we are encouraged to cultivate on this Path has something to do with this. Can you please go over this again?” Most of us in Dhamma understand the overall framework and component parts of the Noble Eightfold Path, however, not many are able to explain what the Buddha means by fully developing the Noble Eightfold Path (through development of body, virtue, mind and wisdom) and how it all comes together as the Path to Liberation, which is, the way leading to the end of the whole mass of suffering. If you understand this, then you begin to understand what is bhāvanā (what we call "meditation") that is taught by the Buddha. To listen to the ESALA POYA FULL DHAMMA SESSION - https://tinyurl.com/24yd5drz **This session is for anyone who sincerely wants to follow Gautama Buddha's original teaching of the Four Noble Truths** Some of the suttas that are directly or indirectly referred to: — Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (SN 56.11) — Pariññeyya Sutta (SN 56.29) — ­­Cūḷaniddesa (PTS 1049, explanation 475) ­­­ — Hārasampātabhūmi (Pe 7) — Paccaya Sutta (SN 12.27) — Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44) — Loṇakapalla Sutta (AN 3.100) — Mahācunda Sutta (AN 10.24) — Bhāradvāja Sutta (SN 35.127) Bohoma pin to the person that asked this question. A VIDEO of this DHAMMA Q&A with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38h-jnFp19Y A VIDEO of this ESALA POYA FULL DHAMMA SESSION with presentation slides has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riuNy43Ke2g AND on Spotify as a video podcast Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “You briefly mentioned the four factors leading to Stream Entry – associating with good people, hearing the True Dhamma, wise attention and practicing in accordance with the Dhamma. Appreciate if you could explain each factor and how to develop them” To answer the question the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced (more are cited in the video's presentation slides): – Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) – Avijja Sutta (AN 10.61) – Cūḷapuṇṇama Sutta (MN 110) – Sappurisa Sutta (MN 113) – Dhamma (nāvā) Sutta (Sn 2.8) – Sakka Vatthu (Dhp 206-208) – Punabbasu Sutta (SN 10.7) – Dutiyaparihāni Sutta (AN 7.29) – Erakapattanagaraja Vatthu (Dhp 182) – Paṭhamasekha Sutta (Iti 16) – Sīlavanta Sutta (SN 22.122) – Paṭhamamārapāsa Sutta (SN 4.4) – Janavasabha Sutta (DN 18) – Dutiyanaḷakapāna Sutta (AN 10.68) – Dukkara Sutta (SN 39.16) Bohoma pin to the people who have asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm website or podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLIeLeA0gVs --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. In today's session we look at Dhammapada Verses 206-208 and THE STORY OF SAKKA, KING OF THE DEVAS, and how he came to personally attend to the Buddha when he became sick. The Buddha later tells the story of what led Sakka in his previous life to realise the fruit of Stream Entry. In this saying of the Buddha, he encourages associating with good and wise people and steering clear of foolish people as a factor leading towards entering the stream. The verses in Pali: Sāhu dassanamariyānaṁ, sannivāso sadā sukho; Adassanena bālānaṁ, niccameva sukhī siyā. Bālasaṅgatacārī hi, dīghamaddhāna socati; Dukkho bālehi saṁvāso, amitteneva sabbadā; Dhīro ca sukhasaṁvāso, ñātīnaṁva samāgamo. Tasmā hi— Dhīrañca paññañca bahussutañca, Dhorayhasīlaṁ vatavantamariyaṁ; Taṁ tādisaṁ sappurisaṁ sumedhaṁ, Bhajetha nakkhattapathaṁva candimā. Other suttas that are mentioned directly or indirectly in this talk: - Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) - Sikkhāpada Sutta (AN 4.201) - Assaddha Sutta (AN 4.202) - Sattakamma Sutta (AN 4.203) - Dasakamma Sutta (AN 4.204) - Aṭṭhaṅgika Sutta (AN 4.205) - Dasamagga Sutta (AN 4.206) - Paṭhamaasappurisa Sutta (SN 45.25) - Sappurisa Sutta (MN 113) - Sappurisānisaṁsa Sutta (AN 4.242) - Sappurisadāna Sutta (AN 8.37) To read the full chapter (Sukha Vagga) of the Dhammapada - https://suttacentral.net/dhp197-208/en/feldmeier The video of this talk has been published to the Sutta Meditation YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQbGIMcxrG0 AND on Spotify as a video podcast Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “Can you explain what is abandoned once you enter the stream? I've often heard that three fetters are no longer an issue. In fact, that seems to be the focus of teachings on stream entry. But is there anything more?” To answer the question the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Nakhasikha Sutta (SN 13.1) – Maggañāṇaniddesa, Ñāṇakathā (Ps 1.1.11) – Appahāya Sutta (AN6.89) – Pahīna Sutta (AN 6.90) – Saṁyojana Sutta (AN 10.13) – Sakkāyadiṭṭhi Sutta (SN 22.155) – Samādhi-bhavana Sutta (SN 22.5) – Diṭṭhikathā (Ps 2) – Suttatthasamuccayabhūmi (Pe 6) – Cetokhila Sutta (MN 16) – Aggappasāda Sutta (AN 4.34) – Sīlabbata Sutta (AN 3.78) – Vimuttiñāṇaniddesa, Ñāṇakathā (Ps 1.1.13) – Paṭhamagiñjakāvasatha Sutta (SN 55.8) – Bahudhātuka Sutta (MN 115) Bohoma pin to the people who have asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss8Iz1UvrDw --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: "I practice diligently and try to live according to the Dhamma, but at times I have a doubts about whether I'm on the right track with my meditation and if I'm developing insight. This also makes me question stream entry. Are these doubts blocking stream entry?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Tissa Sutta (SN 22.84) – Paṭhamamahānāma Sutta (SN 55.21) – Dutiyamahānāma Sutta (SN 55.22) – Vammika Sutta (MN 23) – Suttatthasamuccayabhūmi (Pe 6) – Cetokhila Sutta (MN 16) – Cakkavattirājasutta Sutta (SN 55.1) – Aggappasāda Sutta (AN 4.34) – MahāAssapura Sutta (MN 39) – Kāya Sutta (SN 46.2) – Āhāra Sutta (SN 46.51) – Nīvaraṇappahānavagga (AN 1.15) – Niddesavāra (Ne 3) – Avijjā Sutta (AN 10.61) Bohoma pin to the people who have asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZhPJVW01wo --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “It's not easy to understand paṭiccasamuppāda or dependent origination. Is it necessary to understand the Buddha's full teaching of dependent origination to enter the stream?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Dhammadinna Sutta (SN 55.53) – Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) – Paṭiccasamuppāda Sutta (SN 12.1) – Samādhi-bhavana Sutta (SN 22.5) – Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta (MN 9) – Paccaya Sutta (SN 12.27) – Dukkha Sutta (SN 12.43) – Pañcaverabhaya Sutta (SN 12.41) – Natumha Sutta (SN 12.37) Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWwCWaqq0ns --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: "Virtue or moral conduct (sīla) is encouraged throughout the Buddha's teachings. I was wondering if perfect virtue is a requirement for stream entry?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: — Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) — Dutiyagilāna Sutta (SN 35.75) — Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta (MN 9) — Akusala Sutta (AN 10.136) — Sīlabbata Sutta (AN 3.78) — Kukkuravatika Sutta (MN 57) — Mahāsāropama Sutta (MN 29) — Sīla Sutta (AN 5.213) — Karaṇīyametta Sutta (Sn 1.8) Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MfDBtlcUNc --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “I've heard there are different types of stream-enterers, can you explain what they are?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: - Dutiyasikkhā Sutta (AN 3.87) - Vitthāra Sutta (AN 4.162) - Ugghaṭitaññū Sutta (AN 4.133) - Sāsanapaṭṭhānadutiyabhūmi (Pe 2) Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzXl29z2bEk --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “I've listened to some Dhamma teachers that say it's wrong to want to become a stream-enterer. They say not to entertain thoughts about stream entry as it's linked to craving for existence. Is this true?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: — Dhammadinna Sutta (SN 55.53) — Mahāpadesa Sutta (AN 4.180) — Dutiyadhāraṇa Sutta (SN 56.16) — Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) — Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (SN 56.11) — Pariññeyya Sutta (SN 56.29) — Akusala Sutta (AN 10.136) — Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta (MN 9) — Padhāna Sutta (AN 4.13) — Manonivāraṇa Sutta (AN 1.24) — Veludvareyya Sutta (SN 55.7) — Paṭhamapuggala Sutta (AN 8.59) — Āyācana Sutta (AN 4.176) — Samudda Sutta (SN 13.8) To watch the poya talk on Stream Entry (VIDEO) - https://bit.ly/3aSvH9W or to listen to the talk (AUDIO) - https://bit.ly/3t7RkZX Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzhACLg5k4U --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: “Can a stream-enterer break the five precepts or other kinds of sīla? Sometimes I wonder about this when I'm around people who I think are highly attained but demonstrate a lack of virtue from time to time” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Dutiyasikkhā Sutta (AN 3.87) – Kalahavivāda Sutta (Sn 4.11) – Kalahavivādasuttaniddesa (Mnd 11) – Pariññeyya Sutta (SN 56.29) – Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) – Ratana sutta (Sn 2.1) – Paṭhamasaraṇānisakka Sutta (SN 55.24) – Dutiyasaraṇānisakka Sutta (SN 55.25) To watch the poya talk on Stream Entry (VIDEO) - https://bit.ly/3aSvH9W or to listen to the talk (AUDIO) - https://bit.ly/3t7RkZX Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMh0nYibVgU --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: "Is it possible to identify a stream-enterer? If so, what are the characteristics or identifying traits?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Migasālā Sutta (AN 6.44), (AN 10.75) – Dutiyalakuṇḍakabhaddiya Sutta (Ud 7.2) – Bahudhātuka Sutta (MN 115) – Ratana sutta (Sn 2.1) – Paṭhamasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) – Thapati Sutta (SN 55.6) – Sarada Sutta (AN 3.94) – Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) – Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) To watch the poya talk on Stream Entry (VIDEO) - https://bit.ly/3aSvH9W or to listen to the talk (AUDIO) - https://bit.ly/3t7RkZX Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlCNaRFgrqE --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. Following the talk on poya on Buddha's Advice to Lay People on Stream Entry, a question has been raised: "I'm a busy working parent with limited time to meditate and even less to study suttas. What's the best approach to stream entry given my situation and time constraints?” To answer the questions the following suttas were directly or indirectly referenced: – Dhammadinna Sutta (SN 55.53) – Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) – Vatthūpama Sutta (MN 7) To watch the poya talk on Stream Entry (VIDEO) - https://bit.ly/3aSvH9W or to listen to the talk (AUDIO) - https://bit.ly/3t7RkZX Bohoma pin to the person who asked this Dhamma question. PLEASE NOTE - you can send in questions via the voice messaging feature on anchor.fm podcast app OR via email suttameditationseries[at]gmail.com. A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ieQFYpbgk --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast. This session was conducted on POYA (26 April 2021) on the ADVICE TO LAY PEOPLE ON STREAM ENTRY, specifically looking at the Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) and supporting teachings. Suttas covered directly or indirectly in this session: – Anīvaraṇa Sutta (SN 46.38) – Nakhasikha Sutta (SN 13.1) – Paṭhamasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.4) – Dutiyasāriputta Sutta (SN 55.5) – Aṅga Sutta (SN 55.50) – Sotāpattiphala Sutta (SN 55.55) – Thapati Sutta (SN 55.6) – Nandakalicchavi Sutta (SN 55.30) – Avijjā Sutta (AN 10.61) – Paṭhamagiñjakāvasatha Sutta (SN 55.8) – Anisansa Sutta (AN 6.97) – Paṭhamaanāthapiṇḍika Sutta (SN 55.26) – Anathapindikaputtakala Vatthu (Dhp 178) – DutiyasikkhāSutta (AN 3.87) – DaṭṭhabbaSutta (SN 48.8) – Paṭhamapuggala Sutta (AN 8.59) – Duccaritavipāka Sutta (AN8.40) To read the Veḷudvāreyya Sutta (SN 55.7) - https://suttacentral.net/sn55.7/en/sujato A VIDEO with presentation slides has been uploaded to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9_5vi6Bej8 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/suttameditationseries/message

On the difference between puthujjhana and sotapanna, and benefits of not obscuring the distinction between the two. ____________________________________ If you wish to gift your support to life at the Hillside you would be very welcome to do so by donating at: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us ____________________________________ For other forms of Dhamma Teachings see: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings

Dhamma talk about Stream-entry is Possible for Laypersons. This Dhamma talk was delivered in English.

Dhamma talk about Stream-entry is by Listening to Dhamma. This Dhamma talk was delivered in English.

If you wish to gift your support to life at the Hillside you would be very welcome to do so by donating at: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us ____________________________________ For other forms of Dhamma Teachings see: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings For the Buddhist Phenomenology essays see: https://www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings/writings/

Ajahn Viradhammo expounds on the first three fetters which block the fruition of Stream Entry. He explains that holding to ideals can be difficult to observe in ones mind because oftentimes we have attached to them since childhood. (Q&A recorded at Arnprior during the OBS retreat on 19 September 2019. Duration 31:32)… Read the rest

The purpose of the Tantrik methods in the Secret Heaven Noble Path is to open and strengthen the lower chakras. To attain enlightenment one must have access to one’s full energy, or in Taoist terminology, Original Chi. The DanTien must be fully charged and the sex center fully open, capable of high-energy orgasm. Then if one begins the next stage with full energy and enthusiasm, it will be very easy to accumulate enough good karma to merit Stream Entry at least. To attain full expression of the sex energy (Kundalini) one must identify one’s core erotic taste: the kind and flavor of energy one visualizes just before orgasm. That taste has to be brought out in Tantrik ritual. Society has judgmental attitudes toward many flavors of Core Taste, but this investigation is on the basis of the individual only. Any Core Taste can form the basis or foundation of the Path.

Ep18: Leigh Brasington - Guru Viking Interviews In this episode I am joined by Leigh Brasington, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of ‘Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas’. Leigh talked about how he transformed from a self described pot-head to a serious meditation practitioner in his very first retreat. We learn how learning the jhanas - 8 altered states of consciousness, brought on by deep meditative concentration - from meditation master Ayya Khema radically changed his life’s direction. We discuss stream entry for non-monastics, why most people underestimate their meditation potential, Leigh’s controversial take on Western Dharma teachers who claim full awakening, and why the Siddhis, or supernormal powers, are so associated with the practice of jhanas. Let me know what you think in the comments section below! 00:21 - How Leigh first became interested in meditation 00:57 - Chögyam Trungpa, Ayya Khema, and Leigh’s first meditation retreat 02:20 - Pot head to yogi - giving up heavy pot use after the retreat 03:01 - Buddhist practice vs Buddhist religion 04:25 - How Leigh quit pot 05:05 - Ayya Khema, Leigh’s first teacher 06:48 - The importance of following instructions closely 09:03 - Discovering the first jhana in Thailand with Ajahn Buddhadasa 11:16 - Further studies and learning all 8 jhanas from Ayya Khema 12:46 - Insight training with Ayya Khema 15:25 - Did Ayya Khema use the 4 Path Model? 20:00 - Leigh on Stream Entry and gradual vs sudden awakening 23:46 - Is awakening achievable by non-monastics? 25:38 - Leigh’s controversial take on Western Dharma teachers who claim full awakening 27:52 - Sutta criteria for an arhat 30:45 - Did Ayya Khema become an arhat before her death? 32:45 - Learning Rigpa practice from Tsoknyi Rinpoche 37:19 - How Leigh uses the rigpa state in his own practice 40:51 - Comparisons between Tummo and the Jhana practices 44:14 - What are the jhanas and how are they practiced? 51:23 - Are the jhanas necessary for insight practice? 54:33 - Surprising obstacles to learning the jhanas and the role of talent. 1:01:16 - Why most people underestimate their concentration potential. 1:03:01 - The role of lifestyle and sexuality in meditation success 1:08:10 - Leigh’s take on the Siddhis, supernormal powers, achieved through concentration practice 1:16:16 - Considering anecdotes about the siddhis of teachers like Guru Ma and 16th Karmapa 1:18:45 - The current frontiers of Leigh’s personal practice 1:25:41 - The Buddha’s most important teaching 1:27:51 - Nagajuna and the Suttas Video version of this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9xP28pzQAA To find out more about Leigh, visit: http://leighb.com For Leigh’s book, ‘Right Concentration’, visit: http://rc.leighb.com/index.html For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music: ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

John F Simon Jr is a pioneering artist whose works have appeared in the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim, Whitney, and countless others. He also wrote a book called Drawing Your Own Path, which offers a meditative path to deepening creativity. In this podcast, John and I talk about the giant robot arm that helps him build his thirty-foot art pieces, how to understand the source of your creativity, and the way technology has helped liberate artists from the privacy of galleries. BINAURAL BEATS FOR DEEP WORK are here! Use the code ASTRAL for 15% off! NEW GUIDED MEDITATIONS AVAILABLE NOW! Use the code ASTRAL for 15% off! Show love by rating the show on iTunes. It helps bring more guests you’d like to hear ★★★★★ Join me on Patreon for exclusive podcasts, monthly guided meditations, Q&As, binaural beats, and handwritten secret knowledge! Connect with Cory: Home: http://www.cory-allen.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/heycoryallen Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeyCoryAllen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeyCoryAllen © CORY ALLEN 2019

From the Friday night videoconference with Ajahn Anan Akiñcano. Topics covered include breath meditation, abstaining from alcohol, metta meditation, Ajahn Chah stories, and Stream Entry.

In this episode I'm speaking with Jared Janes (@jaredjanes). Jared is the host of the Impactful Podcast, as well as a friend and off-air interlocuter. We share many interests in common, from meditation and philosophy to diet and productivity hacking. In this conversation, we chat about different models of stream entry, the lubricative nature of awakening, how the philosophical investigation of free will opens up the space for liberation, awakening through World of Warcraft, and the need to follow one's curiosity, even as it takes us outside of our comfortable affiliations. Impactful: Tribes https://www.jaredjanes.com/posts/2018/9/16/tribes --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/emerge/support

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.

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.

Dharma Talk by George Haas - 9/30/2015

Episode 0188 - Into the Stream (Sotapanna), part 5 (Click on the title, or here, for audio.) Extended commentary on Thanissaro Bhikkhu's study guide on Sotapanna from the original Pali. Stream Entry and its Results: Introduction & the Arising of the Dhamma Eye. ■ Citation: "Into the Stream: A Study Guide on the First Stage of Awakening", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition

Gradually or slowly, stream entry shows a profound shift within with a knowing that one cannot go back to the old patterns. In the midst of daily life, you know if the shift is authentic. One who entered the stream has experienced impermanence deeply to know nothing is worth holding onto. Dharma talk recorded in Germany, 2008.

Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte is from Sangharakshita titled: and#8220;The Three Fetters.and#8221; The Fetters of self-view, doubt, and dependence on moral rules and religious observations are described in this excerpt from the full talk, and#8220;Stream Entry: the Point of No Returnand#8221; given in 1975.

The real Bodhichitta is neither individualistic nor altruistic. In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte and#8220;Bodhicitta Arisingand#8221; Sangharakshita talks with us about Stream Entry, a radical transformation in the nature of Going for Refuge, and the four levels of the arising of the Bodhichitta. This is an excerpt from the talk and#8220;Looking Ahead a Little Wayand#8221; by Sangharakshita in 1999.

In today’s FBA Dharmabyte, Punyamala delivers a rich, comprehensive talk: From Enchantment to True Delight – Reflections On Stream Entry. Here, she sets out the path from effective to Real Going For Refuge using the framework of breaking the first three fetters and gaining Stream-entry. Punyamala confidently asserts that Stream-entry is attainable in this lifetime. Using Sangharakshita’s terms for these fetters – habit, superficiality and vagueness – she gives clear, practical guidance, in a gently encouraging way, about how to weaken the fetters and develop spiritually. Talk given at the Western Buddhist Order Convention, 2009