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The joke used to be that every time Michael opened his mouth what he said was archived here. We couldn’t be more grateful for that now because it is one of the best ways Michael’s teachings will live on.
The Awake in the World Podcast is the heart of the Community Library. Talks are on a wide-range of topics, including: bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change.
This podcast has been created so that anyone can have instant access to Michael’s teachings. It has been made possible due to generous donations from members of the community. In the six years that the podcast has been available, over half a million people have pressed play as a way to be more—like the name says—awake in the world.
Each podcast is between 30-60 minutes long. As always, you’re encouraged to follow along weekly as part of your practice. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience.
The Lotus Sutra: Where’s the Love?
In this second talk on the Lotus Sutra Michael provides some background about the role the text plays following the emergence of the Mahayana and Tendai traditions, shifting the emphasis from personal liberation to compassion and interdependence. He considers the
Feeling is the Best Technique
This thirty-minute guided meditation focuses on the physical body, and describes how physical choices like setting up the gaze can help to monitor and settle the mind.
Anger and the “Contentious” Heart
In this Awake in the World podcast Michael talks about anger, the R.A.I.N. practice, and how to be more skillful in working with afflictive emotions.
Who is Breathing?
In this thirty minute guided meditation Michael offers an introduction to investigation, using the question “who is breathing.”
Every Breath Is Brand New
A forty-minute guided meditation on the First Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Breathing.
The Five Aggregates
In this Awake in the World podcast guest teacher Norman Feldman unpacks part of the Buddha’s First Discourse, with a focus on the ending of dukkha and the five aggregates.
Last Night’s Rain
In this talk Michael considers the first two of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness in terms of the three characteristics (impermanence, interdependence and not-self). He describes how these foundations are techniques we can use to discover and dismantle self-constructed suffering.
Confronting & Managing Our Fears, Part 2
In this Awake in the World podcast Michael provides some background about the “Fear and Terror Sutta” (Bhaya-bherava Sutta) and discusses the importance of mindfulness in coping with fear, dread and anxiety.
This talk, shared in two parts, is an excerpt
Confronting & Managing Our Fears, Part 1
In this Awake in the World podcast Michael provides some background about the “Fear and Terror Sutta” (Bhaya-bherava Sutta) and discusses the importance of mindfulness in coping with fear, dread and anxiety.
This talk, shared in two parts, is an excerpt
Free, a Genius, an Embarrassment
Using Philip Whalen’s poem “Further Notice” for inspiration, Michael describes how to establish a consistent meditation practice and offers suggestions to help with motivation.
Putting Attention Right Where Things Are Born
In this podcast Michael explores the dynamics of meditation, and the need for us to let our assumptions about what meditation is fall away.
Free to be Nobody
In this talk on the theme of freedom and discipline Michael argues that true freedom comes with unravelling the layers of self-making that are deeply habitual—including striving, intellectualizing, clinging and story-telling. Awareness of these tendencies can create space for contentment,
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