Deconstructing Yourself
Dedicated to liberation in all its forms, Deconstructing Yourself is passionate about fearlessly investigating, attempting, and questioning all things to do with awakening, meditation, mindfulness, brain hacking, consciousness, neurofeedback, and more.
Your host Michael W. Taft interviews some of the most interesting thinkers, authors, and teachers around, as well as other offerings. In this hard-hitting, radical, and fun podcast we look at secular post-, non-, un- Buddhism, Vajrayana, nondual Hindu Tantra, philosophy, the neuroscience of the sense of self, neurofeedback and the consciousness hacking movement, aspects of artificial intelligence, entheogens, and much more.
If you’re looking for fresh directions, free from dogma and conformism, think of the Deconstructing Yourself podcast as the radical cafe where you can hear from the most interesting luminaries either from the outside edges of dharma, or a fresh take from more traditional teachers. If you’re interested in more, check out the Deconstructing Yourself website at https://deconstructingyourself.com.
- Update frequency
- every 27 days
- Average duration
- 62 minutes
- Episodes
- 106
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Talking about Deity Yoga with Peter McEwen
Host Michael Taft talks with meditation coach Peter McEwen about devotion in meditation practice, the need for stability in groundlessness, the ontological status of deities, how to handle formless p…
00:55:01 |
Fri 29 Aug 2025
Talking about Dark Retreat, Part 2 with Andrew Holecek
Host Michael Taft continues his conversation with with Andrew Holecek about the transformative practice of Dark Retreat; the reasons behind the recent surge of interest in darkness practices; its rel…
01:12:32 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
A Conversation with David Godman
Host Michael Taft talks with author David Godman about the sage Ramana Maharshi and his nondual view of the world, whether he considered taking sannyasa (renunciation) to be necessary to achieve awak…
01:39:17 |
Thu 19 Jun 2025
Talking about Dark Retreat, with Andrew Holecek
Host Michael Taft speaks with Andrew Holecek about the transformative practice of Dark Retreat, how the mind “falls into itself,” light as obfuscator, the revelation of the construction of reality, t…
01:24:04 |
Sun 11 May 2025
Sanity and Sainthood, with Dr. Tucker Peck
Host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher, clinical psychologist, and author Dr. Tucker Peck about the the difference between developing a clear understanding of how your psychology works and …
00:44:59 |
Fri 18 Apr 2025
Awakening, Cessation, and Vulnerability, with Stephen Snyder
Host Michael Taft speaks with Stephen Snyder Sensei about practicing the Pa Auk jhanas, the importance of vulnerability in finding authentic strength, his two paths for awakening: the Theravada cessa…
00:49:42 |
Wed 12 Feb 2025
Aghora, Deities, and Devotion with Dr. Robert Svoboda
Host Michael Taft continues a lively discussion with author and ayurvedic physician Dr. Robert Svoboda about the Aghora method of transmutation, alignment with nature, deity yoga, deities as a co-cre…
01:03:00 |
Wed 15 Jan 2025
Invocation and Shadow with Charlie Awbery
Host Michael Taft joins Vajrayana teacher and author Charlie Awbery to talk the meaning of their practice name Rin'dzin Pamo, Tantra, curiosity, new developments in the Evolving Ground community, the…
00:45:20 |
Thu 12 Dec 2024
Tantra, Aghora, and Death, with Dr. Robert Svoboda
Host Michael Taft talks with author and ayurvedic physician Dr. Robert Svoboda about the cemetary practices of the radical nondual Aghora sect, the story of his mentor Vimalananda’s initiation into A…
00:58:51 |
Mon 11 Nov 2024
Meditation and Memory with Anthony Metivier
Host Michael Taft talks with author and memory expert Anthony Metivier about using memory techniques to enhance meditation, memorizing and reciting scriptures in dead languages as a spiritual practic…
01:10:45 |
Mon 07 Oct 2024
Practicing the Diamond Sutra with Ken McLeod
Host Michael Taft speaks with eminent Buddhist teacher, translator, and author Ken McLeod about how to use the Diamond Sutra as a practice text. What is the sutra really getting at? Is it merely an a…
00:46:51 |
Wed 24 Jul 2024
Original Love with Henry Shukman
Host Michael Taft talks with meditation teacher and author Henry Shukman about love, original love vs. original sin, wellbeing intense enough to be called “blessedness,” seeing your original face out…
00:56:37 |
Tue 09 Jul 2024
Practicing Tummo with Peter McEwen
Host Michael Taft speaks with meditation coach Peter McEwen about the traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice of tummo, deity yoga, the subtle body, ways that tummo practice can go wrong, bliss and sem…
00:53:57 |
Tue 25 Jun 2024
Jhanas, Technology, and Tradition with Stephen Zerfas
Host Michael Taft speaks with entrepreneur and meditator Stephen Zerfas on using technology to potentially enhance the learning of the jhanas, Zerfas’ background in meditation and jhana practice, and…
00:41:54 |
Wed 01 May 2024
Embodying the 21 Taras with Chandra Easton.
Host Michael Taft speaks with meditation teacher Chandra Easton about her new book Embodying Tara: 21 Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom, the background of Green Tara, why there are 21 diffe…
00:52:08 |
Wed 06 Mar 2024
Can You Learn Meditation from an AI? - with Shinzen Young
Host Michael Taft talks with teacher Shinzen Young about Shinzen's decades-long dream of computer-based meditation instruction, his current creation of a rule-based, expert system based on Artificial…
01:00:40 |
Tue 06 Feb 2024
A Conversation with Jeffrey Kripal
Host Michael Taft speaks with author and professor Jeffrey Kripal about his early aspiration to be a Benedictine monk, the prophetic dimensions of the humanities, the sudden conversion, or "flip," in…
00:49:54 |
Mon 22 Jan 2024
Transgression with Erik Davis
Host Michael Taft speaks with author and journalist Erik Davis about the power of partaking in the forbidden and the loss when formerly forbidden things become normalized, particularly in the case of…
01:09:48 |
Sun 31 Dec 2023
A Conversation with Sam Harris
Host Michael Taft speaks with author, philosopher, and neuroscientist Sam Harris about aspects of meditation, the fusion of vipassana and nondual practice as the “gold standard” for practitioners, in…
01:01:22 |
Sat 02 Dec 2023
The Power of the Imaginal with Stephen Aizenstat
Host Michael Taft talks with “Boss Jungian of Planet Earth” Stephen Aizenstat about diving into the depths of our authentic creativity, finding purpose in the imaginal, the perils and promise of AI w…
01:07:18 |
Sat 04 Nov 2023
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