Michael Taft: Intro to His Meditations and the Stack Model

Michael Taft: Intro to His Meditations and the Stack Model

Michael Taft is a meditation teacher, creator of the podcast Deconstructing Yourself, and co-founder of the Berkeley Alembic meditation center.  This podcast serves as an introduction to his teaching and how to engage with his hundreds of guided, nondual meditations on youtube. Resources: Michael's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelTaft108 Deconstructing Yourself: https://deconstructingyourself.com Michael's Courses: https://deconstructingyourself.org - Hacking the Stack starts January 26, 2026 Timestamps: 0:45 Why students come to Michael after other resources (apps like Waking Up, retreats like Goenka and Jhourney, and books like The Mind Illuminated) 2:40 Where Michael fits in the meditation ecosystem 5:34 Respecting traditions while being meta-systematic 7:51 Where can practice actually go? The real goals 9:23 A student with severe chronic pain (morphine pump story) 14:38 Emotional pain uses the same brain circuitry 15:02 The Stack model, and understanding "progress" in meditation 16:47 Level 1: Conceptual (thinking about experience) 17:06 Level 2: Phenomenological (qualia, direct sensation) 21:36 Level 3: Flux (everything is changing) 24:45 Level 4: Openness and emptiness 28:14 Vast Sky Mind and applying the stack to all sense gates 30:00 Why Michael uses mantra, chanting, and visualization 31:45 The arc of Michael's guided meditations on YouTube 33:02 How to engage with Michael's work 35:00 The power of sangha and community

Anne Laure Le Cunff: The Fallacy of “Follow Your Passion” and the Power of Tiny Experiments

Anne-Laure is the author of Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World. She also founded Ness Labs, a learning community for ambitious knowledge workers. You can learn more about her work at https://nesslabs.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3A5aHh0bDNyMlF6eHdQT2paVTZxa3pKb2Zzd3xBQ3Jtc0ttU0paWk5IaFJLd3BnVHNPUjNTNEdUbWJkMkQzcjdJaVRsWTRqcUVLdW42YWd2VzVPc0pUbkVHSm1HTTFQOHBjalk2UTM2cmU4SmJVUng5V3NCMEVkcW1xVTFBUURNRWFuWFc1RktYSXp4V2xJelVJSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fnesslabs.com%2F&v=rrjnRhFcvWE] 01:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=90s] – Anne-Laure’s shift from Silicon Valley’s default success script 03:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=210s] – Critique of the “follow your passion” fallacy 06:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=360s] – Pranab’s personal experiment in meaningful work 11:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=680s] – Cynicism as emotional self-protection 16:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=990s] – Audience unpredictability and the paradox of online writing 18:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=1110s] – Pact method and intentional habit formation 24:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=1440s] – Four mindsets model: Cynicism, Escapism, Perfectionism, Experimentalism 45:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=2730s] – ADHD, hyper-curiosity, and evolutionary perspectives 53:10 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=3190s] – Mindful productivity and managing emotions in knowledge work 56:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrjnRhFcvWE&t=3360s] – Emotional coping strategies, interstitial journaling, and metacognition

Becoming a Sane Saint with Tucker Peck

Dr. Tucker Peck is a meditation teacher, therapist, and author of "Sanity and Sainthood: Integrating Meditation and Psychotherapy". Check out his website (https://meditatewithtucker.com/) and Twitter (https://x.com/tucker_peck) where you can learn about his upcoming retreats, teachings (eg. Motivational Interviewing course which I highly recommend), and more. We talk about: - "content and process" in meditation and therapy, and how to tell when you're imbalanced on either side (hazy vs crazy) - compassion, warmth, and parts work re: The Mind Illuminated - where distinctions break down at the deep end of practice (eg. 8th jhana, Awakening vs. Liberation referencing @shamilch's work) 00:41 - Content vs Process: The core distinction between therapy and meditation 03:15 - Common traps: Going too hard in either direction 06:23 - Parts work failure modes: When IFS becomes reactive and narcissistic 09:03 - The role of warmth, compassion, and meta in practice 12:15 - Self-hatred as the "common cold" of globalized mental health 15:17 - View and intention: How dharma can become self-abuse 18:17 - The Mind Illuminated: Control vs acceptance based on individual needs 20:27 - Michael Taft's advice: "Cultivate more dullness" 23:54 - Do-nothing practice: From literal non-action to ego recognition 25:44 - When content and process blend together in advanced states 28:50 - The uncertainty principle: You can't observe both simultaneously 31:33 - Content exists at a "medium lens of analysis" 34:26 - Journey meditation and jhana "junkies" 37:03 - The unfabricated/deathless in Theravada tradition 41:40 - Awakening vs Liberation: Shamil Chandaria's model 45:26 - Going big vs going small: Different paths to awakening 48:12 - Tucker's experience: Big path leading to small path work 51:35 - Skillful refabrication: Buddhism vs New Age worldviews 53:48 - Raw data vs conceptual overlay: The breath example 55:47 - Staying grounded while gaining interpretive flexibility

Peter McEwan -- Tummo, Dzogchen, Lineage, and Healing

Peter McEwen is a meditation teacher in Boulder, Colorado. Visit his site (https://thefield.us) or https://x.com/techgnostic to learn more about his work. 00:00:00 Introduction and Upcoming Course on Tummo 00:04:56 Fruitional View and Dzogchen Practice 00:09:15 Self-Improvement vs. Self-Acceptance 00:10:12 Role of Emotions in Teaching 00:10:24 Emotional Healing in Practice 00:13:10 Understanding Tummo Practice 00:14:00 Explanation of Tummo Practice 00:15:11 Trapping Air in Central Channel 00:21:22 Healing Trauma with Tummo 00:24:52 Influences and Trainings 00:29:23 Secrecy in Lineages 00:34:24 Value of Tibetan Lineages 00:34:39 Monastic Safety and Structure 00:41:28 Reflections on Trungpa’s Legacy 00:45:39 Bruce Tift as a Teacher 00:51:58 Unconditional Kindness vs. Relative Behavior 00:56:12 Tolerance for Well-being 00:59:21 Untangling Self-sabotage Patterns 01:06:16 Upcoming Course Details

Christine (@christineist): Twitter, Journalling, IFS

In this podcast, I talk to Christine about about the twitter community where we became friends, her experience with journalling, and our journeys with IFS (internal family systems therapy) as a lens on life. 0:00 Climbing & community 6:20 How did Christine get into Twitter? 11:30 Experiential difference between CBT & IFS (cognitive behavioral therapy & internal family systems) 16:00 Impro, act before you think 18:10 IFS & Journalling, relationship to journalling 25:00 Documentation & 2nd Brain stuff 28:00 Life Timeline, atheist to agnostic 31:45 What are your values? 34:30 On imaginal thinking & somatic vs. visual IFS 41:00 Recurring IFS characters, parts constellations (“garlic cloves”) 46:20 Journaling, IFS, & Existential Kink. Understanding shadow work & existential kink 54:50 Being held by your Self, Self Love 57:00 IFS as a helpful ontology & framework 58:20 Should parts always exist or occupy a new role? 1:00:30 Oneness with division, enjoying the journey. Feeling like an orchestra. 1:06:20 IFS multiplicity of mind vs. Dissociative Identity Disorder Further links: Christine's twitter: twitter.com/christineist Christine's mega Google doc: bit.ly/3IpZDtl - Includes links to her "Intro to Twitter/TPOT" guide, IFS threads, "Life Timeline" doc, and more She's also building a cozy, project-focused alternative to twitter called 3'rd space. Check it out: 3rdspace.app ----- Check out my Twitter (most active): twitter.com/nopranablem Read the newsletter (in progress): pranab.substack.com