Easing Awake with Doug Kraft
Sifting through the earliest records of the Buddha's talks, we find a simple, elegant, and powerful practice. When he died, his teaching became an “ism”, Buddhism. As it spread into other countries, cultures, and eras his teachings or “map” was copied and re-copied. Shortcuts and alternatives were added and deleted. Compared to the versions of his teachings most widely known, his original meditation emphasized: Tranquility: an open, receptive awareness favored over highly focused, one-pointed concentration; Simplicity: loving kindness, serenity and insight all integrated rather than treated as separate practices; Stages: the practice matures through stages, each of which builds upon and goes beyond earlier stages (or “jhana”); Ease: relaxing as more important than striving. These podcasts are dedicated to this approach to meditation and daily living. I call it “easing awake.”
Episodes
Resting in the Waves, Epilogue : This final episode of Resting in the Waves helps us recognize our own habits of mind, move beyond our home base, and engage with the practice.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 8: This episode considers how to integrate swirls upon swirls of life's interdependent aspects and how to navigate absolute and relative realities—all with fluidity. Ultimately, it explores the emptiness of fluidity itself.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Ama...
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 7: The practice is not just about meditation, but how clearly and heartfully we relate to the rest of our life. This episode discusses how we can bring awareness and compassion into our daily life as we move through the world around us.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read b...
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 6: This episode considers how to tether the wild mind to a home base. It also compares and contrasts awareness with will, and weaves together four factors that comprise the process of "mind" with the 6 R’s.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 5: This episode features the prerequisites for spiritual practice and an overview of three branches of Buddhism. It also examines three essential practices at the root of the Buddha’s teachings and the 6 R’s of wise effort.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimb...
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 4: Buddhist meditation is about awareness. This episode explores indirect experience—exploring phenomena without intellectual bias. If we can see our actual experience accurately without distortion, that is enough to liberate us from suffering. The Buddha promoted direct, unmitigated, clear awareness as the bedrock of spiritual practice.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's ...
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 3: This episode examines awareness, mind, self, and the four ingredients that make up the process that we call mind.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 2: This episode offers an introduction to the teachings of the Buddha, how they can be summed up as “everything is in process,” and what that means for us as practitioners.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 1, part 2: This episode examines a spectrum of senses of self, from extreme distortion, through coping mechanisms, to freedom of non-identification with self.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Chapter 1, part 1: This episode examines subconscious phenomena in the brain that influence how we perceive the world around us and our own sense of self.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This portion is read by Amanda Kimball.
Resting in the Waves, Introduction: This book begins with an allegorical poem about a duck in the ocean waves. The Introduction then breaks down the title and subtitle of the book in a word-for-word study of what it means to rest in the waves and to welcome the mind's fluidity.
Resting in the Waves: Welcoming the Mind's Fluidity was written by Doug Kraft, published by Easing Awake Books, copyright 2020. This...
Hindrances can be viewed as distortions, obstacles, or demons. They distort consciousness but show us where there's imbalance that hides wisdom. Tension, aversion, and yearning distort our perception, but we don't need to look at these hindrances as a problem. We can see them as crossed intentions, spiritual trainers, and split between self and other. Recognizing, allowing, and returning to uplifted qualities then he...
Doug Kraft discusses a wide range of topics with Gary Haskins of The Conscious Perspective Podcast (#29). Their topics include confronting suffering, suffering is to be understood, different ways to express universal truths, turning toward the wholesome, when sending and receiving kindness feel the same, behind it all I'm not separate, the identification process, and ennobling truths.
This episode with Doug Kraft was r...
Meditation is remembering to see the movements of the mind's attention. We don't need to change ourselves; we release and get out of the way. The Buddha left instructions on how to do this. The paradox is that we don't turn away from anything. Instead, we turn toward the mind-heart and relax into it. This is the process of learning how to rest in the waves of life. We see how mind operates, turn toward that rea...
Stages of meditative understanding, jhanas, are based on direct experience that unfolds into nibbana. In meditation, jhanas provide arbitrary markers for gradual transitions to nibbana. With uplifted qualities and softening in meditation, we can be clear about the quality of awareness that we cultivate. What liberates is seeing with clear, open, and sensitive awareness.
This episode with Doug Kraft is a dhamma talk recorded...
Clear awareness is possible when the attitude of mind is clear and light. If our minds are full of grasping and aversion, what we see is distorted. We tend not to notice distortion because we look through our attitudes instead of at them. By observing tightness in body and thought, we can discover the mind's distortion.
This workshop is based on going deeply into the question “What are you?” and responding from a place that is deeper than concept and story lines.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii.
The so-called Four Noble Truths are the core of the Buddha’s teaching. They are not capital “T” truths, but simple meditation instructions. The first three could be translated as turning toward, relaxing into, and savoring. And they are powerful.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii.
Reconstructing the historical Buddha — who he was, the culture and traditions that shaped him, and how he would have been perceived by his contemporaries — helps give insights into how he thought and what he taught.
This episode with Doug Kraft was recorded in November 2016, at a retreat given in Hawaii.
The essence of what the Buddha taught is universal; it shows up in other places, including contemporary poetry and lyrics. He discovered wisdom deep in human experience. Buddhist practice starts with the notion that nothing needs to be fixed. When we get ourselves out of the way, we turn toward difficulties and then relax into them. There's love, wisdom, clarity, and flow with us already.
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