# Ep. 66– Total Eclipse of the Mind with Andrew Holecek Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-66-total-eclipse-of-the-mind-with-andrew-holecek Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-66-total-eclipse-of-the-mind-with-andrew-holecek.md Podcast: [Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck with David Nichtern](https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367) Published: 2026-07-07T17:37:00+00:00 Episode link: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/311832a2-2e4c-4161-be30-bc9badde6d31.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0 Audio file: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/311832a2-2e4c-4161-be30-bc9badde6d31.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/episodes/ep-66-total-eclipse-of-the-mind-with-andrew-holecek Duration seconds: 4827 ## Resource Contemplative Scholar Andrew Holecek joins David Nichtern to delve into the powerful practices of dark retreat, bardo yoga, and dream yoga.  Grab a copy of Andrew’s book, Total Eclipse of the Mind , to discover more about the power of darkness for creativity, healing, and transformation. In this episode, Andrew and David explore: An inquiry into the nature of mind and reality  How asking questions is much more important than having answers Going into dark retreat and practicing bardo yoga Entering spiritual teachings as if immersing into a different realm  The Buddha as the ultimate lucid dreamer Dream interpretation and liminal dreaming for insights into the self  Working mindfully with artificial intelligence  The balancing principle that darkness represents  Becoming sensitive to other beings and archetypes when in dark retreat Join Dharma Moon to learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation About Andrew Holecek: Andrew Holecek is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and other nondual wisdom traditions. He is the Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University. His work involves studies on dream yoga and the practice of dark retreat. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the author of nine books, and a concert pianist. He has completed the Tibetan Buddhist three-year retreat and is a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming. His work integrates ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary perspectives, aiming to help individuals navigate spiritual challenges and end-of-life experiences. He is currently writing two books on da… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/episodes/ep-66-total-eclipse-of-the-mind-with-andrew-holecek/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-66-total-eclipse-of-the-mind-with-andrew-holecek.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.