{"podcast":{"title":"Deconstructing Yourself","slug":"deconstructing-yourself-57243","podcast_index_feed_id":57243,"rss_url":"https://rss.art19.com/deconstructing-yourself","website_url":"https://deconstructingyourself.com","image_url":"https://content.production.cdn.art19.com/images/42/27/fa/ba/4227faba-743f-4b34-8a46-5ad37ffbd99f/a8f04bc49fa95ff9c41dc54dbf496cd3611bdf06e6fc984a359899ae116e4a2de4a208efded4b6a6271986a4f51fe4494a55c22f381a7d91659fb1ca60cae3cc.jpeg","author":"Michael W. Taft","episode_count":112,"summary":"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 .","last_synced_at":"2026-06-21T06:18:15.814279+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructing-yourself-57243"},"episode":{"title":"Awakening, Cessation, and Vulnerability, with Stephen Snyder","slug":"awakening-cessation-and-vulnerability-with-stephen-snyder","published_at":"2025-02-12T15:43:26+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructing-yourself-57243/awakening-cessation-and-vulnerability-with-stephen-snyder","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructing-yourself-57243","url":"https://deconstructingyourself.com/awakening-cessation-and-vulnerability-with-stephen-snyder.html","audio_url":"https://rss.art19.com/episodes/f9f0d6da-b9ba-44a5-b842-a8c59692d669.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0","summary":"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 cessation path and the Zen shikantaza path, how to balance psychological work with awakening, seeing the enlightened qualities of anger (and other difficult emotions), what are “protective” meditations, the three levels of shikantaza practice, koan practice, aloneness as a spiritual path, and the three factors he feels must be present for a true awakening. Stephen Mugen Snyder, Sensei began practicing daily meditation in 1976. Since then, he has studied Buddhism extensively—investigating and engaging in Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and Western non-dual traditions. He was authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in 2007 and the Zen Buddhist schools of Soto and Rinzai in 2022. Stephen is a senior student of Roshi Mark Sando Mininberg and a transmitted teacher in the White Plum Asanga—the body of teachers in the Maezumi-roshi lineage. Stephen is the author of many books, including Trust in Awakening, Demystifying Awakening and Buddha’s Heart .  Stephen Snyder’s website: https://awakeningdharma.org/ You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .","meta_description":"Host Michael Taft speaks with Stephen Snyder Sensei about practicing the Pa Auk jhanas, the importance of vulnerability in finding authentic strength, his…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2982,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/deconstructing-yourself-57243/episodes/awakening-cessation-and-vulnerability-with-stephen-snyder/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/deconstructing-yourself-57243/awakening-cessation-and-vulnerability-with-stephen-snyder.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}