Methods of Awakening

Episode Four on YouTube Bitchute: The Home of Free Speech Online Evenin' readers, Here's the latest, and last of the narrations of the old blog posts, masquerading as new content in the form of a video and Soundcloud version. I'd appreciate it if you could take the time to sign up to BitChute, which is a torrent-based alternative to YouTube, a site whose policies have becoming increasingly censorious, political and biased, which is something we really don't need in an already divided world. There'll be a few new developments coming up in the coming months for Methods of Awakening, so stay tuned and be sure to subscribe, follow and like on social media. All the best and practice well, - Tommy M

OCCUPY NOW I've just uploaded the narration of the Occupy Now blog post, which is the last post I made before stopping the project entirely in 2012. It was only a short narration/recording, so I figured it wasn't worth uploading as a podcast episode in and of itself. I've got the jhana piece recorded and ready to go, but I won't be uploading that until later on this week 'cause I'm trying to actually develop some sort of schedule. Lots more content coming up in the months ahead, including the podcast, more articles and more blog posts on the ins and outs of meditation practice. I'm planning to start a crowdfund so that I can get a video camera, a video-producing PC setup and the equipment to film on-camera material as I think it'll help people to understand this stuff way better. Explaining it in person, and being able to create complex animations to illustrate certain subtle aspects of this stuff will make it much easier for people to grasp, and...

I've just published a new article on Medium.com regarding the realities of awakening, the phenomenology involved and some of the potential pitfalls one can encounter along the Path. What is Awakening? - MOA on Medium Please come and give it a read, share it around if you enjoy it and let me know what you think in the comment, or on social media at all the usual places! Take care & practice well, - Tommy

I've finally gotten around to writing an essay for Medium.com  on the topic of what I call "Corporate Mindfulness" - basically the diluted New Age-y, armchair psychology garbage that's peddled by unscrupulous employers for productivity purposes. In the essay, I've tried to explain my objections to this "Corporate Mindfulness" in a way that isn't just some 'ancap' rant, but that actually focuses on the potentially detrimental experiences that await the would-be urban yogi and how businesses don't actually understand the power of what they're teaching people. Anyhow, expect another Methods of Awakening Podcast in the next few days as I continue rambling about meditation in my incomprehensible Scottish brogue. Much love - Peace out - Tommy

I know that my most recent posts haven't exactly been educational or even necessarily related to awakening per se, so I'd like to take this opportunity to explain a bit more about where I'm at personally, and in terms of the overall development of Methods of Awakening. In doing so, I hope you'll be able to see why this is and what I've got planned for the future with the project. I quit my job on the 28th of December 2019. After over 20 years of working for other people, I decided I'd had enough and that I wanted to take control of my life. I'm now a freelance voice actor and voiceover artist, and I've actually managed to make money within the first month of putting myself out there. It's exciting and terrifying, but it's a decision I'm glad that I made as it now affords me far more time to devote to the projects I really want to work on - Methods of Awakening being a prime candidate. I've spent quite a lot of time recently just b...

[Edited January 27th 2020: No major corrections here, just a few minor grammatical errors. An audio version of this post will be made available in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!] Occupy Now   A Quick Guide To Being Here This is a simple series of steps that will allow you to be present and attentive to experience with very little effort. Nothing complicated, nothing you won't already be familiar with and nothing special about it. this is a process I've used successfully in my own practice and I hope that it can be of use to others. It's not "my" invention or anything, it's just a practical, step-by-step approach which may facilitate your practice in some way.   It's also fun and can be turned into a game, if you find it helpful, so play around with it and find out what works for you.  It comes down to basic attentiveness/mindfulness. Nothing more complicated than that, but in this moment lies wisdom and thr...

[Edited January 27th 2020: Corrected a few bits and pieces. At the moment, I am undecided as to whether to continue using the term, "jhana", to describe the concentration states I'll be discussing. Without going into detail, I would rather develop a more universal framework than confuse matters by appropriating Buddhist terminology, and particularly if the states are not in keeping with traditional understanding. An audio version of this post will be made available in coming weeks, so stay tuned.] Stop! Jhana Time In a previous post, I talked about access concentration as being the foundation of meditation practice, so I suppose it makes sense to continue the discussion by talking about what gets built on top of this fine, but very basic foundation. I will use the Buddhist framework to describe this as it’s a simple but incredibly accurate model, although I’ll try my best to describe any map-specific terminology in terms of actual practice and physical/mental...

  [Edited January 27th 2020: Fixed a load of run-on sentences and corrected grammar. Also removed any reference to AF. An audio version of this post will be made available shortly.] Practice Playtime YouTube, Attentiveness & Insight In my own practice, I've explored lots of game-like ways of incorporating various modes of practice into everyday activities that I would otherwise have done with less than 100% enjoyment, attentiveness/mindfulness or determination. I managed to make noticeable progress by essentially turning everything I did into insight practice during every waking moment, be it noting the breath as soon as I woke up, or noticing the patterns of sensations involved in dialing a phone number or mixing down a new recording. The whole of our everyday experience is full of opportunities for insight, moment by moment, and so it makes sense to extend practice off the cushion and take advantage of this. A potential problem with this is that it ...

[Edited January 27th 2020: Corrected a few bits and pieces, but I've generally left this one intact. I don't know for certain whether or not I've actually attained "Stream Entry", but it doesn't really change the nature of this post and the practical advice which has proven useful to many (based on the very kind e-mails I've received).] Audio Version - Subscribe on YouTube Access Concentration One of the things that threw me when I started seriously meditating and using the Buddhist framework was the concept of "access concentration". I had spent a long time working with other conceptual maps and meditative techniques, over a decade of experimentation with everything from raja yoga to ritual magick, but I thought that this was some major meditative accomplishment which would require decades of practice. It was only when a more experienced yogi pointed out that, since I was claiming to have attained "Stream Entry", t...