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Pranab

Adventures in Aliveness. Practical, systematic, and soulful approaches to meditation, introspective practices, social coordination, health & wellness, consciousness, and more.

Episodes

  1. JAN 20

    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/@MichaelTaft108Deconstructing Yourself: https://deconstructingyourself.comMichael'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 ecosystem5:34 Respecting traditions while being meta-systematic7:51 Where can practice actually go? The real goals9:23 A student with severe chronic pain (morphine pump story)14:38 Emotional pain uses the same brain circuitry15:02 The Stack model, and understanding "progress" in meditation16:47 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 emptiness28:14 Vast Sky Mind and applying the stack to all sense gates30:00 Why Michael uses mantra, chanting, and visualization31:45 The arc of Michael's guided meditations on YouTube33:02 How to engage with Michael's work35:00 The power of sangha and community

    37 min
  2. 08/01/2025

    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 meditation03:15 - Common traps: Going too hard in either direction06:23 - Parts work failure modes: When IFS becomes reactive and narcissistic09:03 - The role of warmth, compassion, and meta in practice12:15 - Self-hatred as the "common cold" of globalized mental health15:17 - View and intention: How dharma can become self-abuse18:17 - The Mind Illuminated: Control vs acceptance based on individual needs20:27 - Michael Taft's advice: "Cultivate more dullness"23:54 - Do-nothing practice: From literal non-action to ego recognition25:44 - When content and process blend together in advanced states28:50 - The uncertainty principle: You can't observe both simultaneously31:33 - Content exists at a "medium lens of analysis"34:26 - Journey meditation and jhana "junkies"37:03 - The unfabricated/deathless in Theravada tradition41:40 - Awakening vs Liberation: Shamil Chandaria's model45:26 - Going big vs going small: Different paths to awakening48:12 - Tucker's experience: Big path leading to small path work51:35 - Skillful refabrication: Buddhism vs New Age worldviews53:48 - Raw data vs conceptual overlay: The breath example55:47 - Staying grounded while gaining interpretive flexibility

    56 min
  3. 03/26/2023

    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 & community6:20 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 think18:10 IFS & Journalling, relationship to journalling25:00 Documentation & 2nd Brain stuff28:00 Life Timeline, atheist to agnostic31:45 What are your values?34:30 On imaginal thinking & somatic vs. visual IFS41:00 Recurring IFS characters, parts constellations (“garlic cloves”)46:20 Journaling, IFS, & Existential Kink. Understanding shadow work & existential kink54:50 Being held by your Self, Self Love57:00 IFS as a helpful ontology & framework58:20 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/christineistChristine's mega Google doc: bit.ly/3IpZDtl- Includes links to her "Intro to Twitter/TPOT" guide, IFS threads, "Life Timeline" doc, and moreShe'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/nopranablemRead the newsletter (in progress): pranab.substack.com

    1h 9m

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Adventures in Aliveness. Practical, systematic, and soulful approaches to meditation, introspective practices, social coordination, health & wellness, consciousness, and more.

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