lost ways of
knowing podcast
A Circle Yoga Shala Production
The “Lost Ways of Knowing” podcast teaches a basic history of the Indian traditions that feature centrally in modern yoga, focusing on the value of awakening or being liberated from ignorance. The ultimate aim is to establish a working definition of “Yoga as awakening” and initiate a dialogue about awakening as the systematic overcoming of self-deception, which leads to deeper intimacy with what is real.
S5E2 Realness
Having established that what is most meaningful to us is that which is experienced as the most real, this episode delves into ways of imagining the specifics of realness itself. Drawing again on the work of Dr. John Vervaeke, we discover that realness is experienced along four dimensions. The real is purposeful, coherent, significant, and it grounds our sense of what matters. In the absence of these four things, humans begin to sense that they are in the grip of illusion, and the yoga traditions have much to say about the prevalence of illusion in our lives. The discussion ends with a few thought experiments geared toward demonstrating that we prefer reality to illusion.
S5E1 Essence & Meaning
This episode investigates the idea that human beings manifest an essential nature defined by the ancient Yoga tradition. We suggest that the modern world has mistaken this nature and that we have been educated incorrectly as a result. This in turn has made it much more difficult to experience meaning, which we need in the same way we need things like food and water, breath, and love. We trace the plausibility of these ideas from both Eastern and Western sources: from ancient models of the soul in the Taittiriya Upanishad, which identifies our essential essence as bliss (Ananda), to the work of Dr. John Vervaeke of the University of Toronto’s Cognitive Psychology department. What if loss of meaning means loss of contact with our essence?
Edited transcript available here.
S5 Introduction
Season 5 continues our conversation about Yoga and the centrality of Awakening in its many manifestations. We look specifically at why things like self transcendence and awakening are necessary for humans, and how these things are intimately tied to our need for Meaning in life. We initiate an inquiry into the nature of liberation itself in order to speak about what kind of “thing” it is, rather than define it specifically as if it were a fact for instance. And lastly, we are hoping to steer these various themes in the direction of Wisdom, which is central to the project of awakening. Along the way, we’re enlisting the help of not only traditional sources from the Yoga tradition like the Bhagavad Gita, The Vedas, Upanishads and the Tantras, but also cognitive and social psychology.
Matt shares about his
podcast
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A must listen for any yoga teacher!
“The synthesis of information in these podcasts is a real gift! Matt takes so much information and shares it in such a concise and relevant way for today’s yoga practitioner. I really feel if you’re a yoga teacher or serious practitioner you must give this a listen! Can’t wait for more.”
Jayme
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Amazing!
“I need to listen a second time with a paper and pen! So much amazing information I feel like could easily be in a university type setting that would cost thousands. Thank you for making this available. I’m excited to listen to more!”
Rachel