Excerpt from Class 3 of Find True Refuge

I actually want to put this under the point of what does it mean to take refuge. Now that you have the causes, what are the two causes? Fear and confidence.

Then what are the three objects? The reliances. You rely on the Buddha as the epitome, as the benchmark. He did it. It's possible. It's like the first four minute mile. Somebody did it. It's possible. Once somebody does it then it catches fire. It becomes a possibility for anyone. Now you have people in their sixties and seventies doing four minute, three minute miles. Same like that, the Buddha did it. Boom. The world changed.

Dharma. Conventionally you rely on his teachings. Without the teachings where are you going to go? What are you going to do? And without support how much gain do we make without support? How much gain do we make on our own?

Whether it's worldly or spiritual, the same package is there. Whether you're training your body, whether you want to be an athlete, whether you...

In this Episode of Let's Talk, Miles and Heather explore spiritual bypassing, trauma, and the benefits of integrating Buddhism and psychotherapy. The thread that ties these topics together is the notion of working with what Carl Jung called the shadow, the unseen, unwanted aspects of our psyche.

In this episode of Let's Talk... Heather and Miles explore the three characteristics that define trauma and why its so important for anyone interested in wellbeing and spirituality to be trauma-informed.

In this excerpt from Trauma-Informed Dharma, Miles speaks to students about the challenges of doing trauma work.

"The last few classes have not been easy for a lot of you. I've gotten some feedback, myself included, my own body giving me feedback about what gets kicked up and stirred up when you do this kind of work. It's important that I reiterate the fact that you're not alone.

Number one, whatever you're going through and whatever you're experiencing on your heroic journey, whatever is getting kicked up, whatever is coming out from the shadow, it's incredibly courageous of you. You have made a choice not to distract and dampen your senses and run to all that is on offer in your modern materialistic culture.

You have done something evolutionarily courageous. Something that perhaps no one has been able to do for generations. I like to keep putting this in context that we are souls traveling through vast stretches of time and space and even though modern culture is telling us you're...

Miles talks with Michael Phillip of the Third Eye Drops podcast about:

• death and rebirth
• slaying the dragon and claiming the treasure
• balance of the feminine and masculine
• the power and necessity of social justice movements and the danger posed by their shadow
• the origins of the Contemplative Studies Program
• trauma
• plant medicine and the need for integration after transformative experiences
  and more...

Listen here.

 Buddhist pilgrimage starts with the advice of the Buddha. The Buddha said, once I'm gone, please go to the various sites that are associated with my life, the milestones of my life, and he said, there you will find me.

In this excerpt from the online course Master Your Becoming, Miles talks about the purpose of recognition and choice.

The importance of awareness is not in any given moment, necessarily to calm down, although that's an amazing thing.

It's not necessarily in the moment to have a different reaction to our pain, although that's an amazing thing.

The purpose is to shift out of unconsciousness in order to make an inroad and direct consciousness over evolution. If you get a chance to read the Buddhist Origins [of Mindfulness] article that I wrote, in there are two aspects that we're really trying to develop. These are called recognition and choice. Just to keep it very simple in your own life, think about some imprint, habit, reaction that you have. If you're if you're unconscious and you get triggered then you react and that reaction doesn't just stop there. That reaction has a reinforcement contingency and creates momentum of its own. As long as there's unconsciousness and imprint...

Miles will be a panelist and lead a Hero's Journey meditation at the upcoming Well Being in the Modern Age event happening October 18th.

Details and tickets available here.