{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Attention Copilot with Pranab","title":"Michael Taft: Intro to His Meditations and the Stack Model","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/34b3232b\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2247,"description":"Michael Taft is a meditation teacher, creator of the podcast Deconstructing Yourself, and co-founder of the Berkeley Alembic meditation center. \nThis podcast serves as an introduction to his teaching and how to engage with his hundreds of guided, nondual meditations on youtube.\nResources:\nMichael's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelTaft108\nDeconstructing Yourself: https://deconstructingyourself.com\nMichael's Courses: https://deconstructingyourself.org\n- Hacking the Stack starts January 26, 2026\nTimestamps:\n0:45 Why students come to Michael after other resources (apps like Waking Up, retreats like Goenka and Jhourney, and books like The Mind Illuminated)\n2:40 Where Michael fits in the meditation ecosystem\n5:34 Respecting traditions while being meta-systematic\n7:51 Where can practice actually go? The real goals\n9:23 A student with severe chronic pain (morphine pump story)\n14:38 Emotional pain uses the same brain circuitry\n15:02 The Stack model, and understanding \"progress\" in meditation\n16:47 Level 1: Conceptual (thinking about experience)\n17:06 Level 2: Phenomenological (qualia, direct sensation)\n21:36 Level 3: Flux (everything is changing)\n24:45 Level 4: Openness and emptiness\n28:14 Vast Sky Mind and applying the stack to all sense gates\n30:00 Why Michael uses mantra, chanting, and visualization\n31:45 The arc of Michael's guided meditations on YouTube\n33:02 How to engage with Michael's work\n35:00 The power of sangha and community","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/0as2414oN4QoCfoHDCT3_BUMgT9Y_eFS6vEbsKq9fp0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yMDI1/MTk0YTE4MTRkMDll/ZmM3NTU3NDJjODQ0/Y2RkMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}