Enlightenment’s Evil Twin, with Shinzen Young

Meditation teacher and neuroscience consultant Shinzen Young and host Michael W. Taft talk about what mindfulness teachers are getting wrong, Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements, informed consent for awakening, effective strategies for dealing with the Dark Night of the Soul, and the phenomenon that Shinzen calls “Enlightenment’s Evil Twin.”

Learn more about Shinzen Young at Shinzen.org.

Also here is a pdf of Shinzen’s Periodic Table of Happiness Elements.

Show Notes

0:25 – Introduction and overview

2:38 – Defining mindfulness, and what mindfulness teachers can improve on

15:20 – Fulfilling the ethical duty to inform students about the possibilities and challenges of deeper meditation work

20:05 – The Dark Night and DP/DR, and the amount of guidance students need to integrate emptiness

25:24 – Addressing student concerns about becoming derailed or idle if they make spiritual progress

28:24 – Clarifying what the Dark Night is, what it might look like, and how to address it prophylactically and remedially

51:31 – More about what mindfulness teachers can improve on

1:19:28 – Frosting Shinzen’s buns by shutting down a meditator’s no-self experience

1:26:06 – Being careful not to set up barriers that keep people away from practice

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