Doubt, Faith, and Fun in Meditation Practice, with Daniel Ingram

Daniel Ingram and Michael Taft talk about the Fire Kasina practice, how making mental objects the focus can lead to deep awakening, balancing wisdom and faith, processing trauma with meditation practice, and how beauty can be a great support and inspiration on the path. Daniel shares about his experiences and spiritual development with Fire Kasina work, co-teaching with Culadasa, the increasing numbers of people attaining stream entry, and the over-diagnosis of attainment. Also discussed is Michael’s experience with faith and guru based practice, the effects of of impermanence insight on concentration, “hindrances for smart people,” rapture, and more.Daniel Ingram is an emergency medicine physician and long-time dharma practitioner. He is the author of the seminal text Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha — now out in its second edition — and also the main force behind the radical dharmaoverground website, which specializes in a brand of unusually-frank discussion of meditation. Links Dharma TreasureThe Mind Illuminated (TMI) Shinzen YoungShannon Stein/The Hermitage DY Fire Kasina Interview Trauma Sensitive MindfulnessThe Body Keeps the ScoreDY Stream Entry Interview with CuladasaShow Notes2:26 – Daniel’s recent visit to Dharma Treasure4:34 – Daniel’s teaching model9:11 – Fire Kasina update12:16 – The “Play and Fun” of Fire Kasina work17:23 – Waking up the mind25:14 – How Daniel processed trauma from working in emergency medicine27:12 – Hindrances for smart people29:22 – How skillful faith can clear the way through the analytical mind32:45 – Michael’s shift from sarcasm and skepticism to beauty and love36:57 – The inspiration and dignity of beauty in spiritual practice40:47 – Daniel’s journey to embracing faith44:57 – Pragmatic faith47:05 – Working with analytical thinking51:02 – The meta-hindrance of self-loathing54:05 – Addressing attachment to intellect and drivenness in spiritual practice58:18 – Daniel’s tips for Vipassana practitioners1:01:48 – Rapture and awakening1:05:49 – The analogy of the kazoo player1:12:25 – How the insight of impermanence changes the experience of concentration1:16:29 – Stream entry and the over-diagnosis of attainment You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.