One Heart One Mind (Thomas McConkie)

One of the earliest teachings of Buddhism remains as insightful today as it was thousands of years ago: if we can learn to separate the tangle of sensory experience into organized piles, we gain insight into our true nature, which is Freedom, and Joy.

The path of waking up and growing up can be excruciating, even as it can be gentle and forgiving. We continue the meditation on Advent in this episode with a reading from the Gospel of Thomas. “Stop lying”, Yeshua says. What could this mean? Is there a truth we haven’t been willing to hear, or speak? Also, check out Thomas’s new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.

It’s common in the modern world to speak of the need to “return to nature.” But from a contemplative perspective, we are Nature. We cannot leave nature, but we can forget who we are. When we remember our nature, we naturally take better care of ourselves, and better care of the planet that sustains us all.

What did the early Buddhists of China mean when they said, “Be the host of every situation?” In this episode, Thomas explores a sutra that likens mindful awareness to a “host” allowing innumerable “guests” to come and go through the inn. The trick: to let the guests who want to stay, stay, and to let the guests who want to go, go.

Do we transform through consistent, effortful practice, or are we transformed by something more mysterious that we can’t control and can’t even properly understand at the end of the day? Even framing this question in terms of either/or causes us to miss the mark. Thomas shares in this episode an unexpected transformation he recently experienced in the kitchen, seemingly in spite of his years of meditation practice. Listen in and start to appreciate how profoundly things are already working out at the deepest level.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

Once a month Thomas chooses a particular theme that has come up in discussions and offers a longer guided meditation around it. Enjoy this month’s extended meditation that will help you not just be more present in daily life, but actually have the experience of being Presence.

The Gospel of Thomas is a surprisingly mind-jogging text that reads more like a collection of Zen koans than a book from the Christian canon. In this episode, Thomas (not to be mistaken with Thomas) shares a saying from this ancient text and ties it to a classical Buddhist teaching. In this episode, as in life, you are invited to be happy, whole, and complete.

Mindfulness practice can be difficult to commit to, especially when we notice that our experience while meditating is not always blissful. Listen to this episode as Thomas sheds new light on how to work with challenging experiences. Rather than a problem to be solved (or avoided), you'll learn to turn towards and open up to challenge, catalyzing a powerful process of healing in the body and the mind.

So often in life, we tell ourselves that fear is a problem—that fear stops us from doing the things we most want to do. What about the wisdom of fear, though? Thomas shares a story of his friend who has made a living of encountering his fear everyday for over 40 years now. The result? Not a lack of fear, but the courage to act with fear fully present. Fearlessness.

The great poet, David Whyte tells us, “What you can plan is too small to live.” In what ways might the smallness of your planning being blinding you to a deeper grace, a greater truth?

Explore this theme on today’s episode.

Also, if you appreciate Mindfulness+ and what it does for you, then please donate!

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Suzuki Roshi said it well to his students: “Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.” What delightful play! Let’s dive into this paradox together.

If we are only aware of the Relative, our practice becomes pressurized and grim. But if we get stuck in the Absolute, well, in Zen terms, we start to stink. Where is the Middle Way? Also, join us for our home retreat, Sep. 12th: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/upcomingevents/home-retreat-a-day-of-sacred-living

When we are children, we get upset countless times a day. If we don’t get to play with the toy we want, if we don’t get to have a sugary snack on demand, we cry, we protest, we pout, we mope. In these moments, we need soothing from our caregivers to help our bodies reset. It turns out, we’re not so different as adults. We also get upset many times a day. The difference is that as adults, we often disconnect from the body through various avoidance strategies rather than just hold our “inner-toddler” through the pain. But we can change! We can learn to hold ourselves, to soothe ourselves during these emotional storms. And when the storm breaks, which it always does, we find a new degree of mastery over ourselves and all of life.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

What we sometimes refer to as “the path”, that is, the process of transformation, has been expressed in different ways in the Wisdom traditions throughout history. We can learn a great deal from the similarities—and differences—in these formulations that seem to be pointing to very similar territory.

Listen in as Thomas compares snippets from St. Teresa’s “Interior Castle” and Master Guo An Shi Yuan’s commentary on the Oxherding Pictures of Zen Buddhism. What a joy to walk this path!

The present moment often seems rather dull and unremarkable to the ego. But when we learn to pay attention, to taste the flavor of all that is passing in order to give rise to this moment, then life presents itself as extraordinary. Donate at www.minfulnessplus.org.

Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, famously quotes that "when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." It is a beautiful mantra for our mindfulness practice. We often think about freedom and happiness in terms of escaping from certain conditions. Frankl inspires us not to escape FROM oppressive conditions, but to escape INTO them; to fully meet them, allow them to inform us, and respond from a deeper truth.

We’ve all heard about the glamorous side of a mindfulness practice: reduced stress, elevated mood, better relationships and more. But what about acknowledging the genuinely terrifying side of practice?

As we deepen in our awareness practice, our fear tends to increase exponentially. Paradoxically, it is in this fear that we can find our greatest freedom.

We delve into the Gospel of Thomas this week, a treasure trove of contemplative inspiration. Have you ever gone through an experience where you simply weren’t the same person on the other side? What part of you passed away, and what new quality came into being? Give yourself some space to settle in for this one, and, as Jesus invites, “Come into being as you pass away.”

Logion 42, tr. Lynn Bauman

Yeshua says,

Come into being

As you pass

away.

Upcoming workshop: Thomas will be in Salt Lake City May 15-17 to guide students in embodied practice, meditation and all sorts of surprises! Scholarships and financial aid always available.

It is a common misunderstanding in our society that meditation is primarily a practice of learning to relax. While relaxation is very much one of the fruits of this practice, it is just the beginning of the profound gifts that flow from open mind and open heart. In this episode, Thomas leads a longer meditation and points out one of the qualities that naturally arises in awake awareness—the feeling of Life itself. 

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

The three natural states are described metaphorically in Hinduism as waking, dreaming and deep sleep. But what is the practical value of becoming familiar with these states, even proficient? One possible answer that Thomas suggests is Freedom and Love. Join this guided tour and see for yourself.

We all come with a particular disposition—a way we like to be and move in the world. Contemplative practice helps us attune to these subtle, soulful rhythms and move with greater kindness in our journey. Give yourself some space for this episode. Find a place where you can relax and just be. Savor the experience of coming home.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

Sooner or later, if we get at all serious about integrating contemplation into our day to day life, we start to wonder what it would look like to have a bona fide teacher to guide us on the path. In this episode, Thomas articulates some of the principles that he has found most helpful in working with teachers of his own, as well as offering students guidance in calling in the right teacher at the right time. 

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.
Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you. 

Offerings: Join Thomas for a 3-day workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 5-7, 2024. For registration and details, click here.

Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

In this episode Thomas revisits a classic teaching–beginner’s mind–and adds a polarity spin: The more deeply you plunge into the ocean of possibility, the more powerfully you find yourself living an inspired life and engaging in the world.

In this episode, Thomas deepens the conversation on Energy Centers by describing the theory behind them as well as pointing them out in a very practical and personal way. You will gain insight during this episode into the areas of your life that call for more awareness and compassion.

If you think about virtually everything you do in a given day, you may come to a realization: “I do what I do because I want to get something out it.” We work to earn money, we exercise to stay fit, we meditate to feel good…it seems harmless enough. But there is a more subtle path available to us as human beings. In Suzuki Roshi’s words, we can live our lives with “no gaining idea.” When we have no gaining idea, we taste what it means to express our true nature—to be truly alive.

Is it just a catchy name, or is there something behind the "+"? Thomas introduces the study of adult development in this show and explains how different kinds of mindfulness are beneficial to us at different times in life. To conclude, he guides a meditation that is specifically designed for adults who feel tormented by their monkey mind. Go ahead, listen. Tame that monkey.

Have you ever noticed how many ideas you have about, well, everything? We can hardly help but form opinions, beliefs, even dogmas about virtually every aspect of life. In this episode, Thomas recounts meeting his first teacher, and the freedom he felt when his teacher nonchalantly declared that any thought he has about anything is fundamentally inaccurate. What role do thoughts and beliefs have in life if they’re all just “inaccurate?” Listen in to get a taste of this delightfully fertile polarity.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

It’s time for another extended guided meditation on Mindfulness+! Thomas shares a quote from the famous physicist, Erwin Schrödinger, and invites listeners to participate in the great Mystery that mystics and sages across the ages have invited us into: What is the self? Who is aware? What is it that is aware in this very moment of the words on this screen? Come fill your heart in this exploration.

We’re launching season 4 one month earlier than scheduled in support of your practice and in order to meet the current global crisis in full awareness.

We find ourselves—all of humanity—suddenly thrust into a “school of hardship.” What qualities will we “gather” during this time? What garden will we grow? Let your in-tention guide your a-ttention and see who you become. 

Next live practice call will be Wednesday, April 1st, 7-8pm Mountain Time! 

To register: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/upcomingevents/2020/4/causal-collective

This week we dive a bit deeper into practice by taking refuge in the presence of a being whom we deeply trust.

When we connect to this deep source of trust and love, we find these profound qualities and gifts arising at the center of our very own being.

In these Covid times, we have all lost things that we didn’t plan to lose. Many of us probably spend more energy than we’d like fearing further loss. In this episode, acquaint yourself with the fear that surrounds the experience of loss and learn to include it more fully in the wholeness (and holiness) of your life.

Many people equate focusing on the breath with mindfulness practice itself. In this episode, Thomas explains the practical reasons why the breath has come to be regarded as a foundation in practice. But he takes it a step further and describes 3 fundamental skills that breathing–and indeed countless other techniques–can help us build. With his signature cherry on top, he guides a soothing meditation that will soften your body and sharpen your mind.

In this episode, Thomas guides the listener into a style of meditation that people have been practicing for thousands of years–shamatha, or calm abiding meditation. For style points, he breaks down the basic mechanics of this technique, explaining the basic mechanism–the feedback loop–that makes it so effective. Listen in, and feel your stress melt away as you learn to ride this natural wave of bliss and concentration.

We cannot wake up alone. We need each other. In this post-season bonus episode, Thomas and his wife, “Glo”, share some of their experiences and insights working and living in “cohort life.”

For those Mindfulness+ listeners who are interested in really taking their practice to a new orbit, check out the Spectra program at lowerlightswisdom.org/spectra.

In this inaugural episode, Thomas McConkie introduces the lost jewel of contemplation in the Christian tradition. He shares a brief spiritual autobiography, invites the listener to come see for themselves, then dives right in with a wisdom bomb from Howard Thurman: on cultivating atmosphere and spiritual presence.

Upcoming workshop: Thomas will be in Salt Lake City May 15-17 to guide students through practices from his recent book, At-One-Ment. Scholarships and financial aid always available.

We take a quantum leap on the spiritual path when we learn to really trust our basic goodness. The challenge: layer after layer  of socialization, education, and shame tend to obscure our connection to this goodness. What can we do? Listen to today’s episode for insights and practices to “return to innocence.”

This is a special episode. Gloria Pak visits the Mindfulness+ studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts to engage Thomas in a conversation about his recent book, At-One-Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human Divinity. What does it mean to belong to a tradition? What does it mean to leave a tradition? If we’ve left, are there meaningful ways to continue to embody and bring forth the best of the lineages that form us? How do we engage in our “local-ness” while also making way for the universal wonder of Spirit? Listen in to this soulful exploration of a new kind of spirituality that is showing up on our planet.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.
Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you. 

Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

It’s not often you call someone “selfish” and mean it as a compliment. But prepare to be liberated from your misconceptions about what healthy selfishness actually is! In this episode, Thomas offers insights from the field of developmental psychology and coaches you on how to be the best kind of selfish in your life. You’ll be glad you listened. Interested in learning more about development? For information about an opportunity to join Thomas’s cohort program, go to www.lowerlightswisdom.org/spectra.

In an immature contemplative practice, we tend to assume that the whole point is to learn to draw as much pleasure from each meditation session as we possibly can. As we become more experienced, however, we learn that it is natural to traverse many “realms” throughout the day and throughout our lives. The question becomes, can we remain as fully awake in the realm of the gods as we can in the depths of hell. 

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.
Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you. 

Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

One of the essential principles we learn in a mindfulness practice is that abiding happiness and joy centers on how we relate to experience, not the experience itself.

Listen to this story of an unexpected ray of joy beamed from none other than Leonard Cohen himself.

These last 12 days, Thomas has been staring a lot at his son and contemplating newborn consciousness. Which is lucky for you!

In this episode, Thomas leads an extended guided meditation, inviting you back into primordial, formless presence, aka the experience of a newborn baby. In fact, we all have the capacity to rest in this open field of formless awareness—we simply forget!

We hope you’ll enjoy this practice of remembrance.

Thomas reprises the ever-present theme of vulnerability in this episode. As we mature in life, our capacity to tolerate more disturbing experience tends to mature as well. We start to realize how much energy we’ve spent avoiding certain experiences that have been with us all along. Mindfulness practice reveals to us a deeper capacity we have to stay present and awake to whatever is arising. In this way, we begin to let go of the struggle to not feel.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

A continuation of the lessons on the Energy Centers, i.e. Money, Sex, Fame, Power. This week Thomas discusses extreme monetary wealth as an unrecognized form of obesity in modern culture. Learn to recognize in this episode how much awareness you unnecessarily commit to feeling more secure, and reconnect with a profound sense of security at the heart of this very moment.

Have you wondered how mindfulness as a practice can transform you? Or what the benefits of practicing in community versus practicing alone are? Join us for our first video broadcast on Mindfulness+ to discuss these questions with three long-time members of the Lower Lights Sangha (Igor and Madison Limansky, and Gloria Pak). Each of them shares in a very personal way what mindfulness practice has meant to them and why the time is NOW for you to really commit to practice.

In the Buddhist tradition, we make the distinction between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” happiness. Extraordinary happiness, simply put, is a happiness beyond conditions. Thomas shares about this teaching in the context of Advent, a time when we can bring more awareness to our “distorted values” and let in greater Light. Also, check out Thomas’s new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.

Once a month, Thomas guides a longer meditation to give you an opportunity to go a little deeper and discover new territory in your mindfulness practice. Find a quiet place for this episode where you can sink in and let go. Thomas gives instruction on the basics of using a mantra (a word or syllable repeated to increase concentration) as well as a taste of expansive flavors of concentration.

It seems almost common sense to believe that our happiness depends on what kinds of experiences we’re having in life. “Not so!” say a number of prominent researchers in the field of positive psychology. It turns out that how focused we are on the task at hand is the real predictor of how happy we feel. Learn the concepts, exercise your happiness muscles in this show. And please support us at www.minfulnessplus.org.

Our seeking mind rejects the present moment outright and says, “not yet”. "One day I will be happy, one day I will wake up. But not yet." Awakened mind, on the other hand, simply says, “Perfect.” Thomas shares a parable from the sands of Venice Beach, California and invites Mindfulness+ listeners in this episode to surf their life.

It is a fact of human life that often, maybe even many times a day, we’ll experience significant disturbance that starts as a spark that sets off a wild blaze.

In this episode Thomas offers practical advice and guidance for not letting these sparks connect to tinder. As we deepen this practice, we realize that living in a state of happiness beyond conditions is a real possibility in this very life.

In a previous episode, Thomas said that “the Dharma is all about second chances.” In this episode, he goes into much greater detail. Namely, he asks how we can learn to bring a greater degree of mindfulness to the most difficult experiences of our lives.

For anybody serious about decreasing their own suffering and that of others, this practice is an invaluable tool!

Happy Easter, friends. In this special episode, Thomas explores Jesus’s words to marry when she recognizes Him risen from the tomb: “Do not cling to me.” From a contemplative perspective, what could this mean? What happens when we stop clinging to our wrong ideas, our limiting beliefs? With open mind and open heart, we can come to know the Living Presence that is already in our midst. Christ is risen, indeed! Enjoy this Easter meditation.

It's that time again–a longer, deeper guided meditation to support your ongoing practice. In this episode, Thomas leads a body-mind-spirit yogic "stretch" to help you inhabit ALL OF YOU a little more fully, freely, and joyfully.

Father Thomas Keating (1923–2018) was a uniquely gifted human being and great Soul.

In this episode, Thomas McConkie reflects on Father Thomas’s legacy, as well as invites listeners into a direct experience of the Silence that in Keating’s words, is “God’s first language.”

Do you have a sense of what it means to “listen from the ear of the Heart?” When we do listen from this new place within ourselves, the results can be dramatic.

Listen as Thomas recounts a recent encounter with the Imaginal Realm—what Cynthia Bourgeault calls the “realm of cosmic assistance.”

Continuing the conversation from last episode, Shinzen talks more specifically about what we can each do to achieve not just good results, but dramatic and life-changing results from our mindfulness practice. Visit Shinzen.org and unifiedmindfulness.com to learn more about his highly innovative work.

In human life, we naturally confront the question again and again, “What do I do now? Where do I go next?” Or more broadly, “what do I do with my life?”

Thomas draws from the deep well of Zen in this episode to take on these often bewildering questions. From a Zen perspective, the solution is so simple, we tend to look right past it.

When life throws challenges at us, it tests our capacity to be open, clear and present. Thomas recounts his glory days as a high school swimmer in this episode to point out a helpful technique for practicing when the going gets tough. If we’re clear where our mindful awareness tends to break down, we can “train to remain” in a more intelligent way.

Contemplation is all about cultivating a relationship with the Divine, and relationship is inherently vulnerable. It’s not surprising then that when we set out to cultivate this most unique of relationships that we find ourselves putting up defenses—resisting the process of deepening our encounter with God. But even our resistance proves to be a great resource in opening our hearts in prayer.

Upcoming workshop: Thomas will be in Salt Lake City May 15-17 to guide students in embodied practice, meditation and all sorts of surprises! Scholarships and financial aid always available.

William Blake wrote, “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite.”

How do we cleanse these doors? How do we come to see the Infinite? Get a taste, right here.

So much of human life is governed and divided by the lines and boundaries we somewhat arbitrarily draw across our experience.

Join Thomas as he takes flight (literally) across these lines and off into the immeasurable expanse.

Let’s face it–we are all creatures of habit. And although habit creates efficiencies in life and helps us get things done, it can also trap us in patterns of behavior that create suffering for ourselves and others. In this episode, Thomas introduces the practice of finding the “still point.” When we live in the still point, our habits start to soften and give way to greater creativity, spontaneity, and skillful action in the moment. With practice, we can all learn to live as an effortless flow of grace.

We've talked about the "+" in "Mindfulness+", but what about the "Mindfulness" in "Mindfulness+"? Listen in for a fascinating description of what the word vipassana, the original word for mindfulness, actually means. In Mindfulness+ fashion, Thomas then guides the listener into a rich experience of what this practice points us to–greater clarity, deeper fulfillment, and profound freedom.

What does the “+” in “Mindfulness+” mean again? Thomas takes us even deeper into the territory it points to in this episode. Drawing from the words of Aurobindo, he invites us beyond the “surface mind’s” idea of reality into something altogether Unnameable.

Kelly is a mindfulness trainer and author of The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What’s Right in Front of You. She has developed mindfulness trainings in diverse places from the United Nations to San Quentin Prison. In this conversation, Kelly exudes dharma from every pore and offers a direct taste of the ancient practice of Yoga Nidra. This one is a special treat.  

Want to leave a voicemail for the team? Ask Thomas a practice question? Request a special topic for a future episode? Click here.

One of Thomas’s great pleasures in hosting Mindfulness+ is the opportunity to introduce listeners to some of the teachers who have changed his life. On today’s show, Dr. Terri O’Fallon shares a few of the dazzling delights from the field of human development. Terri is a renowned expert in this area, known for her spiritual depth, vision, and kindness. She ultimately points us to the great mystery, “who am I?” Learn about her latest offerings at stagesinternational.com. For information about an opportunity to join Thomas’s cohort program, go to www.lowerlightswisdom.org/spectra.

In traditional Christian practice, congregants pay a tithe–one tenth of their earnings to support the church. How can we put this time-tested practice to work toward waking up? In this episode, Thomas explores the possibility of tithing your attention as a way of honoring the source of your spiritual sustenance. It’s not to be missed!

We’re back! Thank you for joining us for a brand new season. Thomas kicks off the festivities with a close reading of a timeless text from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. In this episode you can learn to relax your inner control freak (okay, for some of us it’s more like an outer control freak) and let go more fully  into the natural  ebb and flow of life.

What can the Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, teach us about mindfulness practice? Quite a bit, actually. Thomas describes two critical dimensions of practice in this episode: liberation and virtue. Like Arnold, you can learn to exercise different muscles for that perfectly symmetrical build.

For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re right on the other side of the winter solstice. Traditionally, this is a time when we hunker down, take an inventory on our lives perhaps, and sense into what survives the enveloping dark. When we pay close attention, we’re comforted to discover the light that the darkness never overcomes.  Also, check out Thomas’s new online course, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.

This week in the United States we celebrate independence. There are so many beautiful things about independence. And yet, like all things, it can go too far. Too much independence leads to an illusion that we are alone in the world, and have accomplished what we have all on our own. At Mindfulness+ we celebrate Interdependence Day, a Buddhist-inspired practice that invokes a sense of gratitude and humility for all the conditions that sustain and support us.

Busyness is the fashion in our modern world—the default mode of being. No matter how much we’re doing, we can always do more. At least, that’s what many of us are taught to think. But what happens when we become willing to sit and do nothing? What if we don’t assume that doing something all the time is inherently productive or good? More radically, what if doing nothing is at the very heart of actually doing something real with your life? Start cultivating the courage to do nothing right now, and discover what beautiful places it will take you!

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

Sometimes in life it can feel like what we need, what we’re searching and striving for is so hard to come by. Mindfulness practice reveals to us exactly the opposite truth: it does not take much at all to relax into a mindset of “more than enough.” Fully embodied, open-hearted and open to life, the contentment and fulfillment we believed was somewhere in the far-off future reveals itself to be always here and now.

Want to practice with Thomas? Join on Zoom from anywhere in the world for a monthly mini-retreat. Feeling called to a really deep dive? Join his 7-day intensive training in Scholls, Oregon from August 10th-17th.

Drawing from ancient understandings from the Wisdom traditions to modern insights in developmental psychology and neuroscience, Thomas will continue to offer intimate, guided tours of cosmos, soul and psyche from his new headquarters in Boston! 

Want to practice with Thomas? Join on Zoom from anywhere in the world for a monthly mini-retreat. Feeling called to a really deep dive? Join his 7-day intensive training in Scholls, Oregon this August.

This week I talk to Diane Hamilton of Two Arrows Zen Center about her new book, The Zen of You and Me. Diane epitomizes how beautifully a mature mindfulness practice can show up in an elegant, integrated and dynamic human being. Listen in as we talk meditation, adult development, working with pain and difference, and becoming your biggest self. She leads us in a closing meditation that is signature Diane “Musho” Hamilton.    

It’s so easy to go through life believing that we are alone and separate. Listen to this podcast as Thomas relates some touching examples of just how connected we really are. Connection is not without its risks, of course–with true intimacy always comes vulnerability. But we find that vulnerability is a small price to pay for the experience of participating in the great flow of Life.

When we go chasing after extraordinary experience, we block the flow of grace that is always available. Paradoxically, relaxing deeply into the present moment and not seeking anything special is the surest way to invite a special experience. Enjoy storytelling, poetry and eyes-open meditation in this dynamic episode.

“Mindfulness” is a word. And words have their power. When we call this practice “mindfulness”, it sets us up to have a particular kind of experience which in some ways, can be limiting. In this extended meditation, Thomas uses the word “heartfulness” to turn the tables and open up a new dimension of experience that perhaps you wouldn’t have expected—the boundless Reality and Intelligence of the Heart.

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. 

Also, check out Thomas’s new book! https://www.amazon.com/At-One-Ment-Human-Divinity-Thomas-Wirthlin-McConkie/dp/1953677169/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XK028CQKCUQV&keywords=atonement+mcconkie&qid=1698159281&sprefix=atonement+mcconki%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1 

Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

To be alive is to be in exchange with all things—an endless round of giving and receiving. When we receive something precious, we naturally move to reciprocate and give back to it.

For the season 3 finale, we invite you to support Mindfulness+ in whatever way you can and help us continue to provide this resource for the happiness of all beings.

Donate at www.mindfulnessplus.org/donate.

Mindfulness practice is more popular than ever in Western culture. But how has mindfulness been westernized, not necessarily for the better? In this episode, listen to Thomas as he discusses the medicalization of mindfulness: “Take 10 minutes of body scan 3 times a week and call me in two months.”  He stresses the all-important relationship with a skillful teacher combined with finding the right technique to make significant progress on the path.

Generally, we experience life in a linear way unfolding through time–something happens in this moment, it fades into the past and we make our way into the future. But there are moments where the experience of time can fade away altogether in to a richness to full to speak of. Far from an esoteric experience, we humans were made to know Eternity. Listen in on this intimate episode and see if you can’t already taste the timeless.

Spirituality and human transformation are taking exciting turns in the 21st century. Never before have so many traditions been intersecting, influencing and evolving one another. How can we meet this moment with courage and curiosity? Thomas lays out a vision of “metalineage” in this episode—a way in which all of humanity can realize greater fullness and freedom. For a deeper dive, check out this immersive online experience, Gospel Meets Dharma: The Dance of Buddhism and Christianity in the 21st Century.

Our monthly extended meditation: practicing without effort. Enjoy this guided tour of awareness while doing any activity you please. Maybe don’t try to operate any heavy machinery on your first listen!

Andrew Holecek is an author, speaker, and humanitarian who offers seminars internationally on meditation, lucid dreaming, and the art of dying. Andrew’s books include Dreams of Light, Dream Yoga, and Reverse Meditation. He hosts the popular Edge of Mind podcast and is the founder of the Night Club community, a support platform for nocturnal meditations

In this episode, Thomas and Andrew discuss lucid dreaming, dream yoga, pain, neuroscience, all in the context of what Andrew calls “reverse meditation.” What is reverse meditation? In a word, it is bringing unwanted experience directly to the path of meditation. Listen in for new insights and some guided practice.

Also, you can find Andrew’s new book from Sounds True here.

Please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

In this longer meditation, Thomas guides listeners into an exploration of their timeless, boundless nature. Sound trippy? You’ll find it’s as easy as breathing to show “your original face before your parents were born.”

We’re reviving an old tradition at Mindfulness+. Once a month, a lengthier meditation on a germane topic. This month’s meditation is PIE, or, Positions, Interests and Essence. This practice is in learning to love others as your very own Being.

Mindfulness is all the buzz these days. But what is mindfulness? And how can mindfulness benefit you personally? Join Thomas McConkie in this inaugural podcast introducing the practice of mindfulness. Thomas shares how he got into the practice almost 20 years ago and how, by doing simple daily exercises, you can reap profound benefits from this age-old practice. 

Life is full of second chances. The Dharma is all about second chances. Just now, if you didn’t meet the last moment with full presence and full awareness, life will offer you the next moment to get it right. It’s as if Reality itself is not content until you fully receive the “Great Gesture”, right now. Always right NOW.

In a world where the mind and body are too often split, not only do we do a lot of talking in our prayers, but we forget what a vital instrument the body is in our prayer life. In reality, we can’t pray without the body. Our body IS prayer. In this episode, you’ll learn to “ride the waves” of the body’s knowing into deeper communion with the Divine. Welcome to One Heart, One Mind, One Body.

Upcoming workshop: Thomas will be in Salt Lake City May 15-17 to guide students through practices from his recent book, At-One-Ment. Scholarships and financial aid always available.

We tend to talk about addiction in our culture as though only some of us are “addicts.” Mindfulness practice reveals to us that we are all, in fact, vulnerable to addiction. In this episode you can learn to understand the underlying dynamics of addiction, made especially clear in the Buddhist tradition, and start living a life of greater freedom and happiness beyond conditions. Now who wouldn’t want that?

Also, check out lowerlightsslc.org <http://lowerlightsslc.org/>, 

It’s World Autism Month! In honor of all of our neurodiverse loved ones, Thomas shares a story of a dharma teaching from his brother, Joseph, who is on the autistic spectrum.

Join us in this episode for a practice inspired by one of the many superpowers that people with autism have to offer to the world.

Also, if you have any leads on helping Joseph make new and meaningful connections, please email us at info@mindfulnessplus.org.

Contemplation asks us to let go of everything and simply rest in the Divine presence. But how, exactly, do we do that? In this episode, Thomas introduces more formally the method of Centering Prayer, developed by the spiritual giant, Father Thomas Keating. What we find in Centering Prayer is that attention follows intention. Each time our attention wanders, we gently renew “our intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.”

Upcoming workshop: Thomas will be in Salt Lake City May 15-17 to guide students in embodied practice, meditation and all sorts of surprises! Scholarships and financial aid always available.

Would it surprise you to learn that your brain has evolved over millions of years, only to misrepresent reality? To systematically exaggerate danger and underestimate reward? Neuropsychologist, Rick Hanson, argues exactly this point. Why does it matter? He says that positive experiences slip off our brains like “teflon” and negative experiences grab on like “velcro.” This is good for purposes of survival but bad for quality of life. Start turning the tables on this tilted evolutionary game with mindfulness. Learn to soak in positive experiences and start to recognize what a rewarding world it really is. You’ll be happy you did.

When we open up to the suffering on the planet, we soon realize that we, the “small self”, are not nearly big enough to contain it all. To really hold suffering in our heart and help to relieve it, we must get bigger—a move from the relative to the Absolute. In Buddhism, there is a Bodhisattva, or awakened being, who models just this: Kuan Yin (Chinese translation). Her name means “she who hears the cries of the world.” As a new war wages in Ukraine, it is an especially important moment to learn to get Big, to hold it together; to hear the cries of the world.

As a soulful follow-up to last week's program, Thomas takes listeners on the first ever extended guided meditation on Mindfulness+. Find a place to settle in, and exercise your muscle of awe, wonder and gratitude in this luxurious meditation on the "Gift of Life."

What is Metalineage? Gloria Pak returns to the studios for part II of this lively conversation. How can we take the best from all our influences without sacrificing what we take to be essential? How can the  lineages and traditions that speak to us individually bring one another to a greater fullness? The conversation culminates with a question for all of us: how is metalineage living through you? How will you express your highest values in this life, leaving nothing good behind?

If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support!

Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.
Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you. 

Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

Mindfulness can be a challenging practice. All too often we get discouraged and feel like “I’m never going to get to where I need to be.” Listen to Thomas’s words of encouragement in this episode: No matter how challenging the practice or how challenging your life–in any given moment you are just a one degree shift in awareness from freedom.

A continuation of last week’s episode, Thomas leads an extended guided meditation on still point practice, pointing out different qualities in awareness the way a chocolate connoisseur would skillfully point out different flavors and notes in an exotic cacao bean. Find a place to settle in and enjoy a tour of the True Self! Also, check out lowerlightsslc.org <http://lowerlightsslc.org/> for additional resources to support your practice.

Life can feel effortful. Frustrating and effortful at times. The practice of mindfulness is powerful because it can help us learn to ride invisible waves; help us move with the flow of Nature rather than against it. In this episode, Thomas shares a rather shocking story about pig hearts and what that means for living a life of “Doing not Doing.”

“Duende”, a term coined by the Spanish poet, Lorca, describes the power of art to whisk us away into a world of “invisibles.”

In this episode, Thomas mixes poetry and Dharma to invite you into a new realm full of magic and mystery. Is “duende” really a thing? Try on this practice and decide for yourself!

Have you ever had the experience of trying to meditate, only to find yourself constantly frustrated that you’re endlessly distracted? Have no fear!

Thomas offers a simple, proven remedy to turn this deficit into a great strength. Your practice will never be the same. Also, join us for our home retreat, Sep. 12th: https://lowerlightswisdom.org/upcomingevents/home-retreat-a-day-of-sacred-living