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The Awareness Explorers Podcast

Awareness Explorers podcast

Join Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor as they explore the many ways you can uncover the secret of joy and happiness in the background of all experience.

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Become an Awareness Explorer and learn to know yourself as pure unlimited expanded consciousness...Awareness aware of awareness itself.

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Includes a guided meditation with each podcast episode.

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Listen or download below, or on iTunes or Google Play.

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And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, or post questions and comments here

Episodes

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Episode 0: "Introduction to AE"
0: Introduction to Awareness Explorers - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss why we created this podcast, and how it can help integrate awareness into daily life activities.
Episode 1: "What is Awareness?"
1: What is Awareness? - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore what we mean by awareness and how it can become our reliable source of peace, joy, and happiness.
• Includes a guided meditation on questions that lead to awakened awareness, as well as simple phrases that can trigger an immediate state of presence.
Episode 2: "Slowing"
2: Slowing - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk about how to use very small disruptions and slowing down to bring pure awareness into daily life activities.
• Includes a guided method for using talking and movement as a trigger for awakened awareness.
Episode 3: "Thinking About Not Thinking"
3: Thinking About Not Thinking - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore the way thinking can veil pure awareness, and we share ways to disidentify with our thoughts.
• Includes a guided meditation for calming your busy mind and bringing it into present moment awareness.
Episode 4: "The Art of Letting Go"
4: The Art of Letting Go - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore three approaches to letting go… letting go of physical tension, mental tension, and spiritual attachment. We give precise methods for handling each of these, including examples of how letting go is not the same as trying to change our experience.
• Includes a guided meditation for allowing whatever is to be there without resistance.
Episode 5: "Handling Difficult Emotions"
5: Handling Difficult Emotions - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore different ways of coping with difficult emotions, including how to be with emotions without running away from them.
• Includes a guided meditation to help put tough emotions in perspective.
Episode 6: "What the Heck is Enlightenment?"
6: What the Heck is Enlightenment? - Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore differing descriptions and ways of viewing enlightenment and awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation to help imagine what would be different if you were enlightened and what obstacles would no longer be there.
Episode 7: "Head vs. Heart Awakening"
7: Head vs. Heart Awakening - Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore different types of awakening, and how each type has advantages and disadvantages.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you to drop from your head to your heart so you can better access your heart awakening experience.
Episode 8: "Intuition & Decision Making"
8: Intuition & Decision Making - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore the interplay between awareness, intuition, and decision making.
• Includes a guided meditation with a simple way of accessing intuition to help make good decisions.
Episode 9: "Rupert Spira, Guest Explorer"
9: Rupert Spira, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Rupert Spira about happiness, and how he leads people to the recognition of our true nature as awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation from Rupert for going beyond our normal notion of self into the experience of pure awareness.
Episode 10: "Easily Know Your Obstacles"
10: How to Easily Know Your Obstacles - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore how to give and receive feedback so that you can know what your specific obstacles to awakening to awareness might be.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you discover what you need to know or do to be happier and what obstacles might be good for you to face.
Episode 11: Stuart Schwartz, Guest Explorer
11: Stuart Schwartz, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Stuart Schwartz about allowing and befriending the parts of you that you're judgmental about.
• Includes a guided meditation from Stuart in which he shows us how to use the breath and the phrase "I Am" to lead us to the freedom of pure awareness.
Episode 12: "What is Satsang?"
12: What is Satsang? - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss what satsang is and how to use it effectively.
• Includes a guided self-inquiry meditation to lead you to the deeper "I" behind what you experience as "me."
Episode 13: "Intention"
13: Intention - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore the uses, abuses, and nuances of using intention to awaken.
• Includes a guided meditation for setting a clear intention in a way that allows relaxed awakening.
Episode 14: Richard Lang, Guest Explorer
14: Richard Lang, Headless Way Explorer - Jonathan Roinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Richard Lang about the variety of ways to point to Awareness known as "The Headless Way," pioneered by Douglas Harding.
• Includes a guided meditation with Richard to help us discover our true nature as pure Awareness.
Episode 15: "Different Doors of Perception"
15: Different Doors of Perception - Jonathan Robinson & Briant Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss how to use visual, auditory, and sensory cues to help notice the ever-present field of awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation using each sense to awaken awareness.
Episode 16: Lynn Marie Lumiere, Guest Explorer
16: Lynn Marie Lumiere, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson and Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk with Lynn Marie Lumiere about how your relationships can grow in harmony through non-dual awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation from Lynn Marie pointing to the loving awareness that's always present.
Episode 17: The Value of Retreats
17: The Value of Retreats - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss different types of retreats, their potential value and potential limitations to aid in awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you experience a head, heart, and gut awakening.
Episode 18: "Shifting Identity"
18: Shifting Identity - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss different ways to shift identity, different identities that are possible, and the ultimate shift in identity to awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation that takes you from the innocence of childlike awareness to the expansion into our innate ground of being.
Episode 19: Rick Archer, Guest Explorer
19: Rick Archer, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
​In this episode we talk to Rick Archer of "Buddha at the Gas Pump" about the advantages and ethical pitfalls of gurus and spiritual teachers.
Episode 20: Receiving Spiritual Energy
20: Receiving Spiritual Energy - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore the possibility of receiving energy remotely from spiritual beings, and the advantages and disadvantages of such approaches to awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation for receiving spiritual energy from a favorite teacher of your choice.
Episode 21: Metaphors of Awakening
21: Metaphors of Awakening - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we describe a cornucopia of metaphors that help people understand awakened awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation using the dream metaphor to point to nondual awakening.
Episode 22: Decision to Awaken
22: Decision to Awaken - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss will and the power of making a decision to wake ourselves up. 
• Includes a guided meditation to help develop our decision-making muscle and our sincere desire for awakening.
Episode 23: Adyashanti, Guest Explorer
23: Adyashanti, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Adyashanti about spirituality as living in a state of discovery, and ways to tap into silence in daily life.
 • Includes a guided meditation from Adyashanti leading us through the three steps of experiencing meditation in its truest sense.
Episode 24: Using Adyashanti's Teachings
24: Using Adyashanti's Teachings - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we reflect on our conversation with Adyashanti and share how you can apply his wisdom and methods to your life.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you use your body awareness as a barometer for living your truth.
Episode 25: The Joy of Contemplatiion
25: The Joy of Contemplation - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we describe how the practice of dropping a contemplative phrase into the depths of your being can lead to joy and revelation.
• Includes a guided meditation that introduces two phrases to use in a contemplative journey within.
Episode 26: Ric Weinman, Guest Explorer
26: Ric Weinman, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Ric Weinman about using higher energetics as a path to awakening and letting go of conditioning.
• Includes a guided meditation in which Ric leads us through letting go of three levels of selfhood, and into pure experience beyond self.
Episode 27: Perfectionsim & Control
27: Perfectionism & Control - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we discuss how the tendencies towards control and perfectionism can interfere with our desire for peace and awareness, and how we can overcome these obstacles.
 • Includes a guided meditation that walks you through the three phases of wabi sabi, imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness.
Episode 28: Brian Interviews Jonathan
28: Brian Interviews Jonathan - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, Jonathan tells Brian about his spiritual teacher, the wild experiments he's done, and what he's found most helpful.
• In addition, Jonathan leads a guided mediation in which you contemplate your death in order to bring new aliveness to your current life.
Episode 29: Jonathan Interviews Brian
Episode 29: Jonathan Interviews Brian
29: Jonathan Interviews Brian - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
29: Jonathan Interviews Brian - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, Brian tells Jonathan about finding a way out of depression through awareness, his theater background, and his influences in the spiritual search.
• In addition, Brian leads a guided mediation using a window of eternity metaphor to help you expand your view into infinite awareness.
In this episode, Brian tells Jonathan about finding a way out of depression through awareness, his theater background, and his influences in the spiritual search.
• In addition, Brian leads a guided mediation using a window of eternity metaphor to help you expand your view into infinite awareness.
Episode 30: John Astin, Guest Explorer
30: John Astin, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we talk to Dr. John Astin about consciousness research, songwriting, and practices for opening to pure experience.
 • Includes a guided meditation, "The Borderless Field of Being" from his new book, "This Extraordinary Moment."
31: Acting Without Attachment
31: Acting Without Attachment - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we discuss how to act passionately in the world while being unattached to the results.
• Includes a guided meditation to help us combine intention with surrender.
Episode 32: Byron Katie, Guest Explorer
32: Byron Katie, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to spiritual teacher Byron Katie about the false self, the benefits of not believing your thoughts, and the lack of separation between people.
• Includes a guide to meditating on your judgements using Byron Katie's worksheets..
Episode 33: What is Working on Yourself?
33: What is Working on Yourself? - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore how to know if what you're doing to work on yourself is really working for you.
 • Includes a guided meditation to help you find ways to allow the eternal present to resolve all difficulties and even to present solutions to practical problems.
Episode 34: The Mystical Use of Language
34: The Mystical Use of Language - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we take a look at oneness from many angles, including spiritual bypassing and the paradox of oneness and humanness.
• Includes a guided meditation that leads us through a progression to the experience of Oneness.
Episode 35: The Upside & Downside of Oneness
35: The Upside and Downside of Oneness - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to spiritual teacher Byron Katie about the false self, the benefits of not believing your thoughts, and the lack of separation between people.
• Includes a guide to meditating on your judgements using Byron Katie's worksheets.
Episode 36: Loch Kelly, Guest Explorer
36: Loch Kelly, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Loch Kelly about Effortless Mindfulness, and how it differs from Deliberate Mindfulness as a method of opening to naturally compassionate, awake awareness.
 • Includes a guided meditation or "glimpse practice" from Loch to help us know awake awareness without resorting to the thinking mind.
Episode 37: Paired Awakening Games
37: Paired Awakening Games - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we introduce games that can be played with two people and can quickly lead to the joy and peace of pure awareness.
• Includes a guided meditation that uses specific questions to guide the listener into a relaxation of their body and separate ego identity.
Episode 38: What if Nonduality Were True?
38: What if Nonduality Were True? - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore how to know if what you're doing to work on yourself is really working for you.
• Includes a guided meditation using imagination and metaphor to bring you to the experience that we're all part of one energy.
39: Griggs & Strauss, Guest Explorers
39: Carole Griggs & Ted Strauss, Guest Explorers - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Carole Griggs and Ted Strauss about a model for accelerating conscious awakening, and the advantages of consciousness coaching.
Episode 40: Shortcomings and Humility
40: Shortcomings and Humility - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk about how humility is crucial on the spiritual path and yet paradoxically cannot be directly cultivated.
• Includes an exploration of how humility can be experienced, and a guided meditation to help people let go of false ideas about themselves.
Episode 41: Into the Body
41: Into the Body - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk about how inner experience of the body can be a useful catalyst for spiritual growth.
• Includes a guided meditation using our body sensations to connect to the larger field of awareness that we all are.
Episode 39: Gail Brenner, Guest Explorer
42: Gail Brenner, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Gail Brenner about the connection between psychotherapy and awareness practices.
Includes a guided meditation from Gail using the metaphor of the mind as the wide-open, borderless clear sky.
Episode 43: The New Spirituality
43: The New Spirituality - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk about how spirituality has changed over the past 25 years, and how to take advantage of the most positive changes.
• Includes a guided meditation engaging your intuition to discover what has kept you back and what can accelerate your growth moving forward.
Episode 44: Thinking About the Future
44: Thinking About the Future - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we explore whether the future exists and how our preoccupation with the future can be an obstacle to awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you release the future and fully experience the peace of the present moment.
Episode 45: Technology and Awakening
45: Technology and Awakening - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we describe various new technologies that can foster spiritual awakening.
Includes a guided meditation on how to know if a technology is truly helpful.
Episode 46: Susanne Marie, Guest Explorer
46: Susanne Marie, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Susanne Marie about the experiences of unity and of "no self," and the role that the heart and softening have in awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation from Susanne Marie to help open your heart.
Episode 47: Fear, Anxiety, and Awareness
47: Fear, Anxiety, and Awareness - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk we talk about how to be with fear and anxiety on the spiritual path in a way that facilitates greater awakening.
• Includes a guided meditation to help you drop the story about your fears and experience them as sensations in your body.
Episode 48: How to Talk About This Stuff
48: How to Talk About This Stuff - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk we talk about how to share your experience of awareness and spirituality with friends and family in an exploratory manner.
Includes a guided meditation to rehearse all the elements needed to share in with openness and curiosity.
Episode 49: Patti Levin, Guest Explorer
49: Patti Levin, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Dr. Patti Levin about her awakening experiences, oscillating between peace and conditioning, and the relationship between spirituality and psychology.
Ep 50: Assortment of Awakening Meditations
50: An Assortment of Awakening Meditations - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode Jonathan and Brian take turns guiding listeners on 20 minutes of eyes-open meditations, followed by 20 minutes of eyes-closed meditations.
Episode 51: Amy Lindgren, Guest Explorer
51: Amy Lindgren, Guest Explorer - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we talk to Amy Lindgren about her experience of surrender, how she awakened, and what tools were most effective in this process.
Includes a guided Pure Conscious Experience meditation, using an appealing visual image.
Episode 52: Living with Uncertainty
52: Living with Uncertainty - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
n this episode, we talk about how to thrive with feelings of insecurity during these uncertain times using various types of practices.
• Includes a guided meditation that helps you make friends with insecurity and uncertainty, and receive wisdom from your deeper knowing.
Ep 53: Overcoming the "More" Mindset
53: Overcoming the "More" Mindset - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we discuss the mind's desire for always wanting more and how to handle that tendency so that peace can be experienced.
• Includes a guided meditation to help bring awareness to the feeling of lack and to find peace and happiness in the feeling of enough.
Episode 54: Are Pets the New Gurus?
54: Are Pets the New Gurus? - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we talk about what our pets can teach us about awareness and living a good life.
Includes a guided meditation to help us listen to and embody a pet's wisdom.
Episode 55: Depression and Awareness
55: Depression and Awareness - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we discuss what depression is and how awareness practices can break its grip and affect it in beneficial ways.
• Includes a guided meditation leading you through two methods for being with negative feelings in a way that helps you get unstuck from them.
Ep 56: Questions from Our Listeners
56: Questions from Our Listeners - Jonathan Robinson & Brian Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode, we discuss the value of questions and answer questions from our listeners.
• Includes a guided meditation that poses questions to expand your mind and help you to experience the infinite knowing beyond the mind.
Episode 57: Michael Lydon, Guest Exporer
57: Michael Lydon, Guest Exporer - Jonathan Robinson & Brain Tom O'Connor
00:0000:00
In this episode we talk to Michael Lydon about The Realization Process, and explore practical techniques for bringing a sense of the ground of being into our bodies.
Includes a guided meditation containing a sampling of Realization Process Techniques.
Episode 58: Three Approaches to Happiness