Teaching Meditation

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In this conversation with Upali, Monica Anutes traces the path from her first day-long sit to teaching in Rob Burbea's lineage.  They then land on confidence: how it grows not from one dramatic insight but from noticing freedom again and again in small moments, and how much of it is borrowed — from teachers, from books, from sangha — before it becomes your own. Along the way: why emptiness and compassion aren't opposites, what dependent arising looks like in a hard morning, and Monica's work bringing Seeing That Frees into Portuguese.

https://www.monicaantunes.com/en/about
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Upali interviews Monica Heiser, a teacher in the insight lineage Mindfulness in Daily Life (MIDL).  Monica is one of the few guests we've had on the show who is a fulltime school teacher, so she and Upali talk about how this informs her pedagogy.  She and Upali talk about effort and overeffort in practice, and how this can lead to big distractions such as lust for jhanas, and they contrast this with the positive feedback loop of wellbeing that comes from balanced practice.  You can read more about Monica at https://monicaheiser.com/meditation-awakening/ and more about the lineage at https://midlmeditation.com/
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Lysha Smith is a senior teacher in the lineage of SN Goenka, running the Dhamma Dhara center in Massachusetts.  The conversation touches on a number of issues, including 
How they manage to keep their courses free of charge
Why they're so "unhip"?  (We think we're the first big<ish> Dharma podcast to do an episode on Goenka)
Do Goenka retreats cause serious mental health side effects at a higher rate than other traditions, or is it just the sample bias (way, way more people do their retreats than others)?
How is the lineage evolving?

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Meditation teacher and attachment theory expert George Haas talks about the effects of insecure attachment, as well as how combining meditation with other modalities can cause a permanent shift in attachment style.  See mettagroup.org for more information.
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Leigh tells us the story of how he became a jhana teacher, and we learn the thrilling story of the life of Ayya Khema, his teacher.  He tells us about jhana being an endangered species, and then he tells us about his newest book: Love, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity, which includes the concept of self-Mudita.  The middle section is Leigh focusing on his search for a successor to make sure that jhana retreats continue.
For more about Leigh Brasington, head over here.

The Teachers Leigh Recommends in the Podcast
https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/person/mary-aubry/
https://heathersundberg.com/
https://southerndharma.org/teachers/1587/meagan-chambers/
https://www.cheltenhamzen.co.uk/
https://rockymountaininsight.org/dharma-talks-lucinda-green/
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