Best Stephen Zerfas Podcasts (2025)

1
Stephen Zerfas: Making the Jhanas Accessible 53:29

14d ago53:29

53:29

Stephen Zerfas, founder of the Jhana startup Jhourney (get it?), covers a wide range of topics in today's interview. He and Tucker talk about the relationship of the jhanas to the rest of the path, how Stephen has succeeded in getting so much publicity, and how the larger Dharma community has responded to a tech startup teaching meditation retreats…

1
Learning Meditation: Yuri. Using Meditation to Cope with War 1:10:09

27d ago1:10:09

1:10:09

Upali interviews Yuri, a Ukranian-British meditator. Yuri talks about how difficult his first retreat was, and how permanently his life changed following this. He then goes into how much better he became as a father as a result of his meditation practice. Later, Upali asks Yuri about what it was like when his country was attacked while his family w…

1
Dr. Tucker Peck: Freedom is the Opposite of Community 38:00

1M ago38:00

38:00

Upali interviews Tucker in this episode. In a wide-ranging conversation, they touch on: Many of us look for self esteem to pretty much everyone we meet, or to no one at all, rather than in a sane place. Doing what you'd like to do, and being in community, are opposite stances. How do we balance these? Tucker talks about Sanity & Sainthood, both the…

1
Learning Meditation: Kacee. Dealing with Overwhelm in Meditation 51:20

2M ago51:20

51:20

Kacee is the first in a series Upali will do with guests who are longtime students, rather than teachers, of meditation. Kacee talks about a number of changes over her years as a practitioner, including her view of what to do when practice makes you feel worse, her view on integrating parts work into her meditation practice, and she deals with the …

1
North Burn: Spending 20 Years on Retreat 54:24

3M ago54:24

54:24

Dharma teacher North Burn has been on a meditation retreat for most of the last twenty years. He teaches a 3-month retreat each spring in California. Tucker talks with North about choosing a monastic life rather than dating, marriage, and a career. North opens up about his relationship with his own teacher, including a period where their relationsh…

1
David Treleaven: Meditation Safety and Jhanas for Working with Emotional Difficulty 1:01:45

11M ago1:01:45

1:01:45

In this special podcast episode, we sit down with David Treleaven, author of “Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness,” to explore the intersection of trauma, safety, and meditation. David shares his journey through intensive meditation retreats and the transformative impact of integrating trauma-informed practices. We discuss the role of jhanas in emotional …

1
Being Happier Than You Ever Realized For No Apparent Reason (Leigh Brasington) 1:13:08

1+ y ago1:13:08

1:13:08

In this episode, we speak with Leigh Brasington, one of the most famous jhana teachers alive today. Leigh is the author of Right Concentration, a remarkably clear and simple book that is commonly cited by novices who learned to enter jhanas on their own. We discuss how he first learned the jhanas, spent years looking for a teacher to show him how t…

1
A Beginner's Journey to Jhana, Personality-Change, and Forgiveness in 100hrs (Zach Lauzon) 1:13:09

1+ y ago1:13:09

1:13:09

In this episode, we talk to Zach Lauzon, a Google engineer and novice meditator with less than 100 hours of meditation experience who learned the first five jhanas on a recent Jhourney retreat. He shares how the jhanas have changed his worldview, changed his relationship to hard things, and unlocked personality-change in what he describes as “self-…

1
From Musician to Meditation Virtuoso (David Phelan) 1:23:55

1+ y ago1:23:55

1:23:55

In this episode, we talk to David Phelan, music producer and songwriter for Zayn, Sia, and Blackpink, who was on a recent Jhourney retreat. He shares how music, psychedelics, and a challenging time led him from identifying as a confident materialist to a regular meditator. He developed panic attacks, and then cured himself by intentionally inducing…

1
Introduction to Collection of Jhourneys 1:03

1+ y ago1:03

1:03

Welcome to the Collection of Jhourney’s podcast, where we explore the stories of everyday people who have had their lives changed by the blissful and therapeutic states of jhana meditation. The jhanas are profoundly altered states of meditation that are a growing trend among meditators and scientists. Practitioners have described it as "MDMA therap…

1
Marianne Bentzen: Intimacy and Playfulness; Trauma and Resource 1:15:36

2+ y ago1:15:36

1:15:36

Marianne Bentzen is a psychotherapist and trainer in neuroaffective development psychology. She is the author of a number of books including Neuroaffective Meditation: A Practical Guide to Lifelong Brain Development, Emotional Growth, and Healing Trauma. Marianne talks about her path to becoming a meditation teacher as a psychotherapist and how to …

1
Dr. Daniel Ingram: Managing Controversy in Dharma Circles 57:27

2+ y ago57:27

57:27

Dr. Daniel Ingram is a retired emergency medicine doctor who is the author of two versions of the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. His current projects are the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium and a charity called the Emergence Benefactors. Daniel discusses the way in which he became a dharma teacher, where he actually beg…

1
Julianna Raye: The Unified Mindfulness Teacher Training Program 1:04:37

2+ y ago1:04:37

1:04:37

Guest Julianna Raye joins Tucker to describe the Unified Mindfulness teacher training system. This is the second in our series on some of the larger teacher training programs; Vidyamala Burch's episode was the first. Support the showBy Upasaka Upali & Dr. Tucker Peck

1
Dharma 3.0 and Multiplayer Meditation with Vince Horn 59:51

3y ago59:51

59:51

Vince Horn, meditation teacher and co-founder of Buddhist Geeks, talks with Upali about his path of transmission and training in Dharma Teaching. He also explores transparency in Dana, Dharma and Sangha in the world of Web 3.0, and the power of social meditative techniques aka Multiplayer Meditation. Support the show…

1
Shaila Catherine: When Students Get Distracted 1:03:38

3y ago1:03:38

1:03:38

Shaila Catherine rejoins us on the program. We discuss several ancient practices, including the asubha practice (sometimes called "foulness of the body") and what the Buddha calls "crushing mind with mind," and how these practices do and don't work for modern students. Shaila also describes her own process for finding a teacher once one is already …

1
Lopon Chandra Easton: 10 years of Vajrayana Training, and Feeding Your Demons 1:13:04

3+ y ago1:13:04

1:13:04

Lopön Chandra Easton is a Westerner who grew up in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. She did nine years of preparatory (ngondro) practices and spent 5 - 10 years training to be a teacher. She is a lineage holder under Lama Tsultrim Allione, author of the book Feeding Your Demons. She is currently on the Tara Mandala Board of Directors and the Tara …

1
Henrik Norberg: Religious Buddhism, or, Teaching Retreats in Caves 50:14

3+ y ago50:14

50:14

Henrik Norberg is a celibate, non-monastic teacher of meditation retreats, often in caves in Southeast Arizona. Hear him and Upali talk about the difference between Eastern and Western conceptualizations of stream entry, Henrik's view that Western Buddhism hyperfocuses on meditation, and what Henrik's own path looks like, which he said it primarily…

1
Kynan Tan: Success As a New and Fulltime Meditation Teacher 36:01

3+ y ago36:01

36:01

Australian teacher Kynan Tan, PhD only recently began teaching meditation and was quickly able to leave his regular job and become a fulltime teacher. In this interview, you'll hear how he prepared himself to teach, how he gets continuing education and supervision as a new teacher, and what steps he thinks allowed him to attract so many students in…

1
Vidyamala Burch: Growing a Dharma Org Without Losing The Heart 48:29

3+ y ago48:29

48:29

Vidyamala Burch is the founder of Breathworks, has a teacher training program with over 600 alumni, has been teaching mindfulness for pain for many decades, and has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the United Kingdom. Hear Vidyamala's story of growing up in New Zealand, moving full-time into a retreat center, and starting a…

1
Mukti: Teaching and Embodiment 1:00:37

3+ y ago1:00:37

1:00:37

Mukti is a teacher in a nondual lineage. She received her authorization to teach from Adyashanti, her husband. You can learn more about Mukti over here. Mukti’s teachings invite attunement to the act of being and to the heart of awareness. Such attunement can awaken Spirit to reveal Itself as your essential self and as the essence of all of life. T…

1
Upasaka Upali: I Can't Remember How Many Intro Classes I've Taught 53:10

4y ago53:10

53:10

Upali talks about teaching intro courses vs advanced students, coping with the unfairness of the world, working with students' emotional wellbeing, and how to escape Garfunkel syndrome. Upasaka Upali is a Dharma teacher who aims to demystify meditation, provide tangible instruction, and create a rewarding experience for practitioners. Upali receive…

1
Don & Patty: How to Run a Retreat Center 55:39

4y ago55:39

55:39

Don and Patty, both dharma teachers, run the Wellbeing Retreat Center in Tazewell, Tennessee. This special episode focuses, rather than on the usual topic of teaching meditation, on how to start and manage a meditation retreat center. Support the showBy Upasaka Upali & Dr. Tucker Peck

1
Shaila Catherine: Teaching Towards Full Liberation 1:03:46

4y ago1:03:46

1:03:46

Shaila Catherine is the founder of Insight Meditation South Bay, a meditation group in Silicon Valley, and also Bodhi Courses, an online Buddhist classroom. She has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than nine years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught since 1996 in the USA, and internationally. She completed a one…

1
Boaz Feldman: Freedom and Fulfillment 1:04:39

4y ago1:04:39

1:04:39

Boaz Feldman talks with Upali from a multi-year meditation retreat and shares his personal journey of becoming a monk, returning to lay life, and becoming a psychologist. Boaz and Upali talk about the challenges and benefits of integrating ancient tradition in a modern world, and Boaz presents a framework that formulates that possibilty. To learn m…

1
Dr. Andrew Holecek: Finding Your Niche 1:03:40

4+ y ago1:03:40

1:03:40

Dr. Andrew Holecek covers a lot of ground, from describing finding his niche in sleep and dream meditation, to doing a three-year retreat, and his thoughts on the frequent scandals among dharma teachers. Learn more about Andrew at www.andrewholecek.com. Support the showBy Upasaka Upali & Dr. Tucker Peck

1
Dorothy Hunt: How Do We Teach The Ineffable? 1:00:39

4+ y ago1:00:39

1:00:39

This episode touches on Christian practice, Adyashanti's lineage of Zen, and how to teach meditation from more of a non-doing, already-there perspective, rather than a technique-based one. Dorothy Hunt is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and serves as Spiritual Director and President of Moon Mountain Sangha,…

1
Shinzen Young: The Greatest Dignity Is Absolute Humility 35:35

4+ y ago35:35

35:35

Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant. His systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation, known as Unified Mindfulness, has resulted in collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont in the bourgeoning field of contemplative…

1
Stephen Batchelor: Teaching Dharma vs Teaching Meditation 1:00:34

4+ y ago1:00:34

1:00:34

Upali interviews Stephen Batchelor, a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, a former monk best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. They talk about teaching Dharma (vs simply teaching meditation), finding authority through authorship, and plant medicine. Stephen teaches meditation around the world, and he is the author of suc…

1
Stephanie Nash: Building Your Own Following 1:00:58

4+ y ago1:00:58

1:00:58

Tucker interviews Stephanie Nash. Stephanie has a psychology degree from Duke University and a Masters from Yale University. In addition to her career as an actress, Stephanie has had the privilege of working closely with Shinzen Young and has been a facilitator with Vipassana Support International since 1999, teaching retreats. In addition to a sp…

1
Dr. Tucker Peck: Coping with Imposter Syndrome 52:06

4+ y ago52:06

52:06

Upali interviews Tucker. Dr. Tucker Peck is a meditation teacher and clinical psychologist whose specialties include working with advanced meditators and using meditation to help those suffering from psychological disorders. Tucker began formal training in meditation in 2005 and has studied with Sharon Salzberg of the Insight Meditation Society and…

1
Jessica Graham: Sex, Money, and Teaching Meditation 50:27

4+ y ago50:27

50:27

Tucker interviews Jessica Graham. Jessica is a meditation teacher, sex, relationship, and spiritual guide for couples and individuals, international speaker, and author of Good Sex: Getting Off Without Checking Out, which has been translated into several languages, and is a best seller in the Netherlands. She is also a contributing editor of the po…

1
Michael Taft: How Not To Become Guru 50:50

4+ y ago50:50

50:50

Tucker interviews Michael Taft. Michael is a maverick meditation teacher, bestselling author, and podcaster. As a mindfulness coach, he specializes in secular, science-based mindfulness training in retreats, groups, corporate settings, and one-on-one sessions. Michael is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Mindful Geek, Nondu…