These are live, online meditation courses taught by Michael Taft on Zoom — small cohorts studying and practicing together, from the fundamentals of vipashyana all the way through advanced nondual and Tantric practice.
Courses run as cohorts and open for enrollment periodically. New cohorts are announced first on the email list — that’s the best way to know when a course you want is opening. New to Michael’s teaching? Start with Hacking the Stack.
The path of courses
The core sequence runs from first insight practice to advanced Tantra. Each course builds on the one before it — and alongside the sequence there is an advanced track, Reversing the Stack, whose students may also join Vast Sky Mind 3 and the Tantra courses. There is also a year-long deep-practice intensive, Vast Sky Mind: A Year of Deep Practice, open to anyone who has completed Hacking the Stack or VSM1.
- Hacking the Stack Vipashyana fundamentals and the Stack Model — the first step.
- Vast Sky Mind, Level 1 Fundamentals of nondual meditation and awakening.
- Vast Sky Mind, Level 2 Deepening the practice; the world’s nondual traditions.
- Vast Sky Mind, Level 3 Working with difficult emotions and upsetting thoughts.
- Tantra, Level 1 Tantric philosophy and practice: mantra, pranayama, mandala.
- Tantra, Level 2 The Universal Mandala and the deep end of the Tantric path.
The year-long intensive
Vast Sky Mind: A Year of Deep Practice A full year of weekly vipashyana practice — revisiting the core courses and going further.The advanced track
Reversing the Stack A step-by-step system for deepening nondual practice, on and off the cushion. Small group, six months and often far longer.How the courses work
Every course meets live on Zoom, once a week for 90 minutes. In each class, Michael teaches on that week’s topic, takes live questions from the group, and leads a guided meditation.
Students join a “practice pod” — a small group of other students from the course — to study, share, bring up questions, and support each other’s practice throughout the class and moving forward. Optional Q&A sessions, supplemental readings, and a private course community deepen the work.
Classes are taught live; enrolled students who miss a class catch up by recording before the next session.
What every course asks of you
- Meditate 30 minutes daily (Reversing the Stack: 60 minutes)
- Attend each class live, or watch the recording before the next session
- Complete the assigned materials — readings, videos, and practices
- Meet with your practice pod outside of class
- A strong desire to learn, understand, and practice
Each course below lists only what it asks beyond this.
A quick peek into Michael’s teaching
Michael Taft: Intro to His Meditations and the Stack Model — an interview with Pranab. Watch on YouTube →
Hacking the Stack
Start here12 weeksNo prerequisites
Hacking the Stack is the precursor to the whole sequence of courses — the first step. It is a great way to begin your learning journey, and a valuable way to solidify the foundations of your practice in a dedicated community of like-minded practitioners.
In his Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, the 11th-century Buddhist luminary Atisha wrote that the practice of vipashyana “gives rise to wisdom that sees the nature of all things. Without this wisdom, all other practices remain incomplete.” Vipashyana (sometimes called vipassana in other traditions) means to “see things as they really are,” and is thus the liberating insight that marks the beginning of real awakening. But how do we actually do it?
In Michael Taft’s 12-week online course, entitled Hacking the Stack, you will learn the fundamentals of vipashyana meditation. Using Michael’s innovative “Stack Model” of awakening, you will discover where you are at in your practice, as well as learn specific methods for deepening further into the insight that is the heart of vipashyana.
Whether you are new to meditation, or if you are a mindfulness meditator whose practice seems stalled, or if you have been following Michael’s guided meditation series on YouTube, if you are wanting something more—a practice that can actually lead to awakening—then this course is for you.
In Hacking the Stack, you will learn
- The true meaning of Vipashyana
- Michael Taft’s innovative meditation map, the “Stack Model”
- Methods of Vipashyana meditation for each sense gate
- A proven way to gauge the current depth of your practice, and specific instructions on how to go deeper
- How to see the true nature of every sort of human experience
- Powerful methods of awakening, all without a guru
- A meditation practice you can stick with
Beyond the standard commitments
No prerequisites. While it’s not a requirement, this class is much easier if you already have a meditation practice.
Course community
Mighty Networks collection, plus optional Q&A sessions and supplemental readings.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Vast Sky Mind, Level 1
12 weeksNo formal prerequisites
Nondual meditation is the ageless path of realizing the awakened mind already inside you. While generally following Buddhist understandings, this course takes a non-denominational approach that is informed by modern neuroscience and scholarship.
Whether you are new to meditation, or if you are a mindfulness meditator whose practice seems stalled, or if you have been following Michael’s guided meditation series on YouTube, if you are wanting something more—a practice that both engages with life and that can actually lead to awakening—then this course is for you.
In Vast Sky Mind, you will learn
- What the term “nondual” actually means
- How to meditate on emptiness (and what “emptiness” even means)
- The techniques of “effortless” meditation
- How to overcome the obstacles that are blocking your realization
- The history of nondual meditation worldwide
- How nondual meditation is understood in Buddhist traditions such as Vajrayana and Dzogchen
- Serious practice without a guru
- A system of meditation that you can stick with
Beyond the standard commitments
No formal prerequisites. While it’s not a requirement, this class is much easier if you already have a strong meditation background.
Course community
Mighty Networks community, plus optional Q&A sessions and supplemental readings.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Vast Sky Mind, Level 2
12 weeksRequires VSM1
Nondual awareness is our shared human heritage, not the property of any one religion or tradition. It has been talked about, practiced, and experienced all around the globe. Different traditions have explored different understandings, different avenues, and different expressions of this fundamentally liberating aspect of our humanity for millennia. And now with Vast Sky Mind, Level 2, you can get a genuine taste of these explorations.
In Vast Sky Mind, Level 1 (VSM1), we learned a system of nondual meditation that—when practiced diligently—can bring you to an experience of awakening. In Level 2 of the course, you will continue to deepen your practice of this system, while simultaneously broadening your understanding of the fundamentals of nonduality.
Together with other VSM1 alumni, you will learn the history and background of the various nondual meditation traditions; how they are similar, how they are different, where they came from, and why they matter to our practice—and our lives—today. You will also learn a wide range of powerful, classic techniques from each of these traditions. And crucially, you will learn to integrate these traditional meditations into the practice structure we’ve already developed.
In Vast Sky Mind, Level 2, you will learn
- The history and background of nondual meditation worldwide
- How to understand the differences (and surprising similarities) between schools of nonduality
- Why nonduality is a “human thing” and doesn’t belong to any particular religion
- How to overcome the obstacles that are blocking your realization
- Serious practice without a guru or initiations
- A system of meditation that you can stick with
- Much more
Beyond the standard commitments
Successful completion of VSM1.
Course community
Mighty Networks community, plus group AMAs run by teaching assistants and supplemental readings.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Vast Sky Mind: A Year of Deep Practice
48 classes over a yearRequires HtS or VSM1
The renowned twentieth-century Dzogchen master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche taught, “Clear seeing, vipashyana, is your empty cognizance, your naked awareness beyond waxing and waning.” But as he also said, “Without training, the recognition of mind essence remains a short glimpse that immediately vanishes.” Learning vipashyana is foundational — and it’s not enough to just know how to do it. We must practice it diligently over time to really allow the depth and clarity of insight to sink into our bones.
That’s what this course is for. Vast Sky Mind: A Year of Deep Practice is a full year of practicing together — 48 weekly live classes in four terms, with practice pods, office hours, TA Q&As, and a community of fellow practitioners. We’ll revisit the material from Hacking the Stack and Vast Sky Mind 1 and 2 with the room to actually let it take root, and go into important material that didn’t make its way into those courses. The hope for this course is simple: that by the end of the year, vipashyana isn’t just a technique you do, but a way of seeing — what the tradition calls the View — that stays with you.
In A Year of Deep Practice, you will learn
- The complete arc of vipashyana practice, from fundamentals through nondual insight — with a full year to deepen it
- Working with other sensory spaces
- Other types of vipashyana beyond those taught in the core courses
- The practice of inquiry, and how it enhances recognizing the nature of mind
- How sustained practice in community changes what a technique can do
- A system of meditation that you can stick with
Beyond the standard commitments
Completion of Hacking the Stack or Vast Sky Mind 1.
Format notes
48 weekly classes across four terms, with short breaks between them. Office hours, TA Q&As, and sangha events added over the course of the year.
Course community
Mighty Networks platform, with supplemental readings and various spaces to deepen your practice and connect with fellow students.
Details, dates, and enrollment: course page →
Vast Sky Mind, Level 3
16 sessions over 17 weeksRequires VSM1 or RtS
Meditation has always been a go-to resource in troubled times. Over the millennia the wisdom and power of practice has been relied upon to soothe, nurture, and uplift the human heart. As the master Khenpo Gangshar Rinpoche put it: “No matter what thoughts arise in the mind, be they good or bad, happy or sad, remain naturally settled and at ease.” But how to do it?
In Vast Sky Mind, Level 3, meditation teacher Michael Taft leads an in-depth masterclass on the classical and modern methods for working with difficult emotions and upsetting thoughts. We’ll work in the zone where a lot of meditation advice breaks down: not suppressing, not indulging, not “processing” forever—just meeting what arises with support and clear seeing, until the grip loosens and the mind recognizes its own space and emptiness. Along the way you’ll build real resourcing—using tonglen and other heart practices—so you can stay present enough for the insight to actually land. And we’ll also train in what Michael calls tantric fearlessness: turning toward the very center of intensity with confidence—even joy—so the energy that used to hijack you becomes part of the path.
Michael Taft has taught thousands of people his special “industrial-strength” nondual practice: precise, experiential methods aimed at freedom rather than self-improvement. In Vast Sky Mind, Level 3, you’ll learn his specific ways to practice with strong emotions and sticky thought loops, supported by resourcing, and guided by emptiness-recognition as they arise. In other words: a practice you can actually use when life gets hard.
Who this course is for
This is a continuation of Michael’s Vast Sky Mind course series, with a special emphasis on thought and emotion. To enroll, you must have taken Vast Sky Mind, Level 1, or be in Reversing the Stack.
NOTE: This course is meditation training, not psychotherapy. It is intended for healthy stable adults who may be experiencing upsetting thoughts and feelings. If, however, you’re currently dealing with severe instability, active trauma processing, or an acute mental health crisis, please get appropriate professional support. If you’re unsure, consult your mental health professional before enrolling.
In Vast Sky Mind, Level 3, you will learn
- Powerful, proven methods for building resource
- How to directly experience the emptiness of thoughts and emotions
- “Neo-brahmaviharas” such as gratitude and forgiveness
- The techniques that actually help you to weather even very difficult times
- Michael’s “tantric fearlessness” practices for diving into intense experience
- To find spaciousness amidst the pressure, upset, and chaos
- Serious practice without a guru
- A system of meditation that you can stick with
- Much more
Beyond the standard commitments
Completion of VSM1, or current enrollment in Reversing the Stack. VSM2 is helpful but not required.
Format notes
Sixteen sessions over seventeen weeks. Optional weekly Q&A sessions with TAs, and occasional AMAs with Michael.
Course community
Mighty Networks platform, with supplemental readings and various spaces to help deepen your practice and understanding.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Tantra, Level 1
12 weeksRequires VSM1, VSM2, or RtS
Over 1500 years ago, a tidal wave of transformative practices swept across Asia, completely remaking the spirituality of the time. Based in a magical worldview, these practices involved the harnessing and transmuting of life energies, the integration of opposites, powerful visualizations, breath control, and more—all to ignite a direct, experiential union with the divine.
This new way of working, called Tantra, became the main form of many religions—including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism—for a thousand years. Now you can come explore the wisdom of Tantra in this comprehensive, non-denominational 12-week course on Tantric philosophy, practices, and experience.
Taught by Michael Taft, a teacher with decades of experience in Tantric practice, the course is an exploration of the ancient wisdom of Tantra that transcends religious boundaries, encompassing Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Learn powerful meditation techniques, explore the energy of sacred mantras and pranayama, experience the transformative practice of mandala visualization, and more.
Open only to Michael Taft’s students from the Vast Sky Mind and Reversing the Stack courses, Tantra 1 will be an intensive, advanced, challenging, and ultimately enlivening journey into the depths of your nondual meditation practice.
In Tantra 1, you will learn
- How Tantric and nondual practices work together to facilitate and stabilize awakening
- Methods of visualization meditation
- The radical, goddess-based vision of the Tantric worldview
- How to turn discomfort, disease, disgust, and despair into powerful awakening
- To deeply engage with Michael Taft’s specific Mandala meditation
- How to do the most important Tantric practices
- What mantras are and how to use them—including bijas, or “seed syllables”
- The history and background of Tantra, where it came from and how it spread
- Several powerful pranayama (breath control) practices that greatly deepen meditation
- Working with chakras and the human energy system
- A system of meditation that you can stick with
Beyond the standard commitments
Successful completion of VSM1 or VSM2, or being a current or former student in Reversing the Stack. Attend each class. Daily practice, every day, for the entire three months.
Note: Tantra doesn’t mean “sacred sexuality,” and there are no sexual practices of any kind in this course.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Tantra, Level 2
4 monthsRequires Tantra 1 or RtS
In Tantra 1 we learned a palette of basic Tantric practices, along with some introduction to the history and theory of Tantra. In this second level of the course, we will build upon that foundation, learning to expand, deepen, and refine your ability to engage spiritual growth through the path of nondual Tantra.
In Tantra 2, you will
- Engage deeply with The Universal Mandala practice—learning the Mandala, exploring each sextant individually, and discovering powerful ways to use it to balance forces of the deep unconscious and enhance your ability to awaken more fully. This practice is unique to Michael Taft’s courses, and not available anywhere else.
- Discover completely new ways to work with difficult emotions and disturbing experiences from a Tantric perspective—related to the well-known “Tantric Fearlessness” challenges Michael airs live from time to time.
- Learn upgrades and refinements for the nadi shodhana practice. We spent much of Tantra 1 assembling this complex pranayama, and there’s still a lot more we can do with it. In Tantra 2, we’ll integrate it into the Universal Mandala practice to make both even more powerful.
- Go more deeply into the history, background, and—most importantly—the unique mood or view of Tantric practice.
- Deepen your recognition of Awake Awareness through all of these practices.
Open only to Michael Taft’s students who have completed Tantra 1, or who are currently in a Reversing the Stack course, this four-month course will be an intensive, advanced, challenging, and ultimately enlivening journey into the depths of your nondual meditation practice.
Beyond the standard commitments
Successful completion of Tantra 1, or being a current student in Reversing the Stack. Attend most class sessions live. Daily practice, every day, for the entire four months.
Next cohort: to be announced — get notified by email
Reversing the Stack
By application6+ monthsLimited to 30 students
This is the most advanced course Michael offers. In this course you will learn a system of deepening your nondual practice step-by-step, on the cushion and in daily life. Overall the course follows what we call the “Reversing the Stack” model, meaning that you will establish a firm basis in non-conceptual/objectless meditation (“resting the mind in awareness”). From this basis, you will then learn to investigate sensory arisings and the mind, as well as how to bring this open mind to all daily activities. As the course progresses, you will discover how to contact Awake Awareness (i.e. Rigpa) and furthermore how to stabilize this contact.
This is a powerful, interactive course in a small, focused group (limited to 30 students) meeting once a week on Zoom for six months. Note that although the commitment is for six months, the course often runs for years.
Requirements
- Admission via an enrollment process – you must be accepted into the course
- A minimum of 60 minutes of meditation daily
- Attend the live classes unless missing a class is absolutely unavoidable (expected attendance is at least 21 of 24 classes)
- Take an active part in class discussions
- Meet with your practice pod regularly outside of class
- Read and view all assigned materials (books, videos, etc.)
Applications: opened when a new cohort forms — get notified by email
Looking to enroll in one of Michael’s courses?
Start by joining the email list — new courses and cohorts are announced there first, and spots in smaller courses go quickly.