Can meditation lead to awakening while leaving parts of us emotionally unhealed? And what happens when the pursuit of bliss becomes a way of avoiding our own shadows? In this episode, I talk with Liam McClintock, founder of FitMind, meditation teacher, and author of Fit Mind: Four Steps to Lasting Bliss, about Buddhist contemplative practice, neuroscience, and the relationship between spiritual awakening and psychological healing.

Liam shares insights from his meditation training, psychedelic experiences, and years of contemplative practice. We explore TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation), the Six Rs, and his adaptation of the practice into the Four Rs: Recognize, Release, Relish, and Remain.

But does cultivating lovingkindness and equanimity necessarily resolve our deeper psychological wounds? We discuss spiritual bypassing, shadow work, forgiveness, and the Sedona Method, including Liam’s own experience of intense emotional processing.

Liam McClintock is the founder of FitMind, a meditation training platform integrating contemplative practice and neuroscience. Diagnosed with OCD as a child, Liam channeled his restless energy into sports, becoming the No. 1-ranked U.S. junior squash player in his age group at 15. While studying at Yale, he founded a hangover supplement company featured in TIME and Men’s Health.

After graduating, Liam left a career in private equity to pursue meditation and contemplative practice. His training included 800 hours of yoga teacher training and study with prominent meditation teachers. He spent three years as a Buddhist monk in the Theravāda forest tradition, having been ordained by Bhante Vimalaramsi. He also earned an MSc in Applied Neuroscience from King’s College London, researching the neural correlates of advanced nondual meditation, and participated in consciousness research at Harvard, contributing to the early development of advanced meditation training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Liam McClintock | FitMind

🌐 Website, App, Retreats, Book: https://fitmind.org

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

Mentioned in This Episode

Ruben E. Laukkonen & Heleen A. Slagter (2021). From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014976342100261X?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-9&rr=a4b27f2f9bbe0384

Zoran Josipovic et al. (2012). Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain.

https://www.cns.nyu.edu/heegerlab/content/publications/Josipovic-Frontiers2012.pdf

Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center: https://www.dhammasukha.org

The Sedona Method

https://www.sedona.com/Home.asp

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

3:42 The Neuroscience of Nondual Meditation

12:18 Psychedelics, Ayahuasca, and Lessons in Generosity

20:34 What Does Lasting Bliss Really Mean?

25:29 TWIM Explained: The Six Rs vs. The Four Rs

32:51 Lovingkindness Meditation vs. Dry Insight

36:25 Is There More Than One Path to Awakening?

40:08 TWIM, Spiritual Bypassing, and the Shadow Side of Meditation

44:09 Forgiveness Practice and Shadow Work

49:04 Are the Four Rs an Improvement on TWIM?

52:58 The Sedona Method: Releasing Suppressed Emotions

54:18 Liam’s Year of Intense Emotional Processing

57:02 Why Spiritual Practice Needs Balance

58:39 FitMind, Meditation Apps, and Upcoming Retreats

1:01:24 How to Connect with Mira & the Unjourneying Community

Unjourneying is also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneying

For educational purposes only.

What can psychedelics teach us about chronic pain, trauma, and the body? And what happens when a career built around the mind demands a deeper connection with the living world? In this episode of Unjourneying, I talk with Dr. Ben Malcolm, founder of Spirit Pharmacist, about his path to Costa Rica, personal transformation, and our relationship with nature.

We explore Ben’s chronic back pain and experiences with ketamine and other psychedelics. He shares a striking encounter with a bodyworker that opened up questions about the psoas, fascia, muscle tension, and trauma. Does the body keep the score? We discuss Bessel van der Kolk’s influential framework, predictive processing, and how psychedelics may shift habitual patterns of perception.

Along the way, we explore divorce, professional identity, ecological stewardship, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, and Ben’s vision for Casa de Espíritu, his retreat project in Costa Rica. This is a conversation about embodiment, healing, and the possibility of a personal renaissance.

Dr. Ben Malcolm, PharmD, MPH, is a clinical psychiatric pharmacist, educator, and entrepreneur who helped pioneer psychedelic pharmacy. Through his website, Spirit Pharmacist, he provides psychopharmacology consulting, courses, and training focused on the interactions between medications, medical conditions, and psychedelics. He has published more than a dozen medical journal articles, delivered hundreds of professional presentations, serves on the board of the Psychedelic Medicine Association, and teaches in psychedelic therapy training programs. Originally from Tasmania, Australia, Ben is also a former All-American competitive swimmer and accomplished didgeridoo player. He now lives in Costa Rica, where he is developing Casa de Espíritu, a homestay retreat project.

Dr. Ben Malcom | Spirit Pharmacist

🌐 Website: https://www.spiritpharmacist.com

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(Quinn_novel)

0:00 Intro

6:04 How Dr. Malcolm Landed in Costa Rica

6:47 Building Spirit Pharmacist on Lunch Breaks

9:22 Hawaii Was a No, Costa Rica Was Not

12:21 Divorce, and Landing in the Right Place

13:06 Why Costa Rica? Forests, Currency, Blue Zones, and No Army

16:27 Relationships as Teachers

19:15 The Stigma of Divorce

20:24 The Spirit Pharmacist Is a Hat, Not an Identity

22:49 Personal Stories and the Audience You Opted Into

24:05 Casa de Espíritu: Building an Ecological Retreat

26:43 A Mind Career Needs a Body Counterweight

29:26 Takers and Givers: Rethinking Our Relationship with Nature

32:34 Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael and the Problem of Extraction

33:40 Chronic Back Pain, and Why Ketamine?

36:15 No Pain, No Gain? Rethinking Chronic Pain

41:55 MDMA, LSD, and Ayahuasca for Pain

42:22 The Story of the Psoas and the Bodyworker

43:26 Why Ketamine Opened What Other Medicines Only Showed

45:38 Fascia, Muscle Tension, and Trauma

47:45 Psychedelics and the Body’s Innate Responses

50:03 Does the Body Keep the Score?

52:01 The Mind Keeps the Score, The Body Shows It

56:20 How Psychedelics Loosen Prediction

59:19 Letting Go of Control During a Psychedelic Experience

1:01:02 A Personal Renaissance

1:03:28 How to Connect with Mira & the Unjourneying Community

Unjourneying is also available on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/@unjourneyingFor educational purposes only.

Pragmatic Dharma legend Daniel Ingram joins me for a lively conversation about cessation, the Three Characteristics, salvia divinorum, 5-MeO-DMT, the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC), and the new field of phenomeniatry that he is helping to establish. He demonstrates the utility of phenomeniatry by walking us through some complex differential diagnosis scenarios.

Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC)

🌐 Website: https://theeprc.org

🌟 Donations: https://ebenefactors.org

Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH

➡️ Links & Socials: https://linktr.ee/danielmingram

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

Mentioned in this Episode:

Daniel & Michael Taft's 2020 SFDC Q&A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgYjLxM4VMc&t=4021s

Kathryn Devaney

https://www.kathryndevaney.com/

Crazy Like Us by Ethan Watters

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crazy-Like-Us/Ethan-Watters/9781416587095

Baksbat (broken courage): a trauma-based cultural syndrome in Cambodia. Sotheara Chhim.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23406066/

A cross-sectional survey on depersonalization/derealization and meditation-induced alterations of the self. Erola Pons et al.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13156312/

0:00 Introduction

4:20 Cessation, Awakening & the Question of What Counts

9:05 The Arising & Passing Away vs. Cessation

11:25 What Actually Happens During Fruition?

13:23 Stream Entry and the 16 Stages of Insight

19:09 5-MeO-DMT, Salvia & Psychedelic Awakening

22:10 The Hard Reboot of Salvia Cessation

29:54 The Three Characteristics: Experiential or Ontological?

39:12 Noting vs. Noticing in Mahasi Practice

42:13 Why We Need the EPRC

46:38 Why Call It Emergent Phenomenology?

50:56 What Is Phenomeniatry?

54:47 Culture, Language & Diagnostic Colonialism

1:00:08 Spiritual Experiences vs. Mania & Psychosis

1:07:47 Equanimity vs. Depersonalization & Derealization

1:15:27 Spiritual Bypassing and “Everything Is Fine”

1:18:37 EPRC, Emergence Benefactors & Closing

In this first guest episode of Unjourneying, I sit down with meditation teacher Wystan Bryant-Scott for a wide-ranging conversation on jhanas, nonduality, renunciation, tantra, and psychedelics. Wystan announces his upcoming jhana retreat at Nameless Mountain, and why he still finds deep concentration valuable even after awakening. We dig into the difference between sutta and Visuddhimagga jhanas, the real meaning of renunciation in modern life, and how to work with sexual energy without fixation. We also explore nondual awareness during ordinary pleasure and the role of psychedelics, especially 5-MeO-DMT, as powerful supports on the contemplative path.

Wystan Bryant-Scott

🌐 Website: https://www.wystantbs.com

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wystantbs108

🧘 Upcoming Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YokHVz09Y

Karmamudra: The Yoga of Bliss by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang

📖 https://skypresspublications.com/product/karmamudra

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

🌐 Website: https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 Patreon: https://www.unjourneying.com/patreon

0:00 Introduction to Unjourneying & Guest Bio

2:55 Welcome & Why Wystan as First Guest

3:30 Recent Activities: Nameless Mountain & Backpacking with Gabe Broussard (Vivid Void)

6:36 Upcoming Jhana Retreat at Nameless Mountain

7:53 Sutta Jhana vs. Visuddhimagga Jhana

11:03 The Role of Jhana on the Path to Awakening

16:18 Cessation of Perception & Feeling

19:39 Is Jhana Still Useful After Awakening?

24:27 Identifying as a Religious Buddhist

28:58 Renunciation, Commitment & Modern Practice

37:00 Sexual Energy, Tantra & Sensual Practice

43:50 Karma Mudra & Traditional Sexual Yogas

46:48 Nonduality, Orgasm & Everyday Bliss

54:29 Psychedelics on the Contemplative Path

59:55 Recommending Psychedelics as a Teacher

1:03:32 Integrating Psychedelics with Traditional Practice

1:06:17 Closing Advice & Where to Find Wystan

1:08:43 Outro & How to Connect

If Capital-E Enlightenment is defined as a supreme state of perfect and imperturbable bliss in this lifetime, was that the actual focus of the Buddha's spiritual path? Inspired by Kenneth Folk's interpretation of early Buddhism's ultimate goal as escaping the wheel of rebirth, I unpack 11 myths of Enlightenment (including claims from contemporary teachers) and discuss their implications for the awakening process. I encourage seekers to embrace the full spectrum of their authentic emotional experience in the here and now.

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying

Related Resources:

Deconstructing Yourself: "Masters of Oblivion with Kenneth Folk"

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1zrs7fq18ZBCuaCmv0RDiX?si=a8SaWpYmRKyxDDD9fdGmhQ

Mu: Roger "Thisdell on Centerlessness, Cessations, Defabrication, Valence, and Insight"

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0laAlYPz2T9Ia44w4YiblS?si=VhGKBb9zRZWRsUnN3UHyQw

Harvard's Project Implicit (Implicit Association Tests)

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

0:00 Intro – Why I'm Questioning Buddha's Enlightenment

1:03 My Early Romanticized View of the Buddha

3:02 The Received Western Story of the Buddha

4:57 Kenneth Folk & "Masters of Oblivion" Podcast

5:45 Nirvana = Cessation / Oblivion, Not Cosmic Bliss

9:56 Why This Changes Everything for Western Seekers

12:35 "The Buddha Is Not Your Friend" – A Darker Picture

14:28 How "Enlightenment" Got Mistranslated in the West

16:57 The "Sellvation" Dynamic in Spirituality

20:14 Nobody Has Ever Been Enlightened (Capital E)

25:00 Awakening vs. Enlightenment – My Distinction

26:23 Myth 1: You're Happy All the Time / No Negative Emotions

31:22 Myth 2: No Fear of Death

34:36 Myth 3: No Self Whatsoever

41:45 Myth 4: Seeing Reality As It Actually Is

45:11 Myth 5: No Preferences or Distinctions

49:45 Myth 6: No Thoughts

52:01 Myth 7: Complete Centerlessness

54:03 Myth 8: No Sense of Agency or Doership

57:36 Myth 9: Infinite Personal Freedom

1:03:36 Myth 10: Eternalism – "You Were Never Born and Will Never Die"

1:08:06 Myth 11: "As It Is, Not As You Want It to Be" – Goenka & Daoism

1:11:09 Car Breakdown Example – Realistic Responses to Life

1:15:31 Roger Thisdell: We Are Always Suffering (Baseline Level)

1:18:14 Reframing Awakening – Stop Making It About Ending Suffering

1:23:28 Conclusion: Enlightenment Is a Myth – Be Human Instead

1:26:55 Final Thoughts

Unjourneying is also available on YouTube.

For educational purposes only.

Sharing from my experience, I outline a possible spiritual awakening trajectory through five different stages:

1. Somatic Mindfulness (Vipassana)

2. Nonduality

3. Metamindfulness

4. Unjourneying

5. ???

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying

0:00 Intro & Disclaimer: This Is Just My Map

1:54 Stage 1: Somatic Mindfulness (Vipassana / Body Scan)

5:15 Stage 2: Non-Duality

8:56 The Non-Dual "Hot Tub" Phase & Attachment

11:10 Lyme Flare & the Crashing Halt

12:37 Realizing Attachment to Non-Duality

15:55 Stage 3: Metamindfulness (Noting Frames & Ways of Looking)

19:21 Stage 4: Unjourneying

20:05 Salvia Divinorum – Safety Notes & Protocol

21:15 Deep Deconstruction of Doership & Free Will

22:32 Dropping the Hero’s Journey (Marionette Insight)

25:05 Why “Unjourneying” – Neem Karoli Baba Story & Post-Psychedelic Presence

27:10 Post-Soteriological: Letting Go of Liberation as a Goal

30:26 Post-Ontological: Releasing Attachment to Any Ground of Reality

36:32 The Dance of What Is (No Goal, No Ultimate Truth)

37:53 Stage 5: Open Future – There Are More Stages Ahead

39:02 Closing Thoughts

Unjourneying is also available on YouTube.

For educational purposes only.

I share what I see as the essence of my work by unpacking my Hot Stove Meditation, which includes three steps:

1. Exposure therapy by intentionally welcoming in emotional distress.

2. Contacting the emotional body sensations of distress using vipassana.

3. Opening up into nonduality.

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying

Unjourneying is also available on YouTube.

For educational purposes only.

I'm Mira Funk, LCSW, a Harvard-educated, queer/nonbinary psychotherapist and psychedelic guide specialized in the facilitation and integration of 5-MeO-DMT retreats. Here I offer a detailed, behind-the-scenes tour of how my retreats work and what to expect, including:

📋 My Safety Screening Developed in Collaboration with Dr. Ben Malcolm

🧭 My Preparation and Integration Protocol

✨ My Vipassana & Nondual Integration Framework

🪜 Stepwise Vaporized 5-MeO-DMT for Trauma Release and Spiritual Opening

⏳ Live Demonstration of The Hourglass, a Brand New Vapor Delivery System I Invented for Clients with Sensitive Lungs

🌊 Extended-Release Rectal & Subcutaneous 5-MeO-DMT for Deep Psychological & Somatic Processing

Mira Funk, LCSW | Unjourneying

➡️ https://www.unjourneying.com

🌟 https://www.patreon.com/unjourneying

Unjourneying is also available on YouTube.

For educational purposes only. The vapor that appears in this episode is VG/PG for demonstration purposes, not 5-MeO-DMT.