Episodes

  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #423 - 12OCT24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #423 - 12OCT24
    Oct 13 2024
    • Podcast:

    This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author the recently released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In today’s conversation, we discuss Ken’s recent English translation of The Diamond Sutra from the Tibetan and his development of a new commentary. The Diamond Sutra is one of the most influential early Mahayana sutras that has been central to a number of Buddhist traditions such as Chan and Zen. It describes a way of being and acting that is not mediated by the conceptual mind. Ken’s approach to his translation and his upcoming commentary is less about understanding the meaning of The Diamond Sutra and more about how to engage with the text so that its magic can infuse and inform the Being of the practitioner.

    One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. In particular, his approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions.

    After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ken cycled across Europe to Istanbul and then continued his journey overland to India. In 1970 he met his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery near Darjeeling. There Ken began a study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than twenty years. He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher's passing, Ken moved away from the hierarchical structures of Asian Buddhism to explore new approaches.

    In 1990, he founded Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early '90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual, Wake Up to Your Life.

    Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Vajrayana (2022), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines.

    More information about Ken McLeod's work can be found at:
    Unfettered Mind website: www.unfetteredmind.org.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #422 - 14SEP24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #422 - 14SEP24
    Sep 15 2024
    • Podcast:

    This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Moss Campion aka Peter Cohen, author the newly released book, Blindspot: Through the Wormhole of Science and Religion. Blindspot exposes the unseen distinctions that exist among the ways that people seek the Big Answers to the questions posed by life, the universe, and everything. When most people speak about God or Truth or the Divine, Campion asserts, they aren’t actually talking about anything divine or godly at all – whether they are believers, unbelievers or undecided. Whatever their posture toward these matters, they betray an almost universal “unseeingness” about what the entire spiritual enterprise is actually about – its rules, codes, even its final aim. They are blind to what the great sages of the world’s religious and philosophical traditions have pointed to forever – which also happen to converge with the discoveries of contemporary science as it grapples with the nature of consciousness.

    At its core, this book is about the blind spot that prevents us from knowing who we are. In revealing this obliviousness, the author dives into the perspective that is commonly known as “nonduality,” the principle that lies at the core of all world Wisdom traditions, including the scientific ones. The reasons for what Campion has dubbed “Blindspot” may be understandable, yet as he shows in brilliant, and often humorous detail, its costs to the individual, to humanity in general, to the planet as a whole, are high, indeed. In a word, confusion. In another word, suffering.

    Moss Campion is a qualified commentator, having immersed himself in the mystery of consciousness all his life, both in the context of his personal circumstances and also in his work with patients in the hospital setting. Along the way he studied with many esteemed teachers and guides, in both the animal and plant kingdoms.

    While growing up on the mist-shrouded coast of Maine, Moss Campion would eagerly await the arrival of Halloween all year long, already demonstrating a strong interest in the mystical side of life. Even as he later worked in fields as varied as music, skiing, nursing, and journalism, he continued his involvement with spiritual teachings, studying with a number of esteemed teachers and mentors. He holds a masters degree in journalism and has collected numerous credits in specialized magazines. His biography of the Bavarian sage Lothar Weichert was published in Germany. Along the way he received awards and fellowships from University of Michigan, University of Colorado, and the Ucross Foundation.

    More information about Moss Campion's work can be found at:
    Moss Campion's website: mosscampion.com.
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  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #421 - 20APR24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #421 - 20APR24
    Apr 21 2024
    • Podcast:

    This week on the show we feature feature a pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author the newly released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In today’s conversation, we unpack a compelling quote from Ian McGilchrist’s book, The Matter with Things:
    If you had set out to destroy the happiness and stability of a people, it would have been hard to improve on our current formula: remove yourself as far as possible from the natural world; repudiate the continuity of your culture; believe you are wise enough to do whatever you happen to want and not only get away with it, but have a right to it—and a right to silence those who disagree; minimise the role played by a common body of belief; actively attack and dismantle every social structure as a potential source of oppression; reject the idea of a transcendent set of values.
    One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. In particular, his approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions.

    After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ken cycled across Europe to Istanbul and then continued his journey overland to India. In 1970 he met his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery near Darjeeling. There Ken began a study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than twenty years. He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher's passing, Ken moved away from the hierarchical structures of Asian Buddhism to explore new approaches.

    In 1990, he founded Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early '90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual, Wake Up to Your Life.

    Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Vajrayana (2022), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines.


    More information about Ken McLeod's work can be found at:
    Unfettered Mind website: www.unfetteredmind.org.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #420 - 02MAR24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #420 - 02MAR24
    Mar 3 2024
    • Podcast:
    This week on the show, we present a pre-recorded conversation with Sessei Meg Levie, head priest of Stone Creek Zen Center in Graton, CA. She assumed this role in April 2022, succeeding Dojin Emerson and Korin Pokorny, who had served in the role since 2014. Sessei serves with Founding Teacher Jisho Warner to offer the Dharma through talks, classes, individual practice discussion and other programs. Among the topics we address are what draws people to Zen practice, the role of ritual in practice, the importance of nature practices in the current situation, and the impact of emerging AI technology and Buddhist practice.

    Sessei Meg Levie, Head Priest, lived and trained at the San Francisco Zen Center and also has had a career teaching mindfulness and emotional intelligence in Silicon Valley and beyond. She received ordination as a Zen priest in 2003 from Tenshin Reb Anderson and held the position of shuso (head student) in 2007. She has studied Buddhism in Thailand and Japan, and for several years served as the teacher for the Bolinas branch of the Mountain Source Sangha. Since 2008 Meg has taught mindfulness and emotional intelligence in business, primarily through the Search Inside Yourself program created at Google. She holds an AB in English Literature from Stanford University and an MA from the University of Texas at Austin.

    More information about Sessei Meg Levie's work can be found at:
    Stone Creek Zen Center Website: stonecreekzencenter.org,
    Sessei Meg Levie at the SF Zen Center: www.youtube.com.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #419 - 17FEB24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #419 - 17FEB24
    Feb 18 2024
    • Podcast:
    This week on the show, we present a pre-recorded conversation with John Friedlander, author of Recentering SETH: Teachings from a Multidimensional Entity on Living Gracefully and Skillfully in a World You Create But Do Not Control. The Seth books, channeled by the late Jane Roberts in the 1970s, galvanized a whole generation of spiritual explorers. The entity known as Seth turned familiar mystical concepts into a radically new framework and introduced a unique understanding of how we create our own reality with our conscious beliefs.

    After nearly five decades exploring Seth's ideas, John Friedlander has reframed the groundbreaking Seth teachings, recentering them in the awareness that all consciousness expands in all directions. He synthesizes Sethian teachings with an eclectic variety of concepts and influences, from aura reading, healing, and interpersonal engagement to Buddhism and reincarnation to conscious dying and nondual awareness. He reveals how you do create your own reality, but that no one controls reality, which is spontaneous and surprisingly creative.

    John Friedlander holds degrees from Duke University and Harvard Law School. He began a formal meditation practice in 1970 and was introduced to Seth's books in 1972. A Member of Jane Robert's original Seth classes in Elmira in 1974, he also studied psychic meditation and aura reading with Lewis Bostwick beginning in 1973. The coauthor of 3 other books, The Practical Psychic, Psychic Development, and Psychic Psychology, he lives in Saline, Michigan.

    More information about John Friedlander's work can be found at:
    John Friedlander's Website: psychicpsychology.org.
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  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #418 - 10FEB24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #418 - 10FEB24
    Feb 11 2024
    • Podcast:
    This week on the show, we present a pre-recorded conversation with Rawn Clark, author of A Bardon Companion: A Practical Companion for the Student of Franz Bardon's System of Hermetic Initiation. The Franz Bardon series of books on Magical Arts, Initiation into Hermetics (IIH), The Practice of Magical Evocation (PME), and The Key to the True Qabalah (KTQ), are considered by many as the most lucid and actionable written material on Hermetic practice. Initiation into Hermetics consists of a short introduction on theory and ten detailed lessons on practice covering work on the Mental, Astral, and Physical bodies. These lessons progress from very basic mental concentration and thought control practices through to advanced exploration of elemental and planetary realms and the merging with Unity.

    In A Bardon Companion, Rawn Clark combines two versions of his commentaries for each of the ten steps in IIH, additional commentaries on PME and KTQ, as well as years of correspondence with students of the Bardon system. It is an essential guide for anyone interested in exploring the Bardon system of Hermetics.

    Rawn Clark is a writer and video producer who dedicates his work to magical practice in general and providing support material for practitioners of the Bardon system. He began pursuing Bardon's system of Hermetic Initiation in the early 1980s at the age of 25. Years later he became involved in online blogging and discussion groups surrounding the Bardon work. He has emerged as one of the leading mentors for this system. His writings are clear, practical, and leavened with a gentle touch and humor. His work dispels many of the misconceptions associated with esoteric practice and makes the Bardon system available to anyone willing to put in the necessary consistent effort.

    More information about Rawn Clark's work can be found at:
    Rawn Clark's YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com,
    A Bardon Companion on Amazon: www.amazon.com,
    Franz Bardon on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
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  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #417 - 03FEB24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #417 - 03FEB24
    Feb 4 2024
    • Podcast:
    This week on the show, we present a pre-recorded conversation with Terje Tonne, author of the newly published book, Rodney Collin: a man who wished to do something with his life, from Karnak Press. Rodney Collin, a key figure in the history of esoteric thought and the Fourth Way tradition, is best known for his seminal works, The Theory of Celestial Influence, and The Theory of Eternal Life. This ground-breaking biography provides a wealth of information including Collin's close relationship to Peter Ouspensky and a detailed account of the events leading up to Ouspensky's death. The book goes on to describe the years that followed for Collin, his group activities in Mexico, his search for historical traces of The Work, and his mysterious death in Cusco, Peru, at the young age of 47.

    Terje Tonne came into contact with Gurdjieff's ideas in the early 1970s. Together with his wife, he has led a group in Oslo for 35 years. He has had a long and close relationship with professor Merideth Thring, George Cornelius, and Joyce Collin-Smith.

    He is the author of The Gurdjieff Puzzle Now (2001 - Gateways Books) and Werr sich verliert, derfindet sich (Random House, GmbH). Tonne is a retired conservator with expertise in fire damaged paintings.

    More information about Terje Tonne's work can be found at:
    Terje Tonne in The Gurdjieff International Review: www.gurdjieff.org,
    Terje Tonne at Karnak Press: tofathomthegist.com.
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  • The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #416 - 27JAN24

    The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #416 - 27JAN24
    Jan 28 2024
    • Podcast:
    This week on the show we feature a recording of a live video stream with OM C. Parkin kicking off his new online series, Meeting with Teachers – Navigating the Wisdom Path. In this first installment, the Mystical Positivist hosts converse with OM about his book, The Birth of the Lion, as well as many profound aspects of his teachings on inner stillness.

    OM C. Parkin is a renowned European wisdom teacher and the founder of the mystery school, Enneallionce, and Gut Saunstorf, a modern monastery. His books also include Intelligence of Awakening - Navigating the Wisdom Path, The Birth of the Lion, and The Digital Age - A Critical View from a Wisdom Perspective.

    OM embodies in his work the link between Eastern non-duality and Christian mysticism, of depth psychology and philosophy, beyond the limits of religions and confessions. He often references the tradition of Advaita Vedanta, which has been revived in the 20th century by Shri Ramana Maharshi, Shri H.W.L. Poonja, the American Gangaji, and others. OM acts in the tradition of these teachers and by being rooted in early Christian teaching. His work in the tradition of silence can be described by three functions: teacher (of wisdom), healer (of the soul), seer (of the heart). He has been supporting people to find their true nature for more than 30 years and founded the modern Satsang movement in Europe.

    More information about OM C. Parkin's work can be found at:
    Meeting with Teachers YouTube Feed: www.youtube.com,
    OM C. Parkin website: www.om-c-parkin.com,
    OM C. Parkin at Gateways Books & Tapes: www.gatewaysbooksandtapes.com,
    OM C. Parkin previously on The Mystical Positivist: mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com.
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