Black Beryl

In this debut episode of Blue Beryl's second season on embodied spirituality, I sit down with Paul C. Wang, a healer and teacher of Chinese medicine and Daoism, and host of the Daology Podcast. We talk about Paul’s practices of “memetic healing” and “clinical cosmology,” and how he works with Chinese medicine, martial arts, neigong, and spirit healing. Along the way, we discover how to communicate with deceased spirits, and how to embody the Dao through everyday practices.
Please enjoy! And if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Daology Podcast
• Daocenter.com
• Dao Center’s Facebook page

In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices to stop menstruating, and the courageous work that modern practitioners have been doing to expose abuse by yoga gurus.
If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode!
Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Preliminary published results from Ruth’s research
• Mallinson and Szántó, The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla (2021).
• Jason Birch, The Amaraugha and Amaraughaprabodha of Gorakṣanātha (2023).
• Elena Valussi, “The Physiology of Transcendence for Women” (2009)
• BBP episode with Dominic Steavu
• Hatha Yoga Project
• Articles on guru abuse by Pattabhi Jois: Anneke Lucas, Karen Rain, Amanda Lucia
• Inform Project
• Video footage of Ruth doing historical āsanas
• Ruth’s website and email newsletter, Facebook page, Instagram

Today I sit down with Amy Langenberg, a scholar of South Asian Buddhism, gender, sexuality, and the body. We focus on Amy’s work on misogyny in Buddhist texts, her book on Buddhist embryology, and her current project on sexual abuse in contemporary Buddhist communities. Along the way we discuss miscarriage, menstruation, and the importance of feminist scholarship . . . and also, what does the Buddha have in common with Michael Phelps?
Remember, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Please enjoy!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Amy Langenberg, Birth in Buddhism: The Suffering Fetus and Female Freedom (2017)
• Pierce Salguero, "'This Fathom-Long Body': Bodily Materiality and Ascetic Ideology in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Scriptures" (2018)
• Amy’s academic papers, free to download on Academia.edu
• Pierce Salguero (ed.), Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources (2017)
• Amy Langenberg, "The Buddha Didn’t Teach Consent" (2021)
• The Buddhist Bodies Collective
• Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, “Survivor-Centered Solutions: #MeToo and Spiritual Abuse” (CBC Radio)
• Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, "Abuse, Sex and the Sangha: A Series of Healing Conversations” (video playlist)
• Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, “Sexual Ethics and Healthy Boundaries in the Wake of Teacher Abuse” (2023)
• Ann Gleig and Amy Langenberg, “Supporting Survivors of Abuse” (video)
• Amy Langenberg and Ann Gleig, "Sexual Misconduct And Buddhism - Centering Survivors" (2020)
• Amy Langenberg, “Late Night Phone Alerts And Other Intrusions: What To Expect When You Write About Sexual Violation In Religion” (2021)

I sit down with Dominic Steavu, a historian of Chinese religion and healing from UC Santa Barbara. We discuss the central role of the body in medieval Daoist practices, and talk about the Daoist use of psychedelics to facilitate mystical experiences. Along the way, we touch on talismanic tattoos, internal alchemy, and embodied nonduality. Plus, Dominic reveals what he thinks about aliens and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Remember, to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl. Please enjoy!
Resources related to this episode:

• Christine Mollier, Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face (2009)
• Pierce’s blog “In defense of a little romanticism... or, how Mr Miyagi inspired me to become a professor”
• Pierce Salguero, Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical (2022)
• Dominic Steavu, The Writ of the Three Sovereigns: From Local Lore to Institutional Daoism (2020)
• Dominic Steavu, Transforming the Void: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions (2015)
• Dominic’s Academia.edu page

Dr Pierce Salguero is interviewed by James Bae on the Buddhist Medicine & Yoga Podcast. In this extensive and in-depth conversation, we talk about differentiating religion from medicine, what Buddhist medicine can teach contemporary clinicians, current trends in the field of Buddhist studies, and hybridity versus tradition. We also explore Buddhist medicine in America, different kinds of Buddhist healers in the US, and how Buddhist medicine circulates in the contemporary era. Along the way, we dig into the promise of “metadisciplinary” collaborations, and what it means to engage in “pedagogy of the soul.” This episode combines two interviews, abridged and edited together.
Enjoy, and please subscribe to Blue Beryl so that you do not miss any episodes in the future!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Link to the original (non-abridged) interview, part 1
• Link to the original (non-abridged) interview, part 2
• Michael Stanley-Baker, Situating Religion and Medicine in Asia (2023)
• Pierce Salguero, Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China (2014)
• Pierce’s “Pedagogy of the Soul” blog series
• Pierce Salguero, “Beyond Mindfulness: Buddhism & Health in the US” (2022)
• Pierce Salguero, “Varieties of Buddhist Healing in Multiethnic Philadelphia” (2019)
• Pierce Salguero, “The Role of Buddhist Studies in Fostering Metadisciplinary Conversations and Improving Pedagogical Collaborations” (2021)
• Pierce’s “Meta Approaches to Asian Medicine” blog series

Dr. Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. www.piercesalguero.com.