Blue Beryl

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)

Today I sit down with Willa Blythe Baker, a writer, translator, and teacher of meditation based on Himalayan Buddhist tradition. We talk about Willa’s early discovery of Buddhism with her mother, her time living as a nun, and our shared experience in graduate school at UVa. We then do a deep-dive into Buddhist tantra and the alchemical transformations of the body-mind that led to Willa’s most recent book, The Wakeful Body, published by Shambhala in 2021. If you find yourself in your head too much of the time, then this conversation is for you!
Enjoy! And, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhist medicine and related topics, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes here.
Willa's Publications and Activities

• Natural Dharma Fellowship and Wonderwell Mountain Refuge
• The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom (2021)
• The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (2012)
• Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You (2009)
• Essence of Ambrosia: A Guide to Buddhist Contemplations (2005)

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 Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, Lan’s relationship to Islam, and how to cultivate wonder through academic study.

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:

• Lan’s website
• Lan Li, “The Vital Other: Integrative Medicine and India” (2012)
• Lan Li, “Acupuntura e Moxabustão” (2023)
• Lan Li and Pierce Salguero, Jivaka Project Philadelphia (2015-2020)
• Pierce’s blogs on Ugly Truths about Grad School, Metamodernism, Metamodern Asian Medicine, and Polyperspectivalism
• Lan Li, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine (2025)

Meet your host Dr. Pierce Salguero and producer/editor Dr. Lan Li as we inaugurate the Blue Beryl podcast and kick off our first season dedicated to Buddhist medicine. We discuss Pierce's background as a practitioner of Theravada Buddhism and traditional Thai medicine, some interesting experiences he had at Thai temples and meditation centers, and his work as an academic researcher of Buddhist medicine globally. We also chat about tensions between scholarship and practice, our previous multimedia collaborations related to Buddhism and Asian medicine, as well as our goals for the first season of the podcast.
Resources mentioned in the pod:

• Pierce's website (www.piercesalguero.com)
• Lan's website (www.lan-a-li.com)
• Salguero, Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical (2022)
• Pierce's blog about 1980s movies
• Pierce's centipede article in Tricycle, (2022)
• Strickmann, Chinese Magical Medicine (2002)
• Salguero, Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China (2014)
• Salguero, A Global History of Buddhism & Medicine (2022)
• Salguero, Buddhism & Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources (2017)
• Salguero, Buddhism & Medicine: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Sources (2020)
• Medicine | Race | Democracy Lab (www.mrdlab.org)
• Jivaka Project (www.jivaka.net)