How To Be Spiritual But Not Ridiculous

09/19/22 • 67 min

This week I discuss discernment: What it is, why it’s important, how it can prevent ridiculousness, why that matters, and how to increase our discernment. As part of this discussion, I explore the Yog-Vedantic theory of mind and specific practices that can help us be more discerning, including self study, kriya, classical Tantrik practices, having a teacher you can trust, spiritual community, working with sacred plants, meditation, and good old psychotherapy, including psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

The philosophy, cosmology and consciousness masters program I’m enrolled in at the California Institute of Integral Studies has the following goals:

To open our consciousness, through learning and imagination, to those creative and evolutionary energies suffusing the Earth, the Universe, and the deep psyche that will enable us to participate fully in the regeneration of human communities and their enveloping life systems.
To analyze the current devastation of planetary life and to strive to liberate ourselves and our communities from the underlying causes of alienation, consumerism, militarism, androcentrism, and unsustainable modes of life.
To draw from the deep wells of philosophical, spiritual, and religious wisdom together with other scholarly and scientific insights in order to bring forth a profound vision of a vibrant planetary era.

Other references from the episode:

Joanna Macy’s Active Hope and The Spiral of the Work That Reconnects
The full Daily Show / Jordan Klepper segment about MAGA + Gematria
An example of a discerning analysis of someone like Jordan Peterson that fails to offer a positive ethos
The podcast episode about gurus and a guru sex scandal
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
The Bhagavad Gita

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The philosophy, cosmology and consciousness masters program I’m enrolled in at the California Institute of Integral Studies has the following goals:

To open our consciousness, through learning and imagination, to those creative and evolutionary energies suffusing the Earth, the Universe, and the deep psyche that will enable us to participate fully in the regeneration of human communities and their enveloping life systems.
To analyze the current devastation of planetary life and to strive to liberate ourselves and our communities from the underlying causes of alienation, consumerism, militarism, androcentrism, and unsustainable modes of life.
To draw from the deep wells of philosophical, spiritual, and religious wisdom together with other scholarly and scientific insights in order to bring forth a profound vision of a vibrant planetary era.

Other references from the episode:

Joanna Macy’s Active Hope and The Spiral of the Work That Reconnects
The full Daily Show / Jordan Klepper segment about MAGA + Gematria
An example of a discerning analysis of someone like Jordan Peterson that fails to offer a positive ethos
The podcast episode about gurus and a guru sex scandal
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
The Bhagavad Gita

Support the show

Previous Episode

Transforming Wellness with Kerri Kelly

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This week I talked to Kerri Kelly, the founder of CTZNWELL, a movement that is democratizing wellbeing for all. A descendant of generations of firemen and first responders, Kerri has dedicated her life to kicking down doors and fighting for justice. She’s been teaching yoga for over 20 years and is known for making waves in the wellness industry by challenging norms, disrupting systems, and mobilizing people to act. A community organizer, wellness activist and author of the forthcoming book American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal, Kerri is recognized across communities for her inspired work to bridge transformational practice with social justice.

In this episode, we talked about the ways in which the concept of wellness is distorted and unhealthy, and how, for us to truly heal as a country and a humanity, we need to examine our intentions, motives, and prejudices relentlessly so we can truly build community and transform collectively. The work is both inner and outer; spiritual, activist, political. Human.

Kerri’s been instrumental in translating the practices of wellbeing into social and political action, working in collaboration with community organizers, spiritual leaders, and policy makers to transform our systems from the inside out. Her leadership has inspired a movement that is actively organizing around issues of racial and economic justice, healthcare as a human right, civic engagement, and more.

Kerri is also a powerful facilitator, TED speaker and is the host of the podcast, CTZN. You can learn more about her work at kerrikelly.co and ctznwell.org.

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Next Episode

Resting Deeply In the Divine with Hilary Jackendoff

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This week I talk to Hilary Jackendoff, a yoga nidra and meditation teacher and trainer, and Human Design coach. She’s also a powerful, heart-centered woman. To me, Hilary is the ideal teacher: wise yet humble, evolved yet grounded, knowledgeable yet hilarious.

In this episode, we talk about Yoga Nidra, states of consciousness, how Hilary came to the spiritual path, the importance of rest, making spiritual practices accessible, ashram life, and being seen by the Divine.
We barely scratched the surface of what we want to talk about so look for a part 2 coming very soon, perhaps even in the coming weeks!
A quick note on the audio quality in this episode: Even though I used the same setup I always use for remote interviews, somehow my mic was too hot. So my audio will sound clipped or muffled in places. My apologies. Thank you for bearing with me. Apparently you never stop learning how to podcast well.

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