Transgression with Erik Davis

12/31/23 • 69 min

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Host Michael Taft speaks with author and journalist Erik Davis about the power of partaking in the forbidden and the loss when formerly forbidden things become normalized, particularly in the case of psychedelics; Tantric and Christian modes of transgression, power relationships and the guru, hedonism, rule-breaking, the desire for having safe spiritual practice environments, and the role of risk in spiritual development.

Erik Davis is an author, podcaster, award-winning journalist, and popular speaker based in San Francisco. He is probably best known for his book TechGnosis a cult classic of visionary media studies that investigates how our fascination with technology intersects with the religious imagination. Erik’s most recent book is High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. Erik is also a long-term practitioner of meditation, particularly in the Zen tradition.

Erik Davis' Substack: The Burning Shore

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Erik Davis' Substack: The Burning Shore

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Previous Episode

A Conversation with Sam Harris

Host Michael Taft speaks with author, philosopher, and neuroscientist Sam Harris about the fusion of vipassana and nondual practice as the “gold standard” for practitioners, insights into selflessness through mindfulness and concentration, the distinction between moment-to-moment experiences and peak experiences, personal experiences with MDMA and psilocybin, the role of psychedelics in initiating spiritual introspection, concerns about the misuse of psychedelics and potential pitfalls, and more.

Sam Harris is a renowned author, philosopher, neuroscientist, and podcast host, who weights in on issues around religion, morality, and the human mind. Harris holds a degree in philosophy from Stanford and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA, and he has practiced meditation for more than 30 years with many Tibetan, Indian, Burmese, and Western meditation teachers. Harris is particularly recognized for his exploration of meditation and non-duality, delving into their significance in understanding consciousness and the self. He’s also well known in the meditation community for his book Waking Up, and for the app of the same name.

Get a free month of the Waking Up app here.

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Next Episode

A Conversation with Jeffrey Kripal

Host Michael Taft speaks with author and professor Jeffrey Kripal about his early aspiration to be a Benedictine monk, the prophetic dimensions of the humanities, the sudden conversion, or "flip," into a weirder worldview experienced by some materialist scientists, the phenomena of UFOs, alien abduction, altered states, Philip K. Dick, and how most breakthroughs into mysticism occur through trauma.

Jeffrey J. Kripal holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he served as the Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, chaired the Department of Religion for eight years, and also helped create a doctoral concentration in the study of Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism that is the largest program of its kind in the world. He presently helps direct the Center for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.

Jeff is the author or co-author of thirteen books, and specializes in the study of extreme religious states and putting “the impossible” back on the academic table again. He is presently working on a three-volume study of paranormal currents in the history of religions and the sciences, collectively entitled The Super Story.

Jeffrey Kripal's website

You can support the creation of future episodes of this podcast by contributing through Patreon.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.