The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #421 - 20APR24

04/21/24 • -1 min

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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The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #420 - 02MAR24

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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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The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #422 - 14SEP24

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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.