The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #66

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #66 - 14APR12

The Mystical Positivist is now a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP 107.3 FM, Occidental, CA. Listen live on Saturday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00pm, PST, via the web at KOWS Live Stream.

This week's podcast features:

A discussion with John Welwood, psychotherapist, author, and one of the leaders in the movement over the last generation to integrate and mutually inform Western Psychology and Buddhism. In the 1980s John Welwood emerged as a major figure in the leading-edge fields of transpersonal psychology and East/West psychology. The former Director of the East/West psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, he is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. He trains psychotherapists in "psychotherapy in a spiritual framework" and "the healing power of unconditional presence" and leads workshops on psychospiritual work and conscious relationship throughout the world.

John Welwood has published more than fifty articles on relationship, psychotherapy, consciousness, and personal change, as well as eight books including Journey of the Heart, Love and Awakening, Toward a Psychology of Awakening and Ordinary Magic. His best-selling title Journey of the Heart was the first book to lay out the path of conscious relationship, is widely regarded as the most profound book on intimate relationship available, and remains a classic in the field to this day. Toward a Psychology of Awakening brings together John's thirty years of work in East/West psychology, and has been widely praised as a fresh, original, and eminently practical integration of the wisdom of East and West.

John's most recent book, Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships: Healing the Wound of the Heart, is the winner of the prestigious Books for a Better Life Award, which since its inception has honored over 300 titles and their authors, including Jimmy Carter, Deepak Chopra, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Stephen Levine, and Thomas Moore. John clearly keeps prestigious company, not least of whom would be his wife, Jennifer. They live together in Marin county, California, and offer teachings and workshops together.

More information about John Welwood's work can be found at:

John Welwood's website: www.johnwelwood.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

"The Mystical Positivist" Radio Show

The Mystical Positivist is a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP FM 107.3 Occidental, CA, and on the web at KOWS-LP Live Feed, Saturdays from 4 - 6pm PST. Coming up on The Mystical Positivist:

April 20: A pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author of the newly released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In this conversation, we plan to explore a compelling quote from Ian McGilchrist's 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.