The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #147

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #147 - 08MAR14

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 conversation with Purna Steinitz. From a young age, Purna Steinitz stood up for children who were being picked on. He has always been a champion of the downtrodden, and a stand for the truth being told.

In 1975, Purna was found by his spiritual Master Lee Lozowick. Over the next 23 years, with the perseverance and patience of his teacher, he trained in what it means to live a spiritual life. Along the way, he participated in the early 1990s in a workshop called The Game, lead by transactional analyst Ken Windes, who had been in prison for 16 years and was now leading a transformational workshop. At the conclusion of the workshop, Ken invited Purna to train to offer the workshop himself. This lead to twenty years spent leading personal development programs with individuals and organizations. He is the founder of The Event training and the CAMP program, which have touched the lives of thousands of people. Moved by the horror and need of individuals who live in prison in the United States, Purna also founded the CHANGES program which is dedicated to sowing seeds of dignity and self-respect in this environment.

In 1998, Purna was empowered as a teacher in the line of Lee Lozowick spiritual Master Yogi Ramsuratkumar. He started the Trimurti community which is devoted to the transmission of a traditional spiritual path as taught by the Bauls of Bengal, India. As a guide for members of Trimurti, he authored the book Upasritan: Nuts and Bolts. Purna strongly believes in community, not in the sense that people have to live with one another, but rather are working closely together for the sake of transformation. This, he has said, is the true healing force available to us on the path in this time of great turmoil on the planet.

More information about Purna Steinitz's work and interests can be found at:

The Event Training website: www.theeventtraining.com
Crushed By Love Part 1 Podcast: Crushed By Love Part 1
Crushed By Love Part 2 Podcast: Crushed By Love Part 2

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"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.