The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #209

Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #209 - 09JAN16

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 in the studio with Sufi practitioner and poet Raphael Block. Born and raised on a kibbutz in Israel to pioneering parents, Raphael grew up playing on the hills of Haifa. Just before turning 9, his family moved to London. Learning English shaped his ear for sound, and the British climate and temperament fashioned his life for the next 25 years. At age 27 he became a student of the great 20th century Sufi mystic Irina Tweedie, author of one of the greatest spiritual autobiographies, Daughter of Fire. After her death, Block eventually moved from London to northern California with his second wife, who was born in San Francisco, to continue his Sufi studies with Tweedie’s successor in the Naqshbandi Sufi Order Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee. After his wife’s death from cancer in 2002, Raphael continued with the work of raising their daughter. Raphael Block’s poetry volumes include Songs From A Small Universe and Spangling Darkness. His latest volume of poetry, Strings of Shining Silence, will be published later in 2016.

Raphael has coped with and learned from a succession of health challenges in recent years, including Chron’s disease, which necessitated several major surgeries. The latest challenge is a recent diagnosis of bone marrow cancer (MDS).

More information about Raphael Block's's work and interests can be found at:

Raphael Block's website: raphaelblock.com

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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.