Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #336 - 31AUG19

This week on The Mystical Positivist, we speak by telephone with Sotantar Suraj, a widely recognized Gong Master Teacher, Kundalini Yoga Teacher, and Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer in his home base of Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, as well as in Europe. Sotantar Suraj has practiced and studied yoga, meditation, and healing since his childhood in Spain till present day. The Hermes Kybalion, The Patanjali Sutras, The Vijñana-bhairava Tantra Sutras, and the words of Carlos Castañeda became important influences in his life. By his early twenties he moved to the United States where he continued his study in yoga, tantra, and meditation. Later he found his connection with the Planet Gongs and he devoted himself to learning the ways of the Gong, Kundalini Yoga and Tantra. He was privileged to meet and receive teachings from the Master of Kundalini Yoga, Yogi Bhajan. Sotantar has worked with and had the opportunity to learn from world-renowned Gong Master Teacher Don Conreaux, and world-renowned Tantra Teacher Mahasatvaa Ma Ananda Sarita. He is also a Reiki Master Teacher, Sound Therapist, and Hypnotherapist.

Sotantar Suraj brings the vibration of the primordial sacred sound of the Planet Gongs to honor our ancestors, their sacred places and traditions to workshops and retreats around the globe. He is dedicated to raising awareness, inspiring passion, creating balance, and spreading love, joy and peace to the universal community. His passion is teaching Kundalini Yoga, Tantra, and bringing the healing and transforming sounds of the Gong to the world. He has recorded a series of CDs and DVDs that include powerful and transformative Kundalini Yoga Kriyas, Gong Immersions, and Meditations.

More information about Sotantar Suraj's work can be found at:

Gong Avatar Academy Website: www.gongavataracademy.com,

Sotantar Suraj on YouTube: wwww.youtube.com,

Upcoming Gong Academy Workshops: Gong Academy Workshops.


Saturday, August 24, 2019

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #335 - 24AUG19

This week on The Mystical Positivist, we speak in the studio with Nick Egan, Ph.D., an educator, award-winning leader and executive coach who uses his deep understanding of positive psychology and Buddhist philosophy to encourage personal and organizational growth. In addition to coaching, he has taught meditation techniques for more than a decade. His newly released book, Shift: The Art of Transforming Limitations will form the basis of our conversation today. Nick regularly leads expeditions to various Asian destinations including Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand, and Tibet. Nick holds a BA in psychology, and MA in comparative religion, and a Ph.D. in Buddhist philosophy. He had a stint as co-host of the Mystical Positivist earlier in this decade.

More information about Nick Egan's work can be found at:

Nick Egan's Website: www.nickeganphd.com,


Saturday, August 10, 2019

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #334 - 10AUG19

This week on The Mystical Positivist, we present a conversation pre-recorded on August 3, 2019 with Zeke Badger, a long-time Fourth Way practitioner, a writer, blogger, and a founding member of the Seekers Café. Zeke is a career educator whose work focuses upon developing and implementing nature-based educational experiences that inspire and challenge individuals toward personal health, and a healthy relationship with the natural world through the use of adventure education, long distance walking adventures, and Rite-of-Passage endeavors.  He owns and operates a small family-run business offering herbal products. He was an adjunct faculty member for the University System of New Hampshire, teaching courses in Environmental Ethics, Natural History of Northern New England, and Outdoor Skills. Zeke has 30 years of class teaching experience developing and implementing outdoor programs and environmental education experiences for adolescents at the secondary school level. He is currently working on two books: Going Wild: Commentaries Upon Thoreau’s Walden, Walking, and Youth’s Adventure and Long Walking as a Rite-of-Passage.

More information about Zeke Badger's work can be found at:

The Seeker's Cafe Website: seekerscafe.org,

Native Roots LLC Website: nativerootsnh.org,


Saturday, August 3, 2019

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #333 - 03AUG19

This week on The Mystical Positivist, hosts Stuart Goodnick and Rob Schmidt launch into an impromptu conversation after a last minute cancellation by the minister of The Church of Conscious Harmony, a contemplative Christian community in Austin, Texas. They discuss the Sacred, Esoteric Christianity as embodied in the Fourth Way tradition, Magnetic Center, and modern obstacles to valuing the Sacred. They also explore distinctions such as Life as an End as contrasted with Life as a Means. Friction generates heat as our hosts discuss whether the Fourth Way notion of Magnetic Center is really all that useful in explaining why some people value the sacred more than others. Finally they dive into the question of whether any of us can actually DO anything, or whether our sense of agency is more an illusion and a reflection of the action of Being at a higher level than our conventional scale of awareness.

Rob Schmidt, Ph.D., and Stuart Goodnick co-direct Tayu Meditation Center, owner and operator of Many Rivers Books & Tea. They studied intensively with Tayu founder Robert Daniel Ennis, and are working to complete a book of his teachings this year called, Living Life As A Work Of Art: The Spiritual Work of Robert Daniel Ennis.

More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at:

Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com,

Conscious Family Festival Website: www.consciousfamilyfestival.org,

Tayu Meditation Center Website: www.tayu.org/~tayu/,

Old Many Rivers Blog: www.manyriversbooks.com/blog1/.