The Mystical Positivist: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #52 - 31DEC11

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 New Years Eve conversation with Jim Dreaver. Jim, a native of New Zealand, was on a spiritual journey for twenty years, beginning in 1975 with the teachings of J. Krishnamurti. Then he met European non-dual master Jean Klein in 1984, and under his guidance finally awakened to freedom—freedom from the “I,” the “me,” and all its stories—in the spring of 1995. His mission now is to guide others to the same realization, but in a much shorter time. He teaches at Esalen Institute, in Los Angeles, and elsewhere and also offers private sessions.

His book, end your story. Begin your life… Mastering the Practice of Freedom (Hampton Roads, paperback, $16.95) is now available. He has also published The Ultimate Cure: The Healing Energy Within You (Llewellyn, 1995), his first book on spiritual transformation, which was translated into 4 languages, and The Way of Harmony (Avon, 1999), a guide to dealing with relationships, work, and daily life in a conscious way, written just after his awakening. He has also written a novel, Falling into Light, about a young boy’s spiritual journey.

More information about Jim Dreaver's work can be found at:

Jim Dreaver's Website: www.jimdreaver.com
"Falling into Light" Website: www.fallingintolight.com

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #51 - 24DEC11

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 new Christmas Eve conversation with Kenny Johnson, founder of This Sacred Space. Kenny spent over twenty years in prison and has been out of prison since 1997. He is a spiritual teacher and consultant to families and to those who have been out of prison and may be going to jail. He also just published his acclaimed book, The Last Hustle, chronicling his years as a criminal and how he was transformed while incarcerated. Kenny has one passion and that is sharing the message that “God’s Grace Is Here Now.” Kenny’s spiritual awareness and other spiritual teachers' insights have been published in the book, The Awakening West, by John Lumiere-Wins and Lynn Marie Lumiere.

More information about Kenny Johnson's work can be found at:

This Sacred Space Website: thissacredspace.org

Saturday, December 17, 2011

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #50 - 17DEC11

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 Laura Duggan, author of An Inquiring Life: Weekly Contemplations. Laura is the founder of Nicasio Press, was the head of the Muktabodha Institute that translates sacred Indian texts into English, was a student of both Muktananda and Chidvilasananda, and now studies with Tibetan Nyingma lineage teacher, Anam Thubten, in Richmond, CA.

More information about Laura Duggan's work can be found at:

Inquiring Life website: www.inquiringlife.com
Nicasio Press website: www.nicasiopress.com
SYDA Foundation website: www.siddhayoga.org/syda-foundation
Muktaboda Institute website: www.muktabodha.org
Anam Thubten and Dharmata Foundation website: www.dharmatafoundation.com

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #49 - 10DEC11

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 Steve Volk, author of Fringe-ology: How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable—and Couldn’t, published by HarperOne, and available now in bookstores and online. Steve Volk is a longtime staff writer and regular contributor to Philadelphia magazine. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, Vibe, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, The New Republic, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The St. Petersburg Times. Volk has received dozens of state and local journalism awards, and he has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He lives in Philadelphia.

More information about Steve Volk's work can be found at:

Steve Volk's Website: stevevolk.com

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #48 - 03DEC11

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:

Stuart Goodnick reads a chapter, "Krishnamurti versus Gurdjieff," from his upcoming book.
A Discussion with Jim Wilson. Jim has a background in East Asian Buddhist studies, is a member of a local Quaker Meeting, has been a Prison Chaplain, and spends much of his free time these days writing poetry. In this segment, we discuss one of the original non-dualists of the Christian tradition, writing long before non-dualism was cool: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the Corpus Areopagiticum (before 532). His surviving works include Divine Names, Celestial Hierarchy, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and various epistles.

More information about Jim Wilson's work can be found at:

Jim Wilson's Poetry Website: www.shapingwords.blogspot.com

"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.