The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #86

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #86 - 22SEP12

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 Robert McDowell. Robert McDowell is the author of five books of poetry and the Amazon.com bestselling book Poetry as Spiritual Practice: Reading, Writing, and Using Poetry in Your Daily Rituals, Aspirations, and Intentions (Free Press/Simon & Schuster 2008). Robert is also the co-author of two volumes of literary theory, co-translator of a collection of stories by Ota Pavel that has just been reprinted in the eastern European Penguin Classics Series, and the editor of three anthologies. His poems, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in hundreds of anthologies and periodicals here and abroad, including Best American Poetry, Poetry, London Magazine, The New Criterion, Sewanee Review, and The Hudson Review. A Woolrich Fellow at Columbia University, a Walter E. Dakin Fellow at the Sewanee Writers Conference, and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, Robert has led retreats and taught at Esalen, Kripalu, and Pine Manor, and in Bennington College’s low-residency M.F.A. Program, the University of Southern Indiana, UC Santa Cruz, Taos Writers Conference, Sewanee Writers Conference, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, Killybegs Festival in Ireland, West Chester Conference on Form and Narrative, and many other venues.

Robert leads workshops and retreats for beginners and experienced practitioners who want to discover their own hero’s journey through poetry and journaling. He also offers one-on-one editing and mentoring services and enjoys speaking to businesses and groups interested in improving performance and morale by deepening spiritual awareness, listening, communication, writing, and presentation skills.

More information about Robert McDowell's work can be found at:

Robert McDowell's website: www.robertmcdowell.net

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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.