The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #87

Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #87 - 29SEP12

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 Dale & Barbara Ver Kuilen, founders of the Midwest Soto Zen Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Renshin Barbara Ver Kuilen was a student of Buddhism for thirty years prior to her ordination in 1997. She has practiced under the guidance of three Soto Zen priests: Matsuoka Soyu Roshi, Katagiri Dainin Roshi and Rev. Shoken Winecoff. Her experience includes various forms of Buddhist study, including both lay and monastic training. She has blended this continuous practice with careers in education and psychotherapy, and the many responsibilities of a householder - wife and mother. She holds a BA in Education and a MS in Counseling and Guidance. Barbara and her husband Dale, also a Zen priest, co-founded the Midwest Soto Zen Community in 2001, based in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the Tale of Bho Li, she is also the author of Dokusan with Dogen: Timeless Lessons in Negotiating the Way. With her husband Dale, she co-authored Tending the Fire: An Introspective Guide to Zen Awakening.

Taizen Dale Ver Kuilen has been studying Buddhism since 1967. After practicing a year each at the Chicago and San Francisco Zen Centers he lived at the Long Beach Zen Center and studied with Matsuoka Roshi. He was ordained in 1970 and practiced as a priest assisting and leading introductory workshops on the Method of Zen, as well as performing all the administrative and religious duties associated with running a non-residential urban Zen center. After ten years he pursued a career in business continuing his study as a lay practitioner with Katagiri Roshi. He was re-ordained in 2000. He holds an Associate degree in Electronics and a BS in Management Science.

More information about Dale and Barbara Ver Kuilen's work can be found at:

Firethroat Press website: www.firethroatpress.com
The Midwest Soto Zen Center website: www.mszc.org

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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.