The Mystical Positivist: November 2012

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #95 - 24NOV12

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 Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D.. Richard Strozzi-Heckler is founder of the Strozzi work and President of Strozzi Institute. A nationally known speaker, coach and consultant on leadership and mastery, he has spent four decades researching, developing, and teaching the practical application of Somatics (the unity of language, action, emotions, and meaning) to business leaders, executive managers and teams from Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, technology start-ups, non-profits, the U.S. government and military.

Richard is the author of seven books, including The Leadership Dojo, In Search of the Warrior Spirit, The Anatomy of Change, Holding the Center, Being Human at Work, The Mind/Body Interface, and Aikido and the New Warrior. His articles have appeared in Esquire, East West Journal, The Whole Earth Review, and numerous other publications. In October 2000, a Wall Street Journal cover story featured the groundbreaking leadership program developed by Richard for the United States Marine Corps. He was named one of the Top 50 Executive Coaches in The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2004) and Profiles in Coaching (Linkage Publications, 2003). He is also the Honorary President of the Peruvian Coaching Association. He is the co-founder of the Mideast Aikido Project (MAP), which brings together Palestinians and Israelis through the practice of Aikido. From 2002 to 2007 he was an advisor to NATO and the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe (SACEUR) General Jim Jones, who is now the National Security Advisor.

Richard has a Ph.D. in Psychology and is a sixth degree black belt in the martial art of Aikido. He also holds ranks in Judo, Jujitsu, and Capoeira. Richard has taught at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Sonoma State University, Esalen Institute, Lone Mountain College, Naropa Institute, and the University of Munich. Richard was the 2009 William Dickson Leader-in-Residence for the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach.

More information about Richard Strozzi-Heckler's work can be found at:

The Strozzi Institute website: www.strozziinstitute.com

Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #94 - 17NOV12

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:

Hosts Stuart Goodnick and Dr. Robert Schmidt join Jim Wilson, poet and Many Rivers co-founder, in reflections on the 10th anniversary of Many Rivers Books & Tea in Sebastopol, CA. Jim Wilson is a former Buddhist monk, former prison chaplain, and continues his spiritual quest in the Quaker tradition. He spends much of his free time writing poetry. We discuss about how the store came to be, about how it has changed over the years, and its place in the spiritual community landscape of Sonoma County. We also consider how the store may continue to change to remain relevant to our customers in the twenty-first century.

In addition we talk with Barry Vesser of Stone Creek Zendo in Graton about Zen Fest, the upcoming annual fundraising event for Stone Creek that will be held in the Sebastopol Masonic Hall on Sunday Dec. 2.

More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at:

Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com
Tayu Meditation Center Website: www.tayu.org/~tayu/
Old Many Rivers Blog: www.manyriversbooks.com/blog1/
FaceBook page for the Festival of Conscious Parenting: FOCP

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

Jim Wilson's website: Shaping Words.

More information about Stone Creek Zen Center can be found at:

Stone Creek Zen Center: www.stonecreekzencenter.org/

Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #93 - 10NOV12

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:

Hosts Stuart Goodnick and Dr. Robert Schmidt discuss Communication from the perspective of Tayu Meditation practice and Landmark Education during the first half of the show. In the second half of the show Stuart and Rob play and discuss excerpts from the CD set Glen Gould: The Complete Goldberg Variations (1955 & 1981): A State of Wonder. The discussion centers around a quote by Glen Gould: The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline, but rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.

More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at:

Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com
Tayu Meditation Center Website: www.tayu.org/~tayu/
Old Many Rivers Blog: www.manyriversbooks.com/blog1/
FaceBook page for the Festival of Conscious Parenting: FOCP

Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #92 - 03NOV12

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 guest host Nick Egan and Jacob Newell (Gu Shen Yu Daoshi), founder of Old Oak Taiji School, a small a school of Taijiquan in Sonoma County, California. Jacob's practice philosophy is rooted in the Daojia - internal cultivation traditions dating to pre-Han China based largely on the teachings of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the Neiye. He considers Ruyu-style Taijiquan to be a superb embodiment of Laozi's philosophy of wuwei, and as such his instruction emphasizes both familiarity with Laozi's text, the Dao De Jing, and Taijiquan fundamentals, form, and parter-practice. His primary instructors in Taijiquan have been Frank Broadhead and Sam Edwards.

Jacob has been practicing Taijiquan and related meditation and qi-cultivation arts since the early 1990's. He is certified in Ruyu-style Taijiquan, as well as Qigong and Acupressure, and is an ordained Daoist priest. Old Oak is a recognized outpost of Redwood Coast Internal Arts and Ruyu Taiji School of Taiwan, and his Daoist ordination connects Old Oak to the Dragon Gate tradition based at White Cloud Temple in Beijing.

More information about Jacob Newell's work can be found at:

Old Oak Taiji School website: www.oldoakdao.org

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

Nick Egan's website: advayabuddhism.org

"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.