The Mystical Positivist: March 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #111 - 30MAR13

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 Russell Delman. Russell began his study of body/mind perspectives and human potential in 1969 as a student of psychology. His lifelong commitment to awareness and freedom began consciously at this time along with his practice of Zen meditation. Through workshops at The Esalen Institute (1971), living at the Gestalt Institute of Canada (1972), travels in the jungles of South America (1973), being trained as a yoga teacher (1974) and studying Gestalt therapy with Dr Robert Hall (1975-1978), he deepened his self-knowledge. His training and deep personal relationship with Moshe Feldenkrais began in 1975, during the first professional training program offered in the U.S. In 1984, Russell became one of the first people in the world authorized to lead Feldenkrais® Professional training programs. Since that time he has taught in more than 40 of these programs internationally and directed or designed 10. Russell has helped in the training of more than 2500 Feldenkrais teachers. In addition, he maintains a private practice at his home in northern California and teaches public workshops throughout the world.

Along with his wife Linda, also a Feldenkrais trainer, he created the Feldenkrais-India Project that brought the method to India for the first time. Through work at Mother Teresa's Missions, particularly in Calcutta, the Delmans taught the "Sisters of Charity" to work with brain-injured children. During this time they were blessed and influenced by numerous private meetings with Mother Teresa.

In addition to all the above, perhaps the strongest influences on Russell's life are his more than 30 years of relationship with Linda and the journey of fathering his daughter, Lily. The formation of “The Embodied Life™ School” and “The Mentorship Program” is the fruition of a life-long trajectory.

More information about Russell Delman's work can be found at:

Russell Delman's Website: www.russelldelman.com
The Embodied Life School Website: www.theembodiedlife.org

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #110 - 23MAR13

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 Borglum. Founder and Executive Director of The Living/Dying Project, Dale is a pioneer in the conscious dying movement and has worked directly with thousands of people with life-threatening illness and their families for over 30 years. In 1981, Dale founded the first residential facility for people who wished to die consciously in the United States, The Dying Center. He has taught and lectured extensively on the topics of spiritual support for those with life-threatening illness, on caregiving as a spiritual practice, and on healing at the edge, the edge of illness, of death, of loss, of crisis.

Dale has a BS from UC Berkeley and a PhD from Stanford University. He is the co-author of Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook and has taught meditation for the past 35 years, after studying practices of devotion, meditation, and contemplative prayer with many of the greatest masters of the last century, including Neem Karoli Baba, Suzuki Roshi, Ananda Mayee Ma, Kalu Rinpoche, the 16th Karmapa, Dilgo Khyentse, Mahasi Sayadaw, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Trungpa Rinpoche, Goenka, Dudjom Rinpoche and HH the Dalai Lama. Dale has taught with Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Joan Halifax, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Rev. Wayne Muller, and many others. His life’s work and passion has been and continues to be the healing of our individual and collective relationship with death and also using our mortality as an inspiration for spiritual awakening.

More information about Dale Borglum's work can be found at:

The Living/Dying Project Website: livingdying.org

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #109 - 09MAR13

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 Sky Nelson (with co-host Dr. Nicholas Egan). Sky Nelson is a singer-songwriter, physicist and speaker with a unique vision. He teaches people about the physics of synchronicity, encouraging people to worry less, trust more, and keep our awareness open to the opportunities that are in constant motion around us. He provides a scientific model for understanding synchronicity that can lead to a new level of problem resolution. The model focuses upon an idea called “selfless confidence”, which is relevant if you are working in business, problem-solving in politics, or relating to family, as well as accomplishing your own personal goals.

Sky speaks at Sunday services and afternoon workshops for Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity Centers around the country, as well as scientific conferences and business meetings. His peer reviewed articles have appeared in the Journal for Scientific Exploration, and The Conference Proceedings for American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. He has presented his work investigating quantum theory, special relativity and synchronicity at the Society for Scientific Exploration Annual Meeting (2010, 2012), Towards a Science of Consciousness (2010, 2012), SAND (2010, 2011, 2012) and the AAAS (2011). Sky’s popular writings have been published in Science of Mind Magazine and New Thought Magazine. Sky received a nomination in 2012 for the coveted "Positive Music Award" for his song Live in Love. His album of original music “The World Ocean” and his brand-new eBook Coincidence: The Physics of Unexpected Opportunities are available for sale, and he is launching a one-of-a-kind 6 session online eClass with the same title beginning in March 2013.

More information about Sky Nelson's work can be found at:

Sky Nelson's Website: www.skynelson.com
Expecting Synchronicity Website: www.expectingsynchronicity.com

Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #108 - 02MAR13

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:

Hour 1: a conversation with Qigong Master Mingtong Gu, who teaches Wisdom Healing Qigong, which is focused on health and wellness, especially for specific health conditions. He received his master training at the largest Qigong Center China, where he worked effectively with patients with Parkinson's, stress, cancer and many other conditions. Master Gu was named Qigong Master of the Year by the World Congress on Qigong in 2011. Mingtong Gu is also the founder of The Chi Center, based at the EarthRise Retreat Center of the Institute of Noetic Science in Petaluma, CA. On March 3, Master Gu will host a large "Open Your Heart Qi Summit", where Master Gu will teach Qigong movements that open the heart during stress and illness. This event is also calling on attendees to open their hearts to more hope and good works in their daily lives. A recording of the event is available on The Chi Center website.

Hour 2: a conversation with Elliott Freed. Elliott Freed has been involved in healing since 1988. In 1999 he began cultivating under the guidance of Master Fu Wei Zhong. Master Fu is the 13th lineage holder of a Ch’an healing lineage from the Golden Summit Monastery on Mount E Mei (Uh May) in the borderlands between Tibet and China. Since 2004 Elliott has practiced Chinese medicine. He has worked with well over 1000 individuals, and taught classes to hundreds more.

More information about Master Mingtong Gu's work can be found at:

The Chi Center website: www.chicenter.com

For more information about Elliott Freed's work, contact him at: fireattheroot @ yahoo.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.