The Mystical Positivist: August 2018

Saturday, August 25, 2018

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #299 - 25AUG18

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:

This week we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Peter Coyote. Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audiobooks. Coyote had first discovered Zen in his teens via the works of Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, and other Beats. Beginning in 1975, Coyote undertook meditation practice and eventually became a dedicated practitioner of American Zen Buddhism, moving into the San Francisco Zen Center. He was later ordained a lay priest in the Soto tradition and was ordained as a Zen Priest in 2015. Coyote performed audiobook recordings of Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Paul Reps's Zen Flesh, Zen Bones as well as narrating the documentary Inquiry into the Great Matter: A History of Zen Buddhism. "I'm a Zen Buddhist student first, actor second", Coyote has said. "If I can't reconcile the two lives, I'll stop acting. I spend more time off-screen than on." In April, 2015, his memoir, The Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education, was released, in which he "provides portraits of mentors that shaped him— including his violent, intimidating father, a bass player, a Mafia Consiglieri, and beat poet Gary Snyder, who introduces him to the practice of Zen." Coyote has been working on a new book on Zen that is the principal subject of our conversation with him.

More information about Peter Coyote's work can be found at:

Official Peter Coyote Website: www.petercoyote.com

Saturday, August 11, 2018

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #298 - 11AUG18

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:

This week on the Mystical Positivist, George Barselaar, a devotee of Swami Lakshmanjoo and practitioner of Kashmir Shaivism, returns for an in-studio conversation about the teachings of the Kashmir Shaivist Tantric tradition, the meaning of Grace, the function of Free Will, and more. George Barselaar was born in 1951 in a small town in the south of Holland. He grew up in Sydney, Australia, studied Civil Engineering, and spent all of his spare time Surfing or playing Soccer. At the age of 19, George took a keen interest in Yoga, which inspired him to eventually learn Transcendental Meditation (TM). In 1974, he completed the Teacher Training Program in Transcendental Meditation (TM) under the direction of its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Having a keen interest in the Vedas and Indian Philosophy, in 1975 he studied Sanskrit for a year at Newcastle University in Australia.

In 1981 George travelled to India and spent six months travelling and studying the ancient system of Ayurvedic medicine. During this time he had the great fortune to meet with some of India’s renown saints including Anandamayi Maa, and many others. Following his interest in Shaiva Philosophy, in 1982 George travelled to Kashmir to meet the respected Saint and Shaiva master, Swami Lakshmanjoo. George remained in Kashmir for 9 years, until Swamiji’s passing in 1991. It was during that time that he became associated with John and Denise Hughes, who had already compiled a library of over 700 hours of recorded lectures given by Swami Lakshmanjoo on the oral tradition of Kashmir Shaivism.

In 1988, after years of working in the garden and doing various construction jobs in the small ashram, Swamiji gave George permission to begin transcribing his recorded lectures. Working closely with John Hughes, it took almost 20 years to completed the English transcriptions of all of Swami Lakshmanjoo’s recorded teachings.

For a decade after Swamiji’s passing (September 1991) George returned to Kashmir each summer, specifically to learn certain rituals unique to Kashmir Shaivism. Part of that study was learning the recitation of hymns and various mantras that accompany the Shaiva rituals.

In 2000, George and his partner, Claudia Dose, moved from Australia to the USA and began working full time with John and Denise Hughes. At that time a decision was made to publish all of Swami Lakshmanjoo’s teachings as original transcripts along with the original audio recordings. This format, enabling the student to hear the teachings directly from a master of the Oral Tradition, has been well received by sincere students of Kashmir Shaivism worldwide.

More information about Swami Lakshmanjoo's work can be found at:

Lakshmanjoo Academy Website: www.lakshmanjooacademy.org
Universal Shaiva Fellowship Website: www.universalshaivafellowship.org
Swami Lakshmanjoo on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org
Ishwar Ashram Trust Website: www.ishwarashramtrust.com

Saturday, August 4, 2018

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #297 - 04AUG18

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 in the studio with Bruce Fortin, guiding teacher of the Occidental Laguna Sangha in Sebastopol, California.

Bruce Fortin began studying Zen at San Francisco Zen Center in 1971 and was ordained a Soto Zen Priest in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi in 1976. He spent thirteen years as a resident in Zen Center’s three monastic practice places: Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center’s City Center, and has received Dharma Transmission to teach from Zoketsu Norman Fischer. He has also studied with a number of other teachers in the Tibetan and Vipassana traditions and his teachings reflect their influence.

Bruce’s work experience in the world includes serving as Executive Director of Home Hospice of Sonoma County for a number of years. In addition to being a Buddhist teacher, he has a private practice in Sonoma County where he practices mediation law and psychotherapy with a specialty in relationship counseling and transpersonal psychology.

More information about Bruce Fortin's work and interests can be found at:

Occidental Laguna Sangha website: occidentallagunasangha.org
Bruce Fortin's Therapy Practice: www.psychologytoday.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.