The Mystical Positivist – Details, episodes & analysis

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This week on The Mystical Positivist, hosts Stuart Goodnick and Rob Schmidt feature two episodes from the Western Baul Podcast Series recorded earlier this year. In the first hour we present the talk, Cultivating Transparency: Realizing the Emptiness of the Stories You Tell Yourself, and in the second hour we present the talk, Languaging Nonduality. The podcast descriptions are as follows:
Cultivating Transparency: Realizing the Emptiness of the Stories You Tell Yourself
We could say that all we know about ourselves cognitively are stories we tell ourselves. These are not necessarily obvious to us because they play so constantly. We respond to the universe through the stories that filter our experience. How do we work with this since we can’t think ourselves out of this box? Transparency hints at a different way of relating to stories. Many stories we identify with are cultural views. Stories in and of themselves are not a problem; they are a feature of what it is to be human. It’s when we hold onto stories that they capture our energy and attention so we don’t come back to the present and to the next event gifted to us by the universe. Transparency involves listening, seeing, generosity of spirit to others and ourselves, without reactivity to a story. This is not trivial work and a tool we have is self-observation, which is an energetic and not an analytical act. One feature of mature practice is relaxation of the tense form of attention we compulsively hold. This can allow for humor and for different kinds of spaces or chambers to be created. Belief is an emotional relationship with a lie. When a story turns into a belief, we can’t put it down. Resistance manifests differently in the three centers that are discussed in the Gurdjieff work. It is a rich vein to mine to reclaim energy of attention we’ve invested in story. Conscious suffering is the willingness to be present with resistance. Practice can be seen as an offering rather than as a story with an agenda to wake up. Creativity is an end in itself, the universe doing what it most wants to do. When not bound by our stories, we can accept the universe’s invitations to engage in higher work.is a Western spiritual tradition founded by George Gurdjieff, a mystic of Greek and Armenian origin who taught in Russia, Europe, and America and died in 1949. The system he developed out of his own spiritual search, which is shrouded in mystery, is completely unique and geared toward working with a modern mindset of “waking sleep” in the West. The Fourth Way Tradition has been considered by some to be humorless and dogmatically committed to a rigid system of practices and ideas, but this ignores Gurdjieff’s own flexibility ranging from playfulness to penetrating compassion. Today’s speakers are dharma heirs of Tayu Meditation Center’s founder Robert Daniel Ennis, whose teachings were anchored in the Fourth Way but ranged widely beyond that source material. 
Languaging Nonduality
Grounded practice gives us direct experience of the pervasiveness of the mechanical, identified mind. Before we have direct experience of something, linguistic representations are ineffective at transmitting what it is. There is a distinction between results and practice. A teaching can be the result of practice, such as loving our neighbor, but we may consider it as a practice that we are unable to embody without having cultivated the necessary quality of being. Seeing the world as non-dual is a result, not a practice. When nonduality is taken as an intellectual proposition, mind pastes over experience and co-opts the spiritual process, which is not realization. There are poets like Ursula Le Guin who use language to “point at the moon” or the sacred. There has to be some work with mind for the intuition and depth of nonduality to take root and inform all aspects of our lives. We may not be in a new paradigm of spiritual practice, but we are in a new paradigm of access to information and teachings. Nonduality is one way among others to talk about reality. Different spiritual approaches work for different people. For many, something has to be dislodged from its static position around the heart. There’s truth to being non-dual and to being dual, which is paradoxical and indicative of a greater mystery. We can be grateful for language that brings our attention to something bigger than the small self. It’s not words but the carrier wave, where someone is coming from, that transmits what words point to. It’s helpful to hang out with people who share spiritual intention. Everyone doesn’t need to be involved in formal spiritual practice; lives are equally valid.
The Western Baul Podcast Series features talks by practitioners of the Western Baul path. Topics are intended to offer something of educational, inspirational, and practical value to anyone drawn to the spiritual path. For Western Bauls, practice is not a matter of philosophy but is expressed in everyday affairs, service to others, and music and song. There is the recognition that all spiritual traditions have examples of those who have realized that there is no separate self to substantiate—though one will always exist in form—and that “There is only God” or oneness with creation. Western Bauls, as named by Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American spiritual Master who taught in the US, Europe, and India and who was known for his radical dharma, humor, and integrity, are kin to the Bauls of Bengal, India, with whom he shared an essential resonance and friendship. Lee’s spiritual lineage includes Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Papa Ramdas.

Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick are the spiritual directors of Tayu Meditation Center. Rob has made contributions to the practice of anthropological archaeology and currently runs Tayu’s spiritual bookstore in Sebastopol, California, Many Rivers Books & Tea. Stuart is an engineer in a Fortune 500 company and plays the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) as a spiritual practice.

More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at:
Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com,
Western Baul Podcast Website: westernbaul.org.

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This week on the show we feature a prerecorded conversation with OM C. Parkin on the challenges and paradoxes around languaging Non-Duality and how to tune into the silence between the words when engaging with a sacred text.

OM C. Parkin is a renowned European wisdom teacher and the founder of the mystery school, Enneallionce, and Gut Saunstorf, a modern monastery. His books also include Intelligence of Awakening - Navigating the Wisdom Path, The Birth of the Lion, and The Digital Age - A Critical View from a Wisdom Perspective.

OM embodies in his work the link between Eastern non-duality and Christian mysticism, of depth psychology and philosophy, beyond the limits of religions and confessions. He often references the tradition of Advaita Vedanta, which has been revived in the 20th century by Shri Ramana Maharshi, Shri H.W.L. Poonja, the American Gangaji, and others. OM acts in the tradition of these teachers and by being rooted in early Christian teaching. His work in the tradition of silence can be described by three functions: teacher (of wisdom), healer (of the soul), seer (of the heart). He has been supporting people to find their true nature for more than 30 years and founded the modern Satsang movement in Europe.

More information about OM C. Parkin's work can be found at:
OM C. Parkin website: www.om-c-parkin.com,
Gut Saunstorf website: www.kloster-saunstorf.de,
OM C. Parkin at Gateways Books & Tapes: www.gatewaysbooksandtapes.com,
OM C. Parkin previously on The Mystical Positivist on 27JAN24: mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com,
OM C. Parkin previously on The Mystical Positivist on 24SEP22: mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com.

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This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Theresa Dintino, co-author of the newly published ebook, The Oscan Oracle: from the Ancient Janarra of the Moon. In this wide ranging and remarkable conversation, we discuss her latest book, the nature of lineage, Dagara Stick Divination as a way to connect people to their true lineages, cultural appropriation and ways to hold and practice an indigenous tradition, and the ethics of divination and interaction with non-corporeal beings.

Theresa Dintino is the author of nine books and serves as a guide and spiritual mentor to many. While attempting to reclaim and restore her ancestral medicine lineage, the Italian Strega tradition, Dintino was surprised to be “claimed” by the West African Dagara tradition of stick divination. Honored by this invitation, Dintino pursued it, and in 2011 was initiated into this potent form of divination. Besides her family and daughter, this turned out to be the greatest gift of her life.

Stick divination helped Dintino find her way back to her own lineage and enables her to help others find and restore theirs. This beautiful practice of Dagara stick divination continues to offer countless gifts. In multiple divination sessions, Dintino was taught about the spiritual membranes that protect, nurture, and inform lifesystems.

More information about Theresa Dintino's work can be found at:

Strega Tree Divination website: stregatree.com,

The Ritual Goddess website: ritualgoddess.com,

Nasty Women Writers website: www.nastywomenwriters.com.

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This week on the show we converse by telephone with Roger Lipsey, a biographer, art historian, editor, and translator. Roger Lipsey earned both his MA (1966) and Ph.D. (1974) from New York University. His Ph.D. was in the history of art at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU. Dr. Lipsey has served as the director of the Society for Myth and Tradition, the publisher of Parabola magazine. He is also the author of Coomaraswamy: His Life and Work; An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art; Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton; Make Peace Before the Sun Goes Down: The Long Encounter of Thomas Merton and His Abbott, James Fox; and Hammarskjöld: A Life, which has been hailed as the definitive biography of Dag Hammarskjöld. For many decades, he has been a participant in the Gurdjieff teaching. His newly released Shambhala book, Gurdjieff Reconsidered - The Life, the Teachings, the Legacy is the subject of this episode's discussion.

More information about Roger Lipsey's work can be found at:

• Gurdjieff Reconsidered at Shambhala: www.shambhala.com
• Roger Lipsey at Parabola: parabola.org
• Roger Lipsey's Dag Hammarskjöld website: www.dag-hammarskjold.net

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This week on the show on the show we present a Skype conversation with Brad Warner. Brad Warner is the founder and head teacher of Angel City Zen Center and Dogen Sangha Los Angeles. He is the author of the popular Hardcore Zen blog as well as several books on Zen Buddhism including Hardcore Zen - Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth About Reality; Sit Down and Shut Up - Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, & Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye; and Don't Be a Jerk - and Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan's Greatest Zen Master. He plays bass in the hardcore punk band Zero Defex (0DFx), is the star of the movies Shoplifting From American Apparel and Zombie Bounty Hunter M.D., was director of the film Cleveland’s Screaming! and is a former vice president of the US branch of Tsuburaya Productions, the company founded by the creator of Godzilla.

More information about Brad Warner's work can be found at:

• Hardcore Zen website: hardcorezen.info
• Angel City Zen Center website: www.aczc.org
• Brad Warner on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org
• Brad Warner on Twitter: twitter.com
• Brad Warner on Facebook: www.facebook.com
• Hardcore Zen on Facebook: www.facebook.com
• Brad Warner on YouTube: www.youtube.com

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This week on the show we feature an in-studio conversation with Antonio Ramirez Hernandez. Antonio Ramirez started learning about shamanism in 1982 when he started to have experiences that were difficult to understand with rational logic. He started to seek guidance until he found the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. He studied with Michael Harner, taking several workshops including the Three Year Program in Advanced Shamanism. Antonio eventually found Medicine Person, Lorin Smith, from the Kashaya Pomo tribe. He became a student, and Lorin expanded Antonio's views about shamanism. Their relationship lasted until Lorin's death on January 15, 2019. Part of Antonio's training has included with plant medicine in the Amazon, in the Mazatec mountains, and with Huichol healers. He is currently writing two books: one about learning from Lorin Smith and another called Contemporary Shamanism.

Antonio holds a Master's degree in Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy and a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology (both from CIIS). He is nationally and internationally recognized for creating CECEVIM, a methodology for working with Latino men to teach them how to stop violence to their partners. He is the author of Violencia Masculina en el Hogar (Masculine Violence in the Home) (2000 - Editorial Pax, Mexico) and of the chapter "CECEVIM - Stopping Male Violence in the Latino Home" for the book Programs for Men Who Batter (2002 - Civic Research Institute). In addition to his shamanic work, Antonio's academic interests include gender studies, especially concerning masculine identities; the psychological impacts of culture on individuals and families; and transpersonal psychology.

More information about Antonio Ramirez's work can be found at:
California Institute of Integral Studies website: www.ciis.edu,
EMAVoicesOfTheEarth interview with Lorin Smith on YouTube: www.youtube.com.

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This week on the show we present a pre-recorded conversation with Terri Daniel. Rev. Terri Daniel, MA, CT, CCTP is a clinical chaplain, certified trauma specialist and end-of-life educator certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling. The focus of her work is to assist dying and grieving individuals to discover a more spiritually-spacious understanding of death and beyond.

Terri conducts workshops throughout the U.S. to help the dying and the bereaved find healing through meditative, ritual and therapeutic processes that focus on inner transformation rather than external events. Her work is acclaimed by physicians, hospice workers, grief counselors, clergy and the bereaved for its pinpoint clarity on the process of dying and grieving, and its heartfelt depiction of consciousness beyond the physical body.

Terri's interest in the journey of the soul through birth and death began at age 12 when she began having mystical visions that sparked a lifelong interest in spirituality. But it wasn't until the death of her 16 year-old son in 2006 that she immersed herself in studying multi-cultural religious traditions and metaphysical practices that help the dying and the living find healing through meditative and ritual processes that open a conduit to other dimensions. Her unique form of "radical mysticism" incorporates elements of Buddhism, Shamanism, ancient pagan practices, gnostic Christianity and other spiritual traditions to break down limiting beliefs about forgiveness, divine judgment and negative experience.

Terri is the author of three books on death and the afterlife: A Swan in Heaven: Conversations Between Two Worlds (2007), Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude and God (2010), and Turning the Corner on Grief Street: Loss and Trauma as a Journey to Awakening (2014)

She is also the founder of the Afterlife Education Foundation and producer of the annual Afterlife Awareness Conference. Her academic credentials include a B.A. in Religious Studies from Marylhurst University, an M.A. in Pastoral Care from Fordham University, and a DMin [Doctor of Ministry] from the San Francisco Theological Seminary.

More information about Terri Daniel's work can be found at:

Spirituality and Grief website: www.spiritualityandgrief.com,
The Afterlife Awareness Conference website: afterlifeconference.com,
Conscious Grieving: Turning Loss into Light talk at Many Rivers Books 7 Tea: www.manyriversbooks.com.

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This week's podcast features:This week on the show we converse in the studio with Wu Ming Chuan (aka Jacob Newell), an ordained Daoist priest with a quarter century experience with Buddhist and Daoist meditation & qi-cultivation. He resides with his family in Santa Rosa, California and is the author of These Daoist Bones, a book of contemplative poetry. He writes the blog, Daoist Blog of Nameless Stream, and runs Old Oak School of Dao. On the website for Old Oak School, he writes:

“My wuweidao teacher was Liu Wen Ming, a Euro-American who inherited an aristocratic family tradition from northern China. I was also ordained into an offshoot of the Dragon Gate school, and I am closely connected to the Ruyu Taiji School and Korean Zen. I am also an avid student of Russian Systema. Thank you so much to all my teachers!” 

More information about Wu Ming Chuan's work can be found at:

Daoist Blog of Nameless Stream website: www.oldoakdao.org/blog/

Old Oak School of Dao website: www.oldoakdao.org

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This week on the show we converse by telephone with Shawinigan Ungaia (aka Guillaume Gauthereau), Shamanic healer and founder of The Sanctuary Healing Center in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In this conversation we cover Guillaume's unique spiritual path, shamanism, trauma & healing, and the depth of the calling when we feel our soul pushed for another life.

After a career that scaled the heights of corporate success as a CEO of global companies, Guillaume reached a turning point in his life – material success and trappings had not necessarily made him really happy or fulfilled. He had the big degree, big job and success that most people aspire for, but he was not happy. Guillaume decided to completely change his life and embarked on a journey of self-exploration and meditation that took him from working with Mother Teresa’s mission in India, to the jungles of Peru in search of finding meaning in life and fulfillment beyond the material demands of society today. Through seeking to transform his own life to live with a higher purpose, Guillaume made a life-changing commitment to helping others in their search for peace, harmony and happiness.

During his last 10 years of transformative journeys across Asia & South America, Guillaume had rare opportunities to study and meditate with master healers and teachers of all faiths. He is trained in Shamanism, Plant Medicine, Medical Reiki, Sufi Healing, Sound Healing, Meditation, and Herbalism.

In 2015, Guillaume opened The Sanctuary Healing Center on his property in the Catskills where he does in depth work with clients, hosts workshops, and cultivates the land for organic vegetable farming, plant medicine, and honey bees. Born and educated in France, Guillaume also holds a PhD in Veterinary Medicine & Surgery from Maisons-Alfort, France. Guillaume resides at The Sanctuary in the Catskills and travels to New York City and all over the world for his work. 

More information about Shawinigan Ungaia's work can be found at:

The Sanctuary website: www.thesanctuaryheal.com

Shawinigan Ungaia on Facebook: www.facebook.com

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This week on the show on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Christopher Ives, a professor of religious studies at Stonehill College, and author of the recent title from Wisdom Press: Zen on the Trail: Hiking as Pilgrimage. In his teaching and writing he focuses on ethics in Zen Buddhism and Buddhist approaches to nature and environmental issues. His other publications include Imperial-Way Zen: Ichikawa Hakugen’s Critique and Lingering Questions for Buddhist Ethics; Zen Awakening and Society; Divine Emptiness and Historical Fullness; a translation (with Abe Masao) of Nishida Kitaro’s An Inquiry into the Good; and a translation (with Gishin Tokiwa) of Hisamatsu Shin’ichi’s Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics and is serving on the steering committee of the Religion and Ecology Group of the American Academy of Religion. In this wide range discussion we cover the question of ethics and Buddhism especially as it arises in contexts such as Imperial Japan. We also go deeply into the subject of pilgrimage and our opportunities to encounter the sacred in natural settings. 

More information about Christopher Ives' work can be found at:

Zen on the Trail website: zenonthetrail.com

Christopher Ives at Stonehill College: www.stonehill.edu