Guru Viking Podcast

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Ep15 Godfrey Devereux - Guru Viking Interviews Apr 10, 2019

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In this episode I interview Godfrey Devereux, yoga and meditation teacher of over 45 years experience, and author of several books - including ‘Dynamic Yoga’ and ‘Yoga Unveiled’, a translation and commentary of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. In this fascinating conversation we discuss how watching his uncle, an Anglican minster, pray in tree-pose sparked an overwhelming sense of reverence, how Godfrey’s teenage attempts at learning from books produced surprising results, why meeting his Indian yoga guru heroes left him unimpressed, and how the rigorous discipline of Zen - and the insight of a particular Zen Roshi - changed Godfrey’s life forever. This interview was particularly enjoyable for me because Godfrey is the man who trained me in the practice and teaching of yoga in my mid-twenties. Topics include: - Godfrey’s first encounter with yoga - The power of reverence - Early days learning from books - Meeting an Iyengar yoga teacher - Yoga in England in the 70s - Travelling to Italy and training as a Montessori teacher - Clashes with the school management - Experimentation with vast amounts of LSD - Insights gained from psychedelics - Moving to America and working in the natural food movement - Encountering Ashtanga vinyasa yoga in Hawaii - Contacting a deep internal awareness - Testing what you’re taught; does it work, is it valid? - Are some people more suited to self enquiry? - Realising yoga wasn’t really working - Travelling to India - Disappointment when meeting the great yoga gurus - Activation of anandamayakosha, the bliss body - India’s special geology and culture - Was BKS Iyengar a sadomasochist? - Meeting the advaita teacher Ramesh Balsekar - Turning to Zen - Godfrey’s first sesshin - Sitting in full lotus - Why does it have to hurt so much?! - Becoming one with pain - Studying with Genpo Roshi - Koan study - Commenting on Genpo Roshi’s sexual scandal - A guru-chela relationship with Kali - Godfrey’s tantric encounters - Self improvement vs self enquiry - 4 most common mistakes in yoga - Effortless yoga posture practice - The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Godfrey’s take on the 5 Yamas - Godfrey’s experiments with pranayama - Medieval pranayama vs Patanjali’s approach - What is spiritual practice? - The issue of authority - Knowledge vs experience - Steve’s training with Godfrey - Why Godfrey has decided to stop training yoga teachers - Advice for those facing catastrophe To find our more about Godfrey, visit: www.dynamicyoga.com   Godfrey on Yogavinyasakrama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkU5k03runI For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep14 Daniel Ingram - Guru Viking Interviews Feb 25, 2019

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New episode! In this interview I am joined by meditation teacher and author Daniel Ingram. Daniel sparked great controversy when in 2008 he published his first book ‘Mastering The Core Teachings Of The Buddha: An Unusual Hardcore Dharma Book’, signing it as the Arahant Daniel Ingram. Naming himself an arahant, which is one of the highest attainments in Buddhism, flew in the face of cultural taboos against disclosing one’s enlightenment. In this fascinating conversation we delve into Daniel’s childhood mystical experiences and how he overcame a lack of meditational talent to embark upon a life of intense retreat and practice. We discuss his meditation challenges and accomplishments, and lay out the stages of awakening and how to traverse them. At the end, Daniel turns the tables on *me* and questions my own experience and motivations! I hope you enjoy this one! - Daniel’s childhood mystical experiences - Crossing the arising and passing away in a dream - Daniel’s first retreat and overcoming a lack of meditation talent - ‘Learning to feel my feet’ - Travelling to India - Coming face to face with sickness and poverty in the slums of Calcutta - Learning a powerful meditation technique in Malaysia that changed everything - How an old Burmese monk introduced Daniel to a map of insight - How to find the right meditation path for you - Lead through strength but don’t get stuck - How Daniel used personal pride as an aid on the path - Dark Night of the Soul and the Dhukka Nanas - A summary of the cycle of insight - Daniel’s dark night - Achieving stream entry - The God-Gerbil - Aftershocks of awakening - Why Daniel believes in disclosing attainments - Rapid fire practice guide - I want to attain stream entry, what do I do? - I have attained stream entry and I want to attain 2nd, what do I do? - I have attained 2nd path and I want to attain 3rd, what do I do? - I have attained 3rd path and I want to attain 4th, what do I do? - I am an arrant - now what? - Daniel turns the tables on Steve - Where do Steve’s questions come from? - What is his experience of map theory? - How does Steve use maps when teaching meditation? For the video version of this interview visit: https://www.facebook.com/guruviking/videos/386877215223610/ To find our more about Daniel, visit: http://integrateddaniel.info For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep13 Culadasa - Guru Viking Interviews Feb 15, 2019

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In this episode I am joined by John Yates, PhD, aka Culadasa. Culadasa is a meditation master with more than four decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions. A former professor, he taught physiology and neuroscience for many years, and later worked in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. His book ‘The Mind Illuminated’ has been described as ‘a rare and valuable treasure’ and has been enormously popular among dedicated meditators for it’s incredible clarity and usability even to very advanced stages of practice. In this interview we talk about how Culdasa’s traumatic upbringing led to him to being homeless on the streets at 15 years old and why even years in Catholic seminary didn’t provide the answers he was looking for. We discuss his initially frustrated attempts at meditation practice, the colourful cast of characters of his teachers, and the one key discovery changed everything. - Culadasa’s traumatic upbringing - Running away from home at 15 and the search for truth - Entering Catholic seminary in search of the truth - Experiments with psychedelics in the 60s - Early attempts at meditation and learning Transcendental Meditation - Discovering Buddhism - What was lacking in the seminary - Doctrinal disagreements with Catholicism - Virtuoso Buddhism vs village Buddhism - Living on the streets and recovering from a traumatic childhood - Achieving a PhD with no high school education - Glimpses of emptiness - Meeting Upasaka Kema Ananda in Winnipeg, Manitoba - Encountering Namgyal Rinpoche (aka George Dawson) - Blending Kagyu and Theravadan practice - Struggles with the Mahasi meditation technique - Introduction to shamata (calm-abiding) practice - Common misunderstandings about shamata - Key distinctions about attention and awareness - Revisiting Mahasi-style meditation - Stages of samadhi - Culadasa’s personal journey of insight - How Culadasa attained stream entry - Falling away from meditation and taking up shamanism - Further path attainments - Second path practice and meditation on mind states - Craving and dissatisfaction - Mara I have seen you! - The mechanics of path attainments - The two edged sword of the human mind - Developing compassion - Waking up, cleaning up, and growing up - Implications of facing death For the video version of this interview visit: https://youtu.be/roTWZ9GcBMY To find our more about Culadasa, visit: https://dharmatreasure.org/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep12 Bhante Jason - Guru Viking Interviews Oct 04, 2018

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37-year old Bhante Jason is an Australian monk who left a career in law to wander the countryside as an aescetic Buddhist monk. Ordained in the Theravanda tradition in Sri Lanka over eight years ago, he lives outdoors without possessions except for his robes and begging bowl. Seeing hypocrisy in much of modern Buddhism's approach, Bhante Jason describes his approach to Buddhist practice as 'Classic' and chooses to live as closely as he can to the strict monastic rules of the historical Buddha. For the video version of this interview, including footage of Bhante's retreat caves, please click here: https://youtu.be/B9W4SUepWOQ I travel out to his rain season retreat cave in the Blue Mountains to meet this unusual and charismatic wanderer. - A tour of Bhante Jason's meditation caves - The 8 Precepts that allow lay people to temporarily practice as a monk - Bhante Jason's early interest in Buddhism and his teenage preoccupation with the problem of suffering - Disillusionment with Zen practice in New York - The influence Bikkhu Bodhi's translations of the early Suttas - How reconnecting with the historical Buddha ignited Bhante's inspiration to become a homeless monk - Travelling to Sri Lanka for ordination and training - The hypocrisy of later Buddhist doctrinal developments - Abuse of authority by Buddhist leaders - The safety mechanism of asceticism - The moral authority of purity - Bhante's first experiences in Sri Lanka and his love for the culture - Novice initiation, monastic camaraderie, and getting painted in tumeric - Bhante's monastic vows - Going beyond the monastic training to become a wandering monk - Early lessons in surviving outdoors, finding water, and avoiding mosquitos - Bhante's training in meditation and his unique personal approach - Meditation vs walking your dog - Bhante's 2-step meditation instruction - Training your body to become stronger in the face of negative emotion - Using posture, breath, and thoughts to train the body - The dangers of Darth Vader meditation - Living as a homeless monk in Australia - Surviving long journeys through the bush - Choosing his meditation cave - Bhante's daily practice routine - Sexuality and celibacy on the monastic path - Bhante's poem about sexual energy For more interviews, videos, and visit www.guruviking.com. For the video version of this interview, including footage of Bhante's retreat caves, please click here: https://youtu.be/B9W4SUepWOQ Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep10 Robert Beer - Guru Viking Interviews Jun 19, 2018

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In this interview I talk with Robert Beer, an internationally renowned artist who has dedicated his life to both the study of Indo-Tibetan sacred art and to experiential contact with the afterlife. Robert is the author and illustrator of the The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motif, and The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbol, as well as having his work featured in countless publications and websites. In our discussion we delve into Robert's childhood mystical experiences, his psychedelically induced psychosis and kundalini crisis, the runaway Carmelite nun, years spent in India studying with Tibet’s greatest living master artist, astral encounters with long-dead Indian gurus, and Robert’s extensive research into parapsychology and the spirit world. - The afterlife experience at 14 years old that catalysed Robert’s spiritual search - The death of Robert’s sister and an afterlife dream - How Robert became homeless at 16, sleeping rough in the blood bank where he worked - Being rejected from art school and meeting the eccentric artist John F.B. Miles - The story of John’s mother the runaway Carmelite nun - John’s prodigious ability to reproduce any script instantly - Robert’s psychedelic explorations in his early twenties - How an attempt to practice Tibetan phowa on LSD triggered a devastating psychosis and kundalini crisis - The severe and debilitating effects of Robert’s kundalini crisis - Travelling to India and Robert’s 7 year journey to reintegrate his nervous system - Sacred art and music as therapy and medicine - The practice of stillness and concentration in art - Learning Tibetan thangka painting with Tibet’s master artist Jampa Tseten - Understanding mystic traditions through sacred art - Robert’s aboriginal encounter with Buddhist Dharma - Robert’s unpublished manual of the deities of the Karma Kagyu tradition - The challenges of obtaining funding and support in Robert’s career - The physical and psychological demands of creating extremely intricately detailed images - Robert’s incompatibility with traditional Buddhist practice - Encountering the physical emanation of the long deceased Shirdi Sai Baba - Ongoing psychic contact and teaching from Shirdi Sai Baba - How the tragic death of Robert’s daughter radically changed his life trajectory - Encounters with channellers and mediums - Robert’s profound experience with Dr. Michael Newton’s ‘Life Between Life’ hypnosis method - Research into Near Death Experiences and deathbed visions - The limitations of the Tibetan bardo and after-death teachings - The ineffectiveness of religious practice compared to near death experiences - Ani Tenzin Palmo’s near death experience - The karmic implications of past life regression - Robert’s opinion on the tulku system - Dudjom Lingpa’s anomalous reincarnation process - The blindly dogmatic approach to reincarnation of most Western Buddhist teachers - Robert’s approach to counselling the bereaved To find our more about Robert, visit: http://www.tibetanart.com/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep9 Glenn Mullin - Guru Viking Interviews May 23, 2018

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Glenn H. Mullin is a Tibetologist, Buddhist writer, translator of classical Tibetan literature, and teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation. He divides his time between writing, teaching, meditating, and leading tour groups to the power places of Nepal and Tibet. In this interview we discuss Glenn’s early fascination with Tibet, his decades of rigorous study in India with the Dalai Lama’s two personal gurus, Glenn’s life-changing meditation experiences, enlightenment and orgasm, and we delve into the 6 Yogas of Naropa - a tantric system full of fascinating techniques such as Deity Yoga, Tummo, dream work, and more… Topics include: - The British fascination with Tibet - Glenn’s early family influences - Spending 12 years in India at the Dalai Lama’s school for Westerners - Glenn’s personal experiences with the Dalai Lama - What Tibetans and the Irish have in common - Popular vs unpopular enlightenment - Qualities of a spiritual master - The process of lineage authorisation in Tibetan Buddhism - The varying standards of Lama qualification across the various Tibetan sects - How to assess a teacher - Glenn’s early training regime in Dharmsala - The main challenge in the early stages of meditation - The difference between compassion and wisdom meditations - Was Jesus a Buddhist monk? - The ‘earthquake experience’ of insight into the nature of the self - Glenn’s ‘earthquake experience’ on retreat - The challenges of integrating profound spiritual experience into everyday life - Direct, non-processed experience and the metaphor of orgasm - The 6 Yogas of Naropa and the lazy man’s way to enlightenment - Glenn’s background in the 6 Yogas of Naropa - Differences in the ways the tantras were practiced over the centuries - The linguistic code of the hidden tantras - The 5 stages of tantra - The practice of seeing the world as a tantric theatre - The essential prerequisites of practicing tantra - True practice vs fantasy and delusion - Applications of tantric practice in relationship and business - The expression of the personality - The 4 faces of compassionate engagement To find our more about Glenn, visit: http://www.glennmullin.com/ https://www.runawayjourneys.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Maitripa.Glenn For more interviews, videos, and more visit: www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep8 Ngakpa Chögyam - Guru Viking Interviews May 11, 2018

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In this interview I am joined by Ngakpa Chögyam a blues loving, horse riding Ngakpa, who with his wife Khandro Déchen, is the Lineage Lama (principal teacher) of the Aro tradition, a tantric Buddhist house holder tradition. Ngakpa Chögyam is the author of many books and today we discuss Wisdom Eccentrics. It is ‘a rare account of remarkable lamas in the final years of a lost era’ …which chronicles his education with Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche, ‘a highly reclusive master known for mercurial wrath and facility with Dzogchen’. In the book we follow this 19-year old Englishman in 1971 into the heart of the Himalayas to seek the highest teachings from a notoriously wrathful and elusive Lama. In this fascinating and candid conversation we delve into the themes of the book, including the culture clash of Dharmsala in the 70s, the true face of Crazy Wisdom and it’s abuses, how to access the realised state through the emotions themselves, and why Ngakpa Chögyam sees the crossover between the arts and Vajrayana as vitally important. Topics include: - Ngakpa Chögyam’s childhood fascination with Buddhism and Tibet - Parallels between the Viking religions and Tibetan Buddhism - Travelling to India at 19 in 1971 - An instant rapport with the Tibetan people - Fundamental clashes with the other Western students - Meeting the nomadic yogi Kunzang Dorje - How Dudjom Rinpoche trapped Kunzang Dorje - Tackling Ngakap Chögyam’s chronic politeness - Stories and interrogation as teaching tools - Tibetan culture vs Western culture - The sophistication and limitation of the Western mind - Principle and Form as the key to understanding Buddhism - Emptiness and Form applied to shiné and lhaktong meditation - The evening when Chögyam received the transmission of the nature of mind - How the nature of mind transmission works - The difference between a realised master and a well-educated scholar - Art an the Varjayana - How Chögam uses the Doc Togden instagram account - Wrathful lamas and Crazy Wisdom - Wrathful Compassion and Crazy Wisdom as an excuse for abuse - The genuine use of Wrath and Crazy Wisdom - The prerequisites to using Wrathful Compassion - Kunzang Dorje’s wrath in action - Why Ngakpa Chögyam is not a wrathful teacher - Chogyam’s occasional use of wrathful means - Psychopathic spiritual teachers and sexual exploitation - Crazy Wisdom as disintegration of religious pattern - Stories of Crazy Wisdom in action - Chi’imed Rinpoche’s expression of yeshe chölwa - The use of the full spectrum of emotions in Tantra - Accessing the realised state through the emotions - How to use powerful negative emotions in spiritual practice - The role of the personality display in teaching Tantra - The teacher student relationship in the Vajrayana - Is the teacher student relationship a professional or personal one? - The importance of two-way respect between teacher and student - Blind devotion vs informed devotion - Informed devotion vs romantic infatuation - Ngakpa Chögyam’s parting words and why everyone is an artist To find out more about Ngakpa Chögyam: -http://arobuddhism.org/ -https://www.instagram.com/doctor_togden/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep7 Michaela Boehm - Thomas Wildfire Special - Guru Viking Interviews Jan 02, 2018

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Today I’m joined by my co-teacher Michaela Boehm for a special interview about facing adversity. Michaela's house was destroyed in the Thomas fire, the largest wild fire in California state history. We discuss the story of what happened, how Michaela used her extensive training and lifetime of practice to face this crisis, and the surprisingly inspiring themes of determination and community. Disasters of any kind are something we all hope to avoid but that can happen to any of us at any time. There are many useful lessons and takeaways in Michaela's story for facing adversity and for supporting others who are in times of crisis. Topics include: - Michaela’s house destroyed by Thomas Fire, the largest wildfire in California State history - 50ft fire walls sweeping across the landscape at the speed of an acre a minute - The race from Europe to California and entering a disaster zone - How different people coped with the shock and trauma - Fight, flight, and freeze responses - Michaela’s game plan and personal shock-prevention strategies - How to use the fight or flight response without being overwhelmed by it - Working with trauma after the initial event - Working productively in a stressful situation - Body movement as the key to unlocking freeze and trauma - Why Michaela prioritises beautifying her environment and the positive effects of ordering your environment - The practice of Vastu and the practical tips on organising your surroundings - Stepping down from daily activity to nighttime rest - Using water to de-stress and cleanse - Michaela’s favourite meditation approach to relax and open the body - Journalling and Jungian dream work as tools of psychological integration - Self-care in times of adversity - Epigenetics and archetypal work around loss and fire - Unusual conversations with the insurance adjuster - The inspiring resilience of human beings in the face of adversity - How to effectively support others in a crisis (and not make things worse) - Unexpected acts of kindness - The strength of community in a crisis - Final thoughts For more interviews, audio, and articles check out: www.guruviking.com Find out more about Michaela and the workshops we teach at: www.michaelaboehm.com https://soundcloud.com/michaela-boehm Find out more about The Non-Linear Movement Method at: www.thenonlinearmovementmethod.com

Ep6 Lorin Roche PhD - Guru Viking Interviews Dec 21, 2017

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In this episode I'm joined once again by meditation teacher and Sanskrit translator Lorin Roche PhD. Our last interview was so popular, with so many requests for more, that Lorin agreed to another one! In this conversation we dive into Lorin's unique approach to meditation, look at why the way meditation is usually taught is actually damaging for most people, why monasteries psychologically castrate monks and what that means for their non-monastic students, and how to meditate in a way that embraces all of your life energies. Topics include: -Lorin’s unusual definition of meditation -The origins of meditation -What we can learn from the lives of the saints -The spiritual geniuses and daredevil monastics of the past -The male pioneers of meditation and their legacy -Enlightenment or bust -Adapting meditation to your needs and lifestyle -The sexual side of monasticism -Celibacy for the 1% -Living the life of all of your chakras -The high art of living all of your life energies -Sexuality as part of spirituality -Lorin’s radical meditation pursuits -Lorin’s early training and first spiritual breakthroughs -Lorin’s mission to serve meditators -What happens when a person starts to meditate? -Why meditation gets credit for something people should get credit for -Why most meditation techniques are a bad fit -Why the deep effect of certain techniques don’t show themselves for a couple of years -Why many people’s meditation starts beneficially but becomes more harmful as time goes on -Meditation with a monastic-oriented control structure -Why long term meditation can de-vitalise people -Ayahuasca as the party drug of pious Californian yoga teachers -What interviewing thousands of successful meditators taught Lorin about what works -What’s unique about Lorin’s approach to meditation -Common misunderstandings about meditation -Why a lot of people approach meditation like they’re sitting in church -The human mind’s activity as an expression of the universal life force -The genius of the human body -Psychologically castrating monks for administrative reasons in the monastery -Meditation should be a place people should go to be free, not disciplined -Actively encouraging wildness and cherishing of life in meditation -The parallels between meditation and eating disorders in teenage girls -The shadowy allure of discipline -Lorin’s best advice to a new meditator -Meditation as a way of being in love with life Check out Lorin's first interview here: https://soundcloud.com/guruviking/guru-viking-interviews-ep1-lorin-roche-phd To find out more about Lorin visit: lorinroche.com radiancesutras.com meditationtt.com Visit www.guruviking.com for more interviews, audios, and articles. Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

Ep5 Traver Boehm - Guru Viking Interviews Oct 30, 2017

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Today I’m talking with Traver Boehm. I first met Traver on his fortieth birthday in the aftermath of having lost his marriage and business in a single day. Devastated by these events he had embarked on a Year to Live, inspired by the Stephen Levine book of the same title, whereby he lived an entire year as if it was his last. This conversation is very touching and insightful - we discuss the realities of divorce, find out how Traver found meaning and put his life back together through service, what it means to return to dating and relationships and to be guided by the gut instinct - something Traver calls his 'God of the Gut' - and how he advises the divorced men he works with today. We also learn about Traver’s Year to Live where he worked with the elderly dying in the public hospice system, spent a month in a pitch black meditation cell in Guatemala, and more. He’s a very inspiring and heartfelt man and I think you’ll really enjoy this one. Topics include: - The single day in which Traver lost his marriage and business in the aftermath of a miscarriage - Some of the bad advice Traver received - How profound loss led to his Year To Live experiment - The reality of divorce for men - Traver’s hellish divorce experience - Why divorce robs people of meaning and direction - How men avoid feeling the pain of divorce and what it costs them - Traver’s work with divorced men - Straight talk about divorce - The surprising ways in which divorce has radically changed the way - - Traver dates and does relationship - Traver’s ‘God of the Gut’ and being guided by gut instinct and bodily wisdom - How Traver drowned out his painful feelings during his marriage with substances and overwork - Traver’s daily practice that accesses his gut instinct - Planning his Year To Live and the meaning of the experiment - Asking ’What would I really do if this was the last year of my life?’ - Traver’s time volunteering in hospices in New Mexico - Lessons learned from the dying - The little things that afford a dying person dignity and comfort - Why every person should volunteer to care for the elderly - How to volunteer for hospice work in the USA - Traver’s month meditation retreat in a pitch black cell in Guatemala - Gambling with his sanity in the pitch blackness - Where to find Traver’s blog and writings Find out more about Traver here: - http://www.traverboehm.com - http://www.traverboehm.com/year-live-project-blindfolds-maserati/ Visit www.guruviking.com for more interviews, audios, and articles. Music 'Deva Dasi' by Steve James

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