I hope you've had an enjoyable and productive week.
Kevin suggested we discuss traditional and non-traditional approaches to psycho-physical practices. Some interesting points of discussion. We seemed to agree that there is a time and place for traditional approaches, we also discussed the potential for new non-traditional approaches that may emerge from the current cultural confusion. Or at least, traditional approaches unburdened by tradition, reapplied.
This approach may be of interest to those who want to meditate without Buddhism or with it, do yoga without Vedanta, or combine a specific tradition which you operate in with other practices. Much of this is of course frowned upon, but why should it be?
It would be fair to say our perspectives are now distinctly Western and materialist (be careful with this term), and we have no shame in embracing it. We believe in its potential for positive outcomes.
We appreciate any comments or feedback you may have, as it helps us understand your interests and perspectives. Please feel free to leave a comment on any platform.
The intention is to build a community of active practitioners, no masters, no gurus, just people experimenting, logging data, collaborating, and providing feedback.
I’m always keen to hear if you even understand what it is we’re talking about - I showed this podcast to a friend recently and she told me “I think it sounds ok, but I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”
Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away in your assumptions.
Finally, I'm currently taking Kevin's course, which has been incredibly helpful. As someone who is tall and has to constantly bend down to be able to speak to the townspeople - which I never want to do anyway - I'm happy to say that it's improving now after many years.
Please find the links below. Tomorrow, I will be further exploring this theme with an essay in the Zen context, probably including some "heresy."
Until then, take care!
Cheerio
Youtube:
Spotify:
Show notes if you need them:
Chapters:
00:01 Introduction Clip
00:18 Introduction Osho on Master & Student
05:30 Start of podcast subject - tradition overview
20:00 Difference between exoteric and esoteric in terms of practices
28:44 Intermission 1
31:50 Part 2 - Catholic Esotericism and Eastern Orthobro esotericism
36:00 Is tradition really ever tradition anyway?
46:00 Differences in end goals and worldviews: why you need to consider the end goal when choosing a practice
51:00 Why we pick the things we like, we never pick the things we need
53:10 When choosing spiritualities, the danger of spiritual materialism
57:40 Intermission 2
01:01:00 Part 3 - Social dynamics and groups
01:03:30 Do you even need religion or spirituality or do you need a shrink? ‘Enlightened beings and naught, naught behaviour’ a shortcoming in religion?
01:13:40 Does religion or tradition work to change character? Id it effective?
01:16:00 Alex’s new unified theory of determination of outcome in practice for Westerners
01:18:00 Not all practices are equal - getting rid of all hangups of once
01:22:10 Which religious technology will you choose for which task
01:33:20 The master being replaced by tech in the West - a new paradigm for Western men…and women
01:30:00 A new grand aim for westerners?
01:32:35 An ultimate vision and an ultimate aim for the work…what’s the point?
01:46:00 Problems with this outlook:optimisation culture
01:56:50 Finish, end credits, end song
Hi, just checking:
When you say our current perspective is "materialist"- did you mean valuing the physical world, or the philosophy that there is some kind of dead, purely non conscious, non intelligent stuff which nobody can define?
If the latter, this sounds odd as this is a time when top level scientists around the world are rapidly abandoning the 19th century religion followed by such modern meditation teachers as Stephen Batchelor.
Interesting also, when there is a burgening worldwide movement to incorporate contemplative practices in christianity, Judaism and Islam, as well as the whole worldwide Nondualism movement which frequently is expressed entirely without any cultural trappings or borrowing from Vedantic or Buddhist teachings.
Here's my Amazon review of Craig Holliday's book, "The Yoga of Liberation." He is passionately an advocate of body awareness and body work (an avid skateboarder as a kid, he lives in the mountains of Colorado and frequently does hiking, rock climbing and is involved in jiu jitzu as well, and regularly recommends yoga, Qigong, kettlebell workouts, etc).
From an Irish background, he talks about himself as having been a "God guy" throughout his childhood, regularly goes to mass with his wife and daughter, and just as easily brings in Christian references along with Nondualism, Buddhist, yogic, Vedantic, and (especially) tantric practices.
This seems to be in line with what Mother and Sri Aurobindo taught in their integral yoga. Sri Aurobindo referred quite positively to Swami Vivekananda's suggestion nearly 125 years ago that the ideal state would be when all recognize the same one Divine Reality yet each individual has such a unique approach to That, that it could be considered that each person has their own unique religion.
Here's my review: https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Liberation-heart-based-spiritual-awakening-ebook/dp/B08N5MCR4V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QXDOBL26KMR0&keywords=yoga+of+liberation&qid=1678469525&sprefix=yoga+of+liberation%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-1#customerReviews (it's titled "Stunning Surprise")