Western Baul Podcast Series

Encouraging Boredom in Our Lives (Matthew Files)

Culturally, boredom has a negative connotation as something that we should not experience. Being bored is an uncomfortable place to be in, which we usually try to remedy. But this misses the point since boredom can be useful and even necessary on the path. Chogyam Trungpa notes that Westerners tend to be fascinated by the aesthetic appreciation of the simplicity or rigidity of rituals such as the Japanese tea ceremony or zazen. He says the point of vipassana meditation is to get bored. Trungpa makes a distinction between hot boredom, which is agitating and the first kind of boredom we encounter, and cool boredom, which is refreshing in that we do not have to do or expect anything. It is difficult to get to cool boredom without going through hot boredom which we look to alleviate through excitement and entertainment. Boredom shows up when there are gaps in our consciousness without stimulation or a way to satisfy ourselves. This happens in daily life as well as in meditation. Interesting times distract us from spiritual practice and paying attention to ourselves. We can encourage the space for boredom to arise rather than being caught in the current distractions of the world including constant use of cell phones. Boredom arises if thoughts and activities are not motivated by attainment or credentials. We entertain ourselves all day with subconscious chatter and are uncomfortable with silent gaps in our conversations with ourselves. We can consider that life may have no inherent meaning and that we give meaning to things in order to entertain ourselves. Remedying moods and emotions doesn’t ultimately work, which can leave us no choice but to be with things as they are. When we give up hopelessness, hope goes with it. Matthew Files facilitates groups that support people to look deeper into their process, formulate their own questions, and become responsible for their choices.

The Essence of Creation Is Transformation (Nachama Greenwald)

Transformation is essential for the evolution and thriving of creation, which includes human beings. The process brings greater clarity, healing, and resilience into our lives and creative growth into the world. We see cycles of birth, death, and rebirth occurring in nature and on a global and personal level. Transformation is alchemical; it involves a shake-up of our usual routine and a plunge into groundlessness. Strong medicine is provided by life itself. There is poignant bittersweet beauty in impermanence and change, in loss and death, as well as in new growth. A distinction can be made between horizontal translation, a lateral shift in which our fundamental perception of the world remains the same, and vertical transformation where there is a radical shift in it. Rebirth follows death, always. Parts of ourselves that we’ve exiled can be transformed from shadow to light and become gifts we offer to the world. The caterpillar has to die to become a butterfly, but it resists the change. Personal examples of dying to identification are described. We are all hard-wired for survival at the level of ego, but at the level of soul we long to surrender to the holy process and love more profoundly, turn toward what is, and become more fully ourselves. Liminality means dissolution and refers to the betwixt and between place between death and rebirth when the way things have been is dying but what’s waiting to be born has not yet emerged. It’s a place of receptivity which is necessary for us to pay attention to ourselves in a deeper way. When external doors close, inner doors can open. Transformative moments are spontaneous when we’re transported into a place of awe and we experience our unitive nature. Nachama Greenwald is a physical therapist, editor, and musician who for seventeen years was a member of the Shri blues band which performed Western Baul music.

Cultivating Virtue: The Stoic Traits of Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, and Justice (Bandhu Dunham)

Stoicism is a philosophy founded by Zeno around the fourth century BC. It was important in Greece and Rome and culminated at the time Marcus Aurelius was emperor. The primary purpose of philosophy is to reveal our shortcomings so we can overcome them. Stoicism is about living in harmony with the universe. There are four cardinal virtues that Stoics cultivate: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Pithy quotes that are useful to consider are discussed. Knowing the difference between what we can and can’t control is key to figuring out what to put our attention on and how to adapt. We find strength in realizing we have power over our minds, not outside events. Viktor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor who was aligned with Stoic philosophy, said that decisions not conditions determine what a man is. We may not be able to choose the conditions that come to us in life, but we can choose how to relate to those conditions. Wealth is to desire what we have; poverty is to wish for what we don’t have. Stoics maintain that our being is contained in an inner citadel that we create with Stoic virtue. We are invincible and cannot be defeated if we maintain our character and principles. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, was written for himself as a diary. There is a thread of accepting reality as it is when we are self-contained. Stoicism involves not being swept away by emotions and not being in denial of them. Happiness depends on the quality of our thoughts. We can see obstacles as directing us to shift our perspective and move forward. The trials we face introduce us to our strengths. Rivers are easiest to cross at their source. Once neuropathways are established, it’s much harder to break a habit. Stoic virtues are universal and offer a way into any spiritual practice. Bandhu Dunham is the author of Creative Life and an internationally recognized glass artist and teacher.

Storytelling Is a Core Competency of Spiritual Practice (Rick Lewis)

Rick Lewis talks about the process that led him from being a performer and corporate events speaker to hosting an online writing program. Most everyone fashions a life that is obedient to our deepest fears. We carry stories about who we are and what is possible throughout life, having made unconscious decisions in childhood that we will not engage in activities that could put us in touch with feelings such as shame or rejection. The highest expression of spirituality on some paths is to serve what is wanted and needed in the moment, but we cannot do this if constrained by stories we hold as part of our identity. Our stories remain hidden before we challenge them with action. Until then, we can only serve in the small ways that show up within our comfort zones. At a hinayana (solo path) level, telling stories about times when we have been reactive or unconscious is a way to study patterns so we can map out the territory and have an edge to act differently in the future. At a mahayana (path of service) level, sharing stories is a way to learn and develop connection and compassion. Human beings are wired to think in stories. We are designed to learn from problems and the biggest and most worthwhile problem we can take on is the spiritual path, which is about how to counter the story of separation. Telling our stories can nurture relationship and connection with ourselves and others. We can self-observe when various I’s take over during storytelling. In a spiritual community, the degree of vulnerability and authenticity is set by the teacher. Most of humanity has a capacity and hunger for authenticity. The lack of acceptance of parts of ourselves that we project onto others can hold us back from being authentic. Rick Lewis is a national speaker and author of 7 Rules You Were Born to Break, The Perfection of Nothing, You Have the Right to Remain Silent, and other books.

Yearning, Longing, and Desire for Oneness (Debbie Hogeland-Celebucki)

Is the source of yearning for connection on a human level the same as longing for God on a spiritual level? The urge for connection is pre-thought, pre-psychological. It begins at birth when we first experience separateness. Practice is about patterning the nervous system to let go. When we can sit in the center of the storm of our feelings, we can be with suffering and with "what is" in a way that does not seek fulfillment. To come to acceptance doesn't always happen gracefully. To go fully into yearning—a process that happens over and over—leads to shattering, which is a doorway to reassembling without the same identification. We may yearn for love and project that we’ll be satisfied on a human level and find that we long for love on a much deeper level. Acceptance of every part of us, and of the masculine and feminine, brings us to the next level. Suffering doesn’t end when we accept suffering, but something shifts. Longing and suffering co-exist. It feels different when we are able to ride the waves of heartbreak. The ability to hold personal and universal suffering is needed in the world. Hate is projection of suffering onto others; realizing this helps us to be compassionate. Clinging is part of life and never disappears, but our work with it can be incorporated into practice. We need a strong matrix to hold longing. In each incarnation we may have one destiny to fulfill, which involves use of the body. We don’t read a book to experience the wine; we empty our cup and drink the wine. Longing is satisfied in the longing itself. Letting go of expectations opens us to a commitment to love. We can work with desire and identity, letting go again and again. To honor longing is not a casual choice. Debbie Hogeland-Celebucki is an advocate for the wisdom of community and conscious parenting and the author of Widening the Circle: Inspiration and Guidance for Community Living.

Can’t We Just Have Fun? Seriousness, Humor, and Foolishness on the Path (Michelle Meaux)

The need for humor and for incorporating something of the clown’s state of mind into spiritual practice is discussed. Bernie Glassman was a Zen master who invited Moshe Cohen, a clown performer, to help him learn tools to work with students who were taking themselves too seriously. The clown doesn’t know what will happen when he or she enters the stage. His improvisation is about encounters with everything he comes in contact with--inside and outside. The clown lives in the present and has no history, no aim to say anything universal. He shows us his weaknesses and passions and mirrors our foibles, but not so that we see who we are. He is just being himself and so expresses our humanness in a non-judgmental way, which is why we like him. The clown’s empathetic nature innocently addresses others’ ailments. He is without self-importance, a nothing who is interested in everything, who inspires optimism and faces problems without being discouraged. He moves diagonally and plays with problems until they solve themselves. By not being ashamed to be foolish, to look at different sides of himself as he is, the clown explores contradictions that we don’t see in ourselves, which is funny. Self-obsession makes us heavy when we take our minds so seriously. Humor can feed practice and lighten our spirit and the path. The true art of humor is always humor at oneself. We all have a funny part of ourselves which has often been repressed in childhood. Humor comes from creativity, not the logical mind. All we have to practice with is ourselves; our sensations are the path to intuition. We can invite lightness into our awareness by taking a breath. Michelle Meaux is one of the managers of La Ferme de Jutreau, an ashram in France. She provides translation for spiritual books, teachers, and workshops focused on personal and spiritual growth.

Beginner's Mind: The "Goal" of Spiritual Practice (Vijaya Fedorschak)

Beginner’s mind is a Zen Buddhist principle of seeing everything as new, as it is, without preconception or expectation. It can be considered the simplest state but also the most advanced. Mind identifies, creates the illusion of separation, and focuses on survival of the individual body and psychological structure. But we can open to “big mind,” our true nature which has limited itself, as occurs in deep sleep and sometimes in meditation. We all experience freedom from the prison of ordinary mind at times in life—as the sun peeks through the clouds—because it is our nature. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind is a book by Suzuki Roshi, who referred to beginner’s mind as the “goal” of practice. Quotes from the book and from the American teacher Lee Lozowick are discussed. A matrix of practice is needed to hold beginner’s mind, which is not something we can bring about. We can see that everything is transient, but we often don't see that we’re always changing as well and that there is no solid self. Calmness arises as we give images in our mind a large spacious meadow, allowing them to come and go, which requires special effort. If we do not indulge our tendencies, ego will show us itself at deeper levels. Practice without gaining idea does not mean to have no purpose. Just to do something can be our purpose. If we have spiritual pride in our understanding, we will lose the characteristic of beginner’s mind, which cuts though pride in the knowledge that everything comes from big mind. Vajra pride is unshakable self-esteem rooted in recognition of our true nature, which everyone has. True creativity comes from nothing. The greatest moments of creativity come when we forget what we know. Life continues to put us in new situations where we are beginners again. VJ Fedorschak is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and the author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

Divine Alchemy: What Is It? (Mary Angelon Young)

The Latin phrase “magnum opus” means great work. Our early ancestors had an intuitive relationship with nature and received knowledge directly from it. In alchemy, great work refers to awakening consciousness, the primary metaphor being the transformation of lead into gold. It is about transformation, working with the primordial material we are given in incarnation, which is consciousness. But that is not separate from the body, which goes through transformation also. Tarot can lead us on a journey deeper into ourselves. Alchemical language is symbolic and is called twilight language in the eastern tradition. This talk focuses on alchemy in the western tradition, and twelve stages of alchemy are discussed as well as CG Jung’s four stages. Alchemical process is not linear or a one-time deal; it cycles as other parts of ourselves come forward. There is no top end, no settled final state. Everything dissolves, then comes back together. At the next level we’re a total beginner again. Grief is profoundly alchemical. What we are working for is already here, but we have to work to discover it. Alchemy cannot happen without the feeling heart. Any time we’re working with emptiness, the unknown, it’s scary for ego, for more superficial aspects of our being. Emptiness is a great mystery. Disappointment is the beginning of the spiritual path. There’s gold in the shadow. We can bring awareness to our process that begins to free up knots that don’t allow the free flow of graceful energy. The sage is always turning us to the sage within. So much of alchemy is about letting go. Mary Angelon Young is a workshop leader with a background in Jungian psychology, an editor and author of As It Is, Under the Punnai Tree, The Baul Tradition, Caught in the Beloved’s Petticoats, Enlightened Duality (with Lee Lozowick), The Art of Contemplation, and other books.

Gurdjieff’s Aphorisms 2: Crystallizing the Permanent I AM (Carl Grimsman)

The aim of self-transformation from a divided mechanical self to a unified self that is free and has will is the subject of this second talk on Gurdjieff’s aphorisms. Several quotes including some which were posted in the study house where the mystic worked with students at the Prieure near Paris in the 1920s are discussed. Crystallization occurs when substances coalesce and incrementally form a durable structure or soul, as in the crystallization of rock. If anything in a man is able to resist external influences and identification with worldly matters, then this soul may be able to resist the death of the body. Nature only gives the possibility of a soul, which can only be acquired through work. One of the best means to arouse the wish to work on self is to realize that we may die at any moment, but first we must learn to keep this in mind. Super efforts should be directed by our aim. Conscience and purity of aim can guide us in the right direction. A fire in us will expire if not fed. Surrender is one path; developing will is another. All energy spent on conscious work builds spiritual capital. It is an investment that is lost forever if spent mechanically. Being, the result of unification, allows Doing, which is conscious purposeful action that differs from automatic behavior. All true Doing is alignment with the Will of God and is service to humanity and creation. If we wish, we can. Wish is the most powerful thing in the world. It is something to contemplate, sit with, internalize, and make our own. To remember is to put oneself back together. I do not remember myself; I AM, my true self, remembers. Carl Grimsman was born into the Gurdjieff Work environment. He attended a children’s group and later worked with Mrs. March, a direct student of Gurdjieff at East Hill Farm in New York. The first two books in his “Soul’s Traverse Series” are Sun Bridge and The Kindling.

Red Hot Sadhana: In the Fire of Love and Loss (Jessica Jenns)

This talk focuses on parts of the story and the learning written about in Red Hot Steel: Love Behind Bars, which involves love and loss with a man incarcerated in a maximum security prison. Sadhana is a Sanskrit word about our individual spiritual path that has the quality of going through fire. Grief is love that has slipped out of view. We live in self-imposed prisons and the path is about the way out by seeing the false nature of the prison. Prison is a place of loss, a hell realm of unrelenting suffering from which there is no escape other than what is done with one’s own mind. The environment creates necessity for some to find inner peace, refuge, sanity, and conscience. Prison is a place where the culture dumps its collective shadow. Three types of karma are discussed including inexorable karma that we have no choice but to go through. Loss shouldn’t surprise us since it is built into reality, but we don’t tend to live as if this is so. Loss and change need not detract us from living full out. When things do not turn out as we wish, we can stay in the flow of grace without regret, refusing to be bitter or a victim. Writing is a way to deal with disappointment. Everything is learning. Prison can teach humility and gratitude for simple things. When we experience pain, we can feel others’ pain. We start fresh every day; there’s always a bounty of abundance coming in some way. Beauty and suffering go together in the fullness of life. Caregivers can be more involved in others’ experience than their own. It’s a gift to have empathy, but there is also a need for boundaries, for empathy regulation with wisdom added to compassion. We only learn by going through fire, which is why there are no mistakes. We come to earth to learn our lessons, to evolve and grow in consciousness. Jessica Jenns is a writer, meditation teacher and coach. Red Hot Steel is her first book.