Western Baul Podcast Series

Following a Path with Heart—Reflections on Castaneda’s Literature (Karl Krumins)

Castaneda’s stories about his experiences with his teacher, Don Juan, illustrate spiritual principles through use of specific language that we can consider in self-study: tonal and nagual (which comprise the totality of ourselves), seeing, death as an advisor, losing self-importance, stalking, stopping internal dialogue, dreaming, assemblage point, warriorship, omens, man of knowledge, etc. Karl Krumins has been a spiritual practitioner for forty years. He lived in India for seven years and has a passion for considering the essential similarities of spiritual traditions.

Traps on the Path (Karuna Fedorschak)

It is inevitable that we bring our conditioning, beliefs, and life experience to the path, but inner work involves an examination of the way that we relate to spiritual teaching through the filters of mind. This talk covers six basic traps outlined by Lee Lozowick: unrealistic expectations, a tendency to idolize, mistaking intellectual understanding for bodily knowledge, the seduction of peak experience, thinking one is a special case, and needing approval rather than trusting one’s work. Karuna Fedorschak was a singer and musician in the Western Baul bands LGB and Small Change and author of Parenting: A Sacred Task.

Confirmation Bias (Bandhu Scott Dunham)

Working with confirmation bias, the tendency to look for validation of our worldview, involves examining assumptions we make about ourselves and reality and the inclination to seek, interpret, and remember information which confirms our particular perspective. But the spiritual traditions point to an underlying Organic Innocence or openness to life and the possibilities that lie beyond our own biases. We can learn to be vigilant and courageous and to step outside the limits we have created to have a deeper experience of the world. Bandhu Dunham is author of Creative Life and an internationally recognized glass artist and teacher.

The Possibility of Inner Freedom through Recognizing Ego Insubstantiality (Vijaya Fedorschak)

Survival is the first concept that a child is impressed with when he or she is born. This talk considers the formation of ego, principles of ego functioning and the search to substantiate itself, practical work with our condition of assumed separation, and the spiritual freedom pointed to in the traditions. Only the universal process that can resolve the human dilemma; yet, something is required of us to open to a deeper truth. VJ is author of Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

Tantra and Ordinary Life (Angelon Young)

Tantra works with both duality and non-duality, with both the immanent and transcendent aspects of the Divine. It involves gathering and focusing one’s energy toward a specific aim. The whole purpose of tantra is to be in relationship with Truth. In this talk, Angelon Young discusses principles of tantra, one of the most misunderstood teachings of the East. Angelon is a workshop leader, editor, and author of As It Is, Under the Punnai Tree, The Baul Tradition, Caught in the Beloved’s Petticoats, On the Road to Enlightened Duality (e-book), and Krishna’s Heretic Lovers, a novel.

Spiritual Authority (Regina Sara Ryan)

“What Is Spiritual Authority? How to Recognize and Use It.” While taking responsibility for our lives is a necessary part of the spiritual process, there is also a need for help to realize the presence of the divine and who we are beyond our identifications. In this talk, Regina Sara Ryan considers the question of our own trustworthiness and the trustworthiness of spiritual authority on the path. Regina is the author of Igniting the Inner Life, The Woman Awake, Praying Dangerously, and Only God. She is a workshop leader, editor of Hohm Press, and a former Catholic nun.