Western Baul Podcast Series

The Direct Path: Taking the Backwards Step (Peter Cohen)

The direct path is a refined articulation of the principles of nondualism, and the backward step is the actual practice of it. The mind feasts on complication. One of the features of the direct path is its simplicity. It does not involve lineage, guru, or ritual. We are always looking at things, but what are we looking out of? When we look at what we are looking out of, we are taking a step back into ourselves. Awareness is empty of anything solid so when we take a backward step we are no longer relating as one thing to another thing, from the duality of subject and object. When we step back into ourselves as far as we can go, all that’s left is being. What is looking out of our eyes now is essentially no different than what was looking out of our eyes when we were kids. It’s the same being that looks out of everyone’s eyes, including every saint and sage. That’s what is meant when we consider that everything is one. If we investigate where “me” is, we will not find it. We will just find layer after layer of qualities if we peel everything away like an onion. Our thoughts, feelings, and sensations would not be experienceable without awareness. The only thing that is aware of being aware is awareness itself. “I” is the name that what knows itself gives to itself. The “I” doesn’t know what it is, but it knows that it is. If we can be silent enough to be aware of awareness itself, that is a backward step. Welcoming the problematic parts of ourselves into the light of awareness, awareness will do the work. Nondual teaching is the crown jewel of Buddhism and all esoteric traditions. Awareness is the background of thoughts and personality. Everyone will find the help they need if they have earnestness. Peter Cohen was the drummer for the Western Baul rock band, Liars, Gods, and Beggars from 1988 to 1994. He has followed the nondual path and rhythm of life in Alaska and Idaho as a nurse and a musician.

The Value and Necessity of Suffering (Red Hawk)

We need help to continue to grow. The name of a God-realized being invokes the Divine. We can make efforts to return to the present, to ground the attention. Attention is crucial in learning to use suffering so that suffering does not use us up and can become food for growth. Two kinds of attention are possible for a human being: mechanical attention which is an unconscious survival mechanism, and a second or conscious attention which makes self-observation possible and is different than the mind observing the mind. Yogi Ramsuratkumar said that if we are born, we suffer. The Four Noble Truths of Buddha are considered: there is suffering, a cause of suffering, an end to suffering, and a path to that end. Why must there be suffering? What is the difference between suffering and pain? The mind makes no distinction between types of pain. There is only one place the mind can go to escape pain—into the imagination. All humanity is trying to escape mechanical suffering; conscious suffering involves not trying to get rid of it. The desire to change or avoid “what is” leads to constant, repetitive suffering. When we have the courage to stay with it, with discrimination, friction between “yes and no” produces heat which allows the heart to catch fire as mercy, as compassion. “May the heat of suffering become the fire of love.” All human suffering can be seen as the result of identification, clinging to a false sense of self. Mechanical suffering becomes universal suffering with the sacrifice of identification. There is a path to the end of mechanical suffering as a deeper sense of conscience develops, which takes in everything—suffering and joy—and when we do not seek one and avoid the other. Red Hawk is an acclaimed poet and the author of 12 books, including Self Observation, Self Remembering, The Way of the Wise Woman, and Return to the Mother.

One’s Face on the Path (Jocelyn del Rio)

The expressions of certain faces in spiritual paintings or sculpture and of genuine spiritual teachers in photographs or in-person can communicate our own basic goodness or organic innocence when we are in an open state. Something in us responds to a face that dances to the rhythm of creation, that exudes the peace of surrender. We are hard-wired for connection, which gets made through the face—for example, by babies. As we get older, layers of defense show up in a mask, as tenson in the face. We use our faces to create an identity. There’s a lot of information in how we decorate the face to make it something it isn’t. Are we aware when we are looking for recognition through our faces? Grief or shock or intense need can create cracks in the mask that let the light of reality in. When we start to let in and accept what we have previously denied, we may find that we do not know who we are anymore. It’s not popular to look how we feel, to be honest about it. Breathing starts and finishes in the face, which is where we can start to connect to the body. We can learn to face the howling wind and the sun, which are both gifts. When our desires manifest, we can accept, and when they do not manifest, we can accept. Our face was not our face when we were born; it was the face of heredity. Our face can start to manifest the original terrain that exists before the mask. We are not the face, but something comes through the face. When the clouds part the sun is always there. What faces do we have to lose for our original face to appear? The experience of magic, mystery, and miracle, which can occur through surrender to the Carver’s hand, only comes through losing face. Jocelyn is a spiritual student, artist, therapist, mother, gardener, and builder whose main interest in life is growth, development, evolution, observing in awe and participating in the cyclic nature of life.

What If? An Exploration of Transformational Possibility (Regina Sara Ryan)

All failure to live life richly and fully is based on the feeling that love is scarce. We may sense at times that love is the ground of all being. What if we lived on the basis of this truth? There is so much music and poetry that reflects on our inner longing. Those in attendance at the live talk were asked to write down sayings, mantras, or mahavakyas (short sentences of wisdom teachings) that came to mind. They were then asked what they thought would happen if they realized the truth of what they had written. “What if?” can be a “pea under the mattress” that can orient us in our spiritual lives. Great statements are often the result of practice and not something we just hear and fully understand. We can practice with sayings such as “Love your neighbor as yourself” and allow them to be absorbed into our skin. It can be a source of discouragement to take on unrealistic expectations. We can be inspired by great beings, but to take the way their lives showed up and try to translate them into our own can be less worthwhile than lowering our expectations and approaching our lives honestly. What if the very state we are in is exactly where we need to be? Not expressing the “just this” of our current state could be detrimental to our spiritual life. The moment we recognize we’ve lost our attention, we wake up for a moment. What if, instead of digging many shallow channels of practice, we dig one deeply? We don’t generally consider that everyone we meet is going to die. The tenderness of being opened by love can sensitize us to the suffering of others, to heartbreak that we do not want to stop. There are many ways we can keep ourselves attuned to the reality of love as the ground of all being and not scarce. Regina is the editor of Hohm Press, a workshop leader, retreat guide, and author of The Woman Awake, Igniting the Inner Life, Praying Dangerously, Only God, and other books.

Cultivating Transparency: Realizing the Emptiness of the Stories You Tell Yourself and Others (Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick)

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. Rob and Stuart run Tayu Meditation Center and founded Many Rivers Books and Tea in Sebastopol, CA. They invite spiritual teachers, practitioners, and authors to articulate their stories on The Mystical Positivist podcast.

It’s Not the Fall That Kills You: A Talk on Groundlessness (Juanita Violini)

We are always already living in groundlessness. This can be scary since we tend to approach life in a fear-based way, but we can be groundless and focused on our delight. Groundlessness is not linear; it has no direction as we are always moving and changing. Children trust that their needs will be met until we give them a different message. We get into the habit of identifying, and holding onto any identity keeps us stuck. A distinction can be made between figuring ourselves out, which involves digging into the past to understand and fix ourselves, and knowing ourselves, which only takes place in the present. We can’t know ourselves if we are tense. We can get to know ourselves when we sit with and accept parts of us that are out of integrity, which allows something to shift. Being grounded takes place in a different place than groundlessness. All of our reactions come from fear of losing something. Every time we make an assumption or comparison, hold a grudge, identify with feelings, try to prove or control something, we “hit the ground.” It's easy to forget that life is magical because we keep hitting the ground. If we get to the point of knowing we have nothing to lose, we can stay in groundlessness. When we rest in the moment, then things show up that we could never imagine. What is life but an unending stream of surprises? Everything changes, which can be good news if we stop grasping. It’s common sense to have a plan. We can experiment in life, take a step forward and see if we should take another step or change direction. To be awake is to live in groundlessness. Trusting ourselves is pivotal because without this it’s difficult to trust life. It’s up to each of us to come to our own conclusions, to come to the truth for ourselves. Juanita is an artist and writer/producer of interactive mystery entertainment who has been a student of the spiritual path for over 35 years.

”What’s Your Pleasure? Poetry and Perspectives on Pleasure on the Spiritual Path” (Karen Sprute-Francovich)

In the Yoga tradition, Shiva represents unitary consciousness and Shakti represents the many forms that God takes in the world. One such form is pleasure. Kamala is a goddess and manifestation of Shakti, whose power is known as Shri, the fullness of pleasure. The word pleasure is boxed in by meanings we’ve given it in English, but Shri is a Sanskrit word for something deeper, a primordial vibration that gives rise to the creation of the world and is always present. We’re always tuned in to some frequency, which is a matter of habit and where our attention goes. There are loud radio stations that we tend to tune into, such as the news, and that we call reality. We can learn to choose other frequencies and inevitably can be brought to see God in all things. A practice of consistently tuning in to Shri involves undoing attachment to some strong frequencies. There is a core belief of lack in the U.S.—that we are not enough and there is not enough—that keeps us from Shri. Serving the frequency of Shri can be a life purpose or a golden path as it is called in Chinese medicine. Tuning in to Shri will be expressed in a multitude of ways in the world. Desire for pleasure can lead us to frequencies that feed on us. Nothing is opposed to spiritual freedom; everything is a portal or a trap. We can become more skillful at tuning in to the frequency of a desire rather than being fixated on the object of desire so that we want more and more of it. We miss Shri by not savoring experience or by thinking it’s wrong to have pleasure. There is discussion of the way women have learned not to fully allow pleasure. Shri is present in heartbreak and sorrow. We can work hard in the flow of Shri. The most repressed emotion is joy. Karen is a teacher of all aspects of Yoga—the physical and philosophical, the scientific and the mystical. She is a long-time student of Lee Lozowick.

Women Talking: Power, Dominance, and Agency in the Age of ‘Me Too’ and on the Path (Elise Erro)

The plot of the movie “Women Talking,” which was nominated for Best Picture in 2023 and won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, is summarized and its relevance considered in our world and on the path. In the movie, after women begin to speak about their experience with abuse in an isolated religious colony, others tell their own stories at meetings that are scribed by a male who is trusted in the community. Part of spiritual work today involves relating with issues of power and dominance—even when there is an intention to serve a higher purpose. There is discussion of many facets of gender dynamics, rooted in the ways we are raised and socialized that have influenced our view of ourselves and our behaviors. These include the way boys and girls are taught to deal with feelings, the need to bring wounded parts of ourselves to light without shame, the tendency to give over our power to an authority, the importance of thinking for ourselves, male aggression, complicity in unhealthy relationships, the untalked about subject of women abusing men, etc. Women talking to women and men talking to men who are open to doing this can provide support for work with such issues. We may not understand each other, but we can learn to listen with an open heart. The value for women of taking a stand for being treated with respect is noted. Gender equity and reconciliation work is considered. The principle of opening to the feminine is an essential aspect of the spiritual path. If men do not do this, they are cut off from part of themselves. The topic of gender change and young people is discussed. We can’t make global changes, but we can change the way we relate with those of a different gender. Elise Erro (e.e.) has been committed to a life of engaging spiritual principles and service through theater, support for the dying, and bringing enjoyment to others as a chocolatier.

Removing Obstacles to Our Heart’s Desire (Lalitha)

What is our heart’s desire and what are we willing to pay for it? What coin do we have available as payment? Is our heart’s desire our top priority? We can identify our worldly heart’s desire, but we can go deeper into what is possible for us. Obstacles have a lot to do with identity. Are we willing to have our identities shaken up? It can be scary to give ourselves to our heart’s desire since it will change us. We are not comfortable with the unknown. It is possible to re-language our heart’s desire as longing for that which we do not yet know. If we are OK with the unknown, we will be changed forever. There are many words used to point to the longing of the heart. The currency of the heart is adoration. We spend our currency with distraction. A distracted lifestyle is not compatible with the heart’s desire. We can intuit and pay for our heart’s desire with our greed, lust, anger, etc. We can hide behind a spiritual identity. Everything should be examined if we are serious about removing obstacles. We cannot pay with the will of ordinary mind, which is different than the will of the heart, when it comes to the heart’s desire. To produce the heart’s desire, paradox is one of our biggest friends. We can’t let things fall away if we’re repackaging as fast as we can with buffers that we use to hold identity together. A spiritual school can give us tools to create the stamina needed when things fall away. The trick is to keep going, to take another step on the path. Fearlessness, which is to be awestruck, fuels adoration. We don’t want our last breath to be, “I wonder if it’s time to think about my heart’s desire.” Lalitha is a spiritual teacher residing in British Columbia, Canada, who has been a disciple in the Western Baul tradition since 1982. Her teaching style is rooted in the activities and responsibilities of ordinary life. Her books include Waking to Ordinary Life and Cultivating Spiritual Maturity.

Losing the Taste for Drama (Bandhu Dunham)

There are dramatic things that happen to us in life, but we have some control over how we respond. Seeing drama for what it is—something self-imposed that we often create for ourselves—is a big step in loosening its grip. What we call fate may be something that came from our unconscious. Through reverse engineering, we can inquire if there was something that we did to set up drama. It’s all in the set-up and we set things up that we will experience later. Passive techniques for setting up drama include filters through which we see reality and justify emotional reactions to situations that are what they are. These show up in “listening for” that which we are primed to hear, interpretations that we make, and judgments, comparisons, and expectations. Active ways of creating drama include entanglement, contempt, procrastination, denial, and failure to create boundaries. The familiarity of drama is strangely a source of comfort. Setting and respecting boundaries is really an internal process. We can pay attention to what our favorite role is on the drama triangle: victim, persecutor, or rescuer. If harmony is our higher aim, we can see what is wanted and needed and take responsibility for our role to get off the drama triangle. There are two forms of trust: earned trust when we don’t trust until someone proves to be trustworthy, and generous trust when we start by trusting others with discrimination. There is more power in generous trust. Respecting our internal boundaries is the foundation to be able to trust in a generous way. We will be hurt at times, but we can recover. Drama can be seen as the opposite of dignity. With dignity, we can feel the true value of elegance and aesthetics in behavior. If we internally slow down and listen, the universe can tell us what needs to be done. Bandhu is author of Creative Life and an internationally recognized glass artist and teacher.