Western Baul Podcast Series

”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.

Conscience and the Law of Identification (Red Hawk)

We need to verify the truth of something through direct experience. Every problem that we face as humans can be seen as the result of identification. There’s only ever one problem: the need to cease all identification. The only hope to loosen its hold is to awaken conscience. Conscience absorbs and subsumes identification. We come from greatness and we return from whence we came. The primary aim of self-observation is to reveal that in us which blocks our true nature, which is love. First there is identification, then imagination takes hold and we are lost to reality, the present, and love. A thought becomes thinking. The law of identification is that we become that which we identify with. Identification is unconscious, mechanical, habitual, and repetitious. It restricts consciousness, love, or God. To be conscious is to be non-identified. We believe we are the body, but this is 100% identification and imagination. We are presence and attention in a mammal body for a short time. Our fear of death is because we are identified with the body. Conscious attention slowly melts the hold identification has on attention. Conscience is our refuge, hope, and guide; it awakens through self-observation and self-remembering. The main function of a guru is to serve as external conscience. Conscience suffers, and its first suffering is shame. This can become remorse, which is transformational. Conscience always points us in the direction of love and helps essence to mature. Personality blocks conscience from manifesting. The aim of the Work is for conscience to be the active force instead of personality. Conscience always includes the other—it’s how God let’s us know what is needed and wanted from us in every situation. 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.

Working with Money as Spiritual Practice (Regina Sara Ryan, Tom Lennon, Vijaya Fedorschak)

An act of faith that the Divine will provide what we need is behind a vow of poverty taken in some religious orders. Generosity is primary in bodhisattva practice. By paying a little more, we sometimes end up supporting someone rather than getting the best deal. We can track ways we are stingy—with our love, power, graciousness, money. Consumer culture has a big part in creating our personalities and view of money. We can observe how we are with money without judgment. Are our lives more important than money or is money more important than our lives? Spiritual practice has to do with accepting what is as it is and being easeful with what we have. Money represents safety in the way that mother represents safety to a child. Grasping or holding on is the cause of suffering in Buddhism and a common way of relating to money. What are we really holding on to? Patterns of dealing with money get passed on through generations. What messages did we receive about money? Not wasting resources is a spiritual principle. Money is energy, and getting bigger in relationship with money can bring up aspects of ourselves that we are not in touch with. Money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. How can we spiritually profit through use of money? Supporting sources of our spiritual nourishment and something greater than ourselves can create a fluid and friendly relationship with money based on love and gratitude for the Divine. Tithing has been a principle in every tradition. We are trustees and not possessors of wealth. Intention comes first and money follows. We “pay for our work” with honesty and vulnerability, not just money. Money can show us ways that we undervalue ourselves. What we give to others, we give to ourselves. Regina is the editor of Hohm Press. Tom is a retired cultural resource consultant. VJ is organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series.

The Shadow on the Path (Vijaya Fedorschak)

The shadow is a concept first advanced by Carl Jung to describe those parts of ourselves that we reject and repress. Everyone has a shadow. If we have some sense of what it is, we can work with it; if we don’t, it can run our lives in unseen ways. The failure to work with the shadow is at the root of many interpersonal and organizational problems, and on a mass scale it has a lot to do with the tragedy we see in the world today. Shadow behaviors are incongruent with religious and spiritual ideals, but psychological truth is powerful and can trump beliefs and better intentions. Forces that contribute to the development of the shadow are considered. There is discussion of Mahler’s research on the psychological birth of the child in the process of separation-individuation and Ainsworth’s study of early attachment issues. Repetition compulsion is the urge to recreate and overcome childhood hurts. We unconsciously avoid the shadow to keep painful feelings from awareness, but it shows up in relationship to others. Ways that we contact the shadow are considered. The shadow also contains positive aspects of ourselves and abilities we have disowned. Shadow issues that have manifested in abuse, misuse of power, and lack of responsibility in mainstream religions and spiritual communities based in Eastern traditions are referenced. Spiritual bypassing is the tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to avoid facing unresolved emotional issues or psychological wounds. We can use spiritual teaching to discount, judge, and interpret rather than open to our experience. The shadow can be transformed by relating to it over time. When we do shadow work, clarity arises and we offer something to the world. The “cure of the shadow” is discussed. We repress our basic goodness. VJ is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

My Last Bully Is Me (Rick Lewis)

We are a particular kind of machine that protects itself at all costs. There’s no chance of escaping the machine; it’s what we have to work with. The only way to really work with the machine is to completely leave it alone and stop trying to change it. Liberation isn’t liberation into anything else—it’s liberation from identification. We might not remember a lot of the bullying we experienced, which may have left us with shame. We take over the bullying process from imprints we get as children and can spend a huge amount of time and energy trying to prove that we deserve to exist. We bring this with us to the spiritual path. Feeling the entire construct of self-bullying in the body can show us that we are doing this to ourselves. There is no “me” or ego sense other than the pattern of tension we perpetuate in our bodies. To fully get in touch with this can dissolve and release it. The inner bully goes easy on us when there should be more discipline and is hard on us when it should lighten up. To be a friend to ourselves is to challenge the ways we keep ourselves comfortable and to comfort ourselves when we habitually beat ourselves up. We can draw on microdoses of Truth to interrupt the process of self-bullying and bring ourselves back to the reference point that there is literally no “me.” The habit of fixating on the idea that I must be something other than exactly what is present is self-bullying. The idea that “no self” is something unknown, far away from us, some goal or achievement, is fundamentally wrong. We all have a point of reference for it. When we give ourselves the space to line up authentically with exactly what is true for us, we create an opening for others to set down the self-bullying process. Rick 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.

”Honey in the Heart: The Rasa of Enjoyment, Delight and Celebration on the Path” (Nachama Greenwald)

The phrase “honey in the heart” is taken from a book by Martin Prechtel. The word “rasa” means taste or essence in Sanskrit. The heart is an alchemical vessel, capable of transmitting, radiating, and metabolizing. The elixir distilled from this process is like honey. When we meet reality as-it-is with an open and undefended heart, we celebrate all aspects of our lives. We become one with all of life in the moment, and our hearts break from sorrow and from joy. Creation is an outpouring of divine love. In celebrating and finding delight in our lives, we align with the heart of creation. The fullness of joy is our birthright. Maybe we do not open to joy, but joy opens us. Joy arises when we surrender to the full spectrum of life, when we drop our resistance and are willing to feel everything without trying to fix, escape, or transcend life as-it-is to become some perfect version of ourselves. Celebration is when we meet reality with full presence. We can cultivate presence and pause, slow down, and notice when we experience this through grace. We get bigger so we can hold the inconceivable by stretching beyond habitual reference points and perceived limitations. We come home through the medium of the natural world. Ways that people experience coming home are shared. Grieving is medicine for our attachments. When grieving is complete, what is left is love not colored by attachment. The path is an investment in loss—hopefully of our illusions. Reality is transmissive, and the transmissions are about love and are always available to us. We die a little in order to love more. The heart will open at death to the degree it has opened in life. Nachama is a physical therapist, editor, and musician who for seventeen years was a member of the Shri blues band which performed Western Baul music.

Deep Dharmic Doo-Doo: Resistance is Futile… But So Also Is Acceptance (Peter Cohen)

The term “dharma” has been used generically in the West to refer to any real teaching of contemplative spirituality. “Doo-doo” has to do with being stuck in our spiritual endeavors. A quote attributed to St. John of the Cross is, “In order to come upon that which you know not, you must go by a way in which you know not.” There are many things to benefit from in the domain of the known, but the spiritual path is about the domain of the unknown. The “now” that is spoken about by Realizers is outside of time, outside of the known. Peace comes and goes in the known, but there is a Peace that surpasses understanding. Enlightenment is a questionable term; it is not anything that we might imagine happens to an individual in the domain of the known. Anything we do to get there can take us away from it. The personality does not disappear when the condition of no-self is realized—it is just seen through. The known includes anything we’ve read, been conditioned into, or been told. It is imprisoning to embrace any belief or handed-down structure at the expense of finding our own way through the forest of the unknown. A realized person, awakened to no-self, is simply himself or herself, freed of all handed-down beliefs. Consciousness accepts by its nature and so trying to accept may only muddy the water. Recognizing our helplessness, that we are in doo-doo, can be a good sign. No practice can bring about total surrender, yet many sages have recommended them. We can hold any teaching, teacher, or practice in high regard but stand on our own two feet. The talk includes discussion about whether a Guru is needed in this day and age versus the direct path. 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.