Western Baul Podcast Series

The Obstacle Is the Path (Chris McMaster and Debbie Hogeland-Celebucki)

“The obstacle is the path” is a Zen proverb. Usually when we encounter obstacles we go around them. But on the spiritual path the only way around is through. Our neuroses can be obstacles. Our work with them is but 1% of the process even if it feels like a huge amount to us; the other 99% comes from grace. We don’t have to fix neurosis, which is just energy that can be used for transformation. Every neurotic manifestation has a complement which can be transformed into something that serves. We can bring practice to every form our lives take. At the heart of practice is to live with kindness, generosity, and compassion. How we relate with our obstacles is key, so having compassion for ourselves is important. We can experience grace even if we don’t believe in God, however we conceive of that. Things that feel so big to us are really not that big to the universe. When we make small steps the universe responds. We’re good at hiding from our obstacles or neuroses. We can ask ourselves, “What is it that owns me right now?” It is important to see, be curious and intimate with our obstacles without judgment, which is the practice of self-observation. What we do internally has an impact on the world. To be inwardly active and outwardly passive, without acting out, builds a lot of energy. Most people are caught between the inspiration for spiritual transformation and the movement of ego. Over time, if we continue right action, we begin to convey to ego that we won’t be manipulated or controlled. What we want ego to do is to put its power in service to right action. Chris is a co-author of The Conscious Parenting Workbook whose practice includes work as a personal chef and nanny. Debbie is an advocate for the wisdom of community and conscious parenting and the author of Widening the Circle: Inspiration and Guidance for Community Living.

We’ll Never Be Prepared for Life—We Might as Well Start Living It (Rick Lewis)

The same energy we pour into attempting to prepare for and control life can be applied to serving a vision, helping others, and our spiritual development. Rick speaks about having the trajectory of his life interrupted by the pandemic after having worked as a keynote speaker in the events industry for twenty-five years. He talks about his experience of continuity of place and relationship with his family that had not occurred before. When preparation for something is not possible, presence or panic has to take its place. We can be impacted in unexpected ways if we say yes and move in directions that come to us that we are not prepared for, when we do not just follow the usual script. Rick describes the way he has been affected by contact with women inmates after being invited to write to them. He poses a writing exercise that those attending the talk engage in by writing about things they are ignoring or avoiding. We deepen our suffering when we ignore it. Avoiding makes sense at times, but there is often a blanket avoidance of things that makes us uncomfortable. We can consider what we might embrace rather than avoid. It is possible to be in prison and not be behind bars, or to be behind bars and be free in spirit. We are imprisoned by our stories, the narratives about ourselves that we hold on to. When we question what we are ignoring or avoiding, the body will attempt to reclaim our being. The point of spiritual life can be seen as doing what is wanted and needed, but our stories can steer us away from this. The only way we can do what is wanted and needed is if we are free to do so. Rick is a national speaker and author who has coached and inspired many individuals in personal and professional growth. He is the author of numerous books, including 7 Rules You Were Born to Break, The Perfection of Nothing, and You Have the Right to Remain Silent.

The Recognition of Our Heart (Karen Sprute-Francovich)

This talk involves a discussion of the relevance in our lives of the Pratyabhijna Hridaya, a sutra text written about 1,000 years ago during a flowering of practice and tantra in India. It was written in Sanskrit and contains twenty sutras, which are short statements or pearls of spiritual wisdom. It rests on the view that manifestation arises out of consciousness which steps itself down into form. Many in the West have the experience of growing up and learning that we are not enough and so constantly strive for improvement. But we suffer when we identify with our limited circumstances. The path of spiritual and yogic practice can loosen misidentifications and bring us to recognize our heart, our real identity as the whole in every part. We can open to Grace, possibility, and undivided love as well as purification. The first sutra in a sutra text generally contains the whole transmission. Feminine pronouns are used in this sutra text which is in keeping with its tantric roots. The Goddess of awareness overflows into form, which expresses itself in the multiplicities of creation which are never separate from their source. We are each an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself. Every perspective is necessarily partial and limited to an unknown degree. Contraction becomes so dense by sutra nine that there is no remembrance of connection to the whole. Sutra ten begins the great path of return. All the players in myths are us. Instead of running away from parts ourselves, we can see everything as an aspect of the Goddess with “jaw-dropping wonder.” Sacred texts are alive, and classic ways of studying them are discussed. We can recognize truth in ordinary life, but we remember and we forget… Karen is a teacher of all the aspects of Yoga--the physical and philosophical, the scientific and the mystical. She is a long-time student of Lee Lozowick.

Timing Is Everything: Opening to Windows of Opportunity in Life and on the Path (Vijaya Fedorschak)

We tend to think of time as a constant, but it’s not immutable. Our three-dimensional perceptions of time and space are limited. As our understanding of the universe has evolved, we’ve learned that the faster we move through space or the more gravitational pull we are under, the slower time goes. The hermetic spiritual principle “as above, so below” posits that smaller systems like our bodies are miniature versions of a larger system like the universe and that by understanding the body we understand the universe. Something is drawing us to align with the movement of the universe. But we try to create our own outcomes and resist reality in the belief that we are separate beings. Being one with reality may be the state of ever present peace. When we loosen resistance we open to what else there is beyond our limited perspective. We can’t separate the movement and timing of things. Windows of opportunity come on the universe’s timing and are completely unexpected. We can then find ourselves at a crossroads and the trajectory of our life can change depending on the choice we seem to make. It’s useful to learn not to be impulsive and also not to procrastinate when opportunities to grow come to us. Such opportunities may continue to present themselves in the future but perhaps not in this lifetime. Our relationship to time really says a lot. If we intend to be of service to others, we have to consider if the timing is right. It’s possible that time does not exist traveling at light speed or in a black hole. Time may seem to stop for us as well—for example, in true meditation or in deep sleep. But losing our reference points in time may be very threatening to ego, to a self-sense that exists in space-time. There is presence and being when the thinking mind stops. We can learn to follow what feels right. VJ is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and the author of Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

Fourth Way Magic: How Hermetic and Indigenous Traditions Interface with the Gurdjieff Work (Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick)

The Fourth Way is a Western spiritual tradition founded by George Gurdjieff, a mystic of Greek and Armenian origin who taught in Russia, Europe, and America and died in 1949. The system he developed out of his own spiritual search which is shrouded in mystery was completely unique and geared toward working with a modern mindset of “waking sleep” in the West. The Gurdjieff Foundation purports to be the holder of his legacy which in some ways may be true and in others not. It has often been considered to be humorless and dogmatically committed to a rigid system of practices and ideas which, when this has been the case, ignores Gurdjieff’s own flexibility ranging from playfulness to seriousness. Approaching the spiritual path as a smorgasbord of different traditions does not support the deepening of transformational opportunity. There is value in both going deeply into one tradition and in being open to exploring and integrating teachings of other traditions, including indigenous paths, from one’s foundation in a tradition. Life provides opportunities for us to grow in unexpected ways. To learn from indigenous traditions that we are not culturally attuned to, we must be passive and let go of our ideas and judgments about the spiritual process. The power of ritual and of western hermetic and indigenous teachings, including West African and native Californian, are considered in this talk. The speakers discuss how these traditions have enriched and expanded upon the indispensable foundation they have in Fourth Way work. Rob and Stuart are the spiritual directors of the Tayu Meditation Center. They are students of Robert Daniel Ennis, who died in 1998, and owners of Many Rivers Books and Tea in Sebastopol, CA. They have hosted 400 episodes of The Mystical Positivist, a radio show which broadcasts conversations with practitioners of different traditions.

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off (Regina Sara Ryan)

Many of us feel that we want to stop the world and get off given the suffering that we see all around. But without conflict and adversity, how would we have the opportunity to practice compassion? And where would we go if we got off? There is the implication that there is a place to go away from “what is.” It’s useful to look at our escape fantasies. While resistance is sometimes demonized on the path, it is a normal part of life. What is the world that we want to stop? We are in and out of worlds of our own creation all day long. The question on the spiritual path is about stopping the world-making mind. Our worlds can be about overwhelm, “never enough,” taking things personally, giving our power away, being a victim, or renewal and new beginnings. We want to get off the world in times of great suffering. There is no way to avoid making our worlds. Responsibility comes into play when we see how we are creating them. It can be useful to stop, step away and take a whole new perspective on our worlds. Sometimes getting off is what we need to be with the unknown. Some types of shock (falling in love, the death of a loved one) can stop the world and be used either for or against growth. We can stop the world with breath, putting attention on the sensations of the body in the present, or saying the name of God. As soon as we notice a hook, we have identified with a self and a world we’re creating. Since this is the world we are in, we can choose to be here. Self-absorption is never the source of real happiness. Why have we come to earth? To love, serve, and remember. 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.

Basic Trust: The Soul’s Key to Being (Peter Cohen)

Basic trust is a term used by A.H. Almaas. It manifests as the willingness to leap into the unknown. Basic trust is different than our ordinary sense of trust that is dependent on external circumstances. It is an implicit trust that reality is ultimately good, that the universe will take care of us, that everything is OK and that what is optimal will happen. Almost no one has this basic trust--though some have more of a taste of it than others. One definition for enlightenment could be perfect basic trust. All activities of ego are evidence of a lack of perfect basic trust, a sense that we have to strategize and manipulate to get our needs met. The solution is not to strive for it, which can be just another form of the striving that is constantly manifesting in life. The paradigm of cause and effect and that we are the author of our choices and actions is an illusion from the perspective of nonduality, which can be considered as the "independent co-arising of phenomena" in Buddhism. The (theistic or non-theistic) view that all phenomena arises interdependently, that everything is being done regardless of us, can be comforting or threatening depending on whether we are trying to preserve our identity as a separate doer. So what is the role of personal responsibility? How can all the apparently horrible things that happen in the world be reconciled with basic trust? Who is it in us that can be trusted? Some statements from great spiritual masters on trusting God or the totality are considered. Peter was the drummer for the Western Baul rock band, Liars, Gods, and Beggars from 1988 to 1994. He is a spiritual practitioner who has followed the nondual path and rhythm of life in Alaska and Idaho as a nurse and a musician.

Kneel and Kiss the Ground: The Poetics of Presence and Purpose (Mary Angelon Young)

“There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” This is the last line of one of Rumi’s poems. Fear, anxiety and grief are natural responses to the world as-it-is, which is full of poison and full of nectar. There are 3 ways of working with the poison of today’s world: we can reject it, we can gorge ourselves without discrimination, or we can partake in healthy doses through the discernment of a middle path. When at a crossroads, the unknown requires us to be fluid and shapeshift. We can hold the tension between what Jung called the spirit of the depths and the spirit of the times in an alchemical process. If our diets are too pure, we can become rigid and weaken ourselves. If we don’t live with reality, reality will come to live with us. The more we practice being present with reality as-it-is, the greater our capacity for life and the more we become a healing balm for the world. Wonder makes us bigger; it stretches us and puts us in a receptive state, ready to experience the unknown. Six qualities of wonder are openness, curiosity, bewilderment, hope, connection, and admiration or praise. Communitas refers to community taken to a deeper level, typically associated with the presence of the divine. We can be inspired by other people’s strengths. If we want to make sure the path we are on is the right path, then we have to be willing to get lost. What if there’s wisdom in staying with grief, which does the work so that we can see and think and embrace each other differently? Sometimes the only way we will ever kneel and kiss the ground is if we are brought to our knees. Angelon 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), Krishna’s Heretic Lovers, and The Art of Contemplation.

Do You Want to Be Right or Do You Want to Be in Relationship? (Matthew Files)

A difficulty that shows up in relationship is not voicing our considerations to another person. If we don’t speak such things, we may stop talking and lose affinity. The quality of relationship does not depend on the circumstances or the content of the relationship. It depends on what we create, the promise we make about it. There is often an assumption that there is a problem if we disagree about things, but the disagreement can be there without affecting the overall quality of the relationship. When there is disagreement, we can engage each other—unless one person is committed to being right and is not interested in listening and conversation. Being with what comes up in relationship takes training, practice, and effort and is different than trying to fix it. Werner Erhard described relationship as a clearing where love can show up. This can happen in any relationship. Transformation is very different than change, which is connected to the past. It has to do with not living by our history. There is power in promising or committing to produce what’s missing in relationship. We can create the space for trust to show up, rather than needing a person to prove they are trustworthy. We can also train ourselves to communicate in a way that doesn’t bring about defensiveness. When there’s affinity, mistakes can be seen as mistakes and not an indication of untrustworthiness. Communication creates affinity, which comes through sharing about things that matter. Matthew facilitates groups that support people to look deeper into their process, formulate their own questions, and become responsible for their choices.

The Benefit of Good Company on the Spiritual Path (Tom Lennon)

Good company is that which we experience with those companions who are a beacon of light by nature of their vision, commitment, practice, enduring love, and personal sacrifice. It feeds our deepest essence and longing and can keep reminding us of what the necessity is in our lives. Good company is a mood, a context that creates and sustains an energetic field that is necessary for any work on the path. It is an experience of the nature of elegance, service, kindness, compassion, and generosity and of being with those who are reliable about these commitments. We can derive great benefit from those who care enough to tell us the truth, as can happen in 12 Step groups. We need to find our own answers, but we cannot do it alone. We don’t remove ourselves from loving relationship with others who are not good company, who do not share our purpose and commitment; we just don’t associate with them as much as we used to. Relationship exists with ourselves, others, and a power greater than ourselves. We can observe ourselves--the way we are--without judgment. We all have buffers that protect us and our survival strategies, which keep us from observing what we don’t know about ourselves. In good company, interpersonal conflicts can be engaged in a loving, pragmatic way that encourages self-honesty. With attention to our thoughts, they begin to lose their control over us. We are not always good company for ourselves, but the more we are the more we can be that for others. Spiritual life is like being in a foreign land where we chance upon each other, take the opportunity to relish a few moments together, and speak of longing for our home. Tom Lennon, Ph.D., is a cultural resource consultant with a deep interest in environmental conflict resolution. He leads groups with the intention of supporting the spiritual process in others.