Episodes
Tuesday May 17, 2016
CHAOS AND COSMOS PART FOUR
Tuesday May 17, 2016
Tuesday May 17, 2016
Here, somewhat belatedly, is the final part of Chaos and Cosmos, a talk given at Parkdale in 2015. The main thrust of this part of the talk is to abstract the practicalities implicit in the discourse thus far for practitioners of meditation and creativity. We also hear about Taliesin's shit-or-bust attempt to win the high priestess.
Monday May 09, 2016
KUNDALINI
Monday May 09, 2016
Monday May 09, 2016
This podcast deals with many aspects of the Kundalini phenomenon, particularly the nature of the experience itself, the discourses surrounding it, the theories about it and the practices associated with it. [Free. 40 minutes.]
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
THE ROLE OF THE 'SPIRITUAL MASTER'?
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
Tuesday Apr 26, 2016
In this podcast a specific instance of the authoritarianism that often accompanies spiritual culture is treated critically. Listeners are urged to value their autonomy and hone, not repress, their critical faculties because both of these are conditions for spiritual inquiry to take place at all. [Free. 15 minutes.]
Thursday Mar 17, 2016
ON THE BODY [PART FOUR]: THE BODY DIES
Thursday Mar 17, 2016
Thursday Mar 17, 2016
The body dies. In this podcast we critically reflect on the existential and cultural consequences of the fact of life that the body dies. [Free. 36 minutes.]
Tuesday Mar 01, 2016
Tuesday Mar 01, 2016
This short ramble investigates 'ruts' or repetitive patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour and how some are necessary and others cause us to suffer and to be discontected from the glory of life. I make the observation that in many cases, such patterns are held in place by our very own expenditure of energy to the extent that they become a part of our identity. Refraining from this expenditure, i.e. relaxing and forgetting, is often sufficient to rlease us from the suffering of endless circling. [Free. 19 minutes.]
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
HEALTHY THOUGHT? WHAT IS IT, IF ANYTHING?
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
Sunday Feb 21, 2016
In this podcast we chew on the notion of 'healthy thought'. Whilst seeing that the notion can be used ideologically as a conformist moral cudgel, we consider the idea that certain patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour can cause unnecessary suffering to self and others. [Free. 38 minutes.]
Sunday Feb 07, 2016
Sunday Feb 07, 2016
This fourth part of our series THINKING ABOUT THINKING concludes the discussion on Zen mondo and the uses of unreason. [Free. 30 minutes.]
Friday Jan 22, 2016
THINKING ABOUT THINKING [PART ONE]
Friday Jan 22, 2016
Friday Jan 22, 2016
In this podcast, Anna and I engage with a subject that we have been gnawing upon for many years, namely, the nature, scope and potential of thought and how it is intimately entwined with spirituality. We take issue with those who recommend the exclusion of thought from spiritual life and who see it as inimical to meditation. By contrast, we celebrate thought and relish the manfold vistas it opens up for us. This is a vast and juicy field and we will return to it! [Free. 47 minutes.]
Friday Jan 01, 2016
NIETZSCHE, GURDJIEFF AND DISGUST AT MAN
Friday Jan 01, 2016
Friday Jan 01, 2016
In this podcast, we discuss Nietzsche's 'disgust at man' and Gurdjieff's 'horror of the situation'. Both of these, it seems, are due to a propensity on the part of humans to succumb to mass hypnosis, which can nevertheless be avoided. [Free. 32 minutes.]
Sunday Dec 06, 2015
WAR & PEACE ('GIVE PEACE A CHANCE')
Sunday Dec 06, 2015
Sunday Dec 06, 2015
This is a rant against war and the culture of the war machine. It starts off with the presupposition that every sane person desires a peaceful world, now and for future generations. It then ranges quite wide, describing the military industrial complex in terms of its costs relative to those of creating and maintaining peace, arguing against the notion that war is 'natural' and attempting to expose the ideological character of most of the media discourses around current and past conflicts. It concludes that peace must be given a chance. [Free. 39 minutes.]