Heart Yoga Radio

YOGA & COMMERCIALISM

A short squib proposing that the modern entanglement of yoga with commercialism is actually inimical to yoga, at least as understood by Patanjali. Patanjali's practices of satya and aparagriha are invoked in relation to advertising and yoga's place in the economy. A way of collectively combating the unholy alliance between yoga and commercialism is suggested and those who think that the razzmatazz is all very fine  are asked to justify their position. [Free. 16 minutes.]

ON THE BODY [PART SIX]: THE SENSES AND PROCESS

This is a meander which attempts to elucidate the senses and perception. We start off by saying why it is preferable to consider the senses as though processes rather than structures are primordial, as indeed our life-world and lived experience suggest. [The philosophical tradition largely considers the senses through a structural metaphor which understands the human being as like a camera and this is briefly taken issue with.]  The path of thought winds its way towards the intimation that the entanglement of the processes of nature, psyche, culture and consciousness which is human life allows the universe, potentially, to see itself. [Free. 59 minutes.]

ON THE BODY [PART FIVE]: SEX, NATURE, CULTURE & ENLIGHTENMENT

As always this is wide-ranging. We discuss the nature of sexual arousal, sexual practices and the ideas people have about sex, attempting as we go to free ourselves from the conceptual straight-jacket imposed by the popular binary nature-culture. This naturally {!} leads to a consideration of sexual taboos and the transgression of them in Dionysiac/Tantric orgies and a fleeting analysis of the emancipatory potential of raw joy - ananda. We find it useful to identify two recognizable modes of consciousness aroused by sex. In one, fantasy is intensified. In the other fantasy is attenuated and 'immediate' sensations take over. [Free. 53 minutes.]

ON THE BODY [PART FOUR]: THE BODY DIES

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.]

ON THE BODY [PART THREE]: ANCIENT AND CARTESIAN DUALISM

In this podcast we outline and evaluate ancient and Cartesian mind-body dualism. We find both of these doctrines incoherent and life-negating and attempt to point towards more easeful attitudes towards the body and life itself. [Free. 29 minutes.]

ON THE BODY [PART TWO]: THE EMBODIMENT OF THOUGHT

We start this podcast with a discussion of the way that walking affects thought and how this significantly draws our attention to the physiological, biological correlation between thought and the living body. We go on to take issue with a variety of dualisms and fragmentary accounts of the human being that all inevitably end up dis-valuing the body. We point out the longevity and ubiquity of contempt for the body, encouraged by religious asceticism, and outline the joyous possibilities that open up when it is dropped. Dramatis Personae: Nietzsche, Robert Graves, Arjuna, Simon the Stylite. [Free. 25 mins.]

ON THE BODY [PART ONE]: YOGA AND THE BODY

This is the first part of a series on the human body. It deals with various attitudes to the body found within yoga culture and texts and attempts to evaluate them against their usefulness for life. I also propose that the affirmation of the human body and the attribution of the highest value to it is essential to Yoga practice. Accordingly, the value of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika lies in the fact that it refrains from condemnation of the body whilst reminding us that "Hatha is for Raja". This recording was first put out on YouTube some time ago. We're repeating it here because it touches on many of the themes we want to explore in more detail in this series. [Free. 30 mins.]

HEALTHY THOUGHT? WHAT IS IT, IF ANYTHING?

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.]

THINKING ABOUT THINKING [PART FOUR]: ZEN MONDO AND THE USES OF UNREASON CONTINUED

This fourth part of our series THINKING ABOUT THINKING concludes the discussion on Zen mondo and the uses of unreason. [Free. 30 minutes.]

THINKING ABOUT THINKING [PART THREE]: ZEN MONDO AND THE USES OF UNREASON

This podcast is the third part of our series THINKING ABOUT THINKING. In it, we deal with the uses of unreason, particularly focusing on Zen mondo. This is a big topic so we have also dedicate part four of the series to it. We touch upon the dialogues of the Buddha, Bodhidharma,and Joshu and the works of Nagarjuna, Wittgenstein and Freud. [Free. 1 hour 15 minutes.]