Hello and welcome to today's episode of Drop the Weight, where we talk about state of the world and what to do about it in these spiritually embattled times with highly sought-after meditation teacher, spiritual coach, author and classical Tantra instructor, Harshada David Wagner

With the conflict between Israel and Hamas looming in the background of the discussion, we cover a mind-blowing range of topics, including: Harshada's pandemic-inspired paintings, Julia Cameron's The Artist Way, the evolution of consciousness, the necessity of becoming spiritually "omnivorous" today, the dangers of being world-oblivious when an active war is going on, the Beatles' clash with Maharishi Yogi and other scandals that have compromised the legacies of influential spiritual leaders of the past half century.

And so much more!

SHOW NOTES

[ 00:00 ] Intro

[ 00:30 ] Harshada's post-pandemic painting

[ 02:00 ] Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: Creativity as a spiritual practice

[ 05:00 ] Art as a balm of healing

[ 05:40 ] Israel and Hamas; How does one maintain calm and still be a part of the world?

[ 07:00 ] How to embrace the horror and ugliness in the world with integrity

[ 08:15 ] Irony of spiritual teachers as entrepreneurs/marketers driven by capitalism

[ 09:15 ] Problem of being "world-oblivious," not watching the news

[ 10:30 ] Evolving "post-patriarchal" era requires sincere seekers to be more omnivorous

[ 12:45 ] A lack of luminary leaders right now

[ 14:45 ] Scandal of recent spiritual leaders Yogi Bhajan, Bikram Choudery, Guru Jugat, John of God

[ 16:00 ] A shift away from a crumbling patriarchal "guru on a throne" model

[ 17:00 ] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation, The Beatles & Rishikesh

[ 18:15 ] Many of the spiritual gurus unprepared for sexual revolution of 1960s

[ 19:20 ] Spiritual teachers these days need a good therapist "who calls them on their shit"

[ 20:00 ] The wild west of spirituality where energy release comes before wisdom

[ 21:15 ] Translating the Shiva Sutra

[ 23:00 ] Distinction between the teaching and the teacher; example of Chogram Trungpa Rimpoche

[ 24:30 ] What does yoga mean? Discovering, owning, then expressing our innate magnificence.

[ 26:00 ] How Christians can relate to yoga

[ 29:00 ] Apocalypse fatigue for real!

[ 29:30 ] Inspired and horrified by images coming out of Gaza, people crying out to God

[ 30:45 ] What do we put at the center of our life to cling to when there is nothing else to grasp?

[ 32:00 ] Love as an action verb

[ 32:50 ] Harshada's first teacher: "Don't talk to me about Jesus, unless…"

[ 33:30 ] Meditation needed now more than ever, detoxing from the "digital colonization" of the mind

[ 36:15 ] You might need to meditate a lot. You might need to dance. You might need a therapist or two.

[ 37:30 ] What's up, and the next 18 months

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Connect with Elizabeth McGann:

Coaching Website: http://www.ElizabethMcGann.com

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Learn more about David Harshada Wagner:

Harshada's Website: https://www.davidhwagner.com/

Harshada's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harshadawagner/