I'm happy to share this rebroadcast of an interview I did with James Bae, the host of the "Buddhist Yoga" Youtube channel. In this deep-dive, we discuss my new book, Meditation Sickness, just out from University of Hawaii Press. This edited collection of translations by expert scholars lays out a range of Buddhist viewpoints about the potential side-effects of contemplative practice, and what happens when one crosses the line between expected challenges and true medical crises. Including ancient scriptures, writings by some of the most celebrated Buddhist meditation teachers of all time, as well as contemporary ethnographic reports from all over the Buddhist world, the book details the symptoms, causes, prevention, and treatment of "meditation sickness." Our conversation provides a detailed overview of the contents of the book, and illustrates why it is crucially important for Western meditators to be knowledgable about these phenomena. Enjoy! 

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Pierce Salguero, Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook of the Dangers of Buddhist Practice (2026). 
• Pierce Salguero, “Meditation Sickness” in Medieval Chinese Buddhism
  and the Contemporary West (2023).
• Pierce's previous appearances on Buddhist Yoga: Buddhist Medicine and Contemplative Pedagogy ; The Contemporary Landscape of Buddhist Healing
• Pierce's resource website: BuddhistMedicine.Net

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• PDF of the introduction to the 2026 book. 

Today I sit down with Sanjay Manchanda, who is an Adjunct Professor at California Institute of Human Science and also teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Sanjay is an awakening facilitator, a practicing psychotherapist, and an inventor and technologist with a PhD in computer science. In this conversation, we talk about the importance of integration after awakening, psychedelics, shadow work, and a helmet that pulses infrared light into the brain to facilitate spiritual experiences. Along the way, we raise the important question of whether we will ever be able to create an enlightenment machine.

Resources related to this conversation:

• Sanjay's Neuromatrix Headset: https://neuromatrix.health/
• Ultrasound research by Jay Sanguinetti: https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/
• Arnold Mindell, Dreambody: The Body's Role in Healing the Self (1982).
• Les Fehmi, The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body (2008).
• YouTube videos: Awareness Explorers, Neuroscience of Meditation Summit
• For information about Sanjay's Monday morning group Multidimensional Fundamental Well-Being, personal coaching, and therapy sessions, contact [email protected]. 

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• $500 discount on the Neuromatrix Headset

Today I sit down with Dr. Tawni Tidwell, a biocultural anthropologist and Tibetan medicine doctor at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Together we discuss how Tibetan medicine approaches the challenges that arise in the course of meditation. Along the way, we talk about reconnecting with indigenous knowledge, establishing a more intimate relationship with the body and the land, and the importance of social context in supporting spiritual practice.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources related to this conversation:

• Tawni Tidwell, “Life in Suspension with Death: Biocultural Ontologies, Perceptual Cues, and Biomarkers for Tibetan Tukdam Postmortem Meditative State” (2024)
• Tawni Tidwell et al, “Effect of Tibetan Herbal Formulas on Symptom Duration Among Ambulatory Patients with Native SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study” (2024)
• Tawni Tidwell, “Tibetan Medical Paradigms for the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Understanding COVID-19, Microbiome Links, and Its Sowa Rigpa Nosology” (2021)
• New open access book! Crafting Potency: Sowa Rigpa Artisanship Across the Himalayas
• Tawni’s research profile at the Center for Healthy Minds
• Please note that Tawni is not taking new patients at this time, but she recommends the American Tibetan Medical Association

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• Tawni Tidwell et al. “Chasing dön spirits in Tibetan medical encounters: Transcultural affordances and embodied psychiatry in Amdo, Qinghai” 2022.

Today I sit down with Marleen Thaler, a researcher at the University of Vienna and University of Graz. Together, we investigate the history of the transformation of Kundalini from a Hindu goddess resting at the base of the spine to her modern manifestation as a psychiatric syndrome. Along the way, we discuss the central importance of the Theosophical society, the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1970s, spiritual emergencies, and kundalini as a meeting point for religion and medicine.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga
• Gopi Krishna, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man
• Lee Sennella, The Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence
• Spiritual Emergence Network (USA | International)
• Marleen's publications: Academia.edu

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• Full English translation of the Hathayoga Pradipika, which includes description of kundalini coiled at the base of the spine and structured practices to direct her energy toward enlightenment.

Today, I catch up with Brandt Stickley, Associate Professor at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland. We discuss his practice of “Chinese medicine anti-psychiatry,” which involves exorcising spirits using acupuncture needles. Along the way, we talk about mass possession, spiritual shark bites, and how to properly unwind a wayward ghost. 

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Brandt's website
• Certificate in Chinese Medicine Psychiatry
• Brandt's courses and mentorship
• Blood, Fire, Light, & Time on Substack

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• Brandt Stickley, "Approaching the Origin: The Diaphanous Body and Classical Chinese Medicine" (2024)

In celebration of the holiday season, here's a bonus episode from the archives. In May of 2023, I sat down with Zachary Lui who is a practitioner of Chinese medicine, magic, and shamanism in the Toronto area. We started by talking about his early work with Chinese martial arts, traditional medicine, and qigong. We then got into Zac’s practice of chaos magic, diverse ritual practices, reiki, and esoteric Buddhist healing. Finally, we discussed his communication with different deities and spirits, as well as the potential dangers of working with them in his healing practice.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Wuji Xuan Life Wellness 
• Queen City Curio 
• Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole Podcast 
• Andrieh Vitimus, Hands-On Chaos Magic (2009)

Today I sit down with Nick Canby, visiting assistant professor at Brown University and a clinical psychologist specializing in meditation and psychedelics. Together, we dive into Nick’s research on the self — what is it and what it’s like to lose it. Along the way, we mention some of the downsides of experiencing oneness and the complications of defining a mental health disorder.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Previous episode on meditation challenges with Willoughby Britton and Jared Lindahl 
• List of Publications from the Varieties of Contemplative Experience study
• Canby et al., "The Teacher Matters: The Role and Impact of Meditation Teachers in the Trajectories of Western Buddhist Meditators Experiencing Meditation-Related Challenges"
• Pierce's forthcoming volume, "Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook on the Dangers of Buddhist Practice" 
• Previous episode on madness and religious experience with Richard Saville-Smith
• Nick's clinical practice
• Nick's profile on Cheetah House
• Complete list of Nick's publications 

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

• Article summarizing Nick’s dissertation research on “loss of self” experiences
• 50% off “Varieties of Ego-Dissolution” online course (research overview of the types of self-boundary dissolution and their impacts) 

Today I sit down with Leo Lok, a retired practitioner of Chinese medicine who now teaches and consults with practitioners treating difficult cases of meditation-caused dysregulation. Together, we discuss how to think about the challenging side-effects of meditation through the lens of the ancestral Chinese arts of qi regulation. Along the way, we discuss the surprising power of ocular alignment, how to gradually condition oneself for spiritual heavy lifting, and medieval Chinese emergency treatments for meditation practice gone wrong.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Leo's chapter on Chinese physicians will appear in Pierce's forthcoming book, Meditation Sickness: An Anthology on the Dangers of Meditation Practice. (Get notified when this is published.)
• Zhiyi's (538–597) magnum opus on meditation in the Chinese Buddhist tradition, translated by Paul Swanson
• Pierce discusses medieval Chinese approaches to meditation sickness, including Zhiyi's advice for meditators, in an open access article in Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
• See Leo's recommended YouTube instructional video on the six healing breaths.
• Leo's new website is under construction

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• Pierce's 2017 translation of the complete "Chapter on Illness" from Zhiyi's Shorter Treatise on Śamatha and Vipaśyanā. 

Today I sit down with Susannah Deane, a scholar of Tibetan medicine, Buddhism, and psychiatry. Together, we delve into her work on Tibetan concepts of "wind disorders" and Tantric practice gone wrong. Along the way, we talk about losing control of spirits, becoming a deity, and how Tibetans choose between religious and medical specialists when spiritual practice goes off the rails.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Susannah Deane, Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism and Psychiatry: Mental Health and Healing in a Tibetan Exile Community (2018).
• Salguero, Cheung, and Deane (eds.), Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World (2024).
• Susannah Deane, Illness and Enlightenment: Exploring Tibetan Perspectives on Madness in Text and Everyday Life (2025).
• Susannah's Academia.edu profile

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

• High resolution image of the Tibetan subtle body system 
• Susannah's chapter “For This Kind of Thing, the Lama Is Better: Religion, Medicine, and the Treatment of 'Madness' among Tibetans in Amdo," from Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World

Today I sit down with Richard Saville-Smith, an independent scholar of madness, religion, and psychiatry. We discuss Richard’s book Acute Religious Experiences (2023), which argues that frameworks from Mad Studies can get us out from under the academy’s current habit of either pathologizing or sanitizing religious experiences. Along the way, we talk about the power struggle between psychiatry & the humanities, the influence of Queer Studies on Richard’s work, and his reinterpretation of Jesus as a madman.   

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

• Acute Religious Experiences: Madness, Psychosis and Religious Studies (2023)

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

• Chapter 10 from Richard's book, which presents his D.R.E.A.D. framework for acute religious experiences.