Cosmic Intelligence

Inspired by friends, family, and people like Daniel Pinchbeck, who have been so critical of spirituality, I mount a full-throated defense of spirituality, first acknowledging the pitfalls and shortcomings. Spirituality for me is a holistic worldview and set of practices that make us more relevant and impactful in the world, instead of more escapist and checked-out. 

Authentic spirituality is becoming a spiritual scientist, making us more discerning, not more out-of-touch. Furthermore, true change cannot come about in the world without first expanding consciousness through spiritual practice. 

Finally, spirituality offers a nurturing cosmology that imbues our lives with deeper meaning. 

Daniel Pinchbeck articles mentioned in this episode: 

• Bat Soup  
• Is the Pursuit of Truth Worth it? 

Here's my blog post about morphic fields.

Special thanks to Blaire Embrey and Meghan Kemp for providing valuable input as I developed these ideas!

Full show notes

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My podcast guest this week is Meghan Kemp, a dedicated student and teacher of yoga, who is integrating eastern practices into western culture (which is why I was so excited to talk to her). She has been practicing yoga since she was 14 and teaching asana, meditation, breathwork and kriya for the past five years. Following a year of living, studying and teaching at an ashram in northern India, Meghan has returned to the States to share these transformational practices with all walks of life. She is also a budding Vedic Astrologer and offers astrology readings as a means to alleviate suffering and increase joy.

Our conversation spanned a broad spectrum of topics, all orbiting around the broad and rich practices of yoga, from the elements that make up a holistic yoga practice, to ashram life and the role of a guru on the spiritual path, to cults, to the question of enlightenment, to Vedic astrology.

In this surreal liminal space after quarantine here in New York, it was wonderful to be able to do this interview with Meghan in-person instead of online! One of my mics failed half way through recording. Thankfully I had 2 backups. But this is why the audio quality fluctuates a bit in two places. Podcasting. It’s a journey of learning on all sides.

The path of enlightenment is the toughest path, and that seeking is the hardest task. — Swami

Rama The spiritual path teaches us how to float on our backs, relaxed and aware, in the waters of reality. — Elizabeth Lesser

Swami Rama's book Living with the Himalayan Masters

Mariana Caplan's wonderful The Guru Question 

A list of resources for helping India during the pandemic 

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Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.

Finally, you can support the podcast here. 

We live in what seems like the denouement of the age of reason. We feel separate and alienated in a world bereft of meaning. Astrology can be a remedy for that alienation and emptiness. To see why and how, I explore the history of science and European reason, depth psychology, and quantum physics. I then assuage concerns about the implications for free will in astrology, and talk about how Vedic astrology (Jyotish) compares with Western astrology. We go deep in this episode, because the cosmos is deep; we just have to look, and listen. 

The Modern Astrology Zeitgeist

Why are Millennials so into Astrology? (Jan 2018)

“Astrology is not a science; there’s no evidence that one’s zodiac sign actually correlates to personality.” [citing a 1984 research paper showing no correlation between astrology and personality.]

Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty (Oct 2019)

“Millennials who see no contradiction between using astrology and believing in science are fueling a resurgence of the practice.”

Exploding popularity, a booming $40 million business for apps (Nov 2020)

The New York Times Modern Love podcast recently featured a story about Vedic astrology.

Influences
Some of the luminaries who Influenced my thinking on astrology, both Western and Vedic, include:

• Rick Tarnas
• Fritjof Capra — I highly recommend reading his now-famous Tao of Physics. Despite being almost 50 years old now, it is still highly relevant today. 
• Amit Goswami
• Anand Mehrotra

Learn more about my astrology offerings.

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Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.

Finally, you can support the podcast here. 

In this inaugural episode of the podcast I attempt to define spirituality, explain the title, and talk about the themes and topics I will be exploring on future episodes, including: 

• how authentic spirituality can be the most effective way to make a positive impact on the world, 
• the burgeoning Wisdom Revolution, 
• spiritual ego & spiritual bypass, 
• Vedic astrology, 
• plant medicine, and 
• the elements of yoga beyond asana, including kriya, pranayama, laya, and jnana yoga. 

Look for new episodes about once a month, although I plan to put a few out in quick succession to clear this backlog of content I have.

Philip Goldberg’s wonderful American Veda, which talks about the rise of people identifying as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). 

Slavoj Žižek's wonderful documentary is The Pervert's Guide to Ideology 

Ramana Maharshi's teaching "Who Am I?" 

More about the podcast here https://elemental.yoga/podcast

You can sign up for Jayadev's newsletter, and join his online community

Instagram: @kriya.guy

You can also find a video version of this podcast on Jayadev's YouTube channel 

Support the show

Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.

Finally, you can support the podcast here.