Escaping Samsara

Dr. Erik Davis is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of mysticism.

Few people are able to talk about the spirituality with  a precision and accuracy born of a commitment to always remain open to the Mystery. 

Erik shares his own path, describing how he maintains scientific viewpoint while also embracing the weird and unknown aspects in all religions, especially Christianity and Buddhism.

We talk in detail about "the psychonaut"scientifically minded explorers who use psychedelics in an attempt to map the fringes and consciousness - places where there might still be dragons.
 
Show Notes

• 3.00 Spiritual and uncanny experiences occurred in Erik’s childhood bedroom
• 7.00 Fear and fascination 
• 14.00 How Erik spans science and spirituality
• 19.00 Erik’s deep experience with Christian art
• 24.00 “The weirdest year of your life”
• 27.00 Erik on prayer and grace
• 32. 00 “America can’t escape the shadow of puritanism”
• 36.00 Psychonauts vs religious seekers 
• 45.30 Psychosis as an occupational hazard
• 57.00 Practical Buddhist ethics
• 1.03.00 The role of a spiritual teacher
• 1.08.00 When Erik met Ram Dass

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Sebene Selassie is an African American Buddhist teacher. She has been studying Buddhism for 30 years and teaching for 10. She has worked extensively for not-for-profit organisations everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa. This year, she published her first book via HarperOne titled You Belong: A Call for Connection. 

In this enriching conversation we tackle the kind of tough subjects that we all think about but need to talk about more. Why have women been sidelined in Buddhist lineages? How can the Dharma respond to racial strife and injustice? And how we can heal cultures of harm wherever we find ourselves.

Show Notes

• 3.00 First experiences with bhakti yoga
• 6.00 History of women in Buddhism 
• 10.00 Sebene's journey through Buddhist schools
• 14.45 Kuan Yin and devotional practice
• 19.45 The question of cultural appropriation 
• 25.30 How studying history can aid liberation
• 27.10 The complex problem of unconscious bias
• 30.30 What was left out when Buddhism was exported  
• 35.00 Good ol’ psychedelics 
• 38.50 Ancestral healing 
• 46.30 How we might heal racism in dharma communities
• 55.00 It’s not about separation 
• 57.50 Guilt vs responsibility
• 1.00.00 “The dhamma answers its context” 

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David Williams is 71 years old. He began yoga practice at the age of 20. He was one of the first foreigners to travel to India in the early 1970s to learn yoga. He was the first non-Indian to learn the complete Ashtanga Vinyasa syllabus from Pattabhi Jois. He was one of the few people certified by Pattabhi Jois to teach all four asana series and the pranayama. He has practised Ashtanga Yoga daily, without interruption since 1973, perhaps longer than anyone else alive. He lives in Maui, Hawaii. His memoir of travelling the world and learning yoga, MY SEARCH FOR YOGA is available from his website, ashtangayogi.com.

Show notes

• Getting into Yoga and choosing a life of freedom
• Early influencers
• First Westerner to learn all four series of Ashtanga Yoga
• David's favourite excerpt from Katha Upanishad
• Working with meditation in the asana and  
• Bandhas and Drishti in forward folds as taught by Sri Krishnamacharya
• Kechari Mudra and Kevala Kumbhaka
• Real alchemy of Yoga
• Working with Samskaras
• Yamas and Niyamas
• Thoughts on pain and injury and Patthabi Jois's way of teaching
• Krishnamacharya, adjustments and evolution of his teaching methodology
• Strong adjustments and long-time practice

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This is a second interview in our two-part special with yoga teachers Mary Taylor and Richard Freeman. In our first conversation we were primarily focusing on different aspects of the Yoga practice. Now in this episode we explore the relationship between Yoga and Buddhism. We look closely at the content of both teachings to understand how they intersect, whether they are talking about same or similar things just under different angles, what is the reason between different emphasis of those, as well as how both traditions can support each other if you bring enough curiosity and create a space for a dialogue.

Show notes

• The relationship between Patanjali's 8 limbs and Buddha's 8  folded Path
•  Different ways of setting the stage for compassion to arise in the yogic and buddhist traditions
•  Yogic Samadhi vs. Buddhist Samadhi
•  Navigating the diversity of practices 
•  References to Truth in Buddhism and Yoga, differences between solidifying authority vs. investigating authority 
•  Don't know mind
•  The taste of Nirodha
•  Different emphasis on purification practices in yogic and buddhist traditions
•  Role of asana in buddhist schools and how the traditions come to communication in recent times
•  Thoughts on the common synergy of yogic asana practice with Vipassana style meditation between yoga practitioners
•  Pranayama, the sweetness of Kumbhaka and the right attitude

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Our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude, and we are honoured to bring you a very special series of conversations with a yogic couple, who have influenced the world of modern yoga probably more than anyone else. Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor dedicated their lives to practice and study of the spiritual traditions of the East and are sharing the knowledge revealed to them humbly and graciously with their students.

Show notes 

• Mary's reflections on her first spiritual experiences
• Groundedness, embodiment and the connection to the environment  
• Dropping of the breath as the beginning of Yoga
• The roots of Richard's subtle body teachings
• How far away is esoteric from ordinary?
• Release of the soft palate and the concept of Nada Anusandhan
• Meditational aspects of the asana practice, subtle body alignments and how different schools of thought encompass each other
• Visualisation, idolatry and guidance 
• Role of Pranayama in removing of Samskaras and how you can make them worse
• Aesthetics, emotionality and beauty
• Tadagi Mudra
• Nauli in Kukkutasana
• Separating grains from chaff or thoughts on finding a teacher
• Secret to good relationship :)
• Ethical aspect of romantic relationship between teacher and student
• Ongoing process of Ashtanga community dealing with Patthabi Jois's sexual abuse
• Richard's take on the modern world of yoga

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Bhante Panna is an American monk living in a forest monestry near Bangkok. He has a popular Instagram (@bronthepath} where he shares his life of contemplation. In this conversation we address monkhood, spiritual powers, communing with nature, ending racism, and liberation. I know you're going to like this one!

Show Notes

• 2.50 Bhante’s spiritual awakening while climbing a mountain 
• 11.40 The spirituality of Thailand 
• 14.00 Bhante’s daily routine and life as a monk
• 24.00 How celibacy has given Bhante a new sense of freedom
• 27.00 The roots of African spirituality
• 32.30 Discussing siddhis or extra-normal powers associated with meditation 
• 37.40 Empathy with snakes and scorpions and chilling with Nature
• 44.00 Black meditation matters
• 49.50 Liberation and racial conditioning 
• 54.00 Cultural healing in spiritual communities
• 58.00 The spiritual landscape of the world today

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Anthony "Prem" Carlisi has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga for over 40 years. He learned directly from Pattabhi Jois in 1978 for several months in Southern California. In 1979, he was amongst the first small group of Western students to study with Jois in his home town of Mysore, India. He is considered one of the American pioneers of Ashtanga yoga, along with David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, David Swenson and Tim Miller.

Prem was certified to teach the primary, intermediate and advanced series of Ashtanga yoga in 1994. He also completed a four-year course of ayurvedic study in 1984 with Dr. Vasant Lad and has been studying tantric techniques since 1990. In 2007, Prem published his first book, The Only Way Out Is In, which is his commentary on the synergy of the three life sciences of Ashtanga yoga, ayurveda and tantra.

He and his partner Heather "Radha" Duplex are now based primarily in Ubud, Bali for 6-8 months of the year, and 3-4 months in Kauai, Hawaii with Pineapple Yoga. They offer daily Mysore classes in both locations, as well as trainings for teachers, intensives and workshops that deepen the understanding of Ashtanga yoga, ayurveda and tantra.

Show Notes

• 1.40 First spiritual experiences with psychedelics
• 5.50 Intersection with psychedelics and traditional spiritual practices 
• 10.00 The practice of dying while living
• 23.00 Tapas and purification
• 29.30 The sudden death of Prem’s daughter and how he dealt with the grief
• 37.30 How Prem lost his way and found it again
• 39.30 Siddhis
• 40.50 Advice for his younger self
• 42.00 Importance of meditation practice
• 50.00 Surrender and the Buddha’s “middle path”
• 54.00 Eight limbs are a foundational practice
• 57.00 Pranayama and when to do it
• 60.30 Wim Hoff technique

https://www.ashtangayogabali.com/

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Oliver is a Registered Physiotherapist, Yoga and Meditation Teacher. He is a long-term practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Ashtanga Vinyasa and Vinyasa Krama Yoga in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. He is a passionate proponent of evidence-based rehabilitation and person-centred care and loves helping people get back to moving at their best.

This is a different kind of episode. This time we gathered questions of our listeners on different social media platforms and asked Oliver about his opinion. This a very practical episode that hopefully will help some of you into a safer and less painful practice. 

Show notes

• Tight psoas and lower back discomfort
• Prolapsed discs and continuing practice
• Strengthening of unstable shoulder joint 
• How to assess the seriousness of the shoulder injury
• Tight hamstrings and psoas and forward bends
• Is grabbing your ankles during backbending safe?
• Hand placement in Lagu Vajrasana - ankles vs. calves?
• Is practicing Ashtanga 6 days a week safe? 
• Examples of conflict between traditional way of teaching Ashtanga Vinyasa and modern physiotherapy approach
• How to protect your lumber spine?
• Are there certain asanas that will more likely lead to injuries as the body gets older? 
• Knee pain
• Shoulders: Strengths vs. stiffness 
• Thigh rotation in Visvamitrasana

If you want to get in touch with Oliver or find out more about his work visit https://www.yogicphysio.com

Further references from the episode

• Discussion about sissy squats - Beard the best you can be Instagram account 
• Lorimer Moseley's Ted talk - Why Things Hurt
• Iain Grysak - "Movement Homeopathy" in Ashtanga Yoga practice
• Matthew Sweeney episode
• Simon Borg-Olivier episode

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This is a documentary style episode with Rumana Afroze, a wandering ascetic from Bangladesh. She is a member of Bauls, a mystical sect found in Bangladesh and West Bengal following the teachings of Lalon Shah, an influential 20th century mystic saints of the Indian subcontinent. Estimated to have composed thousands of songs, Lalon and his followers went on to influence such greats minds like Rabindranath Tagor, the Bengali poet, Allan Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. To contemporary Bangladeshis he is like Shakespeare, Martin Luther King and Ekhart Tolle rolled into one. Lalon’s songs, especially when heard in their original Bangla, are said to have the power to propel people to spiritual heights.
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Check our website for more content: http://escaping-samsara.com/

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Ajahn Achalo an Australian buddhist monk and current abbot of Anandagiri Forest Monastery in North Thailand. He was born in Brisbane and ordained in the lineage of Ajahn Chah in 1996. In recent times he has created some extensive online teachings that are proving popular on meditation apps, Spotify and the like. You can find his writings and Dharma talks on the website of the monastery. 

In this conversation, Ajahn Achalo generously shared his thoughts on many intricate aspects of Buddhist practice. The ease and open-heartedness with which he engaged in conversation with us is something very special. Listen in.

Show notes

• Listening to the sound of the waves
• First spiritual instruction from a hippie in a new age bookstore
• From discovering Metta meditation to recording guided instructions for practitioners
• Will Metta come automatically if you practice enough Vipassana?
• How death mediation practice can lead to enhanced self aversion
• Core toolbox meditation practices, qualities of the Buddha and how to relate to them
• Brahma Viharas and Jhana meditation, becoming and desire energies in our practice
• Dangers of overestimating your results, difference between Upacara Samadhi and Jhana
• Role of contentment and gratitude, and the practice of celibacy
• The story of the forest monk
• Intentions in Metta meditation and the importance of carrying them into the world
• Exploring teachings of different schools of Buddhism, learning from Dalai Lama
• The story behind Nathan’s Maitreya tattoo
• New books and the story behind Ajahn Achalo’s over 3500 hrs of meditation at Bodh Gaya
• What constitutes Enlightenment

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Check our website for more content: http://escaping-samsara.com/

Enjoyed this podcast? Please, leave a review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes

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