The Alchemical Mind

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I am joined by Anthony Tyler, author of The Dive Manual: Empirical Investigations of Mysticism. In his book, Anthony weaves a fascinating story, part autobiographical, part fiction, of his journey into studying mysticism. 

We dive into topics such as alchemy, Carl Jung and the science of the mind, why unexplained paranormal phenomena may just be an inherent property of ourselves and more. Of course, any journey into the mystical must include a discussion of authority, religion, philosophy, and psychedelics as well. I had a great time diving into these topics with a different slant from the usual discussion of the show, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as well. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to pick up Anthony's book. It certainly can be possible to find empirical evidence of the mystical realm through self-exploration.

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On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I am joined by retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer, Sean Cahill, that I feel really exemplifies just how connected alternative and mystical topics really are.

Sean is more popularly known for his involvement in the first season of History Channel's "Unindentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation" and his personal experience with the Tic-Tac UFO event, but he is also a very grounded and deep thinker. Sean and I discuss the mystical experience quite a bit, and not just how it relates to the inner, spiritual journey, but its real world impact with events like UFO sightings, and other paranormal phenomena. We also dive into our own meditative and mindfulness practices, and of course, I had to ask him about his practice of wooden spoon making. Very zen indeed!

If you have not done so yet, check out Sean's website, Minty Hyperspace, as well as his fantastic YouTube channel of the same name.

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On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I am joined by Mike Mazzei, half of the team behind the excellent Mind Escape podcast. We begin this episode with a discussion about the importance of balancing open-mindedness with a healthy dose of skepticism, before diving into the meat of the conversation as we talk about cognitive behavioral therapy. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) is a tool that has proven invaluable to Mike in order to help him deal with changing certain harmful habits. Because of its close relationship with mindfulness, we dive a bit into how the therapy works, its relationship to the age old concept, and maybe even how you could try this as a practice to resolve some unwanted habits.

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Psychedelics and mindfulness must go hand-in-hand if you want to have a successful and rewarding experience.

On a special swapcast episode of The Alchemical Mind as I am joined by Justin Otto from Dharma Junkie to discuss psychedelics, the breakthrough experience, overcoming habits and addiction, and more. We dive deep into the stigma of psychedelics and how to overcome it. We dive into how to get over having expectations, the importance of mindfulness, intention, set, and setting, and so much more. I had a blast chatting with Justin, and I hope you'll enjoy listening as well.

This episode originally aired on Dharma Junkie's feed, so be sure to subscribe to Justin's podcast to get more great content. You won't regret it.

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Silence is golden, says the famous proverb, but what exactly does this mean? 

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I take a look at the importance of silence, not just on a philosophical level, but the actual real world effects of silence on our body and mind. I'll briefly discuss two studies which you can find in the show notes below, before diving into a quick, two minute exercise. Can you live in the moment for two minutes? What kind of emotions and thoughts arise from this exercise? Can you learn to stop acting and simply be? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or on the new The Alchemical Mind Facebook page. 

Studies reference on this episode:

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The Matrix is undoubtedly one of the most Gnostic movies of our times. Twenty years after its release, the themes discussed in the film are just as relevant as ever.

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I am doing something a little different as I am joined by friend and listener DJ Briggs of The Bright Side Chat to discuss this seminal movie in Gnostic thought. While we use the movie as the foundation of our conversation, we focus more on its themes and how they relate to finding the True Self, escaping from the grasp of illusion, what it says about authority and consciousness, and so much more. We also dive into mindfulness and meditation and how they can be key tools to understanding these topics. We had a lot of fun with this episode, and I hope you will enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it.

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Authority plays a large part in how we navigate our daily lives. On the last episode, I discussed the concept of authority and power, and why we choose to give our authority away. On this episode, I'll discuss the topic in relation to religious concepts and figures. 

As you dive into this episode, remember that I use the term religion simply as a core set of beliefs guided by dogma so that we can discuss the topic in terms of science, politics, and religion. I do focus on what is more commonly referred to as religion and use several fantastic allegorical stories from Rumi, the Gospel of Thomas, and classic Zen Buddhism to illustrate some of the ideas in this episode.

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What is authority? How do we gain our authority and why do we give it away?

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I dive into the concept of power and authority and why you are the ultimate source of it. Why? Because you are IT, of course!

By exploring the Sanskrit saying "tat tvam asi" (you are it) and the works of Rumi, Ibn Ata Illah, the Sermon On The Mount, and more, I dive into why there can be no authority but ourselves, why you are all that exists, and why you choose to deny it all for a sense of safety and temporary happiness. This is the first episode in a series in which I will dive into the concept of authority so give it a listen before diving into more specific examples as we go forward with the topic. 

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"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing."

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I dive into an introduction to the mystical experience through a look at the 1884 book, "Flatland" by Edwin Abbott. What was originally supposed to be part of the upcoming "The mystical experience and psychedelics" episode, ended up becoming its own episode through a series of synchronicities that occurred to me this week. 

Through the use a Carl Sagan clip on "Flatland", I talk about why the mystical experience is important, and why having these experiences should not be discounted. I also talk about falling into the trap of thinking the journey is over, confusing belief and knowledge, the neti neti method, and more. Knowing through unknowing may just be much more powerful. Finally, I wrap up with a beautiful story from Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi, on not giving up on the journey.

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Mindfulness is a key part of meditation. When we are learning to meditate, we often hear phrases like "clear your mind" or "let the thought go." How do we do this? How do we stop our thoughts from clouding our minds? How do we stop them from taking control? The answer is simple: practice.

On this episode of The Alchemical Mind, I discuss the important of trusting the universe and letting it go when it comes to a successful meditation practice. More importantly, I share a little mindfulness exercise I've been using for the past few weeks to help me come to center. How? By focusing on instinctual, simple behaviors like touching my face or scratching an itch. The applications of this small practice are broad and go beyond just "clearing your mind." Plus, how i learned to stop believing and began to understand "letting go," and some wise words from Terrence McKenna and Alan Watts.

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Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks!