The Mystical Positivist

Podcast: This week on The Mystical Positivist, we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Red Hawk, acclaimed poet and the author of 13 books, including Self Observation, Self Remembering, The Way of the Wise Woman, Return to the Mother, and Book of Lamentations. Of Self-Observation and Self-Remembering, he writes, “Every living thing is surrounded by a vibratory atmosphere, a vibratory energetic field which surrounds the body and in humans is the ground in which the second, or etheric, body is formed. But in order for that to happen, we must learn to "eat impressions," which are the food by which this second body is created.” In this conversation, we go deep on the process by which we can metabolize the false self and give birth to genuine Being. Red Hawk (aka Robert Moore) is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He is the author of 11 books of poetry and two books on spiritual practice. He is a student and devotee of the Spiritual Teacher Lee Lozowick and of Lozowick's Master, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the Godchild of Tiruvanamali, India. He is also a long-time student of the Spiritual Teacher George Gurdjieff. His root-Guru was Osho Rajneesh. He is the winner of numerous national honors, among which are the 1992 Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, the 1992 Cleveland State University poetry book prize, the 2008 Bright Hill Press poetry book award, one winner of the xlvi Pushcart Prize, and the 2023 Bitter Oleander Library of Poetry book prize-all using his Earth name Red Hawk. More information about Red Hawk’s work can be found at: Self-Observation at HOHM Press: Self-Observation, Self-Remembering at HOHM Press: Self-Remembering, Book of Lamentations: Book of Lamentations.

Podcast: This week on The Mystical Positivist, we feature a pre-recorded conversation with returning guest Stephen Aronson about his new book, AS INSIDE, SO OUTSIDE, AS ABOVE, SO BELOW – Reconciling Science and Spirituality through Consciousness, published by Karnak Press in 2024. This series of essays represents perspectives from Stephen’s half-century in the study of psychotherapy and spiritual exploration. He suggests that the energy we call consciousness is an inherent aspect of the Universe, the instrument through which the deepest understandings can be experienced. Stephen Aronson is a psychotherapist with an eclectic training background ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to the alchemical approach of Carl Jung. His spiritual life has been a search for verification of a deeper reality underlying the ordinary world of our senses. His personal aim has been to find a way to reconcile science and spirituality which would unite the concept of Universal Intelligence with rationality. After more than a decade in Jungian analysis and over four decades of study and practice in the system of transformational psychology introduced to the West by G. I. Gurdjieff, he has sought to find an approach to illustrate these deep and complex ideas and methods in common language and universally shared experiences. Steve lives in rural Maine where he retired in 2013 after forty-three years in the practice of psychotherapy, education and training. He is also the author of THE SEARCH FOR MEANING AND THE MYSTERY OF CONSCIOUSNESS: A Psychologist's Journey Through Gurdjieff And Jung, has published on the subject of Spiritual Psychology in the Proceedings of the annual All and Everything International Humanities Conference, and has written for Parabola, a magazine dedicated to myth, tradition and the search for meaning. More information about Stephen Aronson's work can be found at: AS INSIDE, SO OUTSIDE at Karnak Press: Karnak Press, Stephen Aronson at The Gurdjieff Club: Preparation for the Third Line of Work, Stephen Aronson on The Mystical Positivist: Show 395, Show 350, and Show 332.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Layne Negrin, author of Gurdjieff in Tibet. Divided into three parts, Part One looks at the evidence of Gurdjieff's presence in Tibet, Part Two researches the direct students of Gurdjieff who explored Tibetan or other Buddhist sects to one degree or another, and Part Three is a collection of comparative studies showing the influence of Tibetan Buddhism upon Gurdjieff's teaching. Interspersed with the author's writing on the individuals discussed in Parts One and Two are relevant texts by them, many of which were previously unavailable in English. Layne Negrin began his spiritual path in 1988, practicing the Gurdjieff tradition exclusively for 19 years, then Mahayana Buddhism (primarily the Soto Zen of Shunryu Suzuki but also the Shambhalian Buddhism of Trungpa Rinpoche) exclusively for the next 13 years, and since 2020, after having realized that the two ideologies are the same in essence, practices both. More information about Layne Negrin’s work can be found at:   Gurdjieff in Tibet on Amazon: www.amazon.com,   Layne Negrin on Facebook: www.facebook.com.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with David Paul Coleman, professional astrologer, practitioner and teacher in the magical tradition of Franz Bardon, and author of The 26 Keys – The Magic of the Astral Light: A New Approach to Astrology. David has been a professional astrologer for 35 years and a practicing magician for much of that time, having first encountered Bardon’s Initiation into Hermetics in the mid 1990s. In working with this material, he found that he had a particular facility with astral magic and astral traveling, both of which complimented his work with astrology. His blog, Journeys in the Astral Light, contains a large collection of free material related to his unique perspective on astrology. In 2011, he published The 26 Keys as a new way to approach astrology inspired by his initiation and the practice of magic described in Initiation into Hermetics and The Practice of Magical Evocation. This book represents a unique synthesis of magical practice and a penetrating insight into astrological influence. More information about David Coleman's work can be found at:   Journeys in the Astral Light website: astralvisions.wordpress.com,   David Coleman on Facebook: www.facebook.com,   Falcon Books interview with David Coleman: falconbookspublishing.com.

Podcast: This week on The Mystical Positivist, we feature a talk given by hosts Stuart Goodnick and Robert Schmidt at Many Rivers Books & Tea on July 10, 2025. The talk title is The Practice of Patriotism, and the description is as follows: The present moment is fraught with political tension and polarization. Many of us are left wondering what it means to be an American. Spiritual practitioners ask, "what am I called to do in this moment?" Some traditions assert that activism and protest are valid ways to be engaged practitioners. Yet such assertions put the focus on what to do rather than on how to do it. In this talk, Tayu Meditation teachers, Robert Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick, will explore the path to becoming a true American and how the practice of patriotism is less about what actions we take and more about the place within ourselves whence these actions arise. This talk was inspired by an article Stuart Goodnick wrote in 2001 after the Twin Towers fell in New York City. Before commencing with the talk itself, there is the reading of that original article. Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick are spiritual teachers with Tayu Meditation Center, co-hosts of The Mystical Positivist podcast, and co-founders of Many Rivers Books & Tea. Tayu Meditation Center, based in Sebastopol, CA, was founded in 1976 by Robert Daniel Ennis. Grounded in the Fourth Way tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff, Tayu practice emphasises conversation be it within ourselves, with others, and between spiritual traditions. More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at: Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Cultivating Transparency and Languaging Nonduality, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Fourth Way Magic, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Interview by Richard Whittaker.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Neil Douglas-Klotz about his latest book, The Aramaic Jesus Book of Days – 40 Days of Contemplation and Revelation, published this year by Hampton Roads. This latest volume offers new translations from Jesus’ native language in the form of a meditation a day, an oracle, or a guide for a 40-day retreat. Through expansions of Aramaic’s multiple meanings as well as guided contemplations, The Aramaic Jesus Book of Days provides a guide to transformation through the way of the prophet. It shows how the deepest teachings of Jesus address contemporary challenges, such as our relationships with nature and each other, as well as the purpose of life itself. In short chapters, the book takes up life themes you’re facing and offers meditations to address them. Each chapter is introduced with a short saying and keyword of Jesus, heard with “Aramaic ears,” and then proceeds to show how this applies to a life issue today. This book offers a unique perspective on Jesus’s teachings that can help you to connect with them on a deeper level and live a more authentic, fulfilling, and compassionate life. Neil Douglas-Klotz is an internationally known scholar in the fields connecting religious studies (comparative Semitic hermeneutics) and psychology as well as a poet and musician. He is the author of Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus, Prayers of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Gospel and coauthor of The Tent of Abraham with Sister Joan Chittister and Rabbi Arthur Waskow. He is the past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion. More information about Neil Douglas-Klotz's work can be found at: The Abwoon Network website: abwoon.org, Dances of Universal Peace website: dancesofuniversalpeace.org, Neil Douglas-Klotz on Facebook: www.facebook.com, Neil Douglas-Klots on The Mystical Positivist - 2022: mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com, Neil Douglas-Klots on The Mystical Positivist - 2019: mysticalpositivist.blogspot.com.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Billy Wynne, author of The Empty Path: Finding Fulfillment Through the Radical Art of Lessening, published this year by New World Library. Providing an antidote to our never-ending quest for more, mindfulness teacher, successful entrepreneur, and Zen Buddhist Billy Wynne shows that embracing emptiness can declutter the mind and distill our experience of daily life to its essential beauty, clarity and joy. Billy Wynne has studied Buddhism and mindfulness for 30 years. He received lay Zen Buddhist ordination from the Zen Center of Denver, where he now teaches classes and serves on the board. He is also a certified meditation teacher in the Insight tradition under Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. After traveling the world with an NGO that provides medical care to children, Billy launched a career as a health and well-being entrepreneur. He founded and serves as Chairman of Impact Health, a consultancy serving large health care organizations including Cleveland Clinic, Fortune 500 companies, and charitable foundations. In 2020, Billy founded one of the world’s first alcohol-free bars, Awake. Frequently quoted by national news outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, he now helps mission-driven organizations refocus their vision and maximize their impact. In addition to the Zen Center of Denver, Billy has served on the boards of Operation Smile, Health365, and Cherish Children Adoption International. In 2023, he was appointed by Governor Jared Polis to serve on Colorado’s Natural Medicine Advisory Board, which is implementing the state’s new psychedelic therapy program. He received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. For fun, Billy plays keyboard in two improvisational rock bands. He lives just outside of Denver with his wife and co-founder of The Zero Proof Life, Christy, their son, and two shih-poos, Archie and Oscar. Their daughter is in college. More information about Billy Wynne's work can be found at:   Billy Wynne's website: billywynne.com,   The Empty Path at New World Library: newworldlibrary.com.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Mordy Levine, authors of The Beginner’s Guide to Karma – How to Live with Less Negativity & More Peace, published recently by New World Library. Twenty-six centuries ago, the Buddha fleshed out the universal law of the spiritual realm: karma. The law of karma holds that our actions, our words, and even our thoughts inevitably produce effects that return to us in some form — in this lifetime or a future one. Today, most Westerners have a passing familiarity with the concept of karma, which amounts to “what goes around comes around.” This is true as far as it goes, but it merely scratches the surface of a complex and fascinating topic. In The Beginner’s Guide to Karma, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Mordy Levine encourage readers to forget what they’ve heard about karma and look at the subject afresh. Delving into Buddhist scripture and tradition, the authors give a comprehensive outline of karma that incorporates psychology, ethics, and metaphysics. Using everyday language and real-life examples, they clear away myths, illustrate how karma works in daily life, and offer daily practices to build positive karma. The Beginner’s Guide to Karma neatly sums up the Buddhist worldview and makes a compelling case for Buddhism as a way of life that nurtures compassion, joy, and inner peace in an uncertain world. Born in the Amdo region of historic Tibet, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche received a traditional monastic education and later studied under several respected Tibetan lamas. Today, he teaches Vajrayana Buddhism at the Jigme Lingpa Center in San Diego, California, where he lives with his wife and child. Mordy Levine is an entrepreneur, a meditation teacher, and the president of the Jigme Lingpa Center. He also created the Meditation Pro Series, a meditation program designed to alleviate chronic health issues. He lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, with his wife, Elizabeth. More information about Lama Lhanang Rinpoche and Mordy Levine's work can be found at:   Jigme Lingpa Center website: www.buddhistsandiego.com,   Institute for Balance and Movement website: www.mordylevine.com,   The Beginners Guide to Karma at New World Library: newworldlibrary.com.

Podcast: This week on The Mystical Positivist, hosts Stuart Goodnick and Rob Schmidt feature two episodes from the Western Baul Podcast Series recorded earlier this year. In the first hour we present the talk, Cultivating Transparency: Realizing the Emptiness of the Stories You Tell Yourself, and in the second hour we present the talk, Languaging Nonduality. The podcast descriptions are as follows: Cultivating Transparency: Realizing the Emptiness of the Stories You Tell Yourself We could say that all we know about ourselves cognitively are stories we tell ourselves. These are not necessarily obvious to us because they play so constantly. We respond to the universe through the stories that filter our experience. How do we work with this since we can’t think ourselves out of this box? Transparency hints at a different way of relating to stories. Many stories we identify with are cultural views. Stories in and of themselves are not a problem; they are a feature of what it is to be human. It’s when we hold onto stories that they capture our energy and attention so we don’t come back to the present and to the next event gifted to us by the universe. Transparency involves listening, seeing, generosity of spirit to others and ourselves, without reactivity to a story. This is not trivial work and a tool we have is self-observation, which is an energetic and not an analytical act. One feature of mature practice is relaxation of the tense form of attention we compulsively hold. This can allow for humor and for different kinds of spaces or chambers to be created. Belief is an emotional relationship with a lie. When a story turns into a belief, we can’t put it down. Resistance manifests differently in the three centers that are discussed in the Gurdjieff work. It is a rich vein to mine to reclaim energy of attention we’ve invested in story. Conscious suffering is the willingness to be present with resistance. Practice can be seen as an offering rather than as a story with an agenda to wake up. Creativity is an end in itself, the universe doing what it most wants to do. When not bound by our stories, we can accept the universe’s invitations to engage in higher work.is a Western spiritual tradition founded by George Gurdjieff, a mystic of Greek and Armenian origin who taught in Russia, Europe, and America and died in 1949. The system he developed out of his own spiritual search, which is shrouded in mystery, is completely unique and geared toward working with a modern mindset of “waking sleep” in the West. The Fourth Way Tradition has been considered by some to be humorless and dogmatically committed to a rigid system of practices and ideas, but this ignores Gurdjieff’s own flexibility ranging from playfulness to penetrating compassion. Today’s speakers are dharma heirs of Tayu Meditation Center’s founder Robert Daniel Ennis, whose teachings were anchored in the Fourth Way but ranged widely beyond that source material.  Languaging Nonduality Grounded practice gives us direct experience of the pervasiveness of the mechanical, identified mind. Before we have direct experience of something, linguistic representations are ineffective at transmitting what it is. There is a distinction between results and practice. A teaching can be the result of practice, such as loving our neighbor, but we may consider it as a practice that we are unable to embody without having cultivated the necessary quality of being. Seeing the world as non-dual is a result, not a practice. When nonduality is taken as an intellectual proposition, mind pastes over experience and co-opts the spiritual process, which is not realization. There are poets like Ursula Le Guin who use language to “point at the moon” or the sacred. There has to be some work with mind for the intuition and depth of nonduality to take root and inform all aspects of our lives. We may not be in a new paradigm of spiritual practice, but we are in a new paradigm of access to information and teachings. Nonduality is one way among others to talk about reality. Different spiritual approaches work for different people. For many, something has to be dislodged from its static position around the heart. There’s truth to being non-dual and to being dual, which is paradoxical and indicative of a greater mystery. We can be grateful for language that brings our attention to something bigger than the small self. It’s not words but the carrier wave, where someone is coming from, that transmits what words point to. It’s helpful to hang out with people who share spiritual intention. Everyone doesn’t need to be involved in formal spiritual practice; lives are equally valid. The Western Baul Podcast Series features talks by practitioners of the Western Baul path. Topics are intended to offer something of educational, inspirational, and practical value to anyone drawn to the spiritual path. For Western Bauls, practice is not a matter of philosophy but is expressed in everyday affairs, service to others, and music and song. There is the recognition that all spiritual traditions have examples of those who have realized that there is no separate self to substantiate—though one will always exist in form—and that “There is only God” or oneness with creation. Western Bauls, as named by Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American spiritual Master who taught in the US, Europe, and India and who was known for his radical dharma, humor, and integrity, are kin to the Bauls of Bengal, India, with whom he shared an essential resonance and friendship. Lee’s spiritual lineage includes Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Papa Ramdas. Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick are the spiritual directors of Tayu Meditation Center. Rob has made contributions to the practice of anthropological archaeology and currently runs Tayu’s spiritual bookstore in Sebastopol, California, Many Rivers Books & Tea. Stuart is an engineer in a Fortune 500 company and plays the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) as a spiritual practice. More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at: Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com, Western Baul Podcast Website: westernbaul.org.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author the recently released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In today’s conversation, we discuss Ken’s recent English translation of The Diamond Sutra from the Tibetan and his development of a new commentary. The Diamond Sutra is one of the most influential early Mahayana sutras that has been central to a number of Buddhist traditions such as Chan and Zen. It describes a way of being and acting that is not mediated by the conceptual mind. Ken’s approach to his translation and his upcoming commentary is less about understanding the meaning of The Diamond Sutra and more about how to engage with the text so that its magic can infuse and inform the Being of the practitioner. One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. In particular, his approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ken cycled across Europe to Istanbul and then continued his journey overland to India. In 1970 he met his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery near Darjeeling. There Ken began a study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than twenty years. He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher's passing, Ken moved away from the hierarchical structures of Asian Buddhism to explore new approaches. In 1990, he founded Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early '90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual, Wake Up to Your Life. Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Vajrayana (2022), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines. More information about Ken McLeod's work can be found at:  Unfettered Mind website: www.unfetteredmind.org.

Podcast: This week on the show we feature feature a pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author the newly released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In today’s conversation, we unpack a compelling quote from Ian McGilchrist’s book, The Matter with Things: If you had set out to destroy the happiness and stability of a people, it would have been hard to improve on our current formula: remove yourself as far as possible from the natural world; repudiate the continuity of your culture; believe you are wise enough to do whatever you happen to want and not only get away with it, but have a right to it—and a right to silence those who disagree; minimise the role played by a common body of belief; actively attack and dismantle every social structure as a potential source of oppression; reject the idea of a transcendent set of values. One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. In particular, his approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ken cycled across Europe to Istanbul and then continued his journey overland to India. In 1970 he met his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery near Darjeeling. There Ken began a study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than twenty years. He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher's passing, Ken moved away from the hierarchical structures of Asian Buddhism to explore new approaches. In 1990, he founded Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early '90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual, Wake Up to Your Life. Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Vajrayana (2022), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines. More information about Ken McLeod's work can be found at:  Unfettered Mind website: www.unfetteredmind.org.

Podcast: This week on the show, we present a pre-recorded conversation with John Friedlander, author of Recentering SETH: Teachings from a Multidimensional Entity on Living Gracefully and Skillfully in a World You Create But Do Not Control. The Seth books, channeled by the late Jane Roberts in the 1970s, galvanized a whole generation of spiritual explorers. The entity known as Seth turned familiar mystical concepts into a radically new framework and introduced a unique understanding of how we create our own reality with our conscious beliefs. After nearly five decades exploring Seth's ideas, John Friedlander has reframed the groundbreaking Seth teachings, recentering them in the awareness that all consciousness expands in all directions. He synthesizes Sethian teachings with an eclectic variety of concepts and influences, from aura reading, healing, and interpersonal engagement to Buddhism and reincarnation to conscious dying and nondual awareness. He reveals how you do create your own reality, but that no one controls reality, which is spontaneous and surprisingly creative. John Friedlander holds degrees from Duke University and Harvard Law School. He began a formal meditation practice in 1970 and was introduced to Seth's books in 1972. A Member of Jane Robert's original Seth classes in Elmira in 1974, he also studied psychic meditation and aura reading with Lewis Bostwick beginning in 1973. The coauthor of 3 other books, The Practical Psychic, Psychic Development, and Psychic Psychology, he lives in Saline, Michigan. More information about John Friedlander's work can be found at: John Friedlander's Website: psychicpsychology.org.