Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
The Mystic, the Psychic, the Paranormal
Jeffry J. Kripal is a bit of an iconoclast when it comes to the study of religion.
He’s more interested in anomalist phenomena – the mystic, the psychic, the paranormal – than he is in things like religious history or the philosophy of religion.
A professor and Associate Dean of Humanities at Rice University, Kripal began his publishing career in controversy. Some Hindu scholars took exception to his 1995 book, Kali’s Child: in which he characterized Hindu saint Ramakrishna’s mystical experiences as homoerotic.
The response to the book wasn’t all negative. Michael Murphy, the cofounder of now iconic Esalen Institute, loved it. Thus began an immersion into the intellectual epicenter of that Big Sur epicenter of the human potential movement, and Kripal’s 2007 book, Esalen: America’s Religion of No Religion.
As Kripal relates in this podcast, his Esalen exploration marked the beginning of the second phase of his work, which he describes on his website as a “history and analysis of the relationship of mind and matter, particularly as this relationship is made manifest in ‘paranormal’ events and experiences, such as mystical experiences, parapsychological phenomena, near-death experiences, abduction events, ufological encounters, and psychedelic states.”
Kripal’s quest is to expand scholarly inquiry into the study of phenomena that can’t be easily explained within the constraints of the scientific method.
“What’s happened in our public culture is we have conflated science and materialism, which is just an interpretation of the science. It’s a good interpretation, but it’s an incomplete interpretation. And it rigorously blocks out all of this stuff I want to talk about, because this is the stuff that drives religion,” he says.
Links:
- Kripal’s personal site
- His Rice University site
- His Amazon page
- Sacred Inclusion Network
- Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group
- Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel
- Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon!
Check out the Diversity and Spirituality’s newest podcast
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Sunday, October 25, 2020
Friday, October 23, 2020
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Take part in a Sacred Conversation for Activists this Thursday. Offered by donation and strictly limited to five participants: https://bit.ly/35gj30P
Monday, October 19, 2020
Join an elite group of five, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Thursday, October 08, 2020
Wednesday, October 07, 2020
Monday, September 28, 2020
Adventures in Meditation
Like a lot of people of my generation, my first exposure to meditation was through Zen. Following the instructions of the teacher, I sat on a cushion with my spine straight and a downward focus. I following the rhythm of my breathing and returned to the breath whenever thoughts intruded. Practicing Zen proved OK for awhile, but after awhile I began to crave something more. It didn’t take me long to learn that there were as many forms of meditation or spiritual exercise as there were physical exercises. One example involves the manner and direction of breathing. Focusing downward towards the solar plexus, results in grounding or a focus on the practical. Focusing on the heart stimulates compassion. Focusing upward tends to open up intuition. Adding other elements, such as visualization, mantra and breathing in a circular fashion – all of these produce different results. This Wednesday, September 30th, we’ll learn and practice two distinctly different forms of meditation: tonglen, which helps the practitioner awaken compassion; and a form of Tantric meditation, which encourages the practitioner to experience the sacredness of all of life. We’ll also learn the Ignatian practice of the Examin, that invites us to find the movement of the Spirit in all the people and events of our day. The Spiritual Practice Exploration will be held at 7-10 pm ET on Wednesday September 30th (check your time zone here). To register or learn more about the facilitators, visit the event page.
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Ready for an Adventure in Meditation? ✨ Wednesday, Sept. 30 7-10 pm: https://bit.ly/spirit-practice
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Friday, September 25, 2020
Into the Mystic
Author Paul Corson had two out-of-body experiences that have shaped his view of the world.
Now 86, he’s now on a mission to share what he’s leaned.
His principal vehicle is his new book, Regaining Paradise: Forming a New Worldview, Knowing God and Journeying into Eternity, "a guided journey into self-knowledge, identity, empowerment, and sublime understanding that will open the mind’s eye.“
But this podcast isn’t really a review of the book
Instead it’s a conversation with two individuals who share a mystical way of being in the world.
The two discuss the nature of miracles, the relationship between spiritual substance and the material world, and Corson’s born-again experience.
"The human experience… is a flat out veritable, literal miracle. , Once you realize that you’re a miracle, that you’re never going to die, it’s kind of changes things. You’re not running to buy that new car because you have all this time in the world. You know that you’re going to be living in eternity,” Corson said.
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Corson is a former pharmacist who established a protocol for the treatment of HIV/AIDs. He received the 2000 Philadelphia Hero Award for his contributions in support of AIDs survivors.
Links:
- Paul’s website
- Sacred Inclusion Network
- Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group
- Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel
- Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon!
Check out the Diversity and Spirituality’s newest podcast
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