Guru Viking Podcast

In this episode I am joined by Muho, Sōtō Zen teacher, Youtuber, and previous abbot of Antai-Ji monastery in Japan.

Muho recalls the death of his mother when he was 6 years old, his childhood behavioural problems and time in boarding school, and initial contact with meditation.

Muho shares what he describes as his narcissism, which arose from the death of his mother and a subsequent yearning to be seen; how his desire to be seen has caused difficulties for those around him; and how his thirty years of discipleship under a Zen master in a Japanese monastery collided with these patterns.

Muho also observes that there is something missing in American Zen teachers, disambiguates good and bad reasons for teaching Zen, and explains why he believes sitting meditation is actually good for nothing.

…

Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep357-zen-is-good-for-nothing-muho

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

…

Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
00:54 - Death of Muho’s mother and the beginning of questioning
04:49 - Sent to boarding school
05:35 - First meditation at 16 years old
07:48 - Discovering a connection to the body
10:02 - Reading about Zen Buddhism
11:32 - Studying Japanese and moving to Japan
12:21 - Being the class clown
13:14 - Muho’s narcissism
15:10 - Trouble from describing himself as a narcissist
18:20 - Others’ suffering from Muho’s narcissism
19:31 - How Zen practice affected narcissism
22:01 - “It’s not about you”
24:35 - Vertical and horizontal axis of enlightenment
27:32 - Achieving Buddhahood
30:00 - Should you try to improve yourself?
34:37 - Student projections and exposing the teacher’s flaws
36:16 - Guru as father figure
38:02 - Looking for the perfect leader
39:00 - What is the role of the Zen teacher?
40:31 - Muho’s teaching activities
41:40 - The problem with American Zen teachers
42:21 - What example should a teacher set?
43:38 - Real teachers do not promote their enlightenment
45:11 - Using your teacher to promote yourself
47:14 - A teacher must first be a student
49:00 - Spiritual businessmen and teacher trainings
50:30 - 3 reasons to teach
56:05 - What is missing in Western teachers?
57:05 - Teaching as an expression of gratitude
58:15 - Minimum time before becoming a teacher
59:57 - Signs to become a teacher
01:00:26 - Tragedy of premature teaching
01:02:40 - Muho’s advice for shallow teachers
01:05:01 - Zen has become a game
01:06:25 - Zen is good for nothing
01:07:56 - Techniques, states, and stages
01:11:25 - Play a different game
01:13:48 - Is Zen true or just another method?
01:19:43 - Taking the result as the path
01:22:00 - Do other practices miss the point?
01:25:51 - From samsara to nirvana
01:28:46 - Muho’s Youtube channels

…

To find our more about Muho, visit:
- https://www.youtube.com/@muho
- https://www.youtube.com/@MuhoZen

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this episode I am joined by Ken Wilber, contemporary philosopher, author, and founder of Integral Theory.

Ken recounts his biography and intellectual development including prodigious early reading, major spiritual experiences, and his models of spiritual and psychological development.

Ken reflects on his rise to fame, his deeper motivations for writing, and whether or not his Integral Institute made the impact he had hoped for.

Ken also gives a detailed account of his association with controversial American spiritual teacher Adi Da, weighs the good and bad of Da Free John’s career, considers the source of Adi Da’s shaktipat power, and reveals why he almost joined the guru’s inner circle.

…

Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep356-awakening-to-wholeness-ken-wilber

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

…

Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
00:51 - Steve’s favourite Ken Wilber book
02:01 - Difficulties writing “One Taste”
05:39 - Adolescent interest in developmental psychology
08:53 - Major spiritual experience at 13 years old
09:55 - Comparing stage models
12:24 - Zen Buddhist practice
13:47 - Ken’s first theoretical discovery
15:57 - Different types of wholeness
17:19 - Waking up
17:55 - Growing up
19:00 - Opening up
21:15 - Cleaning up
23:47 - Showing up
24:43 - 4 perspectives of person
28:51 - Ken’s fiction reading and the types of truth
31:11 - Marquis de Sade
32:45 - Why Ken wrote
39:39 - Why participate in the Great Conversation?
41:29 - Who you really are
43:32 - Universal mysticism
45:00 - Two types of religion
53:15 - Dealing with the audience response
56:22 - Being noticed in public
57:50 - Did Ken have collaborators?
01:00:05 - Integral group gatherings and conferences
01:04:22 - Ken’s assessment of the overall impact of Integral theory and the Integral gatherings
01:07:58 - No regrets
01:09:39 - Ken’s opinion of Steve’s work
01:12:23 - Ken’s history with Adi Da
01:17:10 - Invited to be part of Adi Da’s inner circle
01:19:57 - Meeting Adi Da
01:20:59 - When Ken decided not to join Adidam
01:21:57 - Sadness at Adi Da’s death
01:23:53 - William Tsiknas
01:25:22 - Falling in love with Adi Da
01:28:35 - Source of Adi Da’s power
01:28:41 - Ken on Adi Da’s relationship with his teachers
01:32:59 - Adi Da’s pranic transmission
01:35:38 - Muktananda + why Adi Da was drawn to Rudi
01:40:16 - What is shaktipat?
01:43:15 - Post-death contact and ethical controversies
01:45:04 - Feeling the heart transmission of Adi Da
01:47:17 - Ken’s disappointment in Adi Da’s controversial conduct
01:50:54 - Good vs bad of Adi Da

…

To find our more about Ken Wilber, visit:
- https://kenwilber.com/

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this episode, filmed in Sarnath, India, I am joined by Doug Nurnberg, a close student of Tarthang Tulku for over 50 years and project manager and board member of the Sarnath International Nyingma Institute (SINI).

Doug recalls his childhood in a conservative farming family in Kansas, how an out of body experience saw him embark on a search for meaning, and why he sometimes thinks of himself as an “accidental Buddhist”.

Doug describes his 50 year discipleship under Tarthang Tulku; recounts stories of conflict, trust, and unusual teaching methods; and reveals his impressions of the personality and capabilities of Tarthang Tulku the man.

Doug also reflects on work ethic as a path to enlightenment, why he has deferred meditation practice to preserve Tibetan culture and further the aims of his teacher, and the role of esoteric geomancy in the building of grand stupas and statues around the world.

…

Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep355-the-accidental-buddhist-doug-nurnberg

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

…

Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
01:02 - Tour of the Sarnath International Nyingma Institute
09:45 - Library and scripture collections
12:54 - Books by Tarthang Tulku
13:27 - Revelations of Mind
14:39 - Deferring practice to preserve the Tibetan culture
16:30 - Setting up a printing press at Ratna Ling
17:55 - Doug’s childhood in Kansas
19:47 - Accidental Buddhist
20:30 - Excellence in athletics
21:39 - Winning the national championship and an out of body experience
24:16 - Searching for meaning
25:41 - Meeting Tarthang Tulku
28:29 - Conflicts during construction projects for Tarthang Tulku
34:29 - Horses and Tarthang Tulku’s teaching methods
37:59 - Permaculture projects
42:17 - Work ethic as a path to enlightenment
46:04 - Tarthang Tulku’s individualised teaching style
48:37 - Why such grand scale projects?
52:36 - Geomancy and sacred building projects
56:29 - Difficult relationship with Tarthang Tulku
01:01:33 - Leaving in frustration for 10 years
01:03:22 - Family obligations
01:05:37 - Political instability in America
01:08:12 - Family concern about Doug’s involvement with Tarthang Tulku
01:10:40 - Tarthang Tulku the man
01:14:59 - Devotion to the guru
01:17:19 - Tarthang Tulku’s unusual capacities
01:21:21 - Doug’s understanding of Buddhist doctrine
01:27:36 - Gratitude to Tarthang Tulku
01:29:56 - Thinking about death
01:31:14 - Does Doug want to be enlightened?
01:33:19 - Buddhism is a natural state

…

To find our more about Doug Nurnberg, visit:
- https://www.sinibridge.org/team-member/doug-nurnberg/

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this episode I am once again joined by Dr Francisco José Luis, scholar of Indo-Iranian Studies and Comparative Religion trained at the Sorbonne, Paris and SOAS, London.

Francisco shares his research into the links between Indian and Tibetan tantric practices and the mystical teachings of Shi’ite Islam, reveals the prevalence of lucid dreaming techniques in antiquity, and emphasises the importance of the Silk Road in transmitting esoteric knowledge between civilisations.

Francisco discusses the Islamic yogi, Jâbir ibn Ḥayyān; traces the historical tensions between the scholarly, jurist factions and mystics within Shi’ism; and asserts that Iranian Buddhism was a key part of the Islamic Golden Age.

Francisco also argues for significant Islamic influence on Buddhism, the need for a sense of civilisational greatness, and why he believes the time has to come to reignite sacred chivalry.

…

Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep354-islamic-mysticism-tantric-buddhism-francisco-jose-luis

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

…

Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
01:02 - Lucid dreaming techniques in a 19th century Shi’ite text
03:34 - The focal point of the Shi’ite tradition
04:28 - 4 volume Shi’ite encyclopaedia of dreams
06:21 - Links between Tibetan and Shi’ite dream yoga techniques
08:01 - Silk road, Gandhāra, and the internationalisation of Buddhism
09:07 - Jâbir ibn Ḥayyān, the Islamic alchemist and “Buddhist yogi”
11:06 - Iranian Buddhist influence on the Golden Age of Islam
14:26 - The rise of the scholar
16:20 - Islamic influence on Buddhism
17:04 - Practice over dogma in Oḍḍiyāna
19:11 - The influence of Classical Greece
19:51 - Lucid dreaming in antiquity
22:27 - Hesychasm: a Christian breath, body, and mind meditation
25:16 - A prophet is always awake
26:19 - Rosary and the influence of Christianity on Islam
28:01 - Lucid dreaming and the Desert Fathers
31:54 - Sleep deprivation to achieve mystical states
37:51 - Bardo ideas and the Iranian worldview
40:49 - Monastic routine and lucid dreaming
42:57 - Tasks to complete in the dream
43:28 - Angelic possession and contacting the Imam in dreams
50:28 - Is mystical Shi’ism practiced today?
58:22 - Francisco’s initiation and anti-mystical, Occidental materialism
59:20 - Political Shi’ism
01:01:41 - Attachment to matter to the detriment of spirit
01:02:07 - The need for the spirit for civilisational greatness
01:04:13 - Francisco’s mentoring
01:07:14 - Reigniting sacred chivalry
01:08:07 - Plato, Evola, and Traditionalism
01:10:19 - Use of the letter “a” in Shi’ite mysticism and other tantric similarities
01:11:13 - Entheogen use in Iranian mysticism
01:12:06 - Francisco’s mushroom trip
01:13:23 - Francisco’s aims
01:15:22 - Reading recommendations: Henry Corbin and Mostafa Vaziri
01:19;18 - Buddhism in Iran

…

Previous episodes with Dr Francisco José Luis:
- https://www.guruviking.com/

To find our more about Dr Francisco José Luis, visit:
- https://www.instagram.com/hludvig_tradicionalista

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this episode I am once again joined by Rebekah Sturgill, mother, school teacher, and convert to Orthodox Christianity.

Rebekah discusses the contemplative methods of Orthodox Christianity; shares one of the tradition’s core practices, the Jesus Prayer; and discusses the importance of the liturgical year.

Rebekah explorex the phenomenology of a felt sense of Christ, explains the ideal of theosis, and reveals why the imagination is discouraged in Orthodox practice.

Rebekah also details the Orthodox view on demons, compares it to popular depictions in books and films, and offers her own experience of the supernatural dimensions of the spiritual war for the human will.

…

Video version: www.guruviking.com

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

…

Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
00:48 - Practice of Orthodox Christianity
03:37 - Time, community, and individual practice
10:51 - Learning how to be an Orthodox Christian
13:50 - The Jesus Prayer
16:11 - Against the imaginal
17:11 - Breathing practice in the Jesus Prayer
18:51 - Focusing on Christ
22:17 - A felt sense of Christ
24:38 - Phenomenology of meditation
26:49 - False vision and dangers of the imagination
29:50 - Warnings and special experiences
32:29 - Community as a check on spiritual pride
33:52 - Theosis and the goal of Orthodox Christian practice
38:36 - The heat of God
40:42 - Ethics and positive behavioural change
44:57 - The ethical ideal of Christ
47:18 - Angels, demons, and supernatural entities
51:08 - Screwtape Letters and the ontology of demons
53:59 - Theories of demonology
55:35 - War for the human will
58:56 - Levels of understanding
01:01:41 - How much should catechumens be taught about demons?
01:06:00 - Orthodoxy is in vogue

…

Previous episode with Rebekah Sturgill:
- https://www.guruviking.com/search?q=sturgill

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James