Discussing his new book, The Intimate Way of Zen, Nondual spiritualist James Ishmael Ford joins Raghu for an exploration of our relationship to all things.

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This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and James explore:

• James’ upbringing and how his maternal grandmother was the spiritual orientation for his family
• Having an intimate relationship with all things
• The goal of discovering what this life truly is
• Spiritual friendship which is deep, profound, and life-changing
• Unconditional love and considering our judgment of others
• Trying to see others as trees, as Ram Dass taught
• Combining Bhakti Yoga with the wisdom of Buddhism
• Flirting with nihilism, cynicism, and new-ageism
• Exploring the work of Carl Jung and James Hillman
• The resurgence of psychedelics in today’s culture
• The many paths and doorways into enlightenment

Check out the books referenced in this episode: Zen at the End of Religion, If You're Lucky Your Heart Will Break, and of course, The Intimate Way of Zen.

About James Ishmael Ford, Zen Buddhist Priest & Ordained Minister:

James has walked the​ spiritual path for more than fifty years. He's danced with Sufis, studied with Christian mystics, lived in Buddhist monasteries, and eventually was ordained a Zen priest. Later, he was also ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister. James' path has taken him to a life "between" several traditions, bringing him into a nondual spirituality. Trying to unpack what that actually means in his life, and with a tip of the hat to Erasmus, James claims a physiology of faith; a Buddhist brain, a Christian heart, and a rationalist stomach. You can learn more about James on his website and keep up with his most recent project, the Unanswered Question Newsletter, HERE.

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“For me, the goal is to find 'what is'. I originally framed it as 'Is there a God?’ I realized I had the question wrong, and at some point it was 'what is God?'. Today, I would say, 'what is this?'” – James Ishmael Ford

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Exploring psychedelics as sacramental medicine, Mindrolling comrades David Silver and Raghu Markus discuss William Richards' book, Sacred Knowledge.

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This week on Mindrolling, Raghu and David ponder through:

• The relationship between psychedelics and religious experiences
• The tale of Ram Dass, Neem Karoli Baba, and LSD
• Responsible use of psychedelics for reliability and potency
• David’s experience with peyote shamans in South Dakota
• Finding out the ground of our own beings
• Viewing everything as God and everything as equally remarkable
• How spiritual awakenings are often initially nurtured through a psychedelic substance
• Considering set, setting, and our intentions before ingesting any entheogen
• Complete unity as Raghu’s first memory of a psychedelic experience

Check out the book referenced throughout this episode: Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences

About David Silver:

David Silver is the former co-host of the Mindrolling podcast. He is a filmmaker and director, most recently coming out with Brilliant Disguise. Brilliant Disguise tells the unique story of a group of inspired Western spiritual seekers from the 60s, who in meeting the great American teacher, Ram Dass, followed him to India to meet his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, familiarly known as Maharaj-ji. Two days before he left his body, Maharaj-ji instructed K.C. Tewari to take care of the Westerners, which he did resolutely until the day he died in 1997. Silver’s #1 charting MGM/UA/Warners film, “The Compleat Beatles” is the critically acclaimed biopic movie about history’s most famous band. The term ‘rockumentary’ was first applied to this two-hour movie. Rolling Stone recently described the film as a “masterwork.” Silver’s Warner Brothers’ feature film, “No Nukes” also started the whole trend of music/activism feature documentaries.

“When you take these substances, you must have the right atmosphere, the right people with you, the right reason for doing it. These things have to be thought very carefully about.” – David Silver

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Author and meditation teacher Kimberly Brown explains how we can transform our relationships through Buddhist practices and principles.

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This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Kimberly discuss:

• How Kimberly was led to the dharma after experiencing panic attacks
• Kimberly’s journey leaving therapy practice and delving deeper into mindfulness
• How relationships can become stale and predictable when we solidify our partner
• Opening up to who our partner is in the moment rather than our idea of them
• The difference between love and a yearning to possess or cling
• Love as a deep intimacy with all things
• Accepting rupture and miscommunication as a normal part of relationships
• Being able to repair after a conflict arises within a relationship
• Approaching all things with grace and openness
• Loving-kindness and looking at the intention behind all of our actions
• Not skipping over the relational to get to the ultimate

Grab your copy of Kimberly’s book, Happy Relationships, to learn more.

"To solidify and harden another person and another person's reactions and voice, there's no more freshness and the relationship can get very stale and predictable. That's oftentimes when resentment comes up. Part of not knowing is being able to open to what's really there, who the person really is right in this moment." – Kimberly Brown

About Kimberly Brown:

Kimberly Brown is a popular Buddhist meditation teacher and Certified Mindfulness Instructor and since 2011 she has led thousands of classes, retreats, and workshops with individuals and groups merging self-compassion, emotional resilience, mindfulness, and Buddhism. As a leading voice in the contemporary meditation community, she teaches public classes regularly at the Rubin Museum, Mindful Astoria, Shantideva Meditation Center, and All Souls Church. She works in private practice both one-on-one and with companies and non-profit groups. She is a faculty member and Senior Instructor in The Interdependence Project’s esteemed Mindfulness Teacher Training program. She is an accredited teacher and member of the Mindful Directory and the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. She balances her two decades of traditional Buddhist training and study with Western therapeutic modalities. Her background includes psychoanalytic training at Washington Square Institute, a master’s degree from City College of New York, and undergraduate study at Hunter College. She has extensive formal meditation retreat experience at Insight Meditation Society, Palypung Thubten Choling, and the Garrison Institute, and has received in-depth teachings from meditation masters Ponlop Rinpoche, Lama Norlha Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Sharon Salzberg, and Venerable Pannavati.

Keep up with Kimberly on her website.

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Visionary Artist, Amanda Sage, joins Raghu to talk about using art as a tool for transformation and awakening.

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This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Amanda discuss:

• How Amanda ended up in the midst of the psychedelic art world
• Visionary experiences from meditation and community
• Combining visionary art with techniques from the old masters
• Art as a tool for transformation rather than just a commodity
• The technology of sacred art and artists as small blooms of awakening
• How LSD helps Amanda see the finer layers of reality
• The flow state of creation and being guided through the artistic medium
• The Telepathy Tapes, a documentary podcast about telepathic communication
• Meditation as an active meditation and opportunity for transmission
• The value of togetherness and tuning into the same creative channel
• Large-scale longing for a connection to spirit
• Amanda’s work, The Great Wave of Trainsformation

Check out Vision Train, Amanda’s co-creative space.

About Amanda Sage:

Amanda Sage is an artist driven to contribute to the development of regenerative culture by using painting as a tool for transformation within the individual and collective. Her paintings represent multidimensional aspects of humanness in harmonious balance, inspiring a re-membering of an energetic inter-connectedness that is present and shared with all things. Learn more about Amanda on her website.

“Painting, you transmit a story. There’s a transmission that happens beyond words. It’s an interesting technology and tool that has been used by humans through the ages. What is the broader opportunity, especially now in this world that we live in, for art to be a tool for transformation.” – Amanda Sage

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Recognizing the beauty in being human, Raghu and John Tarrant discuss incorporating the qualities of both soul and spirit into our lives.

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This week on Mindrolling, Raghu and John discuss:

• John’s work with protecting Aboriginal land rights
• How taking a Tibetan retreat changed the course of John’s life and directed him to Zen
• Emptiness and love as the same principle
• How each piece of the universe contains the entire thing
• Reaching a crystalline view of reality through Buddhist practice
• The importance of spiritual clarity and the mistake of rejecting our inner life
• Qualities of soul/spirit and the beauty of being human
• The parts of life we may miss with an over-focus on spirituality
• Not disapproving of what our hearts bring up in meditation
• Jungian psychology, shadow work, and dream work
• Stories that go into the psyche in a non-rational way
• Bringing the imagination into Buddhism
• The peace of the Buddha found inside our daily lives
• The necessity of working with the inner life
• A short, guided practice from John

About John Tarrant:

John Tarrant is a Western Zen teacher and director of the Pacific Zen Institute, which has centers in California, Arizona, and Canada. He teaches and writes about the transformation of consciousness through the use of the Zen koan and trains koan meditation teachers. Tarrant is from Australia, he came from an old Tasmanian family and grew up in the City of Launceston on Bass Strait. His early influences included English literature, especially poetry, the Latin Mass, the Tasmanian bush, and Australian Aboriginal culture. Tarrant worked at many jobs, ranging from working as a laborer in an open-pit mine, to commercial fishing the Great Barrier Reef. Eventually, he also worked as a lobbyist for the Aboriginal land rights movement. Check out Tarrant’s book, The Story of the Buddha, or learn more about his work and events on his website.

“Being at peace is to be at peace with the whole of you, with your soul, your frustration, your anger. They can appear, but you’re not fighting with it. In some way they fertilize your practice like rain on the earth.” – John Tarrant

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Getting down to earth and into the heart, Rebecca Bradshaw joins Raghu to discuss balancing masculine and feminine energy in the dharma.

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This time on Mindrolling, Raghu and Rebecca chat about:

• Rebecca’s journey of waking up and finding her path
• Earth-based religions and getting down to earth
• Rebecca’s 5-month stint in silent meditation
• Approaching practice from the heart rather than the mind
• Discovering the feminine archetype within the dharma
• The masculine energy often found within Buddhist communities and early scriptures
• Going deep down within the receptive heart space
• Cultivating intimacy with all things and focusing on relationship
• Dissolving the three roots of suffering (greed hatred and delusion)
• The practice of useless gazing and surrendering to the moment without an agenda
• Acclimating to the truth of impermanence and letting go of the need to control
• The acquired taste of being open and working at it over time

Snag a copy of Rebecca’s book, Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Hear, HERE

About Rebecca Bradshaw:

Rebecca is Guiding Teacher Emeritus of the Insight Meditation Society and the Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley in Easthampton, Massachusetts. She has been practicing Buddhist Vipassana meditation since 1983 in the United States and Myanmar (Burma) and teaching since 1993. She completed her dharma teacher training at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where she is part of the three-month retreat teacher team and leads retreats for young adults. Rebecca has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked as a bi-lingual (Spanish/English) psychotherapist. Her upcoming book, Down to Earth Dharma, was published by Shambhala Publications in November 2024. Check out Rebecca’s website, HERE.

“There’s this emphasis on transcendence, energetic striving, independence, and all these things that are in the masculine archetype. They felt like some balance was missing, that’s how it felt to me, and that a lot of it had to do with dropping into the heart, dropping into the body, feeling.” – Rebecca Bradshaw

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