The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #412 - 18MAR23
Mar 19, 2023
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Join the conversation with Ken McLeod, a visionary Buddhist teacher, as he shares insights on Vajrayana Buddhism, the modernization of traditional practices, embodying deities in rituals, exploring faith versus belief, and the concept of 'samaya'. Dive into the mystical realm of prayer, deity practices, and the importance of poetry in spiritual growth. Connect with the essence of student-teacher relationships, translation nuances, and contrasting approaches to practice in Western culture.
Faith transcends belief, offering a higher form of knowing beyond reason for a deeper engagement with life.
Ritual practices encourage embodiment over visualization, fostering a direct experience with profound engagement.
Transitioning from visualizing to embodying the deity dissolves boundaries, leading to a deeper engagement with practice.
Embracing stillness challenges ingrained habits, highlighting the transformative potential of being in a state of pure being.
Prayer forms a relation with the unknown, breaking enchantments and opening doors to new understanding and experiences.
Deep dives
The Power of Faith as a Higher Form of Knowing
Faith is described as a higher form of knowing, distinct from belief, where encountering something open to it, accepting what is seen or understood, regardless of prior assumptions. This type of knowing transcends reason, operating from a place beyond the conceptual mind, bringing a deeper engagement with life.
Embodiment in Ritual Practices
Ritual practices aim to shift from mere conceptual engagement to embodiment, where the practitioner is encouraged to be the deity rather than visualizing or conceptualizing the practice. This direct experience in the body allows for a more profound engagement with the practice, transcending the limitations of mere visualization or mental constructs.
The Dynamics of Visualization in Practice
Visualization in practice sometimes hinders the direct embodiment of the deity or practice, as it often keeps practitioners in the realm of exerting effort and conceptualizing the experience. Transitioning from visualizing to being the practice can lead to a profound shift where the boundaries between self and deity dissolve, allowing for a deeper engagement.
The Practice of Doing Nothing: A Retreat Experience
The experience of a retreat where the instruction was to 'do nothing' is a powerful reflection on the challenges of embracing stillness. It exposes the ingrained habit of constant doing and reveals the frustrations and ups and downs that arise when confronted with the task of true non-doing. This practice highlights the transformative potential of allowing oneself to be in a state of pure being, without the need for constant action or activity.
Prayer as a Realm of Connection
In the discussion of prayer in the podcast, prayer is presented as a means to form a relation with what one currently doesn't know, serving as an avenue to reach out to the unknown beyond oneself. By going to the edge of what is known and reaching out, individuals engage in a relationship with what they yearn to know or experience, moving beyond the everyday self-perception. The act of prayer is described as a way to break enchantments and open doors to new ways of understanding and experiencing life.
Deity Practice and Dissolution of Self
During deity practice, individuals engage in rituals where they take birth as the deity, live and die as the deity symbolically. Through this repetitive cycle, practitioners dissolve everything they are, feel, and know into nothingness, only to be reborn as the deity each session. This process aims to divest the way one experiences the world of any investment of self, leading to a deeper understanding of life's illusions and transcending the limitations of selfhood.
Interpreting Poetic Instructions in Spiritual Practice
The importance of appreciating poetry in spiritual instructions is highlighted, emphasizing the need to understand metaphorical and symbolic language in teachings. The podcast reflects on the historical loss of relationship with poetry in Western culture, impacting interpretations of spiritual practices. Misconstruing poetic instructions as literal directives can lead to confusion and misinterpretation, underlining the significance of discerning between literal, metaphorical, mythic, and philosophical elements in spiritual teachings.
The Importance of Poetry and Myths in Understanding Life
Engaging with poetry, myths, and ritual thinking helps individuals explore the deep aspects of life beyond surface explanations. By delving into ancient poetry, individuals can grasp the profound truths conveyed through symbolic language, unavailable in ordinary literal expressions. This exploration allows individuals to dive into internal struggles and experiences shared by figures like Christ and Buddha, providing insights beyond conventional scientific explanations.
Navigating the Challenges of Spiritual Practice and Teacher-Student Relationships
The podcast delves into the complexities of spiritual practice, emphasizing the importance of managing challenges and dangers inherent in delving into transformative practices. It highlights the necessity of personal introspection to align one's values with the teachings, avoiding emotional regressions or immature dependencies on teachers. Additionally, it touches on the difficulty of balancing the mythic and rational aspects in understanding spiritual teachings, urging individuals to distinguish between the meaning-providing mythos and the practical navigation of life through logos.
This week on the show we feature a pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, author of the newly released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. The Magic of Vajrayana weaves original translations of instructions, insightful commentary and context about key practices, and authentic personal experiences into a powerful transmission of this vibrant tradition of mystical practice.
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.
After the main podcast conversation, we include a recording of a book event that Ken McLeod gave at Many Rivers Books & Tea in Sebastopol, CA, on March 23rd, 2023. The event includes an extended moderated question and answer segment with a live audience.
More information about Ken McLeod's work can be found at:
