The Sacred Speaks

Many people make mystical claims about their worldview, but few can articulate their view in a way similar to Rabbi Jeff Roth. In this episode, Rabbi Roth explains that he views the fundamental problem of human existence as a rift between the human being and the divine. He explains that this rift created the ground of what we call evil. Rabbi Roth locates the origin point of the split between the divine and the human as the formation of the conceptual, thinking mind and language. He draws from mystical Jewish and Buddhist practice. Rabbi Roth’s understanding of the various problems with different translations of the original stories from the Torah supports his approach of deconstructing the original language used in both The Torah and The Zohar. This process of understanding and deconstructing takes an act of awareness, contemplation, and a handle on the original language systems used to communicate foundational stories in, not only the Judeo-Christian myth, but also any story that human beings have identified that reflects the origins of creation. Bio Rabbi Jeff Roth is the founder and Director of The Awakened Heart Project for Contemplative Judaism. He was the co-founder of Elat Chayyim where he served as Executive Director and Spiritual Director for 13 years. He is the co-leader of the Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training program and has facilitated of over 190 Jewish meditation retreats. He is the author of, Jewish Meditation Practices for Everyday Life and Me, Myself and God, both from Jewish lights Publishing. https://www.awakenedheartproject.org Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Song of the week from Slaid Cleaves https://www.slaidcleaves.com Music page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/breakfast-in-hell/380426781?i=380426816 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

The discussion today centers on Dr. John Beebe’s ideas about psychological types as inspired by Jung’s understanding and articulation of this theory of personality. Dr. John Beebe is the leading expert on the subject, so much so that in the forthcoming release of Jung’s collected works on Psychological Type will include an introduction by Dr. Beebe – an honor of the utmost order. Dr. Beebe and I explore how the psychological types show up in film and how viewing films through this lens may enable someone to understand the various types and the dynamics between them better. Dr. Beebe explains how our early history provides the framework for our attitudes to organize themselves in service to making sense of the world. Conflicts between each other and ourselves are usually, in part, a consequence of the different attitudes and functions of the personality misunderstanding each other given their differences between how each of these comes to experience and know what it experiences. John identifies Hamlet as a means by which we may see the personality types play out. Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: The Chemistry Set Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

How does a young man growing up in an “under resourced” community make sense of the mystical experiences that began at the age of 14 years old spending time with friends? By making his exploration of African American religion and theology the center point of his spiritual and academic development – and helping others through the process. This episode explores Cleve’s development and the dissertation that has provided him the container to examine his thinking as it relates to those thoughts and thinkers who have influenced him. At Princeton Theological Seminary, Cleve, began to expand his understanding of the great thinkers within Black Theology and African American Cultural studies including people such as Hortense Spillers, W.E.B. Du Bois, Cornell West, James Cone, Martin Luther King Jr, and others. Cleve provides a deeper understanding of Black critical thought, and how this intellectual tradition has influenced religion and culture. Interwoven into this rich conversation, we also discuss personal symbols for Cleve such as how N.W.A provided a means by which Cleve, as a young guy, began to understand his cultural upbringing and the basic struggle as an adolescent boy – in particular what factors shaped his understanding of himself, of his religion, and of his community. Bio: Cleve V. Tinsley IV is an ordained Baptist minister, scholar of religion and African American culture, and community social justice strategist based in Houston, TX. He is currently the Co-Managing Partner of projectCURATE—a non-profit social impact enterprise and intersectional justice collaborative—and a PhD candidate in the Department of Religion at Rice University. Cleve’s research focuses on critical understandings of the wider social scientific and historical approaches to the study of religion in general and African-American religion in particular. His current research explores the relationship between religion, black freedom struggles, and African-American formations in America and argues for more expansive sociological approaches to studying the meaning and nature of black religious identity given the complexity of religion and spirituality in the lives of African Americans today. Cleve also works as a research fellow in the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) at Rice and, prior to his doctoral training, earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv) at Princeton Theological Seminary. Cleve has worked in the past as a pastor and consultant for several churches and educational non-profit organizations in the US South and on the East Coast. www.projectcurate.org Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Abstract Rude and Tribe Unique https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/p-a-i-n-t/306865459 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

This conversation does not begin with any theory; it begins with racism, violence, and fear – all within the first decade of the life of today’s participant, Pastor Rudy Rasmus – to which he concludes, ultimately, the centrality of love. How he did this is the core theme of our conversation and what he has made primary in his mission of life - that he truly lives out on a daily basis. Rudy positions his early childhood trauma as a prerequisite for wisdom and his capacity to see through the masks that many people wear so that he can teach people how to love and accept themselves and others. This conversation will invite you to investigate how you love, how you are loved, and how you could express love for others. Bio: Rudy Rasmus is a pastor, author, and a humanitarian with a passion for outreach to the world’s most challenged communities. From Rudy’s previous life of owning and operating a “borderline bordello,” today he co-pastors the St. John’s Church in Downtown Houston with his wife Juanita. A church that began with 9 existing members in 1992, St. John’s has grown to thousands where every week people of every social and economic background share the same pew. He attributes the success of the church to a compassionate group of people who have embraced the vision of tearing down the walls of classism, sexism, and racism and building bridges of unconditional love, universal recovery, and unprecedented hope. Thanks to generous support from a collaboration of government agencies and a significant donation from Tina, Beyoncé, and Solange Knowles the St. John’s Downtown campus includes the Knowles-Temenos Apartments, a 43-unit Single Room Occupancy development designed to provide permanent living accommodations for formerly homeless women and men. Temenos CDC portfolio also includes an 80-unit apartment community to meet the growing need for permanent supportive housing for the previously homeless in Houston, Texas and a 15-unit apartment project for chronic inebriates and the most vulnerable homeless individuals in the Houston community. Pastors Rudy and Juanita founded the Bread of Life, Inc. (a not for profit corporation) in December of 1992 and began serving 500 meals per day to the homeless in the sanctuary at St. John’s. Years later the Bread of Life has changed the landscape of Downtown Houston providing an array of services to homeless men and women. The project also distributes over 9 tons of fresh produce weekly to hungry families. St. John’s is one of few faith communities in the U.S. providing HIV/AIDS testing to churchgoers on Sundays through the innovative “Get Tested Project.” For many years Pastor Rudy has coordinated domestic and global anti-hunger initiatives in conjunction with Beyoncé’s concert tours and travels extensively developing and supporting programs around the world for people experiencing poverty. Today, with a focus on social impact investing, the Bread of Life owns and operates Eco Life Employment LLC, a digital employment and staffing agency for men and women with troubled past lives and the Amazing KMAZ 102.5fm radio station. Rudy and Juanita have been married for 32 years and are the proud parents of two outstanding daughters, Morgan and Ryan, a phenomenal Son-in-Law, Hamilton, and an amazing grandson Website: https://www.pastorrudy.net Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: BADBADNOTGOOD http://badbadnotgood.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/confessions-pt-iii-feat-colin-stetson/1327052545?i=1327052553 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

In today’s episode Dr. Bill Barnard and John explore some of the fundamental definitions and aspects of consciousness and the study of consciousness. Bill is a professor of religious studies and passionately studies William James and Henri Bergson – both early thinkers in the world of religion, psychology and consciousness. The conversation touches upon some of the basic overview of the study of consciousness including materialism, idealism, determinism, dual and non-dual traditions, psychedelics, and meanders through the dynamic between the materialist reductive thinking about consciousness juxtaposed with the non-dual traditions. Dr. Barnard also discusses his study of entheogens in religious contexts, primarily as sourced by the Santo Daime tradition. Bio: Dr. G. William Barnard, (B.A. Antioch University; M.A. Temple University; Ph.D. University of Chicago) is a Professor of Religious Studies, as well as a University Distinguished Teaching Professor. His primary areas of research interests are the comparative philosophy of mysticism, religion and the social sciences, contemporary spirituality, religion and healing, and consciousness studies. Professor Barnard is currently researching the Santo Daime tradition, a syncretistic, entheogenically-based new religious movement that emerged in Brazil in the mid-twentieth century. He teaches a variety of courses: Magic, Myth, and Religion; Mysticism: East and West; Understanding the Self: East and West; Introduction to Primal Religions; Wholeness and Holiness: Religion and Healing Across Cultures; Waking Up: The Philosophy of Yoga and the Practice of Meditation; Ways of Being Religious; Living from the Heart (of it All): An Exploration of Mystical/Spiritual Ethics; Plants of the Gods: Religion and Psychedelics; and a graduate core seminar: History, Theory, and Method in Religious Studies. Professor Barnard is the author of Living Consciousness: The Metaphysical Vision of Henri Bergson as well as Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism, both published by State University of New York Press. In addition, Professor Barnard is the co-editor of Crossing Boundaries: Essays on the Ethical Status of Mysticism. Professor Barnard has also written many journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics, such as pedagogy in religious studies, the nature of religious experience, and issues in the psychology of religion. He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers and has received the Godbey Lecture Series Authors’ Award for both Living Consciousness and Exploring Unseen Worlds. He has also received the Golden Mustang Outstanding Faculty Award for teaching and scholarship as well as the SMU Mortar Board Honor Society Award for teaching excellence. He was also awarded an American Academy of Religion Individual Research grant. Website: https://www.smu.edu/Dedman/Academics/Departments/ReligiousStudies/FacultyStaff/Barnard Music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

This episode begins with Count explaining his professional background in the music business as a musician, producer, engineer, & writer. Considering that his career spans both pre and post internet revolution, he is well placed to critique the positive aspects of the internet and also the dark side of the “internet of free.” We explore the economics of creativity on the internet and how this new economy has transformed the music industry in particular, but also how this process bleeds into arenas such as journalism and retail. Count works to debunk a number of the common misunderstandings of the freedom of the internet. Count has created part one of the three part documentary which has received critical acclaim. Those interviewed within the documentary include David Byrne, Noam Chomsky, US Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Jonathan Taplin (Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese), Steve Knopper (Rolling Stone), Rob Levine (Billboard magazine), Matt Mason (Bit Torrent), John Perry Barlow, Lawrence Lessig, and other key voices, alongside personal stories from musicians, filmmakers, authors, and creators of all kinds. Bio: San Francisco based producer, Count [AKA Mikael Eldridge], has been involved in just about every aspect of the music business. He has worked for indie and major labels, scored films, and has worked as producer, engineer, mixer, and remixer for artists such as DJ Shadow, Frank Sinatra, Radiohead, John Cale [Velvet Underground], No Doubt, New Order, RUN DMC, Tycho, Zoe Keating, Galactic, Trombone Shorty, The Bee Gees, Thievery Corporation, and many more. With his own bands Inu and Halou, Count has toured the US and performed live at shows such as Seattle's Bumbershoot festival, The San Francisco International Film Festival, the SF Museum of Modern Art, Filter Magazine's Culture Collides Festival and more. Count is currently directing the documentary Unsound, which is about the impact that internet revolution is having on all creators. He has become a vocal advocate on artist rights issues, speaking at The Future of Music Summit, C2SV, SXSW, Grammys on the Hill, and several international summits. Count is also currently involved in the C3 (Content Creators Coalition), which is helping to organize a collective voice to deal with issues affecting creators in the Internet age. Website: https://www.unsoundthemovie.com https://www.vertebraeproductions.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Inu and Tycho Inu: https://www.vertebraeproductions.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/not-for-anyone/373655312 Tycho: http://www.tychomusic.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/epoch/1154577700 https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/awake/793928184 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

In this episode of The Sacred Speaks, John Price speaks with Dr. Rachel Harris about her book, Listening To Ayahuasca, and other related topics. Following her early experience in meditation and body practices at Esalen and with Suzuki Roshi, Dr. Harris formalized her interest in research focusing on the various ways that we may treat human suffering and then she experienced Ayahuasca in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Following her personal experience, she wanted to research “religious experience” as it manifests within the various reports that people provide following their own Ayahuasca journey. She explains the design of her studies and explores aspects of the biology of psychedelics, in particular, a network of the brain called the Default Mode Network, a network of brain structures “quieted” during psychedelic experience and meditation. The DMN is the “generator of our ego” it maintains the constructed world and self. Not only does Dr. Harris speak to the western approach to both the research-based use of psychedelics and the recreational use, but she also speaks to the worldview of indigenous cultures and how this metaphysical view that sees the world as alive has influenced and conflicted with the typical western worldview. While grounding her work in the Ayahuasca, her research reaches far beyond the experiences of Psychonauts and into the minds and homes of each and every one of us who seeks to transform the daily and the mundane. Bio: Psychologist Rachel Harris, Ph.D. is the author of Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD and Anxiety. She was in private practice for thirty-five years working with people interested in psychospiritual development. During a decade working in research, Rachel received a National Institutes of Health New Investigator’s Award and published more than forty scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals. She has also consulted to Fortune 500 companies and the United Nations. Rachel was in the 1968 Esalen Residential Program, Big Sur, CA. This intensive six-month program focused on meditation and bodywork. In the early seventies, Rachel studied with Dorothy Nolte in the movement system, Structural Awareness, based on Dr. Ida Rolf’s Structural Integration (Rolfing). Rachel also co-edited the Journal of the American Dance Therapy Association for three years. Awareness of how people live and move in their bodies has always been an aspect of Rachel’s approach to psychotherapy. During the mid-eighties into the early aughts, Rachel led workshops at Omega Institute, NY and Esalen Institute, CA. She wrote Twenty Minute Retreats: Revive Your Spirit in Just Minutes a Day with Simple, Self-Led Practices (NY: Holt, 2000). This book describes many of the psychological, meditative and body awareness exercises she taught in her workshops. In 2005 Rachel traveled to a retreat center in Costa Rica and serendipitously found herself with the opportunity to drink ayahuasca with Ecuadorian shamans. The morning after her first ceremony, Rachel began asking questions about the therapeutic potential of this medicine. She conducted a three-year research project with Lee Gurel, Ph.D. that resulted in “A Study of Ayahuasca Use in North America,” published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (Summer, 2012). Website: https://www.listeningtoayahuasca.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Taylor Young https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/taylor-young-of-the-os-premieres-new-single-shine-on-me-11178400 https://www.instagram.com/tayloryoungmusic/ Music page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shine-on-me/1436712697?i=1436712972 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

In this episode, John Price speaks with music therapist, Jennifer Townsend, about music and music therapy. We discuss the definition of music therapy, the biological aspects of performing and listening to music, how concepts from physics have informed the connecting and healing processes of music therapy, the uses of music therapy as an aid in brain development following a trauma, relationship bonding when coming together on the “beat”, and other topics. Jennifer offers the listener stories of the healing aspects of music within populations ranging from those affected by acute psychosis, and non-responsiveness, she explains the rapport building dimensions of music in relationship and notes how music can reduce anxiety amongst those who have been traumatized. While listening to this episode, one thing becomes clear: that there are profound reasons why many of us will spend more of our time and money on music than sex and drugs (medical and otherwise). Bio: Jennifer Townsend, MMT, MT-BC, is the Program Manager for Music Therapy at Houston Methodist. In this capacity, she has overseen the growth of music therapy across the system of Houston Methodist hospitals, led research initiatives in music therapy and music medicine, and provides clinical supervision to the Houston Methodist creative arts therapy team of eight. She has published articles on technology in music therapy, music therapy in epilepsy treatment, music therapy in NICU, and published a chapter on Medically Fragile Children in Guidelines for Music Therapy Practice in Pediatrics. Website: https://www.musictherapy.org http://www.cbmt.org Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Grace Kali https://gracekali.com https://twitter.com/thegracekali Music page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/grace-kali/1396993208 https://soundcloud.com/gracekali https://www.amazon.com/Sign-Times-Grace-Kali/dp/B07DMGDTY7 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

This episode begins with Matthew and I exploring his history growing up with the fundamentalist wing of religion in Christianity. Matt’s story is one of coming to terms and wrestling with the religion of his youth and through that process asking challenging to grapple with questions. We discuss power structures within and between groups ranging from economically bound systems to geographically connected and disconnected networks. Matt’s dissertation looked at trauma and the narrative that five women maintained about their religious and philosophical worldview following overwhelming trauma. Matt offers a perspective on religion that is often not included in many religious and academic circles, atheist or theist alike. Bio: Matt is currently on staff at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston Texas as the Senior Associate Pastor, is the Co-Managing Director of projectCURATE, a social action and racial equity non-profit, Executive Director of Iconoclast Artists, a creative arts program in Houston and Galveston’s urban schools that has over 600 weekly participants and is Assistant Professor of Recovery Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. Prior to this he was on faculty at Duke Divinity School as professor of Practical Theology and Community Development. In 2013, he completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge’s Psychology and Religion Research Group (PRRG) where he explored redemptive narratives and models of social justice movements rooted in religious communities. He received his Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and completed his PhD at Texas Tech University in 2010. His dissertation explored how women construct alternative narratives of redemption from years of sustained trauma and abuse. While at Texas Tech he was the Associate Director at The Center for the Study of Addiction, responsible for the replication model helping to establish collegiate recovery communities in campuses across the United States. From 1996-2008 he was Associate Pastor of Houston’s Chapelwood United Methodist Church and founding pastor of Mercy Street. Matt is married to his best friend Michele and they have 3 crazy boys: Miguel (15), Lucas (14) and Gabriel (11). Website: https://www.projectcurate.org http://www.stpaulshouston.org/staff/ Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: Ghostface Killah and BADBADNOTGOOD https://www.facebook.com/GhostfaceKillahOfficial/ http://badbadnotgood.com Music page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sour-soul/952769969 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks

This conversation explores the research into religion. Ken began his academic search when he started to ask deeper question about the nature of human experience such as morality, values, how people can live better lives, and he is a skeptic and seeking to ground his work in empirical research. Dr. Pargament discusses the relationship between attachment and religion - how one’s developmental history and environment interrelate and often informs one’s relationship with “God.” Dr. Parament’s work involves looking at each person’s religious experience and asking them questions about the nature of that relationship to the sacred in their lives. How have they come to relate to the divine – theist and atheist alike? His research helps us understand not only the nature of the relationship but also the outcome of the relationship. One question he asks is: How has one's relationship to the divine impacted how that individual copes with suffering? “From a talk presented at Harvard: Empirical studies indicate that people attribute sacred qualities to many aspects of life, such as relationships, nature, work, virtues, and the body. Perceptions of sacredness have important implications for health and well-being. A growing body of research indicates that people are more likely to: (a) organize their lives around sacred goals and values; (b) preserve and protect aspects of life they hold sacred; and (c) invest more of their resources into and derive greater satisfaction and meaning from sanctified objects. However, perceptions of sacredness can be problematic when: (a) people experience the loss or violation of what they hold sacred; (b) when they imbue inappropriate objects (e.g., drugs, violence, despots) with sacred qualities; and (c) when people are intolerant of divergent views of the sacred.” (https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/rshm/event/dr-kenneth-pargament-sacred-matters-spirituality-vital-aspect-health-and-well-being). Bio: Dr. Pargament's nationally and internationally known research addresses religious beliefs and health. His current research program addresses how elderly people who struggle with their religious beliefs and hold negative perceptions about their relationships with God and life meaning have an increased risk of death, even after controlling for physical and mental health and demographic characteristics. He also studies the process by which people create perceptions about the sanctity of aspects of their life activities and the beneficial effects of "sanctification" for individual and interpersonal well-being. A strong emphasis on this work is how individuals and couples "sanctify" their marriage and how that sanctification is a strong predictor of marital quality and stability. Dr. Pargament won the 2000 Virginia Staudt Sexton Mentoring Award from the American Psychological Association for his generous work in encouraging both faculty, undergraduate, and graduate research in the psychology of religion. Website: https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-demographic-research/about-cfdr/research-affiliates/kenneth-i-pargament.html Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Band of the week: The Hundred Inevitables https://www.facebook.com/thehundredinevitables/ Music page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/decade-of-downtime/1017437376 Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks