Mindrolling with Raghu Markus

David chats with Dr. Linda Bender, an advocate, author and educator in the sacred connection shared by humans, animals and nature. Dr. Linda talks about the reality of our connection to all animals - the root word of animal is "animus" which means soul. Dr. Linda says, “When we name and have a relationship with that being - be it a dog or a cat - we recognize that being as an individual - we get to know that individual and that individual becomes special. We are all here together as one and we have a sacred connection to all life.” David quotes from her book, Animal Wisdom: ”We get to know who we are as human beings when we see the reflection of ourself in the eyes of a being that is not human." Animals have psychic abilities - things happen that cannot be explained logically.How do fish instantly move and never bump into each other - how does homing in birds work? Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." How are we doing in that department? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro joins Raghu and David and gives us a little roadside assistance for our spiritual journey. Rabbi Rami certainly reflects the Mindroller’s central theme which is Neem Karoli Baba’s edict of “All One” - there is only One emanation of the Divine. Rabbi Rami says, “To me, religions are like languages - no language is true or false: all languages are of human origin - each language reflects and shapes the civilization that speaks it. Judaism is my mother tongue, yet in matters of the spirit I strive to be multilingual.” He talks about his realizations sitting Zazen and awakening to grace. The Mindrollers have a lively back-and-forth with the Rabbi around the idea of the Jewish uniqueness of being at home with paradox. Argument and doubt are central themes of the Jewish mystical tradition.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lama Tsultrim Allione joins the Mindrollers for a deep chat about our current disturbing world events - how do we as world citizens see how we can help to heal, and how do we get right perspective within ourselves? Part of the path of a Bodhisattva (Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings) is not to turn away - to stay present even if it’s painful - to bear witness. Lama teaches a breath meditation to offer the cool breeze of compassion. Compassion and Bodhicitta (Awakened Heart) rise easily in extreme situations as in some of the heroic moments in Paris - and we can train to develop that part of ourselves. Lama also explains the value and concept of Emptiness - It is freeing when we let go of the solidity of ourselves and the world - it can be magical. And in the Holiday season do we have more pleasure giving or receiving? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Roshi expounds on the transformation of doubt, rootlessness, suffering and meaninglessness into a true “refuge of truth.” At this time of the horrific terror events in Paris, Beirut and Mali, how do we come to terms with severe crisis, either individual or societal? How does the Romantic poet John Keats’s “negative capability” fit into this unavoidable, desperately difficult dynamic of living? Roshi explores the moment of the shock of recognition and how it can change us from the depths. Even the Dalai Lama spoke of those moments of extreme doubt and pain, or as Mr. Dylan sang “Even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked…” Roshi’s upcoming book “Standing At the Edge” is about just this – it’s not all light and love, and yet somehow things can open up after adversity, “the lucky dark” as Roshi wrote. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Early 70’s adventures in the East, leading Michael Daner overland through Europe to Afghanistan and eventually India. What was going on here? This mindboggling journey could never happen now, given the state of the world, but back then, it was a scenario starring many so-called hippies and genuine smugglers, some yearning for the exotic, some desiring money, money, money, and some - Michael, in particular - who eventually graduated from smuggling to seeking…and finding. Included in this tale is an example of Neem Karoli Baba’s wondrous bi-locational capability…plus, as an added extra, a 1980 conversation between David and Bruce Springsteen about his CD “The River”…so please enjoy this picaresque podcast… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mindrollers and friends in Manhattan, with a far-ranging conversation about the incredible scrolls of St. Issa in Tibet and India; Maharaji telling the Westerners to meditate like Christ; the dismissal of mysticism by modern organized religion; David being accused of black magic by Evangelicals, Raghu being dragged into a “men’s group”; tales of sixties Rajneesh followers copulating in the kitchen…and finally, a Shambala Sun inspired rap on the task of making friends with yourself.  Somehow, we end with an anecdote around the amazing Kalu Rinpoche.  It’s all in there and quite a bit more… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What is real love?  What isn’t?  The Mindrollers turn for inspiration to HH The Dalai Lama and the super intense poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, who said “For one human being to love another, that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks”…talk of cultivating inner spaciousness as the ultimate antidote. Jumping off from a Tricycle article, David confesses Johnny Depp envy while Raghu remembers the perverse joy in jealousy…the answer to these neurotic pulls seems always around finding the freeing route to the heart, your own heart.  Sometimes, instead of fervently reaching for another soul, a spell of serious solitude might help that journey.  Speaking to youth, Rilke says: “They have to learn it.  With their whole being, with all their forces, gathered close about their lonely, timid, upward-beating heart, they must learn to love.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Mindrollers challenge a Zen sentiment that teachers are expendable, passionately citing life-transforming personal teaching guidance encountered by both of them. They move on like madmen to the bizarre concept of stool replacement banks for micro biome worries – will Amazon ever offer “good” stool on sale? Once again, we analyze the entropic dangers of too much social media creeping into everything. Do we only know “bits and pieces” of people now? David quotes the the prescient words of Seneca (the Roman humanist saint in Christ’s time) about fecklessly squandering your life away on nonsense, thereby ending life shocked and downed by suffering and mortality. From the horrors of the Coliseum to YouTube addiction, R & D investigate Western civilization’s entertainment obsession. There’s actually even more…check it out for yourself, your Self… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Embrace everything - bad and good, pleasurable and horrible. Chris’s new book, Everything Mind, comes out today. R & D talk with him about its prescient premise that everything – the whole kit and caboodle – from Trump to Ramana Maharshi to the suffering migrant millions to the iPhone 6S Plus - is a legitimate part of the spiritual reality: G-d, The One, whatever, and that this is a necessary and healing component of the spiritual/philosophical inclusion clause – everything is grist to the mill. Even a harsh and hurtful text insult message, even true pain and adversity, even hideous stuff - within you and without you - even Kimye! Chris’s own words on his book: “What I've Learned About Hard Knocks, Spiritual Awakening, and the Mind-Blowing Truth of It All.” Plus David recalls his amazingly counter-intuitive 9/11 kindness experience. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ecstatic kirtan singer/violinist Jahnavi Harrison is with us on the podcast. She tells her unique life story - as a child raised at the 700 year old Bhaktivedanta Manor home in the Hertfordshire countryside. Beatle George Harrison (no relation) had donated the estate to ISKCON, the Krishna movement, in 1973.  Jahnavi talks of her devotional trajectory from being a child brought up in idyllic rural England to singing to Krishna all over the world.  We talk about the cleansing power of the Maha Mantra, her whole life singing kirtan, and finding that back-and-forth love therein and the universal magnetism of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Rama Hare Rama.  You will hear her sing live and from her new CD, “Like A River To the Sea." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.