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 e...
Nov 10, 2015•55 min
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 ro...
Oct 30, 2015•1 hr 3 min
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 Sene...
Oct 23, 2015•1 hr 3 min
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 m...
Oct 01, 2015•1 hr 7 min
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 Mant...
Sep 24, 2015•1 hr 2 min
Ram Dev (Dale Borglum) of the Living Dying Project explores surfing the edge of the heart approaching consciousness transformation, in life…and death. Who dies anyway? How do we change annihilation fear to being right here, still confidently in the heart chakra? “All fear is fear of death” he maintains, “being trapped in separateness” and how the deeper fright is resistance to death rather than death itself. We talk through wholeness and healing for the living as well as those passing and those ...
Sep 17, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Experience John Lockley’s journey into authentic shamanism after intense and intensive training and initiation. How did a South African Irishman become a real Xhosa sangoma - “dreamer”? What is a shaman anyway? John talks with R & D about using your dreams to heal your deepest psyche’s wounds and traces his path from soldier/medic to Zen to yoga to Nature-master medicine man. He tells us in depth about his healing via dreaming, dancing, chanting and plant-ing… See Privacy Policy at https://a...
Sep 10, 2015•1 hr 8 min
“My yellow in this case is not so mellow” Jimi Hendrix sang. Is it ever cool to be angry? R & D’s wary warnings about the seductively enjoyable taste of anger. Maharaji’s words about anger’s reality, with the crucial caveat to never throw anyone out of your heart. Raghu’s anger is analyzed by… Raghu. David recalls learning to love right wing friends, especially conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Then we talk about Mark Epstein’s take on anger and his very do-able way of dealing with it. Dav...
Sep 03, 2015•1 hr 7 min
Uber useful conversation with wisdom writer Sylvia Boorstein: her clear and helpful grasp of present-ness… her words on true mindfulness cut with goodwill…her thoughts on thoughts, seeing them as always potentially co-operative and not so bad after all. Making friends with the present is just that, even if it startles you, “relax, take a rest, calm down” – R & D listen, interrupt, and have a fine time with Sylvia… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice ...
Aug 27, 2015•1 hr 5 min
Gelek Rimpoche is our honored guest. A reincarnated tulku, a lucid and unpretentious disperser of essential knowledge, Gelek is a treasured being we are so lucky to have in the U.S. Because of the ruthless Chinese invasion, Gelek was forced to leave his beloved homeland in 1959. Tibet’s tragedy became our great fortune. Hear what he has to say about wiping out negative emotions and achieving equanimity. His honest-to-the-bone words about his own basic humanity is a balm for all of us. Rimpoche s...
Aug 20, 2015•1 hr 2 min
The Mindrollers with Duncan Trussell and Noah Lampert host our panel guests from our Indiegogo event. Brian, Brian and George. We get an idea of their awakening triggers, pretty heavy ones at that- and they shine a light on the importance of intention. We all talk about practice and how difficult it is to motivate daily unless you are really up against the wall! Duncan admits to his fall down on learning the Hanuman Chaleesa when he can’t even remember his phone number. David regales us with sac...
Aug 13, 2015•1 hr
Forgiveness wisdom from George Pitagorsky (Balaram) who demonstrates the huge upside of being able to authentically forgive, and how forgiving often benefits the forgiver maybe even more than the forgiven. Is it weakness for a Holocaust victim to embrace one of her tormentors? Wasn’t it incredible for the afflicted Charleston families to espouse forgiveness immediately? George, via both Dzogchen (Great Perfection) and common sense, helps to heal the hating …David apologizes for getting ridiculou...
Aug 06, 2015•59 min
R&D travel down diverse roads to happiness, encountering on the way 50 years since Dylan’s Newport electric war cries; Aristotle’s eudaimonia; Jefferson’s iconic requisite declaration; the crazy off-ramp into consumerism and “the cycle of escalating desire”; Andy Puddicombe’s mega mindfulness app; Google’s Chade-Meng Tan…and the rewards of real seva. Check this out, Pharrell… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...
Jul 31, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Raghu and David bring up a very timely topic - prison reform. BJ Wasserman and Jared “Gagan” Levy discuss Inside Circle, a nonprofit organization that helps prisoners and parolees heal from the inside. We talk about “operational transformation” of men in Folsom prison as a model for the entire prison system. Robert Allbee, founder of Inside Circle, created a concept for the word “spirit” or “God” which the Dagara tribe in Africa call “Yielbongura” - “The thing that Knowledge can’t eat.” This phr...
Jul 23, 2015•56 min
Can we learn to become a Bodhisattava, and what is a Bodhisattva, for G-d’s sake? Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s simple yet brilliant instructions on this path of treating everyone as your “guest”…plus chat about meditating away the neurotic “escape routes” polluting our inner calm, and reactions from both Raghu M. and Ramana M. about being attacked by angry hornets. Finally, David’s thoughts on an irate Facebook comment putting down the ancient sentiment “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting ...
Jul 16, 2015•55 min
Mindrolling through the toll of role playing; the dark art of Trumpism; the Rolling Stones revisited; the Karmapa chanting; spiritual practice as heart/mind rehearsal; the dis-ease of the wandering mind; the magic of Biocentrism & intelligence preceding matter; the amazing Swiffer...plus thoughts on suicide’s sides, Jimmy Carter’s lust in the heart, and the generosity of our listeners…listen… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...
Jul 10, 2015•1 hr 14 min
Thupten Jinpa, HH The Dalai Lama’s English translator, is our truly honored guest. Anyone who has been present at any one of His Holiness’s live events knows how vibrant and deep Jinpa’s translations always are. Jinpa’s new book, “A Fearless Heart: How The Courage To Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives” totally knocked out the Mindrollers, and we are so very pleased to visit with him on the podcast. Just check out Jinpa’s markedly unpretentious yet potent teachings on the real nature of com...
Jul 02, 2015•1 hr 1 min
Raghu and Duncan Trussell have a relaxed hang out with Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot of Upaya Zen Center. They discuss Roshi’s involvement and history with Nepal, and the recent work she’s done there related to the earthquake. Then they have a lively back and forth around the dualistic Bhakti tradition vs. the sublime Zen tradition. Roshi gives credit to what she calls “the juicy love”… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-...
Jun 25, 2015•55 min
Mindrollers’ Miscellany: 5 sagacious slogans to straighten you out at work and play …fetishization of mindfulness…Evan Thompson’s rap about “the mind is not the brain”…”making up people” (ergo reducing people)…”are we kinder, better, more compassionate after decades of teachings?”…walking in the woods along with the witness…and Pico Iyer’s “The Art of Stillness" – right, a jam-packed podcast! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...
Jun 18, 2015•1 hr 12 min
Teal Swan – young psychic intuitive and spiritual mentor - graces us with her vibrant awareness and startling insights. Teal is the real deal, an authentic wisdom channel, motivated by altruism, sharing her preternatural yet totally penetrating - and ultimately useful - knowledge. Coming out of youthful severe suffering, her ways of looking at the world truly move the Mindrollers and explicate what she calls the current global “emotional epidemic” – don’t miss Teal’s world view and her thoughts ...
Jun 11, 2015•1 hr 6 min
Mindful comedian Pete Holmes is our effervescent guest and he talks about...everything, including diametrically opposing views on G-d from two of his podcast guests, Deepak Chopra and Oasis’s Noel Gallagher. His rap about the dangers of Google is funny and profound, his love for Ram Dass and Joseph Campbell tells us where his head is at, and his statement “Leave the transcendent where it belongs – the transcendent” left us laughing and thoughtful… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy ...
Jun 04, 2015•57 min
The Mindrollers examine the Upper East Side Rich Wives Tribe and its rituals…banishing boredom via the cultivation of the awesome…puzzlement at the rise of the selfish…David Brooks's words on spiritual capital…and swooning over the 16th and 17th Karmapas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 29, 2015•1 hr 3 min
Raghu misses Dave - Raghu and Duncan discuss the reality of the physical Guru vs the non - Duncan tells his sighting of Maharaji down by the river- Jared talks Gyan (intellect) yoga and Saraswati counters with Bhakti (heart) yoga- and can we measure the inner world through imagination? Duncan has the last word on the energy behind the thing we call Maharaji. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 22, 2015•1 hr 19 min
The shock of recognition is a phenomenon that can manifest in a teacher’s spoken wise words or a written mindblower or a magical musical moment. We talk through a great Anais Nin paragraph and a Krishna Das sound bite that illuminate this. Plus, what is the difference between reality and pretense in a vision, an icon, or the apparent sudden 3D appearance of a deity? Does so-called objective, provable truth matter if you are inarguably elevated or awakened? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com...
May 12, 2015•55 min
May 06, 2015•52 min
Duncan & The Mindrollers evict pollution-people from the brain, searching for authentic cadences and benign radiations. Plus Duncan rants rationally about self-reliance and the illusions of governance. David recalls almost becoming a right-wing speechwriter and Raghu delights in meeting not one, but two Karmapas, #’s 16 & 17, who seemed to be the same soul. The intense reality of intimate connections, within the oneness of being, begin and end the podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://a...
Apr 29, 2015•1 hr 8 min
David and Raghu introduce a third generation military man- a marine who had a major transformation from PTSD - and re-integrated his trauma through the psychedelic experience. What followed was overwhelming compassion and a direct line to Eastern Mysticism, Ram Dass and the great Buddhist masters. As Ryan says about his healing- “ It sure feels good, on this journey, to stop on the road, drop our packs and break bread with our brothers and sisters”. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...
Apr 24, 2015•1 hr
R&D introduce Bernadine - the newest member of the Mindrolling team… new End of the World situation with Indiana and the Chem trails conspiracy… Karmapa the 17th - at 29 years old yet 1800 years old really - talks to Harvard about LGBT rights, race relations and the environment. And is meditation an obsession of the middle class? As a special treat, Raghu and David read from the sublime poetry of Steven Levine. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at ...
Apr 16, 2015•53 min
Raghu and David hang with longtime friend John Bush as he discusses the making of his upcoming documentary, Journey Om - a pilgrimage to the spiritual heart of India. John tells the tale of getting his Hindu name Krishna from Maharaji and his curious case of mistaken identity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 09, 2015•56 min
From Chatanooga and London to the forest monasteries of Thailand, this couple articulates their clear-as-a-bell vision of credible liberation. Can the grit of suffering become a pearl of consciousness? K & T delight R & D with some R & R from ordinary mind and light up the podcast. They also display pragmatic activist consciousness in their wise words about nurturing Mother Earth. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...
Apr 02, 2015•1 hr
