Mindrolling With Raghu Markus

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!

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 on neglect, marijuana, love – she is as clear as a bell…

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…

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.

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.

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?

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

Alchemizing rebel anger into Buddhist altruism with Noah Levine, writer of Dharma Punx, plus R & D’s personal experiences with Van Morrison and Joey Ramone… Newfoundland somehow is in there too as a Canadian Pure Land on a very auspicious day.

David loses a Tibetan precious jewel. Suddenly, miraculously, it re-appears a year later and sparks a rare blog spoken out loud. And Raghu drills deep into the epidemic of facelessness, with social media as the head of the dragon. Plus news about a very false guru and great riffing from Stevie Ray Vaughan…

Mary O’Malley takes us through her concept of the spells that we had imposed on us as we grew into our “ego” bodies- R&D discuss with Mary the anti-dote to the spells and the self talking storytelling that crowds our minds all the day long! Real practical how to info for the stretched and compressed lives we live. And Mindrolling celebrates our 100th Podcast!

Massive transformation, noetic feeling, absolute healing – Bhava Ram (aka Brad Willis) tells his life story from his harrowing NBC war correspondent days through huge suffering and addiction finally to emergence as a full blown yogi and exemplar of optimism, grit and perennial practice. Podcast 99 tells a miraculous tale.

Psychedelic therapy and its mystical grasp in the 21st Century – R & D explore the newer, fresher science of psilocybin and LSD studies along with David’s fish eyes acid empathy and Raghu’s not quite mindful crashing his car into a ditch. Plus Maharaji memories of pure wisdom trumping the deepest trip imaginable…

• Exploring Death (It’s all the rage) - The truth is that we have no idea what happens when we drop our body, so it’s hard to say whether any particular reaction is appropriate or not. The sooner we face the reality of our mortality, the more time we have to approach it • Heart to Heart - Buddha was one heart, and turned on many. As we go deeper into ourselves we radiate that frequency to the world around us. We find balance and share what we learn. • Finding Balance (Change your conscious) - Even systems like capitalism can function, but only if there is balance. All we can bring to the present situation is greater consciousness • Sharon Salzberg (Official Badass) - Sharon did the work, and it shows. We all have different approaches to experiment with, but they all involve doing what is necessary to get free. Where we are is just an accumulation of our innate experiential wisdom • Protective Fashion - Styles of dress can be an attempt to associate oneself with a certain mode of thinking, but can also serve a

• Bums United - Ian explains how he was introduced to the mindrollers, and discusses some of his early transformers, including the discovery of transcendental meditation, and subsequently Buddhism • Don’t be a Buddhist (Be a Buddha) - There are no rules in Buddhism, just suggestions, which point in the direction of awakening. We can all have unique methods that move us closer to that state of awareness. Ian makes it a point to include Metta as part of his practice, citing it as a major shift on his path. Raghu highlights the synergistic effects of Vipassana in combination with the practice of Metta - Quiet the mind, invoke the heart • The Last Irish Monk - Ian talks about his initial discovery of U Dhammaloka, and the subsequent inspiration that led to his current film project, through which he hopes to rescue the great sage from obscurity • ‘Warning to Buddhists’ (Choice words from U Dhammaloka) Ian reads from some of the more controversial work of the late Irish monk, and expresses his deep admiration for t

• Phobias Formed (Blame our ancestors) - Science points to direct experiences in forming phobias that can be found further down the genetic line. Raghu rattles off some of the more interesting fears in the modern age - does ignorance play a role in many of these irrational fears? • Mindfulness vs. Therapy (Head to Head) - Spiritual circles sometimes frown upon psychoanalysis, citing its potential to perpetuate thought patterns. We have to keep in mind that meditation alone can’t always provide the healing one might need. Some of the deeper wounds and unconscious fears can linger beyond meditations reach. Raghu agrees, and offers some of his own personal experience with therapy, advising to find someone who isn’t attached to any one school of thought. Dave highlights the unique brand of modern neuroses, which may require a multifaceted approach • Wounds (Deep Cuts) - Dave highlights the unique brand of modern neuroses, which may require a multifaceted approach. Can meditation and therapy adapt to the ever-evol