Podcast: This week on The Mystical Positivist, we feature a discussion from the Western Baul Podcast Series featuring Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick. The theme is “The Crisis of Continuity of Wisdom” and the description is as follows: The Greek philosopher Heraclitus asserted that it’s impossible to step twice into the same river. In other words, flux is all. In terms of religious and spiritual practice, we apply this principle to say that, to be effective, The Work must change with the times, the places, and the people. Yet we see enacted among religious and spiritual communities well-meaning attempts to rigidly codify formulations of wisdom offered by deceased teachers, as if words themselves, or practices based upon words, could embody timeless wisdom. It’s understandable. The very human tendency is for our minds, our bodies and our hearts to seek the stability of something we believe we can hold onto, untempered by innocent, child-like inquiry. Such innocent inquiry is, arguably and somewhat paradoxically, the most direct and reliable path to re- infuse original creative energy from within a tradition. One consequence of this situation, exemplified in many of our recent conversations with senior Fourth Way practitioners, is despair regarding the future of their tradition. For those sensitive to the feelings associated with the living, vivified expression of their tradition, they report a diminution from Gurdjieff’s time, through the long careers of G.’s many students who had worked directly with G., thus carrying on his Work, to what they mourn as the soup of the soup of Gurdjieff’s Work. This talk will strive to evoke a lively conversation about the dialectic between commitment to the living truths that emerged to embody a tradition, and the nature of creative attempts to revivify that tradition in the wake of its original exponents. We suggest that there may be no one answer, but that conversation among people of good will is a feature of how life can find its way to refresh itself. Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick are spiritual teachers with Tayu Meditation Center, co-hosts of The Mystical Positivist podcast, and co-founders of Many Rivers Books & Tea. Tayu Meditation Center, based in Sebastopol, CA, was founded in 1976 by Robert Daniel Ennis. Grounded in the Fourth Way tradition of G.I. Gurdjieff, Tayu practice emphasises conversation be it within ourselves, with others, and between spiritual traditions. The Western Baul Podcast Series features talks by practitioners of the Western Baul path. Topics are intended to offer something of educational, inspirational, and practical value to anyone drawn to the spiritual path. For Western Bauls, practice is not a matter of philosophy but is expressed in everyday affairs, service to others, and music and song. There is the recognition that all spiritual traditions have examples of those who have realized that there is no separate self to substantiate—though one will always exist in form—and that “There is only God” or oneness with creation. Western Bauls, as named by Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American spiritual Master who taught in the US, Europe, and India and who was known for his radical dharma, humor, and integrity, are kin to the Bauls of Bengal, India, with whom he shared an essential resonance and friendship. Lee’s spiritual lineage includes Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Papa Ramdas. More information about Tayu Meditation Center can be found at: Many Rivers Books and Tea Website: www.manyriversbooks.com, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: The Practice of Patriotism, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Cultivating Transparency and Languaging Nonduality, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Fourth Way Magic, Rob Schmidt and Stuart Goodnick on The Mystical Positivist: Interview by Richard Whittaker.
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