In this interview I am joined by Dr Willoughby Britton, an Associate Professor at Brown University, the Director of Brown’s Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, and founder of Cheetah House which provides support to those experiencing meditation-related difficulties.Dr Britton recounts her unusual childhood interest in consciousness, why…

In this interview I am once again joined by Lama Glenn Mullin, spiritual teacher, Tibetologist, and author of over 30 books on Buddhism.Glenn discusses the mysterious Kālacakra ‘Wheel of Time’ Tantra, exploring its history, and uncovers its unique esoteric characteristics,Glenn recounts his own connection to the Kālacakra tantra, including his memo…

In this episode I am joined by Dr James Justin Sledge, a professor of philosophy and religion specialising in the Western Esoteric tradition and founder of the popular Esoterica Youtube channel.Dr Sledge recounts how his working class upbringing profoundly influenced both his view of academia and his work ethic within it. He recounts his early fasc…

In this episode I am join by Steve Donoghue, writer, nationally published book critic, and popular Youtuber. Steve details his remarkable daily routine in which he sleeps 90 minutes a night and devotes vast amounts of time to reading and writing. He recalls his Jesuit education and reveals the intellectual doctrines at the heart of the religious or…

In this interview I am once again joined by John Maki Evans, teacher of Japanese swordsmanship and several esoteric spiritual disciplines, and author of ‘Kurikara: The Sword and the Serpent’.John discusses his time at Oxford University, his depression as a student, and why it took him years in a monastery and extensive training in Japan to undo the…

In this episode I am once again joined by Dr Chencho Dorji, Bhutan’s first psychiatrist and the Professor of Psychiatry at Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences.Dr Dorji reveals the challenges he faced establishing modern psychiatrist in Bhutan, a culture heavily invested in a supernatural model of mental illness. He recounts stories of pati…

In this episode I am joined by Mattias Daly, Taoist practitioner and translator of ‘Taoist Inner Alchemy’, published by Shambala.Mattias reveals how youthful delinquency and substance abuse problems saw him kicked out of the University of Chicago and drove him to seek out martial arts and meditation instruction under a Taoist master.Mattias shares …

In this episode I am joined by Charles Manson, author of ‘The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi’ published by Shambhala, and librarian for the Tibetan Collections at the Bodleian Library (Oxford University) and the British Library.Charles begins by discussing the remarkable life of Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa, Tibet’s oldest continuous reincarnation…

In this episode I am once again joined by Stephen Snyder, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of several books including ‘Buddha’s Heart’, ‘Trust in Awakening’, and his up-coming release ‘Soothing the Longing Heart’.Stephen talks about the importance of working with one’s personality material especially after awakening. He points to an idealisat…

In this episode, I am once again joined by Dhammarato: a lineage teacher in the Thai Buddhist tradition who is known for his unique, 1-1 teaching style conducted over Skype. Dhammarato challenges what he sees as the widespread misconceptions about meditation practice, focusing in particular on American Buddhism and the Goenka and Mahasi methods. Dh…

In this interview I am once again joined by Dr Nida Chenagtsang, Buddhist teacher, doctor of Tibetan Medicine, and author of ‘Foundations of Sowa Rigpa: A Guide to the Root Tantra of Tibetan Medicine’.Dr Nida discusses the traditional Tibetan medical system of Sowa Rigpa and reveals its core doctrines such as health as balance, pulse and urine anal…

In this interview I am once again joined by Ralph White holistic learning pioneer, international speaker on cultural transformation and the history of the Western esoteric tradition, and co-founder of the New York Open Centre.Ralph reflects on his decades at the centre of the American spirituality and human potential movements and discusses the lif…

In this episode I am joined by Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund, alchemists, practitioners of Western Esotericism, and authors of ‘Alchemy, The Divine Work’.Katarina and Tommy recount the history of Western alchemy from Egypt, through Ancient Greece, the Islamic golden age, Renaissance Europe, to today and consider critiques of alchemy as mere …

In this episode I am joined by Dr Chencho Dorji, Bhutan’s first psychiatrist and the Professor of Psychiatry at Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan.Dr Dorji recalls his traumatic childhood growing up in Bhutan with a psychotic, alcoholic father. He describes the impact of living in constant fear of violence on he and his siblings…

In this interview I am once again joined by Lama Lhanang, a spiritual teacher of the Nyingma Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and an expert in meditation, geomancy, art, cultural and historical studies, and Tibetan medicine.Lama Lhanang discusses the Tibetan Buddhist and traditional Tibetan medical beliefs about death, including a det…

In this episode I am joined by Jason Miller, occultist, author, and teacher.Jason discusses how to judge authenticity in the occult, considers the different levels of magickal practitioner in the world today, and whether it is more efficacious to curse your enemies or to pray for them.Jason also reveals the origin and unfolding of his passion for t…

In this episode I travel to deepest of Wales to visit Drala Jong, the headquarters and retreat centre of the Aro gTér sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngakchang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen give a tour of the grounds of Drala Jong, discuss the esoteric geomancy of the site, and reveal the methods used to identify and propitiate the local spirit of the land…

In this episode I am once again joined by Naomi Levine, author, under her birth name Norma Levine, of several books including ‘The Miraculous 16th Karmapa’, ‘A Quest For The Hidden Lands’, and ‘Chronicles of Love and Death: My Years With The Last Spiritual King of Bhutan’.In this interview, Naomi discusses her first book ‘Blessing Power of the Budd…

In this episode I am once again joined by Joe Evans, founder of the Rangdröl Foundation and teacher of Dzogchen under the name Jigme Rangdröl.Joe explains the significance of the guru-disciple relationship in Dzogchen, details the various forms it may take, and reveals his own special relationship with Dzogchen master teacher Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche…

In this interview I am joined by John Maki Evans, teacher of Japanese swordsmanship, practitioner of several syncretic esoteric Japanese disciplines of tantra and magic, and author of ‘Kurikara: The Sword and the Serpent’.John recalls aspects of his intense training in Japan, traces his lifetime spent uncovering the higher esoteric dimensions of th…

In this interview I am joined by John Brehm, American poet and author of ‘The Dharma of Poetry’.John recalls his early life in Nebraska, formation as an unlikely poet, use of psychedelics, and discovery of the aesthetic impulse.John reads ‘Non-Harming’, a poem from his latest book ‘Dharma Talk’, and reflects on the use of poetry for personal and re…

In this interview I am joined by John Riley Perks, author, teacher, and was for seven years the butler and attendant of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.Born in 1934, John recounts his childhood during World War 2, where he learned how to harness his intuition and psychic capacities under the guidance of his mother while avoiding air strikes and other dang…

In this interview I am joined by Buddhist teacher and doctor of Tibetan Medicine Dr Nida Chenagtsang and author and Buddhist teacher Justin Von Bujdoss.Dr Nida and Justin discuss the esoteric Dzogchen practices of trekchö and tögal, and comment on their application to inner emotional disturbance and to times of external conflict and war.Dr Nida and…

In this interview I am joined by Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya, a tantric priest in a centuries old Newari Buddhist family lineage, and master of the religious dance tradition of Charya Nritya.Prajwal Vajracharya recounts his upbringing and early training, explains why his lineage was kept secret for hundreds of years, the reasons for its emergence int…

In this interview I am joined by Lama Lhanang, a spiritual teacher of the Nyingma Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and an expert in meditation, anuyoga, geomancy, art, cultural and historical studies, and Tibetan medicine.Lama Lhanang describes his upbringing in a nomad family in Golok, Tibet, and how an encounter with a wrathful maha…