Western Baul Podcast Series

Creativity is going into the unknown with intention. Two “wings” of creativity are passion and play. Some people have titles for their role in creating, such as painter, writer, sculptor. Art connects us to who we really are; it’s an expression of our essence. Creativity is a purpose of the universe. It isn’t a luxury; it’s a primary function of consciousness itself. The big picture is that our life is art. We can develop our own uniqueness so the divine power can express itself in an original way. Working with resistance may be the best way to open to the human impulse to be creative. When we are fully absorbed and engaged, we produce refined energies that the universe needs. Creativity is a kind of prayer. The main payoffs of creativity are our transformation and the benefit to the universe. The tangible result of creativity that is produced is icing on the cake. Art is one of the first things to be censored or banned in totalitarian regimes. Creative people draw outside the lines, and society is all about staying within the lines. Beginner’s mind sees beauty, but it’s hard for professional artists to keep beginner’s mind. Objective art or aesthetic is hard to define but easy to get across through music, theater, painting and other art forms to viewers who are able to see it. Art can objectify the shadow and help us to face ourselves and the healing needed. Ways of bringing creativity into everyday life, such as in mothering, are discussed. Various forms of art are considered including painting and graffiti, architecture and cathedrals, and land art. Framing is also a way of creating beauty in art and in life. How we use our consciousness, where we put our attention—which is all we have—is the ultimate creative act. Karl Krumins has been a spiritual practitioner for forty years. He lived in India for seven years and has a passion for considering the essential similarities of spiritual traditions. 

We move through cycles of death and rebirth through the entirety of our lives. Walking side by side with grief doesn’t mean being condemned to a life without joy; it is to live with the bittersweet truth of impermanence. Depression can arise due to unexpressed, undigested grief. It is a holy time when things decay and break down. Sorrow is part of the Earth’s great cycles. It can connect us to the current of life and the source of comfort and solace. Somatic trauma work can put us in touch with grief that has been held in the body for many years. It is common in spiritual circles for dharma to be used as a shield to overlay grief. Francis Weller identified five gates of grief that can expand understanding of it. These are losing someone we love, places in ourselves that have not known love, sorrows of the world, what we expected but did not receive, and ancestral grief. It’s a holy thing to love what death can touch. We tend to avoid grief, but it puts us in contact with such deep feeling. When we grieve, we praise the one we loved and allow love to touch the core of our being. We can welcome back parts of ourselves we have dismissed. The “remedy” for grief is to feel it and allow it to move through us. Grief is always there because impermanence is always there. It opens us like nothing else. It can be a doorway to the embodied realization of our true nature, to seeing that we are inseparable from the universe and connected to the circuitry of love that flows through everything. Grief has a shattering quality which takes us beyond what we think we can handle and breaks down the reality we thought we knew. It can catapult us into the unitive state and awaken us to boundless love without conditions. Nachama Shahar (formerly Nachama Greenwald) is a physical therapist, editor, and musician who for 17 years was a member of the Shri blues band which performed Western Baul music.

What’s seen as inspiring in the world are ego’s triumphs. But there’s another kind of inspiration we can feel when we hear about people who give themselves for others. We can also be inspired by those who exhibit essential qualities on the spiritual path. We innately feel an urge to embody qualities that feed a higher purpose. We can work to develop a “Work I” by observing ourselves and not letting lower qualities rule. This part of ourselves can arise out of conscience and be strengthened by practice. Inspirational stories are impression food that can enliven essential qualities that are in all of us. Whether any story is factually true in all of its details isn’t the point. Stories are told about forgiveness, generosity, service, and the importance of working with childish parts of ourselves. There is discussion of inspiring circumstances including the request the Dalai Lama made to never to speak badly about the Chinese after the brutal takeover of Tibet; Garchen Rinpoche’s training to generate loving kindness in a way that seemed impossible when he was young; the Zen master Hakuin’s lack of concern for reputation; Orage’s response to strong criticism by the enigmatic mystic Gurdjieff; the need for the character Siddhartha in Hesse’s book to experience ordinary life in order to spiritually develop; the courage of Meher Baba’s disciples to leave their lives behind in deciding to follow their master on the New Life; the all-consuming love in the Sufi tale of Layla and Majnun; the commitment of Gandhi to Hindu-Moslem unity which he demonstrated by fasting; the wandering of Swami Ramdas who viewed everything as divine after his realization; and the magical events that occurred in the relationship of Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Lee Lozowick. VJ Fedorschak is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.

A teacher's relationship to power can create a lot of difficulty. Just because a teacher has a profound spiritual awakening does not mean he or she is psychologically mature or integrated or has knowledge about everything. Even with a problematic spiritual teacher, students still find their way. There are common threads of things that go wrong even in spiritual groups free of corruption or scandals. Enlightenment may not be a useful notion in our time. If there is no goal to reach, we are OK, undefined in relationship to that, and do not have to evaluate or project. The Indian psyche is radically different than the Western psyche. Trauma may open us to a need for something much greater. Psychiatric medication if needed and well used can support growth. The guru model as it has been imported and used has been problematic in the West. Abdicating responsibility to another can be a huge trap, as can an inner circle phenomenon of favorites and not favorites. Teachers can burn out students who have endless willingness to volunteer. Crazy wisdom has been an excuse for abuse. Psychedelics may have a role for some people for a period of time, but they are potentially dangerous. Spiritual bypassing is when spiritual ideas are used to avoid psychological work and developmental tasks. Trust in inner wisdom is often not taught by spiritual teachers. A teacher’s blind spot can be reflected in those around him. Life humbles and softens us over time. Systems of feedback can be useful for teachers, but many do not avail themselves of it. Listening to teachers is a very complex issue. Issues that can be problematic for teachers to get involved in with students are considered. Mariana Caplan, PhD, is a psychotherapist, consultant, and author of nine books in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including a forthcoming book about the global mental health crisis (https://marianacaplan.com).

Seven of the aphorisms of Gurdjieff are considered in this third talk on the subject. Teaching refers to the ideas we draw from, while the path is our individual road. No two paths are the same, even when they emanate from a common source. The Fourth Way, which the Gurdjieff Work has been called, refers to the premise that we are three-centered beings. The work of the fakir focuses on mastery of the body or moving center, the monk on mastery of the heart or emotional center, and the yogi on mastery of the mind or intellectual center. Each way only encompasses part of the process. The Fourth Way develops all three centers in tandem. We all need cosmology, which describes the structure of the universe. Most traditions are mixes, but we are wise to take care in mixing elements of various teachings before having stabilized on our path. Reasons for finding a path may be different for each of us. Conditions can be fostered for spiritual development, but actual help comes from God. Three practices are discussed: simplicity, super efforts, and working with impressions. We have enough energy to work on ourselves; we only need to save the greater part of what we have. Through experiences calling for extra effort, we open to new levels of being. Only super efforts count. We can hardly advance in our comfort zone. Taking in impressions means taking in the energy that comes with them. An overview of faith, hope, and love from Beelzebub’s Tales is discussed. Self-healing is separate from teaching and yet is a necessary component of the path. Carl Grimsman was born into the Gurdjieff Work environment of the early years of the New York Foundation, attended the children’s group there, and later worked with Mrs. March, a direct Gurdjieff student, at East Hill Farm. The first two books in his “The Soul’s Traverse” series are Sun Bridge and The Kindling.