Best Jonathan Kay and Stephen Julich Podcasts (2024)

1
Bodies of Culture: Introducing the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis with Preston Vargas and Deanna Jimenez 1:03:14

5d ago1:03:14

1:03:14

In this episode we meet Preston Vargas, the director of the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis, and Deanna Jimenez, Assistant Professor in the Somatic Psychology Department and head of the Emerging Black Clinician Fellowship. We discuss strategies of navigating white academic space as a black scholar, the notion of bodies of culture, the import…

1
African Cosmologies with Dr. Butterfly 1:18:33

2M ago1:18:33

1:18:33

In this episode we speak with EWP adjunct professor Dr. Butterfly, along with students, Tayina Fenelus and Cameron Rice, who both took his class on African Cosmologies last semester. We speak of intergenerational transfer of knowledge in African traditions, and other important ideas in African cosmologies such as consubstantiation, ritual, story an…

1
Art Practice as Research, Creative Pathways and New Directions between East-WestPsychology and the MFA at CIIS 1:06:03

3M ago1:06:03

1:06:03

In this episode, we speak to Cindy Shearer, head of the MFA, and Debashish Banerji, chair of East-West Psychology about how their ideas on the vision of interdisciplinary education and creative scholarship lead them to create joint EWP and MFA degrees, as well as creative pathway dissertation track. We speak about transdisciplinary methods of arts-…

1
Order and Disorder in South Asia with Christopher Chapple and Debashish Banerji 1:13:56

5M ago1:13:56

1:13:56

This episode is dedicated to introducing the South Asian Studies Association (SASA) and their annual academic conference being co-hosted by the Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies Concentration (ACTS) being held at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) on March 1st-3rd, 2024. We are joined by Chris Chapple, the president of …

1
Cultivating Contemplative Civilization and a New Civilization of Love and Ahimsa (Non-Violence) 59:56

6M ago59:56

59:56

This episode we speak with Dr. Ananta Giri Kumar, a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, who was recently a guest speaker at the conference hosted at CIIS called Sustainability and Contemplative Civilization: The Integral Vision of Sri Aurobindo. We will be joined by Hemalatha Swaminathan, an EWP Phd student, to discuss with An…

1
The Emergence of Integral Consciousness and Sustainability and Contemplative Civilization 1:18:51

10M ago1:18:51

1:18:51

This is a special podcast to introduce two upcoming sister conferences at California Institute of Integral Studies this September, to celebrate 150 Years of Sri Aurobindo, the pioneer of Integral Consciousness. The first conference is organized by the East-West Psychology Department (EWP) and the Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies concen…

1
The Philosophy of Music and the Attunement of the Soul 1:22:27

10M ago1:22:27

1:22:27

In this episode we speak with Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness core faculty, Jack Bagby about his engagement with the philosophy of music, from Socrates, to Schopenhauer, and Bergson. We discuss Jack’s recent PCC class called The Philosophy of Music and the Attunement of the Soul and dive into the complex ideas of these thinkers regarding th…

1
Contemplative Psychotherapy: Intersections of Science, Spirituality and Buddhism 1:06:35

1y ago1:06:35

1:06:35

In this episode we meet Joseph Loizzo, MD, PhD, who is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Columbia-trained Buddhist scholar with over forty years’ experience studying the beneficial effects of contemplative practices on healing, learning and development. Joe shares his story of founding the Nalanda Institute, in NYC, as an intersection between cont…

1
Inside the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Integral Education, and the Politics of Spiritual Anarchy (Part 2) 1:11:51

1y ago1:11:51

1:11:51

This episode is a continuation of our conversation with ACTS student Devdip Ganguli. We discuss principals and politics of spiritual anarchy and Devdip speaks about Peter Heehs’ controversial book “The Lives of Sri Aurobindo”. Devdip discusses a new book he edited called “Reading Sri Aurobindo”, and also shares his academic projects related to Sri …

1
Inside the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Integral Education, and the Politics of Spiritual Anarchy (Part 1) 1:05:21

1y ago1:05:21

1:05:21

In this episode, we meet ACTS student Devdip Ganguli and learn about his upbringing in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Devdip discusses his experiences growing up in an intentional yogic community and shares his perspectives on integral education, as both a student growing up in the ashram school, and as a teacher in the school for over a decade . This e…

1
How to Manifest a Posthuman Existence not only in Theory, but in Practice? 1:19:51

1y ago1:19:51

1:19:51

This episode is a continuation from our previous reading of Francesca Ferrando’s new text Existential Posthumanism: A Manifesto. We will take a deep dive into unpacking this text section by section, discussing it’s the main questions: When did existential posthumanism arise? What is existential posthumanism? How to enact existential posthumanism? W…

1
Arts-Based Collective Reading of Existential Posthumanism: A Manifesto with Francesca Ferrando 38:05

1+ y ago38:05

38:05

Today’s podcast features a collective reading of Francesca Ferrando’s new text Existential Posthumanism: A Manifesto. It is set to a drone instrument called a sound bed, made up on a hundred strings, with live musical interludes played on the esraj by myself. The podcast ends with my own transcultural re-imagination of the jazz standard Nature Boy.…

1
The Supramental Ship and Mothership Earth Conference 1:18:23

1+ y ago1:18:23

1:18:23

In episode 27, we met Dr. Sangeeta Sahi and discussed her innovative approaches to integrative health and wholeness, focusing on the individual. In this episode we extend the scope of the conversation to social, cultural and cosmic perspectives of integral evolution and spirituality. Sangeeta shares a visionary yogic experience by Mirra Alfassa, kn…

1
Towards the Integral Pluralism of Vijnana Vedanta through the lineage of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo 1:38:35

1+ y ago1:38:35

1:38:35

In this episode we meet Swami Medhananda, ordained monk in the order of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. He is also an extremely well respected scholar working in the fields of cross-cultural philosophy and religious studies. Medhananda shares about his background as a cultural Indian born in the USA, and the journey which led him to become a monk …

1
ID: Identity Dialogues with Debashish Banerji and Leslie Combs 1:41:07

1+ y ago1:41:07

1:41:07

Understanding theories and notions of identity, self-making, personhood, transpersonal relationality between self and other, self and cosmos, are questions of central importance to the East-West Psychology department. Throughout history, cultures have come to define themselves through unique approaches to cultivating subjective knowledge as well as…

1
Postcolonial and Posthuman World-Making: Introducing Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies (ACTS) 1:39:36

1+ y ago1:39:36

1:39:36

In this episode we speak with East-West Psychology chair Debashish Banerji to discuss the foundations of a new concentration in the EWP department titled Asian Contemplative and Transcultural Studies (ACTS). Debashish shares his vision of a postcolonial pedagogy in which to ground this discourse, and we discuss how this concentration can situate ac…

1
Sri Aurobindo, the Psychic Being, and Integrative Medicine 1:22:39

1+ y ago1:22:39

1:22:39

In this episode we meet Dr. Sangeeta Sahi, who during her medical training found that “scientifically unexplainable healing instances” lead her to formulate a framework called Integrative Medicine. Sangeeta shares how she arrived at the intersection of modern medicine and Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga to formulate alternative and holistic healing m…

1
Faith Seeking Understanding: Scholar-Practitioner approaches to Theology, Religious Studies, and Symbols in Integral Transformation 1:35:54

1+ y ago1:35:54

1:35:54

In this episode we speak to Patrick Beldio, academic professor, sculptor, devotee of Mehar Baba and Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, about the intersection of theology and religious studies in his work. We discuss the nuances of the scholar-practitioner model of scholarship and how one can approach an integral pedagogy from this perspective. Stephen a…

1
"Thinking as Thanking”: From Original Thinking to Original Love with Glenn Aparicio Parry 1:34:37

1+ y ago1:34:37

1:34:37

Today, the podcast starts with a prayer from our guest, Glenn Aparicio Parry, PhD (Humanities); East-West Psychology MA (both from CIIS), and now adjunct faculty at CIIS. Glenn speaks about his time as a student at CIIS in the 1980’s and shares ideas that have gone into his current EWP course Original Thinking: Land, Language, and Consciousness fro…

1
“Don’t follow leaders, watch your parking meters” 29:05

1+ y ago29:05

29:05

This episode features a monologue by Jim Ryan, long time California Institute of Integral Studies faculty, about his journey to India which inspired him to do a PhD in Tamil Literature. He describes his cross-cultural journey into the heart of the Tamil culture and language, and shares the experiences which brought him to teach at CIIS. Jim reflect…

1
Mandala of Individuation: An Integral Jungian Reinterpretation of Art History with Olena Provencher 1:53:45

2y ago1:53:45

1:53:45

In this podcast, we meet Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness Ph.D. Olena Provencher, who shares her journey from Russia to the USA and eventually being called to CIIS to pursue her unique vision to reinterpret her training in art history through a Jungian archetypal depth psychological lens. Olena is a painter and evolutionary thinker and descr…

1
“What is a Word?”: Language Beyond Language, Wisdom Mind Poems, and Zen Koans with Gail Sher 1:19:44

2y ago1:19:44

1:19:44

In this episode we meet Gail Sher, an award-winning poet, writer, teacher, psychotherapist, and Zen practitioner. We discuss Gail's cross-cultural spiritual and artistic life, including forty years of her Zen practice, the way of poetry, and more recently learning clawhammer banjo (she was a serious student of harpsichord before becoming a Zen stud…

1
Becoming-Animal, Primal Metaphysics, and Transdisciplinary Approaches to Scholar-Activism in the Environmental Humanities 1:47:33

2y ago1:47:33

1:47:33

Today we speak with Chantal Noa Forbes, PhD from the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Department at CIIS. Chantal talks about her roots growing up in South Africa and how attending film school led her to explore the intersection between ecology and religion, which emerged from a growing concern regarding the environmental crisis and the state of…

1
“Living One’s Own Experiment”: Heretical Individuation, Alchemical Hermeneutics, and Cross-Cultural Mytho-Poetics 1:27:22

2y ago1:27:22

1:27:22

Today we speak with David Odorisio, East-West Psychology PhD, about Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, searching for wholeness, and the integration of monasticism and contemplative spirituality with relationship and partnership. David’s academic work is steeped in religious studies and we speak of the benefits and challenges of interfaith dialo…

1
Spiritual Evolution, the Problem of Suffering, and the Birth of the Future Human 1:46:43

2y ago1:46:43

1:46:43

Today Judson Davis, East-West Psychology PhD, takes us on a guided meditation and the conversation emerges from themes that arose in this liminal space. Through integral frameworks we discuss the meaning and purpose behind the world of suffering, the role of evolution and reincarnation, and the need for expanding our awareness beyond the purely hum…

1
Classroom as a Sacred Space and Presence as Radical Respect 1:15:38

2y ago1:15:38

1:15:38

In this episode we speak to EWP PhD graduate and EWP and ITP adjunct faculty Holly Adler from her classroom in Oakland, CA. As a teacher of underprivileged and marginalized youth, Holly discusses alternative approaches to education beyond the mythos and narratives of neoliberal normativity, which aims to help students critically engage with cultura…

1
Micro-Presencing: Psycho-Somatic Soul Work as Movement, Expression, and Improvisation through Connection with the Small 1:21:08

2y ago1:21:08

1:21:08

In this episode we meet East-West Psychology MA Graduate, Shannon Gray, a trapeze artist and circus performer who after a devastating fall, came to EWP to process and explore this physical and psychological rupture in her life through studying the nature of injury and somatic psycho-spirituality. Shannon speaks about how one can fall back into thei…

1
"Every Step a Prayer”: Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenous Wisdom Traditions and Decolonizing Shamanism 1:37:20

2y ago1:37:20

1:37:20

In this episode, we meet East-West Psychology adjunct faculty member, Chief Philip Scott, who recounts his journey from learning ballet in his youth to becoming a professional ballet dancer and, through apprenticeship with Traditional Medicine people from various Indigenous Nations, finds his way to the Lakota Sundance. Phillip has been Sundancing …

1
Sitting in Forgetfulness, Alchemical Transformation, and Spiritual Homeland 1:18:52

2y ago1:18:52

1:18:52

In this episode we meet East-West Psychology Phd student, Qi Ge, who recalls early hardships in her life and how through a spiritual crisis she left her roots in China to come to the West. Qi shares experiences of inner alchemical transformation, finding what she calls her spiritual homeland through, dream work, expressive art and ancestral remembr…

1
Kimmy Johnson: Ancestral Remembrance, Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Pedagogy 1:11:24

2y ago1:11:24

1:11:24

In this episode we meet long time East-West Psychology faculty member, Kimmy Johnson, who describes her transformative journey starting as a student of Consciousness Studies and Traditional Knowledge at CIIS, to becoming an elder in the East-West Psychology community, teaching ancestral consciousness and healing, dreams as indigenous knowledge, and…

1
Monica Mody: ‘I Thought Memory Would Be Easy’: Academic and Poetic Borderlands as Decolonial Projects of Recovery 1:22:52

2y ago1:22:52

1:22:52

In this episode, we meet East-West Psychology PhD, Monica Mody, who is a writer, poet, and educator aligned with earth-based and decolonial feminist perspectives. Monica speaks about her approaches to writing, scholarship, and poetry as a cross-genre, transdisciplinary practitioner, and we discuss her dissertation, titled "Claiming Voice, Vitality,…

1
Reise Tanner: Reclaiming the Deep Feminine, Birthway as Sacred Activism, and Conscious Parenting 1:24:59

2y ago1:24:59

1:24:59

In this podcast we will be chatting with EWP PhD student Reise Tanner about her unique approaches to birthing through her work as a midwife, doula and birthing coach. She shares her experiences in learning how to hold space to help mothers feel their belonging during the birthing process, and discusses how birthing can be approached as a form of sa…

1
Marta Rubinart: Mystic Contemplation as Heart-Based Prayer, and Transformative Scholarship 1:17:25

2y ago1:17:25

1:17:25

Today we will be speaking to Marta Rubinart, EWP adjunct faculty and recent Phd graduate, about her spiritual experiences that lead her to pursue a phd through EWP on the role of the heart in personality integration and spiritual growth. We discuss her recent dissertation “The Heart-Soul Axis in the Jesus Prayer and the Integral Yoga Sadhana” and e…

1
Sophia Reinders: The Alchemy of the Senses: From Perception to Creative Participation in the Sensuous Kinship of Body and Earth 1:11:13

2y ago1:11:13

1:11:13

Today we will be speaking with EWP adjunct faculty Sophia Reinders, about her academic and personal journey from phenomenology, to Jungian depth psychology, expressive arts and eco-arts therapy to ecopsychology and evolutionary cosmology. She shares with us the life changing experience of discovering her earth soul at the depth and as the depth of …

1
Silvia Nakkach: Cosmic Listening and the Sound of Integration 1:26:13

2y ago1:26:13

1:26:13

This episode features Silvia Nakkach, a Grammy® nominated musician and cross-cultural explorer of musical worlds. Silvia will enchant you as she shares her journey searching for the cosmic source of sound from her home in Brazil, to the Bay area where she learned North Indian Raga music under maestro Ali Akbar Khan for more than 30 years, as well a…

1
Heidi Fraser Hageman: Integral Education--Spiritual, Whole Person and Transdisciplinary Approaches 1:08:32

2y ago1:08:32

1:08:32

Today Stephen and I talk with EWP Phd grad and adjunct faculty, Heidi Fraser. She is also the Director of the CIIS Center for Writing and Scholarship, and was a former EWP program manager. We explore aspects of Integral Yoga as taught by Hari Das Chaudhuri and Bahman Shairazi and it’s applications in scholarship and activism. We also discuss approa…

1
Jim Ryan: A Deep History of the California Institute of Integral Studies 53:56

2y ago53:56

53:56

This installment of the EWP podcast will conclude our double episode feature on Haridas Chaudhuri and the roots of the California Institute of Integral Studies. This episode features a talk by Jim Ryan, who started teaching at CIIS in 1981, and became core faculty in 1986. He is the former Director of the Asian and Comparative Studies program in th…

1
Bahman Shirazi: Haridas Chaudhuri and The Roots of Integral Psychology at CIIS 1:09:47

2y ago1:09:47

1:09:47

This is the first part in a series of episodes exploring the historical roots of California Institute of Integral Studies and its foundations in Integral Yoga as brought to California in the 1950’s by Haridas Chaudhuri. In this episode we speak with Bahman Shirazi, who recounts the early history of Haridas Chaudhuri coming to the west, and the acad…

1
Craig Chalquist: Gnosticism, Enchantivism, and Terrapsychology 1:05:33

2y ago1:05:33

1:05:33

Today we will be chatting with core faculty Craig Chalquist about the development of Terrapsychology and his ideas on hermeticism and gnosticism as an earth honouring path. We also discuss enchantivism, fantasy and the archetypal world of myth, as well as how Craig approaches the intersection of scholarship, activism and his thoughts on the writing…

1
Jun Wang: Cultivation of Qi and Inner Alchemy in Chinese Wisdom Traditions 1:22:11

2y ago1:22:11

1:22:11

In this episode, Jun recounts her journey from growing up in China and learning Chinese medicine, to moving to the USA to study anthropology, to arriving here at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Jun starts the conversation by reciting Lao Tsu’s poetry from the Dao De Jing, and continues to share her holistic approaches to wellbeing thr…

1
Helge Osterhold: Transformative Pedagogy and the Dance of Individuation 1:26:13

2y ago1:26:13

1:26:13

Today, we will be chatting with EWP core faculty Helge Osterhold about the uniqueness of the EWP container and how he facilitates transformative pedagogy in the classroom. We then explore Jungian notions of East-West spirituality and address the importance of individuation in contemporary approaches to the activist-scholar paradigm. The interview e…

1
Debashish Banerji: The Question of the Integral 1:10:29

2y ago1:10:29

1:10:29

Today, we will be speaking with Debashish Banerji, chair of the East-West Psychology department. We will discuss the history and mission of The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), of the East-West Psychology Department, and the nature and value of Integral Education. In the conversation, Debashish develops ideas regarding Sri Aurobindo…

1
Introduction to the East-West Psychology Podcast 31:17

2y ago31:17

31:17

Hosted by Stephen Julich (EWP PhD, adjunct faculty, EWP program manager) and Jonathan Kay (PhD student, EWP assistant) In this episode you will meet your podcast hosts, Stephen Julich and Jonathan Kay and learn a little about their journey to the East-West Psychology Department of CIIS. They will introduce the goals and format of the podcast and pr…

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