Black Beryl

Apr 02 2025 34 ep. 58 mins 30
Black Beryl Podcast artwork

Intelligent conversations about Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality. (Formerly Blue Beryl.)

  Religion & Spirituality  Health & Fitness
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Meditation Side-Effects and Other Altered States, with Miguel Farias

Apr 02 2025 69 mins  
Today I sit down with Miguel Farias, an experimental psychologist and researcher of religion, spirituality, and cognition. Together we try to get to the bottom of whether meditation is actually good for you through a comparison of Miguel's research on the adverse effects of meditation with my research on Asian notions of meditation sickness. Along the way, we discuss the limitation

Daemons, Tantra, and Cultural Exchange, with David Gordon White

Mar 05 2025 55 mins  
Today I sit down with David Gordon White, a distinguished indologist and scholar of Tantra. Our conversation focuses on David’s most recent project tracing the transregional histories of spirits, gods, demons, and their associated rituals across Eurasia. Along the way, we dive into an intellectual conversation about dog-headed men, angry goddesses, alchemical mercury, body-snatch

Magic, Death, and Necromancy in Thai Buddhism, with Justin McDaniel

Feb 06 2025 52 mins  
💀💀 Warning: This episode contains potentially disturbing content! 💀💀 Today I sit down with Justin McDaniel, a scholar of Theravada Buddhist literature and art. Together we explore the darker side of Thai Buddhism, including meditation on decomposing bodies, fetus spirits, corpse oil, and the spectrum of white and black magic. We discuss the logics of rituals, their role

Daoist Exorcism, with Josh Paynter & Jack Schaefer

Jan 02 2025 72 mins  
Today I sit down with Jack Schaefer and Josh Paynter, co-abbots of the Parting Clouds Temple, to discuss their practice of Daoist exorcism. We talk about the differences between spirits, ghosts, demons, and other entities; as well as a range of practices including talismans, body replacement, curse breaking, and spiritual battle. Along the way, we make eye contact wth snake and fox

Season 3: Introducing Black Beryl, with Pierce Salguero

Dec 05 2024 52 mins  
You are not mistaken: this is in fact the podcast formerly known as The Blue Beryl. We have changed our name for season 3, as we are embracing the darkness! You'll notice a new logo and a new URL, but if you're a subscriber, there's nothing you need to do. Everything will automatically be updated. In today's episode, we are launching the new season with the tables turned. Producer

Meta-Practice, with Volker Scheid

Nov 08 2024 50 mins  
PLEASE NOTE: Shortly, we will be changing our name to Black Beryl. Your subscription will automatically update and no action is necessary on your part. Thanks for your continued support! Today I sit down with Volker Scheid, an interdisciplinary scholar and longtime practitioner of Chinese medicine. Together, we take an intellectual deep dive into his thoughts about the importance o

Bonus: Embodiment and Pedagogy, with Frances Garrett (Rebroadcast from 2023)

Oct 22 2024 60 mins  
In this episode I sit down with Frances Garrett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, history, and language. We talk about Frances’s interests in embodiment and movement, and how her experiences as ballet dancer, surfer, and rock climber connect with her work on religion and healing. Our conversation focuses on her commitment to embodied and trauma-aware pedagogy, and how in the interes

Critique, Wonder, and Chinese Anatomy, with Lan A. Li

Oct 05 2024 55 mins  
Today I sit down with Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medici

The Body in Classical Hathayoga, with Ruth Westoby

Sep 05 2024 52 mins  
In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices t

Yoga, Disability, and Animism, with Theo Wildcroft

Aug 08 2024 58 mins  
Today, I sit down with Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies a