Black Beryl

Jan 02 2025 31 ep. 58 mins 25
Black Beryl Podcast artwork

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

  Religion & Spirituality  Health & Fitness
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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

BONUS: Awakening the Body, with Willa Baker (Rebroadcast from 2023)

Jul 15 2024 57 mins  
Today I sit down with Willa Blythe Baker, a writer, translator, and teacher of meditation based on Himalayan Buddhist tradition. We talk about Willa’s early discovery of Buddhism with her mother, her time living as a nun, and our shared experience in graduate school at UVa. We then do a deep-dive into Buddhist tantra and the alchemical transformations of the body-mind that led to

Nondual Psychosomatic Chinese Medicine, with Brandt Stickley

Jun 23 2024 49 mins  
Today I sit down with Dr. Brandt Stickley, associate professor of classical Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine. We talk about Brandt’s approach, which he calls “nondual psychosomatic medicine.” We also explore how perceiving yin and yang moment by moment can be a portal to nondual experience, and how placing needles in a patient can open up a whol

The Enlightenment of the Body, with Naomi Worth

Jun 05 2024 49 mins  
In this episode, I sit down with Naomi Worth, a scholar and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism’s postural yoga tradition. We dive into Naomi's experiences in yogic retreats, highlight the vigorous movement and intense visual elements of the practice, and explore yoga’s role in the Nyingma contemplative path. Naomi also shares how she balances her scholarship and practice of Tibet