yoga – the paradise paradox

A Psychotic Break or Shamanic Awakening?: The Andrarchy Show Episode 2

The Story: Is it mental illness or a spiritual experience?

If we take the psychiatric industry’s model of mental illness, we might be inclined to believe that these experiences are purely negative. But if we go too far the other way, speaking of neurodiversity, spiritual awakenings or shamanic experiences, we might be tempted into thinking that these experiences are wholly positive. It’s true that these experiences may involve a lot of suffering for the people whom they affect directly, and the people around them – however, it’s also true that people can learn a lot from these experiences, about themselves and the nature of the world they live in.

This is part 2 of Andrew “andrarchy” Levine’s interview with Kurt about having a psychotic break, or spiritual awakening. We discuss the terms used to describe these experiences, the change from linear to conceptual thinking that went on in Kurt’s brain, and possible explanations of what caused this spontaneous change from psychiatric and yogic perspectives.

The Eps:

Mental illness and hamanic experiences: The Andrarchy Show episode 1

The Links:

Andrarchy on Steemit

The Cash:

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The Episode:

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Episode 44 – Down at the Ashram: Link McElvenny

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

The Cash:

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The Story:

The year is 400 ACE. A scholar dutifully reads Sanskrit from a decaying fern leaf, contemplating the words, arranging them within the forefront of the mind, and again writing them in fine caligraphy onto another leaf. The scholar couldn’t have known that even more than a thousand years later, people would be referring to those words and the wisdom contained within. That scholar’s name was Patañjali, and the words are known as the Yoga Sutras.

Not even Patañjali could trace the exact moment, or even the exact millenium, in which the first person decided to sit down and contemplate, to calm their mind, to say some sweet words to themself, representative of some idea greater than their own personal existence, to explore inner space, and attempt to find some kind of transcendent truth. Nobody knows exactly where this practice started, individually, or in parallel. Nevertheless, the threads of this first meditation, this first yogi, extend all over the world today, permeating every major religious tradition in the world, in what’s known as “mysticism”.

One such tradition continues today. Thousands of people all over the world chant the mantra “Om Namah Shivaya“, patiently waiting to experience divine gratitude, happiness, and grace. In this episode, Kurt interviews his close friend Link McElvenny to find out about his three month trip to an ashram in India. Join us on a spiritual journey as we are transformed, in this exciting chapter of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Links:

Om Namah Shivaya on Wikipedia
The Yoga Sutras
Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Inkstain Pro on Bandcamp
Inkalot.net
Inverter Alter on Soundcloud
Link interviews Kurt on The Space Between

Cover image used and modified under Creative Commons. Original image.