Guru Viking Podcast

In this episode, filmed on location in Kathmandu, Nepal, I am joined by Buddhist nun Guruma Dhamma Vijaya.

Guruma recalls her childhood in Kathmandu Valley, the religious life of her Newar Vajrayāna family, and why she turned to Theravāda Buddhism and took ordination as a nun.

Guruma recounts her extensive training in Mahasi and Goenka meditation styles, compares tantric techniques to ānāpānassati, and offers her understanding of the essence of Buddhist teaching.

Guruma details her educational journey, describes her life-changing encounter with feminism while studying in the USA, and tells the story of obtaining a PhD on the subject of Buddhist Feminism.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep344-nepali-buddhist-nun-guruma-dhamma-vijaya

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Homage to Buddha, Dhamma, Saṅgha
01:54 - Blessing and welcome
02:33 - Question etiquette in different cultures
03:17 - Guruma’s Newar childhood in Kathmandu Valley
06:11 - Guruma’s education pathway to PhD
06:36 - Family dynamics
07:30 - First meeting with Buddhist nuns
09:46 - From Vajrayāna to Theravāda
11:12 - Desire to be a nun
12:48 - Attending a teaching by the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya
13:54 - The loss of the bhikkhunī ordination lineage
14:28 - Becoming a nun
17:54 - 4 years of study in Taiwan
19:20 - Meditation and further studies in Burma and India
20:02 - Studying meditation under Mahasi Sayadaw and S.N. Goenka
26:37 - Mahasi vs Goenka
27:37 - 4 points of Goenka meditation
29:10 - Ānāpānassati meditation is the Buddha’s teaching
29:55 - Guruma’s practie
30:51 - Vajrayāna vs Theravāda
36:27 - Body mantras and Vajrayāna threats
39:15 - Choosing Ānāpānassati over Vajrayāna
43:23 - Freedom from suffering
45:38 - The essence of Buddhist teaching
47:25 - Encountering feminism
54:58 - Messy status of nuns in Nepal
01:03:02 - Theravāda revival
01:05:39 - Tragic reason why Guruma’s teacher became a nun
01:08:14 - Buddhist pilgrimage sites
01:08:54 - Life is precious and exhortation to practice
01:1341 - Dedication prayer and blessing

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Kathmandu Interviews playlist:
- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlkzlKFgdknwvU82dU487LhF_mF4AkGek&si=4U8rRVEHKA4Z28oF

Find out more about Guruma here:
- http://tartaruspress.com/russell-rampa.html
- https://www.arthurmachen.org.uk/

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

R.B. Russell, author and founder of Tartarus Press, takes us on a deep dive into the life and works of Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen. 

Ray traces the religious life of Machen, his involvement with the occult society the Golden Dawn, and his friendship with famed occultist A.E. Waite.

Ray details Machen’s fascination with the esoteric symbolism of the Grail mythology; his role in originating and spreading the supernatural, urban myth of the Bowman; and impact of his notorious horror-fantasy novella ”The Great God Pan”.

Ray also shares his reflections on literary theory, the various interpretations of Shakespeare, and the prevalence of psychoanalytic readings of classic genre fiction.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep343-the-mystic-arthur-machen-rb-russell

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.


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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro
01:07 - First encounter with the works of Arthur Machen
05:25 - Hill of Dreams and an abiding interest
06:21 - Mysteries of Machen
07:12 - Life of Arthur Machen
09:29 - Involvement with occultism
17:11 - The Great God Pan
22:19 - Machen, Lovecraft, and the mystical
26:17 - Reflections on literary theory
27:26 - Why so many psychoanalytic readings of horror?
29:13 - Historicism vs textualism
31:40 - Shakespeare and classic vs modern productions
34:38 - The Great God Pan needs to be Victorian
35:25 - Machen’s involvement in the Golden Dawn
38:43 - Grail Myth as a spiritual path and an early Welsh church
39:26 - Friendship with occultist A.E. Waite
40:05 - The Great Return and the evolution of awe
43:41 - Why were so many writers fascinated by the Grail Myth and King Arthur?
46:15 - Esoteric symbolism of the Grail
48:52 - Links to Roman Britain
49:58 - Machen’s Oxford disappointment and subsequent work
53:05 - The Bowmen and urban myths
57:28 - Reading vs collecting books
01:02:27 - Ray’s prized item and Machen collection
01:03:34 - Tartarus Press and Machen publishing projects
01:05:28 - Friends of Arthur Machen society
01:07:06 - Faunus journal
01:07:22 - Where to start with Machen for those interested in the occult and mysticism

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Previous episode with Ray:
- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/p319-mystery-of-t-lobsang-rampa-rb-russell

Find out more about Ray here:
- http://tartaruspress.com/russell-rampa.html
- https://www.arthurmachen.org.uk/

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this episode, I am once again joined by Dhammarato: a lineage teacher in the Thai Buddhist tradition who is known for his unique, 1-1 teaching conversations conducted with students online. 

Dhammarato guides us through the Ānāpānassatisutta, a much loved scripture which describes Buddhism’s famous breath meditation practice.

Dhammarato describes the technique in detail, challenges common misconceptions about this practice and the sutta, and explains how the whole Buddhist path is contained within it.

Dhammarato also argues that loving kindness meditations and remembering past lives are not Buddhist practices, addresses jhana and other meditation practice mistakes, and reflects on the fruits of his own practice when faced with illness and physical pain.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep342-npnassati-dhammarato

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics Include:

00:00 - Intro
00:52 - Various breathing meditations
02:28 - MN 118: Ānāpānassatisutta - about the sutta
04:58 - 4 foundations of mindfulness
05:37 - Factors of Enlightenment
06:39 - Mistaken readings of the sutta
08:01 - Critique of loving kindness meditation
10:12 - Sitting meditation vs ānāpānassati
11:22 - Sati vs loving kindness meditation and recalling past lives
13:00 - Right noble looking
13:55 - Entering the first jhana and gladdening the mind
17:19 - Victim attitude
19:31 - How to make the body comfortable
22:36 - The skill of developing sukha, satisfaction
26:02 - Thoughts, feelings, and body are interrelated
27:35 - Ānāpānassati is not a breathing meditation
28:42 - Pragmatic Dharma vs Engaged Buddhism
30:25 - How to apply ānāpānassati
33:27 - The first step of nobility
36:22 - A feeling of success
39:14 - Attaining knowledge and deliverance
41:58 - Common jhana practice mistakes
46:52 - Loving kindness meditation mistakes
51:50 - Metta is a consequence not a practice
53:06 - Vipassanā vs samatha
57:10 - Explaining other Buddhist masters’ enlightenments
59:23 - Comments on Ajahn Chah and correct practice
01:01:53 - Working with pain and sickness
01:03:06 - Cancer and meditation
01:05:31 - Dhammarato’s aging and health
01:06:03 - Criticism of Goenka and sitting through pain
01:07:11 - Magical thinking of sitting through pain
01:08:28 - Advice for approaching death
01:10:53 - Dhammarato reflects on the deaths of his loved ones
01:13:37 - How to die happy


Dhammarato Episode Playlist
- https://www.guruviking.com/search?q=DHAMMARATO

To find out more about Dhammarato, visit:
- Email: [email protected]
- Discord: https://discord.gg/epphTGY
- https://dhammaratoblog.wordpress.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxg5GJFsRqnS-YLTzyrjLQ

Read the Ānāpānassatisutta:
- https://suttacentral.net/mn118/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit.
- www.guruviking.com

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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this bonus episode, I share with you a Guru Viking remix video created by Zakery Mizell from the Youtube channel Zakery Mizell.

Zakery’s channel focuses on knowledge and beauty and he has made several videos commenting on and even remixing episodes of the Guru Viking podcast. When I came across his remixes, I enjoyed his approach very much and we agreed to share his work here.

In this video, Zakery records a five hour livestream sharing his perspectives on various Guru Viking poetry episodes.

I will also share another of his Guru Viking videos in which Zakery remixes my poetry interviews with poets John Brehm and Henry Shukman, rearranging the material and adding his own visual effects to create a new interpretation of that episode. So look out for that video on the Guru Viking channel too.

Find out more about Zakery:
- https://www.youtube.com/@ZakeryMizell

Watch the original Guru Viking episodes used in Zakery’s videos:
- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep274-poetry-the-sacred-henry-shukman-john-brehm
- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep230-the-dharma-of-poetry-john-brehm

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James

In this bonus episode, I share with you a Guru Viking remix video created by Zakery Mizell from the Youtube channel Zakery Mizell.

Zakery’s channel focuses on knowledge and beauty and he has made several videos commenting on and even remixing episodes of the Guru Viking podcast. When I came across his remixes, I enjoyed his approach very much and we agreed to share his work here.

In this video, Zakery remixes my poetry interviews with poets John Brehm and Henry Shukman, rearranging the material and adding visual effects to create a new interpretation of that episode.

I will also share another of his Guru Viking videos in which he records a five hour livestream sharing his perspectives on various episodes. So look out for that video on the Guru Viking channel too.

Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep340-poetry-and-the-sacred-remix-bonus-episode-john-brehm-and-henry-shukman

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Find out more about Zakery:
https://www.youtube.com/@ZakeryMizell

Watch the original Guru Viking episodes used in Zakery’s videos:
- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep274-poetry-the-sacred-henry-shukman-john-brehm
- https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep230-the-dharma-of-poetry-john-brehm

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James