Guru Viking Podcast

In this episode I host a dialogue between Dr Ian Wickramasekera, Bön Buddhist practitioner and professor at Naropa University, and Julia Shannon, trainee clinical psychotherapist and researcher. In the first part of this interview, Dr Ian discusses his current thinking on what the traditions of Dzogchen and Western hypnosis can learn from each other, challenges Herbert Benson’s relaxation response theory of meditation, and questions dualistic frameworks in science and experimental psychology. Then, Dr Ian and Julia dialogue about the prevalence of mental illness and regressive coping in Buddhist meditators, the personality types of religious mystics, and Julia’s own experience using hypnosis to cure her phone addiction Dr Ian and Julia also consider the implications of teaching advanced Buddhist meditation methods in a clinical setting, including ethical issues and concerns about violating sacred vows, and they discuss their experiences of personal identity and professional life as biracial adults in Ameri