Blue Beryl Podcast

I’m happy to share this rebroadcast of an interview I did with James Bae, the host of the “Buddhist Yoga” Youtube channel. In this deep-dive, we discuss my new book, Meditation Sickness, just out from University of Hawaii Press. This edited collection of translations by expert scholars lays out a range of Buddhist viewpoints about the potential side-effects of contemplative practice, and what happens when one crosses the line between expected challenges and true medical crises. Including ancient scriptures, writings by some of the most celebrated Buddhist meditation teachers of all time, as well as contemporary ethnographic reports from all over the Buddhist world, the book details the symptoms, causes, prevention, and treatment of “meditation sickness.” Our conversation provides an overview of the contents of the book, and illustrates why it is crucially important for Western meditators to be knowledgable about these phenomena. Enjoy!Resources mentioned in the episode:* Pierce Salguero, Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook of the Dangers of Buddhist Practice (2026).* Pierce Salguero, “Meditation Sickness” in Medieval Chinese Buddhismand the Contemporary West (2023).* Pierce’s previous appearances on Buddhist Yoga: Buddhist Medicine and Contemplative Pedagogy ; The Contemporary Landscape of Buddhist Healing* Pierce’s resource website: BuddhistMedicine.Net This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com

Today I sit down with Dr. Tawni Tidwell, a biocultural anthropologist and Tibetan medicine doctor at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Together we discuss how Tibetan medicine approaches the challenges that arise in the course of meditation. Along the way, we talk about reconnecting with indigenous knowledge, establishing a more intimate relationship with the body and the land, and the importance of social context in supporting spiritual practice.If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!Resources related to this conversation:* Tawni Tidwell, “Life in Suspension with Death: Biocultural Ontologies, Perceptual Cues, and Biomarkers for Tibetan Tukdam Postmortem Meditative State” (2024)* Tawni Tidwell et al, “Effect of Tibetan Herbal Formulas on Symptom Duration Among Ambulatory Patients with Native SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study” (2024)* Tawni Tidwell, “Tibetan Medical Paradigms for the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Understanding COVID-19, Microbiome Links, and Its Sowa Rigpa Nosology” (2021)* New open access book! Crafting Potency: Sowa Rigpa Artisanship Across the Himalayas* Tawni’s research profile at the Center for Healthy Minds* Please note that Tawni is not taking new patients at this time, but she recommends the American Tibetan Medical AssociationCheck out the Black Beryl Podcast on blackberyl.substack.com! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com

Today I sit down with Leo Lok, a retired practitioner of Chinese medicine who now teaches and consults with practitioners treating difficult cases of meditation sickness. Together, we discuss how to think about the challenging side-effects of meditation through the lens of the ancestral Chinese arts of qi regulation. Along the way, we discuss the surprising power of ocular alignment, how to gradually condition oneself for spiritual heavy lifting, and medieval Chinese emergency treatments for meditation practice gone wrong.If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!Resources mentioned in this episode:* Leo’s chapter on Chinese physicians will appear in Pierce’s forthcoming book, Meditation Sickness: An Anthology on the Dangers of Meditation Practice. (Get notified when this is published.)* Pierce discusses medieval Chinese approaches to meditation sickness, including Zhiyi’s advice for meditators, in an open access article in Journal of Buddhist Ethics.* See Leo’s recommended YouTube instructional video on the six healing breaths.* Leo’s new website is under constructionCheck out the Black Beryl Podcast on blackberyl.substack.com! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com

The podcast known as The Blue Beryl is changing its name to The Black Beryl, as we are embracing the darkness! Please visit and subscribe to the new podcast at blackberyl.substack.com. In today’s episode, we are launching the new pod with the tables turned. Producer Lan Li takes over the microphone to interview me about spirit healing and related practices. Lan has been trying to ask me these questions for the last two years, but I’ve continued to put them off. Now it’s finally time to put some things on the record and clear the air. So in this episode, we dive right in to questions like do spirits exist? Are mystical experiences real? What are the best talismans for healers? We’re also going to talk about different kinds of possession and the benefits of holding more than one ontological perspective at the same time.I hope you enjoy the conversation, and please subscribe to The Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts and at blackberyl.substack.com. Our episodes are going to continue to be free as always, but we now have paid subscriptions where we can make exclusive resources available to members for a small fee. Your payments help us with production costs of the pod, so thanks for your support! Resources mentioned in this episode:* Pierce Salguero, A Lamp Unto Yourself.Check out the Black Beryl Podcast on blackberyl.substack.com! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com

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 of blurring disciplinary boundaries and how “meta-practice” can make sense of the many different kinds of Chinese medicines. Along the way, Volker and I discuss the commensurability of Chinese medicine and biomedicine, the importance of connecting the self with the ten thousand things, and how premodern ideas can be the basis of a new politics for modern times.If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode!Resources mentioned in this episode:* Volker’s website* Volker Scheid, Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China: Plurality and Synthesis (2002)* Volker Scheid, Currents of Tradition in Chinese Medicine 1626-2006 (2007)* Paul Unschuld, Chinese Medicine: A History of Ideas (2010)* Annemarie Mol, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice (2003)* Pierce Salguero, “A Polyperspectival Asian Medicine Practice” (2020)* Slavoj Žižek, “From Western Marxism to Western Buddhism” (2001)* Volker’s blog This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blueberylpodcast.substack.com