The Mystical Positivist: The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #161

Saturday, October 4, 2014

The Mystical Positivist - Radio Show #161 - 04OCT14

The Mystical Positivist is now a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP 107.3 FM, Occidental, CA. Listen live on Saturday evenings from 4:00 - 6:00pm, PST, via the web at KOWS Live Stream.

This week's podcast features:

A conversation with Linda Mercadante, author of Belief Without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual But Not Religious. Linda Mercadante knows first-hand how it feels to live without a clear spiritual identity. Born into an immigrant, working class, mixed ethnic, non-religious household in the rough urban environment of Newark, NJ, she experienced prejudice, lack of acceptance, and the uncertainty that comes from not having a spiritual home. She went through years of searching, travel, and exploration in her quest for a spiritual identity. In the process, she earned a Ph.D. in theology from Princeton, became ordained, and found a vocation in seminary teaching. She is dedicated to helping others find a spiritual identity that can allow their spirits to come home.

Her personal story is described in her book: Bloomfield Avenue: A Jewish-Catholic Jersey Girl’s Spiritual Journey [2006]. Dr. Mercadante is a prolific author of more than 50 articles and six books. She lectures internationally, conducts seminars to a wide variety of audiences, and teaches on such topics as addiction recovery, gender and theology, faith and film, and spiritual memoir writing.

This year Dr. Mercadante was named a Luce Scholar for her work examining the beliefs and practices of today’s “Spiritual but not Religious,” the subject of her recently published book Belief Without Borders. The coveted Henry Luce III Fellowship in Theology is awarded to only six scholars per year throughout the entire U.S. and Canada.

Dr. Mercadante is B. Robert Straker Professor of Historical Theology at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and an active participant in many professional groups including The American Academy of Religion and The Workgroup on Constructive Theology. She is a Fellow of The Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton and The Ecumenical Institute at St. John’s University. In addition to the Luce award, she has received numerous grants from such groups as The Louisville Institute and The Association of Theological Schools. This year she was elected to the “Theologies of Religious Pluralism” project of the American Academy of Religion. She has also served as Visiting Scholar in Media & Theology at The University of Edinburgh (Scotland).

More information about Linda Mercadante's work and interests can be found at:

Healthy Beliefs website: www.healthybeliefs.org
Methodist Theological School in Ohio website: www.mtso.edu

No comments:

Post a Comment

"The Mystical Positivist" Radio Show

The Mystical Positivist is a weekly radio show on KOWS-LP FM 107.3 Occidental, CA, and on the web at KOWS-LP Live Feed, Saturdays from 4 - 6pm PST. Coming up on The Mystical Positivist:

April 20: A pre-recorded conversation with Ken McLeod, Buddhist teacher and author of the newly released book, The Magic of Vajrayana. In this conversation, we plan to explore a compelling quote from Ian McGilchrist's The Matter with Things: If you had set out to destroy the happiness and stability of a people, it would have been hard to improve on our current formula: remove yourself as far as possible from the natural world; repudiate the continuity of your culture; believe you are wise enough to do whatever you happen to want and not only get away with it, but have a right to it—and a right to silence those who disagree; minimise the role played by a common body of belief; actively attack and dismantle every social structure as a potential source of oppression; reject the idea of a transcendent set of values.

One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. In particular, his approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions.

After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ken cycled across Europe to Istanbul and then continued his journey overland to India. In 1970 he met his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery near Darjeeling. There Ken began a study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism that lasted more than twenty years. He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher's passing, Ken moved away from the hierarchical structures of Asian Buddhism to explore new approaches.

In 1990, he founded Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early '90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual, Wake Up to Your Life.

Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Vajrayana (2022), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines.