A quick post here to call attention to yet another interview I did with Steve James for his Guru Viking podcast, which came out a day ago.
In the interview, Steve and I discuss two pieces of research I recently did on the subject of so-called ‘meditation sickness’ and the Tibetan genre of geksel, gegs sel གེགས་སེལ་, i.e. instructions and practices for resolving obstacles – adverse reactions, sicknesses and so on – which get in the way of accomplishing meditation and yogic practice. Both pieces of research were developed with the kind editorial support and encouragement of Dr Pierce Salguero – the first, an annotated interview with Dr Nida Chenagtsang, a Tibetan traditional doctor and tantric householder yogi, which is featured in Pierce’s recent University of Hawaii Press edited volume ‘Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook on the Dangers of Buddhist Practice’ and the other, an annotated translation of a Tibetan gegs sel manual written by the seventeenth century Tibetan meditation master Taranatha, which will be appearing in an upcoming special volume of the Asian Medicine Journal.
Geksel literature is such a fascinating genre of Tibetan writing and knowledge. It sits at the rich intersection of medicine and Tantric Buddhist yoga, of exoteric and naturalistic and esoteric and ritual approaches to healing. It’s also been surprisingly under-researched and discussed. I’ve learned a great deal comparing and contrasting Tibetan geksel texts – I hope that the conversation and these modest research contributions will inspire further interdisciplinary conversations and research as well. Here’s Steve’s description and timestamps for the interview:
A Perfumed Skull 