Black Beryl Podcast

4.4 Bonus Materials for Paid Members

Pierce Salguero — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 21:22:29 GMT

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including the following:

Helen Choi Soholm, Brief Guidelines for an Ancestor Honoring Ritual (PDF)
Intangible Asset No. 82 (streaming video)

4.4 Korean Shamanic Healing, with Helena Choi Soholm

Pierce Salguero — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 21:22:28 GMT

Today I sit down with Helena Choi Soholm, PhD. A Korean American who grew up in a Protestant family, in 2018, Dr Soholm was initiated into becoming both a transpersonal psychologist and a Korean shaman (or mudang). Our conversation focuses on her experience navigating the intersections of archetypal energies, trance states, and possession by ancestral spirits. Along the way, we talk about her initiation in Korea, the centrality of music in shamanic ceremonies, how Korean adoptees reestablish ancestral connection, and about the goal of integrating transcendent and immanent spirituality.

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members area on Substack (blackberyl.substack.com), as each episode our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials for you.

One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!

Resources relevant to this episode:

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including the following:

Helen Choi Soholm, Brief Guidelines for an Ancestor Honoring Ritual (PDF)
Intangible Asset No. 82 (streaming video)

4.3 Integrative Medical Taiji and Qigong, with Peter Wayne

Pierce Salguero — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 19:11:13 GMT

In this episode, I sit down with Dr Peter Wayne, Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. A prolific researcher of the science of body-mind practices, Peter is the author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi (2013) and over 200 scientific papers. But he has also been a practitioner and instructor of taiji and qigong for over 45 years, and is the founder of the Tree of Life Tai Chi Center outside of Boston. Together we explore the intersection of science and practice, as well as the bridges he has been building for decades between them. Along the way, we discuss reconciling reductionism with systems thinking, Peter’s ecological way of speaking about the body, and whether or not one should mention qi in a scientific paper.

One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Peter’s publications:

Wayne et al., “A Systems Biology Approach to Studying Tai Chi, Physiological Complexity and Healthy Aging” (2013)
Wayne et al., “Can Tai Chi and Qigong Postures Shape Our Mood? Toward an Embodied Cognition Framework for Mind-Body Research” (2018)
Wayne et al., “Integrative Medicine Is a Good Prescription
for Patients and Planet” (2019)
Wayne et al., “The Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person
Health” (2025)

4.3 Bonus Materials for Paid Members

Pierce Salguero — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 19:03:14 GMT

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Peter’s publications:

Wayne et al., “A Systems Biology Approach to Studying Tai Chi, Physiological Complexity and Healthy Aging” (2013)
Wayne et al., “Can Tai Chi and Qigong Postures Shape Our Mood? Toward an Embodied Cognition Framework for Mind-Body Research” (2018)
Wayne et al., “Integrative Medicine Is a Good Prescription
for Patients and Planet” (2019)
Wayne et al., “The Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person
Health” (2025

4.2 Bonus Materials for Paid Members

Pierce Salguero — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 21:28:00 GMT

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Linda’s work:

Metamodern Mysticisms (2018)
“Toward a metamodern reading of Spiritual but Not Religious mysticisms” (2018)
“The Metamodern Bend: Theorizations for Religious Studies” (2022)

4.2 Metamodern Mysticism, with Linda Ceriello

Pierce Salguero — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:03:54 GMT

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Linda C. Ceriello, a scholar of mysticism and popular culture from Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Linda is one of the foremost scholars of metamodernism, with particular focus on contemporary spirituality and mystical experiences. She talks with me about what this concept of metamodernism means, and how it can open up new kinds of more capacious thinking. I’m sure you will agree that a lot of what we’ve been doing on this podcast over the past 4 years — juxtaposing different perspectives, exposing our full selves, exploring the dark sides of spirituality, leaning into sincerity, etc. — has all embodied a metamodern sensibility. Anyway, I think she’s the perfect guest to talk with as we launch season 4, and I hope you’ll enjoy the show.

One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Linda’s work:

Metamodern Mysticisms (2018)
“Toward a metamodern reading of Spiritual but Not Religious mysticisms” (2018)
“The Metamodern Bend: Theorizations for Religious Studies” (2022)

4.1 Bonus Materials for Paid Members

Pierce Salguero — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 19:27:08 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

PDF of the introduction to Pierce’s new book: Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook on the Dangers of Buddhist Practice, just published by University of Hawaii Press.

4.1 Introducing "The Epistemological Carnaval," with Pierce Salguero and Lan A. Li

Pierce Salguero — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 02:05:48 GMT

Welcome to season 4 of the BBP!

We concluded the last episode with Jeff Kripal calling upon humanities scholars to break out of our conservative paradigms and to allow ourselves to “get weird.” So, let’s do it! This season, we are going all-in on the mystical, mysterious, profound, reality-bending, and impossible aspects of Asian religions, medicines, and spiritualities.

As usual, we’ll launch the season the tables turned, with Lan taking up the mic to interview Pierce. Together, we think about traditional, modern, and postmodern approaches to Asian medicine. Usually, these epistemologies are competing or people are trying to integrate them… but could there be another approach that celebrates all of them without needing to reconcile dissonance?

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also look us up on Substack to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

PDF of the introduction to Pierce’s new book: Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook on the Dangers of Buddhist Practice, just published by University of Hawaii Press.

3.18 Bonus material for paid members

Pierce Salguero — Tue, 05 May 2026 18:00:31 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

PDF of the introduction of Jeff’s book, How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (2024)

3.18 Extraordinary, Mysterious, and Impossible Experiences, with Jeffrey Kriple

Pierce Salguero — Tue, 05 May 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Today I sit down with Prof. Jeff Kripal, noted scholar of religion at Rice University, to talk about extraordinary, mysterious, and “impossible” experiences. This is a conversation I’ve been waiting a few years to have. Together we explore what you can or can’t talk about in the humanities — and what we risk when we break the rules. Along the way, we touch on paranormal phenomena, epistemological pluralism, conspiracy theories, Plato’s cave, and why no one dresses up as a humanities professor for Halloween.

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:

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

PDF of the introduction of Jeff's book, How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (2024)

BONUS: Meditation Sickness, with Pierce Salguero (Rebroadcast from the Buddhist Yoga Podcast)

Pierce Salguero — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:00:00 GMT

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 a detailed 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 Buddhism
and 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

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

PDF of the introduction to the 2026 book.

3.17 Bonus material for paid members

Pierce Salguero — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:57:11 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including a $500 discount on the Neuromatrix Headset:

3.17 Awakening & Integration, with Sanjay Manchanda

Pierce Salguero — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Today I sit down with Sanjay Manchanda, who is an Adjunct Professor at California Institute of Human Science and also teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Sanjay is an awakening facilitator, a practicing psychotherapist, and an inventor and technologist with a PhD in computer science. In this conversation, we talk about the importance of integration after awakening, psychedelics, shadow work, and a helmet that pulses infrared light into the brain to facilitate spiritual experiences. Along the way, we raise the important question of whether we will ever be able to create an enlightenment machine.

Resources related to this conversation:

Sanjay's Neuromatrix Headset: https://neuromatrix.health/
Ultrasound research by Jay Sanguinetti: https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/
Arnold Mindell, Dreambody: The Body's Role in Healing the Self (1982).
Les Fehmi, The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body (2008).
YouTube videos: Awareness Explorers, Neuroscience of Meditation Summit
For information about Sanjay's Monday morning group Multidimensional Fundamental Well-Being, personal coaching, and therapy sessions, contact sanjay.manchanda1@gmail.com.

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

$500 discount on the Neuromatrix Headset

3.16 Bonus material for paid members

Pierce Salguero — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:09:50 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Tawni Tidwell et al. “Chasing dön spirits in Tibetan medical encounters: Transcultural affordances and embodied psychiatry in Amdo, Qinghai” 2022.

3.16 Tibetan Medicine for Meditators, with Tawni Tidwell

Pierce Salguero — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

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.

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 Association

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Tawni Tidwell et al. “Chasing dön spirits in Tibetan medical encounters: Transcultural affordances and embodied psychiatry in Amdo, Qinghai” 2022.

3.15 Bonus material for paid members

Pierce Salguero — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:49:52 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Full English translation of the Hathayoga Pradipika, which includes description of kundalini coiled at the base of the spine and structured practices to direct her energy toward enlightenment:

3.15 The Modern Remaking of Kundalini, with Marleen Thaler

Pierce Salguero — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Today I sit down with Marleen Thaler, a researcher at the University of Vienna and University of Graz. Together, we investigate the history of the transformation of Kundalini from a Hindu goddess resting at the base of the spine to her modern manifestation as a psychiatric syndrome. Along the way, we discuss the central importance of the Theosophical society, the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1970s, spiritual emergencies, and kundalini as a meeting point for religion and medicine.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power: The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga
Gopi Krishna, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man
Lee Sennella, The Kundalini Experience: Psychosis or Transcendence
Spiritual Emergence Network (USA | International)
Marleen's publications: Academia.edu

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Full English translation of the Hathayoga Pradipika, which includes description of kundalini coiled at the base of the spine and structured practices to direct her energy toward enlightenment.

3.14 Bonus material for paid members

Pierce Salguero — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 15:54:20 GMT

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Brandt Stickley, “Approaching the Origin: The Diaphanous Body and Classical Chinese Medicine” (preprint of article published in 2024).

3.14 Spirit Possession and Chinese Medicine Anti-Psychiatry, with Brandt Stickley

Pierce Salguero — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Today, I catch up with Brandt Stickley, Associate Professor at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland. We discuss his practice of “Chinese medicine anti-psychiatry,” which involves exorcising spirits using acupuncture needles. Along the way, we talk about mass possession, spiritual shark bites, and how to properly unwind a wayward ghost.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Become a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:

Brandt Stickley, "Approaching the Origin: The Diaphanous Body and Classical Chinese Medicine" (2024)

BONUS: Buddhist Ritual Magic, with Zachary Lui (Rebroadcast from 2023)

Pierce Salguero — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 02:00:00 GMT

In celebration of the holiday season, here's a bonus episode from the archives. In May of 2023, I sat down with Zachary Lui who is a practitioner of Chinese medicine, magic, and shamanism in the Toronto area. We started by talking about his early work with Chinese martial arts, traditional medicine, and qigong. We then got into Zac’s practice of chaos magic, diverse ritual practices, reiki, and esoteric Buddhist healing. Finally, we discussed his communication with different deities and spirits, as well as the potential dangers of working with them in his healing 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 mentioned in the episode: