On this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss the role of song in psychedelics and explore how the ethereal can be accessed through music.

In this episode, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss:

• The many ways we can arrive at non-ordinary states
• The power of intention when making music
• How music can act as a bridge to the ethereal
• How music can influence emotional states and brain states
• Music as a birthright and how anyone can be and is a musician
• The exponential growth rate of society
• Reclaiming creativity as a necessary technology
• Psychedelics and music as propellers into a trance state
• Truly giving ourselves over to the music
• Having a guide or therapist to work with
• The impact of intention and set and setting

About East Forest:

East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, and ceremony guide. Since 2008, East Forest’s “lush” (Rolling Stone) and “blissful” (NPR) music has blended ambient, neoclassical, electronic, and avant-pop to explore sound as a tool for inner journeys and consciousness expansion. Known for being the first musician to collaborate with Ram Dass, his latest endeavor is the feature-length film Music for Mushrooms, a narrative documentary showcasing the transformative power of psychedelics, music, and community.

“If you think about psychedelic ceremonies across human history, almost all of them were guided by songs and music. The same thing is used in the background of stores, birthday parties, weddings, working out, music is everywhere. But, it is the one thing that guides a ceremony typically. It could be been dancing, it could’ve been you always walk, no, it’s music. It’s showing us the power and potential of how it’s deeply connected to non-dual, to the mystery itself, it’s a kind of bridge.” – East Forest

About Marisa Radha Weppner:

Marisa Radha Weppner is a mom, author, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, DJ, teacher, minister, psychedelic therapist, community organizer, life coach, podcaster, and entrepreneur. She has taught yoga since 2002. Known for her authentic self-expression, she empowers others to embody their soul’s wisdom, bringing a real-world mix of eastern spirituality and western psychology to her students. Her online yoga classes and book “Vinyasa Yoga Made Simple: 27 days of Self Discovery” are available through udaya.com. You can listen to her meditation album “Guidance” on all streaming platforms, or tune into her podcast Love, Service, Wisdom.

“I bet if we go back in human history there wasn’t even a word for musician it was just what we all did as humans together. Now, it’s become something different that we are or aren’t, that we relegate to a certain subset of the population. But I would say we all are musicians and part of our awakening takes us back to that.” – Marisa Radha Weppner

About Jackie Dobrinska:

Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves.

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In this retreat recording, Gil Fronsdal applies Buddhism to parenting and explains family life as one of the best forms of practice.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal explains:

• Buddhism as a training for all aspects of our lives
• Finding balance, freedom, and compassion in the day-to-day
• Family and children as one of the greatest forms of practice
• Equanimity as the crown jewel of Buddhism
• How children are more influenced by how we are rather than what we say
• Our emotional presence as an integral part of our children’s development
• How anger and anxiety can pass onto our children
• Stepping back and looking at our priorities
• Taking responsibility to show up for practice
• Controlling ourselves and staying present
• Being accepting and allowing our children to be themselves
• Making space when our children say hurtful things
• Gil’s own stories and examples as a father
• Modeling equanimity and acceptance towards ourselves

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

“We can’t really control the world and there are enough times we can’t control our children. But, we can control ourselves, or part of ourselves. When we can’t control the situation around us, can we at least monitor ourselves enough so that we can stay balanced, not caught, not lost, not distracted, but really stay present in an effective way?” – Gil Fronsdal

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Defining relationships as a triangle between God, Self, and Other, Stephen and Ondrea Levine discuss opening and softening our hearts.

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In this archival episode, Stephen and Ondrea Levine explore:

• How relationships open our hearts in hell
• The difficulty in relationships as a path to purification
• How easy it is to be in a relationship, how hard it is to relate
• Relationships as a triangle between God, Other, and Self
• How fear and cruelty dissolves in a willingness to approach the truth
• Trying to let go of what keeps hearts separate
• Dying into life, letting the heart burst, and going on
• Practices that help us connect to ourselves and to forgive
• The tremendous work we can do at home
• Healing parental relationships
• How grief keeps us separate
• Each moment of love as complete and precious
• Learning how to love by watching how unloving we often are

About Stephen & Ondrea Levine:

Stephen Levine was an American poet, author and Buddhist teacher best known for his work on death and dying. He was a friend and colleague to many Be Here Now Network Teachers. Along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, Stephen is responsible for making the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West. He also helped establish the Living/Dying Project with RamDev and Ram Dass.

For over thirty-two years, Stephen and his wife Ondrea Levine provided emotional and spiritual support for those who are life-threatened, and for caregivers. Through their healing and forgiveness workshops, many writings, and endless compassion, Stephen and Ondrea have touched the lives of thousands of people all over the world. They are the authors of numerous books, including Who Dies, Embracing the Beloved, and A Year to Live, among others. Find more talks and writings from Stephen and Ondrea at levinetalks.com.

“Relationship offers us an opportunity to open our heart in hell. The difficulty of relationship is one of its most exquisite opportunities for purification, for healing.” – Stephen Levine

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