Black Beryl

You are not mistaken: this is in fact the podcast formerly known as The Blue Beryl. We have changed our name for season 3, as we are embracing the darkness! You'll notice a new logo and a new URL, but if you're a subscriber, there's nothing you need to do. Everything will automatically be updated. In today's episode, we are launching the new season 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. We also want to invite everyone to check out 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 (preorder).Resources provided for members on blackberyl.substack.com:Full manuscript of the short book book Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Yoga, Ayurveda (2106), with chapters on spirit healing, talismans, and other topics covered here. 

PLEASE NOTE: Shortly, we will be changing our name to Black Beryl. Your subscription will automatically update and no action is necessary on your part. Thanks for your continued support! 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

In this episode I sit down with Frances Garrett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, history, and language. We talk about Frances’s interests in embodiment and movement, and how her experiences as ballet dancer, surfer, and rock climber connect with her work on religion and healing. Our conversation focuses on her commitment to embodied and trauma-aware pedagogy, and how in the interest of flourishing, she engages the whole person in the learning process. Along the way, we talk about Tibetan bards, sacred mountains, and the importance of long walks. Enjoy! And, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhist medicine and related topics, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes here. Resources Michel Strickmann, Chinese Magical Medicine (2002)Frances Garrett, Religion, Medicine and the Human Embryo in Tibet (2008)Frances Garrett, Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History (2020)Tsering Yangzom Lama, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies (2022)Susan Hrach, Minding Bodies (2021)Jesse Stommel's ungrading website: www.jessestommel.comSusan D. Bloom, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (2020)Cate J. Denial, “A Pedagogy of Kindness” (2019)Frances's website: www.francesgarrett.infoWindvane Project: www.windvane.life

Today I sit down with Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, Lan’s relationship to Islam, and how to cultivate wonder through academic study.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:Lan’s websiteLan Li, “The Vital Other: Integrative Medicine and India” (2012)Lan Li, “Acupuntura e Moxabustão” (2023)Lan Li and Pierce Salguero, Jivaka Project Philadelphia (2015-2020) Pierce’s blogs on Ugly Truths about Grad School, Metamodernism, Metamodern Asian Medicine, and PolyperspectivalismLan Li, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine (2025)