The Western Baul Podcast Series features talks by practitioners of the Western Baul path. Topics are intended to offer something of educational, inspirational, and practical value to anyone drawn to the spiritual path. For Western Bauls, practice is not a matter of philosophy but is expressed in everyday affairs, service to others, and music and song. There is the recognition that all spiritual traditions have examples of those who have realized that there is no separate self to substantiate—though one will always exist in form—and that “There is only God” or oneness with creation. Western Bauls, as named by Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American spiritual Master who taught in the U.S., Europe, and India and who was known for his radical dharma, humor, and integrity, are kin to the Bauls of Bengal, India, with whom he shared an essential resonance and friendship. Lee’s spiritual lineage includes Yogi Ramsuratkumar and Swami Papa Ramdas. Contact us: westernbaul.org/contact
Prayer, Loving God, “Being With” God (Clelia Lewis)
Christian mysticism which involves prayer, deep contemplation, and being close to the presence of God is discussed along with other paths that use different language. Anchorites in the Middle Ages such as Julian of Norwich devoted their lives to contemplating God in one room. We can stay informed about the world and keep our attention contained in ways such as prayer. There are different ways to pray and put attention on the creation as God. Brother Lawrence had a simple approach of conversing with God, who he assumed was always present. A distinction can be made between prayer as supplication and what EJ Gold calls Prayer Absolute. The possibility of prayer is to come into relationship with whatever is arising. The Work is about God being saved by us, of being with and not running away from God. The remembrance of God may be seen as the purpose of life. The symbolism of the crucifixion and the passion of Christ is considered. Repetition of a prayer or name of God creates the possibility for that practice to come alive. We can pick any prayer or name of God we are drawn to and start a simple practice, which is like creating a room that we invite God into. Wherever our attention goes, our life force goes. If we want our spiritual practice to come to life, we have to put attention on it. In Hinduism, the name is the same as the named so that when you say the name of God, God is there. We can honor all the traditions, go toward the one that calls to us and commit to it. The teaching of Krishna is that all is the play of God. The greatest possibility of the human form is loving God. If we don’t love ourselves, we cannot love others or receive love. Clelia Lewis is a freelance editor specializing in spiritual teachings, self-development, and memoir. She is author of Stainless Heart and a practitioner in the lineage of Lee Lozowick, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, and Swami Papa Ramdas.
8 Oct 2026
Seek Beauty, Avoid Suffering. Now More Than Ever. (Regina Sara Ryan)
“Seek beauty, avoid suffering,” one of Lee Lozowick’s teachings, has to do with seeking real beauty in life all around us and not superficial beauty. It is about avoiding suffering of neurotic mind, not the suffering of humanity. The Stendhal syndrome is a response of being overwhelmed by experiences of art and beauty. Neuroaesthetics refers to the way in which beauty affects the human body. To contemplate sacred images is to contemplate our essence. Beauty can open a door to transcendence, to a big view beyond our self-concerned small view. We can internalize beauty through visualization. Digital beauty narrows our standards for what is beautiful; it can sell product and play on our longing for beauty. Mother Mira, the partner of Sri Aurobindo, said that surrounding ourselves with beauty can make the greatest difference in cultivating spiritual life. All the traditions have beautiful iconography and put beauty in an exalted position. Some of the great Christian cathedrals vibrate with the sacred. Ram means “the beautiful.” There is the recognition in Sufism that God is beautiful. There are paths of beauty in the Navajo and Sufi traditions. Bringing delight to others is something we can do to share beauty as a way of life. The degree to which people have dedicated themselves to the creation of beauty is astonishing. The food of beauty is needed to counterbalance suffering—now more than ever. Beauty is freely given. It can bring us to ask the big questions. Impermanence intensifies the poignancy of the beauty of the moment. Absorbing beauty is not to talk or write about it or photograph it. Silent absorption is the art of doing nothing but allowing beauty to penetrate. Regina Sara Ryan was the editor of Hohm Press for 35 years. She is a workshop leader, retreat guide, and author of The Woman Awake, Igniting the Inner Life, Praying Dangerously, Only God, and other books.
24 Sept 2026
The Rambling Musings of Two Longtime Practitioners (Jim Capellini and Matthew Files)
Spontaneous, genuine, intimate connection may be more valuable than a thought-out presentation or canned dharma. Length of time on the path (or in a marriage) isn’t necessarily a measure of one’s development. Time will tell whether spiritual experiences produce an abiding shift in the way we live. It can be useful not to rush for a remedy when there is pain, which can open us to compassion for a broader spectrum of humanity. There’s nothing like the deterioration of our physical bodies to drive home the reality of impermanence. A practice is to accept what is as it is, without judgment, and then to act. We can excuse ourselves in the name of self-acceptance. Seeing what hasn’t changed over time may be more important than seeing what has changed. We have to accept that the survival mechanism is a driving factor to work with it. We can be overwhelmed easily, and sensations tend to loop and feed on themselves if we don’t catch our reaction at its inception. Not sharing can be a way of being stingy. Humility serves; false humility does not. The motivation to engage the path can be to act in accordance with what we feel is true, which is its own reward. There is no time to waste. Heroic effort is useful for short periods of time; it is not a lifestyle. We can become complacent without an edge, but we can maintain an edge in whatever we do in ordinary life. Working in areas where we are not adult is a need on the path. Honoring a teacher is adult, but putting a teacher on a pedestal is not. Jim Capellini lives with his wife and guru in the lineage of Lee Lozowick in rural British Columbia, Canada, where he oversees the management of Kripa Mandir Ashram. Matthew Files is a longtime practitioner in this lineage who facilitates groups that support people to look deeper into their process, formulate their own questions, and become responsible for their choices.
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