Chris Grosso – Ep. 9 – Dana Sawyer

Dana Sawyer is a full-time Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the Maine College of Art, and an adjunct professor of Asian Religions at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.

He is the author of two critically acclaimed spiritual biographies, of Aldous Huxley (2002) and Huston Smith (2014), and has written on a wide range of topics related to consciousness expansion, Tibetan Buddhism, Hindu mysticism, psychedelic experience, and alternative philosophies.  Besides teaching at the academic level, Prof. Sawyer is a popular speaker on the lecture circuit, having taught workshops at the Esalen Institute, the Kripalu Institute, and other such centers of psychological, spiritual and philosophical inquiry. His work has appeared in Tricycle, the Buddhist Review, Parabola magazine, Yoga Journal and other such publications. Visit Dana’s Website at dana-sawyer.com.

Show Notes

Brave New World – Dana discusses the late 60’s, his introduction to spirituality, sorting out the strange in life, Asian religions and Aldous Huxley.

Common Threads – Dana and I talk about the perennial philosophy as described by Aldous Huxley, our own experiences with inter-faith spirituality and whether or not Huxley was trying to start a new religion – a universalism of sorts as suggested on the back of The Perennial Philosophy’s book jacket (Harper).

Mistaking the Means for the Goal – Huston Smith was a student of Huxley’s views and also forwards the perennial philosophy, and Dana and I discuss the difference in their individual attitudes toward the traditional religions.

The Religions of Man – Dana talks about Huston Smith’s contribution to the study of religion through his seminal work in The Religions of Man (today known as The World’s Religions).

A Constellation of Meaning – The perennial philosophy puts a premium on the mystical experience of oneness with all reality – what is often called the ‘nondual’ experience. Dana and I talk about if that means: Should one’s spirituality be self-focused?  And if so, isn’t that a bit selfish?

Mortal Coils – Dana talks about Huston Smith’s interesting view of enlightenment.

Youth Of Today – Dana has been teaching at the college level for more than 30 years, and talks about what has changed with students over that time and what his students are hungry for with reference to spirituality today.

It’s All Too Real – Huxley and Huston both wrote books that were favorably inclined towards the use of psychedelics as a means of triggering mystical insight.  Dana talks about how psychedelic experiences can be like naturally occurring mystical experiences and his thoughts on whether they hold any true value (SPOILER ALERT: He thinks they can…and so do I).

Amazon Recommendations

Aldous Huxley: A Biography      Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper: Living The World's Religions      Peaceful Mind

Photo via Dana Sawyer