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John E Davis II is a spiritual teacher who passed away in 1984 , leaving behind an audiotaped interview and a few poems that appeared in a TAT Journal shortly after his passing. I resurrected that interview for this month’s podcast because it’s refreshingly far removed from the increasingly homogeneous mass of spiritual teachings on the market.

Though the audio recording shows its age, you can still detect the power behind the words of John E Davis. It’s a power that builds throughout the recording, culminating in the reading of several of Davis’ poems. “It’s not great poetry,” he says, but his voice passes a message.

I hope you enjoy this episode and want to give a special thanks to those of you who’ve become monthly sponsors.  See the Supporter Options below for more info. on that.  Please feel free to leave comments or send an email with the contact form.  I always appreciate hearing your thoughts.

• Listen to the interview on iTunes, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Google Play.
• Stream by clicking here, or download after you follow the link by using right-click and then “save as.”
• Or watch on YouTube.
• Read the transcript.
• As a thank you for visiting, enjoy free shipping and get a signed copy of my book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment for only $13.95.
• If you enjoy the podcast, please join my monthly supporters.  Your help is appreciated.

 

Supporter Options

Excellent : $5.00 USD – monthly Awesome : $10.00 USD – monthly Outstanding : $20.00 USD – monthly

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links and Topics from this Episode:

• My special request for all listeners to consider supporting the TAT Foundation’s new center. Check out the photos and make a donation on the TAT Homing Ground page.
• Einstein’s Space and Van Gogh’s Sky. Circa 1983, John Davis’ top recommendation addressing the conflict between science and spirituality.
• “I saw more in that vision than I’ll ever be able to tell,” Davis references this saying from the book Black Elk Speaks.
• Davis discusses the degenerative brain damage that led to homelessness, and his losing his license to practice law.
• “All my life, I have infrequently, frequented graveyards. It’s a place of solitude.”
• The difference between a “scuffler” and a “bum.”
• “You don’t have a year to live. You’re ready for the box.” Pronouncement from Davis’ doctor.
• “There’s one thing about the desert — you risk meeting God.”
• “I, a stranger and afraid, in a world I never made,” Davis quoting the English poet A. E. Housman in “The Laws of God, The Laws of Man.”
• “Zorba the Greek is one of my heroes.” “The flame burned in as strong in him an in any writer,” referring to author Nikos Kazantzakis’ Zorba the Greek. His Odyssey: A modern sequel, is the “greatest poem of the 20th century.”
• “I began to get a sense of other — something other than my own personality.”
• John E Davis repeatedly mentions how the crew of the tv show That’s Incredible magically captured the feeling of his spiritual revelation in the graveyard. If only I could find that episode!
• “I’m trying to talk to your nervous system, not your cerebral hemispheres.”
• Maurice Bucke’s Cosmic Consciousness — “Excellent. There’s are things in there I just nod [in agreement].”
• “I wrote a book, Out of Darkness,” from which Davis reads several poems in this recording. Despite searching, I’ve never located this book.
• “Much of what I’ve been able to do after this experience is not to project so much.”
• “For tomorrow’s hero the battle is fought within.”
• “Follow your fascinations.”
• “What’s important is that man in his soul goes into the abyss, goes into darkness, into death, finds something, comes out with it.”
• “You’ve got today, now. And when you live in that here and now, a certain centering takes place, then anything can happen. That’s the experience, and if you look for it you’ll find it. Or, as you’ll soon find out, you don’t find it. God finds you.”
• “Engross yourself with the paradox; with the pairs of opposites.”
• Recommends Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces and Myths to Live By.
• Jean Houston – one of the top twenty most interesting people in the world.
• Davis says if one’s voice has a certain resonance, then they can communicate something more than just words.
• “We are the leaves on a tree.”
• “In the long run, only the impossible happens.”
• “Reality always leaves the experts far behind.”
• “Using the old myths and symbols keeps your self from getting wrapped up in thinking you thought this up.”
• “If I was a man your age, I’d carry two coins in my pocket. One saying the world was made for me and me alone. That is true! It is. It’s waitin’ just for you. I’m serious! And I’d carry another one that says I’m but dust and ashes. And that’s true.”
• “Remember that the supreme arbiter, the judge, is your own soul’s opinion. Always.”
• “When you’re truly meditating is when your eyes listen.”

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Joel Morwood is the spiritual director of the Center for Sacred Sciences in Eugene, Oregon. For over 30 years, he’s helped guide seekers on the spiritual path through his many talks, essays, and books, as well as helped fashion a body of teachings that calls upon the great mystical traditions.

It was 2017 when I first reached out to Joel Morwood for an interview. I was told he was busy writing a book and not available until the following year. Forward to 2020 when I finally followed up with him. It was worth the wait. Honest, self-deprecating, insightful, I count Joel Morwood as a “win” in the world of spiritual teachers.

I hope you enjoy this episode and want to give a special thanks to those of you who’ve become monthly sponsors.  See the Supporter Options below for more info. on that.  Please feel free to leave comments or send an email with the contact form.  I always appreciate hearing your thoughts.

• Listen to the interview on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.
• Stream by clicking here, or download after you follow the link by using right-click and then “save as.”
• Or watch on YouTube.
• As a thank you for visiting, enjoy free shipping and get a signed copy of my book Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment for only $12.95.
• If you enjoy the podcast, please join my monthly supporters.  Your help is appreciated.

 

Supporter Options

Excellent : $5.00 USD – monthly Awesome : $10.00 USD – monthly Outstanding : $20.00 USD – monthly

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links and Topics from this Episode:

• My special request for all listeners to consider supporting the TAT Foundation’s new center. Check out the photos and make a donation on the TAT Homing Ground page.
• For more of Joel’s background, see his interview on BATGAP.
• Giving up on the spiritual path – kenosis – the dark night of the soul.
• The value of precepts.
• Practices designed to destroy the spiritual practice itself.
• Joel Morwood’s time with Franklin Merrell-Wolff in Lone Pine.
• Joel’s spiritual autobiography: Naked Through the Gate.
• On the surprising number of students at the Center for Sacred Science who have woken up.
• “For the spiritual path to work, you really got to put all your eggs in one basket.” If you don’t have that passion, fine, just keep at it and you may get it.
• The Way of Selflessness – a practical guide to enlightenment that takes core teachings from many traditions come together to make a complete path to awakening. Joel Morewood considers this book the introduction to his teachings.
• Effort versus non-effort on the spiritual path, giving up spiritual practices versus reaching the point where you can’t do them, “who” surrenders? See Joel’s article “To Practice or Not to Practice” for more.
• Joel’s book on preparing for death is Through Death’s Gate: A Guide to Selfless Dying.
• Whether any of Merrell-Wolff’s students became enlightened, and a few stories from Joel’s time with him.
• When I asked Joel if he had any favorite spiritual films, he couldn’t think of any, but later sent a note that Zorba the Greek, starring Anthony Quinn is one he often references. “Although Zorba’s not enlightened, he exemplifies the freedom and passion for life that comes from practicing true detachment, as opposed to a sterile, pretend kind.”
• Reach Joel Morwood at centerforsacredsciences.org.

Support this podcast