Ep179: Adventures of a Sufi Mystic - Dr Yannis Toussulis
Dr Yannis Toussulis, Sufi lineage holder, psychotherapist, and author of ‘Sufism and the Way of Blame’.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Dr Toussulis recounts his upbringing in Manhattan, New York and how a childhood vision of Jesus Chris changed his life forever.
Dr Toussulis recalls several profound mystical experiences and traces his life of travel and study with gurus and sheiks, including his time at the Esalen Institute, close studies with Tibetan Lama Khenchen Palden Sherab, experiments in psychedelic assisted therapy, travel to India, personal time with Osho, and more.
Dr Toussulis also critiques new age presentations of Sufism, including modern interpretations of Rumia and early 20th century ideas of the Sarmoung Brotherhood, and considers the case of Idries Shah and the collusion between teachers and disciples to create exaggerated origin myths.
Topics include:
00:00 - Intro
01:01- Upbringing in Manhattan
03:04 - Inspired to attend church after a vision of Jesus Christ
04:30 - First encounter with Sufism
07:17 - Meeting first Sheikhs
08:43 - Close study with Khenchen Palden Sherab
09:32 - Return to Sufism
12:42 - A vision of Jesus Christ
15:52 - Interpreting mystical experiences
17:15 - More visionary experiences
21:55 - Realising that God is everywhere
24:09 - Psychedelic experimentation
27:16 - Psychedelic therapy in Vancouver
31:04 - Carlos Castaneda
31:39 - Travel to India and studies with Osho
39:26 - Final conversation with Osho
44:35 - What is enlightenment?
50:23 - Meeting gurus
53:15 - Meeting his Lama in a lucid dream
01:04:40 - ’Nyingthik Drak’ and learning Buddhist tantra
01:08:46 - Sarmoung Brotherhood and misconceptions about Sufism
01:13:57 - What is Sufism?
01:18:25 - Origin myths and the naive audience of the early 1900s
01:22:17 - Collusion and mystification
01:25:39 - The modern inversion of Rumi
To find our more about Dr Yannis Toussulis, visit:
‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James