Ep203: Unlock The Enlightened Mind - Anthony Metivier
Anthony Metivier is an author and internationally renowned memory expert who’s meditation practice is reciting sacred Sanskrit texts from memory.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Anthony shares his most recent findings from his personal meditation practice of reciting sacred Sanskrit texts, including using memorisation and recitation to pacify obsessive thinking, the pros and cons of guru and deity devotion, and his experiment with deliberately reducing his practice volume and observing the mindlessness and habitual tendencies that arose as a consequence.
Anthony discusses how to enter altered states of consciousness through recitation of memorised texts, why he is now memorising Shakespeare instead of more Sanskrit, and why it is essential to include the body in meditation and other mental feats.
Anthony also discusses what can be learned from the examples of figures such as Sherlock Holmes, Giordano Bruno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as discussing his latest book, Flyboy, a crime novel in which the detective protagonist uses specialist memory techniques to track down a serial killer.
00:00 - Intro
01:13 - Flyboy
02:17 - Effects of taking a break from meditation and memorisation
04:45 - Memorising Shakespeare and Atmabodha
06:02 - Memorising Sanskrit as a meditation to pacify obsessive thinking
09:27 - Ideas vs execution
09:56 - Mindlessness after taking a break from meditation
11:20 - Engine and algorithm of the Ruba Gita
12:28 - The genius of Sanskrit’s construction
16:29 - How to induce altered states through recitation
19:37 - From mystical states to positive behaviour change
22:32 - Gary Weber’s enlightenment and idolising the teacher
25:07 - Pros and cons of deity and guru devotion
27:31 - Why memorise Shakespeare?
30:49 - Vaudeville feats of memory and multi-tasking
33:32 - Essential to include the body in meditation
38:33 - The theory of craft and failed creative writing professors
43:39 - Sherlock Holmes and Gary Gygax
46:49 - Writing Flyboy
50:37 - Memory techniques and PTSD
51:58 - Building puzzles into Flyboy for the readers to solve
57:11 - Memory techniques hidden in Giordano Bruno’s plays
58:13 - Popularising memory techniques for non specialists
59:47 - Recording the audiobook version
01:03:24 - The future of Anthony’s publishing efforts
01:07:45 - Have fun and experiment!
Previous episode with Anthony Metivier:
To purchase Flyboy, visit:
To find out more about Anthony Metivier, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James