Black Beryl

Today I sit down with Professor Harold Roth, Director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University. Hal is the person who coined the term “contemplative studies,” and he has been a pioneer in this emerging academic field. Together, we explore the benefits of combining third-person critical study with first-person contemplative approaches, as well as the entrenched resistance to this kind of scholarship within religious studies. Along the way, we touch on contemplative education, the need to overcome dualistic thinking, and Hal’s transcendent vision of how contemplative studies can benefit humanity.
If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian religious, medical, healing, and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts.
If you would be willing to help support the pod so we can pay our bills, please look us up on Substack and become a member! Each month our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials in our members area. Check it out!
One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode in the future, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions.
Resources relevant to this episode:
* Brown University’s Contemplative Studies Initiative
* Richard Wilhelm, The I Ching or Book of Changes (1967)
* Harold Roth et al, The Essential Huainanzi (2012)
* Harold Roth, The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism (2021)
* R.H. Sharf, “The rhetoric of experience and the study of religion” (2000)
* Roth, “Critical Subjectivity in the New Field of Contemplative Studies” Yin-Cheng Journal of Contemporary Buddhism (2026)
* B. Alan Wallace, The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness (2000)
* Russell T. McCutcheon, Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion (2001)
* International Society for Contemplative Research
* Contemplative Education Network

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including all of the following:
* Roth, “Against Cognitive Imperialism A Call for a Non-Ethnocentric Approach to
Cognitive Science and Religious Studies” (2008) [PDF]
* Roth, “Contemplative Learning and Inquiry Across Disciplines” (2014
* Hal’s list of Contemplative Studies programs [PDF]
* Hal’s interviews with Joseph Needham, Benjamin Schwartz, KC Chang, AC Graham, Sarah Allan, and other famous Sinologists [MP3]



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Today I sit down with Brendan Graham Dempsey, Director of Research at the Institute of Applied Metatheory, where he thinks about human meaning-making systems. It’s rare that I have someone on the pod who doesn’t specialize in Asian traditions, but I thought a conversation with Brendan might help crystalize some of the ideas we’ve been discussing so far this season. We talk about what kind of spirituality is possible after postmodernism, the advantages of an integrative worldview, and how to decide which perspective should win out over others when they’re in conflict. In our conversation, it is apparent that Brendan and I are coming at this from different directions, but ultimately we discover some common ground.
If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian religious, medical, healing, and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts.
If you would be willing to help support the pod so we can pay our bills, please look us up on Substack and become a member! Each month our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials in our members area. Check it out!
One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode in the future, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!
Resources relevant to this episode:
* Discussion of Pierce’s publication in Metamodern Theory and Praxis: BBP episode 4.1
* Brendan’s main website: https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/
* Evolution of Meaning: https://evolutionofmeaning.com
* Ω (Omega): https://www.brendangrahamdempsey.com/omega
Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including the following:
* Chapter 1 from Brendan’s forthcoming book Evolution of Meaning (PDF, 142 pp.)



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Today I sit down with Helena Choi Soholm, PhD. A Korean American who grew up in a Protestant family, in 2018, Dr Soholm was initiated into becoming both a transpersonal psychologist and a Korean shaman (or mudang). Our conversation focuses on her experience navigating the intersections of archetypal energies, trance states, and possession by ancestral spirits. Along the way, we talk about her initiation in Korea, the centrality of music in shamanic ceremonies, how Korean adoptees reestablish ancestral connection, and about the goal of integrating transcendent and immanent spirituality.
If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members area on Substack (blackberyl.substack.com), as each episode our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials for you.
One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!
Resources relevant to this episode:
* Helena’s upcoming events
* Helena’s shamanic services
* My interview with Jeff Kriple (BBP 3.18)
* Intangible Asset No. 82
Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including the following:
* Helen Choi Soholm, Brief Guidelines for an Ancestor Honoring Ritual (PDF)
* Intangible Asset No. 82 (streaming video)


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In this episode, I sit down with Dr Peter Wayne, Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. A prolific researcher of the science of body-mind practices, Peter is the author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi (2013) and over 200 scientific papers. But he has also been a practitioner and instructor of taiji and qigong for over 45 years, and is the founder of the Tree of Life Tai Chi Center outside of Boston. Together we explore the intersection of science and practice, as well as the bridges he has been building for decades between them. Along the way, we discuss reconciling reductionism with systems thinking, Peter’s ecological way of speaking about the body, and whether or not one should mention qi in a scientific paper.
If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members area on Substack (blackberyl.substack.com), as each episode our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials for you.
One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
* Osher Center for Integrative Health
* Ted Kaptchuck, The Web That Has No Weaver (2000)
Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Peter’s publications:
* Wayne et al., “A Systems Biology Approach to Studying Tai Chi, Physiological Complexity and Healthy Aging” (2013)
* Wayne et al., “Can Tai Chi and Qigong Postures Shape Our Mood? Toward an Embodied Cognition Framework for Mind-Body Research” (2018)
* Wayne et al., “Integrative Medicine Is a Good Prescription
for Patients and Planet” (2019)
* Wayne et al., “The Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person
Health” (2025)


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In this episode, I sit down with my friend Linda C. Ceriello, a scholar of mysticism and popular culture from Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Linda is one of the foremost scholars of metamodernism, with particular focus on contemporary spirituality and mystical experiences. She talks with me about what this concept of metamodernism means, and how it can open up new kinds of more capacious thinking. I’m sure you will agree that a lot of what we’ve been doing on this podcast over the past 4 years — juxtaposing different perspectives, exposing our full selves, exploring the dark sides of spirituality, leaning into sincerity, etc. — has all embodied a metamodern sensibility. Anyway, I think she’s the perfect guest to talk with as we launch season 4, and I hope you’ll enjoy the show.
If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in multidisciplinary conversations about Asian healing and mystical traditions, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members area on Substack (blackberyl.substack.com), as each episode our guests share downloadable PDFs of articles, book chapters, and other materials for you.
One last thing: we are planning an “Ask Me Anything” episode coming up soon, so reach out via Substack or my website, piercesalguero.com, and let me know your questions. Ok, on with the show!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
* “What is Metamodern?” website
* “What is Metamodern? Conversations” on YouTube
* Bloomsbury Press series: Studies in Metamodernism, Theory and Criticism Across the Disciplines
* Vermeulen and van den Akker, “Notes on Metamodernism” (2010)
* Kersten, Polo, Wilbers, Glocal Metamodernisms: European Fiction After Postmodernism (2026)
* Disambiguation video
* Recorded lecture: “An Overview of the Academic Research on Metamodernism” (2021)
* Recorded panel: “A Bodhisattva Move: Popular Mysticism’s Influence on the Metamodern Turn?” (2023)
Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including these PDFs of Linda’s work:
* Metamodern Mysticisms (2018)
* “Toward a metamodern reading of Spiritual but Not Religious mysticisms” (2018)
* “The Metamodern Bend: Theorizations for Religious Studies” (2022)



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