williamblake

Mark Whitwell interviews Rosalind Atkinson about her life with yoga and realisations. In particular, Mark asks about her academic studies of english literature, especially the mystic poet William Blake, and the relevance of these studies to her life in yoga.

This episode will be of interest to anyone with a mixed experience in academia or poetry, who is interested in the yogic process of making inspiration relevant to our lives right now.

We also discuss the last two years of teaching around the world through zoom, and end with a little teaser about a new project, called "Wardrobe Dharma".

In this episode you will hear...

''And I got to the end of this research project ... and I was trying to write a conclusion that summed up what I had learned in the process. And I came across a line by Blake that said something like ... the true faculty of knowledge is experience... And it was a very unsettling phrase to me because I realized in that moment that of everything I'd written about passionately, it wasn't my experience I was writing about Blake's experience.''

''I fell straight into the spiritual seekers trap of hungrily seeking experience...for myself...''

''It's like if my mind was the king and the body was the peasants of the kingdom. Even if the king ignores the peasants, they're still there. And they're still feeding him. But he's just not acknowledging them... Abusing them, mistreating them, not appreciating their work. ''

"Blake's poetry speaks in and as that force of life that is beyond the mind. And that's why obviously people from different cultures resonate with it. If it was just culturally constructed, then the English would love Blake the best. But they didn't, they thought he belonged in a straight jacket."

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In Part 2, Luke and I discuss the esoteric connections and intersections with the figures of Blake and Ginsberg. We talk about in the influence of Emmanuel Swedenborg and Gnosticism on the worldviews of both Blake and Ginsberg, how Ginsberg saw Buddhism and Gnosticism as being connected in a syncretic way, and what contemporary artists could be viewed as ‘carrying on the Blakean torch’ in our own popular culture. 

Dr Luke Walker has published widely on the intersections between British Romantic poetry, American counterculture, and esotericism.
His publications include "‘One physical-mental inspiration of thought': Allen Ginsberg and Black Mountain poetics", in The Beats, Black Mountain, and New Modes in American Poetry, ed. Matt Theado (2021), “Beat Britain: poetic vision and division in Albion’s ‘underground’”, in The Routledge Handbook of International Beat Literature, ed. A. Robert Lee (2018), “Tangled up in Blake: the triangular relationship among Dylan, Blake, and the Beats”, in Rock and Romanticism: Blake, Wordsworth, and Rock from Dylan to U2, ed. James Rovira (2018), “Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Wales Visitation’ as a neo-Romantic response to Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’”, in Romanticism journal (2013), and “Allen Ginsberg’s Blakean Albion,” in Comparative American Studies journal (2013). Most recently, Luke co-edited a special issue of the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, on “The Artist of the Future Age: William Blake, Neo-Romanticism, Counterculture and Now” (2022). 

He is now writing a book entitled William Blake and Allen Ginsberg: Romanticism, Counterculture and Radical Reception.

PROGRAM NOTES

Dr. Luke Walker:
academia.edu page: (99+) Luke Walker | Home - Academia.edu
Twitter: Luke Walker (@DrLukeWalker) / Twitter

Selected Articles:
(99+) Tangled Up in Blake: the Triangular Relationship among Dylan, Blake, and the Beats | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Allen Ginsberg's Blakean Albion | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Beat Britain: poetic vision and division in Albion's 'underground' | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Psychedelic Romanticism: Ginsberg, Blake and Wordsworth | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) 'One physical-mental inspiration of thought': Allen Ginsberg and Black Mountain Poetics | Luke Walker - Academia.edu

William Blake Archive: The William Blake Archive
Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's 'The Nurse's Song': Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's "The Nurse's Song" - YouTube
Mike Goode, 'Blakespotting': (99+) Blakespotting | Mike Goode - Academia.edu

Allen Ginsberg: The Allen Ginsberg Project - AllenGinsberg.org
'Wichita Vortex Sutra': Allen Ginsberg: Wichita Vortex Sutra (chriscander.com)

Bob Dylan 'Tempest': Bob Dylan - Tempest (Official Audio) - YouTube
'Rough and Rowdy Ways': I Contain Multitudes - YouTube
'Subterranean Homesick Blues': Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (Official HD Video) - YouTube

OTHER RESOURCES:
patti smith: official site
Home - Kae Tempest
John Higgs – Author of Love And Let Die, William Blake Vs The World, Watling Street and The KLF


Theme Music: Daniel P. Shea

Other music: Stephanie Shea

In Part One, Luke discusses the great influence of the poet and artist William Blake on Allen Ginsberg, one of the most influential people from the Beat Generation and the ‘counterculture’ movement of 1960s United States. He also talks in detail about Ginsberg’s “Blake Vision,” the name Ginsberg gave to a series of extraordinary events in his life in 1948. We then discuss Luke’s article “Tangled Up in Blake” that focuses on Ginsberg’s views about Bob Dylan and their complex relationship. Lastly, we talk about the influence of Buddhism on Ginsberg and how this affected his views about Blake and his worldview in general.

Dr Luke Walker has published widely on the intersections between British Romantic poetry, American counterculture, and esotericism.
His publications include "‘One physical-mental inspiration of thought': Allen Ginsberg and Black Mountain poetics", in The Beats, Black Mountain, and New Modes in American Poetry, ed. Matt Theado (2021), “Beat Britain: poetic vision and division in Albion’s ‘underground’”, in The Routledge Handbook of International Beat Literature, ed. A. Robert Lee (2018), “Tangled up in Blake: the triangular relationship among Dylan, Blake, and the Beats”, in Rock and Romanticism: Blake, Wordsworth, and Rock from Dylan to U2, ed. James Rovira (2018), “Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Wales Visitation’ as a neo-Romantic response to Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’”, in Romanticism journal (2013), and “Allen Ginsberg’s Blakean Albion,” in Comparative American Studies journal (2013). Most recently, Luke co-edited a special issue of the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, on “The Artist of the Future Age: William Blake, Neo-Romanticism, Counterculture and Now” (2022). 

He is now writing a book entitled William Blake and Allen Ginsberg: Romanticism, Counterculture and Radical Reception.

PROGRAM NOTES

Dr. Luke Walker:
academia.edu page: (99+) Luke Walker | Home - Academia.edu
Twitter: Luke Walker (@DrLukeWalker) / Twitter

Selected Articles:
(99+) Tangled Up in Blake: the Triangular Relationship among Dylan, Blake, and the Beats | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Allen Ginsberg's Blakean Albion | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Beat Britain: poetic vision and division in Albion's 'underground' | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) Psychedelic Romanticism: Ginsberg, Blake and Wordsworth | Luke Walker - Academia.edu
(99+) 'One physical-mental inspiration of thought': Allen Ginsberg and Black Mountain Poetics | Luke Walker - Academia.edu

William Blake Archive: The William Blake Archive
Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's 'The Nurse's Song': Allen Ginsberg sings William Blake's "The Nurse's Song" - YouTube
Mike Goode, 'Blakespotting': (99+) Blakespotting | Mike Goode - Academia.edu

Allen Ginsberg: The Allen Ginsberg Project - AllenGinsberg.org
'Wichita Vortex Sutra': Allen Ginsberg: Wichita Vortex Sutra (chriscander.com)

Bob Dylan 'Tempest': Bob Dylan - Tempest (Official Audio) - YouTube
'Rough and Rowdy Ways': I Contain Multitudes - YouTube
'Subterranean Homesick Blues': Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (Official HD Video) - YouTube

OTHER RESOURCES:
patti smith: official site
Home - Kae Tempest
John Higgs – Author of Love And Let Die, William Blake Vs The World, Watling Street and The KLF


Theme Music: Daniel P. Shea

Other music: Stephanie Shea

Gary discusses art and worldview with Pastor Doug Giles. Doug has been working on several series of art to help change Christians' perception of biblical persons and events. How we think about the Bible and the men and women mentioned are often informed and influenced by false visual representations in popular paintings and other works of art.

Check out Doug's art here: www.DougGiles.art

In this episode Jake welcomes Toronto artist, Jo Blakley where they discuss the more esoteric elements of the universe, such as the forces of creative genius, oneness, love, religion, spirituality and what it means to be an artist. Jo offers insights on her own spiritual and religious experiences, with reference to William Blake, from whom she draws her name. Jo is an optimist, who believes that love is the ingredient that holds the universe together. She believes that the spiritual energies in the world are slanted towards good and that we are now faced with a critical opportunity to connect, and encourage the creative genius in each one of us at a time of great uncertainty. She imparts that one doesn’t have to look much further than oneself for the answers.