Guru Viking Podcast

In this interview, I am once again joined by Professor Arthur Versluis, a professor and Department Chair of Religious Studies in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, author of over 25 books on subjects ranging from Western esotericism, magic, Christian Theosophy, ancient mystery schools, and more. In this episode we discuss Arthur’s 2015 book, ‘American Gurus’ and trace the uniquely American cultural and philosophical factors that lead to the prevalence of independent spiritual teachers such as Adi Da, Andrew Cohen, and Ken Wilber. Arthur argues that a philosophy he calls immediatism is the key cultural force and traces its origins from Plato to Emerson to the 60s counter-culture and beyond. Arthur recounts personal meetings with figures such as Stephen Gaskins, Bill Ayers, and Bernadette Roberts as well as reflecting on his own affiliation with Tibetan Buddhism as both a practitioner and teacher. Arthur also shares his take on the psychedelic movement, the revolutionary politics of