Spiritual Wisdom in Great Literature
Can the literature we love convey the awakening we seek? Host, Dr. Laurel Trujillo welcomes Dean Sluyter, award winning author and teacher, on a journey for discovering dharmic pathways in Western literature. Find how inspiration and spiritual insight can be found anywhere, at any time, in any situation.
Dean Sluyter has taught natural approaches to meditation and spiritual awakening since 1970. A grateful student of Eastern and Western sages in several traditions, Dean has completed numerous pilgrimages and retreats in India, Tibet, Nepal, and the West. He is known for conveying authentic teachings in forms that are relaxed, accessible, and down-to-earth. He gives talks, workshops, and retreats throughout the United States and beyond, from Ivy League colleges to maximum-security prisons. His media appearances have included National Public Radio, The New York Times, Coast to Coast AM, The Dr. Oz Show, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Dean is the author of several books including the book that is discussed in this program “The Dharma Bum’s Guide to Western Literature”.
WEBSITE: DEANSLYTER.COM
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: The conversation with Dean Sluyter was brimming with his infectious enthusiasm. "If it's not fun, what's the point." It's remarkable how he finds dharmic pathways in so many writings. He sees everything as a dharma gate. The message in the Cat In the Hat is the spirit of freedom or moksha. Huckleberry Finn discovered meditating in nirvana (samadhi) floating down the river. I loved his insight that the infinite is not far away. It is closer than close. You are it. It's just falling back into what you have been all along. You can find it everywhere, in literature and in everything. I highly recommend this podcast
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: What a joy to have Dean Sluyter as a guest on The Yoga Hour to discuss his new book The Dharma Bums Guide to Western Literature. We were able to draw so many great examples from his book of how inspiration and spiritual insight can be found anywhere, at any time, in any situation reflecting the infinite omnipresence of the Divine. It’s something special when one conversation can draw spiritual lessons from Dr. Seuss, Frederick Douglas, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. I loved his closing inspiration, that the infinite is not very far away, that we can just fall back into what we have been all along