Ep116: Occult of Personality - Greg Kaminsky

In this interview I am joined by Greg Kaminsky, host of the Occult of Personality podcast and author of ‘Pronaos: Reflections on the Preliminary Practices of Buddhist Tantra’. In this episode, Greg details over twenty years of extensive occult studies, including his daily magickal practice regime, and reveals why an encounter with American born spiritual teacher Traktung Khepa Rinpoche, saw him leave the path of Western esotericism in favour of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Greg shares just why Traktung Rinpoche impressed him so much, and contrasts the view of magic and entity binding in the occult and Buddhist traditions. Greg also discusses his new book on ngondro, so-called preliminary practices involving hundreds of thousands of repetitions of special prayers and prostrations, and recounts the profound spiritual transformations that occurred when he himself took up this practice. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep116-greg-kaminsky-occult-of-personality/ Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 00:59 - Greg’s book on ngondro 04:04 - Upbringing and early mystical experiences 06:36 - Exploring Western Esotericism, Freemasonry, & Tarot 09:01 - Transformative kundalini experience on salvia divinorum 11:48 - Greg’s daily magickal practice regime and its results 16:41 - Siddhis and working with angelic entities 19:51- Binding spirits in tantra vs occultism 21:58 - Meeting Traktung Khepa Rinpoche 24:55 - Who is Traktung Khepa Rinpoche? 26:55 - Assessing the teacher 32:45 - An inability to follow instruction 33:49 - Teaching in casual situations 36:52 - Does Traktung Rinpoche have any teachers? 38:09 - Unseen teachers 41:23 - Is Traktung Rinpoche’s biography known? 43:13 - Is Traktung Rinpoche connected with the wider Tibetan Buddhist community? 46:22 - What is ngondro practice? 52:24 - Intensity of practice a key ingredient for transformation 56:27 - Physical injury as spiritual purification 01:02:01 - Sarno back pain and learning by experience 01:03:56 - Managing lyme disease 01:07:10 - Changes to Greg’s life after ngondro 01:09:35 - Greg’s daily practice 01:13:04 - Working for his guru and upcoming publishing projects 01:14:20 - The Grail legends and the spiritual path 01:20:27 - The place of failure … To find our more about Greg, visit: - https://harvard-ext.academia.edu/GregKaminsky - http://occultofpersonality.net/ … For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James