About Kirk
Welcome. I'm Kirk and I'm slowly experiencing what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening.
If I try to trace its origins, I might begin around 2012 or 2013 when I meditated for the first time. For a few years I meditated infrequently -- maybe a couple times a week or maybe never for a few months. I never sat for more than 20 minutes.
When I spent six weeks hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014, I became aware of my monkey mind. Being alone and walking day after day introduced me to the scattered, repetitive, and largely unhelpful river of thoughts flowing through my mind.
In an effort to better understand my self and my mind, I attended a 10-day vipassana silent meditation retreat while traveling in Argentina. There I felt my own chi, or life energy, for the first time.
Just a couple weeks later I attended a week-long ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon jungle outside of Iquitos, Peru. It was my first psychedelic experience and opened further the doors of perception.
I continue to explore. These are some of my thoughts.
Thoughts
Kirk’s Damn Good Spicy Vegan Chili
Is it sad to think that it’s taken me 48 years to really compose my first thoughtful food recipe?
Growing up in the ’70s, my family ate a lot of the first wave of convenience foods: Microwaveable! Just add water! Comes in a box! Julia Child was the only celebrity chef and vegetables came in a can.
Sure, we always had tomato & rhubarb plants in the backyard, but we never went to a farmer’s market. As a kid I wasn’t much into tomatoes, but my Mom made a super killer rhubarb cake most years.
I never really learned to cook and have always preferred my food fast and easy.
But as I mature and learn more about how the world actually works, I’m feeling compelled to clean up my act. Last year I cut way back on my meat intake and today I’m very content eating meat maybe once a week. I made this change because I don’t believe it is necessary for us to be killing so many animals to feed us in today’s environment with year ’round global food distribution (at least for those of us in the rich countries who have the luxury of such a choice). But I’m not being militant about it. If I’m at a party and there’s only pepperoni pizza, I’m not going to pull the pepperonis off. I still enjoy the taste of almost all beef, chicken, fish, guinea pig, sea urchin and whatever other animals people eat.
For me, I guess it’s about finding a balance. When my body has the occasional meat craving, I’ll go with it. But I’ve decided that my taste buds are not more important than the life of the animal that was torturously raised & killed to temporarily satisfy or please them.
And so this winter I set out to make myself a damn good vegan chili. Starting with a recipe online, I just kept tweaking it over five batches until I got super excited with the flavor and spiciness.
As Julia Child would say, bon appetit!
Saute in coconut oil to soften:
1 small-medium onion
3 bell peppers (orange, yellow, green)
4-5 habanero peppers
Stir into a crockpot with:
1 large can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
1 small can tomato paste
1 medium can spiced tomatoes
5 cans of beans (pinto, kidney, black) that have been rinsed first
some lentils (optional)
2 packages of tempeh, crumbled
1 cup water
Add spices: chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric
Slow cook in crockpot on low temp for 8 hours.
Serves 8.
Teachers
Ram Dass is the legendary former Harvard professor Richard Alpert who was among the first westerners to use psychedelics and travel to India to learn from a true guru.
This podcast is a collection of many of the hundreds of dharma talks he's given since 1969 when he returned from his first trip to India.
On Rick Archer's podcast, Buddha at the Gas Pump, he has interviewed hundreds of normal people who have experienced a profound spiritual awakening, shifting to a greater state of consciousness. They may be the person next to you at the gas pump with a smile on their face.
Jack has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. The Jack Kornfield Heart Wisdom hour celebrates Jack’s ability to mash up his long established Buddhist practices with many other mystical traditions, revealing the poignancy of life’s predicaments and the path to finding freedom from self-interest, self-judgment and unhappiness.
Krista Tippett thoughtfully delves into the mysteries of human existence. Or at least that's what it says on the National Humanities Medal she received at the White House. She interviews spiritual experts and explorers from all walks of faith.
Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian and also a visionary explorer of humanity, love and the divine. He'll expand your ideas of the potential of everything with his deep understanding and comic questioning.
Chris Ryan is a wise world-traveler and author of the book Sex at Dawn. His podcast interviews are fascinating and get a little tangential, but always in an enlightening way. Filled with fantastic stories and thoughtful advice.
Euvie and Mike discuss diverse aspects around the future of humanity. These smart, loving and thoughtful discussions will open your mind to the vastness of human potential.
Stephen & Theresa have left the mainstream and are creating their ownstream. Inspirational discussions with people who are forging their own path.
Each week host Ken Jordan talks with guests who share insightful stories about their own awakening experiences, and how they bring that awareness into what they do in the world.
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi
