Episode 10 - Samuel Bercholz - Founder, Shambhala Publications

Samuel Bercholz is the Founder and Editor In Chief of the legendary Shambhala Publications, original publisher of an entire library of spiritual classics by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Pema Chödron, Shunryu Suzuki, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (to name a few), and was an early student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's. Samuel is the genuine article mover and shaker of the early Buddhist scene in the US, and what George Martin was for The Beatles, Samuel has been for the Dharma flourishing in the West (though you'll hear he considers himself more of a Forest Gump). You'll hear the unbelievable stories of Samuel as an 18 year old co-hosting a weekly San Francisco based radio show with legendary Zen philosopher Alan Watts called "Adventures In Consciousness", and the last epic hang Chögyam Trungpa had with Alan Watts on the day Alan died. Samuel then blows Jaymee's mind by describing Chogyam Trungpa needing to perform an exorcism for Alan Watts a month later, claiming Alan "doesn't know he is dead" and "is stuck" in the bardo. You'll hear about Samuel's friendship with legendary clandestine chemist Owsley Stanley in San Francisco, who synthesized a drug that left Samuel high for two weeks straight. As if this isn't enough, Samuel has flatlined twice in his life, and in his most recent book "A Guided Tour Of Hell" (as well as on this podcast), Samuel shares the gory details of his experience, what he describes as feeling like an eternity in a hell realm, followed by the surprising pain of returning to his body ("leaving is easy; coming back is incredibly painful"). Stacks of Shambhala books have changed Jaymee's life over the past decade, so this episode was truly a high point of Jaymee's life, living vicariously through one of the most captivating figures in the history of American publishing. Shambhala Publications: www.shambhala.com "A Guided Tour Of Hell" book: https://bit.ly/3awDjlm Steve Buscemi and Sam Bercholz discuss "A Guided Tour In Hell": https://vimeo.com/217433321 LOVE IS THE AUTHOR: produced, edited, and hosted by Jaymee Carpenter. MANAGEMENT: Lacee Dilmore  - [email protected] Follow us on Instagram: @loveistheauthor