Episode
Ep360: Gurus & Awakenings - Dr Christopher “Hareesh” Wallis
- Podcast
- Guru Viking Podcast
- Published
- May 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 6586
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://soundcloud.com/guruviking/ep340-christophers-awakenings
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Summary
In this episode, I am once again joined by Dr Christopher “Hareesh” Wallis, a Sanskritist and scholar-practitioner of Classical Tantra. Christopher shares how he became a spiritual teacher, explains the dangers of guru idealisation, and considers if he may be misleading his students. Christopher discusses his own series of religious peak experiences, explores their causes, and reflects on their consequences. Christopher recalls his time studying with American spiritual teacher Adyanshanti, the influence of Marshall Rosenberg, and reveals how his ability to spot fake gurus improved after his awakening. … Full episode at www.guruviking.com. Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - Studying under Alexis Sanderson 04:16 - Faithfulness to the traditions 05:38 - The requirements to understand tantric sources 06:24 - Secrecy and the oral tradition 09:07 - Did Sanderson receive Lakshmanjoo’s energetic transmission 12:28 - Academic approaches to religion 13:28 - Public vs private religion 14:23 - Why isn’t Sanderson religious? 16:40 - Is Shaivite Tantra a relic of the past? 17:42 - Does religious affiliation contaminate academic objectivity? 20:43 - Cabezón on the benefits of an insider perspective on religious 21:44 - Piety and devotion as motives 23:02 - Humanists can have devotion too 23:43 - Cynicism about human motives 24:50 - Loss of trust in gurus 26:39 - Famous gurus want to be famous 28:30 - How gurus fall 31:25 - How Christopher became a spiritual teacher 33:33 - Switching from academia to freelance spiritual teaching 25:22 - Is Christopher a guru? 39:30 - Does Christopher mislead his students? 44:21 - Christopher’s experience of flow when teaching 47:20 - Feeling the presence of past masters…