Episode
Ep375: Meditation Sickness - Dr Ben Joffe
- Podcast
- Guru Viking Podcast
- Published
- Aug 21, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 8810
- Processing state
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- https://soundcloud.com/guruviking/ep375-meditation-sickness-gegs
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Summary
In this episode I am once again joined by Dr Ben Joffe anthropologist and scholar practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. Dr Joffe shares his recent research and publications on the topic of gegs sel, Tibetan writing about how to remedy the various obstacles and illnesses that can arise during meditation. Dr Joffe draws on Tibetan gegs sel texts to describe three types of meditation problems and five categories of solution and explains the surprising technique that Taranatha emphasises as central to removing spiritual obstacles. Dr Joffe also argues that although there has been increased interest in the negative effects of meditation, gegs sel literature remains understudied, and we reflect on the possible incompatibility between Tibetan medical and spiritual cures and modern psychological and psychiatric approaches to meditation injury. … Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Spiritual obstacles 02:53 - Ben’s research into meditation sickness 07:20 - Tibetan oral instructions for adverse yogic effects 11:47 - Taranatha on gegs sel 14:03 - Ben’s personal experience with gegs sel 16:26 - Why is gegs sel so understudied? 21:58 - Is intensive tantric practice dangerous? 24:06 - Practices should produce signs 28:22 - It is timely to talk about meditation sickness 31:47 - Differing medical and therapeutic models 36:33 - Catching lice in retreat 38:40 - Gegs gsel literature is for committed practitioners 42:38 - Do tantric solutions make psychiatric symptoms worse? 48:40 - Dr Nida on psychosis in retreat 56:50 - Dza Paltrul on demons 01:01:28 - Ultimate vs relative 01:03:31 - Guru Yoga and a psychodynamic lens on gegs sel 01:09:42 - Night terrors and deity devotion 01:12:50 - Ben’s experience of devotio…