Ep. 607 – Karma & Kismet with Dr. Michael Shandler
Mindrolling with Raghu Markus
Be Here Now Network
4.7 • 543 Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Discussing the spiritual experiences that shaped his life, Dr. Michael Shandler describes the lessons he learned from taking psychedelics, meeting Baba Hari Dass, and more.
Grab your copy of Dr. Michael’s award-winning memoir, Karma and Kismet, HERE.
In this episode, Raghu and Michael have an elaborate discussion on:
- Dr. Michael’s early encounters with antisemitism and racism in boarding school and the South African military
- The impact of Zionist upbringing on Dr. Michael’s worldview and his transformative time living in an Israeli kibbutz
- Healing strained parental relationships: how Dr. Michael overcame challenges with his father
- Dr. Michael's time with Baba Hari Dass, Ram Dass’s teacher
- Why chasing multiple psychedelic trips may be less valuable than simply integrating lessons from the first
- Restoring balance to the nervous system with yogic practices and Ayurveda
- A heart-centered teaching from Neem Karoli Baba: Poori and Potatoes
Check out Ram Dass’s Here We All Are lecture, mentioned in this episode.
About Dr. Michael Shandler:
Dr. Michael Shandler is an award-winning author, speaker, and life coach with over forty years of experience guiding individuals and teams on their journeys toward psycho-spiritual well-being. and optimal performance As the founder of Vision Action Associates and former director of leadership and organization development at Arthur D. Little in London, U.K., Shandler has spent decades helping leaders, teams, and individuals tap into their potential, combining psychological insight with cutting edge collaborative techniques and the perennial wisdom of the ages.
In 2024, Shandler’s multiple award-winning memoir, Karma and Kismet, A Spiritual Quest Across Continents, Cultures, and Consciousness, was published by Koehler Books. This award-winning narrative chronicles his personal journey through adversity and triumph, exploring the powerful forces of fate and karma that have shaped his life across continents and cultures. His work resonates with anyone seeking transformation, self-discovery, and a deeper understanding of life’s interconnectedness.
“During the meeting, he said to me, ‘How many times have you taken LSD?’ Who knew? I didn’t really remember. I said, ‘I can’t really remember Baba Ji.’ He said, ‘The first trip you took was the important one, everything else was a waste of time after that.’”– Dr. Michael Shandler
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, it's Rago, and I'm back with Mind Rolling, and I'm just looking at the cover of this book that well we |
| 0:26.0 | haven't seen each other in 55 years but what the heck thank god i saw this book it's karma and gizmet |
| 0:32.6 | and it's uh michael sandler who who we have a lot of intersections. |
| 0:39.3 | It's pretty wild. |
| 0:40.2 | Some of them you don't even know, I don't think. |
| 0:42.1 | I probably don't. |
| 0:44.3 | Michael Chandler, welcome to mind rolling. |
| 0:48.0 | Thank you, Ragu. |
| 0:49.0 | It's great to be here. |
| 0:50.5 | So just a little background on how I even met Michael was through Mirabai Bush, who's a very old friend and very close Satsang sister. |
| 1:06.5 | I was in India with her all the way back when, with Ram Dass, when he went back the second time, |
| 1:11.1 | and many others that you know and hear about on these podcasts. |
| 1:16.0 | And she said, you know what? |
| 1:17.9 | I know this guy, and he was in Montreal when you were on that radio station, |
| 1:24.2 | and he's the guy that, you know, initiated this whole thing. |
| 1:28.5 | I said, what? |
| 1:31.0 | You're kidding. |
| 1:32.7 | So then, you know, of course, I had Michael's, no, I got this book somehow. |
| 1:39.9 | I can't remember how I got it, but I started going through it and I go, oh my God, I particularly, |
| 1:45.5 | of course, went right away to the part where, and you know, stuff I didn't know about, like |
| 1:53.0 | you organized Ram Dass's first tour around, I guess, what, Montreal, Vancouver and so on and so forth, right? |
| 2:02.5 | Toronto, St. Louis, San Arbor. |
... |
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