the Mother in the Dark w— Clark Strand

10/2/2025

home—body podcast

0:00

56:07

Clark Strand was a Zen Buddhist monk. Now he writes books of love poetry to Kali Ma and manifestos to the Dark.

In this conversation, we trace his spiritual path from childhood Protestantism through monasticism and massage school — ultimately leading him into deep devotion to the Divine Mother.

Listen in, as we step into the Dark together.

When She appeared to me, it made sense of everything all of a sudden. It really changed me. I stopped thinking the way I used to think. My understanding of the natural world, myself, my family, my relationships, Devotion, Beauty, Time itself. — Clark Strand

Clark Strand has been studying the world’s spiritual traditions for more than thirty years. The author of several books including Waking the Buddha, Meditation Without Gurus, Waking Up to the Dark and Now is the Hour of Her Return, Strand has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” blog. He is the founder of Way of the Rose, a growing nonsectarian rosary fellowship open to people of any spiritual background, with members around the world. He lives on a dark road with no streetlights in the southern Catskill Mountains.

we discuss —