Buddha at the Gas Pump
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Neil Theise is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through his scientific research, he has been a pioneer of adult stem cell plasticity and the anatomy of the human interstitium. Dr. Theise’s studies in complexity theory have led to interdisciplinary collaborations in fields such as integrative medicine, consciousness studies, and science-religion dialogue. He is a senior Zen student at the Village Zendo in NYC. His life long Jewish practice has involved both traditional observances and formal academic study. In recent years, (to his surprise) he has also undergone shamanic initiation. Books: General Audience: Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being Of academic interest: Awakening: Exploring Spirituality, Emergent Creativity, and Reconciliation Transforming: Applying Spirituality, Emergent Creativity, and Reconciliation Website: neiltheiseofficial.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded March 9, 2024 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Kimberley Theresa Lafferty is a seasoned teacher-practitioner specializing in constructive adult developmental psychology and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. She completed over 12 years of intensive Indo Tibetan study including the required retreats. She leads both open and advanced adult educational cohorts aligning developmental psychology and Buddhist theory. Kimberley co-leads, with Terri O’Fallon, the penultimate Minds I year-long developmental course of Stages International. She is an active Board member for the Association for Spiritual Integrity. Kimberley is also a householder as a wife and mother, living in a remote valley of the North Cascades of North America which deeply impacts her worldview and practice. Website: The Confluence Experience | Making sense of what doesn't make sense Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded February 10, 2024 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
After receiving his doctorate in the sensory neurosciences from The Ohio State University, Bob Davis, Ph.D., served as a professor for the State University of New York for over thirty years, where he conducted research in the behavioral and neurosensory sciences, taught, and held many high-level administrative roles. He published his research in over 60 articles in scholarly journals, and presented numerous lectures worldwide, which included invited lectures at Harvard, Cambridge, and Peking University. Bob was also awarded numerous grants by the National Science Foundation and The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to conduct research in sensory neuroscience. Following retirement, Bob published several articles in the Journal of Scientific Exploration and Edge Science and presented lectures at national and international conferences on consciousness, spiritually transformative experiences, and unidentified aerial phenomena. Bob has also published three highly popular books: The UFO Phenomenon: Should I Believe? Life after Death: An Analysis of the Evidence, and, Unseen Forces: The Integration of Science, Reality and You. More recently, he has turned his recent book, Unseen Forces, into a planned documentary entitled - The Consciousness Connection - with Emmy Award winner Dave Beaty of Dreamtime Entertainment and Wilson Hawthorne of Eyeland Telemedia. Website: bobdavisspeaks.com Bob Davis is an administrator of the Facebook Site called: The Consciousness Connection Facebook group. Bob's email Interview recorded February 3, 2024. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Brad Laughlin is the author of Living with Enlightenment—A Journey of Love, which is about his 25-year life-partnership with Leslie Temple-Thurston, a teacher of enlightenment, and the profound spiritual transformation he experienced. With Leslie, he is co-author of two books, The Marriage of Spirit—Enlightened Living in Today’s World and Returning to Oneness—The Seven Keys of Ascension. Brad is dedicated to finding innovative ways of helping people to awaken spiritually and to find love, joy and inspiration during these times of great change. Using ancient Truth teachings, yogic practices and spiritual psychology, he offers simple yet powerful practices for dissolving old, limiting ego structures that keep us trapped in negativity, pain and fear. Brad’s transformative events are based on the principles of integration and unity consciousness, which help us to know our own inner Divinity—who we truly are. Brad and Leslie are co-founders of the nonprofits, CoreLight.org and Seeds of Light.org, CoreLight’s humanitarian arm, serving marginalized communities and AIDS orphans in South Africa. Brad has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University. He is an American by birth, considers himself a global citizen and lives in both South Africa and the United States. Anna Breytenbach is an internationally acclaimed professional interspecies communicator with over 20 years’ experience. Native to South Africa and currently based in Europe, she mentors and consults globally. Her focus is exclusively with wild places and beings, facilitating peaceful interventions and greater understanding. This includes predator research, wilderness protection, anti-poaching assistance, reforestation initiatives, wildlife management and rehabilitation. She is currently taking a sabbatical from her usual teaching and public appearances to write a book. Anna’s passion is raising awareness and advancing the relationships among human and nonhuman animals, on both the personal and spiritual levels. Her work is the subject of the documentary movie "The Animal Communicator”, watched by tens of millions of people (and a few of their pets), available on YouTube. Anna's website: The Animal Communicator | AnimalSpirit YouTube Channel Anna's first BatGap interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Summary and transcript of this interview Interview recorded January 28, 2024 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Swami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an academic philosopher, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at both UCLA and the University of Southern California. He is Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer), overseeing submissions in Hindu and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion. From 2010 to 2021, he was Associate Professor and Head of the Program in Philosophy at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in Belur Math, West Bengal. He received his PhD in 2009 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he specialized in German aesthetics. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2006–7) and a Visiting Student at Oxford University (2000–1). His current research focuses on global philosophy of religion, the epistemology of mystical experience, cosmopsychism, Indian scriptural hermeneutics, and Vedāntic philosophical traditions, especially the philosophies of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. He is the author of three books: Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press, 2022), Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018), and The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (Bloomsbury, 2013). He is the editor of The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta (2020) and co-editor, with Benedikt Paul Göcke, of Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought: Cosmopolitan Interventions (Routledge, 2023). He is also the editor of two special issues of the International Journal of Hindu Studies, one on “Swami Vivekananda as a Cosmopolitan Thinker” (2023) and one on “Vedāntic Theodicies” (2021). He has published over thirty articles in leading academic journals. He is currently working on two book projects: Karma and Rebirth in Hinduism (Cambridge University Press, under contract) and An All-Embracing Oneness: Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Advaita and the Legacy of Sri Ramakrishna (Oxford University Press, under contract). Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded January 22, 2024. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
David Doyle lives on the water in the island city of Alameda in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, their teenage son, and Merlin, a rambunctious Rat Terrier. At an early age he set upon a spiritual path and soon put down the books and turned inward. David’s path has been by most standards a very traditional inner practice, starting with Hatha Yoga and quickly moving to Raja Yoga. Meditation was his main practice, with asanas as an adjunct to meditation. Early on in his spiritual practice a teacher said that if you master the basics of yoga, and if you practice in earnest, all will unfold – everything you need will come to you. David took this to heart, beginning a life-long practice that for the most part was a solitary journey. At 20 years old his third eye opened in a dramatic unfolding, and from there came the never-ending gift of insight and abilities including: clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience, precognition, telepathy and more. Some years later David joined the Berkeley Psychic Institute during its heyday and befriended the founder, Dr. Lewis S Bostwick, whom he considers to be his first great spiritual teacher, and friend. He spent over a decade with this group and at its many (at the time) institutes and thousands of students and teachers. In 2012, David came to an abiding awakening, and since that time, many changes have taken place in an ongoing process of daily and weekly energetic and auspicious unfoldings, many of which have left him nearly incapacitated. Since awakening, David has also become an adept Qi Gong Master under the guidance of Grand Master Shi Yong Yao, formerly an elite teacher-monk at the Northern Shaolin Temple in China. Additionally, many siddhis have developed as byproducts along The Way as well as a massive kundalini awakening and other extraordinary happenings. Now, with ten years having passed since awakening, David is ready to share experiences from his fifty+ year journey with a wider audience. He created Monk with Family, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to the householder, but inclusive of anyone for whom The Way is their life’s focus. David leads a weekly Satsang open to all those interested, and is available for speaking engagements and other spiritual events. David A. Doyle: Inventor, entrepreneur, manufacturer, publisher, sailor, skier, burning man (burner), householder. Founder: Monk with Family Website Founding member of Shaolin Master Qi Gong, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to sharing the teachings of Master Yao. David is registered in China as the: Deputy Director of the U.S. Regional Department of Shaolin Fohanmen. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded December 30, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
After dying of a heart attack on the doorstep of a hospital in 2006 and being brought back to life, Mary knew it was time to write about her lifetime of astonishing mystical experiences which began with a visitation from the mystic Jesus in 1984 during a defining life crisis. It was then that Jesus spoke seven revelations: on forgiveness, judgment, the bible, weight problems, disease, aging and the ego. A few years later in 1986 Mary met a monk who initiated her into deeper states of consciousness and in 1988 she experienced the highest state of awareness, self-realization, and received the message that divinity awaits all mankind. A few months following her transformative experience of self-realization, Mary was given a spontaneous experience of her own death while meditating on a bench inside a lobby where she worked at MIT. From that moment she no longer feared death. A number of years later during a health challenge Mary had a experience of nature’s healing law of “like cures like” after being introduced to the consciousness-based system of homeopathic medicine, resolving areas in her consciousness that held the root of disease brought on by traumatic events in her early years. She enjoys lecturing on these topics and sharing the truth of our divinity and letting go of the false notion of death by embracing our eternal nature. She shares how consciousness is all and why it is so important to embrace consciousness-based medicine to heal our physical, emotional and mental bodies by restoring our consciousness to harmony. As humanity awakens to itself through the upheavals of our times, this book will serve as a testimony to what is possible for humanity as the old paradigms fall away and new paradigms arise. This book will bring comfort to the seeker who wants to know their true Self and to answer the questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Does death truly exist? Is self-realization truly possible? If you want to connect with Mary personally, please consider booking a Conversation with Mary. Website: Mary Terhune | Awakening Now To Our Higher Consciousness Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Scott Hiegel lives in La Quinta, CA and runs a business consulting and investment banking business called Solquest. He has a BBA from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from UCLA. He’s been a former CPA, CFA, Vice President of Corporate Finance, and entrepreneur. He enjoys writing and talking about his experiences with Kundalini, and his lifelong roller coaster and, at times, perilous search for inner peace, the Divine, Love, and higher consciousness. Through speaking, outreach, film, poetry, and other creative expression, his goal is to entertain and inform people about the gifts and profound importance of Gopi Krishna's work, Kundalini, higher states of consciousness, and Love. Scott has written two books: "Reaching Heaven on Earth: A Soul’s Journey Home", in which he shares his personal story and mystical poetry, and "Love’s Design: Reaching Heaven on Earth", which he co-authored with Christopher Wrigley. In this book they share their unique expressions of love, hope, and knowledge through an exchange of 12 poetic verses. Scott's interests include visiting museums and historical sites, traveling, listening to holiday music and oldies, and watching movies. He enjoys sports, hiking, and attending 12-step meetings. He loves reading books about spirituality and the inspirational people who have helped make the world a better place. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded November 18, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Dr. Yvonne Kason MD, MEd, CCFP, FCFP, is the President and Co-Founder of Spiritual Awakenings International and the Past-President of IANDS (2019-2020). Dr. Kason is the person who in 1994 first coined the phrase “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” or “STEs”. She is also the Group-Leader and Co-Founder of Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group. Dr. Kason has had 5 Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), 2 in her childhood and 3 in her adult life, as well as multiple Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) of many kinds. Dr. Kason is a retired family physician and MD-psychotherapist, previously on faculty at the University of Toronto, and an internationally renowned medical expert on NDEs, Kundalini Awakening, and other STEs. In 1990, Dr. Kason was the first Canadian medical doctor to specialize her medical practice in the research and counseling of patients with diverse types of STEs. She has over 40 years’ experience counseling STE Experiencers. She co-founded the Kundalini Research Network in 1990, was the Chair of the Kundalini Research Network’s Questionnaire research project, results published in Explore, July 2020. She co-founded the Spirituality in Health-Care Network in 2000. Dr. Kason has six published books, her most recent, Soul Lessons from the Light: How Spiritually Transformative Experiences Changed My Life (December 2022) and Touched by the Light: Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences (2019). She has made hundreds of professional presentations, has given scores of media interviews, and is in demand as a keynote speaker. Websites: dryvonnekason.com spiritualawakeningsinternational.org torontoawakenings.org Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded November 5, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Professor Jem Bendell is a world-renowned scholar on the breakdown of modern societies due to environmental change. Downloaded over a million times, his Deep Adaptation paper is credited with inspiring the growth of the Extinction Rebellion movement in 2018, and created a global network of to reduce harm in the face of societal collapse. He completed his PhD at the University of Bristol and his Geography BA (Hons) at the University of Cambridge. For decades he worked on Sustainable Development as a researcher and NGO manager, as well as a consultant to businesses, political parties and UN agencies. One of his specialisms since 2011 is pro-social currency innovation, with his TEDx from that year explaining reasons for Bitcoin and similar. In 2017, he co-led the development of the UK Labour Party’s communications plan for the General Election and co-wrote speeches for their top politicians. Although recognised in 2012 as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, Jem has been increasingly critical of the globalist agenda on sustainable development. Away from that work, he is partner in an organic farm school in Bali (bekandze.net) and supports meditation retreats at the main Buddhist Temple on the island. Website: jembendell.com Books: Breaking Together: A Freedom-Loving Response to Collapse Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos Evolving Partnerships: A Guide to Working with Business for Greater Social Change Healing Capitalism: Five Years in the Life of Business, Finance and Corporate Responsibility The Corporate Responsibility Movement: Five Years of Global Corporate Responsibility Analysis from Lifeworth, 2001-2005 Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded October 28, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Ruth E. Kastner earned her M.S. in Physics and Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Maryland. Since that time, she has taught widely and conducted research in Foundations of Physics, particularly in interpretations of quantum theory. She was one of three winners of the 2021 Alumni Research Award at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of 3 books: The Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Theory: The Reality of Possibility (Cambridge University Press, 2012; 2nd edition just published, 2022), Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles (Imperial College Press, 2015); and Adventures In Quantumland: Exploring Our Unseen Reality (World Scientific, 2019). She has presented talks and interviews throughout the world and in video recordings on the interpretational challenges of quantum theory, and has a blog at transactionalinterpretation.org. She is also a dedicated yoga practitioner and received her 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Instructor Certification in February, 2020. Website: ruthekastner.org Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded October 21, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Jennifer Lisa Vest is a scientist, philosopher, and intuitive. She holds a PhD in Indigenous Philosophy from UC Berkeley, an MA in History from Howard, and a BA in Physics from Hampshire College. Her first career was as a philosophy professor at Seattle University and the University of Central Florida. Spiritually, Vest is a Medical Intuitive, an Akashic Records reader, a certified Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique practitioner, and a Master Reiki practitioner, and has been trained in the traditions of African American Hoodoo., Native American Sweatlodge, Jamaican Revivalism, Trinidadian Shango, and Spiritualism from community elders. Books: The Ethical Psychic: A Beginner's Guide to Healing with Integrity, Avoiding Unethical Encounters, and Using Your Gifts for Good Ancestor Count: Four Corner Poems (Philopoetics) Websites: drvestmedicalintuitive.com drjenniferlisavest.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. Interview recorded October 7, 2023. Video below. Audio coming soon.
Bill Witherspoon is a life-long visual artist, serial entrepreneur, and lover of sky. In his six decades, living on and off in the High Steppe desert in southeastern Oregon, he has painted watercolor skies, practiced ancient art as spiritual discipline, and weathered that pristine geological expanse. As an artist, over the last four decades, Bill has mounted 40 one-man exhibitions of paintings, prints, and sculptures (1968 – 2020), in addition to desert public art projects. He is also the founder and Creative Director of The Sky Factory, a fine arts, digital technology, and cognitive science studio that designs and manufactures the world’s only research-verified virtual skylights—Luminous SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows. His first book, Enter Space—Stories from the High Desert, lays witness to a life surrounded by that rare, unsummoned vastness; one that those of us steeped in the ceaseless churn of urban life can now imagine living through the faithful record of the artist’s experience. Book: Enter Space: Stories from the High Desert Sri Yantra: The Oregon Desert Mystery FULL MOVIE Transcript of this interview Interview recorded September 3, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Spiritual teacher, international bestselling author and philanthropist Lorna Byrne has dedicated her life to remind humanity of the spiritual potential within us all. She is the author of seven best-selling books including Angels in My Hair, A Message of Hope From the Angels, and Angels at my Fingertips and has been published in more than 50 countries and 30 languages around the world. Her teachings are the result of a remarkable gift, a divine connection providing her with incredible, detailed knowledge of the spiritual side of life. Unlike others this gift is not from meditation, visualisation or even from books or study, it exists as a natural part of her waking life. Lorna Byrne has physical sight of the unseen world, of the angels, spirits and other spiritual beings that she says are guiding and teaching us every second of every day. Lorna says we all have this potential and it is part of humanity’s evolution for people to connect back to their spiritual self so the body and soul intertwines. Lorna’s vision of the future is one where there is no division or boundaries between people. Where our spiritual side is accepted and transcends all beliefs. To accept we are all one. To live in peace with each other and nature, our home. Lorna is also a philanthropist and founder of the Lorna Byrne Children’s Foundation helping vulnerable and marginalised children across the globe and the Seraph Foundation which is developing Sanctuary her centre in County Kilkenny Ireland. In 2019, she was named as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in the World. Website: lornabyrne.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview Interview recorded August 27, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Between the age of 20 and 40 I was consumed with a wide range of existential questions, but despite endless thinking and reading, I never found a single answer. Due to some business-related stress at the age of 40, I started a simple meditative exercise as a way to acquire some peace of mind, and within two weeks a major insight occurred that led to more meditative activities. Five months later a huge cosmic-consciousness event answered seven of my questions and catapulted me into a different reality. I then concluded that all answers were "within," and for the next 15 years I went on silent meditation retreats with Christians, Buddhists, and Advaita groups during which all of my other questions got answered. Nevertheless, I still did not feel free. Then, a new question arose, "How is it possible to stay in a unity-conscious state of mind permanently rather than oscillating between a sense of selfhood and no-self?" In 1999, after a deep experience of gratitude on a solo hiking retreat, "the little guy in the head" (the sense of a personal "me") totally vanished, and the result was freedom, contentment, and understanding. Book: Pouring Concrete: A Zen Path to the Kingdom of God – Expanded Edition Bob's email Transcript of this interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded August 19, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Carter Phipps is the author of Evolutionaries and coauthor of the Wall Street Journal Bestseller Conscious Leadership with John Mackey and Steve McIntosh. He is co-founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, which addresses political polarization though focusing on the cultural roots of America’s challenges. He hosts the Thinking Ahead podcast and is a former award-winning journalist and executive editor of What Is Enlightenment? Magazine. His website is http://www.carterphipps.com. Essay we discussed in the interview: Mysticism and Its Discontents: Does Spiritual Illumination Create its own Intrinsic Blindness? Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded July 29, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Dr. Etta D. Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica and migrated to the USA as a student in 1965. For twenty-five years she worked in education and retired in 1994 to travel. She has authored four books: Understanding Your Choice Unveiling the Secrets of the Feminine Principle The Role of Consciousness in Governance The Idea That Is the United States of America-Its Occult Foundation She founded an international NGO non-profit organization, The Institute for Conscious Global Change (ICGC) in 2007 to assist the United Nations and Member States in eradicating extreme poverty through development. ICGC is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Etta holds a BA in Biology, MS degrees in Guidance and Counseling and in Administrative Leadership and Supervision. Etta holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She has one daughter and one grandson. Website Mentioned during the interview: Builders of the Adytum Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded July 8, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Meeting of Founders and Members of the Association for Spiritual Integrity Forty-five spiritual teachers, members of “The Association for Spiritual Integrity”, met for four hours prior to the start of the 2019 Science and Nonduality Conference. For the first couple of hours, we engaged in a deep, honest discussion about the challenges teachers face, seeking to learn how we might better support one another. We then broke into six groups, each focusing on a particular topic. Then we reassembled and recorded the remainder of the meeting. This video includes: Introduction by Rick Summary of discussions in each of the six breakout groups. (1) Bringing forth women and feminine empowerment. Distinguishing between women and yin-style teachings in a way to not exclude men from the conversation. Action items: to have each day of SAND have a 3-hour session led by women. to have more yin-style teachings on the SAND website (2) Ongoing growth for teachers and continuing education, trauma, attachment, and shadow work. Teacher survey: what is working for you? Online teacher assessment through which teachers can assess themselves. Regular peer-group meetings, including teachers with younger teachers Workshop around developmental trauma that shows up in the teacher role. (3) Creating community and peer support Among spiritual teachers How to include more people of color and young people in the spiritual community, which tends to be white and middle class. Monthly online and annual in-person peer group meetings for spiritual teachers A system whereby teachers can refer students to other teachers, if appropriate. (4) Healthy power dynamics and dual relationships People will naturally come and go from spiritual training groups. There should be a balance between teacher and student accountability. (5) The Ethics of the Spiritual Community Have something like the Better Business Bureau which would keep the data on teacher abuse. (6) The importance of awareness of teacher misbehavior and discerning between real misbehavior and false accusations. A personal or professional commitment expressed by each teacher in the meeting. Transcript of this meeting Recorded October 24, 2019 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Lucy was raised in a low socioeconomic household and neighborhood, by a young single mother in New Zealand in the early 1980s. The lack of resources available in childhood resulted in a shrinking of her outer world to what she thought of – years later - as a kind of welfare-child ashram. Within the home, and outside of it, there were few distractions or ability to go anywhere else, and significant trauma – all forcing her to go within to what she thought of as “the deep stillness and light inside” to rest, find nourishment, solace, and strength. At 19 she experienced her first shift, seeing through the personality, and subtle perceptions revealing themselves. She never thought much of it, there had already been so much light inside, and she was so thrilled to be in the world finally so she simply went on with living. After a brief stint in television journalism, Lucy spent 15 years in Europe and New Zealand working for international humanitarian aid agencies. On return to NZ at age 31, she suddenly became extremely ill. For six months, she was mostly bedridden. Doctors, both natural and traditional, could not find the source of the illness. Over the next few years, she had to work to earn an income but there was no strength for much else. The pain in her body was ever-present, and the fear of not knowing if this was her life forever now, was sometimes crippling. She was forced to exist in a kind of in-between world again - of much aloneness and silence, aside from work. After a few years of significant illness, she recovered strength enough to live a semi-normal life. But any time she tried to do too much, she was knocked back into illness. By 35 she was in a leadership role at a non-profit, married, with a baby on the way, just surviving day-to-day with the pressure on her physical body. On becoming a mother, she was plunged into a level of blackness that was completely shocking and previously unknown. For more than two years she descended into complete separation and couldn’t hear the guidance that had always accompanied her in her life. For the first time ever she couldn’t feel God. In 2018, after more than two years of immense struggle, an unexplainable and absolute surrender took place within, in a moment, as her two-year-old cried and reached for her. Within two months she had left the career she loved to rest in what she thought of as silence. For around a year and a half, she couldn't do much else. Lucy had never been exposed to spirituality, nor did she know anything about its concepts or traditions. She thought meditation was for “those hippy people.” Because there had been no conscious spiritual search, she had no context for what was happening. Often it was so beautiful and joyful – she didn’t need to know. There was an innate sense of trust and recognition that went beyond what needed to be seen or understood with the mind. When the need to understand did arise - some online searches helped a little, but often it all felt overwhelming, and she preferred sitting in silence to hear from within. Guidance and teaching were always present and given through hearing and images. Despite this, when particularly strange things would occur the need for the mind to understand would return. One night in 2019, before sleep, in heartfelt prayer she asked for help to cut through all the online noise and finally really grasp what was going on. There was a felt sense of need for community. As she was awakening in the morning, she heard the words “Buddha at the Gas Pump”. Lucy says, "I was stumped. I had no idea what that meant, but Googled it and found BatGap. As a result, my life has changed. Over the years BatGap has supported me deeply in the process – nurturing trust and allowing everything to unfold as it wants to." From then until now, Lucy has been called over and over into deeper surrender. She has had further shifts and many clearings. Her career of 15 years,
Chris Niebauer earned his Ph.D. in cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Toledo, specializing in the differences between the left and right sides of the human brain. He is the author of No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism and The No Self, No Problem Workbook: Exercises & Practices from Neuropsychology and Buddhism to Help You Lose Your Mind. He was a professor at a state university in Pennsylvania for 22 years, where he taught courses on consciousness, mindfulness, left- and right-brain differences, and artificial intelligence. Website: chrisniebauerphd.com YouTube Channel Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded June 3, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Jeff Carreira is a meditation teacher, mystical philosopher and author who works with a growing number of people throughout the world. As a teacher, he offers retreats and courses guiding individuals in a form of meditation he refers to as The Art of Conscious Contentment. Through this simple and effective technique, he has led thousands of people in a journey beyond the confines of fear and self-concern into the expansive liberated awareness that is our true home. As a philosopher, Jeff is interested in defining a new way of being in the world that will move us from our current paradigm of separation and isolation into an emerging paradigm of unity and wholeness. In his books and lectures, he explores revolutionary ideas in the domains of spirituality, consciousness, and human development. He creates courses and programs that encourage people to question their most foundational experience of reality until previously held assumptions fall away leaving space for a dramatically new understanding to emerge. Jeff is passionate about the potential ideas have to shape how we perceive reality and how we live together. His enthusiasm for learning is infectious, and he has taught at colleges and universities throughout the world. Jeff is the author of numerous books including: The Path of Spiritual Breakthrough: From Awakening to Cosmic Awareness American Awakening: Evolutionary Spirituality, Non-Duality, and Free Thinking in the Tradition of American Philosophy Philosophy Is Not a Luxury: Four Reasons to Start Thinking About How You Think The Soul of a New Self: Embracing the Future of Being Human Paradigm Shifting: Guiding Evolution from the Inside The Art of Conscious Contentment Website: jeffcarreira.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview. Interview recorded May 20, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard trained and published neuroanatomist who is now affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology. In 1996 she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Her most recent 2021 book is WHOLE BRAIN LIVING: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life. Dr. Taylor is a dynamic teacher and public speaker who loves educating all age groups, academic levels, as well as corporations about the beauty of our human brain and how we can work with ourself to live a more peaceful life. In 2008 she gave the first TED talk that ever went viral on the Internet, which now has well over 28.5 million views. Also in 2008, Dr. Taylor was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” web-cast. Website: drjilltaylor.com Dr. Taylor's "My Stroke of Insight" TED talk Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview Interview recorded May 14, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Cynthia Sue Larson is the best-selling author of several books including Quantum Jumps, Reality Shifts, and High Energy Money. Cynthia has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, an MBA degree, a Doctor of Divinity, and a second degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won. Cynthia is founder of RealityShifters, first president of the International Mandela Effect Conference, managing director of Foundations of Mind, and creator and host of Living the Quantum Dream podcast. She has been featured in numerous shows including Gaia, the History Channel, Coast to Coast AM, One World with Deepak Chopra, and BBC. Cynthia reminds us to ask in every situation, "How good can it get?" Subscribe to her free monthly ezine at: realityshifters.com. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded April 23, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Daniel Stone is a follower of Meher Baba. He came to Meher Baba in 1972 after a period of spiritual search that led him to travel overland to India in search of a master. While there he found and received an awakening with Neem Karoli Baba, who then inwardly guided him to Meher Baba, who Daniel recognized and accepted as his master. Meher Baba is widely known and regarded my many throughout the world as the Avatar of our current age, as God in human form, and as a source of spiritual guidance and awakening for all who approach him. Since becoming a follower of Baba, Daniel has been actively engaged in sharing about Baba’s teachings and life-work through talks, publications, radio programs, video programs, and music. He serves on the board of directors for the Meher Spiritual Center, the major center for Meher Baba in the West, and has consulted extensively for Baba groups around the world. Videos: Journey in Consciousness - A 7-part series that provides an overview of the teachings and life-work of Avatar Meher Baba. God in Human Form “Avatar Meher Baba: Highlights of His Life and Work” Meher Baba ~ Human Side Of God Books: God Speaks, by Meher Baba (Meher Baba’s cosmology)* Discourses, by Meher Baba (Teachings about the spiritual life)* The Silent Messenger, by Tom and Dorothy Hopkinson (an easily accessible overview of Meher Baba’s life and his teachings) The God Man: The Life, Journeys and Work of Meher Baba with an Interpretation of his Silence and Spiritual Teaching * Digital copies can be downloaded for free at https://avatarmeherbabatrust.org/online-library/ Websites: Meher Spiritual Center in S. Carolina Journey in Consciousness In his professional life, Daniel is a strategic organizational consultant, providing assistance to a wide variety of organizations including the Centers for Disease Control, the United Nations, World Economic Forum, and many others. He lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with his wife, two cats and a grand-dog. Daniel is also a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle where he co-leads a group focused on helping achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. He is also a recording musician, whose first CD of songs dedicated to Meher Baba is entitled “Decorate With Song”. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded April 16, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Mark Gober is the author of "An End to Upside Down Thinking" (2018), which won the IPPY award for best science book of the year. He is also the author of "An End to Upside Down Living" (2020), "An End to Upside Down Liberty" (2021), "An End to Upside Down Contact" (2022), and "An End to the Upside Down Reset" (2023); and he is the host of the podcast series "Where Is My Mind?" (2019). Additionally, he serves on the boards of Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell’s Institute of Noetic Sciences and the School of Wholeness and Enlightenment. Previously, Gober was a partner at Sherpa Technology Group in Silicon Valley and worked as an investment banking analyst with UBS in New York. He has been named one of IAM’s Strategy 300: The World’s Leading Intellectual Property Strategists. Gober graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he wrote an award-winning thesis on Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel Prize–winning “Prospect Theory” and was elected a captain of Princeton’s Division I tennis team. Previous BatGap interview with Mark Doug Scott, LCSW, works as a mental health counselor in his private practice in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from college in 1997, he served as an international volunteer for two years in Bluefields, Nicaragua. This intense experience changed his life and he returned to the US to pursue graduate studies in clinical social work and pastoral ministry at Boston College. The nexus of spirituality and psychology have always intrigued Doug since childhood and he brings this sensibility to his counseling practice. Doug grew up Catholic and was always drawn to the mystical lineage within this belief system. He had experiences with Jesus, Mary, and angels at an early age. He was also secretly attracted to all things paranormal and would spend many hours reading topics such as reincarnation, ufology, OBE’s, NDE’s, ghosts, ESP, pyramids, and other areas. One evening in 2013, he felt a presence that invited him to listen to a Buddhist chant, which came as a surprise since, at that time, he had not explored other faith systems. He was guided to listen to Om Mani Padme Hum and as the chant unfolded, Doug saw a golden dew overshadow him and activate him in a way that was new. This marked the next chapter in Doug’s life. A few months later, Doug was led to the Law of One material and immediately saw that it provided the clearest, most undistorted, exploration of the Perennial Philosophy that he’d ever come across. It also cast a wide net to include all of the paranormal things that intrigued him and made it possible for him to put all of the different threads in his life together in one seamless garment. Since 2015, Doug has written a blog (cosmicchrist.net) that explores the synthesis of the Law of One material with mystical Christianity and psychology. He sees his vocation in this lifetime as a bridge-builder between conventional concepts and cosmic metaphysics to help people who seek clarity, normalization, and validation for their own journeys. Previous BatGap interview with Doug Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview Interview recorded March 26, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Emelie has been working fulltime since 1995 with empathic communication with other species, non-hierarchal riding and handling of horses, alternative treatments such as acupuncture, homeopathy and herbal medicine. She has published three books on these subjects. She runs a school with mainly horses and other species for empathic interbeing. This school is a farm that is a sanctuary for around 170 animals of different species - not to mention plants and surrounding nature. Books: All the King's Horses - if you wish to purchase a copy, email Emelie. Zander och Tiden (Swedish) Website: friendsofmio.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded March 5, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Fr. Seán ÓLaoire was born in Ireland and earned a B.Sc. degree (major in Mathematics) from the National University of Ireland. Ordained a catholic priest in 1972, he spent 14 years working in Kenya. He is multi-lingual and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology; he is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. He is co-founder and the Spiritual Director of a non-denominational community called “Companions on the Journey” based in Palo Alto. He is the author of five books and co-author of a sixth: “Ukweli ni Nini?” (What is truth?) – written and published in Swahili in 1983 “Spirits in Spacesuits - A Manual for Everyday Mystics”- published in 2003 “Souls on Safari” - published in 2006 - Translated into German in 2007 “A Sensible God” – published in 2008 “Why? What Your Life Is Telling You about Who You Are and Why You’re Here” - published in 2013 (with Matthew McKay, PhD and Ralph Metzner, PhD) - Translated into Korean in 2015 “Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image” - published in 2021 Transcript of this interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded February 25, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
There have always been three deep interests that have informed my life; and those are art, spirituality, and psychotherapy which all tend to reflect each other. I have been an artist since my childhood, had spiritual experiences since I was 6, and my interest in psychology began at twelve when I started reading psychology books. There were some experiences during my childhood which indicated an opening for spiritual awareness. The first was when I was walking to school, when I was 6, and I realized that I was in this body. The second happened many times when several light beings would sit on my bed and talk to me, before I went to sleep. Their energy was very distinct. I could feel the weight of them on my bed. My spiritual journey actively began when I was 19 and began doing TM. After TM I had a few other spiritual teachers and many spiritual openings, or awakenings, throughout my life. The last most significant experience, which was several years ago, was when I was taking a walk and I heard a voice inside of me say “it’s time”. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I thought it might become clear by connecting with the group of light beings. When I did, an energy began to flow through me. I soon got another message that this was not just for me, it was to share with others. This led me to gather a few people together to meditate, and with whom to share this energy. I had no idea if anyone else would feel the flow of energy, but they did. My meetings with people have evolved into a sharing of wisdom and energy that flows from this spaciousness, which is the Boundless. The importance of this sharing is that it helps all of us shift into the consciousness of the One, or Infinite, or Boundless. This is a small step away from knowing that we are the Boundless. As we move through the world as the Boundless, there is a ripple effect. Sharing this shift in frequency facilitates, an expansion in human consciousness; where more people know that we are all One. Through an energetic transmission, people are guided to take their next step on their spiritual journey. I have been a psychotherapist for about 40 years, during this time I have been trained and/or certified in several modalities including: Transpersonal Hypnotherapy through the Michael Newton Institute, Hypnotherapy through the Ericksonian School. I am the founder of the Enneagram School of Awakening, which is accredited by The International Enneagram Association. I call what I do Transpersonal Psychotherapy because I help people work through personal limiting patterns, as well as guiding them to open to their true nature, which is beyond the personal. I have written two books Boundless - Experiential description of stepping into the boundless, and my journey to the Boundless; and From the Heart of Boundless – discussions and teachings about obstacles and issues that might get in the way of connecting to the Boundless. Websites: Boundless Art The Enneagram School Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded February 4, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Born in London, Dr. Churchill's interest in psycho-spiritual development, Integral theory, Contemplative studies, Western Esotericism, and Mahayana Buddhism began in his adolescence,. During this time, John received the esoteric Planetary Dharma transmissions that would in time unfold as his contribution to a planetary fourth turning teaching. Dr. Churchill spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” meditation in an Indo-Tibetan Mahayana lineage under the mentorship of the late senior Western teacher, translator, respected author, and clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel P. Brown. He is also a founding member of the Integral Institute led by esteemed Transpersonal/Integral philosopher, Ken Wilber. John has received advanced training in: attachment therapy, hypnosis, positive psychology for peak performance, and the “Pointing Out” style of Mahamudra meditation. For the last 25 years, John has developed a a Fourth Turning Planetary Dharma practice which includes the somatically based contemplative practice path; Embodying the Open Ground, that integrates psychodynamic healing, adult development and meditation. John holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from William James College, and is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Married to his partner, Nicole since 2000, they are Co-Founders of Samadhi Integral, and Co-Directors of Karuna Mandala. Book: Becoming Buddha: Buddhist Contemplative Psychology in a Western Context Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded January 29, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
Debra Martin is a World-Renowned Intuitive Healer and an International Research Lab Certified Medium with the Windbridge Research Center. Debra is a Spiritual Coach, Survivor of three near death experiences, cancer and an author of six books. Her most recent: "Proof of Miracles” & "Doctors, Faith & Courage”. Debra had her third near death experience on 1-21-12 where she had an out of body experience and conversation with God. From this experience her mediumship abilities heightened, and she was given the gift to heal. Debra has developed a healing technique which is not being done anywhere else in the world. In 2013, the Logos Church ordained her as a healing minister due to the healing miracles they were witnessing. She is a motivational speaker and has been on many radio networks. Website: goldenmiracles.com Instagram: @ https://www.Instagram.com/debra.martin11 Facebook: @ https://www.Facebook.com/debra.martin.3557 YouTube channel: @ https://www.youtube.com/goldenmiracles1 Army4Love Gatherings: Zoom on the 1st Tuesday of every month Free. 3:00 p.m. MST: https://goldenmiracles.com/engage/ Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview Interview recorded January 8, 2022. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
