Buddha At The Gas Pump

Michael Roads: An ordinary man on an extraordinary journey . . . Michael Roads was born a farmer's son in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1937. From an early age he discovered that he had a natural ability to travel beyond linear time and space, and enter into deep communication with Nature. Since his spiritual enlightenment at age 49, Michael has written 19 books on his experiences and explorations of alternate realities and dimensions. His main focus and teachings are based on unconditional Love and emotional balance. 2016 marks his 25th year of traveling over five continents presenting inspirational and life-changing 5-Day Intensives in a clear, compelling, humorous and no-nonsense format, enabling many participants to experience amazing shifts in consciousness. Michael, an ordinary mystic, weaves his wealth of life experiences with the most extra-ordinary insights - insights that offer pathways to our deep spiritual relationship with Nature and with Self. He has the consciousness and ability to empower peopl

John Astin is the author of three collections of poetic and prose reflections on the non-dual nature of reality, Too Intimate for Words, (2005) This Is Always Enough(2007), and Searching for Rain in a Monsoon (2012). He is presently at work on a new book, It’s Not What You Think It Is: Reflections on the Inconceivable Nature of Reality. Along with his writing and teaching, John is also a singer, songwriter and recording artist who since 1987 has produced seven CDs of original spiritual/contemplative music including his most recent release, What We’ve Always Been. In addition to his writing and music, John also holds a PhD in health psychology and is an internationally acclaimed scholar in the field of mind-body medicine, his research focusing on the applications of meditative/contemplative practices in psychology and health care. For information about John’s work, visit www.johnastin.com. Music CDs: What We've Always Been Already Shining Clear Blue Mind Now Is the Time For more see johnastin.com

Stan Grof, M.D., Ph.D. is a psychiatrist with more than fifty years’ experience researching the healing and transformative potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness. His groundbreaking theories influenced the integration of Western science with his brilliant mapping of the transpersonal dimension. He is one of the founders and chief theoreticians of Transpersonal Psychology and received an Honorary Award for major contributions to and development of the field of Transpersonal Psychology from the Association for Transpersonal Psychology in 1993. Dr. Grof is also the founder of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA) and its past and current president. He has organized large international conferences throughout the world and continues to lecture and teach professional training programs in Holotropic Breathwork and transpersonal psychology. Currently, Dr. Grof is Professor of Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consci

Gail is a clinical psychologist and author in Santa Barbara, CA, who joyfully speaks from her own experience about the possibility of moving from common everyday problems to living in the deepest acceptance and peace. Problems are seen as opportunities; the illusion of the separate self as a doorway to enduring happiness. Stories are honored, while fierce and loving investigation invites their dissolution. She has special expertise working with older adults and their families, bringing clear seeing and compassion to the transitions of aging, death, and dying. She meets with people both individually and in groups and blogs at GailBrenner.com, where she invites readers to see through the confusion of separation and discover reality, which is true, alive, and undeniable. Her core offering is to bring non-dual understanding to the moments of suffering in everyday life. She is the author of “The End of Self-Help: Discovering Peace and Happiness Right at the Heart of Your Messy, Scary, Brilliant Life.” Sufferi

Adam Bucko is an activist, spiritual director to many of New York City’s homeless youth, and co-author of a new award-winning book called “Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation (Sacred Activism)". He grew up in Poland during the totalitarian regime and spent his early years exploring the anarchist youth movement as a force for social and political change. At the age of 17, Adam immigrated to America where his desire to find his path towards a meaningful life led him to monasteries in the US and India. His life-defining experience took place in India, where on his way to a Himalayan hermitage, he met a homeless child who lived on the streets of Delhi. This brief encounter led him to the “Ashram of the Poor” where he began his work with homeless youth. After returning to the US, he worked on the streets of various American cities with young people struggling against homelessness and prostitution. He eventually co-founded The Reciprocity Foundation, an award-winning nonprofit dedicated to t

Originally from the Netherlands, Prajnaparamita has been in search of her true nature all her life. Initially investigating and studying psychology, religion and philosophy, she eventually met a truly awakened soul and surrendered her heart, her mind and her life. Over several decades Prajnaparamita received a rich vista of non-dual teachings: Advaita Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, Zen and Ch’an. Once realized, she has dedicated her life to the self-realization of all. Through satsangs, retreats and interviews she continually directs the listener to their very wisdom heart. These days, Prajnaparamita spends most of her time at La Roseraie de Sacha: a centre of awakening and natural living deep in the countryside of central France. With meditation and satsang daily, opportunity is given for contemplation and self-enquiry interwoven with the participation in projects around the property - from gardening to cooking. People remember the transformative force of play, and remember what it is to live without purpose.

Science and Spirituality: Potential Allies in Discovering Truth My talk was accompanied by a multimedia presentation, which has been edited into this video. There were technical issues: the official camera wasn't there, so a friend recorded this on her camcorder and the sound quality isn't ideal. I ran out of time and had to cut some things that I added to this video, etc. But hopefully, you'll enjoy the content. I put a lot of thought into this over several months. Points include: Introduction by Deepak Chopra. We’re sense organs of the infinite; instruments of the Divine. Some of my personal history. If science and spirituality are both about understanding Reality, then they should be on the same team. Science, and a scientific approach, can help restore experience, rather than belief, as the foundation of religion and spirituality. If the ultimate reality is consciousness, then what instrument could be better suited to exploring it than the human nervous system? If everything is consciousn

Dorothy Hunt serves as Spiritual Director of Moon Mountain Sangha, teaching at the request of Adyashanti.  She is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy and has practiced psychotherapy since 1967. She is the author of Leaves from Moon Mountain, Only This!, and Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness. A contributing author to The Sacred Mirror, and Listening from the Heart of Silence: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy, Dorothy is also a featured spiritual teacher in the book, Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening. Dorothy has a long and deep connection to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and the path of Self-Inquiry, as well as the nondual teachings of Zen, Advaita, and the Christian mystics.  In meeting Adyashanti, she was invited beyond identification with either the absolute or relative, finding freedom in what is awake in each of us regardless of the changing faces of experience. Dorothy offers satsang, retreats,

Jane Anderson-Ross is a wife, mother, and grandmother currently living in Rochester, NY. Raised in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia, Jane always had the gifts of love and compassion, and even as a young child, felt that her life path was to help others heal. But in 1988, during the throes of her own trials and difficulties, Jane had a transformation that was prompted by a singular prayer. She surrendered to the Divine Creator and asked, “Let me be Your Eyes, Your Ears, Your Hands, and Your Heart.” From that prayer, came what she can only describe as a “Rebirth”; a profound transformation with a pure divine directive. However, still very much Jane, she continued on as a devoted wife and mother of 2 babies. What became extraordinary to her though, was the Divine events, healings, and transformations that touched not only her own life, but that of many others who came into contact with her. Nevertheless, Jane’s love, humility, and simplicity never wavered, and she decided to enter into the field of holis

A. Hameed Ali was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the USA to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him more and more into inquiring into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature. Hameed’s interest in the truth of human nature and the true nature of reality resulted in the creation and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach®: “The Diamond Approach is a path of wisdom, an approach to the investigation of Reality and work on oneself that leads to human maturity and liberation. Because of our particular vision of Reality it is not completely accurate to think of this approach as spiritual work, for this work does not separate the spiritual from the psychological, neither does it see these two as separate from the physical everyday life and scientific investigation of the content of perception. However, because we live in a society where the prevailing th

Richard Moss is an internationally respected leader in the field of inner transformation, subtle body-mind dynamics, and living a path of conscious relationships. In 1977 Richard was a practicing medical doctor when he experienced a spontaneous spiritual illumination that awakened him to the multi-dimensional nature of human consciousness. This realization profoundly transformed his understanding of the roots of emotional suffering, and inspired him to explore the almost limitless human potential for growth and healing. Impelled by this opening, he released the practice of medicine to devote his life to mentoring individuals and couples whose lives have brought them to the point where they hunger to explore the mystery of their being. Whether called to his work by their soul’s yearning to awaken and grow, or impelled by a health, career, or relationship crisis, his comprehensive and evolutionary approach to healing and forging loving relationships has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people. H

Robert A.F. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, President of the Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization, and President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, a non-profit affiliated with the Center for Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and dedicated to the publication of translations of important artistic and scientific treatises from the Tibetan Tengyur. TIME Magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, describing him as a “larger than life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.” The New York Times recently said Thurman “is considered the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism.” Thurman is known as a talented popularizer of the Buddha’s teachings. He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, B

I grew up in a hard-working family, none religious. At the age of 18, I learned that the Father I'd known all my life was not, in fact, my biological Father. This new-found fact destabilized the identity I had become accustomed to. The idea of who I was came under question. I was left asking, who am I. What then followed was ten years of drinking. At 27 I found myself in recovery from alcoholism. I spent three and a half years examining all the aspects of self-identified traits in order to find an honesty that would propel me into a more productive direction. After three and a half years I came to see that all willful attempts at modifying the self still remained within the paradigm of self-will. I had not transcended into honesty. It was at this point in a room one evening in 99 that I handed all attachment to the mind for any orientation to ongoing recovery. In doing so, not knowing what lay beyond, there was to be a complete self-realization. Book: Walking Awake Website: invitationtobeing.org Transcript

Bruce Joel Rubin is an Oscar-winning screenwriter for the film Ghost.   His films include Jacob's Ladder, My Life (which he also directed), Brainstorm, Deep Impact, Stuart Little 2, The Last Mimzy, and The Time Traveler's Wife, among others.   His spiritual journey began with a massive overdose of LSD in the 1960s.   Shortly afterward he began hitchhiking around the world in search of a teacher and then found him in New York City, just blocks away from where he began his search. His name was Swami Rudrananda, also known as Rudi. Rudi was a New York City businessman and a yogi who taught a form of Kundalini meditation he called The Work. Rudi died in 1973 but Bruce continues to teach his practice. In 2001 Bruce discovered I AM THAT - the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, and fell into the world of non-dualism. He awoke in 2010 during a seminar on awakening. Since that time he has continued to teach meditation and the effortless nature of simple Being. Since most people work and struggle in the world, it seeme

While out in California for the Science and Nonduality Conference, I had some downtime before the conference started, so I decided to tape a long panel discussion with a rather large group of friends, most of them previous guests on Batgap. Sofia University in Palo Alto (where transpersonal psychology was founded by Abraham Maslow and others), generously provided a room and video equipment. I'm especially grateful to Dr. Jeffery Martin, who conducts research there, for offering and organizing this. It was an experiment, and some were skeptical that it would work, but it did! Main points of discussion in this part include: The panel reflects on the morning session from direct experience after meditating together. Discussion of spiritual teachers and how awakening can come with new charisma and confidence along with an ability to enliven others which can lead to ego aggrandizement. The panel discusses what to be aware of and how to share with humility and grace. Spiritual Maturity - Importance of ongoing

While out in California for the Science and Nonduality Conference, I had some downtime before the conference started, so I decided to tape a long panel discussion with a rather large group of friends, most of them previous guests on Batgap. Sofia University in Palo Alto (where transpersonal psychology was founded by Abraham Maslow and others), generously provided a room and video equipment. I'm especially grateful to Dr. Jeffery Martin, who conducts research there, for offering and organizing this. It was an experiment, and some were skeptical that it would work, but it did! This is part 1. The link to Part 2 is below. Main points of discussion in this part include: What are awakening and enlightenment? Are we on the same page? The discussion goes into direct experiencing of different states, levels, and depths of consciousness in the evolution of the progressive, dynamic process of awakening. What is identity and identification in different stages in the evolution of consciousness and the journey of the

Karen's spiritual journey has been long and eventful, with many insights, realizations and awakenings. She has been blessed by the influence and support of wonderful teachers including Joel Goldsmith, Eckhart Tolle and Pamela Wilson. After many years and much investigation, Karen came home to the truth that freedom can only be found within. She now offers group and private sessions to assist others in returning to a state of wholeness and embodying the essence of true nature. Her down-to-earth approach helps bring spiritual reality from the conceptual to the experiential. Website Blog Facebook Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 10/11/2015 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Childhood Experiences 00:05:08 - Moments of Clarity and Darkness 00:09:40 - The Dark Night of the Soul 00:13:53 - Naturalness of Higher Consciousness 00:18:27 - Neuroplasticity and Transformative Insights 00:23:09 - Divine Play

David grew up on the SW coast of Canada. In the mid-'70s, he discovered the subject of consciousness, then Transcendental Meditation (TM). This was quite a revelation. He quickly became an avid seeker, attending many talks and courses. Nine months after starting TM, he arrived in NE France for a 6-month retreat where he would train to become a teacher of TM. After 3 months with lots of purification and clearing, he had sporadic witnessing experiences where awareness shifted briefly into an observer mode. Then in the second 3 months, the lights came on. With a blinding flash of white light (which he much later learned was makara), the witness became permanent, throughout waking, dreams and sleep. At first, he was over-attentive, keeping the mind awake to observe sleeping and manipulate dreams. But quickly that settled into a simple continuity of awareness underlying all experience. Soon after that, the first re-cognition happened, a form of experience where everything about the object is known. This enlivens

Canela Michelle Meyers offers very practical, supportive Satsang events and sessions for people to drop deeply into what is happening in each moment. There is a strong transmission of Self in Satsang with Canela, supporting people to ‘fall in’ with Self consciously. Canela calls this ‘falling in Love’ as all occurrences are rooted in Love – it is only a case of recognition of That (re-cognition). People are waking up to Self in these gatherings. She loves supporting people in finding how every happening is rooted in Love…what at first might look like tragedy or horrific, transforms itself with in-the-moment exploration. She calls this the Science of Love because it has been tried and tested, explored and tasted, over and over again with thousands of people. When people find this and experience the Truth of this for themselves, they find it easier to open up to whatever is happening in their lives. She offers this support in Transformational Satsang events for groups and for couples & individuals (in person,

Kiran Trace is an internationally known spiritual teacher and author. She died of massive spontaneous awakening into her true nature, then eight years later, and at the encouragement of Moni Vangolen, Thomas Stubbs, Adyashanti, and others, she began to talk and teach. Because she spontaneously awoke, with no prior spiritual background, orientation or understanding, she is known for her unique point of view. Folks often call her teachings “fresh” because she doesn't have any spiritual language or linage she points to.  She sees primarily from vast stillness and embodies "the world" from an "inside-outside" point of view.  Seeing the coding of the universe in order to see the universe, it’s very “matrix” like. Visit more of her works and teachings at kirantrace.com, or visit her YouTube channel. Interview recorded 09/24/2015 Kiran's 1st Batgap interview. Kiran in Batgap Panel at Sofia U. Part 1 | Part 2 Transcript of this interview Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Vide