Testimonials

Comments from those who have been inspired by BatGap.

I’ve been listening to your interviews as I drive to and from work each morning. Fortunately, my journeys are quite long, which means I can pretty much sit through two episodes or more back-to-back. It is remarkable how much material you manage to cover, and more importantly, how your reformulations (or explanation/clarifications) of often profound ideas ensures that the listening is an unfolding process for the listener himself. This, for me, elevates this podcast above many others than I have listened to. In a nutshell, Buddha at the Gas Pump is extremely interesting and leavened with good humor and humility, and makes my often tedious drive a spiritual retreat! Warmest regards all the way from the United Kingdom, Cornwall. — David


Thank you from the depths of my heart. I listen to Batgap interviews regularly in no particular order; invariably I land on the one I am supposed to hear in the moment. Today I listened to the conversation with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian. The other day, Chris Celine. Really no words suffice. The beauty and love are breathtaking. Deep bow, deep gratitude. Your contribution is immeasurable. Peace — Nancy


Only recently after 55 years did I discover my true nature. Everything I’d previously thought and believed was completely wrong. I always felt there was something I was missing and from a very young age questioned my existence. How and why are we all here? This deep sense of separation continued throughout my life. I had a sense of lack no matter what I achieved in the material world and was never fulfilled or satisfied. I then finally discovered the reason for my sense of lack. The realization was such a shock initially because I thought, how on earth have I not realized this before and why does no one talk about it? I then explored YouTube and found your channel. You’ve introduced me to so many brilliant philosophers, teachers, scientists and spiritual seekers, many of whom I now listen to and read their works. Keep doing what you do. —Jules


Thank you so much for such a great program. I started from the beginning and have listened since episode 1. I’m up to about episode 654 at the moment. I listen every day and have gotten some amazing books because of your show. So Thank you very much for all the great information. I’ve laughed and cried many times over the years listening. —Ryan


I need to speak about my deep, heartfelt gratitude for BATGAP. You are changing my life in a way I doubt anyone else could, by offering a window into a spiritual world I’ve sought most of my life (now 70 yrs). In a sense, you are my sangha. I’m listening to every interview. The earlier ones seem more down to earth and helpful, but all inspire and encourage. I listen to you everyday that I can. I cannot thank you enough. BATGAP is what the Japanese might call a national treasure. Blessings to you all, and a happy, healthy New Year. Sincerely —A Viewer


I would like to thank you for the work you are doing for us all. In the last few years I have spent hours, lying on my sofa or right on the carpet, with a pillow under my head, listening to your conversations, many of which have proved inspiring in a variety of ways. They have also directed me to books and other related videos. You have been very generous with your time and energies! I’d like to be able to tell you more, but this is all for the time being. Actually, it’s snowing hard here in Bologna, in the city centre, and I am deeply enjoying the view of the whitening rooftops against the bell tower of a nearby church. We are all traveling together in time and space, and what unites us is ultimately a bond of humanity and affection. Keep going! And once again rest assured in the awareness of our appreciation and gratitude. —All the best, Maurizio


I am continuing to watch Batgap interviews and I want to let you know, as I am sure most people do, that I am very appreciative of your work. I am a single mother of two boys and very busy. It’s really hard to travel or attend meditation groups etc. It’s also almost impossible to find time to talk to, or be with, other adults and friends. BATGAP is such a life line. Rick has become so dear, and I love his questions and approach. I send a lot of love to you guys whenever I watch an interview. I am basically just saying a big fat THANK YOU from Australia. Through you Ive found Neelam, Pamela Wilson and other precious guides on the path. Keep it coming! —Catherine


There have been so many times in my life over these past many years that I have returned to Batgap’s interviews for assurance and inspiration. Please know that there are many, many other people out here who are silent, but grateful for all the resources you have created. You have built a library that will continue to benefit human beings for decades to come. You have also given voice to the multiple ways of being a positive contributor here on this earth. I’m sure that you have received a lot of fan mail. You can multiply that by many fold. Thank you for the blessings you have gifted us with. —Stephen


Thank you! Batgap is a mainstay in my life. Not to put too fine a point on it, it has changed my life beyond all measure. I think it is divine work that you are doing. Bless you — Carmel


I am from The Faroe Islands. I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your podcast, I can say that, drip by drip, it has changed my life by opening up my perspective to a much bigger reality. Nothing could be more valuable than that. I have been listening for years, so I also wanted to acknowledge that you Rick have grown into your role. I find you to be ever kinder and more listening to your guest. I love the range of topics. I am so happy that you are still doing this work after all these years – I think you bring more inspiration, and thereby change, into the world, than you could ever imagine. Thank you, and all my very best for you. — Durita


I wanted to take a moment to say that I have just discovered your podcast this summer and I am incredibly grateful to have found it. I am especially grateful for the way that you have managed to bring Enlightenment/Awakening/Nirvana/Spiritual growth back down to earth and imbue discussions about the whole process and journey with a sense of “normalcy,” groundedness and accessibility for an average shmuck like me. It has rekindled my desire and commitment to evolve my own level of awakening after several years of being very disenchanted by spirituality in general. This means the world to me. Thank you all for your hard work!! With much love —Tiffany


I just wanted to say the deepest thank you for what you do. Your work has touched my life, opened my heart, and supported me on my journey more than anything else.
Funny story I thought you’d like, I’ve had — and continue to have — spontaneous shifts for the last four years in particular. I had no idea what was happening to me when the big one of 2018 happened. I never had a teacher or even knew about any of this. I was Googling the funniest things trying to find out what was happening to me. I was 36 at the time and before bed one night I prayed sincerely for help figuring it out. I woke in the morning, and I heard the words “Buddha at the gas pump” I was stumped. WTF? I thought. I mean seriously — try decoding that msg! I found you and my life changed. Through you, I understood myself and found guidance. A million thank you’s. Keep doing what you do. — Lucy


Your show informs peoples’ minds, but more importantly, opens their hearts. I have been working in Mental Health for 45 years. I have been meditating all my life. I would say there is an explosion of conscious awareness breaking through wherever I look. Introducing your show to my colleagues caused quite a stir, and then a group started when half a dozen of us would go for a break to the Cafe each day. It grew and now we meet at least once a week over Zoom and discuss your current interviews. It has also urged us to rethink the importance of the medical model, and how we might shift our paradigm to include wisdom focus, rather than outcome measurements only. Thank you Rick for giving people like me a voice! I never shared this stuff for most of my adult life. There are spiritually awakening people who do not fit easily into satsangs, spiritual groups, and the burgeoning spiritual consumerist. We get on quietly with the practice, of patience and humility. So be well! — Paul


A very much needed and appreciated interview with Conspirituality I thought, as someone that has been involved with meditation/healing since the ’70s. I have participated in spiritual/yoga/healing organizations with shadow sides that undercut the main mission of the community and would fully agree some structures that support discerned regulation are needed. Without throwing the divine babe out with the bathwater, keep doing what you do Batgap. — Holly


I just wish to express appreciation as your Spiritual interview platform is the only one where the input of the interviewer is every bit as valuable as the interviewees’. Thank you. — Thalia


Thank you so much for bringing Buddha at the Gas Pump to the world. Your work is sacred, blessed, and a phenomenal gift to all of us. I learned of Batgap a while ago and I have slowly become enchanted by your diverse array of thoughtful, awakening guests whose words have helped and moved me in many ineffable ways. I have been on ‘the path’ for most of my life but only now, in my late 40s, do I feel a part of some kind of a spiritual community, in large part thanks to your show. Before, I used to listen religiously to Sounds True and occasionally to On Being, but now I find myself looking forward to your interviews each week. I thank you from the bottom of my soul. Warm regards —Rizwati


Funny, my cat, who is 21 years old, comes in for snuggle time at night when he hears the BatGap theme song. It works better than tuna! — Genia


Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the interviews. I found your website a year ago and have been listening to various interviews throughout the year. I approach the many facets of spirituality with an open mind and heart and various beautiful souls you have interviewed have touched me deeply. Your respect for and curiosity about each interviewee opens up deep conversations. The interviews are nourishing food for my soul. I appreciate your choice of guests and the thoughtful way you interview them. For example, your interview with Henry Shukman was beautiful and I am halfway through your interview with Donald Hoffman. It is incredible and mind-expanding. I have learned more than I ever could have imagined. It has helped me to pay more attention to the power present in each moment as life unfolds. My heartfelt gratitude to you and all who help with the production of your interviews and website. With love and respect — Karla


I’m writing from Austria. I discovered your channel some two years ago and cannot express how grateful I am to BatGap for offering this service. What you offer is a sheer act of LOVE, and I don’t know if you are actually aware of the dimension of your service to people all around the globe and the historical dimension of it. Not only do you provide knowledge from all centuries for your viewers but you also make it come alive and taste fresh and new and real by interviewing people so naturally, without any pretense or self-interest. I would oftentimes feel so alone on my path if it wasn’t for you. Books and websites can never substitute real people, and whenever I watch you interviewing people, there is so much love and gratitude welling up inside me for what you do. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you. — Eva


It’s a joy to listen to the interviews. It’s like meeting friends in the middle of nowhere. Thank you for the effort and inspiration. — Frederique


I write to express deep gratitude to all who make BATGAP a reality. A few months ago, on my 33 birthday, I experienced a near-death trauma. It was an awful form of grace that has profoundly reoriented my life. Among the surprising aftershocks of the experience, a powerful kundalini awakening has taken place. It is as though the psycho-spiritual lid was ripped off of a lifetime (perhaps multiple lifetimes) of repressed trauma, fear, pain. I ended up in a psychiatric hospital. My nervous system was simply overwhelmed. The spiritual journey–which up until that point had seemed a peripheral dimension of my life–took center stage; from passive spectator to being thrust into the arena. I needed support. BATGAP was here for me. I have been watching BATGAP for many years and in retrospect, I can see an exquisite orchestration to all of this. In this time of need, I was able to call upon teachers and resources that I found through BATGAP. I have come home. Thank you. —Wesley


I cannot thank you enough for this show. I don’t normally send thank you’s. You continue to help me tremendously in numerous ways, on various levels, and in both turbulent and jubilant times. If there is a team to thank, please do so if possible. In great gratitude (enthralled in a brutal yet beautiful ‘spiritual emergency’ since March 2019), —Lynn


I just wanted to thank you again for your great interview with Sheikh Burhanuddin Herrmann last month. In hindsight, that interview is the best introduction to traditional Sufism for western seekers that I have ever seen on the internet. So well done and thank you once again for all your efforts which must be helping so many people to find their spiritual paths! —Fred
I am so grateful for what you guys are doing as it has helped me immensely on a spiritual path that started very spontaneously last September. It’s very hard to communicate to others what you are going through, and though each person’s evolutionary path is unique, there are some commonalities, and your show highlights and helps with that. So from my heart to yours as one – thank you. —Gezala


After three years of following a teacher interviewed on BatGap, I went on his retreat and an Awakening happened. My journey has just begun, thanks to you. I was a useless, lost, intravenous addict for 23 years. Finally, I broke my neck in a car accident which set me on a journey of discovery. I found Batgap, which facilitated the most amazing unfoldment. My story is irrelevant but it is somewhat miraculous that I’m alive to tell you this. Thank you for your service. I don’t know if you realize the impact you have had on people like myself, my family, and many others, no doubt. Please keep up the good work. I’m eternally grateful — Shaun


Love back to you dear beings. Wanted to tell you, your work is unique because it brings together what always was before standing separate as mountain peaks, and rarely meeting. I have a feeling it is time for spiritually awakening beings to become one family. We are so alone in our micro-places, and this gives a feel of belonging, after a lifetime of being a persona non grata. Your tolerance and width is so tender. Your acceptance is teaching us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. After 46 years of complete solitude in terms of the ontological quest, I now have a family to come back to every day. Hope all our accomplishments spill into each others’ vessels and raise the global level. Let us make a new realm for us who wish to know ourselves more than anything else in the world. Thank you, you are saving me. — A Viewer


Your podcast: have been devouring it all. I was at rock bottom. After 10 years of atheism, 2 years in Scientology, and a year of keeping the walls towards anything spiritual high, I gave up. The first interview I listened to was the guy who saw a picture of Tibet and felt it was “home”. I had that experience in my early 20’s with images of Tibet. The synchronicity of the messages and order that I listen is guiding me towards something bigger. You said, “I’d love to tell Christopher Hitchens I don’t believe in the god you don’t believe in” and a light bulb went off. What you’re doing is so valuable and of great importance. I really just wanted to tell you you saved my life and I am really grateful. —Ashley


I’ve been watching Batgap over the years with my wife. We love the combination of asking penetrating questions, dialoguing with your guests while contributing insights, knowledge, and “clippings” from your own journey. It makes for a very rich experience on our end. All this without stealing the limelight from your guest. What we also appreciate is how you may challenge your guest while not being confrontational about it. Just wonderful. Blessings. —Doug


I am so incredibly grateful to BatGap for these beautiful, encouraging, enlightening interviews. I have been going through serious trauma for a couple of years, as well as a very chaotic dark night of the soul that accompanied an awakening of extra-sensory abilities, and in the middle of it all, I completely lost faith. The BATGAP interviews shone a bright light into my black, cold cave of fear. There is nothing I could write in this short testimonial that could fully express what this show means to me. I am so filled with gratitude. Thank you. —S.C.


I’m from the Netherlands and I’d like to express what BatGap means to me. Recently I read a book about the life of C.G. Jung. Although I recognized a lot in his loneliness and the feeling that the world wasn’t ready for his ideas, I also realized that times have changed – at least a bit. BatGap is the best proof of it: So many people, so many voices and just one message: Love, Oneness, God, Source, Mystery – names are just names.
For me, BatGap is a balm for the soul, and knowing that you are somewhere out there and that all those people like me are listening or watching, feels like one big ‘spiritual’ family. I wish I could find the words to describe how much this feeling of being connected, that you facilitate, means to me. I hope that you know what I’m trying to express when I just say THANK YOU! Lots of love and my warmest wishes for the holidays. —Monique


No words can begin to express my deep gratitude for the incredibly rich spiritual sustenance that you so generously offer. At age 82, after 40+ years of ardent meditation and spiritual seeking, Batgap is my main Sangha.


Thanks for what you’re doing. A friend recommended your podcast to me about a year ago, at a time when I was dealing with the overwhelming, even terrifying, energies that await spiritual seekers. You and your guests have helped me get a better handle on some experiences I’ve had. You really are doing an invaluable service. Many people on this path get lost, and believe it or not (though I think you can believe it), some of them would stay lost, or drift into even more troubled waters, if not for your show. —Love, Brett


I just want to say thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into providing us with these wonderful interviews! I have heard so many beautiful pointers from you and your guests on this journey back to where we never really left. You are a mighty companion for us all! Your light, love, and devotion is a great help. Thank you! Your interviews support all of humanity and waking up together is such a gift! In Eternal Gratitude —Vivian


This is simply a thank you for providing this incredible resource to the world. I was feeling much more alone on the spiritual path until I came across BATGAP. You provide a service that is changing the world and my life. —Leah


I just wanted you to know that I unsubscribed Jonah only because he passed away. The last two years of his life, while dealing with increasing health problems that took away much of his ability “to do” in the world, he always said that one of the main things that gave his life continued quality of life was listening to Buddha at the Gas Pump. He got so much from Rick’s interviews about awakening, dealing with illness consciously, near-death experiences, and embodying spiritual teachings. A high point of each month for him was the new postings. It helped him grow so much and open with ever more trust and reach such peace in his passing. The room was filled with so much love. So this is a grand THANK YOU from Jonah and from me for all you do. Blessings and love —Alissa (Jonah’s partner of 32 years)


I just wanted to say a huge thank you for helping save my life. I have been recovering from addiction now for a few years and have been in some dark places, listening to the wonderful interviews has given me hope and joy even when I’ve felt hopeless and lost, for that I am truly grateful !! Thank you for your work, it doesn’t go unnoticed over here in Wales UK —Gareth


I have been listening to and watching Batgap now for a few years and your show has changed my life. I have been introduced to teachers and concepts that have helped me through incredible challenges in my own awakening and taught me an enormous amount about the spiritual path. With thanks to you, I also have met a number of dear friends from different corners of the globe. I feel like I have begun to find my own “tribe” after many years of feeling spiritually isolated. So… THANK YOU!!! —Blessings, Corene, Australia


I watch Rick’s interviews all the time. They are such a blessing. The work that you all do on behalf of bringing awareness to the potential that exists in all of us (to live from our highest self) is profound. I tell everyone I know about batgap.com. I come from a traditional Lutheran background. You have helped open my heart and mind to the Mystery of God as the Intelligence of the Universe. Keep up the work of raising the vibrational level of the planet, —Julie Honsey


I have been ill with Parkinson’s disease & peripheral neuropathy for several years – home-bound & frequently bed-bound. Since discovering BATGAP, it has served as my sangha. Rick is an outstanding interviewer, and I especially enjoy the discussions with “average folks”. I am an artist who can no longer paint – in fact, typing this letter is a major chore by itself. I am inspired to hear how many & varied spiritual people exist out there. Thanks so much for keeping me alive and sane!! —Steve


I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you have created Batgap. I studied Buddhism and the perennial philosophy 20 years ago, and since then, though I had an intellectual knowing of what teachers like Eckhart and Buddha were talking about, spiritual practice had dulled to a sort of pale self-help. I kind of gave up. I had NO idea that “ordinary” people, were having such “extraordinary” growth. I’m now fully committed to recognizing my resistance to awareness and seeing things how they are.
The diversity of your guests, from different traditions, or no tradition, and even the range of experiences experienced by those on an outwardly similar path is a kind of meta-lesson on this unfolding. The emphasis on the development of the interviewees in the aftermath of awakenings also is fascinating and illuminating. Kudos! —Steve


To all of you at Batgap thanks so much for your great work. This is a one-stop shopping for those with a thirst for Truth. You have such a great variety of interesting people from all walks of life and experiences. It’s so great that you are able to share all of this with those who are on this amazing journey of Self-discovery. Blessings to all of you. Love —Carol


Batgap is doing such a service for the world. And it has helped me immensely these past few years. I’ve been going through a really rough time, and the Batgap interviews help keep me spiritually connected – a real lifeline! So thank you again for making it possible. Peace and love. —K


I work in MRI at a hospital. In the last few months, I have been overcome with emotion from all the suffering I see at my job. It came on suddenly and was unexpected. I’ve been at my job for 13 yrs and I thought I had learned to manage the pain I see. During that time I found your show and have listened to it during my commutes. Your show and its guests have given me a new perspective on life and death and have genuinely helped me. For that, I just wanted to say Thank you —John


Thank you to everyone working at Batgap. I cannot and will never be able to express my gratitude for such an amazing team for creating one of the most heart-centered and beautiful organizations out there. The work you do has changed my life and I’m sure hundreds of thousands of others just like me. I wanted to express my deepest gratitude to all that you do! Thank you so much! —Raphaela


I am an African American mystic/contemplative: I am on permanent retreat. My devotional & meditative practices are intended to enable a healthy, balanced spiritual “awakening”. Batgap operates as my virtual spiritual community: a source of teachers, technique, tradition, & inspiration. I can hardly thank you enough for all that you have given to me… I have experienced great joy, peace, deep bliss, a well-being that, without poetry, is inexplicable. Of course, it is not stable: I am a patient beginner, happy & blessed to live this life. Again I praise & thank you. I wish all those who contribute to Batgap the very best. —Regards, Michelle


I can’t get over what I’m learning from all these interviews. I love it. I’m the type of person that likes to hear different views and opinions and then come up with my own way of being. I am just so thrilled with the knowledge I’m getting and I really appreciate all of you. I think the interviews are superb. Thank you so much. My life is better for it. —Peace and Love, Claudia


Thank you, thank you thank you!!!! Your interviews with “ordinary awakening ” people have strengthened my newfound sadhana for union with the Source. I always suspected that there is more to us than our body, mind, and thoughts but was afraid to follow my hunch until I saw living examples on your show. I discovered you two months ago and have watched 200 interviews. I keep coming back for inspiration, joy, and reconfirmation to continue the walk on this wonderful path. Incidentally, your quoting of Sanskrit verses hit home far more often than Indian Gurus expounding on them. Again thank you for your lovely work. — Sunny


Batgap, has exploded so many of my conceptual biases and it took close to 250 interviews to realize, nobody has the thing buttoned up and so I could end the “search” and fully trust my own unique experience as valid as any buddy sharing with their perspective with the Big Family of waker uppers, waker downers and every buddy’s journey in between. I also loved thru the years, seeing Rick’s own transformation, and enjoy very much the range of people outside the non-duality circus currently. My own return to Innocence had a lot to do with Batgap. —Hamsa


Hi Rick, Irene, and all who make these podcasts/videos possible…I have been very enriched by these interviews. I’m traveling now and have been listening, as I do frequently at home as well. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate these talks. My spiritual life has broadened and focused and come to be so much more for me as a result of your work. I thank you! I recently lost my mom and dad (last 2 years). I have always been a seeker, but the loss caused a renewed vow to step up my seeking, to be the best man I can be. Your work is literally changing and improving my life. The access to so many varied ideas and experiences is profoundly helping my search. Thank you, so much! In deep appreciation and respect, —Paul


I enjoy the interviews immensely. I am one of those people (that seem to be increasing in number) that suddenly realized I was not my thoughts. I live in a small village in Scotland and I had never heard of Enlightenment or Awakening or anything of the sort. I am a family man with three children and run a children’s nursery with my wife. As you can imagine, it has been both wonderful and sometimes tricky to navigate forward. I was completely on my own with my experience but every new interview that Rick conducts seems to have something that meets me exactly where I am in my unfolding. What BatGap is doing is incredibly important and I thank you with all my heart. — Kind regards, Mark Beveridge, Scotland.


I accidentally found you two months ago when setting up I pod apps. on my smartphone. I am 76 yrs. old and began reading and discussing “with a few friends”: Gurdjieff, Ornstein, Ouspensky, Kornfield, Rumi, Ram Dass, A.H.Almaas, Adyashanti, and so many others and especially KEN WILBER since my 30’s. At this stage in my life, I have done enough reading. However, your insightful interviews are like visiting with friends about their journeys and often full of inspiring insights and helpful reminders. I am listening to you every night in bed and so far have not fallen asleep before the interview ends…..Keep up the excellent work and service that you are providing us. Peace be with you both. —Carol


Your interviews continue to transform my life EVERY DAY. I went from feeling lonely to feeling excited about life and being in the moment every minute in a total state of bliss dwelling in the certainty of the uncertainty of life as it unfolds. – NK


Want to thank you sincerely for your work! It has given me so much and I very much appreciate what you do and how you do it with knowledge, background information, respect for each guest, understanding, warmth, sharp questions, and delicate handling of sensitive issues. You have a skillful way of keeping an interview together, clarifying it for the watchers, and simply making it beautifully comprehensive and compact at the same time. That would not be possible without a genuine heart and a huge concentration and presence. Thank you for appearing as the “green line where the different peaks and impulses occur and calm down”. Just want to express my gratitude. Bless you and your volunteers! — Love, Outi


I’ve been immersing myself in your podcasts lately and feel compelled to write and say thank you for the work that you are doing through BATGAP. As a long-time student of Life (and Adyashanti) I particularly appreciate your ability to meet the guests on a level that generates questions and comments beyond what other interviewers might because of their limited perspective. I love hearing the varied approaches of your interviewees … for the most part, it normalizes my own journey, but also helps me to feel and appreciate the uniqueness of my life and perspective. What you are doing is filling a very important gap for those of us who are in the process of awakening. Namaste ~ Blessings of health and peace, — Caroline


I’m just writing to thank you for everything you’re doing with this show. I’m a recovering Neo-Advaita dummy (all understanding, no experience or practice) who realized recently how useless that view can be when life gets hard. Your show’s been such a huge help for me recently in expanding my view on all this. I’m headed off to my first 10-day Vipassana retreat tomorrow, and I even had a Skype chat with Stephan Bodian the other day after listening to him on your show. It feels like I have a friend out there asking all the questions that I want to ask, and I’m so grateful. Gratitude doesn’t come easily to me through the walls of cynicism I’ve built around myself, but I’ve learned to trust my intuition when it does. Please accept my donation as a token of my gratitude for you and what you do. Feels like I’m just getting started now, but I hope maybe one day I can see the world the way you all do. —Best


You are doing such a fantastic job of being “global connectors” 🙂 hosting this show. Not just in portraying the individuals who have gone through these transformations, but you are also doing it with so much class and minimal fluff. I love it. I look forward to your updates and hopefully, you will have many more followers from this side of the world (Bangalore/India). All the very best and thank you so much for such a priceless service.—Shyam


I have often thought about writing my thanks to you; now your lovely Christmas email prompts me to do so. To date, I have listened to 132 of your interviews. The majority have each given me something precious: hope, confirmation, techniques for practice, a slightly different way to think about things, a sense of connection, important books to read, etc. In the spirit of the interviews, I tried to remember who were the significant teachers in my life. In a sense, everyone, but specifically, who have I spent considerable time with (none in person) and incorporated their teachings? Ram Das and Eckhart Tolle come to mind, and you. Consistently, for 132 segments of time, I have listened to your values, beliefs, and knowings, your sincere questions, your non-judgmental approach to people’s stories, your ability to offer differing points of view without argument, your honest admission that sometimes you talk too much, your willingness to join people in spirit no matter how unusual they seem. For me, your teaching is about being authentic and allowing life to unfold as it does. I am grateful for your show which offers me so much. – Jan


Thank you so very much for your wonderful show. Your amazing in these interviews: humble, thoughtful, sincere, very intelligent, and yet so honest about what you don’t know (w/out making a big deal out of it). The show is truly a gift. The stories and comments of your guests are catalyzing transformation in audience members as we speak, but the viewing experience would simply not be the same without the beauty you bring to the interviews. Best wishes — Deirdre


I feel a need to express my very deep gratitude to you. You have become my ultimate Teacher. Your interviews with awakened people, together with your right questions, suggestions, and great observations have led me step-by-step toward the next passing by The Gateless Gate. The last two interviews I was listening to while walking in the Polish mountains, in the sun and snow. Then I meditated with complete surrender. And it HAPPENED AGAIN as it did 3.5 years ago after reading Jed McKenna’s: Enlightenment, The Spiritual Warfare! Overwhelming Oneness of Everything with an empty grateful-amazed-loving-present me. God, the Universe has found again the way to me with your help. HE/SHE has become ONE with an immensely small and humble-observing-admiring and happy me. Mountains, trees, even the wind are talking to me, showing we are ONE. My Labrador dog and I are the same. All doubts and fears and longings have gone. My very deep gratitude and best thoughts, to you. — Dominik


I’ve been watching Buddha at the gas pump for some time, and I just felt like writing you that I really appreciate your work, your passion, honesty, and dedication to creating this wonderful platform where people can hear and learn about what spiritual awakening and maturation really are. It seems to me that these kinds of conversation and constructive friction between many voices, spirituality, or our understanding of it, can truly mature and be of greater benefit to many honest seekers. I love your questions, the subtle emphasizing of core questions that arise on this quest of self-discovery and evolution. Continue your awesome work. With much love, —Tom


I always learn so much from your interviews, but the last one with Rupert Spira seemed to really be transcendent for me. Your probing questions and his insightful answers, along with both of your examples and metaphors really brought the “teachings” to light.
I was listening in the middle of the night at one point, and in the morning, I felt a pure state of joy upon awakening that seemed to come directly from realizing that I, indeed, am aware, rather than a mere physical body. Not a state of awareness, but simply aware as the life force is flowing–something that can’t even be described with words.
And Rupert’s message is so hopeful in the highest sense. He is telling us that God is indeed calling, not in the way we thought, but there is a call, and we can hear it each time we get ourselves out of the way. And even when we don’t get ourselves out of the way, our suffering will prompt us to wake up and listen. It too is a call. I am so grateful for your work. —Jeanne


I want to express my deep, deep gratitude for the existence of this site. I have recently encountered the huge shifts in perception and profound experiences along (what is becoming apparent as!) the endless journey and unfoldment of ‘awakening’, with no former understanding or teaching of Advaita or non-duality. The teachers, views, and information within your library of interviews have helped, guided, and supported me at a time when no one in my world understood or had had a similar experience. I have had some direct contact with Scott Kiloby regarding help with my addictive behaviour after watching his interviews and am also reading the books of many other interviewees. The hub that is ‘Buddha at the Gas Pump’ is a huge resource and gift to the world. Your time, effort, and love have given me access to endless support and comfort at this time of huge change. Thank you. — Nat


Firstly I want to say that I am finding your interviews very interesting and useful. I came to your website trying to make sense of a large number of “experiences” that I have had all through my life. I came (despite many years of zen meditation) in complete ignorance as it turned out. Your interviews have allowed me to piece together my life, which has had me so many times shaking my head and saying to myself “What the hell was that?” —Brett


Rick, I have been wanting to write you for a few months now and I just wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for me with your interviews. I am just a beginner, but my life has changed for the better so much because of listening to them. I’ve been struggling for 48 years now, and finally, feel good about the path I’ve been on. I also like how you speak up for me, for us, that are not awakened. I have zero paranormal experiences and it makes me feel like there’s not much hope for me to advance to those levels. But I do believe what they are saying is true, and so living with that belief can only be a good thing. Anyway, thanks again and keep up the good work!


I thank you for your wonderful interviews. I can’t imagine anyone more suited to conducting them than Rick. When I watch Rick, with all his earnestness and hunger for the truth, I feel as though I am watching myself. I was watching the interview with Francis Lucille yesterday and was struck when Lucille said something to the effect that we should be grateful for every wish that comes true as it is “god” revealing himself to us. I don’t quite believe in the god concept, but your work provides exquisite glimpses into the unfathomable, or should I say it is the unfathomable allowing itself to be revealed through these interviews. —Muni


I don’t remember how I found batgap, but I’m glad I did. I’ve listened to some of your interviews several times, and there are so many more that I haven’t listened to yet. Nevertheless, I get the sense that your work is saving huge numbers of people uncounted years of time on the spiritual path by exposing us to those who have gone before us, or maybe they’ve gone down a path we can now choose to not go down. It gives us a sense of the various paths we can venture on from here and might help some people get off of a path they may have believed they were somehow bound to. I suspect many course corrections have taken place as a result of your work.
Your interviews shine light on what so many of us are going for. It validates our hunches, our aha moments, our intuitions about the way forward, opens new doors we might not have known were there, and for myself, your work has also helped me in the midst of feeling lost in the weeds, derailed, and depressed by reminding me I’m not alone, that it happens, and it’s okay. I suspect others have been blessed by your work in similar ways. May you live long and prosper BatGap, and continue to share your journey with the rest of us. With gratitude and a grin, —S


I love the interviews you do….your style, your manner, your down to earth-ness, and the wonderful variety of folks you bring to the table. Nothing stale, or boring or same ole’ same ole’. You get better and better and, as far as I’m concerned you’re one of the best interviewers around. Feel it important to tell you how much I appreciate your dedication to this and also all the insights you bring from your own life experiences.


This whole movement is really becoming rich and enlivened by this continuing discourse that BatGap has gotten off the ground. Well done! This is a great program and a great service to so many! Thank you for creating these wonderful dialogues. I just stumbled across this site through a recommendation. I haven’t stopped watching it since. I want to thank you so much. I’m especially grateful for the female role models, especially the mothers. It is quite the most vital thing I have come across in YEARS. THANK YOU!!!!!! —Sarah


Thanks, BatGap! I have benefited from your interviews much more than all the books I have ever read on the subject. Each interview is unique and opens my (mind’s) eye to new things. You are born to do this. This is a Divine gift to/in you. I thank God for you.
I gotta say again, your interviewing skills are about as fine-tuned as I’ve ever heard anywhere, including all the journalists I’ve ever watched or heard, even NPR which are at the top – and I know it’s just you having a conversation, which beats everything!
In my old job with the Navajo president, I would rate the interviewing skills of the reporters who interviewed him. So many were just winging it, didn’t really know about issues, and were just fishing for some good sound bite, and these were pro journalists for the most part. With your shows running at least 90 minutes and often longer, and with so many eclectic guests, your ability to keep up with every one of them, being able to digress but then come back to an earlier point, combined with your intellectual acuity and ability to express both questions and commentary with such clarity is truly impressive, Rick, especially considering that the show is unedited and this is just you, true blue. Your skill has really developed from the earliest shows, as good as those were, too. You gotta be told this if you ain’t being told! I always feel better after listening, and that’s saying something from my mud consciousness.


Since the internet, there seems to be a giant leap in awareness growth and spiritual awakening. We are experiencing so many newly awakened beings on our planet – people who cherish nature, well-being, and togetherness instead of success, materialism, and violence.
And it is so important to channel that information to all others, who are sensitive to that realm of awareness. I watch your wonderful interviews every week with all those beautiful people that are sculpturing a new humanity, that we all can be proud of.
You are contributing in such an awesome way to the spiritual growth of so many others in search of understanding and support. Your profound knowledge of religions, spiritual practices, and teachings combined with mediating expertise in creating connections and insights show a deep level of understanding and awareness! I am so grateful to be able to watch those interviews that help deepen my understanding of beingness. You are offering an outstanding service to help transform humanity! —Robert


My name is Terry and I live in Austin, TX. I have been a spiritually-oriented guy since adolescence, and a daily meditation practitioner (and other sadhana) since I was twenty. I’m now 62. Have also had a great interest that whole time in the lives of saints, sages, yogis, and the enlightened from any, all, or no traditions, and have read whatever I could find on the subject.
Perhaps two months ago I became aware of batgap, and began listening to various interviews; by now 20 – 30. Unexpectedly, but understandably at least after the fact, I noticed that doing so was having a significant effect on my further spiritual unfoldment. There was often a transmission effect, occasionally felt quickly, or more often, over the next days and adding to the general current of opening.
This has led to a surprising new level of “letting go” of particular ideas and expectations about the path and awakening that is unexpectedly powerful and is also adding to the effects of that ever-flowing current of unfoldment. As I mentioned above, I have long been interested in expressions from any or from no traditional background, but nonetheless, these interviews have (and are continuing to have) a remarkable impact, for which I am most grateful. So thank you very much, my friend. —Terry


I just wanted to tell you that I think you do an absolutely wonderful job. I very much appreciate the way you ask probing, questions, not fearing to contradict your guest, and then you let them run with it and stay out of their way. It really shows in how well you draw them out and get a big picture with lots of detail and nuance from each one. —Geoffrey


Great! Here’s an opportunity to thank you. I just want to thank you so dearly for what you do. I cannot imagine how many lives you have transformed, expanded, grew, enlivened, and whatever other groovy words I can think of. Your interviews, for me, are the ‘go to’ place whenever I hear of someone I want to check out or if someone tells me about so and so, I see if they’re on BATGAP. In sincere gratitude, —Greg


I just wanted to send a quick note to emphasize the source of my donation and to focus the specificity of my love. I’m a 35-year-old working primarily as a piano teacher and just beginning to establish independent financial feet. I’ve been searching for a cause to donate toward for a while and was ultimately repelled with the coercive and rather ignoble images of suffering that many charities feel the necessity to emphasize.
Buddha at the Gas Pump, on the other hand, has been a beacon of long-distance fellowship and a cathartic counterbalance to the spiritual insensitivity which so characterizes the American culture within which I’m immersed. It serves as a sort of touchstone resonator for my own awakening experience and re-energizes my efforts to live a spiritually realized life amongst an apparent surrounding dearth. So with only one donation to make this year, you are the recipient. I know it’s not much, but there’s a lot of support built into that small stack of bills. Thank you. I love you. —Jesse


I just discovered Buddha At The Gas Pump recently and am amazed at the depth of the interviews. I’ve been experiencing different shows since the day after Xmas and it’s been like a mini-retreat for the last 4 days. I’m elated!!! (or half-awake or whatever.) 50 years ago one would have had to go to the Himalayas to live with a Guru to access these teachings. Now it’s available with a click of a mouse. Keep up the good (and extremely important) work!!!


I cannot thank you enough for this history-making archive of interviews. It has been and will continue to be a shockwave within the circles to whom these interviews attract. You have brought a new humanness to this journey. And one so incredibly insightful. I have been on this path for some 40 years, my 3rd eye opened when I was in my early 20s and it has not closed. Your site has put before me a plethora of teachers that I can see, feel and hear – And locate! I have already attended lectures or workshops by some of them – just being near them has a powerful effect. The fine details you bring out in your interviews are a treasure of untold value – thank you!


I have absorbed, learned & experienced SO much because of your service to others. Your knowledge, insight & willingness to share & that of your guests as well, is profoundly appreciated. A sincere heartfelt THANK YOU!


I’ve written before but I felt moved to write again and thank you for this site, it’s making a huge difference in my life. I love your fearlessness and capacity to really clarify teachings. I’m in the UK and am mentioning the site to friends. Best wishes, —Kath


2 or 3 years ago I went through a very bad time. I was thoroughly lost at the bottom of a deep dark well that included 2 extended trips to the mental hospital. I was spending most of my time lying around in a lonely pit of quiet despair, (the anti-psychotic medication wasn’t helping).. but many days I watched Buddha at the Gas Pump and it was a comfort, someway, somehow.. just helped keep a glimmer of a flickering flame going in the dark. I found you a very warm and kind-hearted person and wish to thank you for that. Now I am on top of the world and never felt better


Namaste BatGap, I am deeply grateful to you for providing this service. When the urge for truth arose in me I found myself pouring over your interviews..more pointedly, they poured over me. From the vantage of the seeker, awakening is cast as fantastic..necessarily, I’m sure. Now, the I is the actor in the fore while sleepless awareness IS. Words, how they crumble. Yet there is still some urge to say Thank you for providing such sober/clear pointing. When the dust of revelation settles, it is blessed to have a resting space. I have found your service to be that space! In This love, —Ginger


I’m a new fan writing to say thank you, thank you, thank you. I stumbled across your site a few months ago and have not been able to stop listening. It’s a completely new world for me, but I’ve thought about many of the themes and questions discussed since I was a child. It’s been such a moving experience. There have been many tears, many out-loud yeses while listening in the car and elsewhere. I am so incredibly grateful. Again, thank you. I’ll be listening. —Mary


I’m just sending you a big ‘Thank you’ from Australia in recognition of the work you do! I listen to your shows when l walk in the morning and find them very entertaining and enlightening. Little by little your guests’ voice snippets allow me to open up to different concepts and ideas, which l have previously not been aware of. The ‘ah ha’ moments! Too often we overlook the ones that are behind the scenes bringing it forth! So, once again thank you for all your effort and time. It’s greatly appreciated! —Katrina (Maleny, Queensland)


I am a retired Professor of Neuroscience. I retired from a medical school in West Indies with the sole intention of pursuing Advaita Vedanta study. The last two years of retirement have been very useful in this regard. I am extremely happy to have fallen into the treasure house of Advaita discussion hosted by you accidentally the day before yesterday. Since then I am continuously listening to your excellent interviews. I am fascinated by them. It is a great work. This email is just to express my sincere thanks for your excellent service to this group.


I live very far away from any teacher in South Africa and your program has meant that I can sit at the feet of a master every week. You are doing the world the most wonderful service. Thank you thank you thank you! I also started in TM 20 years ago but now after a few huge awakenings, I would just say there is no one home and I’m abiding in the Self. No one in my life really knows what that is, so it is so valuable and enjoyable for me to listen to others as they describe my own experience. I take long walks with my dog and listen with a huge smile on my face 🙂
Love your approach, questions, probing, and general ease, even your prodding and after listening to almost all of them on the podcast I feel I must say THANK YOU a thousand times! Much love, —Lizelle


I Feel that Your creation, ” Buddha at the Gas Pump “, is the best interview Site on the Internet. I LOVE IT!! It has helped to clarify and integrate a lot of things that I experienced in 1996 which was beyond my understanding.
I love Rick’s Unique relaxed style and humor and am blown away by the depth, interest, and understanding that comes across in the questions he asks and also the clarification he gives. Which helps all of us viewers get it. I have enjoyed all the interviews that I have seen to date and benefited in some way from them all. Thank you Both So Much. All the best of everything Forever —Bruce


I gotta tell you Batgap has been my guru for the past two weeks. Holy cow. I’m just picking them randomly and putting them on my iPod and mostly it’s like the perfect thing for me to hear … (but I’m listening to like two a day) … just listened to Rumbolo. He made that point that everything he picks up is the perfect thing to read … I was like, yup. Like this here podcast right here! Anyway, just thought you’d be interested to hear what an impact your show seems to be having for this guy lately … Later, hombre.


So many times I have been so relieved to check in to a BATGAP interview and confirm that I’m not a freak at all :-), there are so many of us out here that need reassurance that what we are personally experiencing is actually just a normal run-of-the-mill spiritual unfolding or unveiling of delusion, I suppose. Thank you for giving us confidence and making us laugh, too. —Leslie


Having left a confining spiritual group I and my spouse discovered your eclectic schtick and have profited from several of the interviews. They have taken me from the narrow confines of a suffocating belief system that I thought was “universal” and “wide open” to consider many aspects/angles of the big elephant of being and our human approaches to relating to it. Carry on! —Mark


A few months ago I synchronistically found BatGap. I was like a child in a toy store overwhelmed with the choices and filled with anticipation of exploring everything. Not sure how many archived interviews I listened to — sometimes when using my iPhone (with the small print) I would just let my fingers pick the interview for the day.
So after having lived with you many hours, it is time to tell you how much I appreciate you and the show! You certainly are “on purpose” and I love your interviewing style — no I don’t think you talk too much! Actually, I consider you a close friend although I have never met you.
I am new to non-duality, having my foundation in Christian mysticism. As my “dark nights of the soul” became more intense I began exploring – looking for another context to what was happening. I found Adyashanti and gained much insight from his sage explanations of the awakening process. Your emphasis on the journey of the folks you interview has expanded my insights with one “aha” moment after another. I finally feel I have some context for this 30-year journey of mine.
Thanks for being you and sharing your passion and talents with the world.
With gratitude and love, —Bejoy