690. Bill Witherspoon

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Rick Archer

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 and Summary of this interview

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Interview recorded September 3, 2023.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction and Background of Bill Witherspoon
00:04:49 – A Life of Adventure and Silence
00:09:25 – Being Swept Away by the Waterfall
00:12:52 – A Life-Threatening Water Rescue
00:16:34 – The Near-Drowning Experience That Changed My Life
00:21:02 – The Transcendent Experience of Meditation
00:24:35 – Climbing the Radio Tower and Facing Danger at Sea
00:29:01 – Seeing More Deeply
00:32:33 – Healing the Eye of the Heart
00:36:42 – The Burning Shell
00:40:15 – Learning and Growth through Perseverance
00:43:50 – The Sri Yantra: An Instance of a Law of Nature
00:48:10 – The Bindu
00:52:38 – The New Kind of Seeing
00:57:00 – The Essence of Memory and Love
01:01:06 – A Slideshow of Photographic Events in the Wilderness
01:05:39 – Living in Harmony with Rattlesnakes
01:08:46 – Witnessing Violence and the Impact
01:12:55 – Encounters with Rattlesnakes
01:16:22 – The Strange Book and its Contents
01:20:36 – The Presence of Divine Intelligence
01:24:30 – Accessing Deeper Levels of Consciousness through Meditation
01:32:35 – The Horrors of Being on Death Row
01:35:35 – The Influence of Human Presence
01:40:37 – “Goodbye,” when we went looking for wild horses
01:44:58 – Reflections on an Interesting Life
01:49:33 – Going Deeper in Consciousness
01:53:02 – Building a Beautiful Corporation
01:56:56 – The Skill of Self-Reflection
02:00:18 – Gratitude and Farewell

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689. Lorna Byrne

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Rick Archer

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 and summary of this interview

Interview recorded August 27, 2023.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction to Lorna Byrne and her Spiritual Teachings
00:03:56 – Interaction with Angels and Subtle Beings
00:08:16 – The Unconditional Love of Guardian Angels
00:11:06 – The Spark of Light: Angels, Humans, and Souls
00:14:20 – The Love between Humans and Animals
00:17:45 – God’s Existence and Understanding Humanity
00:21:52 – Connecting with Nature and Ourselves
00:24:35 – Guardian Angels and Job Changes
00:27:16 – Overcoming Dyslexia and Writing a Bestseller
00:30:48 – The Importance of Hope and Faith
00:34:27 – Signs from Your Guardian Angel
00:36:54 – The Power of Kindness and Giving
00:40:17 – Listening to Your Guardian Angel
00:43:07 – The Role of Angels and Prayers
00:46:38 – Divine Guidance in Job Search
00:50:32 – An Encounter with Archangel Michael
00:53:54 – The Unemployed Angels
00:57:00 – Unemployed Angels and Acts of Compassion
00:59:23 – The Unemployed Angel
01:02:54 – The Concept of Conception
01:06:12 – Angels in Everyday Life
01:10:04 – Visits from Deceased Saints
01:13:45 – The Importance of Being Yourself and Believing in Guardian Angels
01:15:40 – Communicating with Children’s Guardian Angels
01:18:20 – Living life to the fullest as a dyslexic person
01:21:40 – A Glimpse of Heaven
01:24:07 – Walking on Water and Miraculous Abilities
01:27:22 – The Power of Hope and Love
01:30:05 – Executives Connecting with Nature
01:32:16 – Building on to the Farmhouse
01:36:41 – Farewell and Well Wishes

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688. Bob Harwood

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Rick Archer

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 and summary of this interview

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Interview recorded August 19, 2023

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
00:04:43 – Questioning Beliefs and Exploring Existential Questions
00:08:25 – The Journey of Seeking Answers in Zen Philosophy
00:12:17 – The Shift in Perception
00:16:07 – A Reality Shift
00:19:54 – The End of the Construction Company
00:24:03 – Realization of the Incomprehensible
00:28:16 – Simple answers to Zen riddles
00:32:17 – Finding Freedom in the Middle of Responsibilities
00:35:50 – Questioning Selfhood and Freedom in the Mountains
00:38:59 – The Dissolution of the Sense of Self
00:42:30 – The True Self and Identity
00:46:00 – The Silence of the Mind
00:49:19 – Non-Abidance in the Mind
00:52:39 – The Kingdom of God Inside and Outside of You
00:55:59 – Shifting Attention Beyond the Mind
01:02:47 – The Benefits of Practice and Reconfiguration
01:06:16 – The Natural Inclination to Help Others
01:09:50 – The Depth of Awakening
01:13:12 – Falling Asleep During Meditation
01:16:26 – Realizing the Irrelevance of a Silent Mind
01:20:00 – Seeking Benefit in the Present Moment
01:23:32 – Intuition and the Home of All Knowledge
01:27:00 – Knowing and achieving specific things in life
01:30:50 – The Blissful State on the Deathbed
01:34:07 – Embracing the Unknowable Future
01:37:31 – The Universal Sound
01:40:44 – The Challenges of Maintaining Friendships
01:48:00 – Wrapping Up with Bob

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