146. David Loy, with Igor Kufayev - Buddha at the Gas Pump

David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals such as Tikkun and Buddhist magazines including Tricycle, Turning Wheel, Shambhala Sun, and Buddhadharma, as well as in a variety of scholarly journals. Many of his writings, as well as audio and video talks and interviews, are available on the web. He is on the editorial or advisory boards of the journals Cultural Dynamics, Worldviews, Contemporary Buddhism, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, and World Fellowship of Buddhists Review. He is also on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation.

David lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity: what each can learn from the other. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. A popular recent lecture is “Healing Ecology: A Buddhist Perspective on the Eco-crisis”, which argues that there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our personal predicament and our collective predicament today in relation to the rest of the biosphere. Presently he is offering workshops on “Transforming Self, Transforming Society” and on his most recent book, The World Is Made of Stories. He also leads meditation retreats. (To find out about forthcoming lectures, workshops and retreats, please see the Schedule page.)

Igor Kufayev was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In his childhood, he had many episodes associated with awakening. At the age of thirty-six, Igor underwent a radical transformation of consciousness which subsequently blossomed into spontaneous unfoldment of Grace.

Other BatGap events with Igor:

Interview recorded 10/28/2012.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Outdoor Interview with David Loy and Igor Kufayev
00:02:36 – The Crisis of Climate Change and Extinction Events
00:04:20 – Non-duality and the Social World
00:05:57 – The Illusion of Separate Self
00:07:16 – The Compartmentalization of Awakening
00:08:34 – The Combination of Western and Eastern Ideals
00:10:14 – The Direction of Contemporary Non-Dual and Spiritual Circles
00:11:46 – The Power of Spiritual Action
00:13:11 – Waking up to Non-duality and Transforming Motivations
00:14:57 – Working on Both Inner Awakening and Social Activism
00:16:55 – Self-preoccupation on the spiritual path
00:18:50 – Molding Our Perception of the World
00:20:43 – The Reductionistic View of Objectification
00:22:51 – The Power of Perception
00:25:09 – The Impact of our Thoughts and Emotions on the Universe
00:26:58 – The Birth of a New Story
00:29:08 – The Delusion of Withdrawing from the World
00:31:02 – The Crisis of the Old Story
00:32:53 – Rationalizing Greed, Aggression, and Delusion
00:34:31 – Identifying with the Whole Cosmos
00:35:42 – The Capacity of the Human Being and its Connection to the Cosmos
00:36:43 – Everything is Consciousness
00:38:05 – Witnessing the Silent Tree
00:39:42 – God’s Intelligent Orchestration
00:41:31 – The Principle of the Fulcrum
00:43:08 – The World that Exists and the World that Doesn’t
00:44:28 – Creating a New World Through Conscious Perception
00:45:43 – The Delusion of Separate Self in American Life
00:47:20 – The Power of Controlling the Media and Collective Consciousness
00:48:46 – The Race Between Education and Catastrophe
00:49:59 – Wrapping Up the Interview

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