672. Rick Archer Interviewed by Angelo Dilullo

I was interviewed by Angelo Dilullo, who has been on BatGap.

Angelo’s:

Points discussed:

  • My spiritual history. The TM program
  • The importance of integration and stabilization on the spiritual path.
  • The value of spiritual development in unfolding our full potential.
  • About Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi)
  • The masculine and feminine aspects of spirituality.
  • Compassion, kindness, generosity, and such qualities as expressions of holistic spiritual development.
  • The Association for Spiritual Integrity and the importance of ethics on the spiritual path.
  • What is the best spiritual practice?
  • Are there any detrimental practices? (Psychedelics? Neo-Advaita?) Harmful teachers?
  • The qualifications for being a spiritual teacher and the importance of discerning between qualified and unqualified teachers. The importance of humility and genuineness in teachers.
  • We all have different roles to play. Awakened people aren’t necessarily teachers and don’t necessarily use spiritual terminology.
  • The relevance of channeling, mediumship, etc. to spirituality. Different dimensions of reality.
  • “God” as an unbounded self-interacting ocean of consciousness. We are characters with some improvisational latitude in the Divine Play. The playwright has our best interest in mind.
  • Staying aligned with the Divine “stream”. Trusting your instincts.
  • Global problems are symptomatic of the quality of collective consciousness which is trending toward awakening, perhaps as a response to the dire nature of these problems.
  • The cumulative nature of spiritual practice.
  • Recommended books.
  • The importance of where you put your attention.
  • The complimentary relationship between knowledge and experience.
  • The importance of taking the first step on the spiritual path, and one thing will lead to the next.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Summary and transcript of this interview

Interview recorded December 20, 2022

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.