(Photo taken in front of the American Gothic House in Iowa and is jokingly meant to emulate the famous painting American Gothic. We don’t usually dress like that! Or hold pitchforks!)
Richard Miller hosts a interview show called Never Not Here. Somehow we connected and he asked to interview me, not necessarily as an awakened being or teacher, but as a fellow spiritual aspirant. In the summer of 1967, when I was 17 years old, I was driving through Westport, CT with three friends in the car. One of them in the back seat was reading from a commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). A quiet but memorable realization dawned in me that there was such a thing as “enlightenment” and that realizing it was life’s ultimate goal. I rather recklessly explored that possibility through drugs for a year, then saw the futility of that approach and learned Transcendental Meditation. I taught TM for 25 years and still meditate regularly but am not affiliated with any particular spiritual organization. I respect any of them which seem to offer genuine benefits to their participants.
Summary and transcript of this interview
Interview recorded 6/5/2010.
Other talks by or interviews of Rick on BatGap:
- SAND 2019 – Knowledge/Reality is Different in Different States of Consciousness
- 2018 SAND Conference Q&A and Interview by Shakti Caterina Maggi
- SAND 2017: “The Ethics of Enlightenment”
- Talk at Berkeley Open Circle Center
- SAND 2015: Science and Spirituality: Potential Allies in Discovering Truth
- Interviewed by Fax Gilbert
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Welcome to Never Not Here
- 00:02:56 – The Growth of Transcendental Meditation in Fairfield
- 00:05:45 – A Diverse Spiritual Community in Fairfield
- 00:08:12 – The Blurring of Cultural Boundaries
- 00:11:23 – The Awakening Moment
- 00:13:59 – Sincerity and Genuine Practice
- 00:16:48 – The Profound Effects of Long Meditation
- 00:19:36 – The Process of Re-Entry from Meditation Retreats
- 00:22:28 – Unwinding Deep Stresses
- 00:24:52 – The Benefits of Dissolving Negative Experiences
- 00:26:35 – The Continuous Practice of Meditation
- 00:28:26 – The Reflection of Consciousness in the Nervous System
- 00:30:25 – Becoming a Better Reflector
- 00:32:21 – The African man’s interpretation of the surroundings
- 00:34:31 – The Correlation of Concept and Experience
- 00:38:11 – The Presence of Babbling Saints and Articulating Experience
- 00:41:28 – Different Orientations and Experiences
- 00:45:27 – The Origins of Spiritual Traditions and Their Relevance Today
- 00:48:16 – The Qualities of Enlightenment
- 00:50:06 – Layers of Ignorance and the Essence of Consciousness
- 00:51:56 – Preferences and Enlightenment
- 00:54:03 – The Limitations of Conceptual Thinking
- 00:56:25 – Duality in Concepts: The Positive and Negative
- 00:58:40 – The Tragedy of Locked Perspectives
- 01:01:23 – Living in a State of Enlightenment
- 01:04:27 – Leaving the Incubator and Awakening
- 01:07:11 – The Illusion of Movement in Enlightenment
- 01:10:21 – Embracing Further Unfoldments in Education
- 01:13:33 – The Paradox of Seeking Answers
- 01:16:05 – Remembering the Nature of Thoughts
- 01:18:28 – Farewell for this Episode
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