Fr. Seán ÓLaoire was born in Ireland and earned a B.Sc. degree (major in Mathematics) from the National University of Ireland. Ordained a catholic priest in 1972, he spent 14 years working in Kenya. He is multi-lingual and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology; he is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. He is co-founder and the Spiritual Director of a non-denominational community called “Companions on the Journey” based in Palo Alto. He is the author of five books and co-author of a sixth:
- “Ukweli ni Nini?” (What is truth?) – written and published in Swahili in 1983
- “Spirits in Spacesuits – A Manual for Everyday Mystics”- published in 2003
- “Souls on Safari” – published in 2006 – Translated into German in 2007
- “A Sensible God” – published in 2008
- “Why? What Your Life Is Telling You about Who You Are and Why You’re Here” – published in 2013 (with Matthew McKay, PhD and Ralph Metzner, PhD) – Translated into Korean in 2015
- “Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image” – published in 2021
Summary and transcript of this interview
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group
Interview recorded February 25, 2023
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump. Mythology and ‘Thin Places’
- 00:06:40 – The Wisdom of Proverbs in Different Cultures
- 00.09:00 Trying to domesticate God
- 00:12:16 – The Cycle of Knowledge and Ignorance
- 00:17:39 – The Disadvantages of Incarnation
- 00.23:20 Transformation of Consciousness
- 00:23:46 – Ineffective Structures and People’s Transformation
- 00:29:20 – The Rural Electrification Scheme in Ireland
- 00:34:51 – The Invitation to Self-Transcendence
- 00:40:08 – The Complexity of Existence
- 00.41:15 Karma and Pre-conception Contracts
- 00:45:44 – Pulling Life Over the Cliff
- 00:51:22 – The Purpose of Incarnations
- 00:56:54 – Understanding Karma and Destiny
- 01:00:45 The Science of Spirituality
- 01:02:47 – Reincarnation in Christianity
- 01:08:15 – The Three Axes of Spiritual Awareness and Metrics in Spirituality
- 01:14:12 – The Constraints of the Scientific Method
- 01:20:35 – The merge of science and spirituality
- 01:26:15 The Global Awakening
- 01:26:24 – Awakening to Powerful Spiritual Experiences
- 01:31:56 – Confrontation and the 80:20 Rule in Spiritual Teachings
- 01:37:49 – The Types of Civilizations and Our Current State
- 01:43:41 – The Role of Healing Modalities in Personal Growth
- 01:43:54 Healing Trauma
- 01:49:43 – The End of Reincarnation?
- 01:55:22 – Separating from Narcissists
- 01:56:34 The Trifurcation of Homo Sapiens Sapiens
- 02:00:41 – Forming Community and Overcoming Superiority
- 02:06:17 – The Unity of All Life
- 02:12:18 – Communicating with Animals
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