140. Stuart Perrin - Buddha at the Gas Pump

Stuart Perrin, an American spiritual master of Kundalini Yoga who has been quietly teaching small groups of students around the world for the last thirty-nine years, and is a direct disciple of Swami Rudrananda, more commonly known as Rudi. Stuart studied six years with Rudi. In 1973, Rudi died in an airplane crash and Stuart was one of three survivors.

Stuart Perrin was born August 10, 1942 in the Bronx, New York. The first child and only son of Sylvia and Michael Perrin, he began his spiritual quest at the age of sixteen. Sitting at his father’s deathbed, he was shocked and awakened to a simple reality. “Why,” he asked himself, “is it the first time I’ve seen my father in such a profound state of inner peace? Why did he have to wait till the last moments of his life to be filled with so much love and serenity?”

Stuart realized he’d have to find someone to train him in deep meditation practice. Stuart spent nine years looking for a master only to find him in his hometown, where he met Rudi, who trained Stuart in the fine art of deep inner work and Kundalini Yoga. Stuart’s training with Rudi was filled with profound and ancient teachings, “streetwise yoga”, humor, and more than a few swordstrokes to the ego. After four years of intense training Stuart became a teacher in Rudi’s lineage.

Stuart taught meditation at Rudi’s New York City center for two years. Then Rudi asked him to teach at a newly-formed meditation center in Denton, Texas. While in Texas, Stuart started meditation programs for hungry and homeless people, for people in prison and ex-offenders, addicts and ex-addicts, the elderly, high school students, and other people in all walks of life. He also initiated devoted disciples into the mysteries of inner work, and he, in turn, created new teachers of meditation.

In February 1973, Stuart and Rudi were in a plane crash in the Catskill Mountains, a plane crash that took Rudi’s life. “I never feel he is gone,” Stuart wrote of his guru. “When I wish to be with him, to learn from him, I just open my heart. He is there, sitting, smiling, sharing his teachings. The moment he died, I felt his soul pass into me.”

A well-known and respected author, Stuart has published The Mystical Ferryboat (1983), Leah (1988), A Deeper Surrender: Notes on a Spiritual Life (2001), Moving On: Finding Happiness in a Changed World (2004), an essay for Kundalini Rising (2009), and most recently Rudi: The Final Moments (2011)

Interview recorded 9/29/2012

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction and Background of Stuart Perrin
00:03:27 – A Transformative Experience
00:06:19 – The Rigorous Training for Spiritual Enlightenment
00:09:44 – The Need for a Spiritual Life
00:11:46 – The Will to Have a Spiritual Life
00:14:04 – Using the Mind and Breath in Meditation
00:16:26 – Wisdom and Compassion in Tibetan Buddhist Teachings
00:18:21 – The Fire of Compassion
00:20:18 – Spiritual Teachings and Ego
00:22:03 – Awakening and Consciousness
00:23:55 – Building Consciousness in Ourselves
00:25:38 – Learning to Get Out of the Way
00:27:31 – Buddha and Shankara’s Enlightenment
00:29:31 – The Twinkle in Their Eyes
00:31:23 – Transformation at Ramana Maharshi’s Ashram
00:33:07 – A Life of Spiritual Experiences
00:34:33 – Meeting Rinpoche in Texas
00:36:01 – The Discipline of Tummo and the Teachings of Kala Rinpoche
00:38:00 – The Universe Sending Teachers
00:40:08 – The Need for Avatars and Teachers
00:42:21 – Individual Consideration and Practical Teaching
00:44:34 – Absorbing the teachings
00:47:49 – Rudi’s Journey to Nityananda and Muktananda
00:50:36 – Profound Influence and Root Guru
00:53:05 – The Significance of Sexuality in Spirituality
00:55:50 – Mastering Energy and Meditation
00:57:57 – Cannibalism and Consuming Energy
01:00:23 – The Transformation of Suffering
01:02:23 – Finding Joy and Flow in Life
01:04:38 – A Conversation with Stuart Perrin
01:06:11 – Ways to Stay Connected to the Interview Series on batgap.com

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