Terrence is an Australian born teacher and guide of Non-Duality. Like us all, Terrence had his own personal back ‘story’ (a ‘me’) which included sexual abuse as a child, living in a dysfunctional and broken family followed by drug addiction, divorce, depression, and anxiety with suicidal thoughts. He has also been a student and chief instructor in the art of Kung Fu for most of his life, a professional singer-songwriter-musician, and has also run several successful companies as a director.
During his journey, he consulted various psychologists and therapists and pursued a variety of spiritual paths and self-help groups.
Nothing seemed to relieve the deep-seated experience of separation and isolation. Then one day in 1986 he chanced to meet Sailor Bob Adamson who had settled in Melbourne following his 12 months with Nisargadatta Maharaj in Bombay.
Here, Terrence gained an intellectual understanding of Non-Duality. However, it was many years later that his sense of self (me) finally collapsed.
What resulted was no more searching, no wanting, and no desires, and a state of being carefree. It was in this state of collapse that his true nature was revealed; awakening from the dreamed fictitious personal character.
Since then Terrence has been pointing the way. Profoundly direct and yet delivered with compassion, warmth, and fun!
Website: terrencestephens.com.au
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Interview recorded September 5, 2020.
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
- 00:04:04 – Meeting Sailor Bob Adamson in Melbourne
- 00:08:19 – The Illusion of Personal Consciousness
- 00:12:32 – Consciousness and Awareness
- 00:17:05 – The Primary Love of Being
- 00:21:12 – The Nature of Thought and Duality
- 00:25:19 – The Paradoxical Perception of Self
- 00:30:00 – The Illusion of a Separate Self
- 00:34:39 – The Mind’s Natural Tendency for Seeking
- 00:39:01 – The Bursting Forth of Creativity
- 00:43:03 – The Appearance of Mind
- 00:47:23 – The Three Levels of Enlightenment
- 00:51:25 – Speaking to the Dream Character
- 00:55:20 – The Dream Character and Awakening
- 00:59:34 – Unconditional Love and Conditional Love
- 01:03:32 – Direct Experience of Consciousness
- 01:08:16 – The Dark Night of the Soul
- 01:12:51 – Absolute Surrender
- 01:17:12 – A Stirring of the Mind
- 01:21:13 – A Shift in Perspective
- 01:25:49 – Reconciliation with the Past
- 01:29:47 – Becoming Carefree
- 01:33:28 – Being Present in Awakening
- 01:37:31 – Being Still and Observing
- 01:41:08 – The Split of “I Am”
- 01:45:21 – The Profound Effect of Proximity
- 01:49:16 – The Nature of Consciousness and Awareness
- 01:53:07 – The Intelligence of Light
- 01:56:45 – The belief in past lives and memories
- 02:00:47 – The mysteries of the universe and personal perspectives
- 02:04:43 – Farewell and outro
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