After 20+ years of Buddhist and non-dual practice, in 2003 Tina Rasmussen, Ph.D., undertook a year-long solo retreat during which awakening occurred. She later ordained as a Buddhist nun with a world-renowned meditation master, became the first Western woman to attain that path, and was authorized to teach. Tina has been studied by Yale Neuroscience Lab for research on the effects of meditation on consciousness and the brain. Tina is co-author of Practicing the Jhanas: Traditional Concentration Meditation as Presented by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw
Website: luminousmindsangha.com
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Summary and transcript of this interview
Interview recorded February 23, 2019.
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introduction and Previous Interviews Menu
- 00:06:01 – Exploring Meditation and Inquiry Techniques
- 00:10:50 – The Brain Changes with Meditation
- 00:15:41 – Overcoming Hindrances in Meditation
- 00:20:33 – Understanding Awakening
- 00:24:17 – Uniqueness and Awakened Beings
- 00:28:08 – Fine-tuning the Contraption
- 00:31:56 – Deep Retreat Experience
- 00:35:55 – Handling Intense Energy during Meditation
- 00:39:37 – The Awakening Journey
- 00:43:32 – Working with Awakening in Daily Life
- 00:47:39 – Different Paths for Different People
- 00:50:55 – The Hare and the Tortoise
- 00:54:33 – The Neo-Advaita Shift
- 00:57:59 – Moving from Distortions to Integration
- 01:01:55 – Awakening in the World
- 01:05:28 – A Vision of a More Enlightened World
- 01:09:30 – The Lack of Understanding and Emphasis on Awakening
- 01:13:38 – The Importance of Diligence and Discernment
- 01:17:18 – Exercising Discernment and Ethical Living
- 01:21:14 – Living in Alignment with Realization
- 01:24:32 – Manifestation and Meditation across Different Walks of Life
- 01:28:24 – The Balance of Effort and Letting Go
- 01:32:47 – The Continuity of Awareness and Identification with Instinctual Drives
- 01:36:54 – Understanding the Harm and Delusion in Spiritual Practice
- 01:40:26 – The Challenges After Awakening
- 01:45:05 – Awakening and Dealing with Personality Material
- 01:51:11 – Insight and Rigpa: Stages of Liberation
- 01:59:03 – The Ground of Awakening
- 02:06:22 – The Full Potentiality of the Human Experience
- 02:12:23 – End of Presentation
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