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Nonduality Talk Interview with Enza Vita

May 16, 2013

Interview with Enza Vita

enza1

Enza Vita lives in Adelaide, South Australia, where she and her husband Leo Drioli own and operate Inner Self Magazine:

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/enzavita27april2013.mp3

Here is a listing of the tracks:

In the first hour (1:16:38, to be exact) there are blasts of static throughout the interview. If you find the static makes the interview hard to listen to, you may read a transcript of the first 1:16:38 here: http://nonduality.com/enzavita.htm

You may skip to 1:16:39, where the last hour is static-free.

0:00 – 4:43 Enza’s first interview. Husband Leo Drioli. Australia. Meeting Enza at SAND. Chatting, talking about Enza’s name.

4:43 – 17:52 Born in Italy. Going to Australia at age 17. Alice Springs. Coming from Solarino, Sicily. Growing up in Solarino. Feeling different growing up and having various boundary dissolving experiences that were outside the normal thus making her feel isolated. Several experiences described growing up and talking to different people in order to understand them. Trying to be normal. Discovery in Alice Springs resonating with childhood activity and being a sign she should stay in Australia. Family dinners in Sicily.

17:52 – 24:09 Family dinners in Solarino remembered and described. Enza being up on the roof to get away. Stories. How much of nonduality is stories? Awareness introduced.

24:09 – 30:36 Continuation of the discussion on going to Australia at age 17. Not speaking English. Dealing with her dad who didn’t want to let her go. Living in Alice Springs for two years. Reading at the library. Seeking. Trying to understand her experiences.

30:36 – 35:54 Nature of Enza’s seeking. Moving to Adelaide. Meeting her husband Leo Drioli. Making herbal potions. Studying naturopathy. Seeing teachers. Discovering Nisargadatta’s I Am That. Also Ramana Maharshi, Dzogchen books.

35:54 – 46:15 All the teachings having flown through Enza, being part of Enza as guiding energy. Current connection with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. Remarkable story he tells that connects directly with Enza’s childhood experience. Experience with Zen breathing/meditation teacher that led to an opening up. More about resonance with Chogyal Namkhai Norbu stemming from her childhood. Mystery of it.

46:15 – 57:29 Being meditated, significance of. Paradox of getting from here to here. Enza learned to describe her knowing out of questions from her husband Leo. Not having anything to teach. Waiting for the next step as a teacher to become clear. If there were no questions she would have nothing to say.

57:29 – 1:01:58 Waiting for space to open to start teaching. Needing a reason to give teaching. The breast feeding story/analogy to giving a teaching.

1:01:58 – 1:13:11 Terms consciousness and awareness discussed. Coming from consciousness compared to standing as awareness. “I am” as consciousness. Nature of awareness itself. “Dark radiance of pure awareness.” Nature of “I am” and how to realize. Why isn’t the “I am” awareness promoted in today’s nonduality circles?

1:13:11 – 1:16:38 Suffering at the level of relative truth and as inseparable from absolute truth. Embracing both. Practice of presence. In teaching, starting with where a person is at.

ON THE TRACKS BELOW THERE IS NO STATIC:

1:16:39 – 1:21:08 Enza changes phone. Chatting about coffee and karaoke. Casual chat. Enza talks about her memory not being too good so she doesn’t remember what we were talking about before she switched phones.

1:21:08 – 1:27:34 The event of dropping away, non-separation, or shift in perception, or looking and seeing that she was everything. Everyone is already looking in this way. As a searcher or seeker you are looking for something other than this non-separation. Spiritual people resisting that Enza had this realization. This was seven years ago.

1:27:34 – 1:34:16 Is this realization a big deal? How the initial realization played out for Enza. Not talking about it openly for a few years. Role of meditation in facilitating realization. Not necessary to meditate as a practice. Enza having an inner knowing that this lifetime was for self-realization.

1:34:16 – 1:42:55 Enza feeling that a rope from within was pulling her toward “something” and that it was inevitable. Having trust. Nature of honoring that tug toward the inevitable. Relaxing into the spacious knowingness or “I am.”

1:42:55 – 1:48:15 Talking about awareness alone could be boring as it is not the complete picture. Nature of the separate person. We don’t need thoughts to know the sharp lucidity. Yet the mind is used to carry out the business of discussing awareness.

1:48:15 – 1:55:15 A space between the words. I ask Enza if she reads any current books. She says her memory is no longer photographic as when she was young. Things don’t stick around, even in the middle of speaking. Silence as the default stand. Her husband Leo keeps her exteriorized. How Enza is engaged in the world. Living in the body.

1:55:16 – 2:07:00 We talk about the Science and Nonduality Conference (SAND) U.S.A. 2012, where we met. Enza suggests a SAND for Australia. I talk about the group in Nova Scotia I’m involved with. Mind grasps perspectives. The activity in satsang where the teacher tries to get people to shift perspective toward non-separation. Enza’s experience addressing her husband’s questions. Headlessness.

2:07:00 – 2:16:50 A natural approach to self-realization compared to forcing it, yet can’t dismiss the more forced approach. The nature of being interviewed. Is anything happening? Awareness in movement and awareness still. Ramana Maharshi on deep sleep. Enza’s out of the body experiences as a kid and energetic experiences as an adult. Enza rehearsing as a backup singer for her husband Leo’s band which is opening for the Dalai Lama’s upcoming appearance.

Visit http://EnzaVita.com

enza8

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Nonduality Talk: Interview with Gonzalo Fernandez

May 7, 2013

Interview with Gonzalo Fernandez (conducted by Jerry Katz)

Download/listen link:

http://nonduality.com/gonzalofernandez29april2013

Descriptive listing of tracks:

Gonzalo Fernandez is a native of Costa Rica, “the happiest country in the world.” Gonzalo organizes meetings in his country featuring nondual teachers/sharers from around the world. He spoke from the community of Moravia, a suburb of the capitol San Jose. Meet Gonzalo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gonzalo.fernandez.5437

0:00 – 10:24 Beginning of Gonzalo’s search. Milestones including discovery of J. Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta, and Ramesh Balsekar. Went to India to visit Ramesh. His realization is demonstrated to Ramesh. Roshi Phillip Kapleau mentioned. Teaching of J. Krishnamurti as too intellectual.

10:24 – 15:19 Life after meeting Ramesh. Costa Rica and nondual teachings. Spiritual practices are popular. A few years ago met people who like him were interested in Nisargadatta. Formed small groups after coming out of zazen group.

15:19 – 23:40 Eckhart Tolle comes to Costa Rica but locals were not allowed to hear him. It was too expensive for locals and the locals weren’t invited. Spirituality as a business.

23:40 – 30:41 Gonzalo’s involvement in starting groups. Eckhart Tolle group. Toni Packer’s work discussed. Sandra Gonzalez invited to Costa Rica to lead silent retreats.

30:41 – 41:26 Unmani invited to Costa Rica twice. We digress and talk about Costa Rica as a retirement destination, especially the option of living a simple life. We talk about Unmani again. Gonzalo talks about his role in bringing teachers to Costa Rica and the roles others play.

41:26 – 47:13 Elena Nezhinsky discussed. Nature of Elena’s teaching style, her visit to Costa Rica and the time spent with her.

47:13 – 49:04 The nature and humor of seeking when the answer is always right here. There are no seekers, yet seeking happens.

49:04 – 53:55 Noumenon and phenomenon discussed. “Seeking happens, but there are no seekers.” Seeing all this as consciousness dreaming and we are a dream character. I ask Gonzalo whether he has spoken as a teacher to locals and talks about that.

53:55 – 58:02 We talk about locals in Costa Rica forming their own groups without inviting teachers from the outside around the world. Is it necessary to invite outside teachers? “Are prophets not prophets in their home town?” Extreme case of Ramana Maharshi as a local teacher. You can find enlightened peope everywhere.

58:02 – 1:03:24 Encouraging a locally grown group in Costa Rica. Nature of such local groups in which Gonzalo has been involved, as confrontational and requiring the presence of someone who they see as holding spiritual authority. We talk about what it takes to form and operate an open-minded group that supports and nurtures all who are drawn to it.

1:03:24 – 1:08:27 Inviting Hashim Zaki (aka iamyou on the internet), a student of Nisargadatta Maharaj, to Costa Rica, where he is going to speak for a few days and may decide to retire.

1:08:27 – 1:11:18 Running open meetings with locals without focusing on a single teacher.

1:11:18 – 1:16:04 Light-hearted talk on the beautiful women Gonzalo invites to Costa Rica. The beaches. Nosara Beach discussed for it’s spiritual activities and women. Pamela Wilson and Jac O’Keefe mentioned.

1:16:04 – 1:25:06 Everytime Gonzalo wants to stop getting involved in inviting people, but someone comes across for him to invite. Francis Bennett mentioned and planning to come to Costa Rica. Nature of Jerry’s visit to Costa Rica discussed and marking the next step in group meetings in Costa Rica. Jean Klein mentioned as a teacher of Gonzalo. Gonzalo will let Hashim Zaki know about the local group, which Hashim might become part of if he moves there.

1:25:06 – 1:42:55 Things get personal here and I feel we’re hearing the natural Gonzalo these next few minutes aside from his work in nondual teachings. Gonzalo’s daily life in Costa Rica. His interest in farming. He prefers to walk and sit in nature. Gonzalo’s family. His minimal needs. His conversations with the farmers at a local bar. What he drinks. “Peace is the most essential thing.” Just being who you are. Friendship in its most basic sense as a sharing of being. Being social as natural. Accepting all interaction including the belief that there’s a seperate entity, thus welcoming the dissolving of the separateness. The oneness that we are. Life is nothing complicated, belief makes it complicated.

1:42:55 – 1:50:48 We express mutual gratitude and talk about the nature of doing what interests you compared to doing work in order to make money. People avoiding others who are too peaceful; they need you to be against something so they can fight with you. However, it’s nice to talk to people about things other than ultimate reality itself. We talk about some details of farming coffee. We talk about coffee and how Gonzalo makes his coffee.

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Wayne Austin’s site reactivated

May 6, 2013

Formerly active teacher Wayne Austin has revived his website:

www.Endofthesearch.com

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Nonduality Talk Interview with Didier Weiss

April 30, 2013

photo of Didier Weiss
Didier Weiss is French, 50 years old, and has lived in Auroville, India since 1994. He is married and has one child. Didier is a sound engineer for his company Sound Wizard, which designs acoustic spaces for concert halls, auditoriums, hotels, convention centres, nightclubs, home theatres, and every other kind of space that requires acoustic design. His website at http://soundwizard.net His contact point is soundwiz@gmail.com.

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/didierweiss23april2013.mp3

Tracks:

0:00 – 6:05 Didier talks about some of his life prior to living in Auroville and how he and his wife Cecilia picked up there life in Paris and moved to Auroville where they’ve been for twenty years. The price of responsibility.

6:05 – 13:03 Didier’s spiritual background beginning at age 15 – 16. Stephen Jourdain discussed.http://www.consciousnessjunkie.com/interview-with-stephen-jourdain/ . Spiritual nature of Auroville. Sorry about some static that appears near the end of this track. The static shows up periodically in this interview. It was a problem somewhere between our computers. I’m in Nova Scotia and Didier is in Auroville, India.

13:03 – 20:03 Didier meets Ramesh Balsekar and talks about his teaching and what he communicated. “I could almost see what he was talking about.” The penny drops, a shift happens. Seeing what it was all about. Loss of a centre. Integration of the shift.

20:03 – 23:55 Life goes on after the shift. The nature of the spiritual story. Life as being on auto pilot. How life is to Didier.

23:55 – 24:25 Richard Sylvester and addiction to meaning. Nondual writings as art.

24:25 – 28:35 Didier’s work as a sound engineer and designer of acoustic spaces. The nature of his business. How things unfold for him. How nondual understanding comes into relationships with people he encounters in business.

28:35 – 34:54 Lack of concern for the outcome of work even while being passionate, active, and fighting for business. It’s a game. The place of stillness in the game. Pleasure of the game. Some practical and technical details of Didier’s business and work.

34:54 – 40:01 What is perception? How does it work? Didier’s interest in perception started when he was mixing music. His discoveries regarding perception of sound.

40:01 – 51:13 Didier goes further into insights that came out of his experience mixing music. The three lessons about perception he learned as a sound engineer. Silence. Quotation from Leo Hartong. http://www.soundwizard.net/ressource-about-silence-15.html The experience of silence as the space in which sound arises and present all the time. Silence as source. Beautiful confession about silence.

51:13 – 58:37 Didier talks a little about family. “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms,” (Muriel Rukeyser) is what he feels. Talking about nonduality. You can’t teach anything. A journey happens.

58:37 – 1:02:33 Valuing the discovery of insights. Nature of seeking. Hiding reality in plain sight, such as silence. Simplicity of nonduality is the most difficult aspect to talk about.

1:02:33 – 1:06:08 Didier’s life as simple, but complexity within it. Complexity doesn’t add any weight to life. The total weightlessness of what happens. What’s gone is something that’s not real. Problem of disappearance of the center. Suzanne Segal mentioned. There is no real loss.

1:06:08 – 1:07:52 Silence as the best way to communicate “this.” Reality as a singularity. Analogy of a movie.

1:07:52 – 1:11:52 Talking about business again. Applying the community philosophy of Auroville to relating to people who work for him. Harmonious interplay of the parts of Didier’s life.

1:11:52 – Didier talks about his wife Cecilia and her interest in nondual teachings. Anamika mentioned. Relationships and nondual consciousness. Family stuff. Understanding the mechanical or conditioned nature of personality and relationships is basis for a simpler and more harmonious life. Gordon Neufeld’s work with children discussed: http://neufeldinstitute.com/ . Connecting at the source.

1:19:35 – 1:24:53 Resonance with another person through a root connection or a non-separate reality. Gordon Neufeld and feeling of suppression and sense of separation.

1:24:53 – 1:28:03 Art as healing. Music as healing. The suffering of artists he’s met.

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Book review of The Sun Rises in the Evening, by Gary Nixon

April 27, 2013

Review of The Sun Rises in the Evening, by Gary Nixon.

Reviewed by Jerry Katz

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A Watercourse Way to Standing As Awareness
By Jerry Katz

About Gary Nixon

The following is taken from the Non-Duality Press site:

“Gary Nixon is Director of the Addictions Counselling Program at University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, where he is an Associate Professor. Gary enjoys a celebratory ordinariness of the days living with his wife Marcia and going for daily long runs in the coulees. He maintains a private nondual psychotherapy practice working with individuals and groups — this complements the passionate legacy of his published academic work and his editorship of Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology. He hosts the annual Paradoxica Nondual Psychology Conference.”
www.nondualbeing.com
www.paradoxica.ca

Book’s purpose:

Gary Nixon says, “This book is an invitation to you to find completion and wholeness, to work through second stage recovery fully, including a necessary descent to let go of the separate self, and to embrace third stage recovery and abide in non-dual being.”

Although second stage, or stage two recovery, is never defined (nor is stage one), periodically Gary refers to addiction recovery pioneer Earnie Larsen who apparently made up the term “Stage II recovery.” Therefore I’ll quote from Larsen’s website for these definitions. They come from http://www.earnie.com/whoisearnie.asp#stageii :

“Stage I is about arresting the addiction or surviving the crisis. Stage II(tm) Recovery, which Earnie created in 1985, is about understanding the triggers and imprinting that left us vulnerable in the face of substitutes. … Stage II(tm) Recovery requires discipline, practice, and the ability to refuse to let the past rob you of your present. … Stage II(tm) Recovery answers will seldom be found in Stage I recovery groups. They have different focuses, and that’s okay. Keep in mind, one stage is not better than another. There can be no Stage II if Stage I has not been won. Recovery does not end with sobriety.”

Nor does recovery end with Stage two body/mind integration. As physically, socially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually integrated as the separate self may become in stage two, beyond that stage is third stage recovery, which means the dying to the separate self.

Gary notes that separate self is a hard nut to die to: “It is truly rare for people to have died to the underlying central addiction, that is their separate self. This means that it must be confronted at the end of stage two recovery so that they can make a passage into stage three recovery and abiding in non-dual being.”

Something I like:

I believe we all want our nonduality books to hit us hard. We become sensitized to these books. What shook us a couple years ago is familiar territory now. Yet we probably don’t want to feel personally attacked by an author or teacher. There are some who may be self-realized but easily offended or exasperated by someone they imagine is celebrating separate-self indulgences. I like this book because I don’t see Gary being offended. You can read some hard-hitting stuff here without ever having to negotiate the gaping jaws of “I’m self-realized, you’re not.”

Something else I like:

This is a well ordered and clearly explained book. Gary lays out the importance of abiding nondual awareness right away. Then he shows where the journey out of addiction gets stalled and how to go beyond it through the methodologies/understandings of Ken Wilber and A.H. Almaas. However there is no demand that the reader, counselor, or client become immersed in those teachings.

Every chapter elaborates on a theme, gives one or more stories to support it, and closes with a doable exercise for the reader. Gary divulges a lot about himself personally. He also cites case studies. Sometimes to support his themes he quotes well-known current or historical teachers/sharers of nonduality. This strong personal component makes the book very readable.

About himself, Gary writes,

“When I started my journey towards non-dual being, I did not know it at the time, but I was still caught in my narcissistic stance towards existence. I was addicted to showing how special I was. When I left law to embrace transpersonal psychology and Eastern contemplative ways of being, I carried this demand of my specialness with me. Because of early successes–graduating and practicing law at 23–I thought I was a brilliant person, and the doors of life would always open up to me. I never could have predicted how wrong this was and how truly I was a misguided fool.”

If you’re going to read a nonduality book, yes, it should from someone like that. It makes it easier to look at and admit one’s own foolishness so that one’s energy is free to … be free. Gary says it differently: “It seems essential that a person has to become aware of, to fully admit and let in to their consciousness, the fakeness and empty shell of their narcissistic pursuits of specialness, so that the fall into being becomes a possibility.”

What is this “fall into being”? I hope you don’t mind a longish rant.

This book is all about that fall into being. But I do have a question about it, a question of discernment. Because I’m not sure what is meant by a fall into being. Nonduality writers these days all talk about the realization of “just this” or taking one’s stand in awareness. That’s fine, but something is missing. That’s not the only way to describe a fall into being.

From my own experiences as an innocent boy between the ages of 7 to 10 or so — not as an older adult looking for something spiritual that would ease the pain of being a fool in a foolish world — but as a boy, I involuntarily took my stand in what I called “I am.”

When the “I am” thing dissolves there is the standing free, standing alone, or standing as awareness. That’s been my experience. Although there were a few years in my early twenties where I tried to attain something like enlightenment, it was only when I remembered “I am” that I saw no need to do anything other than to keep remembering it, or, as Nisargadatta said, to “follow the I am.”

But no one talks about the “I am” anymore. Everyone “Tony Parsons” it away. I say hang out there a little while. Live life from there for a few years. Let it dissolve in its own time. Don’t listen to the people who want to yank the “I am” out of you and pull you into their “standing as awareness” understanding.

You never have to take your stand as awareness in any sort of going-to-a-retreat-to-talk-to-unmani-so-that-I-can-be-freer sort of way. Or in a going-on-a-seven-day-silent-retreat-with-Adyashanti-so-that-the-hockey-game-in-my-head-can-settle-down-and-i-can-say-hello-to-awareness-itself kind of way.

Coming from the “I am” you see that the business of standing in awareness isn’t yours anyway. It’s “I am’s” business. You’ve released into “I am.” When “I am” dissolves or goes away, you’re taking your stand as awareness whether you like it or not. Of course there’s no “you” and no “your” nor is there “standing as awareness.” There just is. But now I’m sounding like a nondualist, which I’m not.

I’m more of an “I-am-ist,” if you want to know the truth. And there are two kinds of “I-am-ists.” Since living as the “I am” means living as the flow of life, it can be swung like a backpack onto one’s psyche in order to manifest stuff. You want a successful business or book, fancy car, hot gf? Bring your psychic energy to the I am. That’s the fill-your-backpack-with-stuff kind of “I-am-ist.” If you’re into that, Wayne Dyer is your man.

The other kind is the one who doesn’t want or need anything and simply gazes at the suchness of “I am.” That’s what I eventually came to. You don’t gaze at the suchness as a technique in order to manifest a higher understanding or to start a nonduality website. You gaze at the suchness of “I am” because you have no other choice. You don’t want to manifest anything. It’s enough to just be. There’s no gazer in that process because it is clear that the “I am” is gazing right back at you. There is only the gazing. This gazing at suchness — it’s a gazing of suchness upon suchness — when it arises naturally, does eventually lead to the dissolution of the whole “I am” thing. What is left is what we call awareness, consciousness, just this, abiding as nondual awareness, etc. Wayne Dyer would never talk about this because there’s no fame, money, PBS, or Oprah in it. But believe me, he knows all about this nonduality stuff. So does Deepak Chopra. But they live out their missions to be mass communicators, and that’s fine.

Have I been digressing?

It’s very powerful and effective to live your life from “I am.” It’s what I would call stage three recovery. Stage four, then, would be abiding in nondual awareness. Am I re-writing Gary’s book? Oops.

Back to the original question, “What is the fall into being?” In my experience you can fall into the “I am,” you can fall into the gaze of suchness upon suchness, and you can fall into abiding as nondual awareness. I suppose. And although Gary has his own terminology he does talk about different depths of giving up or “falling into.” A description of the gaze of suchness is seen here:

“Having given up striving, a deep relaxation takes place as there is no place to go, and nothing to do. Understanding that all is perfect as it is right now means we do not have to strive to change anything or anyone in this place of neither me nor you. Everything is okay in suchness as it is right now. In this isness it is all here, right now. This isness is it. There is no method to let go, it is just a seeing in this moment.”

At a deeper level of “falling into” there is no seer of the moment. Gary writes:

“The true panacea for suffering lies in awakening to reality and what is, as we realize there is no such thing as a permanent self, as in actuality no one exists. And as one goes deeper into this, one starts to enjoy what has been called the original medicine and that is ‘never born, never died’.”

In the construction of this book you can see the increasing depths and ways of giving up and you can practice them through the exercises.

I only wish there was more of a line in the sand when it comes to the “I am” knowings and the place beyond, which in this book is called abiding in nondual awareness. But my wish applies to all nonduality books.

The sound bite

So I have to sum up my feelings, my opinion, and give a sound bite, right? Look. We’re all addicts. Addicts to our little self. We all need help. Raise your hand if you don’t need any help. (Anyone mind helping me raise my hand? I’m getting older.) Gary Nixon’s book is a watercourse way to standing as awareness. Each chapter flows along a water bed and cuts deeper and deeper as it flows along. The question is, “Do you float on top and look down into the depths, or do you dive into the abyss?” It’s truly your choice.

~ ~ ~

The Sun Rises in the Evening, by Gary Nixon. Amazon.com link

Non-Duality Press link

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New! The Book of Undoing, by Fred Davis

April 21, 2013

Cover of The Book of UnDoing, by Fred Davis

The Book of Undoing: Direct Pointing to Nondual Awareness, by Fred Davis, encourages immediate recognition of our shared true nature. It is an experiential journey, wherein the reader follows a mock client’s Direct Pointing session with the author. These sessions have helped people around the world come to Nondual realization. It’s suggested that the reader actively participate in the question and answer sessions which form the bulk of the book. Fred extends the invitation for you to awaken right here, right now. It’s Here or nowhere. It’s Now or never.

Kindle Version $4.99

Link to Free Kindle apps for PC, Tablet, or Phone

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New Nonduality Book by Gary Nixon PhD

April 19, 2013
Announcing a new and important book from Non-Duality Press:

48971
The Sun Rises in the Evening: Beyond addiction and limited recovery to embracing wholeness

by Gary Nixon PhD

I’m going to write a review of this book and hopefully interview Gary, but for now I want to announce the publication of the book, which is today. I feel it’s an important book because Gary is the central force behind not only a nonduality community in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, but an academic community as well. He is an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge where he directs the addictions counseling program. I think it’s always significant when nonduality meets academia.

The following is from the book’s promotional material:

In The Sun Rises in the Evening: Beyond addiction and limited recovery to embracing wholeness, Gary Nixon PhD gives us a specific framework for dealing with recovery from addiction, focusing on the issues that arise after the first stages of recovery.

What is remarkable, and most helpful, is that Gary doesn’t spare himself – we learn that he has made the journey that he is inviting us to share, from the time when he shouted out in a session ‘I want to be number one!’ through all his attachments to being the best ever at being enlightened, via an abyss of despair, to a place where… and here we can best quote Gary himself: “There is no longer any special status to claim, and all of life is embraced in a friendly way. We are not the special one, just a friendly being in existence, living in the vast suchness of existence, open and vulnerable to life. But now we are free to bring our joy and passion into the world.”

Is this a book about recovery from addiction? Yes, it is – but it’s more and that ‘more’ applies to most of us who have an undefinable sense that we have not quite embraced the wholeness for which we claim to be seeking.

About the author: Gary Nixon is Director of the Addictions Counselling Program at University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, where he is an Associate Professor. At age twenty-three and qualified in law, he felt a call to make the transformational journey his career path and completed a Masters and a Doctorate in psychology with a focus on the integration of Western transpersonal psychology and Eastern contemplative traditions.

He pursued ‘spiritual enlightenment’ with the same vigour and dedication that he gave to his academic career, only to find that intense striving and seeking for spiritual success brought him to a place of ‘absolute hopelessness and total failurehood.’ Thus it was he came to understand that in seeking a spiritual goal he was merely reinforcing the illusion of a narcissistic separate self. Now that he is no longer ‘special’, he has come to rest naturally in being – friendly with all existence. Gary enjoys a celebratory ordinariness of the days living with his wife Marcia and going for daily long runs in the coulees.

He maintains a private nondual psychotherapy practice working with individuals and groups – this complements the passionate legacy of his published academic work and his editorship of Paradoxica: Journal of Nondual Psychology. He hosts the annual Paradoxica Nondual Psychology Conference.

~ ~ ~

Amazon.com link:

Non-Duality Press link:

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Nonduality Talk Interview with Howard Peck

April 18, 2013

Download/listen link:

http://nonduality.com/howardpeck25march2013.mp3

Howard Peck has been a student of Tai Chi Chuan since 1988. He began teaching in 1999. His classes emphasize the importance of open, relaxed unbroken flow of movement, proper posture and an attentive mind. Howard’s descriptive website is http://taichiwithhowardpeck.com.  Howard Peck lives in eastern Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

A beautiful video of Howard performing Tai Chi is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qQvIoHS0o4&list=UU4Z3M_J7QIuJ-dBBmlWZQxQ&index=1

Tracks:

0:00 – 2:51 Introduction. Mention of the Nonduality Highlights. Tai Chi Chuan and flow; body movement and ageing.

2:51 – 8:21 Introduction to Tai Chi Chuan. Evolution from a martial art to a way of health. Awareness and postural integrity.

8:21 – 12:10 Inclusion of music in practice and teaching. A video of Howard performing Tai Chi is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qQvIoHS0o4&list=UU4Z3M_J7QIuJ-dBBmlWZQxQ&index=1 It includes Chinese music. Standing Meditation described.

12:10 – 18:57 Howard offers an exercise in Standing Meditation that the listener may practice.

18:57 – 25:13 Discussion of Standing Meditation and Tai Chi movement. Relation of Standing Meditation to discussion of nonduality. Tai Chi taught from the viewpoint of nondual understanding and rooted in real experience rather than promises.

25:13 – 27:31 Concept of chi as related to physical skill and mental Intention, giving a result rather than the promise of a cosmic experience.

27:31 – 32:28 Sharing of spiritual experiences by teachers may not be based on actual experience. Howard is asked about the role of power as a teacher and his relationship with power. Empowering people. J. Krishnamurti discussed.

32:28 – 34:35 A story about the humility of J. Krishnamurti revealed when he appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

34:35 – 35:35 Relationship as friendship. Howard’s job helping seniors navigate Medicare in the U.S. We return to this topic later and relate it to relationship.

35:35 – 41:28 How Howard got into Tai Chi Chuan. Aikido mentioned. Taoism as source of Tai Chi. Buddhism as Howard’s interest. Vipassana meditation and nonduality. U.G. Krishnamurti and Mooji mentioned. Robert Wolfe as standing out from the pack of current nonduality teachers.

41:28 – 45:13 Howard’s introduction to nondual teachings arising out of meeting with Steven Harrison many years ago. R.P. Kaushik mentioned. Some reflection on his life and nature of his understanding.

45:13 – 56:17 The interview ends and re-starts on another level where Howard talks about his consultative approach to selling supplemental Medicare products. Listening is discussed and how it leads to a nondual alignment with people. Sharing authenticity in relationship. How sales people can address times where sales aren’t coming.

56:17 – The secret to sales revealed. Conclusion. Science and Nonduality Conference mentioned.

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Nonduality Talk: Interview with Jacob Parece

March 10, 2013

jacobparece

“Inquiry may take an effort and openness to be honest with yourself. It may take you going beyond the doubt, beyond the thinking mind and to be completely uncomfortable with the situations and circumstances. Even as the conditioning of who you believe yourself to be is uncomfortable and wants to ‘escape’ into the thinker/analyzer if you for a moment within the storm of mind STOP and look directly at the background of where the thoughts are coming from the illusion disappears.

“Its only when you are invested into the stories of mind does the mind have any power over who you are. Begin by investing your energy not into changing your mind but detaching ourself from its importance. This starts the road of freedom from the mind and its ‘problems’ not as an avoidance but a realization that it doesn’t hold the solution to making oneself happy, content and at peace.” -Jacob Parese

Jacob Parece is a new teacher who lives in Rhode Island, U.S.A. He gave his first teaching talk in September, 2012. He turned 21 about two weeks ago. His website is http://jacobparece.com. Jacob’s Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/FreedomRightNow. The photos are taken from Jacob’s Facebook site.

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/jacobparece7march2013.mp3

Tracks:

0:00 – 3:14 Introduction. Difficult childhood described. Sense of darkness (fear, anxiety, depression).

3:14 – 4:45 Taking up baseball as a way to avoid personal difficulty. Illness. More about family and the experience of darkness.

4:45 – 6:17 Discovery of Trevor Hall ( http://www.trevorhallmusic.com ) and how this led to discovery of other nondual teachings. The hurricane. New view of darkness.

6:17 – 8:52 Darkness meets freedom and beauty. More about the nature and qualities of darkness and what’s behind it.

8:52 – 11:42 A “successful” life as an obstacle to pursuing depths of self. Being apart from society. The value of feeling different with regard to self-realization.

11:42 – 14:42 Jacob’s employment and teaching work. Where he lives. His website http://jacobparece.com. Nature of self-identity and dissonance within society. Why he dropped out of college. Experiencing your own presence.

14:42 – 16:51 The how of “experiencing your own presence.”

16:51 – 19:32 The problem with sincere questions. Using spirituality and nonduality as avoidance of experience. What most people are seeking. Getting to the real question.

19:32 – 21:01 Role as a teacher to inspire questioning rather than give answers or to assign new labels. Abandoning labels.

21:01 – 23:45 How Jacob became aware of his ability to teach. His first talk. (Video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5OMJfcPWBI )

23:45 – 25:37 Jacob’s visit to Sedona a couple weeks prior to this interview and his experience of pure awareness. Nature of changing experience.

25:37 – 27:54 The subtle adjustment/choice to staying attached or letting go. Self-improvement as sometimes necessary. Feeling from an authentic place.

27:54 – 30:13 Jacob’s view of the nonduality teaching scene. Scott Kiloby mentioned. Need for being with oneself.

30:13 – 33:49 Engaging some inquiry with customers at his convenience store job. Watching people at work. A lot of people are sad and not present. Meeting people on a subtle level.

33:49 – 36:25 Future teaching events. Vacation in Sedona. More about Jacob’s job.

36:25 – 39:14 Jacob’s friends. Baseball career. Shattering of his baseball dreams and value of that.

39:14 – 42:20 Jacob’s coming out as gay. Interest in working with the gay community. Current relationship with parents and how it’s affected by letting go of struggle.

42:20 – 47:50 Talking to young people about nondual consciousness. The struggle of young people today. Need for more questioning. Reaching out to his age group.

47:50 – 54:17 GLBT community and nonduality. Jay Michaelson mentioned. Value of being open. Paradoxical value of being “closed off” from the world. Value of solitude. Sedona experience of pure awareness revisited. Seeking spiritual experiences.

54:17 – 56:29 Truth is not the experience but the one experiencing. Chasing experiences. Living a life balanced between waiting for grace and getting up and doing something. Nature of experience.

56:29 – 1:02:03 “I believe there is a choice.” Teachers Jacob likes. Challenging perspectives including his own. Going beyond experience to fearlessness. The urge to learn, to experience, to fit into the nonduality scene.

1:02:03 – The traps of structure within spiritual/nondual community. Undermining perspective. Fear of being judged for pursuing truth. Suffering as a doorway to realization.

1:05:05 – 1:09:41 Baseball career revisited. Lighthearted chat around worldly success and money. Sports and nondual consciousness. Allen Jaeger mentioned ( http://www.jaegersports.com/home.php ) Jacob’s experience of “the zone” in his baseball career. The work involved in becoming a professional baseball player.

1:09:41 – 1:14:03 More on sports and nondual consciousness. Jacob getting back into baseball.

1:14:03 – 1:17:42 Aspects of nonduality and enlightenment as taken too seriously. The need to look at our own experience. Comment on young teachers. Conclusion.

 jacob44

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Nonduality Talk Interview with Brendan Smith

March 2, 2013

Here’s my conversation with Brendan Smith. The main topic is space itself in which is allowed “the freedom of raw perceiving.” I feel this is an important conversation because it could inspire a pursuit more toward space than teachers. As Brendan says, “Space is the teacher.”

List of tracks below.

Download link: http://nonduality.com/brendansmith1march2013.mp3

Brendan Smith is a 27 year old intern at the Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai, California.  His main interest is space itself in which is allowed “the freedom of raw perceiving,” and that is the primary topic of the conversation.

Brendan is co-hosting the Timeless Spring retreat in September, 2013:

Brendan’s informative and revealing website is http://everythingislooking.com

Sixteen photos are featured, several from a 2012 retreat Brendan hosted in the Sierra Nevada.

Tracks:

0:00 – 4:44 Introductory. Moving their friend to a new home. Working on the herb garden. Krishnamurti Foundation of America. An interpretation of Krishnamurti’s statement that no one understood what he said.

4:44 – 7:12 How Brendan got into the KFA internship program. Jaap Sluijter mentioned.

7:12 – 8:38 Space rather than content being what is valued at KFA.

8:38 – 10:57 Educational background at UC Davis where he designed part of his degree in religious studies to emphasize nondual wisdom traditions.

10:57 – 14:34 Prior to college, an experimental time as a youth walking in the woodland in Maryland. Experiences. Getting a “real” education in terms of experiencing himself in a new way.

14:34 – 19:22 A game with a wild red fox. Sensing the “softness of the fabric of our perception.” Description of this perception and how it was his education. Allowing the space to see all that. Value of Science and Nonduality Conference (SAND) discussed.  The freshness of his experience in the woodland.

19:22 – 20:43 A Upanishadic story about the woods and non-human encounters and application to his experience.

20:43 – 23:03 Silence. The two ways to do an interview. Sweetness of just being here.

23:03 – 26:15 Gathering. Quaker meetings. Brendan’s interest in setting up gatherings. Changing perceptions in California. “Opening space for people to come and die.”

26:15 – 29:45 The Timeless Spring retreat Brendan is designing:
Nature of structuring the retreat around space (the unconditioned) rather than content (the conditioned).

29:45 – 35:09 Timeless Spring compared to The Science and Nonduality Conference (SAND). The emergence of structure in an unconditioned space. Questioning. No reference place in nonduality, nothing being taught or facilitated. Brendan’s website. Nonduality as popular among “kids.”

35:09 – 38:51 The location at Far Horizons Theosophical center. Location, lodging, meals. Value of nothing happening.

38:51 – 42:14 Nature of leadership at the retreat. Nature of structure. Designing spaces for questioning. SAND discussed.

42:14 – 45:42 Everyone can express themself from their own beingness. More about the Timeless Spring retreat and the magic of it.

45:42 – 47:36 Explaining to people what the retreat is about.

47:36 – 53:18 Marketing the retreat. More on the vision for such a retreat. Cost for the retreat.

53:18 – 54:45 More details about the retreat. It’s a two week retreat but you can come for one week or even a day or a weekend.

54:45 – 58:03 The apparent spreading of nondual awareness among people. The emergence of a lostness. Nature of lostness.

58:03 – 1:01:03 Wisdom 2.0 Conference discussed and compared to lostness. Lostness of the knowing mind collapsing into the lostness of not knowing.

1:01:03 – 1:07:37 What Brendan is doing after his internship ends in April. Building a community out of this lostness. East Bay Open Circle mentioned. The nature of the space further discussed.

1:07:37 – 1:09:27 Visions of the proposed community.

1:09:27 – 1:13:42 Center for Nondual Awareness discussed. Will teachers be less in demand? Challenging all knowing as what nonduality is about. The teacher can dissolve in this kind of community.

1:13:42 – 1:17:14 Existence playing at being a teacher. One of the revolutions in Brendan’s perception being of the nature of non-separation and without a center. Walt Whitman.

1:17:14 – 1:22:47 Physical death and the losing of the sense of “I.” Comparing that context of hospice to the realization of the nondual. Death. Facing death now.

1:22:47 – 1:25:17 Is there an experience of nonduality? Explaining nonduality to his mother.

1:25:17 – 1:29:08 Brendan’s music. Suggestion for more music at SAND. Brendan talks about his website. His book and his album.

1:29:08 – 1:34:32 Importance of the internet for the dissemination of nondual teachings along a level playing field. Shift from pursuing teachers to pursuing space. Space as the teacher.

1:34:32 – 1:36:29 What they do on the weekends at KFA. Conclusion.

 

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