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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 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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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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Nonduality Talk: Interview with Sage Stoneman

February 20, 2013

sage11

Sage Stoneman is 18 years old and lives in Ojai, California where he is an intern at the Krishnamurti Foundation of America.

Play or Download link:

http://nonduality.com/sagestoneman13feb2013.mp3

0:00 – 3:51 Living in southern California. Introduction. Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai, California. http://kfa.org/ Nature of the internship program of which Sage is a part. Meaning of sangha at KFA. Living at KFA and what it’s like.

3:51 – 7:08 The internship further described. More about the KFA. Michael Khronen as coordinator. Where Sage lives on the property.

7:08 – 9:52 What a typical day is like for Sage as an intern. What other interns do during their day. Free time.

9:52 – 12:11 Dialogue group that meets. About sharing rather than giving opinions, theories, or talking about learned things.

12:11 – 17:17 Sage’s introduction to Nisargadatta’s I Am That, and having read it at age 15. An experience at age 12 where his father Rafael introduced him to self-inquiry. Other milestones in investigation of self. Appreciation of Nisargadatta.

17:17 – 20:20 How following the teaching of Nisargadatta cut off many other material and spiritual pursuits. Dealing with crushes on girls and wanting to party and living with the teaching and knowing of what his reality is. (Here’s a reminder that Sage is 18 years old.)

20:20 – 23:50 Attendance at the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012 and perceptions about it. Nonduality as a concept that can be worshipped like any other religion. A recent turning where it is seen that suffering could be discounted as part of all that is.

23:50 – 28:58 The source of such turnings and relation to living at KFA and sangha. The kinds of discussions at KFA. Interns Zach and Francesca mentioned. Looking at experience in the moment. Contentment described as in the moment, not elsewhere.

28:58 – 30:51 Seeing how thought creates discontentment out of nothing. Attending to these thoughts by way of a certain looking, and what is seen.

30:51 – 34:04 The nature of action with regard to contentment. The need to achieve something through action. Action not changing what one is. Allowing action free of the idea of them bringing anything.

34:04 – 35:50 J. Krishnamurti’s teachings as newly appreciated.

35:50 – 37:44 Applying for the KFA internship program: http://kfa.org/intern-students.php. How Sage got in. Jaap Sluijter mentioned.

37:44 – 41:03 Talking to his friends about these understandings. The gaining of a “great clarity” in communicating these understandings.

41:03 – 45:47 This clarity in communication further discussed. The importance of listening to people. The nature of listening. Thought as an apparent intrusion to full attention on a person. Seeing beyond meaning, words, and interpretations, and the totality of a human that opens up.

45:47 – 49:57 The effect of this deep listening on relationships. Dealing with anger. Nature of anger.

49:57 – 53:36 Two people communicating via deep listening. The nature of “you” and “I” as the same.

53:36 – 58:57 The valuing of seeing the fact that we exist or are alive. Relation to the “I am” as described by Nisargadatta. Contradictory teachings in Nisargadatta. Seeing beyond the contradictions. Staying with “I am.”

58:57 – 1:02:59 Following the “I am” compared to reality beyond the “I am.” Sage’s experience of being beyond consciousness and the meeting of a girl he really liked who didn’t like him as much, and what was learned from that. Truth in Nisargadatta’s teaching not contained in anything such as his words.

1:02:59 – 1:05:13 “Really listening” or deep listening applied to reading.

1:05:13 – 1:07:24 Teaching these understandings in high school.

1:07:24 – 1:08:41 Attending the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012 and what he enjoyed.

1:08:41 – 1:10:37 Sage’s generation and a focus on questioning. Closing.

sage23

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Nonduality Talk with Charlie Engel

February 10, 2013

charliespencer

Charles (Charlie) Engel is a retired Teamster, having worked in trucking and package delivery for 35 years.

Charlie was born and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly his entire adult life. As a “four decade” resident of Walnut Creek, Charlie lived at the edge of a mystical wonderland, The Shell Ridge Open Space. His experiences and insights have been shared in several stories, some of them on facebook and a popular Teamster forum.

As a religious freedom advocate, Charlie assisted a dear friend, Bob Swanson, in addressing matters of concern on behalf of the Sikh community. Bob also inspired Charlie to address problems in the workplace through means that were seldom used and/or recognized by his coworkers . As a Union reformer, he and friends addressed several “problems” in organized labor, many of them National in scope. Charlie and friends have written and collected several thousand pages of documents relating to their endeavors, the majority of which have not been shared with the public.

Charlie is currently enjoying retirement in Fort Bragg, California. He has nearly completed building a Temple which will serve as a gateway to alternate realities including shamanic realms.

Charles Engel can be reached at: theshaman@earthlink.net

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/charlieengel31january2013.mp3

Tracks:

0:00 – 2:30 Introduction. Temple he is building and intentions for it. Relation of his interests to the nondual realm.

2:30 – 3:49 Connecting with nature spirits. Steven Doyle.

3:49 – 4:50 Going with flow as far as creating the Temple as a dedicated sacred space. Other uses for the Temple. Spirit House as space for ACIM and other discussion groups. http://spirithousehealing.org/home

4:40 – 9:38 What drives Charlie. Background as teamster and union reformer. His role in a lawsuit against UPS.

9:38 – 14:08 Introduction to Shell Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek. http://www.walnut-creek.org/citygov/depts/ps/openspace/shellridge.asp Relation of his experience in the Open Space to building the Temple. More on development of the Temple and people interested in accessing it.

14:08 – 19:29 More on the Shell Ridge Open Space. Discussion about his late wife and parents. Relationship with his wife. The trees in the Open Space and how they speak to Charlie.

19:29 – 25:13 Nature of how Charlie’s life is unfolding. His nondual experiences. Some spiritual autobiography: Experimentation with psychedelics in the Sixties. Experience of the white light and love. Kundalini experience. Permanent change in perception. Remote viewing.

25:13 – 29:54 Desire to raise a family. Joined Mormon Church. White light/samadhi experience during a prayer for guidance and the associated nondual awareness. Amma mentioned. Nature of samadhi. Effect of nondual experiences.

29:54 – 32:40 Sikh friends into chasing miracles. Marian movement. Fear of miracles.

32:40 – 34:50 Entheogens. MAPS Conference. http://www.maps.org. Usefulness and danger of entheogens.

34:50 – 37:58 Charlie is asked what his greatest strengths are at this point in his life. People finding healing, finding oneness with nature and self. Nature of nondual relationship as dualistic, nature of talking about nonduality.

37:58 – 40:15 Charlie talks about his mother and father in relation to his understanding of the nondual. View of western civilization regarding nonduality. His friends. Ron Nadeau and Spirit House. http://spirithousehealing.org/home

40:15 – 43:14 Charlie is asked why he thinks northern California is a hotbed of nondual interest. Feeling blessed to live in that area.

43:14 – 48:21 Charlie is asked about the property he lives on. Talks about the power of his 70s style sound system for the Temple. Drum circle compared to a good amplifier. Ron Nadeau’s interest in sound healing and the Temple.

48:21 – 51:18 Charlie talks about his walks in the Shell Ridge Open Space and about the Space itself and how it reveals itself and how it saved his life.

51:18 – 53:16 Comparing life in the Open Space to life in the city. Charlie’s walks on the beach, now that he’s not living adjacent to the Open Space.

53:16 – 54:17 Charlie tells of an experience on Shell Ridge walking late at night. The moon.

54:17 – 55:20 An experience on Shell Ridge with fog.

55:20 – 57:23 The shaktipat experience with a coyote.

57:23 – 1:00:36 Drumming in the Open Space at sunset and what happened with coyotes.

1:00:36 – 1:02:52 With Steven Doyle and their drums, visiting the frog pond in the Open Space.

1:02:52 – 1:07:32 Crow stories. Comment on sychronicity.

1:07:32 – 1:11:46 Story of his bull mastiff Shaman and walking him through the Open Space late at night. Shooting star coincidences, including Amma http://www.amma.org. The nature of these interviews.

1:11:46 – 1:20:47 The story of the Father Tree. The Dog Tree. The Slide. The impact on high school students taken into the Open Space.

1:20:47 – 1:26:19 Charlie talks about sharing experiences in the Open Space as well as at his developing Temple, Dragonfly Den. The attitude of openness. Resonating with the heart-mind. The themes of intimacy, peace, healing, the nondual. The unsettling nature of stumbling on the nondual.

1:26:19 – 1:31:54 Charlie’s interest in his ancestors in the sense that they are alive in his psyche in some way. Shamanic attitude of time as not existing. Discussion group he belongs to and its diverse interests and openness. Charlie’s activities and interests as essential to health in older age.

1:31:54 – 1:35:15 Not hiding from “the dark stuff” in the world. Concern for younger generations. The difficult times people are facing. Healing the community.

1:35:15 – 1:38:55 Discussion about Randall who works with light and designed a certain kind of projector, a portal of sorts to shamanic realms. Charlie’s work as a portal and not getting in the way of the process of how things are developing around his work. The meanings of words and assuming the other person understands your meanings. Believing vs recognizing.

Writings and stories by Charlie Engel:

Karma and a $87 Million Settlement on Behalf of Labor

The Hollow Hill Human Head and the Fallen Pine

Hiking Trip — By Sarah Laue
by Charlie Engel

Charolette

Experiencing Oneness — A Testimony

Mother Speaks

A Parasitic Corporate Goliath

Encounters with Rattle Snakes and Coyotes While Drumming in the Open Space

The House of Weeping Statues

True Love Never Dies

Two Crows Dancing

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Nonduality Talk: Interview with Roger Mahaffey

February 1, 2013

Interview with Roger Mahaffey

Roger Mahaffey is 23 years old and lives in Columbus, Ohio. He works at an insurance company in technical support. We talk about thoughts, silence, experience, presence, peace, impermanance, darkness, surrender, how life flows, addiction, action, “no me.” And we talk about the doorways to Roger’s understandings: LSD, psilocybin, talks with his grandfather, Buddhism, Mooji.

Alternative play or Download link:

Interview Tracks/Contents

1:28 – 3:07 Nonduality scene in Ohio. Gar Drolma Buddhist Center. http://www.gardrolma.org/ Garchen Rinpoche.

3:07 – 6:08 Challenge of finding peace. Silences. More Buddhism. Writing. Some rambling.

6:08 – 9:34 Watching thoughts. What is noticed when taking psychedelics.

9:34 – 12:12 How nondualists talk about experience and awareness. Relation to his psychedelic experiences. Talking about silence.

12:12 – 16:47 Roger talks about his experience at work when “fully resting in the moment.” Contentment and experience. Bringing presence to his work. Nature of presence.

16:47 – 18:30 Ajahn Chah and impermanence and how this teaching has changed Roger’s perception of the world.

18:30 – 22:03 Issues with drugs and avoidance of bad sensations and the seeking of good sensations. Addictive behavior as the actual seeking of inner peace. Addiction/recovery.

22:03 – 31:09 Compulsive thought. Meditation as an attempt to control the mind. Experience at a 12 day silent retreat. Transcendence of pain and the meaning given to the transcendence.

31:09 – 35:38 What is the point of such a 12 day silent retreat? Impermanence revisited. Gangaji discussed. Mooji discussed as a teacher Roger finds valuable and his favorite.

35:38 – 41:32 Family. Religious and spiritual life growing up. Talks with his skeptical grandfather at a Chinese restaurant. Education. Meditation in schools.

41:32 – 45:43 Roger gets into nonduality discussions with clients at work. Hypothetical cold call selling of nonduality. The possibility of a cult of awareness.

45:43 – 51:26 Roger’s reaction to the teaching that there’s nothing to teach and you don’t exist. Nothing Ever Happened, by Papaji. Diamond Sutra. Emptiness of emptiness. Negating existence. Impermanance and not knowing. Buddha. What is going on?

51:26 – 56:48 How Roger lives this knowing.

56:48 – 1:00:32 Grace as related to the flow of events in Roger’s life. Lex Gillan. Prayer. Letting go. Faith and neuroscience.

1:00:32 – 1:04:45 Consciousness is not the result of brain activity. Near death experiences. You are what you’re praying to. Mother Theresa. Truth-based way of thinking. Rochelle Arch-Hayostek mentioned. Negative emotions and fear still present.

1:04:45 – 1:07:15 Seeing the void or some knowing in the eyes of some people. More LSD-influenced perceptions. Experience of oneness through eye contact.

1:07:15 – 1:15:08 Using entheogens in controlled conditions. Seeing through your darkness while on psychoactive drugs. Nature of the darkness. Depression. Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Shamans. Icaros. Being forced out of you.

1:15:08 – 1:21:00 Having given up psychoactive chemicals. Roger asks Jerry about his perception, search, and what is seen. Nature of surrender.

1:21:00 – 1:28:03 Roger’s daughter. Long silence. Talking about the Nonduality Highlights. The pace of conversation slows way down. Talking about alternatives to caffeine.

1:28:03 – 1:32:58 Roger talks about things he sees happening in his life in the near future. The nature of the flow of his life these days. Contentment. His friends.

1:32:58 – 1:34:58 Roger’s opinion of nonduality on the internet. Suggestions for improving access to the Nonduality Highlights.

1:34:58 – 1:42:25 Time. “This.” Deep peace. Feeling like you need nothing. The urge to action. How do you know what to do next? Findings of neuroscience regarding action. Rafael Stonemen. Thinking.

1:42:25 – 1:48:35 No thought. Eating mushrooms and the experience of “no me.” “I don’t have a clue of what I’m doing at work, but it goes pretty well.” Flowness. Drug-induced seeing compared to sober seeing. Neem Karoli Baba and LSD.

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Nonduality Talk Interview: Ella Joy McGillivray

January 29, 2013

Ella Joy McGillivray lives in Shropshire, U.K. with her parents Paul and Jeannie McGillivray and attends high school. She’s 15 years old. On Facebook I announced that I was looking for “young people” to interview. I was anticipating people in their twenties. When Jeannie suggest Ella, I thought yeah, sure, this could be ground breaking. And I really wanted to find out how Ella spoke and related to her friends.

You may know Jeannie and Paul through their website www.meetingtruth.com/ which lists “everyone’s” upcoming events and satsangs. It’s a great resource and under constant development as new teachers and features are added. You can actually buy event tickets through the site.

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/ellamcgillivray28jan2013.mp3

(Photos selected by Ella and include shots with her mother and father.)

“Tracks”

0:00 – 1:52 Introduction to Ella, her parents Jeannie and Paul. Being raised in a household where nonduality makes up the values and way of looking at things. School.

1:53 – 4:07 Ella tells of talking to a boy who felt lost and unhappy and how she spoke to him.

4:08 – 7:18 Ella talks about her relationship with her mother and elaborates on how she speaks to her peers from the place of nondual understanding.

7:18 – 9:31 Singing, dancing, and art are discussed. Ella can sa-a-ang and may be heard here:

9:31 – 11:43 Chanting and other interests at the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012.

11:43 – 12:50 Interests in school classes.

12:50 – 14:42 Nonduality teachers Ella likes. The two teachers Ella couldn’t think of in the interview, she later told me were Gangaji and Adyashanti. And the amazing Sufi teacher at SAND 2012, whose name neither of us could think of, was Ashegul Ashki, who may be viewed at http://vimeo.com/926726

14:42 – 15:51 Coming from experience. Ella’s mother Jeannie being her influence or teacher.

15:51 – 21:44 Ella’s use of the word nonduality with her friends and in Religious Education class.

21:44 – 23:19 Sharing these teachings and experiences with friends.

23:19 – 24:15 Comments on spiritual practices.

24:16 – 25:33 Harry Potter.

25:33 – 29:05 Impact of the book/dvd The Secret. Dealing with self-image, mind set, and outlook on life, and how it affects you.

29:05 – 30:03 Influence of the book Flip It on self-image and attitude.

30:03 – 30:59 Ella’s group of friends, their values and interaction.

30:59 – 33:22 Ella speaks to people’s pain. Suffering.

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Interview with Rafael Stoneman

January 25, 2013

Interview with Rafael Stoneman

Rafael Stoneman is part of “Advaita Heart, a small group of friends and family that live in the Ojai Valley who consistently offer support to one another in practical ways.” He writes, “We enjoy each others company and meet regularly to share the highs and lows of our relative situations with the continual focus on remaining fixed in the Absolute awareness. We enjoy making films, offering a hand to those in greater need than us, or just laughing about the paradoxes of our non-dual lives.” Find out more here: http://ah-nonprofit.com/advaita-heart/

Play or Download link:
http://nonduality.com/rafaelstoneman10jan2013.mp3

Interview contents with time cues:

0:00 Background (1 minute)

1:00 The nonduality scene. Neo-advaita, traditional advaita, and general nonduality compared. (3 1/2 minutes)

4:30 Rafael’s activities in the world of nonduality. Nondualists as artists. (3 minutes)

7:44 Self-realization. Limitations of nonduality as it is. Awakening. Spiritual searching. (3 minutes)

11:01 Rafael’s group that meets in Ojai. Talking about nonduality with different people and the “awareness of being present.” Having difficulty being with people who aren’t interested in awareness or who aren’t self-realized and Rafael’s experience with that perception. (4 minutes)

14:47 Life after awakening regarding the expression of qualities of his temperament. Anger issues. Lif change at age 34. Personal life. (4 minutes)

19:11 Going to India. Personal life. Self-inquiry as a practice compared to self-inquiry as living. (3 minutes)

22:31 Silence. More about self-inquiry practice and living. Self-inquiry as presence, as being who you are. (4 minutes)

26:39 The nature of mind. (2 minutes)

28:14 Bodywork, being non-verbal, being more mentally active.

30:10 The teachers Rafael likes and follows out of joy and passion. (2 minutes)

31:43 Rafael asks about Jerry’s interviews and background. “I like talking to people who have nothing to say.” Jerry’s background with nonduality and some spiritual biography. (4 minutes)

36:07 “While I see that everyone is the Self, I don’t see everyone as self-realized,” Rafael says. Not all good teachers are self-realized but are good at teaching. The nature of people talking about this stuff. (4 minutes)

40:08 Rafael’s relationship and experience with Robert Wolfe. (7 minutes)

47:27 “This human experience is painfully beautiful.” Sadness and joy in the world and in Ojai specifically. The global sense of interconnectedness. Alleviating suffering as one’s work. (3 minutes)

50:30 The vision for non-institutionalized meeting places around North America where people experiencing an awakening may go for support. Role of meetup.com to find such groups and nature of such groups. (5 minutes)

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