Buddha At The Gas Pump Mega Thread!!!

412. James Wood

Pretty good interview. Loses energy after a bit. I think you could listen to the first 45 minutes and really catch the gist.

Defines awakening as:

Awakening is a full conscious realization of reality.

Enlightenment score: 888 of 1000.

I can't help after listening to so many batgaps thinking that "enlightenment" or "full awakening" is an actual and achievable state of being. And I understand that everyone who gets there basically would agree that it is a full conscious realization of reality. And I think it is the same "place" for all who truly "get there."

But who is to say that this is the actual "truth?" Just because spiritual traditions say this is the ultimate truth, how can we say it actually is? Maybe it is just a unique state of human "being."

I rather like the territory and confess to more than a little dabbling over the years. I tend to be spare and hardcore now, preferring self inquiry (ramana maharshi/robert adams style) which essentially looks at stopping self referential thinking and resting in what remains. That's where the 'nothing to do crowd' comes in, although it is more likely phrased as there being nothing to do as there is no one there to do it.

Thoughts without a thinker territory.

As to the relative merits of all those interviews, I think some suffer from premature awakenings with the need to proclaim being rooted in rather more worldly urges. Caution is certainly required when there are things to buy, especially if the charge is far from nominal. One of my treasured teachers (who claims to be more a spiritual friend) is especially strident in not charging anything at all for his guidance.

As to the relative merits of all those interviews, I think some suffer from premature awakenings with the need to proclaim being rooted in rather more worldly urges. 

Yes. I think that is what makes the podcast interesting. One can see the different levels and flavors of awakening.

Regarding it being "the right time" for any individual, I think you're right. At a certain point getting to the bottom of things can become more of a priority.

In this life one of my main tasks was always going to be uncovering details of reincarnation. It wasn't something which came as a fleeting memory as a two-year old, but rather it came insistently prodding at me in early adulthood, and piecing together the pieces, not just of reincarnation, but the larger picture has been a major preoccupation ever since. Of course there is ordinary life too, work and play and relationships with other people, those things exist too.

In that sense I don't find it possible to see any single life as being "who I really am". The larger picture is where I find my sense of identity.

Have you read Stevensons book? Some compelling stories there.

For me: reincarnation is the thing that convinced me to accept that reality of this stuff. It is just too filled with irrefutable evidence to ignore. As I've said in other posts: I felt that it would be irrational NOT to believe in reincarnation after having read a few books on the subject.

411. Hans Laurentius

Hardcore non-dualist. The "I am happening. You are happening" crowd. No one is "doing" anything.

A bit of a hard slog for Rick in the beginning. Not a lot to go on here. Maybe the language barrier. At one point Rick calls him a big fish in a small pond. Ouch.

Made it to 34 minutes.

Enlightenment score: 547 of 1000.

Have you read Stevensons book? Some compelling stories there.

For me: reincarnation is the thing that convinced me to accept that reality of this stuff. It is just too filled with irrefutable evidence to ignore. As I've said in other posts: I felt that it would be irrational NOT to believe in reincarnation after having read a few books on the subject.

I've read quite a number of books, not sure about Stevenson's. My starting point was Dr Arthur Guirdham - that appealed to me initially because I'd been reading popular books by other psychiatrists - but as I got further into his writing something resonated within me.

When he got around to talking about reincarnation, and talking about the evidence he'd found, it didn't entirely convince me, but it opened a chink of a doorway in me, to the possibility that reincarnation might be real.

Since then, I came to evidence of my own, which I have presented, face-to-face to people a couple of times, just to find out whether I was losing my sanity... but still after decades, little pieces of additional confirmation come to light - things that were impossible to know in the past since they involve obscure stuff which occasionally turns up online in recent years. That was the way it went initially, every time I had doubts, thought I had made a mistake and was deluding myself, the next day I'd encounter another compelling piece of evidence. Eventually it became overwhelming.

I've read quite a number of books, not sure about Stevenson's. My starting point was Dr Arthur Guirdham - that appealed to me initially because I'd been reading popular books by other psychiatrists - but as I got further into his writing something resonated within me.

When he got around to talking about reincarnation, and talking about the evidence he'd found, it didn't entirely convince me, but it opened a chink of a doorway in me, to the possibility that reincarnation might be real.

Since then, I came to evidence of my own, which I have presented, face-to-face to people a couple of times, just to find out whether I was losing my sanity... but still after decades, little pieces of additional confirmation come to light - things that were impossible to know in the past since they involve obscure stuff which occasionally turns up online in recent years. That was the way it went initially, every time I had doubts, thought I had made a mistake and was deluding myself, the next day I'd encounter another compelling piece of evidence. Eventually it became overwhelming.

Yes. Personal experience is pretty convincing. I have some of my own that relate to experiences I had which were validated in a channeled book (Our Home/Nosso Lar) I read years later. That is why I accept channeled books as a "real thing". Not all necessarily, but you know the old saw about the black swan,, it only takes one to complete the proof.

410. Sri M, Second Interview

Indian. Check. Studied with one or more masters named "Babaji". Check. Has "spiritual name." Check.

This guy hits a lot of checkboxes right away!

Slow start through the introduction. Being patient.

Then softball questions from the crowd.

Pretty dry past lives discussion.

Says many times--My path is special. Other people not so much. Many people don't need to know what I need to know. I was chosen.

Some "Autobiography of a Yogi" type stories, but kind of the "B-movie" versions.

Made it to 1:11:00. NEEEXXT!!!

Enlightenment score: 191 of 1000.

[Laird]

I'm loving your reviews, Chuck.