Enza is my life partner and I simply love how absolutely nothing is excluded in her realization ... every part of her life, and our lives cannot help but be a part of the expression of the Divine. Awakening to This, as This ... excludes nothing ... I love it how awakening can express itself in so many ways through so many views ... let's keep celebrating the Shift in Consciousness that is gathering momentum across the planet!
I love Enza's clarity and the flavour of Awareness as it manifests through her unique filter. Each awakening journey is like a petal in a flowering lotus: beautiful, unique and filled with love. It creates a beautiful and expanding mandala along with all the other unfoldings that are happening on our planet. I didn't understand everything that she said, but that seems increasingly unimportant: I recognize that my understanding is over-rated and not really even required. Instead what is clear is the experience of love and the feeling of heart-opening that these two hours have given me. For this I am very grateful.
To all the negative comments and personality critics I say this: BATGAP is billed as conversations with ordinary people. Two people simply talking about experiences they've had. It is not training. It is not Satsang. It is not an infomercial or teaching or anything other than a simple conversation. If what they say resonates for you, great! If not, move on. No need to cut down and criticize the people talking. That kind of judgment says more about you than about the speakers.
T Flanagan Here here. However I would say that polite discussion in the spirit of goodwill is warranted. We're all in this together and we need to work this out together. The two problematic extremes (in my humble opinion) are blind acceptance/worship and blind rejection/condemnation.
I enjoyed this interview because of the way it made me feel in my body - I felt a stillness and a truth from Enza's presence. When I listen to any interview or speaker I listen with my HEART literally and then notice how I feel in my body rather than focusing too much on the words they are saying with my intellect. I find that gives me more information on a vibrational level that then translates into a new state of being for me. Then the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of what the speaker is expressing trickles across into my mind on a conscious level. That's what work for me - I use my Heart Brain.
Thank you for the great guest Rick! What a beautiful, genuine lady! I believe most of us could find something helpful in this story whether it is their past experiences or how her recognition happened as we all share different paths in this life. It was helpful here when body issues got mentioned or depression. There were body issues here and some depression. It was funny when Enza mentioned spending time in her backyard and loving it! Same happened here. There was also resistance of going to work - couldn't stand wasting my time at work when I wanted to enjoy the emptiness that was full of love and space! I have to admit one thing to both of you: Yes, one can grasp it with 'You are already that and there is nothing to do' or 'Who is the one that meditates'. If one is open to teaching, to the energy around words of a good teacher, it can be very quick. No years need be wasted - just relax into it. 'What am I' or 'No labeling' or 'Are you aware right now' can get one to recognise their true self in no time (literally). Anyway, love this site as it brings us all together - all of us that make change to this planet. Such energy is stronger when joined together. BTW, I enjoy reading your magazine Enza. I look for it around health stores. Leo and you seem lovely couple. It is great when both partners have the same interest. Cheers!
This interview is filled with the non dual oneness, love and joy of the true Self. In truly mature and full Self-realization, a spontaneous love flows nondually in/by/from the transcendent Reality to the Self within all manifestation. An alive blissful zest for life and a heartfelt love and gratitude is spontaneously expressed over the realization that the One is somehow the Many, and the Many are really only and always this One, i.e., that Emptiness is Form, and Form is Emptiness. “All this is indeed Brahman” (Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma) (Chândogya Upanishad, iii.14.1) I have listened to this interview a few times and every time it fills my heart with love for the One Being in all beings and for the world and the people who live here.
A *2.0 on the new -3 to +3 scale. Disclaimers at the end of the comment.* Great guest, great interview, highly recommended ! Perfect fit with the by Rick stated purpose of the channel. Beyond that, I will go out on a limb and say that she is the real thing, at least I think she has established permanent grounding in what she basically is which is what I basically am. She is unpretentious and authentic, I feel a lot of sympathy with this woman even in the human sense. And the interview was conducted pretty much perfectly, congratulations, Rick, good boy, keep going ! I hope I am not just too tired to do much Waldorfing today... _About the rating: anything below and including 0 means by and large a waste of time, and anything below 0 is not only worthless but damaging to the world. For comparison, on that scale, Francis Bennett would be a +2 or more and Harri Aalto would be roughly a tentative +2 to +2.5. Not coming up with original, independent cosmological insights bans any interviewee from > 2.0 ratings as a matter of principle._ *General Disclaimer:* the rating _pertains to an interview, not to the interviewee_. If the rating is high it means merely and exclusively that I consider the interview to be of high value relative to the stated purpose of the channel, and that it is therefore no waste of time to listen to the interview. It would _not_ imply that whatever the interviewee speaks is the truth (as if I was the arbiter over that) or that you should follow him/her or accept whatever that person offers. _That is particularly in need of emphasis if that would be an expensive enterprise_ !
Meditation is like a beloved... ...it says... ...come on... ...come on... ...come on just for five minutes... But once you truly come... ...it holds you in a loving, tender yet tight embrace... ...it whispers softly into your soul... ...now that you feel so good... ...why do you want to leave and go somewhere else... Even if you insist on going... ...it asks... ...don't you want me to come along too... After that... ...even if you leave you mediation... ...it lingers in your heart... ...like a soft, soothing, calm fire... ...and, with its love fully planted into your heart... ....you are never, ever truly alone...
Ezra...I had to listen to every word you said because right from the beginning there was an amazing coincidence...I too was born with an eye that to this day is legally blind. I also had dreams that I remember from early age (actually 3 or 4) of flying in the sky in a box above my house. I also had very lucid dreams and had a couple quick flashes of being in another life but not as clear as your discriptions and so many other similarities. Went through many studies and currently practice with a combination of Complete Reality Taoism and Buddhism (no particular school...I will appreciate all points of view and Sutras and I have my own modified system)...I also appreciate the Hindu history (as I try to understand all history with each school of thought). More things too but I'm being brief. Anyways, I could hear you loud and clear and that was nice. Probably some of your states I haven't been to but I feel in sync with your experiences. I'm all alone and cannot communicate what I know to anyone (even friends and family) because most people can't grasp a little of all this. Strange because it is normal to me because I've been at this for so long. Pretty much was always coming to this. So it is nice to know others on this planet exist and I really felt a kinship to you. So thank you for sharing.
Which one keeps your thinking mind going: A. This is not it. There must be something else. In fact, very likely there is something else. I must find what is that something else. Or B. Let me pay full attention to what is here right now in this very moment. Let me fully experience this moment. Let me live as if this is the only moment. ?
I have noticed Rick's role seems to shift from time to time from the Host to Guru.Please be careful, cos Rick you do a great job normally and many people including myself receive great inspiration from so many of your mostly awakened guests. thank you
james kelly I wonder why he can't do this, (if that's what he is indeed doing?) All of us can go from listener to Expresser, it's how we manifest as a response?
Julian Bates I really dont want to listen to concepts from people who have a great intellectual understanding about awakening.Give me the real deal please.
So strange that the interviewer is so versed in all these texts, is quoting them almost as a nervous habit, has been meditating since the 60s and yet seems to have no intention of becoming realised himself. Nice interview though - lovely to see an awakened person who is so vivacious.
Advaita Vedanta sees the ajnana (ignorance), jnana (true knowledge), bondage (believing one self to be a bodymind and thus suffering) and liberation (ceasing to mistake one self to be the body mind) and its cure as a knowledge pursuit. Advita Vedanta states that the problem is primarily the wrong understanding and the solution is the right understanding. The problem that occurs due to ignorance goes away with the correct understanding. One might experience great fear and anxiety on mistaking a rope for a fierce snake. On mistaking it as such, one can even break into the sweat of terror. However, once one clearly knows the rope to be a rope, the fear goes away on its own and the sweating too subsides. The fear, the confusion, the anxiety, the confusion one experiences because of mistaking oneself to be the bodymind goes away automatically after one stops mistaking (him/her)self to be the bodymind. Nothing else is needed. The ajnana or ignorance exists only as long one mistakes (him/her)self to be a bodymind... ...or... ...a person.
Thank you Rick for demonstrating what a hard-core, fundamentalist, believer sounds like :-) Rick expressed too much of his personal opinions and biases in this interview. In the parts that I have listened so far (till 35:12), Rick seems to have talked much more and listened less. Further, he expresses his opinions very strongly and there seem to be almost no room for negotiation. He sounds pretty much like a hardcore fundamentalist - who seems to think "I know it all" and "what I know is the one and only truth". He sounds really "dam sure" of all his "opinions" being the absolute truth.
Gilles Vachon Dear Sri Giles Vachon Bhagwan: I have heard this kind of "reasoning" many times before: 1. If you don't like George Bush's presidency, you should leave USA and live somewhere else :-) 2. If you don't like some of the American policies such as large corporations like GE and Boeing paying no taxes, you should get out and start your own country :-) 3. If you think food that you got today at the restaurant was bad, you should start your own restaurant :-) 4. If you don't like the last movie you watched, go and make your own movie :-) 5. If you don't like the last book you read, go and write your own book :-) 6. If you think that the high school teacher is not teaching math well, become math teacher yourself :-) I don't find this line of reasoning that impressive :-)
***** Dear Gabriel: I think it is fairly easy and the trick is in the very sentence I am writing. When I say "I think" or "in my opinion", "in my view", I attempt to make it clear that I am aware that this is is just my view and it may or may not be the ultimate truth. With that admission I have no big resistance to welcoming, listening to and seriously considering an "opposite" point of view. OTOH... ...if I mock, ridicule, make fun of or seriously criticize any opposing point of view, I diminish the possibility of it being seriously discussed. By admitting that what I say is "my opinion" or "my view", I acknowledge that hold my "knowledge" "very lightly" and that I would be fine if my "knowledge" changes tomorrow.
***** Dear Gabriel: It is both "what you say" and "how you say" like the tone of the voice, the laugh, the body language :-) Let me find specific examples. Try this: ruclips.net/video/EPftUDOsiLc/видео.html Pay attention to the laugh too :-) Listen for about 3-4 minutes.
I sort of had a past (=simultaneous) life experience once, but I sort of look back at it as a daydream, even though it seamed very convincing (I was a different person with different ideas and preferences etc.) I wonder how sure Enza is about the fact that it was 'real'.
some dude The way I look at reincarnation is simply that we are all made of the same 'thing': 1 consciousness. This 'subtle body' just doesn't make sense IMO...
The interviewer's constant harping on those whose understanding is merely intellectual(eg. around the 35min.mark) and on the advaitist's position of ''there is nothing to do'' etc. And linking the two. This is in virtually every interview. It makes the interviews almost propaganda. And I think most viewers know whose understanding is largely intellectual.
***** OK, point well taken. I ran into this a lot when I first started Batgap, and even before that, listening to all the Urban Guru Cafe interviews, but maybe, as you say, the spiritual community in general has moved beyond that phase. I'll try to shut up about it, unless someone I'm interviewing is singing that tune. If I relapse and start harping on it again, please call me on it.
What does thinking that "I am not done" and "x, y, z are not done" buy you? In what aspect this thinking is useful or necessary? What does thinking "Ramana is done" or "karunamayi is done" buys you? What does being "done" mean to you? Where do you think you will end up once you are "all done"? Do you feel the need to divide people into categories, levels, hierarchies and to label them accordingly? Is it important to you that others agree with you and that others too think like you?
Am I peaceful right now in this moment? Isn't that question enough? What does it matter if Ramana was done or not if xyz is done or not? Does that peace right now in this moment truly depends on it? Have I given myself the task of bookkeeping of the entire humanity and to assign a category, level and a label to everyone?
What is likely to keep the thinking mind busy thinking - wondering who is done and who is not and comparing x with y... ...or... ...not bothering with who is done and who is not and simply focussing on my own state right now in this very moment? Which one is likely to promote peace and relaxation right in this moment - focussing on my own inner state right in this moment and not bothering with anything... ...or... ...to keep wondering who is done nan who is not and keep comparing x with y? Which one would you recommend as a spiritual practice - constantly comparing x with y or Ramana... ...or... ...simply focussing on the experience right now?
Which one is likely done by the habitual, social, ego mind - constant comparing of this with that... ...or... ...simply focussing on the present experience? Which one is likely done by the wise mind - simply focussing on the present experience... ...or... ...constantly comparing this with that? Which one is to likely feed and strengthen the ego mind further - constant comparison or focussing on the present experience? Which one you are doing?
Everyone's favorite teacher: Sri Ramana Maharshi ======================================= Question:In the jnani the ego subsists in the pure form and therefore it appears as something real. Am I right? Sri Ramana Maharshi: The existence of the ego in any form, either in the jnani or ajnani, is itself an experience. But to the ajnani who is deluded into thinking that the waking state and the world are real, the ego also appears to be real. Since he sees the jnani act like other individuals, he feels constrained to posit some notion of individuality with reference to the jnani also.
Question: How then does the Aham-Vritti (‘I’ thought, the sense of individuality) function in the jnani? Sri Ramana Maharshi: It does not function in him at all. The jnani’s real nature is the Heart itself, because he is one and identical with the undifferentiated, pure consciousness referred to by the Upanishads as the Prajnana (full consciousness). Prajnana is truly Brahman, the absolute, and there is no Brahman other than Prajnana.
Question: If the jnani and the ajnani perceive the world in like manner, where is the difference between them? Sri Ramana Maharshi: Seeing the world, the jnani sees the Self which is the substratum of all that is seen; the ajnani, whether he sees the world or not, is ignorant of his true being, the Self. Take the instance of moving pictures on the screen in the cinema-show. What is there in front of you before the play begins? Merely the screen. On that screen you see the entire show, and for all appearances the pictures are real. But go and try to take hold of them. What do you take hold of? Merely the screen on which the pictures appeared. After the play, when the pictures disappear, what remains? The screen again. So with the Self. That alone exists, the pictures come and go. If you hold on to the Self, you will not be deceived by the appearance of the pictures. Nor does it matter at all if the pictures appear or disappear. Ignoring the Self the ajnani thinks the world is real, just as ignoring the screen he sees merely the pictures, as if they existed apart from it. If one knows that without the seer there is nothing to be seen, just as there are no pictures without the screen, one is not deluded. The jnani knows that the screen and the pictures are only the Self. With the pictures the Self is in its manifest form; without the pictures it remains in the unmanifest form. To the jnani it is quite immaterial if the Self is in the one form or the other. He is always the Self. But the ajnani seeing the jnani active gets confounded.
You might scoff at the intellectual understanding, but Advaita Vedanta as in jnana yoga is about the clear intellectual understanding alone. It has nothing to do with how you feel, what you experience or what visions, dreams or supernatural powers you have.
Jñāna yoga is knowing beyond name and form through pure understanding of the nature of doer, who when seen in clarity results in liberation. This path is different from other forms of Yoga in a sense that other form emphasizes on a structured way of experiencing reality through a process of crystallization carried by doing different forms of meditation. However this path simply states that only knowing is enough. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana_yoga
TOA (Transmission of Awakening) It is not and NEVER mere intellectual understanding. Otherwise it would be in a book, and we could test ourselves... but it has to get your BEING. Like a child, if it isn't direct, and include your emotions integrated/one with that, it will not convince us. Like anything learnt in life, NOTHING is with just one 'centre', otherwise it wont be learnt properly. Even academically, there needs to be an understanding, an appreciation, not just head-learning per se! I am intrigued why you are so adamant on this - when, for me and others, it is NOT so!
Julian Bates The view that you expressed is a very common view and it is the view that many gurus have expressed. Advaita Vedanta says differently. Advaita Vedanta says that the problem that occurred due to ignorance goes away with right understanding. One might experience great fear and anxiety on mistaking a rope for a fierce snake. On mistaking it as such, one can even break into the sweat of terror. However, once one clearly knows the rope to be a rope, the fear goes away on its own and the sweating too subsides. The fear, the confusion, the anxiety, the confusion one experiences because of mistaking oneself to be the bodymind goes away automatically after one stops mistaking (him/her)self to be the bodymind, nothing else is needed. The ajnana or ignorance exists only as long one mistakes mistaking (him/her)self to be a bodymind... ...or... ...a person.
TOA (Transmission of Awakening) Dear Expert on Miss A. Vedanta - I speak only from what I have learnt meaningfully from experience. And we use words in our own way...but, for me, Understanding the nature of the above examples you have described, involves the whole being... the intellect about the least.
Julian Bates Can you please describe the difference between the intellectual understanding and the understanding from the whole being? Do you mean understanding + experience in place of just understanding. For example, one can intellectually understand that eating moderately, eating junk food and sugar less and getting plenty of physical exercise and time outdoor is good for health; yet one might not truly follow it in practice?
What is the point of giving subjective info, your past lives, your flashing lights..etc. How you arrived to a place of the enlightenment is not important, and the more you embellish the experience with such out of the world experiences, the more you are putting people off this endeavour of finding their true self. For every enlightened person there are a 100 fakesters who say the same things. If you really care about people, you would keep the drama out of the tale. I have seen enlightened people who can help other people out without referring to their experience . Paul hidderman is one, Byron Katie is another.
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot I beg to differ with your take of what was shared. Hearing of one's experiences does not lessen or take away from another; but rather; it is the knowledge of such experiences that opens one's awareness to what may or can occur. Had I tuned into this interview 15yrs ago; what I experienced then would've gone a whole lot smoother; knowing that you're not going crazy, and things are unfolding as they are meant to. This was one of the most free-flowing interviews I have ever tuned into - no pretense; no sense of there being any attempts made at 'witholding' a perfectly destined transmission! Enza Vita - I could stare into your eyes all day!
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot Ordinary spiritually awakening people can make use of opportunities to compare their own experiences with those of others. Also, it's valuable to document the worldwide phenomena of awakenings that are occurring in people who are not aligned with a particular tradition.
What is enlightenment ? It's the knowledge that the brain is limited by its information. That if you want to be at peace, thoughts produced by this limited brain are not going to help. Imagine I have 50 Lego( limited info ) blocks that I can use to reproduce the form of a real fish I see in a fish bowl in front of me. You can imagine what my version of the fish would look like, ....so if I talk about my experiences of enlightenment, its going to misguide more than help. Those unenlightened will take the Lego fish for the real fish. Which is why I appreciate Byron Katie's method, , she works with challenging the beliefs of the person who is suffering. She asks four questions, the result is that the belief precipitates, is exposed for the person to see. It's so effective.
Light is one… ...but, the lamps are many… What is the lamp? Is it the body? What is the light? Is it Consciousness? Is the light an entity? Does it really take birth and does it really die? If it does, when does it take birth and when does it die? Where does the light go when you blow out a lamp or a candle? Where does the light go when you break and destroy the candle? Does the (same) "light" take another birth? Does the light has "soul"? Do the light of this candle, that candle, this lamp, that lamp, sun, star... ...all have separate, independent "souls"?
What “does” the candle need to do to realize “light”? What candle “can” do to realize “light”? Can candle “really” realize light? … What does the “light needs to do” to realize light. …
Is the “light” a process or an independent thing? What happens to the lamp “light” when the oil runs out? What happens to the sunlight when its gases run out?
At the level of light… ...there are no essential, basic difference between this light or that light. Light is light. One light might be brighter but, that is not because of the light, it is because of the fuel that is burning. At the level of the candle, lamp, star or sun, there are differences. Stars (or candles) do get born and do die. Candles do have states, on or off, burning or not. When you see yourself as the “light”, you also see others as “light” and with that “seeing” the conversation changes. When you see yourself as the lamp, you also see others as a lamp and you think what applies to the lamp such as… ...birth and death… ...states… ...levels… ...destinations… ...age… ...applies to you and also to others.
This problem of “states”, “levels”, “destination”, “progress”, “rebirth”, “reincarnation”, “refinement” doesn’t apply to those who sees himself/herself and others as the “light”... ...seeing them and others as the “light” alone… ...they talk of the truth at that level and in that context… ...as long as you “hold on” to your view of you and everyone being the “lamp”... ...you can’t truly understand the conversation that can is spoken purely from the perspective of light… ...and, this holding on to the “lamp perspective” creates a great confusion in understanding and responding to the “truth” of the “light” perspective…
Enza is my life partner and I simply love how absolutely nothing is excluded in her realization ... every part of her life, and our lives cannot help but be a part of the expression of the Divine. Awakening to This, as This ... excludes nothing ... I love it how awakening can express itself in so many ways through so many views ... let's keep celebrating the Shift in Consciousness that is gathering momentum across the planet!
An authentic expression of living the awakened, enlightened and realized life.
I love Enza's clarity and the flavour of Awareness as it manifests through her unique filter. Each awakening journey is like a petal in a flowering lotus: beautiful, unique and filled with love. It creates a beautiful and expanding mandala along with all the other unfoldings that are happening on our planet. I didn't understand everything that she said, but that seems increasingly unimportant: I recognize that my understanding is over-rated and not really even required. Instead what is clear is the experience of love and the feeling of heart-opening that these two hours have given me. For this I am very grateful.
To all the negative comments and personality critics I say this: BATGAP is billed as conversations with ordinary people. Two people simply talking about experiences they've had. It is not training. It is not Satsang. It is not an infomercial or teaching or anything other than a simple conversation. If what they say resonates for you, great! If not, move on. No need to cut down and criticize the people talking. That kind of judgment says more about you than about the speakers.
T Flanagan Here here. However I would say that polite discussion in the spirit of goodwill is warranted. We're all in this together and we need to work this out together. The two problematic extremes (in my humble opinion) are blind acceptance/worship and blind rejection/condemnation.
David Watermeyer Agreed.
Great to a see a humble and silent invitation into the great mystery.
Clear open beautiful aliveness brightened by palpable love.
I appreciated the clarity with which Ms Vita describes awakening to the collective Oneness.
I enjoyed this interview because of the way it made me feel in my body - I felt a stillness and a truth from Enza's presence. When I listen to any interview or speaker I listen with my HEART literally and then notice how I feel in my body rather than focusing too much on the words they are saying with my intellect. I find that gives me more information on a vibrational level that then translates into a new state of being for me. Then the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of what the speaker is expressing trickles across into my mind on a conscious level. That's what work for me - I use my Heart Brain.
Thank you for the great guest Rick! What a beautiful, genuine lady! I believe most of us could find something helpful in this story whether it is their past experiences or how her recognition happened as we all share different paths in this life. It was helpful here when body issues got mentioned or depression. There were body issues here and some depression. It was funny when Enza mentioned spending time in her backyard and loving it! Same happened here. There was also resistance of going to work - couldn't stand wasting my time at work when I wanted to enjoy the emptiness that was full of love and space! I have to admit one thing to both of you: Yes, one can grasp it with 'You are already that and there is nothing to do' or 'Who is the one that meditates'. If one is open to teaching, to the energy around words of a good teacher, it can be very quick. No years need be wasted - just relax into it. 'What am I' or 'No labeling' or 'Are you aware right now' can get one to recognise their true self in no time (literally). Anyway, love this site as it brings us all together - all of us that make change to this planet. Such energy is stronger when joined together.
BTW, I enjoy reading your magazine Enza. I look for it around health stores. Leo and you seem lovely couple. It is great when both partners have the same interest. Cheers!
The clearest explanation and example of what we are and what is left when the ego falls away.
Presents a clear view of the spiritual path and belongs on the "short list" of Batgap interviews.
I?m really loving this video. Thumbs up!
Love it!!!!
This interview is filled with the non dual oneness, love and joy of the true Self. In truly mature and full Self-realization, a spontaneous love flows nondually in/by/from the transcendent Reality to the Self within all manifestation. An alive blissful zest for life and a heartfelt love and gratitude is spontaneously expressed over the realization that the One is somehow the Many, and the Many are really only and always this One, i.e., that Emptiness is Form, and Form is Emptiness. “All this is indeed Brahman” (Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma) (Chândogya Upanishad, iii.14.1)
I have listened to this interview a few times and every time it fills my heart with love for the One Being in all beings and for the world and the people who live here.
Profound Wisdom and Clarity here.
God bless you!
I noticed all the positive comments before I watched the video and now I see why. Great video mate. You really outdid yourself
A *2.0 on the new -3 to +3 scale. Disclaimers at the end of the comment.*
Great guest, great interview, highly recommended ! Perfect fit with the by Rick stated purpose of the channel. Beyond that, I will go out on a limb and say that she is the real thing, at least I think she has established permanent grounding in what she basically is which is what I basically am. She is unpretentious and authentic, I feel a lot of sympathy with this woman even in the human sense. And the interview was conducted pretty much perfectly, congratulations, Rick, good boy, keep going ! I hope I am not just too tired to do much Waldorfing today...
_About the rating: anything below and including 0 means by and large a waste of time, and anything below 0 is not only worthless but damaging to the world. For comparison, on that scale, Francis Bennett would be a +2 or more and Harri Aalto would be roughly a tentative +2 to +2.5. Not coming up with original, independent cosmological insights bans any interviewee from > 2.0 ratings as a matter of principle._ *General Disclaimer:* the rating _pertains to an interview, not to the interviewee_. If the rating is high it means merely and exclusively that I consider the interview to be of high value relative to the stated purpose of the channel, and that it is therefore no waste of time to listen to the interview. It would _not_ imply that whatever the interviewee speaks is the truth (as if I was the arbiter over that) or that you should follow him/her or accept whatever that person offers. _That is particularly in need of emphasis if that would be an expensive enterprise_ !
Meditation is like a beloved...
...it says... ...come on... ...come on... ...come on just for five minutes...
But once you truly come... ...it holds you in a loving, tender yet tight embrace...
...it whispers softly into your soul... ...now that you feel so good... ...why do you want to leave and go somewhere else...
Even if you insist on going... ...it asks... ...don't you want me to come along too...
After that... ...even if you leave you mediation... ...it lingers in your heart... ...like a soft, soothing, calm fire... ...and, with its love fully planted into your heart... ....you are never, ever truly alone...
The face of the Divine Feminine.
Enjoyed every word.
Ezra...I had to listen to every word you said because right from the beginning there was an amazing coincidence...I too was born with an eye that to this day is legally blind. I also had dreams that I remember from early age (actually 3 or 4) of flying in the sky in a box above my house. I also had very lucid dreams and had a couple quick flashes of being in another life but not as clear as your discriptions and so many other similarities. Went through many studies and currently practice with a combination of Complete Reality Taoism and Buddhism (no particular school...I will appreciate all points of view and Sutras and I have my own modified system)...I also appreciate the Hindu history (as I try to understand all history with each school of thought). More things too but I'm being brief. Anyways, I could hear you loud and clear and that was nice. Probably some of your states I haven't been to but I feel in sync with your experiences. I'm all alone and cannot communicate what I know to anyone (even friends and family) because most people can't grasp a little of all this. Strange because it is normal to me because I've been at this for so long. Pretty much was always coming to this. So it is nice to know others on this planet exist and I really felt a kinship to you. So thank you for sharing.
Thanks for this video Rick,
To be honest, thats the first woman Iam resonating with.
Its refresing and kind a new.
Loved the interview and the clear explanation on how to naturally return to our underlying perfection.
I like all of your videos. Keep it up!
I found your video on Facebook and I?m happy I did. Really good stuff.
Great stuff!!
Wow. Great video! Very impressive.
Which one keeps your thinking mind going:
A. This is not it. There must be something else. In fact, very likely there is something else. I must find what is that something else.
Or
B. Let me pay full attention to what is here right now in this very moment. Let me fully experience this moment. Let me live as if this is the only moment.
?
Great video as usual. :)
I have noticed Rick's role seems to shift from time to time from the Host to Guru.Please be careful, cos Rick you do a great job normally and many people including myself receive great inspiration from so many of your mostly awakened guests. thank you
james kelly I wonder why he can't do this, (if that's what he is indeed doing?) All of us can go from listener to Expresser, it's how we manifest as a response?
Julian Bates I really dont want to listen to concepts from people who have a great intellectual understanding about awakening.Give me the real deal please.
Awesome video. Consider yourself one subscriber richer.
So strange that the interviewer is so versed in all these texts, is quoting them almost as a nervous habit, has been meditating since the 60s and yet seems to have no intention of becoming realised himself. Nice interview though - lovely to see an awakened person who is so vivacious.
Funny how life is a mirror
Yep, this one is definitely the real deal.
Rick, the indian saint you're talking about in 45:00 is Sri Ramakrishna, right?
Advaita Vedanta sees the ajnana (ignorance), jnana (true knowledge), bondage (believing one self to be a bodymind and thus suffering) and liberation (ceasing to mistake one self to be the body mind) and its cure as a knowledge pursuit.
Advita Vedanta states that the problem is primarily the wrong understanding and the solution is the right understanding. The problem that occurs due to ignorance goes away with the correct understanding.
One might experience great fear and anxiety on mistaking a rope for a fierce snake. On mistaking it as such, one can even break into the sweat of terror. However, once one clearly knows the rope to be a rope, the fear goes away on its own and the sweating too subsides.
The fear, the confusion, the anxiety, the confusion one experiences because of mistaking oneself to be the bodymind goes away automatically after one stops mistaking (him/her)self to be the bodymind. Nothing else is needed.
The ajnana or ignorance exists only as long one mistakes (him/her)self to be a bodymind... ...or... ...a person.
Thank you Rick for demonstrating what a hard-core, fundamentalist, believer sounds like :-)
Rick expressed too much of his personal opinions and biases in this interview. In the parts that I have listened so far (till 35:12), Rick seems to have talked much more and listened less. Further, he expresses his opinions very strongly and there seem to be almost no room for negotiation. He sounds pretty much like a hardcore fundamentalist - who seems to think "I know it all" and "what I know is the one and only truth". He sounds really "dam sure" of all his "opinions" being the absolute truth.
Gilles Vachon
Dear Sri Giles Vachon Bhagwan:
I have heard this kind of "reasoning" many times before:
1. If you don't like George Bush's presidency, you should leave USA and live somewhere else :-)
2. If you don't like some of the American policies such as large corporations like GE and Boeing paying no taxes, you should get out and start your own country :-)
3. If you think food that you got today at the restaurant was bad, you should start your own restaurant :-)
4. If you don't like the last movie you watched, go and make your own movie :-)
5. If you don't like the last book you read, go and write your own book :-)
6. If you think that the high school teacher is not teaching math well, become math teacher yourself :-)
I don't find this line of reasoning that impressive :-)
*****
Dear Gabriel: I think it is fairly easy and the trick is in the very sentence I am writing.
When I say "I think" or "in my opinion", "in my view", I attempt to make it clear that I am aware that this is is just my view and it may or may not be the ultimate truth. With that admission I have no big resistance to welcoming, listening to and seriously considering an "opposite" point of view. OTOH... ...if I mock, ridicule, make fun of or seriously criticize any opposing point of view, I diminish the possibility of it being seriously discussed.
By admitting that what I say is "my opinion" or "my view", I acknowledge that hold my "knowledge" "very lightly" and that I would be fine if my "knowledge" changes tomorrow.
***** Dear Gabriel: I hope it is clear that I express my "subjective" experience/opinion/view only :-)
***** Dear Gabriel: It is both "what you say" and "how you say" like the tone of the voice, the laugh, the body language :-) Let me find specific examples.
Try this:
ruclips.net/video/EPftUDOsiLc/видео.html
Pay attention to the laugh too :-) Listen for about 3-4 minutes.
***** Not sure if I understood everything you wrote. Too many views expressed in one paragraph, I guess :-)
I sort of had a past (=simultaneous) life experience once, but I sort of look back at it as a daydream, even though it seamed very convincing (I was a different person with different ideas and preferences etc.) I wonder how sure Enza is about the fact that it was 'real'.
some dude The way I look at reincarnation is simply that we are all made of the same 'thing': 1 consciousness. This 'subtle body' just doesn't make sense IMO...
Those 'beings' (1:46:44) are The Muses
The interviewer's constant harping on those whose understanding is merely intellectual(eg. around the 35min.mark) and on the advaitist's position of ''there is nothing to do'' etc. And linking the two. This is in virtually every interview. It makes the interviews almost propaganda.
And I think most viewers know whose understanding is largely intellectual.
***** OK, point well taken. I ran into this a lot when I first started Batgap, and even before that, listening to all the Urban Guru Cafe interviews, but maybe, as you say, the spiritual community in general has moved beyond that phase. I'll try to shut up about it, unless someone I'm interviewing is singing that tune. If I relapse and start harping on it again, please call me on it.
What does thinking that "I am not done" and "x, y, z are not done" buy you?
In what aspect this thinking is useful or necessary?
What does thinking "Ramana is done" or "karunamayi is done" buys you?
What does being "done" mean to you?
Where do you think you will end up once you are "all done"?
Do you feel the need to divide people into categories, levels, hierarchies and to label them accordingly?
Is it important to you that others agree with you and that others too think like you?
Am I peaceful right now in this moment?
Isn't that question enough?
What does it matter if Ramana was done or not if xyz is done or not? Does that peace right now in this moment truly depends on it? Have I given myself the task of bookkeeping of the entire humanity and to assign a category, level and a label to everyone?
What is likely to keep the thinking mind busy thinking - wondering who is done and who is not and comparing x with y... ...or... ...not bothering with who is done and who is not and simply focussing on my own state right now in this very moment?
Which one is likely to promote peace and relaxation right in this moment - focussing on my own inner state right in this moment and not bothering with anything... ...or... ...to keep wondering who is done nan who is not and keep comparing x with y?
Which one would you recommend as a spiritual practice - constantly comparing x with y or Ramana... ...or... ...simply focussing on the experience right now?
Which one is likely done by the habitual, social, ego mind - constant comparing of this with that... ...or... ...simply focussing on the present experience?
Which one is likely done by the wise mind - simply focussing on the present experience... ...or... ...constantly comparing this with that?
Which one is to likely feed and strengthen the ego mind further - constant comparison or focussing on the present experience?
Which one you are doing?
Everyone's favorite teacher: Sri Ramana Maharshi
=======================================
Question:In the jnani the ego subsists in the pure form and therefore it appears as something real. Am I right?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The existence of the ego in any form, either in the jnani or ajnani, is itself an experience. But to the ajnani who is deluded into thinking that the waking state and the world are real, the ego also appears to be real. Since he sees the jnani act like other individuals, he feels constrained to posit some notion of individuality with reference to the jnani also.
Question: How then does the Aham-Vritti (‘I’ thought, the sense of individuality) function in the jnani?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: It does not function in him at all. The jnani’s real nature is the Heart itself, because he is one and identical with the undifferentiated, pure consciousness referred to by the Upanishads as the Prajnana (full consciousness). Prajnana is truly Brahman, the absolute, and there is no Brahman other than Prajnana.
Question: If the jnani and the ajnani perceive the world in like manner, where is the difference between them?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Seeing the world, the jnani sees the Self which is the substratum of all that is seen; the ajnani, whether he sees the world or not, is ignorant of his true being, the Self.
Take the instance of moving pictures on the screen in the cinema-show. What is there in front of you before the play begins? Merely the screen. On that screen you see the entire show, and for all appearances the pictures are real. But go and try to take hold of them. What do you take hold of? Merely the screen on which the pictures appeared. After the play, when the pictures disappear, what remains? The screen again.
So with the Self. That alone exists, the pictures come and go. If you hold on to the Self, you will not be deceived by the appearance of the pictures. Nor does it matter at all if the pictures appear or disappear. Ignoring the Self the ajnani thinks the world is real, just as ignoring the screen he sees merely the pictures, as if they existed apart from it. If one knows that without the seer there is nothing to be seen, just as there are no pictures without the screen, one is not deluded. The jnani knows that the screen and the pictures are only the Self. With the pictures the Self is in its manifest form; without the pictures it remains in the unmanifest form. To the jnani it is quite immaterial if the Self is in the one form or the other. He is always the Self. But the ajnani seeing the jnani active gets confounded.
Existence cannot be conceptualized. I have to be prior to thought. That means I am not human for human is an idea.
You might scoff at the intellectual understanding, but Advaita Vedanta as in jnana yoga is about the clear intellectual understanding alone. It has nothing to do with how you feel, what you experience or what visions, dreams or supernatural powers you have.
Jñāna yoga is knowing beyond name and form through pure understanding of the nature of doer, who when seen in clarity results in liberation. This path is different from other forms of Yoga in a sense that other form emphasizes on a structured way of experiencing reality through a process of crystallization carried by doing different forms of meditation. However this path simply states that only knowing is enough.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnana_yoga
TOA (Transmission of Awakening) It is not and NEVER mere intellectual understanding. Otherwise it would be in a book, and we could test ourselves... but it has to get your BEING. Like a child, if it isn't direct, and include your emotions integrated/one with that, it will not convince us.
Like anything learnt in life, NOTHING is with just one 'centre', otherwise it wont be learnt properly. Even academically, there needs to be an understanding, an appreciation, not just head-learning per se!
I am intrigued why you are so adamant on this - when, for me and others, it is NOT so!
Julian Bates The view that you expressed is a very common view and it is the view that many gurus have expressed. Advaita Vedanta says differently.
Advaita Vedanta says that the problem that occurred due to ignorance goes away with right understanding.
One might experience great fear and anxiety on mistaking a rope for a fierce snake. On mistaking it as such, one can even break into the sweat of terror. However, once one clearly knows the rope to be a rope, the fear goes away on its own and the sweating too subsides.
The fear, the confusion, the anxiety, the confusion one experiences because of mistaking oneself to be the bodymind goes away automatically after one stops mistaking (him/her)self to be the bodymind, nothing else is needed.
The ajnana or ignorance exists only as long one mistakes mistaking (him/her)self to be a bodymind... ...or... ...a person.
TOA (Transmission of Awakening) Dear Expert on Miss A. Vedanta - I speak only from what I have learnt meaningfully from experience. And we use words in our own way...but, for me, Understanding the nature of the above examples you have described, involves the whole being... the intellect about the least.
Julian Bates Can you please describe the difference between the intellectual understanding and the understanding from the whole being? Do you mean understanding + experience in place of just understanding. For example, one can intellectually understand that eating moderately, eating junk food and sugar less and getting plenty of physical exercise and time outdoor is good for health; yet one might not truly follow it in practice?
Enza Vita - Buddha at the Gas Pump
What is the point of giving subjective info, your past lives, your flashing lights..etc. How you arrived to a place of the enlightenment is not important, and the more you embellish the experience with such out of the world experiences, the more you are putting people off this endeavour of finding their true self. For every enlightened person there are a 100 fakesters who say the same things. If you really care about people, you would keep the drama out of the tale. I have seen enlightened people who can help other people out without referring to their experience . Paul hidderman is one, Byron Katie is another.
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot Byron Katie talks a lot about her experience. Read "1,000 Names for Joy".
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot Because it's fun.
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot I beg to differ with your take of what was shared. Hearing of one's experiences does not lessen or take away from another; but rather; it is the knowledge of such experiences that opens one's awareness to what may or can occur. Had I tuned into this interview 15yrs ago; what I experienced then would've gone a whole lot smoother; knowing that you're not going crazy, and things are unfolding as they are meant to.
This was one of the most free-flowing interviews I have ever tuned into - no pretense; no sense of there being any attempts made at 'witholding' a perfectly destined transmission!
Enza Vita - I could stare into your eyes all day!
Washing Machine Ka Bhoot Ordinary spiritually awakening people can make use of opportunities to compare their own experiences with those of others. Also, it's valuable to document the worldwide phenomena of awakenings that are occurring in people who are not aligned with a particular tradition.
What is enlightenment ? It's the knowledge that the brain is limited by its information. That if you want to be at peace, thoughts produced by this limited brain are not going to help. Imagine I have 50 Lego( limited info ) blocks that I can use to reproduce the form of a real fish I see in a fish bowl in front of me. You can imagine what my version of the fish would look like, ....so if I talk about my experiences of enlightenment, its going to misguide more than help. Those unenlightened will take the Lego fish for the real fish. Which is why I appreciate Byron Katie's method, , she works with challenging the beliefs of the person who is suffering. She asks four questions, the result is that the belief precipitates, is exposed for the person to see. It's so effective.
Light is one… ...but, the lamps are many…
What is the lamp? Is it the body?
What is the light? Is it Consciousness?
Is the light an entity? Does it really take birth and does it really die? If it does, when does it take birth and when does it die?
Where does the light go when you blow out a lamp or a candle?
Where does the light go when you break and destroy the candle?
Does the (same) "light" take another birth? Does the light has "soul"? Do the light of this candle, that candle, this lamp, that lamp, sun, star... ...all have separate, independent "souls"?
What “does” the candle need to do to realize “light”?
What candle “can” do to realize “light”?
Can candle “really” realize light?
…
What does the “light needs to do” to realize light.
…
Is the “light” a process or an independent thing?
What happens to the lamp “light” when the oil runs out?
What happens to the sunlight when its gases run out?
The core error lies in mixing …”the light and the candle”... ...together and not knowing which one is which.
At the level of light… ...there are no essential, basic difference between this light or that light. Light is light. One light might be brighter but, that is not because of the light, it is because of the fuel that is burning.
At the level of the candle, lamp, star or sun, there are differences. Stars (or candles) do get born and do die.
Candles do have states, on or off, burning or not.
When you see yourself as the “light”, you also see others as “light” and with that “seeing” the conversation changes.
When you see yourself as the lamp, you also see others as a lamp and you think what applies to the lamp such as… ...birth and death… ...states… ...levels… ...destinations… ...age… ...applies to you and also to others.
This problem of “states”, “levels”, “destination”, “progress”, “rebirth”, “reincarnation”, “refinement” doesn’t apply to those who sees himself/herself and others as the “light”...
...seeing them and others as the “light” alone… ...they talk of the truth at that level and in that context…
...as long as you “hold on” to your view of you and everyone being the “lamp”... ...you can’t truly understand the conversation that can is spoken purely from the perspective of light…
...and, this holding on to the “lamp perspective” creates a great confusion in understanding and responding to the “truth” of the “light” perspective…