Buddha at the Gas Pump

Buddha at the Gas Pump Enlightenment, Awakening For some, this shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For others, it has been so gradual that they may not have realized it has occurred.
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Ordinary people everywhere are undergoing a shift to an Awakened state of consciousness which is transforming their understanding of themselves and the world. Such shifts, or “awakenings,” are not new: Christ spoke of the “Kingdom of Heaven within,” Buddhists speak of Nirvana, Zen masters of Satori, Hindus of Moksha, but these traditions generally regard these states as rare and difficult to attai

n. Many people are therefore skeptical of claims of higher states of consciousness. They find it hard to believe that apparently ordinary friends and neighbors might be experiencing something extraordinary. Maybe they expect Enlightenment to look as remarkable on the outside as it is reputed to be on the inside. This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their experience of spiritual awakening. The terminology is tricky, because there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this experience. Also, enlightenment is not something that an individual person “gets”. It’s not even something that the mind can grasp. It’s an awakening to that which contains the mind and all other things. So it’s not surprising that language is inadequate to convey it. Perhaps those listening to these interviews will become convinced, as we are, that genuine and permanent spiritual awakenings are not just a pipe dream, but are real and are becoming relatively commonplace. Feel free to pose and discuss questions brought up on the show, either on YouTube or in the BATGAP Yahoo group. Occasionally we conduct interviews with individuals who may not have personally experienced an awakening or do not claim to have experienced one. However, their research or academic study or teaching may have contributed significantly to the understanding and experience of spiritual awakenings. Or we may interview an individual who’s work or service has contributed to the raising of collective or individual consciousness and has created heightened awareness of an evolutionary nature. Even less occasionally we may interview individuals with specific awakened abilities such as healers, mediums etc. BatGap’s intention is to inspire and inform. We are not in a position to endorse any of our guests’ teachings, practices, healings, etc. We encourage you to discriminate carefully and make your own decisions before signing up for any retreats, sessions, or healings. Sincerely,

Rick & Irene ArcherRick Archer – show host and webmaster, general overview. Irene Archer – selection of guests, scheduling/processing of guests, general inquiries, accounting, graphics, general overview.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and we’re happy to share another new BatGapBot upgrade we think you’ll love. N...
07/23/2025

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07/16/2025

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For discussion of interview with Savita Veera, see below: https://batgap.com/savita-veera/Savita is a spiritual teacher,...
07/14/2025

For discussion of interview with Savita Veera, see below: https://batgap.com/savita-veera/

Savita is a spiritual teacher, mentor, embodiment facilitator and healer.

She experienced a profound shift in consciousness after great tragedy, followed by years of further spiritual openings, mystical experiences and her own deep healing.

She meets people with generosity, humour and grounded practicality. Providing a safe space for them to open to their own divine light and inner wisdom.

For discussion of interview with Aedamar Kirrane, see below: https://batgap.com/aedamar-kirrane/Former barrister turned ...
06/30/2025

For discussion of interview with Aedamar Kirrane, see below: https://batgap.com/aedamar-kirrane/

Former barrister turned philosopher and writer, Aedamar Kirrane experienced a spontaneous mystical awakening that began in 2015 and continues to unfold. Unable to find any support or understanding within her own Christian tradition she embarked on a deep enquiry to understand the inner dynamics and telos of awakening. She came to believe in life as an original blessing rather than the doctrine of original sin that she thinks has destroyed our sense of ourselves as sacred beings.

Her spiritual autobiography is Light on Fire: Waking Up to Divine Love, published 2021. Through ongoing reflection and curiosity she has developed her own threefold mystical cosmology that understands creation in the pattern of exodus and return; that recognises all of life as sacred, described through the concept of panentheism; and that the purpose of human life is deification or the return to our divine state while still in human form.

All this is set within the context of the Great Awakening we are living through now, of which the human experience is a micro version. She has come to recognise that spontaneity is characteristic of the human experience of an evolutionary shift in consciousness. Aedamar’s awakening is mediated through her mystical and spiritual writing and she recognises sacred writing as its own spiritual path that she calls The Via Scriptoria.
Aedamar’s visions are published on [aedamarkirrane.com](http://www.aedamarkirrane.com/). She blogs at [The New Scriptorium](http://www.aedamarkirrane.com/blog).

Aedamar will be opening a wisdom school called “The Mystical Birth of the True Self” in September. It will be a nine month programme to support awakening to our inner divinity. If you would like to be notified when it is formally announced please visit her website to sign up for hew newsletter or [sign up here](https://www.aedamarkirrane.com/via-scriptoria).

Interview recorded June 21, 2025

For discussion of interview with Jurgen Ziewe, see below: https://batgap.com/jurgen-ziewe-2/Jurgen Ziewe is not a teache...
06/17/2025

For discussion of interview with Jurgen Ziewe, see below: https://batgap.com/jurgen-ziewe-2/

Jurgen Ziewe is not a teacher in the traditional sense, but a witness—one who has journeyed beyond the boundaries of self into the vast stillness of unity consciousness. For over five decades, his life has unfolded as an ongoing exploration of multidimensional reality, shaped by a profound meditation practice and spontaneous Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) that opened the doorway to a deeper truth.

A moment of unexpected clarity during an ordinary breakfast catalyzed Jurgen’s first direct experience beyond the body—an event that would transform his life and initiate hundreds of journeys into higher realms. What he discovered was not theory, but a living presence—structured, luminous, and more real than waking life.

Rather than building an identity around these experiences, Jurgen surrendered ever more deeply into stillness. His work, including the acclaimed books Multidimensional Man, Vistas of Infinity, and The Ten Minute Moment, offers not just insight but transmission—a quiet resonance that awakens something remembered but long forgotten.

Audiences often speak of his presence as calming, expansive, and strangely familiar. His seminars and talks evoke deep shifts—not through persuasion, but through the palpable stillness from which he speaks.

A renowned illustrator by profession, Jurgen now brings his inner visions to life using cutting-edge virtual reality and AI, offering immersive glimpses into realities beyond the senses.
He offers no dogma, only a clear, ego-free reflection of the vast peace and joy available when the self dissolves into unity. His life is not a performance, but a quiet act of service—a transmission from stillness to stillness.

For discussion of interview with Diarmuid O’Murchu, see below: https://batgap.com/diarmuid-omurchu/Diarmuid O’Murchu, a ...
06/02/2025

For discussion of interview with Diarmuid O’Murchu, see below: https://batgap.com/diarmuid-omurchu/

Diarmuid O’Murchu, a member of the Sacred Heart Missionary Order, and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin Ireland, is a social psychologist whose early working life had been in social ministry, predominantly in London, UK. In more recent years he has worked as a workshop leader and group facilitator, conducting programmes on Adult Faith Development across several countries. He is a widely read author, with many of his books listed on this webpage. Now as a retired missionary, he lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Website: [diarmuidomurchu.com](https://www.diarmuidomurchu.com/)

Interview recorded May 17, 2025

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For discussion of interview with Julie Nelson, see below: https://batgap.com/julie-nelson/Julie Seido Nelson is a transm...
05/20/2025

For discussion of interview with Julie Nelson, see below: https://batgap.com/julie-nelson/

Julie Seido Nelson is a transmitted teacher (Sensei) in the Maezumi Roshi Zen lineage. Her home Zen community is the Greater Boston Zen Center, a sangha which has experienced three major upheavals due to teacher arrogance and abuses of power over the last several years. She is also a teacher at the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe, Wisconsin, and has written for Buddhist audiences in Tricycle magazine and on her blog.

Having begun Zen practice in 2004, she has found it to be of immense value. She is deeply saddened when people, either in addition to or instead of realizing the benefits, suffer great harm.
When not reflecting writing about Zen, she sometimes writes and give talks based on her pre-retirement academic work as a feminist and ecological economist. She enjoys visiting her two children and two grandchildren and enjoying the New England outdoors.

Books:
Practicing Safe Zen: Navigating the Pitfalls on the Road to Liberation (Monkfish, 2025)
Economics for Humans (University of Chicago Press, 2nd ed. 2018)

Website: https://julieanelson.com

Interview recorded May 11, 2025

00:00:00 The Myth of Teachers as Exemplars in Education
00:05:07 Measuring Spiritual Attainment and Its Challenges
00:10:46 The Journey to Self-Realization: Insights from Soto Zen
00:14:29 Importance of Ethics in Spiritual Teaching
00:19:30 The Transformative Power of Momentary Cosmic Experiences
00:24:23 Shadow Work and Spiritual Growth
00:28:30 Legal Challenges in Zen Communities
00:32:31 Identifying and Avoiding Cult-Like Spiritual Groups
00:37:38 The Challenges of Becoming a Zen Teacher
00:41:51 Zen and the Importance of a Beginner's Mind
00:46:30 Trusting the Dharma vs. Human Advice
00:50:48 Embracing Buddha Nature Through Life's Storms
00:55:50 Examining Zen Precepts and Self-Awareness
01:00:23 Navigating Zen Teachings and Moral Conduct
01:05:06 The Misunderstanding of No-Self
01:09:12 The Impact of Long-Term Meditation on the Brain
01:14:22 Power Dynamics in Teaching and Spiritual Leadership
01:17:44 Navigating Teacher-Student Boundaries in Dharma Practice
01:21:06 Institutional Misconduct and In-Group Protection
01:25:22 Understanding DARVO: Strategies of Manipulation
01:28:38 Recognizing and Avoiding Cult-like Behaviors in Groups
01:32:04 Understanding Authority in Charismatic Groups and Zen
01:36:13 Discernment in Supporting Charities
01:39:36 The Essence of Dharma Teaching Transmission
01:44:16 Recognizing Genuine Spiritual Awakening
01:48:28 Finding Inner Security Beyond External Influences
01:53:01 Financial Misuse in Spiritual Communities
01:57:21 Navigating the Path to Spiritual Development
02:01:19 Pre-Order "Practicing Safe Zen"
02:03:38 Engaging with Greater Boston Zen Center Online

For discussion of BatGap interview with Jim Grove, see below: https://batgap.com/jim-grove/ Jim Grove is a lifelong prac...
02/21/2025

For discussion of BatGap interview with Jim Grove, see below: https://batgap.com/jim-grove/

Jim Grove is a lifelong practitioner of yogic meditation who grew up in a small logging town on the West Coast of Canada. At age thirteen, he was introduced to a teacher who was one of the few ministers directly ordained by Paramahansa Yogananda during his lifetime, Mother Yogacharya M. Hamilton of Seattle. A series of early transcendental experiences convinced him to commit himself to continued yogic practice under her tutelage. His recent memoir, A Curious Spiritual Journey, recounts some of the prominent experiences that have arisen from his practice over four decades, starting from early adolescence, in the interests of providing some insight into the often unpredictable process of spiritual unfoldment. He likes to speak plainly about spiritual experience and practice, avoiding the vague, abstract, and sometimes inflated language used in much spiritual and new age writing. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

For discussion of interview with Lisa Carrillo, see below: https://batgap.com/lisa-carrillo/Although Lisa worked as a ch...
02/05/2025

For discussion of interview with Lisa Carrillo, see below: https://batgap.com/lisa-carrillo/

Although Lisa worked as a chemical engineer, spirituality always was the priority in her life. In 2009, at a silent retreat, her thought-based identity dropped away, and she saw only the single flow of benevolence in all that is.

When some of those thoughts returned a few weeks later (less convincing than before), there also came a deep curiosity to inquire into those thoughts. She developed many tools to return to a lived experience of the deeper knowing. Both of her books share these tools. All that is is a vibrant expression erupting from a single full emptiness.

Is time itself an illusion created by mind, or does it have a role in the unfolding of spiritual evolution?BatGapBot res...
02/01/2025

Is time itself an illusion created by mind, or does it have a role in the unfolding of spiritual evolution?

BatGapBot responds: Time is often described as an illusion in many spiritual teachings, meaning that it is not an absolute reality but rather a construct of the mind. Here’s a bit more on this perspective:

Mind and Perception: Our minds perceive time linearly—past, present, and future. This perception helps us organize experiences and make sense of the world. Yet, from a higher state of consciousness, such as during spiritual awakening, one might experience time as more fluid or even non-existent. This can manifest as a deep awareness of the eternal "now."

Role in Spiritual Evolution: While time might be an illusion from an ultimate perspective, it plays a crucial role in our human experience. It provides a framework for growth, learning, and evolution. Through the passage of time, we encounter challenges and opportunities that catalyze our spiritual development.

Paradox of Time: Embracing the paradox that time is both an illusion and a tool for evolution can be liberating. It allows us to engage with life fully, appreciating each moment while recognizing the deeper reality that transcends time.

This understanding of time might inspire you to trust the unfolding of your own unique path.

Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For discussion of interview with Eli Recht, see below: https://batgap.com/eli-recht/Born and raised in San Diego, CA, an...
01/14/2025

For discussion of interview with Eli Recht, see below: https://batgap.com/eli-recht/
Born and raised in San Diego, CA, and currently residing in Carlsbad, CA, Eli Recht is a licensed psychotherapist (LMFT), EMDR clinician, spiritual counselor, editor, and teacher of Self-realization.
In 2020, Eli experienced a falling away of ego identity and an awakening to the true nature of Reality. As a result, Eli has dedicated his life to service – to help alleviate suffering, cultivate connection, guide people through the often-confusing journey of Life, and invite others to recognize our shared unconditioned essence.
Eli’s specialty is blending contemporary psychological knowledge with timeless spiritual wisdom and advocating for the integration of these two disciplines.
Website: [elirecht.com](https://elirecht.com/)

723. Eli Recht Click image above to view video. Born and raised in San Diego, CA, and currently residing in Carlsbad, CA, Eli Recht is a licensed psychotherapist (LMFT),

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