Buddha At The Gas Pump

Michael Fischman is a founding member and current president of the U.S. Art of Living Foundation, a non-profit educational and humanitarian organization whose programs have impacted more than 25 million people in more than 140 countries. A former advertising executive with Ogilvy & Mather, he is also the CEO of APEX (Achieving Personal Excellence), the corporate training division of the International Association for Human Values. “For the past twenty years, I have dedicated my life to sharing and growing on a spiritual path that has brought fulfillment and happiness to millions of people around the world,” says Michael. He currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida. Michael's site: http://www.stumblingintoinfinity.com/ Michael's book: Stumbling Into Infinity: An Ordinary Man in the Sphere of Enlightenment Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 1/2/2011. Audio and video below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Michael Fischman and the Art

Ananta grew up in London and left England aged 19, with the desire to live as a free being. This first expressed itself through travel and lead her to Asia in 1989 where she has lived ever since. Searching to find the Truth of herself she found her way to the Osho commune in Pune, India where she explored meditation and Self-awareness groups for more than 10 years, also working with people for several years in the healing fields. In 1994 she entered a two and half year period of silence in a Japanese prison. During this period True Freedom was realized. That which has always been Free, Full and Enough unto Itself! The Peace that is the ground of all experience. The Love that does not need an experience of Love. The happiness that is our True Nature without needing an experience of happiness....  revealed itSelf to ItSelf. Coming back into 'the world' in 1997, there followed a period of confusion as personality and drama began to reappear causing the search to go on. In 2000 she then found her way to Int

Scott Kiloby is an author and international speaker on mindfulness and addiction recovery. Scott is also the founder and director of the Kiloby Center for Recovery. After twenty years of addiction to drugs and alcohol, Scott began to develop Natural Rest for Addiction which has helped people all over the world confront the root of their addiction, anxiety, and depression. Scott was the COO of MyLife Recovery which held the patent on the naltrexone implant. Scott also developed an app that acts as an interface between pain management doctors and their patients to decrease the likelihood of addiction. The app also protects doctors legally from claims of negligence arising out of opiate overdoses. Originally from southern Indiana, Scott was an attorney for several years before becoming an author. He travels extensively across the United States and in Europe giving talks, seminars, and intensives. Along with his work at the Kiloby Center, Scott is also the director and co-owner of the Natural Rest House, a det

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tsetan is Abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, in southern India. He is a Tibetan Buddhist monk from Ladakh, India, who has lived and taught in the United States for more than fifteen years. He began his monastic life at age seven in Stok, his family village.  At age thirteen he joined the Stok Monastery to study and memorize Buddhist scriptures. In 1952, when he was sixteen years old, he walked with his father from Ladakh to Shigatse, Tibet, to enter the famous Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. The 800-mile trek took them over two months to complete. Khen Rinpoche Tsetan received his novice monk vows there and studied Buddhist philosophy at the monastery's Skilkhang College with many prominent Tibetan scholars. His dream was to receive the Geshe degree in Buddhist philosophy, similar in level to that of the Western Ph.D. This dream was deferred for him when the Chinese government intensified its policy of cultural genocide on occupied Tibet in 1959. The daily public h

Dr. Gregory Tucker was a Clinical Psychologist who woke up when he read Wei Wu Wei's "Open Secret," one of eight books Terence Gray wrote between 1958 and 1974. The shift from the lie, right now is real, to the truth, right now is only a Mind generated dream, made him confront the fact "Psychotherapy" is not a people-based event, but only a dreamer-based event, in which the dream features all the problems the dreamer in the dream deals with in the process of defending the fiction it is 'the person' it portrays in the dream. Waking up occurs exactly as fast as the dreamer in the dream surrenders to the fact it can only be a dreamer in this dream, somewhere with that fact, and probably filling time defending the lie it is some kind of a person, and more likely than not, a less than okay person. Seeing 'the truth' prompted Greg to stop working with 'people' to work with the suffering dreamers endure defending the fiction they are people. He calls what he does, "The Recovery Process," which assists dreamers to id

Janet Sussman is a transformational musician, seminar leader, intuitive counselor, and published author. She has given concerts throughout the United States and has created two albums, Bridges and Subtle Bodies. She is known for her ability to use music to create a powerful process of spiritual journeying and awakening. She is also the author of Timeshift: The Experience of Dimensional Change and The Reality of Time, which has been praised by spiritual luminary Dr. Jean Houston as “in the nature of a revelation.” Janet is a specialist in the architecture of the subtle bodies. In her written and musical works, as well as her intuitive counseling, she transmits a consciousness awakening and an opening into celestial light. Students report experiences of unity, of merging with the other while maintaining the core value of the Self. Janet has developed a system of subtle energy balancing called Sunpoint™ which works to enhance the core identity of the individual and bring an experience of transcendent wholeness

Leslie Temple-Thurston is a teacher of enlightenment, who for twenty-two years has wholeheartedly dedicated her life to inspiring and guiding people towards reaching their spiritual awakening at this most important and pivotal moment in humanity’s evolution. “The heart is where heaven and earth meet— it is the place where our human-ness meets and integrates with our divinity. The journey to discover the heart is the journey to find our true humanity—the perfected human being—that which we really are.” — Leslie Temple-Thurston Leslie mentors individual seekers worldwide who are committed to their work of transformation and awakening to higher states. She guides people towards becoming fully conscious of and knowledgeable about the luminous core of light within themselves. She encourages her committed students and many others who come to sit with and study with her, to aspire fully and completely towards the state of mystical enlightenment. Vision holder and founder of the non-profit organization CoreLight,

Ishvara was born in 1945 in Missouri USA and raised a fundamentalist Christian. While involved in church ministry at a young age, he became frustrated with the limitations of restricted belief. He began a quest for truth that led him to explore the great scriptures of the world, but he continually found limitations and contradictions in the interpretations of the core truths. For ten years he owned a metaphysical bookstore on the Oregon coast, where he gave talks and mediation classes. He became widely known for his wisdom and gentle way of teaching. In 1987 Ishvara experienced a quantum leap in consciousness, a profound awakening. Ishvara merged with Life, seeing the universe, seeing love, knowing everything without any trace of doubt. Ishvara became aware of his true being and of the significance of his awakening: a new level of existence had taken birth in human form. Ishvara could not relate his experience to anything that was recorded in any book or scripture. His awakening did not reveal the human li

Jackie O'Keeffe was raised in rural Ireland. Wanting to know about God she studied theology and music. After graduating in the 1980's, Jac found her studies had left her disillusioned and a non-believer. Turning her focus to issues of social inequality, she studied adult and community education, and began her career interweaving community development with the arts. In 1997, her life changed dramatically when her sixth sense awakened. Quite spontaneously, she was able to see chakras, energy fields and auras. Moreover, she could communicate with animals and with those who have passed away. A busy practice in healing work developed within a short time, with Jackie offering private sessions and residential retreats. She developed and delivered holistic programmes that focused on viewing depression as a spiritual awakening rather than a bio-chemical disorder. Using a variety of methodologies, her work had the primary focus of raising consciousness. Jackie continued for seven years as a spiritual teacher, before

Bill Farber passed away in 2016. He practiced his Life Energy Alignment Processes for over 20 years. His work was internationally known due to his advanced distant healing and intuitive abilities. Bill helped people in all walks of life and of all levels of experience, His work facilitated healing, balance, and advancement of consciousness.He had the privilege of providing energy alignment to people facing challenging diseases such as cancer, MS, chronic fatigue, and depression. He also had particular expertise in working with business and human potential leaders in maximizing their effectiveness and raising their level of awareness during challenging times or circumstances. He was a resident of the metropolitan Chicago area. Bill was also a successful attorney and business executive in downtown Chicago. He was married since 1970 to Rona and had two adult children, Brandon and Tiffany. Interview recorded 10/6/2010 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00

From Dana’s Wikipedia page: Dana Sawyer was born in Jonesport, Maine in 1951. Currently he is a full-time professor of religion and philosophy at the Maine College of Art and an adjunct professor of Asian religions at the Bangor Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous published papers and books, including Aldous Huxley: A Biography, which Laura Huxley described as, "Out of all the biographies written about Aldous, this is the only one he would have actually liked." Sawyer has been involved in fund-raising activities for the Siddhartha School Project in Stak, Ladakh, north India, for more than ten years and is currently vice-president of the Board of Trustees. This project has resulted in the construction of an elementary/ middle school for underprivileged Buddhist children that has been visited twice by the Dalai Lama, who holds it as a model for blending traditional and Western educational ideals. Much of his work for this project has involved translating at lectures for (and teaching with) the

I simply awoke. I suffered for more than 20 years with depression, fear, guilt, anger, judgment, confusion, a lack of connection and dis-ease. I lost friends and three lovers over 9 years to AIDS and then was diagnosed with cancer and AIDS in 2003 and thought that I was going to die. But upon introspection I realized that I was more than my thoughts because I was being aware of my thoughts. I realized also that I was more than birth and death. With this realization, all fears of being were absolved and a peace enveloped me that revealed that all is in divine order. I went through “the dark night of the soul”. And as layer upon layer of who I thought I was dissolved, I slowly became more and more self-aware. At one moment I remembered that I am more than any created form and so ultimately they have no true effect on me. Now I am here grateful to utilize the gifts of this body to express the one love from which all flowers. Life is not about something else or something other, it is what is happening now. An

I was born on June 14,1946 in Elizabeth, NJ and now live in North West Jersey. As a child I was aware of a vast stillness each night when I would close my eyes and lay down for sleep. The world seemed to dissolve in a blissful silence each night until waking in the morning. This experience was forgotten until found again while learning Transcendental Meditation. That profound first encounter with meditation set my feet on a path which culminated years later in the realization that our true nature is vast empty stillness that at the same time is full with life. In a very practical sense, this shift in perception has greatly changed reactions to daily life. Every aspect of life is underscored by a spontaneous peaceful acceptance that is beyond intellectual understanding. The world is experienced as arising and dissolving in unconditional knowing. There is no sense of a separate individual struggling or accomplishing anything. Life goes on without anxiety, worry and obsessively mulling over a past that is gone

Takuin Minamoto was born on May 24th, 1973. Despite not having an interest in spiritual seeking, on December 1st, 2006, Takuin exploded into a being devoid of search and searcher. This destructive event ended everything other than what was naturally present. It was an 'accident' beyond the touch of structured teachings. “People have asked about this event and seem to assume that it was a peaceful transition, as if I had cultivated something through time and blissfully 'became the real me,' whatever that means. Still, others think it led to gaining what was desired. But none of that is true. The realization was an explosion that destroyed everything that came before. Nothing was gained, and everything was lost. There were only sensations, and the perception of things happening.” After a short period of re-adjustment, Takuin began writing and exploring words that arose from day to day events and meetings with other people. This led to the eventual creation of Takuin.com - Life Beyond the Image. Today, Takuin s

Guru Swami-G was born March 24, 1950 and started the search to find  God and Truth at a young age. Her journey began in earnest when at the  age of 18 while within an esoteric order Kundalini was awakened during the  evening prayers blessings. The ongoing journey took numerous twists and turns through everything  from new age philosophies - scientology -  deep bible study - through a  very eclectic scenic unfolding. Life brought visiting Navaho medicine men  for ceremonial undertakings to being one of the first initiates receiving the  kalichakra buddhist empowerments in the west. The name given within  the buddhist traditions is Karma Sonam Wangmo which means one that  dedicates all their actions to the good of humanity. There has been  an immersion into not only Buddhist but also hindu traditions such  as Bhakti  (ISKON) - Tantra - Naga Shaivite and finally the Reality  of Advaita. It was a 30 plus year journey from Kundalini Awakening until all imploded  under the Guidance and direction of her Sat Guru i

Richard Quentin 'Rick' Laird is a jazz musician, born on 5 February 1941. He is a bass player best known for his place in The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Laird was born in Dublin, Ireland. He played music from a young age and enrolled for guitar and piano lessons. He started playing jazz after moving to New Zealand at the age of 16 with his father. He played guitar in jam bands in New Zealand before buying an upright bass. After extensive touring in New Zealand he moved to Sydney, Australia where he played with many top jazz musicians including Don Burrows. He moved to England in 1962 and became house bassist at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, playing with many greats including the guitarist Wes Montgomery and Sonny Stitt. From 1963-4 Laird then at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was recorded on Sonny Rollins's soundtrack for the movie Alfie and played in The Brian Auger Trinity (July 1963-February 1964) and The Brian Auger Group (Feb-October 1964). His next step was to go to Berklee College

Gary Crowley was born in 1965 and was raised in Massachusetts as a practical-minded New Englander. He graduated from Stanford University in 1987 with degrees in Economics and Political Science. At a young age, he was attracted to Eastern philosophy and spiritual writings that seemed to offer a glimpse of something greater than the life he had known growing up. However, by 2001, Gary finally gave up on all forms of spiritual seeking after decades on the path. He surrendered under the weight of the many well-intended spiritual teachings he'd accumulated over the years. All the study had not caused the shift in awareness that he'd so earnestly sought and had been so often promised. The problem, he then realized, was that he had been simply piling up concepts without addressing the very foundation - his sense of "self" - that was doing the seeking. He discovered that it is only by dismantling our assumptions about "who we are," rather than merely describing a state of being such as oneness or wholeness, that

Until I was nine, I lived in one of New York City's "melting pot" neighborhoods, where a wonderful mix of freely-mingling cultures, languages and races welcomed me into life on Earth. God, or my conception of God, was always at the center of my life and I conversed freely with the being I had inwardly invented to right wrongs, heal whatever hurt and generally keep the world just and flowing. Facing East I attended college on the West Coast (Portland and San Francisco) in the late sixties, where I discovered many kindred souls seeking deeper meaning and expanded purpose in their lives. Some of these friends turned my attention to teachings from the East—first Zen, and then masters from India. After a focused exploration of some of the life-enhancing modalities available at the time—and there were lots—I learned the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique offered by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Berkeley in 1967. TM's gifts were unmistakable and I started a thirty-year career of devoted service to the Vedic trad

The moment for me was instantaneous. The old me died literally, the new “me” emerged. More accurately stated, awakening took over the life of Doc Roberts as if this worldly life was stamped onto the infinite. Absolutely everything changed from that moment, yet all strangely remained just the same as it was. I’ve been a seeker since the age of 5. I knew a profound truth existed just beneath the surface of the everyday, though somehow ever illusive. Thanks to my capital “D”, Dark Night of the Soul, all my years of meditating, researching, attending retreats, listening to enlightened masters and endless self-improvement programs came to an abrupt halt. The bliss of Truth had dawned. I know from my first moment of conscious realization that life is an incredible gift to be relished and played in. I know there is absolutely nothing to fear, including death, for I did have a direct personal experience of this as well. We are bathed in Divine love and grace every moment. Absolutely everything that occurs in life

Chuck Hillig is a modern spiritual teacher, author and licensed psychotherapist whose clarity of expression has earned him the admiration and praise of many notable writers and lecturers in this area. Chuck writes personally and directly about the essence of non-dual spirituality and presents its astonishing truths to the average reader in ways that are totally unique, completely accessible and absolutely life-changing. Using his studies in both eastern philosophy and western psychology, Chuck’s five unique books present a world view that shows his readers how to fully live a truly enlightened and authentic life in the 21st Century by waking up to who they really are. His books and interviews about non-dualism have been published in nine languages. Chuck appears in the new Leap 3.0 movie as well as in many recent videos on youtube. Chuck Hillig makes his home in Locust Grove, Virginia, and has one heck of a good time living life.   You can contact him at: chuck@chuckhillig.com. Website Chuck Hillig in Pane