The Master of Paradox

Fr. Seán ÓLaoire was born in Ireland and earned a B.Sc. degree (major in Mathematics) from the National University of Ireland. Ordained a catholic priest in 1972, he spent 14 years working in Kenya. He is multi-lingual and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology; he is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. He is co-founder and the Spiritual Director of a non-denominational community called “Companions on the Journey” based in Palo Alto. He is the author of five books and co-author of a sixth: “Ukweli ni Nini?” (What is truth?) – written and published in Swahili in 1983 “Spirits in Spacesuits - A Manual for Everyday Mystics”- published in 2003 “Souls on Safari” - published in 2006 - Translated into German in 2007 “A Sensible God” – published in 2008 “Why? What Your Life Is Telling You about Who You Are and Why You’re Here” - published in 2013 (with Matthew McKay, PhD and Ralph Metzner, PhD) - Translated into Korean in 2015 “Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image” - published in 2021 Summary and transcript of this interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded February 25, 2023 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump. Mythology and ‘Thin Places’  00:06:40 - The Wisdom of Proverbs in Different Cultures 00.09:00 Trying to domesticate God  00:12:16 - The Cycle of Knowledge and Ignorance 00:17:39 - The Disadvantages of Incarnation 00.23:20 Transformation of Consciousness  00:23:46 - Ineffective Structures and People's Transformation 00:29:20 - The Rural Electrification Scheme in Ireland 00:34:51 - The Invitation to Self-Transcendence 00:40:08 - The Complexity of Existence 00.41:15 Karma and Pre-conception Contracts  00:45:44 - Pulling Life Over the Cliff 00:51:22 - The Purpose of Incarnations 00:56:54 - Understanding Karma and Destiny 01:00:45 The Science of Spirituality  01:02:47 - Reincarnation in Christianity 01:08:15 - The Three Axes of Spiritual Awareness and Metrics in Spirituality 01:14:12 - The Constraints of the Scientific Method 01:20:35 - The merge of science and spirituality 01:26:15 The Global Awakening  01:26:24 - Awakening to Powerful Spiritual Experiences 01:31:56 - Confrontation and the 80:20 Rule in Spiritual Teachings 01:37:49 - The Types of Civilizations and Our Current State 01:43:41 - The Role of Healing Modalities in Personal Growth 01:43:54 Healing Trauma  01:49:43 - The End of Reincarnation? 01:55:22 - Separating from Narcissists 01:56:34 The Trifurcation of Homo Sapiens Sapiens 02:00:41 - Forming Community and Overcoming Superiority 02:06:17 - The Unity of All Life 02:12:18 - Communicating with Animals