I had been a seeker for most of my life. I began to meditate in 1973 and followed that path for the next 28 years. In 1983 I had a very intense Near Death Experience that left me with a very unattached view on the seriousness of everything. A separation and subsequent divorce in 1991 left me without a reason to continue doing what I had been doing. After visiting Fairfield, Iowa twice a year from 1989, my new wife Cindy and I moved here in 1999, as it was the next obvious thing to do. Our old life had ended and this was a chance to start a new chapter. We jumped right into the group meditation program in the Domes at Maharishi International University but also were fascinated by the fact that Fairfield was Grand Central Station for just about every spiritual teacher on the planet. After sampling the various flavors of all the folks passing thru it seemed obvious that Andy Rymer was the next thing to pay attention to. I found Andy to be a very powerful force and can see his influence on me to finally get that I was awake and had always been awake. From the summer of 2001 through 2010 I kept busy nurturing a group satsang in my home and participating in an informal spiritual discussion group at Revelations Coffee Shop most afternoons as a 12-step program for seekers.
Summary and transcript of this interview
Interview recorded 1/22/2010.
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
00:04:25 - The Journey to Fairfield, Iowa and the Practice of Meditation
00:08:02 - The Transformation Begins
00:11:01 - Interviewing People who've never done TM
00:14:32 - A Near-Death Experience and a Shift in Focus
00:18:05 - A Journey into Transcendental Meditation
00:22:07 - A Shifted Perspective
00:25:25 - The Understanding That I Didn't Create This
00:28:57 - The Dark Night of the Soul
00:31:59 - Angels and Laughter
00:34:58 - Expansion of Perception
00:38:23 - A Strange Encounter with a Black Hole
00:41:26 - Various Spiritual Teachers and Their Influence
00:44:38 - The Profound Meditation Experience
00:48:01 - The Level of the Relative and the Absolute
00:51:16 - The Essential Thing
00:55:22 - The Shift to Universal Consciousness
00:59:36 - The Consciousness of Being
01:03:12 - A Divine Encounter in the Chair
01:06:30 - End of Doubt
01:10:21 - The Value of Gathering with Enlightened People
01:13:48 - The Enthralled Caller
01:17:56 - Functioning in the Relative World
01:21:40 - Unexpected Boat Acquisition
01:24:56 - A Heart Attack Experience
01:28:20 - The Heart Attack Experience
01:31:24 - The Presence in Pain and Suffering
01:35:09 - Changing Your Relationship with Awakening
01:38:40 - The Dangling Carrot Attitude
01:42:35 - The Intimacy of Appreciation
01:45:56 - Closing and Future Satsang Questions
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