My teachers were the sun, moon, stars, dirt, wind, trees, and the critters. All of them were preaching the truth…. ~ The Hillbilly Sutra
There is a hidden spiritual goldmine tucked away in rural Tennessee. He doesn’t consider himself a spiritual teacher and rarely speaks in public or does interviews on this topic.
Fortunately, he agreed to be on the Journals of Spiritual Discovery podcast. When our original interview ran into technical problems, he went to a professional studio and recorded a nearly two hour account of his spiritual path and the wisdom revealed along the way.
Sit back and be transported by the poetic storytelling of this Hillbilly Sutra.
Daniel Ingram is author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and a leading proponent of Buddhism as a practical path to enlightenment in this lifetime. He’s played a key role in keeping Buddhism vital and accessible while also grounded in the core teachings. If you’re on a Buddhist path or thinking about exploring such, you’ll be well served by this interview of Daniel Ingram.
The two main traditions that Daniel Ingram followed in his spiritual search — Christopher Titmus and crew, and Mahasi Sayadow — and an impressively quick recitation of nearly every retreat he attended including the Bhavana Society (Theravada Buddhism), and dashes of Kadampa Buddhism and Vajrayana. [13:30]
A key divergence among the traditions Daniel practiced occurred in their relationship to “the ten defilements.” Daniel found the Vajrayana model of dealing with negative emotions more optimal for awakening than the Theravada model. [19:31]
The meditation Daniel teaches is “relentlessly Thervadan,” but he does not use all of their maps. [22:20]
What’s the deal with Daniel calling himself an “arahat” and ia Enlightenment the end of the search? [23:55].
The distinction between Arahatship and Buddhahood. [28:55]
Radically restructuring his life to fit his spiritual search. [31:54]
Does following Daniel’s book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, lead to enlightenment? Also, the high success rate of Mahasi Sayadow insight retreats. [32:46]
Is there a danger that following a detailed map will lead to imaginary experiences? No, because doing the practices is a self-correcting process. [34:55]
Common traps on the spiritual search. Daniel’s book and Jack Kornfield’s A Path with Heart do a nice job outlining the stages of the path. [42:42]
The “shadow side” of practices and how friends can help us see them. [49:00]
The Dharma Overground — a place for Dharma discussion with talented and experienced students and teachers. [54:20]
If one is tired or fidgety, how do they adjust their energy level during meditation? [1:02:00]
The phenomenon of Buddhist groups who don’t talk about attaining Enlightenment and how the Dharma Overground was formed to address this. [1:11:15]
Daniel’s view on rebirth. In short, awaken now rather than wait! [1:15:30]
Australia: land of koala bears, kangaroos, Vegemite, and enlightened Aussies like Eddie Traversa. Eddie is in the unique position of being both a psychotherapist and awakened, which gives him a deep perspective as well as a broad tool set with which to help clients.
In our interview, he discusses why he doesn’t focus on helping people towards enlightenment, the importance of developing a relationship with the unconscious, and getting unstuck from patterns. Along the way, we share a laugh about the motivational qualities of revenge and our fondness for the film American Beauty.
Note that Eddie passed away in 2022. It is tragic when the spiritual scene loses an authentic teacher and friend. They are too few, and Eddie was one of the good ones. He wrote, “I am passionate about trying to help people,” and he was. That was the part of Eddie that I knew and appreciated. So hold the lessons you learned from Eddie tight, make them part of your life, and then let’s step forward into the breach and do our part to help.
This 1.5 hour interview with Michael Taft seemed to fly by, leaving me immediately wanting a Part 2. As you will see, Michael is deeply knowledgeable about meditation and succinctly explained the paradox of the observer watching the observer–a meditative trap which dumbfounded me for many years. Michael Taft’s wide-ranging experience defines a person who refuses to believe something just because somebody told him. That quality of respectful doubt shines through as we explore his life and views on awakening.
Doing serious Hindu practice for several years. [23:30]
Going deep into spiritual systems, while not ignoring the areas they fail to address, and how different traditions have different aspects of awakening they emphasize. [25:30]
The shadow side of spiritual traditions. [27:25]
Sri Ramakrishna‘s awakening in 36 different traditions. [33:30]
Lex Hixon’s book about Sri Ramakrishna: Great Swan. [34:25]
Disappointment when people insist there is only one way to get to enlightenment. [35:20]
Is there an end to the spiritual path? [39:06]
The idea that there is a perfect spiritual master is a recipe for disaster. [43:45]
Avoiding the bliss-ninny. [48:10]
The danger of spiritual bypass. [50:30]
What is the ego? [54:55]
Getting past the failure mode of “I am the meditator/witness” and how this failure mode is a common critique of Vipassana. [58:43]
The trap of the observer watching the observer and how to overcome this. [1:05:19]
How meditation makes available some of the massively deep parallel processing happening unconsciously in the mind. [1:12:40]
For more about Michael Taft, check out his Mindful Emotions Training, guided meditations and more at themindfulgeek.com, and his blog posts and hundreds of articles at deconstructingyourself.com. [1:20:00]
When Paul Rezendes was kind enough to write a blurb for the back cover of Images of Essence, my book collaboration with Bob Fergeson, I had no idea there was anything more to Paul than being a talented nature photographer and wildlife tracker. A few years later, a friend recommended I watch of series of videos featuring him. I was immediately hooked by Paul Rezendes’ unique way of presenting self inquiry as “tracking the mind.”
I hope you enjoy this interview, as it brings to light the passion for truth that Paul Rezendes’ life exemplifies and which he emphasizes with those he meets.
In Paul’s late 20’s he had a “wake-up call” about his life. [4:15]
Most of the time we’re looking for self-gratification, but if the Truth becomes more important than that there is a possibility of something to happen. [5:40]
Paul was the leader of two different motorcycle gangs! [8:20]
One of his first questions was “What’s fear?” [10:00]
How most movies and music strum the strings of the ego self. [1:08:50]
Art and the creative process. [1:11:05]
“Awakening isn’t a reaction to something.” [1:14:18]
Anyone is welcome to email Paul or join his online dialogue group. [1:17:44]
There is also a free, feature-length documentary called The Inner Tracker that has Paul Rezendes and a number of other notables in the tracking community gathered to talk about a “new” kind of tracking: the tracking of the self. I have a background in environmental education, so found it interesting to see some of the participants tightly bound to concepts and identities around protecting nature, confronted by the fundamental question of “who is it that believes they are saving something?”
Australia: land of koala bears, kangaroos, Vegemite, and enlightened Aussies like Eddie Traversa. Eddie is in the unique position of being both a psychotherapist and awakened, which gives him a deep perspective as well as a broad tool set with which to help clients.
This 1.5 hour interview with Michael Taft seemed to fly by, leaving me immediately wanting a Part 2. As you will see, Michael is deeply knowledgeable about meditation and succinctly explained the paradox of the observer watching the observer–a meditative trap which dumbfounded me for many years. Michael Taft’s wide-ranging experience defines a person who refuses to believe something just because somebody told him. That quality of respectful doubt shines through as we explore his life and views on awakening.
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