About this episode
This “insubstantial figure in the dream, pointing to the Divine Dreamer,” has lived and studied the nondual essence of our sacred traditions for 40 years since an utterly life-changing, spontaneous awakening to God or Reality in his 16th year in the hills of Southern California. Fortunately, Timothy met many enlightened masters, especially in Advaita Vedanta (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Annamalai Swami, and others among Sri Ramana Maharshi’s immediate followers, Amma Amritanandamayi, Anandamayi Ma, Mother Krishnabai, Dadaji of Calcutta, et al.) and various lines of Buddhism (Taungpulu Sayadaw, Shifu Hsuan Hua, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Seung Sahn, et al.), as well as spiritual adepts in Taoism, Sufism, and mystic Christianity and Judaism. Timothy has freely shared the “pathless path” of deep spirituality for over 25 years in satsangs and in free ongoing education classes at Santa Barbara City College. Books: Women of Power & Grace: Nine Astonishing, Inspiring Luminaries of Our Time and the forthcoming India's Sages-- Volume 1, India's Sages: Nondual Wisdom from the Heart of Freedom, which profiles 40 authentic sages from the modern era; the even more massive Volume 2, India's Sages Source Book: Nondual Wisdom from Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas, Tantrics, Sants, Sikhs & Sufis, features over 120 wonderful sages and scriptures from India's "living past." A trilogy of works focusing on nondual spirituality, religion, science, and political justice is also in preparation. Print interview with Timothy can be found at: The Sun magazine, April 2003 cover story See also: Homepage for Timothy's massive website on many aspects of our Sacred Traditions The Nondual Spirituality section of the website For lightening up via humor, includes a link to an illustrated Zen humor page compiled by Timothy Free downloadable audio recordings of Timothy's weekly satsangs Summary and Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 7/14/10. Second BatGap interview with Timothy. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:17 - Tim's Personal Journey and Interest in the Personal 00:08:00 - Struggling with Depression and Identity Crisis 00:11:15 - The Profound Opening 00:15:09 - Divine Intervention and the Transformation 00:19:05 - The Franciscan Way and the Suchness of Being 00:23:33 - A Life-Changing Experience 00:27:05 - A Profound Change in Perception 00:30:55 - The Bedrock Sense of Joy and Maintaining Pure Awareness 00:34:37 - Astrological Background and Opening to Spiritual Vertigo 00:38:26 - The Presence of God and the Separation 00:42:22 - Challenging Non-Mystical Religiosity 00:46:10 - Meeting Dan, the History of Consciousness 00:49:26 - Who are you beyond concepts, beyond self-labels? 00:53:03 - Dan: A Significant Influence 00:56:59 - The Power of Stillness and Letting God Take Over 01:00:45 - The Fascination with God 01:03:48 - A Tragic Loss 01:06:14 - From Burma to India: A Spiritual Journey 01:09:16 - Divine Encounters in the Cave 01:13:10 - Sri Maharaj's Different Aspect 01:19:33 - Multiple facets of Maharaj 01:21:04 - The Struggle with Different Teachings 01:24:35 - The Paradox of Instruction 01:28:29 - The Vitality Meditation and the God of Your World 01:32:57 - The Dangers of One-upmanship in Spiritual Teachings 01:36:43 - Abuse of Power and Loneliness in Spiritual Communities 01:40:33 - The Evolution of Teachers and Their Contributions 01:44:44 - The Reasons for Intense and Painful Situations 01:48:46 - Concluding Remarks and Farewell 01:51:26 - End of Audio