About this episode
Gillian Ross has always found it difficult to put a label on her spiritual perspective. If pressed she would describe herself as a Christian Buddhist yogi and mystic with a penchant for Taoism! Over recent years, however, she has been happy to call herself a spiritual evolutionary or evolutionary mystic in the tradition of Teilhard de Chardin in the West and Sri Aurobindo in the East. Born in the UK in 1940, she migrated to Australia as an academic in the early sixties. Her Western education gave her an Honours Science Degree, a Masters degree in Philosophy and a Doctorate in the Behavioural Sciences but left her feeling increasingly restless and unfulfilled. There was a growing awareness that her intellectual conditioning had disconnected her from the natural spontaneity and mystical riches of her childhood. The deep love she felt for her children awakened lost memories of spiritual connection. She began to meditate, practice yoga and study Eastern philosophies. In her early forties, she left her marriage, her city life, and academic career and took her family of two young sons, two dogs and two cats off to the Blue Mountains of NSW to explore an alternative lifestyle. She has never looked back! After many years of feeling like a fish out of water, she came to understand what it means to “flow in the current of the Eternal Tao”. She trained as a yoga teacher and shiatsu therapist and has become a best selling ABC author (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) of relaxation and meditation CDs and a yoga video as well as publishing four books on science and mysticism and the evolution of consciousness. After her sons left home she moved even further into the wild. Over the last 20 years, she has fallen in love with 40 acres of natural bush adjacent to a powerful sacred aboriginal site in Northern NSW. She nurtures it as a haven for spiritual retreats and residential weekends on evolutionary spirituality and mystic meditation, delighting in sharing with others some of the philosophies and practices that have helped to bring her out of spiritual bleakness into a lasting sense of peace, purpose and, above all, joy. Books: Consciousness V Catastrophe: Reflections on the Next Stage of Human Evolution Psyche's Yearning: Radical Perspectives on Self-Transformation CD: Relaxation Audio CD Links: Website: drgillianross.com Connection: An Awakening Experience (blog post) Consciousness V Catastrophe: Reflections on the Next Stage of Human Evolution (YouTube video) Email: drgillianross@gmail.com Toolgoolawa School (mentioned in the interview) Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Summary and transcript of this interview. Interview recorded August 24, 2019 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:05:58 - The Consciousness Revolution and Evolutionary Spirituality 00:10:36 - Evolutionary Mysticism and the Driving Force of Evolution 00:18:14 - Awakening the Collective Consciousness 00:24:19 - The Power of the Awakened Heart 00:29:04 - Problems with Paleolithic Emotions and God-like Technology 00:35:29 - The Emergence of a New Consciousness and Humanity 00:39:58 - Getting Established in the Self for the Faith Transition 00:43:35 - The distinction between emotions and feelings 00:48:31 - The Sacredness of Life and Our Treatment of Animals 00:53:48 - The Shadow Side of Non-dualism 00:58:21 - The Science of Spirituality and the Impact of Consciousness 01:02:30 - The Scientific Method and Mystics 01:06:27 - A Journey of Mystical Awakening 01:11:05 - Awakening the Mystical Anatomy 01:16:10 - The Awakening of the Third Eye 01:20:06 - Awakening to the Divine Within 01:24:08 - The Injection of Feminine Energy 01:28:32 - Flowing with the Stream of Consciousness 01:32:40 - The Snowflake Self and Connectivity 01:36:19 - Finding Fulfillment and Reawakening Genius 01:40:04 - Buying a House and Finding the Lemon Grove 01:42:43 - Guides and Spiritual Insight 01:45:37 - Surrendering to the Divine Will 01:48:46 - The Framework of the New Story 01:51:43 - Stabilizing High Levels of Consciousness 01:54:42 - Universal Mysticism and Connecting with the Sacred 01:57:51 - The Transition from Ego to Essence 02:00:48 - The Power of Love and Sacred Activism 02:03:13 - Getting More Involved and Staying Updated 02:05:28 - Encouragement to Write a Book