288. Peter Fenner

Buddha at the Gas Pump

Rick Archer

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.7 • 695 Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2015

⏱️ 104 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Peter is a leader in the Western adaptation of Buddhist wisdom. He is a pioneer in the new field of nondual psychotherapy. He was a celibate monk in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions for nine years. He has a Ph.D. in the philosophical psychology of Mahayana Buddhism and has held teaching positions at universities in Australia and the USA. He has taught workshops at Naropa University, the California Institute for Integral Studies, Omega Institute, and other centers, and given invited presentations at JFK University, Saybrook College, Stanford Medical School, Columbia University, and internationally. Peter’s way of teaching is known for its dynamic and engaging deconstruction of all fixed frames of reference that block entry to unconditioned awareness, and for the purity and depth of natural, uncontrived silence that emerges in his work. He also has a unique capacity for sharing the skills and states of his transmission in a way that others can easily understand and begin to replicate the nondual transmission. Books: Radiant Mind - Teachings and Practices to Awaken Unconditioned Awareness (Audio) Radiant Mind - Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Book) Realizing Unconditioned Awareness Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy (Omega Books) The Edge of Certainty: Dilemmas on the Buddhist Path ESSENTIAL WISDOM TEACHINGS Websites: nondualtraining.com peterfenner.com wisdom.org Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 4/18/2015 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:07 - Distinguishing between intellectual understanding and direct experience 00:08:19 - Sourceless Bliss 00:12:35 - The Progressive Development of Experience 00:16:29 - Starting at the End 00:20:59 - Cultivating Peace and Serenity Amidst Difficulties 00:25:16 - The Paradoxical Nature of Non-Doing and Non-Dualism 00:29:40 - The Purity of Resting in Awareness 00:33:49 - The Purpose of Meditation 00:37:05 - The Practice of Doing Nothing 00:40:22 - Not Knowing and Presence 00:44:17 - The Ground of Subjectivity 00:47:26 - The Mystery of Awareness and Non-Duality 00:51:14 - Diversity of Non-Dual Approaches 00:54:39 - Neuroplasticity and the Nature of Enlightenment 00:58:35 - The Expansiveness of Enlightenment 01:02:03 - Resting as pure awareness in any state 01:05:39 - Collective Psychological Problems 01:09:15 - Dissolving Hidden Baggage and Flowing Life 01:13:00 - Exploring Devotion and Awareness 01:16:57 - The Concept of the Mind Stream 01:20:34 - Finding Inspiration in the Lineage 01:24:26 - Regaining the Natural State 01:28:19 - Embodiment and Integration 01:32:07 - Retreat in India and Nepal 01:35:49 - Nutty People and Spirituality 01:39:33 - Appreciating What We Have 01:43:18 - A Lifelong Passion 01:46:29 - Holding Up the Stick 01:50:09 - The Structure of the Course: Three Workshops 01:53:17 - Future Topics

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The Welcome to Buddha at the gas pump.
0:28.6	This show is an ongoing series of interviews with spiritually awake or awakening people
0:35.6	to check out the hundreds of interviews already done and various other
0:40.9	things on the site. Go to batgap.com. There's a donate button there if you'd like to support our
0:45.4	efforts. My guest today is Peter Fenner. I've had the pleasure of listening to Peter's book,
0:52.0	Radiant Mind for the last week and got through
0:55.0	pretty much the whole thing. And it's funny, Peter, as I'll explain who you are in a minute,
0:59.5	but it's funny as I was listening to the book. I really felt like we were brothers from another
1:04.1	mother in a sense because, I don't know if you've heard that expression, but I felt such a
1:09.3	resonance with everything you were saying didn't
1:11.6	really have much to disagree with, which doesn't always happen. Sometimes when I listen
1:15.6	to teachers read their books, I'm a little critical, I think that points a little off or
1:20.7	whatever, to my own understanding. But I just felt a lot of resonance with what you were saying
1:24.7	and it's ironic in a way because we come from very different traditions. You know, you're from a Buddhist tradition. I have more of a Hindu
1:31.6	tradition background, although I don't know if you consider yourself a Buddhist, but I don't
1:35.5	consider myself a Hindu. But in any case, I could have written the book myself in a sense
1:39.7	if I were as good a writer because of what you're saying. And just about everything you said for me was like a springboard to an interesting discussion,
1:49.0	but for the most part I was, in fact, not at all, was I taking notes.
1:53.0	I was cutting the grass, riding my bicycle, doing all the things I usually do, and that's
1:57.0	how I managed to listen to all this stuff.
1:58.0	But I have a feeling that we're just going to hit it off and have a great conversation and
	...

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