539. Zaya & Maurizio Benazzo

Buddha at the Gas Pump

Rick Archer

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.7 • 695 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2020

⏱️ 106 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Zaya Benazzo is a filmmaker from Bulgaria with degrees in engineering, environmental science, and film. For many years, she worked as an environmental activist in Holland and Bulgaria, and later produced and directed several award-winning documentaries in Europe and the United States. Maurizio Benazzo grew up in Italy, and in 1984 came to the United States on a ninety-eight-year-old sailing boat. He started working as an actor, model, and filmmaker, but his thirst for knowledge was only satisfied in 2001 upon encountering I Am That, the seminal work by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, while he was in India shooting the award-winning documentary Short Cut To Nirvana. Maurizio and Zaya merged their lifelong passions for science and mysticism when they met in 2007, and their first project together was filming the documentary Rays of the Absolute on the life and teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. This project sparked their next level of creation and collaboration: Science and Nonduality (SAND)—a global community inspired by the timeless wisdom traditions, informed by modern science, and grounded in direct experience. Book: On the Mystery of Being: Contemporary Insights on the Convergence of Science and Spirituality Summary and transcript of this interview Interview recorded February 29, 2020 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:05:16 - Finding Peace with Nisargadatta 00:09:53 - The Unraveling of a Familiar Story 00:13:35 - The Connection Between Trauma and Seeking Answers 00:17:24 - A Beautiful Movie about Nisargadatta 00:20:47 - The Birth of Science and Duality 00:24:23 - The Limitations of Knowledge and Understanding 00:27:49 - The Unity and Diversity of Existence 00:31:49 - Paradox and Ambiguity in Spiritual Maturity 00:36:08 - The Individual and the Ocean 00:40:23 - The Influence of Culture on Teaching 00:44:26 - Holding Conversations Lightly 00:47:23 - The Mystery of Life and Human Connectedness 00:52:10 - Meeting the Shadow and Unconscious Material 00:56:49 - The Dance of Therapy and Inquiry 01:01:18 - From the mind to the heart 01:05:51 - Observations on the Disembodiment of the Western World 01:10:14 - Spirituality and Social Inequality 01:14:06 - Trauma in Political Leaders 01:17:26 - Inclusion and Diversity in Spiritual Conversations 01:21:29 - Privilege and Diversity in Conversation 01:24:45 - The Inclusiveness of Spirituality 01:28:45 - The Necessity of Multi-dimensional Approaches to Life 01:32:19 - Meeting Yourself in Solitude 01:36:47 - Exploring Sexuality and Oneness 01:40:48 - Changing Ourselves and Creating Awareness 01:43:42 - The Future Direction of SAND Conference 01:46:55 - The Evolution of Teaching and the Dream of Trust and Deeper Listening 01:50:30 - The Admirable Effort of Personal Growth and Redemption 01:54:26 - Science and Nonduality Conference 01:57:28 - Plans for Future Meetings

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Welcome to Buddha at the Gas Pump.
0:27.6	My name is Rick Archer.
0:29.6	Buddha at the Gas Pump is an ongoing series of interviews with spiritually awakening people.
0:34.6	I've done 530-something of them now. And if this is new to you and
0:40.1	you'd like to check out previous ones, please go to batgap.com, BATG-G-A-P, and look under the
0:46.0	past interviews menu. This program is made possible through the support of appreciative listeners
0:52.7	and viewers. So if you appreciate it,
0:55.0	and we'd like to express that appreciation by making a donation,
0:58.5	there's a PayPal button on every page of batgap.com.
1:02.0	My guest today are some dear friends, Zaya and Rizio Benazzo.
1:09.9	I've been seeing them for... How many sand conferences have you done so far?
1:15.4	12 in the U.S., right? 12 years in the U.S. since 2009.
1:19.4	Now it's going to be the 13th.
1:21.0	It's going to be the 13th.
1:21.9	All right. So then I've been seeing you for 11 years because I missed the first one.
1:26.3	As they just implied, they are the mother and father of
1:29.9	the Science and Non-Duality Conference, the Sand Conference, which I've been attending for the last
1:34.9	11 years. First, a little bit about them. Zaya is a filmmaker from Bulgaria with degrees
1:41.7	in engineering, environmental science, and film. For many years, she worked
1:46.0	as an environmental activist in Holland and Bulgaria, and later produced and directed several
1:51.0	award-winning documentaries in Europe and the United States. Marizio grew up in Italy, and in 1984,
1:58.4	came to the United States on a 98-year-old sailing boat.
	...

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