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Buddha at the Gas Pump

568. Paul Muller-Ortega, 2nd Interview

Buddha at the Gas Pump

Rick Archer

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Spirituality, Society & Culture

4.7695 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2020

⏱️ 115 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Paul Muller-Ortega, Ph.D., the founder of Blue Throat Yoga, is an internationally recognized meditation teacher, and one of the world’s most highly respected academic scholars in the field of Indian Religion and Hindu Tantra. In this interview, he discusses his work on the Blue Throat Yoga tradition, his views on the nature of reality, and his insights into the process of spiritual awakening. He also talks about his experiences with psychedelics, his thoughts on the role of gurus, and his advice for those who are interested in pursuing a spiritual path. Paul is passionate and devoted to teaching students how to access their truest Self, and to offer the knowledge base to understand and support that experience. He has led hundreds of meditation retreats, offered a vast array of study courses, translated and provided commentary on many of the most inspired sacred texts of the Śaiva-Śākta tradition, and has personally trained over 40 Ācāryas as Authorized Teachers of Neelakantha Meditation. Paul is uniquely qualified to offer these potent teachings, drawing upon the synergy of his long career as an academic scholar, his particular capacity to translate complex ideas and concepts into easily accessible and comprehensible understanding, and a personal history of deep meditation and extensive practice in the Śaiva-Śākta Tantra tradition. Paul Muller-Ortega is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Triadic Heart of Siva: Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir (Suny Series, Shaiva Traditions of Kashmir), in which he examines the “Heart” as the mystical core of Consciousness. He is also one of the co-authors of "Meditation Revolution", as well as numerous scholarly articles on aspects of Tantric Studies. Website: bluethroatyoga.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Transcript of this interview. First BatGap interview with Paul. Interview recorded September 12, 2020 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:45 - Symbolic Forms of Goddesses and the Teacher Prajanaka Abhinavagupta 00:08:59 - The Formulation of Nilakanta Meditation 00:13:22 - The Meaning and Importance of Mantras 00:17:25 - The Activation of Mantras with Consciousness 00:21:53 - The Potency and Vibratory Frequency of Consciousness 00:26:18 - The Power of Mantra and Introversive Meditation 00:31:31 - The Increase of the Ananda Value 00:36:03 - The Shaiva Tradition and the Malas 00:40:35 - The Activity of Consciousness and Relatively Real Appearances 00:44:53 - The Subtle Attitude Towards Creation 00:49:59 - The Different Approaches of Renunciates and Householders 00:54:05 - Encounters with Ramana Maharshi 00:58:12 - The Wave of Freedom and Transformation 01:02:18 - Natural Awakening and the Impact of Grace 01:06:33 - The Difficulty of Liberated Individuals 01:10:38 - Turiya and Turiyatita States 01:15:24 - The Divya Chakshu and Celestial Perception 01:19:42 - The Value of Substandard Teachers 01:23:33 - The Value of Knowledge in Attainment 01:27:39 - Understanding the madhya space in meditation 01:31:45 - The Sequences of Reality and Evolution 01:36:25 - The Yoga Vasishta as a Syncretistic Text 01:40:38 - Cult Mentality and Lack of Discrimination in Today's World 01:44:55 - Spiritual Perspectives on Planetary Awakening 01:49:19 - The Transformation of Understanding and the Re-blossoming of Spirituality  01:53:39 - The Churning of the Ocean of Milk 01:57:51 - Making the Maximum Use of Time  02:01:39 - The Significance of Aum and its Use as a Mantra 02:05:35 - The Subtle Levels of Reality 02:09:00 - Concluding Remarks

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Welcome to Buddha at the gas pump.

0:27.3

Buddha at the gas pump is an ongoing series of interviews, conversations with spiritually

0:32.5

awakening people.

0:34.3

I've done 560 something of them now.

0:36.8

If this is new to you and you'd like to check out

0:38.9

previous ones, please go to batgap.com, B-A-T-G-A-P, and look under the past interviews menu.

0:47.8

This program is made possible through the support of appreciative listeners and viewers.

0:53.4

We don't do advertising or anything aside from those annoying ads that pop up in YouTube.

0:58.4

So if you appreciate it and feel like supporting it, there's a PayPal button on every page of batgap.com

1:04.1

and also a page about other ways to donate if you don't like to use PayPal.

1:08.2

My guest today is Paul Mueller-Ortega. Welcome, Paul. Good to see you again.

1:14.8

Great to see you, Rick. Wonderful. Thank you for having me back here. Yeah. Paul was on about three years ago,

1:20.8

and just this week I listened to that first interview, and I, you know, I've done so many of these that I

1:25.8

forget what's in them, but it was, you know, such a wealth of information that he brought forth, and I didn you know, I've done so many of these that I forget what's in them, but it was,

1:27.9

you know, such a wealth of information that he brought forth. And I didn't talk very much at all,

1:32.5

which some people like very much. And I felt, in listening to it, I felt, I could listen to this

1:38.5

30 times and keep getting new tidbits out of it. You know, I didn't realize when I did that interview with Paul, but he told me afterwards he and I

1:47.4

met in like 1971 or so at a prep school in Connecticut.

1:52.6

So that's kind of cool.

1:53.4

We've come full circle here.

1:55.5

Many years indeed, yeah.

1:58.2

I also actually didn't introduce Paul properly.

...

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