530. Rick Archer at the 2019 SAND Conference – Knowledge/Reality is Different in Different States of Consciousness Buddha at the Gas Pump

Opening points:

People get polarized in different perspectives. The more they focus exclusively on their perspective, the more justification for it they find.
Learning to appreciate paradox; accommodating different viewpoints within a broader perspective.
Enlightenment as Totality. Only Totality can realize Totality.
Totality has no difficulty reconciling paradoxes.
Getting comfortable with paradox might be conducive to our realization of Totality.

Examples of contradictory realities:

free will vs. determinism
personal self vs. no-self
Are we already enlightened, or must enlightenment be attained?
Is practice an aid or an obstacle?
Is the guru model dead?
Does non-duality imply that there are no stages of spiritual growth?
direct vs. progressive paths
patience vs. determination on the spiritual path

Additional points covered:

Acting in accordance with your own experience, not a concept of someone else’s.
Absolute reality does not negate relative realities.
Radically different realities at different levels of nature’s functioning are perfectly compatible with one another.
Incorporating universal and individual perspectives – ocean and wave, boundless and boundaries.
My experience in doing BatGap.

Recorded at the Science and Nonduality Conference, October 27, 2019.

Transcript of this talk.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Previous talks on BatGap:

2018 SAND Conference Q&A and Interview by Shakti Caterina Maggi
SAND 2017: "The Ethics of Enlightenment"
Talk at Berkeley Open Circle Center
Talk at SAND 2015
Interviewed by Fax Gilbert
Interviewed by Richard Miller

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.


YouTube Video Chapters:


00:00:00 - Different levels of consciousness
00:01:49 - Perspectives and Justifications
00:03:04 - The Knower of Brahman is Brahman
00:04:32 - The Debate on Free Will
00:05:40 - The Concept of Freewill
00:07:03 - The trouble of taking someone else's perspective
00:08:24 - Debating the Existence of Reincarnation
00:09:27 - Mithya: The Concept of Dependent Reality
00:10:43 - Subsuming Perspectives and the Totality of Brahman
00:12:14 - Shift in Perspective and the Sun's Perspective
00:13:30 - Rising to the Experience
00:14:49 - The Role of Practice in Spiritual Development
00:16:08 - The Role of Gurus in Contemporary Spirituality
00:17:21 - Respect for Different Spiritual Paths
00:18:43 - The Seamless Wholeness of Existence
00:20:05 - Progress in Spiritual Practice
00:21:19 - The Progressive Dyeing Process
00:22:36 - The Value of Life and Balance
00:23:57 - Levels of Complexity and Hierarchical Arrangements
00:25:25 - Different Levels of Reality
00:26:38 - Embracing Paradoxes and Ambiguities
00:28:05 - Cultivating Awareness and Focus in Meditation
00:29:34 - Finding Freedom in Confinement
00:30:53 - The Ethics of Feedlots and Advanced Beings
00:31:56 - Paradoxes and Personal Judgment
00:32:55 - The Beauty and Diversity of Life
00:34:11 - The Thrill of Interviews and Exploring Different Perspectives
00:35:22 - Being of Service to Others
00:36:42 - Surrendering to the Moment in the Spiritual Experience
00:37:44 - Comparing Yourself on the Spiritual Path
00:38:52 - Paths of Devotion, Intellect, and Meditation
00:40:05 - Balancing Heart and Mind