Message in a Bottle: Reflections on the Spiritual Path is a new book from the TAT Foundation Press. Rather than another book by a spiritual teacher, this book takes the approach of asking spiritual seekers, those still on the path to “finding,”

August Turak interview: the Quest for Enlightenment

Nov 4th, 2023

August “Augie” Turak was the first student of Richard Rose and played an key role in introducing me to the spiritual search through his founding of the Self Knowledge Symposium. Thus, I was happy for the opportunity to interview him in support

Shawn Pethel Interview: What am I?

Sep 20th, 2023

What happens when you take the rigor of a physicist and combine that with the earnest desire of a seeker of enlightenment? In his mid-twenties, Shawn Pethel picked up a book by Ken Wilber and was introduced to Eastern philosophy and the idea of

Ramana Maharshi – Instructions for Self Enquiry

Jul 10th, 2023

My reading this episode is two extracts from the works of Ramana Maharshi. The first is an excerpt from a longer work entitled “Who Am I,” and the second is titled “Self Enquiry.” The “Self Enquiry” piece was written around 1901, and both writi

A Reading from Eddie Traversa’s Truth Realization

May 2nd, 2023

My reading this episode is an excerpt from Eddie Traversa’s book, Truth Realization. Eddie was an extraordinarily sincere spiritual teacher and friend who passed away in 2022. His website no longer exists, but at least as of the time of this wr

Mike Gegenheimer: the Magic of Rapport

Oct 22nd, 2022

Mike Gegenheimer is president of the TAT Foundation, coauthor with me of Passages: An Introduction and Commentary on Richard Rose’s Albigen System, and helps facilitate a self-inquiry group based in Columbus, Ohio. In this episode, we delve int

Shawn Nevins Interview – Honesty, Focus, Intuition, and the Natural Koan

Jul 7th, 2022

This episode is from an interview titled “Satsang with Shawn Nevins” conducted by Reverend Saina Fernandez from the Awakening Together group. It took a few minutes to find our groove, but thanks to the Reverend’s great questions, this interview

Induction and Subtraction – the plunge into enlightenment

Apr 10th, 2022

My reading this episode is an excerpt from my book, Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment, where I describe the moments that led up to my enlightenment experience. It occurred as I was reading a transcript of Franklin Merrell-Wolff’s In

Ramana Maharshi – Exploring Who am I?

Feb 13th, 2022

This episode’s reading features two dialogues from the book Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Covering the period 1935 to 1939, the book is an excellent resource for the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and was a constant companion while I lived in a

Foyan – The Basis of Awareness

Jan 6th, 2022

This episode’s reading is a selection called “The Basis of Awareness” from Instant Zen, a translation by Thomas Cleary of the writings of zen master Foyan. Foyan was a 12th century Chinese Zen master and is one of the few Zen masters that Clear

To Think of Time – Walt Whitman

Nov 2nd, 2021

This episode’s reading is a selection called “To Think of Time” from Walt Whitman’s 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. Describing the writing as “soaring” may seem cliched, but if you listen and allow the words to work their magic you may feel th

Spiritual Poetry: Seeker and Finder

Oct 6th, 2021

This episode’s reading is a short excerpt of spiritual poetry from the TAT Foundation publication Beyond Mind, Beyond Death. It’s the first volume published by the TAT Press, and I consider it a “desert island” book–one you return to again and

The Realization of Nisargadatta Marahaj

Aug 25th, 2021

This episode’s reading is an an excerpt from the book I Am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, which I found at searchwithin.org. The excerpt was titled “The Realization of Nisargadatta.” Though not labelled as such in the book, in this excerpt N

The Penny That Blots Out The Sun – Alfred Pulyan

Jul 30th, 2021

This episode’s reading is an essay by Alfred Pulyan titled “The Penny That Blots Out The Sun.” Pulyan was a little-known Zen teacher based in Connecticut and active in the 1950s through his death in 1966. Like so many authentic teachers, he lab

The World is After the Fact – William Samuel

Jun 21st, 2021

This episode’s reading is an essay by William Samuel titled “The World is After the Fact” from his book The Child Within Us Lives! In it, William Samuel reaches out to the audience laying bare the depth of his understanding and felt experience

Bernadette Roberts on How it Works – diving into the Unmanifested

May 16th, 2021

This episode’s reading is an essay by Bernadette Roberts titled “How it Works.” In just a few paragraphs, Bernadette dives deep into the paradox of the unmanifested, manifesting, and manifested. It’s from her book The Experience of No-Self. Tho

“Transmission” by Bart Marshall: The Induction Series #1

May 5th, 2021

What is Zen transmission? Today’s reading is from Bart Marshall’s essay called “Transmission” published in the book Beyond Mind, Beyond Death. Bart has appeared on this podcast and was featured in my film Closer Than Close, so I’m sure many of

The Lecture of Questions – Revisited

Dec 12th, 2020

The first time I saw Richard Rose, I heard him give his Lecture of Questions. It began with “What do you know for sure? Does a man own a house or does a house own him?” and continued, question after question, challenging my assumptions, beliefs

Pat The Barber Crowley: the power of intuitive intelligence

Nov 21st, 2020

The one thing I didn’t ask Pat “The Barber” Crowley in our interview was how he got his nickname. I’ll blame that on the Irish gift for storytelling, in full evidence with Pat Crowley, which mesmerized and transported me to the wild seashores o

Art Ticknor: the essence of confrontation

Oct 13th, 2020

My last interview with Art Ticknor was nearly 15 years ago, so I thought it time to catch up and see what’s new. Nothing much, in the sense that Art is still as uncompromising and ever a truth-seeking gadfly. In addition to audio, there is vide

John E Davis Interview

Jul 6th, 2020

John E Davis II is a spiritual teacher who passed away in 1984 , leaving behind an audiotaped interview and a few poems that appeared in a TAT Journal shortly after his passing. I resurrected that interview for this month’s podcast because it’s

Joel Morwood Interview

May 7th, 2020

Joel Morwood is the spiritual director of the Center for Sacred Sciences in Eugene, Oregon. For over 30 years, he’s helped guide seekers on the spiritual path through his many talks, essays, and books, as well as helped fashion a body of teachi

Bob Fergeson Interview

Feb 17th, 2020

Bob Fergeson, author of The Listening Attention and Dark Zen: A Guru on the Bayou, is a spiritual teacher who focuses on the nuts and bolts of spiritual seeking while also conveying with his presence the ineffable message of Reality. Hopefully

Dr. Richard Howlin on Joseph Sadony

Jan 4th, 2020

I credit Joseph Sadony with inspiring me to explore the realm of intuition and giving a taste of the difference between an emotion that is a reaction to a thought, and a thought that is a reaction to a feeling. Every so often, I dust off my cop

Maury Lee Interview

Oct 6th, 2019

The tagline on Maury Lee’s website reads ” Sixty-nine year old male, expressing non duality, realization, by the grace of God.” The simplicity, yet depth, of that line is a good summation of Maury Lee. Maury was recommended to me by Michael Cas