009. Tom Traynor

I had been a seeker for most of my life. I began to meditate in 1973 and followed that path for the next 28 years. In 1983 I had a very intense Near Death Experience that left me with a very unattached view on the seriousness of everything. A separation and subsequent divorce in 1991 left me without a reason to continue doing what I had been doing. After visiting Fairfield, Iowa twice a year from 1989, my new wife Cindy and I moved here in 1999, as it was the next obvious thing to do. Our old life had ended and this was a chance to start a new chapter. We jumped right into the group meditation program in the Domes at Maharishi International University but also were fascinated by the fact that Fairfield was Grand Central Station for just about every spiritual teacher on the planet. After sampling the various flavors of all the folks passing thru it seemed obvious that Andy Rymer was the next thing to pay attention to. I found Andy to be a very powerful force and can see his influence on me to finally get that I was awake and had always been awake. From the summer of 2001 through 2010 I kept busy nurturing a group satsang in my home and participating in an informal spiritual discussion group at Revelations Coffee Shop most afternoons as a 12-step program for seekers. Interview recorded 1/22/2010. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:04:25 - The Journey to Fairfield, Iowa and the Practice of Meditation 00:08:02 - The Transformation Begins 00:11:01 - Interviewing People who've never done TM 00:14:32 - A Near-Death Experience and a Shift in Focus 00:18:05 - A Journey into Transcendental Meditation 00:22:07 - A Shifted Perspective 00:25:25 - The Understanding That I Didn't Create This 00:28:57 - The Dark Night of the Soul 00:31:59 - Angels and Laughter 00:34:58 - Expansion of Perception 00:38:23 - A Strange Encounter with a Black Hole 00:41:26 - Various Spiritual Teachers and Their Influence 00:44:38 - The Profound Meditation Experience 00:48:01 - The Level of the Relative and the Absolute 00:51:16 - The Essential Thing 00:55:22 - The Shift to Universal Consciousness 00:59:36 - The Consciousness of Being 01:03:12 - A Divine Encounter in the Chair 01:06:30 - End of Doubt 01:10:21 - The Value of Gathering with Enlightened People 01:13:48 - The Enthralled Caller 01:17:56 - Functioning in the Relative World 01:21:40 - Unexpected Boat Acquisition 01:24:56 - A Heart Attack Experience 01:28:20 - The Heart Attack Experience 01:31:24 - The Presence in Pain and Suffering 01:35:09 - Changing Your Relationship with Awakening 01:38:40 - The Dangling Carrot Attitude 01:42:35 - The Intimacy of Appreciation 01:45:56 - Closing and Future Satsang Questions Save Save