677. Seán ÓLaoire

Fr. Seán ÓLaoire was born in Ireland and earned a B.Sc. degree (major in Mathematics) from the National University of Ireland. Ordained a catholic priest in 1972, he spent 14 years working in Kenya. He is multi-lingual and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology; he is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. He is co-founder and the Spiritual Director of a non-denominational community called “Companions on the Journey” based in Palo Alto. He is the author of five books and co-author of a sixth: “Ukweli ni Nini?” (What is truth?) – written and published in Swahili in 1983 “Spirits in Spacesuits - A Manual for Everyday Mystics”- published in 2003 “Souls on Safari” - published in 2006 - Translated into German in 2007 “A Sensible God” – published in 2008 “Why? What Your Life Is Telling You about Who You Are and Why You’re Here” - published in 2013 (with Matthew McKay, PhD and Ralph Metzner, PhD) - Translated into Korean in 2015 “Setting God Free: Moving Beyond the Caricature We’ve Created in Our Own Image” - published in 2021 Summary and transcript of this interview Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded February 25, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump. Mythology and ‘Thin Places’  00:06:40 - The Wisdom of Proverbs in Different Cultures 00.09:00 Trying to domesticate God  00:12:16 - The Cycle of Knowledge and Ignorance 00:17:39 - The Disadvantages of Incarnation 00.23:20 Transformation of Consciousness  00:23:46 - Ineffective Structures and People's Transformation 00:29:20 - The Rural Electrification Scheme in Ireland 00:34:51 - The Invitation to Self-Transcendence 00:40:08 - The Complexity of Existence 00.41:15 Karma and Pre-conception Contracts  00:45:44 - Pulling Life Over the Cliff 00:51:22 - The Purpose of Incarnations 00:56:54 - Understanding Karma and Destiny 01:00:45 The Science of Spirituality  01:02:47 - Reincarnation in Christianity 01:08:15 - The Three Axes of Spiritual Awareness and Metrics in Spirituality 01:14:12 - The Constraints of the Scientific Method 01:20:35 - The merge of science and spirituality 01:26:15 The Global Awakening  01:26:24 - Awakening to Powerful Spiritual Experiences 01:31:56 - Confrontation and the 80:20 Rule in Spiritual Teachings 01:37:49 - The Types of Civilizations and Our Current State 01:43:41 - The Role of Healing Modalities in Personal Growth 01:43:54 Healing Trauma  01:49:43 - The End of Reincarnation? 01:55:22 - Separating from Narcissists 01:56:34 The Trifurcation of Homo Sapiens Sapiens 02:00:41 - Forming Community and Overcoming Superiority 02:06:17 - The Unity of All Life 02:12:18 - Communicating with Animals