348. Sruti

Buddha at the Gas Pump

Sruti is a spiritual teacher and feminist advocate. She writes about her experience with an uncommon and painful illness called Interstitial Cystitis. This ongoing and chronic condition challenged her to stay present with daily pain and to look further inward for answers. In an extreme moment of pain, in which consciousness began to fade, Sruti experienced the erasure of all that clouds over the earliest source of vision. She asks the question: with whose vision are we seeing when the lights are going out? Has this early vision ever known anything at all? After these extreme episodes of pain Sruti spent time on retreat with teachers such as Gangaji and Mooji. She found no difference in these nondual pointings and the discoveries made directly in painful circumstances. Sruti finds that we can allow what is painful to become a tool to disrupt the ordinary layers of our experience. Underneath these layers we find the unconditional peace that is our constant being in each moment. Can we investigate the source of ordinary vision - can we find the place of true seeing that is earlier that who we think we are? Book: The Hidden Value of Not Knowing Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 5/28/2016 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Overview 00:04:05 - Living with Chronic Pain 00:08:10 - Seeking Relief from Pain 00:12:42 - The Intensity of Pain and the Undercurrent of Calm 00:19:25 - The Transformative Power of Pain 00:24:45 - Pain as a Pathway 00:30:17 - Writing from a Place of Intense Pain 00:36:57 - The Loss of Control and Silence 00:41:39 - The Silence before Activity 00:46:00 - The Difficulty of Sharing Pain and Suffering 00:50:37 - Inquiry into the Nature of Pain 00:54:57 - The Value of Resolution 00:58:10 - Experiencing Pain in Satsang 01:05:22 - The Non-Doing Prescription 01:11:28 - Love and Humility 01:16:33 - The Gift of Pain and Spiritual Devotion 01:21:54 - Living the Practical: Revealing the Inner Workings of Grace 01:25:38 - God's Presence in Silence 01:28:44 - God is Waiting in the Silence 01:31:19 - The Wisdom of Suffering 01:34:02 - The Value of Contacting What Is Already Okay 01:38:04 - True Prayer and Being 01:41:34 - The Benevolence of the Universe 01:45:45 - The Layers of Awareness 01:50:22 - Coming to Basic Awareness 01:55:32 - The Power of Choice and Attention 01:59:01 - The Profoundness of Direct Experience 02:03:00 - The Benevolent Fabric of the Universe 02:06:21 - The Value of Shared Pain 02:10:08 - The Divine Drama 02:13:10 - Resources and Ways to Stay Updated