621. Connie Zweig

Connie Zweig, Ph.D., is a retired therapist, co-author of Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature and Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life, author of Meeting the Shadow of Spirituality, and a novel, A Moth to the Flame: The Story of the Great Sufi Poet Rumi. Her new book, The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul, extends shadow-work into late life and teaches aging as a spiritual practice. Connie has been doing contemplative practices for 50 years. She is a wife and grandmother and was initiated as an Elder by Sage-ing International in 2017. After investing in all these roles, she is practicing the shift from role to soul. Website: conniezweig.com Email: conniezweig@gmail.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Summary and Transcript of this interview. Interview recorded October 22, 2021. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Welcome to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:03:59 - The Different Stages of My Life 00:07:38 - The Already Enlightened Governors of the Age of Enlightenment 00:10:58 - The Urgency of Enlightenment 00:14:30 - Understanding Enlightenment and Charismatic Teachers 00:17:46 - Spiritual Development at Every Stage of Life 00:21:21 - Transition in Identity 00:25:10 - Late Life Identity Crisis 00:29:38 - The Challenge of Finding Time for Everything 00:33:07 - The Unconscious and the Shadow in Conscious Aging Movement 00:37:25 - Witnessing and Shadow Work 00:40:54 - The Contents of Consciousness Spilled Out 00:44:35 - The Importance of Awareness and Mortality 00:48:43 - Ageism and Shifting Identity 00:52:50 - The Inner Work of Aging 00:56:42 - Unfinished Spiritual Business 01:00:44 - Unfinished Business in the Spiritual Journey 01:05:12 - Finding Guidance in Inner Work 01:08:56 - The Shift from Hero to Elder 01:13:06 - Finding Refuge in Spiritual Practice 01:16:49 - Completing the Ego Story 01:21:17 - The Orientation Towards Life and Death 01:24:32 - The Importance of Discernment on the Spiritual Path 01:28:24 - Cultivating Self-awareness for Contribution to the Common Good 01:32:25 - Improving the Level of Consciousness 01:36:13 - Preventing Mental Decline and Memory Loss 01:40:03 - Astonishing Moments in Deathbed Experiences 01:44:03 - Awakening Practices and Life Completion 01:47:32 - Expanding the Frame of Reference 01:51:05 - The Soul's Longing for Transcendence 01:54:36 - Farewell to Rick Archer

Om Podcasten

The implication of the title - Buddha at the Gas Pump - is that ordinary people are experiencing higher states of consciousness once thought to be rare and difficult to attain. People everywhere are undergoing a shift or awakening to their true nature. For some, this shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For others, it has been so gradual that they may not have realized it has occurred. Such shifts, or awakenings, are not new: Christ spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven within, Buddhists speak of Nirvana, Zen masters of Satori, Hindus of Moksha, but these traditions generally regard these states as rare and difficult to attain. Many people are therefore skeptical of claims of higher states of consciousness. They find it hard to believe that apparently ordinary friends and neighbors might be experiencing something extraordinary. Maybe they expect Enlightenment to look as remarkable on the outside as it is reputed to be on the inside. This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their experience of spiritual awakening. The terminology is tricky, because there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this experience. So please forgive us if we use some unfamiliar terms. We will try to clarify our definitions as we go along. Perhaps, after a while, those listening will become convinced that genuine and permanent spiritual awakenings are not just a pipe dream, but are real and are becoming relatively commonplace. These podcasts are the audio track of a weekly interview show which may be seen as videos on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/buddhaatthegaspump). Also see the main site: http://batgap.com. For search purposes, I will add the following to this description - batgap, Buddha at the Gaspump, Buddah at the Gas Pump.