Childhood accustomed me to nature, solitude - a sense of God which needed no explaining. Stillness, beauty, depths of love called my heart back home where it belonged. But life grew out into the world, became possessed and lost the way.

After a few unwilling years in business, I went to South America 'To make the world a better place'. It wasn't so easy. Alone on a mountainside one day, an inner voice said, 'To make whole, be whole'. I realised that, before being able to help others, I first had to work on myself. Once back in England, I looked for and found a source of meditation, which opened up a whole new way of seeing.

How can I best help the world I love? This question led me through organic farming, much travel and many adventures to ever deeper understanding of the Work of Prayer.

I wouldn’t call myself a mystic though some say I am. I’m not sure what it means besides “Not this – not that”. Neither (in a conventional sense) am I very religious. “Mystic” conveys to me a wise unknowing of morning mist with only the promise of a day to come. It’s not an intellectual approach defined by man but trusting, waiting, quietly still before each blade of grass, each little bird (Mat.6,26-28) reminding us of higher, nobler government than ours.

This required attending to the moment “Now”, reminding me how much we live not present, here, but absent, lost in past or future - thought, desires and fear. But isn’t that reality? We need to look and see.

Books:

Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment

Mystic Approaches

Website: spiritualunfoldment.co.uk

YouTube Channel

Transcript of this interview.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Interview recorded October 13, 2018.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump

00:03:08 - A Wise Unknowing of Morning Mist

00:05:56 - Connecting with Nature

00:10:21 - Finding Connection in Nature

00:15:16 - The Prodigal Son and Straying Away from Nature

00:19:11 - The Power of Silence and Presence

00:22:20 - The Gateway to the Infinite

00:26:08 - Stillness and the Impediments of the Mind

00:29:56 - Transcending the Ego and Accessing the Open Sky

00:34:28 - The Dandi Swamis and Effortless Meditation

00:38:02 - Experiencing Stillness and Spaciousness

00:42:13 - The Limitations of Words and Concepts

00:46:29 - The Fullness of Spirit

00:50:28 - The Illusion of Separation

00:54:11 - The Simplicity of Stillness

00:58:06 - Accessing Stillness in the Midst of Tumult

01:01:00 - The Peace and Stillness Within

01:04:58 - The Expansion of Spiritual Life

01:09:11 - The Absorption of Human Agony and Redemption

01:13:09 - Illuminating the Darkness

01:16:46 - The Journey from Darkness to Light

01:20:25 - The Lamb of God and the Miracle of Grass

01:24:23 - The Suffering and Sacrifice of Nature

01:28:12 - Reconciling the Slaughter of a Pet Pig

01:32:36 - The Nature of Light and Dark in the Real World

01:36:07 - Love and Surrender

01:39:38 - The 23rd Psalm and Christian Teachings

01:42:55 - The Soothing Voice and ASMR

01:46:15 - The Presence of God and the Real Experience

01:49:24 - Understanding Oneness and Unity

01:52:33 - A Chat with John