Vicki Woodyard is a spiritual writer living in Atlanta, Georgia. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, she graduated from The University of Memphis, magna cum laude, with a B.S. in English and Psychology. She is a meditator, a webmaster and has a lifelong interest in the spiritual path. Her late husband, Bob, died of multiple myeloma in 2004 and they lost their only daughter to cancer when she was seven.

This equips Vicki to write about her path in an honest and humble way, opening the reader’s own heart to what is worth living for. The light of her path is tinged with humor as she lays down the bottom line and invites you to consider what YOU are living for. Awakening is but a dream until you sink into the heart. When you are caught in the dream, it just means you have temporarily forgotten. Vicki’s writing, as Elsa Joy Bailey says, "serves as a bookmark to help you find your place again. The website is a way into what is. Vicki’s writing catches one off-guard, waking people up to their mortality and infinite being at the same time..."

She is the author of:

Paperbacks:

LIFE WITH A HOLE IN IT: That's How the Light Gets In - The Wisdom of an Awakened Heart

BIGGER THAN THE SKY: A Radical Awakening

eBooks - All of Vicki's books are available in eBook form on her website:

You can find out more about Vicki at her website or friend her on Facebook.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and transcript of this interview

Interview recorded November 16, 2019.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump with Vicki Woodward

00:05:26 - Suffering and Spiritual Awakening

00:11:04 - My Introduction to His Teachings

00:15:03 - The Short-Term vs. Long-Term Perspective

00:18:45 - The Bus Stop and Digging Deep Wells

00:22:38 - Finding Balance Between Extremes

00:25:56 - Capturing Wisdom in Short Sutras

00:29:35 - Gathering Energy

00:32:59 - The Journey to Wholeness and Simplicity

00:36:28 - True Resting and Putting to Rest

00:39:35 - The Gentleman Teacher

00:42:47 - Cracking Open the Ego and Humility

00:46:15 - Dreams and Destiny

00:49:43 - Meeting the Hawaiian Guru

00:52:59 - Synchronicities with John Ramsey

00:55:47 - Synchronicities and Spiritual Coherence

00:59:05 - The Experience of Self

01:02:18 - Finding Humor in Tragic Times

01:05:49 - Being Conscious in Daily Tasks

01:09:28 - Suffering and Consciousness

01:13:16 - Overcoming Agoraphobia and Social Anxiety

01:16:47 - A "What Me Worry" Approach

01:19:48 - Manifesting Grace through Leaps of Faith

01:23:09 - The Grace of Christmas Dinner

01:26:53 - The Phoenix Rises from the Ashes

01:30:35 - The Intensity of Spiritual Practice

01:34:26 - The Power of Consciousness and Grace

01:37:42 - The Journey of an Ordinary Spiritually Awakening Person

01:41:27 - Finding Wholeness in Life

01:44:56 - The Art of Going Deep

01:47:39 - Closing Remarks