Jan Frazier is a spiritual teacher and author of When Fear Falls Away and The Great Sweetening, among other books. In our interview, I found Jan’s emphasis on allowing and unfolding a nice counterpoint to my usual drive to find practices and tools to speed up the spiritual search. I hope you find this Jan Frazier interview interesting, as well.
A mini-episode with a few spiritual poems from the book Beyond Mind, Beyond Death. If you like the spiritual poetry of Rumi, I think you’ll enjoy this.
My teachers were the sun, moon, stars, dirt, wind, trees, and the critters. All of them were preaching the truth…. ~ The Hillbilly Sutra
There is a hidden spiritual goldmine tucked away in rural Tennessee. He doesn’t consider himself a spiritual teacher and rarely speaks in public or does interviews on this topic.
Fortunately, he agreed to be on the Journals of Spiritual Discovery podcast. When our original interview ran into technical problems, he went to a professional studio and recorded a nearly two hour account of his spiritual path and the wisdom revealed along the way.
Sit back and be transported by the poetic storytelling of this Hillbilly Sutra.
Daniel Ingram is author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and a leading proponent of Buddhism as a practical path to enlightenment in this lifetime. He’s played a key role in keeping Buddhism vital and accessible while also grounded in the core teachings. If you’re on a Buddhist path or thinking about exploring such, you’ll be well served by this interview of Daniel Ingram.
The two main traditions that Daniel Ingram followed in his spiritual search — Christopher Titmus and crew, and Mahasi Sayadow — and an impressively quick recitation of nearly every retreat he attended including the Bhavana Society (Theravada Buddhism), and dashes of Kadampa Buddhism and Vajrayana. [13:30]
A key divergence among the traditions Daniel practiced occurred in their relationship to “the ten defilements.” Daniel found the Vajrayana model of dealing with negative emotions more optimal for awakening than the Theravada model. [19:31]
The meditation Daniel teaches is “relentlessly Thervadan,” but he does not use all of their maps. [22:20]
What’s the deal with Daniel calling himself an “arahat” and ia Enlightenment the end of the search? [23:55].
The distinction between Arahatship and Buddhahood. [28:55]
Radically restructuring his life to fit his spiritual search. [31:54]
Does following Daniel’s book, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, lead to enlightenment? Also, the high success rate of Mahasi Sayadow insight retreats. [32:46]
Is there a danger that following a detailed map will lead to imaginary experiences? No, because doing the practices is a self-correcting process. [34:55]
Common traps on the spiritual search. Daniel’s book and Jack Kornfield’s A Path with Heart do a nice job outlining the stages of the path. [42:42]
The “shadow side” of practices and how friends can help us see them. [49:00]
The Dharma Overground — a place for Dharma discussion with talented and experienced students and teachers. [54:20]
If one is tired or fidgety, how do they adjust their energy level during meditation? [1:02:00]
The phenomenon of Buddhist groups who don’t talk about attaining Enlightenment and how the Dharma Overground was formed to address this. [1:11:15]
Daniel’s view on rebirth. In short, awaken now rather than wait! [1:15:30]
Australia: land of koala bears, kangaroos, Vegemite, and enlightened Aussies like Eddie Traversa. Eddie is in the unique position of being both a psychotherapist and awakened, which gives him a deep perspective as well as a broad tool set with which to help clients.
In our interview, he discusses why he doesn’t focus on helping people towards enlightenment, the importance of developing a relationship with the unconscious, and getting unstuck from patterns. Along the way, we share a laugh about the motivational qualities of revenge and our fondness for the film American Beauty.
Note that Eddie passed away in 2022. It is tragic when the spiritual scene loses an authentic teacher and friend. They are too few, and Eddie was one of the good ones. He wrote, “I am passionate about trying to help people,” and he was. That was the part of Eddie that I knew and appreciated. So hold the lessons you learned from Eddie tight, make them part of your life, and then let’s step forward into the breach and do our part to help.
Jan Frazier is a spiritual teacher and author of When Fear Falls Away and The Great Sweetening, among other books. In our interview, I found Jan’s emphasis on allowing and unfolding a nice counterpoint to my usual drive to find practices and tools to speed up the spiritual search. I hope you find this Jan Frazier interview interesting, as well.
A mini-episode with a few spiritual poems from the book 
Australia: land of koala bears, kangaroos, Vegemite, and enlightened Aussies like Eddie Traversa. Eddie is in the unique position of being both a psychotherapist and awakened, which gives him a deep perspective as well as a broad tool set with which to help clients.