David Parrish - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Also see http://batgap.com/david-parrish/

Since early on in my life I had a strong sense that I was more than my circumstances. I had strange experiences that I did not comprehend at the time and I somehow knew not to talk about them. I spent much of my time in my own world as a small child. As I grew into my early teens I had out of the body experiences and while I was fascinated by them I did not know what was happening. When these experiences occurred I was not alarmed or concerned I somehow knew that there was nothing to fear. It was many years later that I learned about these experiences and realized what had occurred.

When I was in my late teens and early twenties I was exposed to the "Hippie" culture and came across LSD. On several occasions while under the influence of this drug I stumbled into a distinctly different state of consciousness that was so complete and fulfilling in every way that I was certain that this was a possible state of experience that could be accessed. It was as if the experience was one in which I was totally myself, with full knowledge of life, with a calm loving and joyful interest in all that appeared before me. For most of my life I have considered this experience to be what enlightenment is. Only recently as the natural state took hold have I come to see that this is simply one of the experiences available in a life, and that it is often confused with the natural state.

As my life continued after completing undergraduate school I took a job at an maximum security prison as a basic education teacher and counselor. I needed the money and thought it would be an interesting experience. The world inside the prison was so brutal and bizarre that it shook me deeply and I felt a commitment to somehow help the prisoners to realize an experience of freedom from their suffering. I ended up working 32 years in prisons as counselor, a psychologist and for the last 12 years as an assistant warden and then warden.

I implemented and personally led programming for prisoners during this time to provide access to the teachings of the East and the new teachings appearing in the West that offered freedom. My approach and views on prison were not popular with many of the guards and punishment oriented administrators. In 2007 I was fired for procedural violations.

Over these years I studied and practiced meditation, and read the works of all of the Eastern and Western teachers I came across. Some of the works that influenced me the most were the writings of Carlos Castaneda, Alan Watts, and J. Krishnamurti, the work of Werner Erhard, George Gurdjieff, and most recently the work of John Sherman.

Since leaving prison work I have continued with a small psychology practice and work with the chronically mentally ill. After meeting John Sherman a year ago and beginning a book on his discovery of the portal to the natural state, I started leading meetings at a local retreat center, and experienced the calling to teach from what I had learned.

The heart of my teaching is the "already here" idea. What I mean by this is that the possibility of fulfillment and what has been called "enlightenment" is already here. The experience of this is repressed by a condition of fear that is eliminated by the most obvious and simple action imaginable, the act of looking at yourself. John Sherman distinguished this action after many years of inquiry and exploration.

I have had the privilege of working with John and his wife Carla to develop the delivery of this work and create a project to bring it to all of humanity. As I began to work with John and Carla and work on the book to record the discovery of this revolutionary action that actually works to connect us to the actuality of our nature, I found that my particular voice and teaching was totally in alignment with this act and that the act is the key to experiencing the natural state.

I am just now coming out as a teacher and sorting out what form that will take. I believe that all teachers emerging to bring sanity to the world must work together to develop an effective approach to reach all of humanity.

Interview recorded 12/11/2011

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[riccardo1767]

Great! So simple so powerful!! Thanks!!

[birdofafeatherami]

Great interview!

[Lasersharp]

How about going undercover in jails as a Lightworker with guidance of a disincarnate spirit guide?