Swami Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order and an academic philosopher, currently serving as Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. He is also the Hindu Chaplain at both UCLA and the University of Southern California. He is Section Editor for the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer), overseeing submissions in Hindu and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion. From 2010 to 2021, he was Associate Professor and Head of the Program in Philosophy at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in Belur Math, West Bengal. He received his PhD in 2009 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he specialized in German aesthetics. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2006–7) and a Visiting Student at Oxford University (2000–1). His current research focuses on global philosophy of religion, the epistemology of mystical experience, cosmopsychism, Indian scriptural hermeneutics, and Vedāntic philosophical traditions, especially the philosophies of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. He is the author of three books: Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press, 2022), Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018), and The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (Bloomsbury, 2013). He is the editor of The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta (2020) and co-editor, with Benedikt Paul Göcke, of Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought: Cosmopolitan Interventions (Routledge, 2023). He is also the editor of two special issues of the International Journal of Hindu Studies, one on “Swami Vivekananda as a Cosmopolitan Thinker” (2023) and one on “Vedāntic Theodicies” (2021). He has published over thirty articles in leading academic journals. He is currently working on two book projects: Karma and Rebirth in Hinduism (Cambridge University Press, under contract) and An All-Embracing Oneness: Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Advaita and the Legacy of Sri Ramakrishna (Oxford University Press, under contract). Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Interview recorded January 22, 2024. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Dr. Yvonne Kason MD, MEd, CCFP, FCFP, is the President and Co-Founder of Spiritual Awakenings International and the Past-President of IANDS (2019-2020). Dr. Kason is the person who in 1994 first coined the phrase “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” or “STEs”. She is also the Group-Leader and Co-Founder of Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group. Dr. Kason has had 5 Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), 2 in her childhood and 3 in her adult life, as well as multiple Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) of many kinds. Dr. Kason is a retired family physician and MD-psychotherapist, previously on faculty at the University of Toronto, and an internationally renowned medical expert on NDEs, Kundalini Awakening, and other STEs. In 1990, Dr. Kason was the first Canadian medical doctor to specialize her medical practice in the research and counseling of patients with diverse types of STEs. She has over 40 years’ experience counseling STE Experiencers. She co-founded the Kundalini Research Network in 1990, was the Chair of the Kundalini Research Network’s Questionnaire research project, results published in Explore, July 2020. She co-founded the Spirituality in Health-Care Network in 2000. Dr. Kason has six published books, her most recent, Soul Lessons from the Light: How Spiritually Transformative Experiences Changed My Life (December 2022) and Touched by the Light: Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences (2019). She has made hundreds of professional presentations, has given scores of media interviews, and is in demand as a keynote speaker. Websites: dryvonnekason.com spiritualawakeningsinternational.org torontoawakenings.org Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded November 5, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Dr. Etta D. Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica and migrated to the USA as a student in 1965. For twenty-five years she worked in education and retired in 1994 to travel. She has authored four books: Understanding Your Choice Unveiling the Secrets of the Feminine Principle The Role of Consciousness in Governance The Idea That Is the United States of America-Its Occult Foundation She founded an international NGO non-profit organization, The Institute for Conscious Global Change (ICGC) in 2007 to assist the United Nations and Member States in eradicating extreme poverty through development. ICGC is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Etta holds a BA in Biology, MS degrees in Guidance and Counseling and in Administrative Leadership and Supervision. Etta holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She has one daughter and one grandson. Website Etta's blog, where she writes on many topics including mysticism and occultism. Mentioned during the interview: Builders of the Adytum Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded July 8, 2023 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Cynthia Sue Larson is the best-selling author of several books including Quantum Jumps, Reality Shifts, and High Energy Money. Cynthia has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, an MBA degree, a Doctor of Divinity, and a second degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won. Cynthia is founder of RealityShifters, first president of the International Mandela Effect Conference, managing director of Foundations of Mind, and creator and host of Living the Quantum Dream podcast. She has been featured in numerous shows including Gaia, the History Channel, Coast to Coast AM, One World with Deepak Chopra, and BBC. Cynthia reminds us to ask in every situation, "How good can it get?" Subscribe to her free monthly ezine at: realityshifters.com. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group Transcript of this interview Interview recorded April 23, 2023. Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

I had been a seeker for most of my life. I began to meditate in 1973 and followed that path for the next 28 years. In 1983 I had a very intense Near Death Experience that left me with a very unattached view on the seriousness of everything. A separation and subsequent divorce in 1991 left me without a reason to continue doing what I had been doing. After visiting Fairfield, Iowa twice a year from 1989, my new wife Cindy and I moved here in 1999, as it was the next obvious thing to do. Our old life had ended and this was a chance to start a new chapter. We jumped right into the group meditation program in the Domes at Maharishi International University but also were fascinated by the fact that Fairfield was Grand Central Station for just about every spiritual teacher on the planet. After sampling the various flavors of all the folks passing thru it seemed obvious that Andy Rymer was the next thing to pay attention to. I found Andy to be a very powerful force and can see his influence on me to finally get that I was awake and had always been awake. From the summer of 2001 through 2010 I kept busy nurturing a group satsang in my home and participating in an informal spiritual discussion group at Revelations Coffee Shop most afternoons as a 12-step program for seekers. I'm happy to have phone conversations with people - no charge. My number is 641-919-6917. My email is traynor.tom@gmail.com. Interview recorded 1/22/2010. Video and Audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast. Save Save