Mindrolling – Raghu Markus – Ep. 182 – Duncan, Pete, and Raghu enter the Synaptic Cleft

Synaptic Cleft

His good friends, Duncan Trussell and Pete Holmes, join Raghu Markus and search their synaptic cleft for consciousness and the guru.

The group talks about whether experiencing a fully realized being in spirit is the same as encountering them in the flesh. They ask questions about the nature of consciousness, in and beyond the synaptic cleft, and what it means to open your heart to the possibility of something bigger than anything the material world has to offer.

Click HERE to watch the video version of this podcast.

Show Notes

Beyond the Body (Opening) – Duncan raises a question, “Is the body of Christ the same as the spirit of Christ?” When we meet a guru outside the material world, is it the same as those who encountered him in the flesh? Raghu reminds us that the body of the guru is found in the Satsang that forms around him.

“The idea is that the body of Neem Karoli Baba, the ‘blanket man’ as you say, Pete, was a player piano, and there was music he was playing that was running through him that wasn’t based on the physical self.”

Nature of Consciousness (11:00) – Where is our consciousness? When every cell in our body replaces itself and yet our consciousness remains the same, where does that consciousness exist? Scientists think it may rest in the synaptic cleft. Raghu talks about the consciousness of a realized being and what it is like in the presence of someone like that.

“When Maharajji looked at us through the eyes of love, we were able to be that.”

Fisherman and the Fish (21:00) – Pete gets back to the predicament of knowing the guru without experiencing them in person. While we can experience the love and radiance through the guru’s teaching and the spiritual community that encountered him, it can be difficult to imagine what being in that presence is like.

More Than a Man in a Blanket (27:00) – The three podcasters talk about the impact Maharajji has had on them, regardless of their physical relationship with him. They talk about the role of imagination and the shadows of the heart. The spirit of Maharajji, on one level, may exist in our imagination, but being with him there is a practice of moving our consciousness and hearts onto the same plane as the spirit of the Guru.

What Maharajji represents is not just a wise man in a blanket. He represents something greater than the physical body, the true nature of all beings which has so many names.

“That’s what Ram Dass talks about when he says, ‘When I talk to Maharajji in my imagination it is a practice. Then eventually there is another plane of consciousness that I am on with him that has nothing to do with projections, guilt, judgment, anything you just described.”

Check out Pete’s new show “Crashing” and his podcast “You Made It Weird.” If you don’t subscribe already, listen to more Duncan over at the “Duncan Trussell Family Hour

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