Buddha At The Gas Pump

At 28 I moved to New York City, a fulfillment of a childhood dream. Oddly enough, even though I had received what I wanted on many accounts, I felt like I was having a premature midlife crisis. Interest in philosophy and psychology arose in response which brought me to The School of Practical Philosophy where I discovered Advaita Vedanta and was initiated into Transcendental Meditation (TM) three years later. Frustrated over my lack of success in my meditation, I left the school and embarked on fixing myself through psychotherapy. On a local radio station I came across Gangaji and Eli Jaxon-Bear. They were sharing the Truth they had discovered through their master, H.W.L. Poonja, a.k.a. Papaji, who happens to be Mooji’s guru as well. Then 9/11 happened. I was deeply hurt inside. The towers that I saw burning and crumbling outside initiated the same inside me. In the days and months that followed, old, hidden pain and fear from the past emerged, but, surprisingly, I felt more alive than ever. There was an exc