Ep. 21 | Enlightened Westerner Series | Interview with Amrita Baba скачать в хорошем качестве

Ep. 21 | Enlightened Westerner Series | Interview with Amrita Baba

Is the complete end of suffering actually possible – including the full healing of trauma – for ordinary Westerners living modern lives? In this first episode of the Enlightened Westerner Series, Nataraja speaks with Amrita Baba, founder and head teacher of Amrita Mandala, shortly after Baba’s completion of the path to enlightenment: the permanent cessation of both subtle bodies and the irreversible end of suffering. This conversation explores why awakening or emptiness realisation alone is not the end of the path, and why many sincere practitioners continue to experience trauma, emotional reactivity, and karmic residue even after profound insight. Baba explains enlightenment in precise, pragmatic terms as the full transformation of the five poisons (Kleshas: ignorance, attachment, aversion, pride, jealousy) into five wisdoms – not as a philosophical ideal, but as a lived and verifiable reality. Drawing on over two decades of practice and teaching, Baba describes the nonlinear process of astral-body purification, the limits of traditional Dharma approaches to trauma, and the unexpected moment of final cessation that marked the end of suffering. The discussion also addresses common misconceptions around bliss, emotions, and detachment, clarifying how ordinary human experience continues without egoic friction. Crucially, this episode marks a wider shift: not only has Baba completed the path, but two lay Western women – mothers with jobs and families — have now done so as well, demonstrating that full enlightenment is achievable within modern life when the right methods are available. The conversation is firmly rooted in pragmatic dharma, emphasising clarity, honesty, and real-world results over mystification or spiritual bypassing. The Lion-Faced Guru Podcast is by Amrita Mandala Sangha, founded by Amrita Baba, a pragmatic path of Tantric Yoga suitable for ordinary modern day seekers, with the aim to realise complete freedom, Buddhahood, within this lifetime. Find out about Amrita Mandala teachings here: https://www.amritamandala.com/ Previous series titled "the Mahasiddha Interviews" with accounts from students who completed the path of wisdom and clarity, full emptiness realisation:    • Ep. 21 | Enlightened Westerner Series | In...   00:00 – Introducing the Enlightened Westerner Series 05:23 – Has Amrita Baba truly reached the end of suffering? 07:21 – The five poisons and the meaning of enlightenment 09:39 – Why emptiness realisation is not the end 11:29 – Trauma lives in the astral (meridian) body 14:01 – Verification and repeatability of enlightenment 16:21 – Life before enlightenment and unresolved trauma 18:14 – Turning the five poisons into five wisdoms 21:53 – The final years before completion 25:36 – Why emptiness did not heal trauma 27:06 – Discovering trauma in the meridian system 32:40 – The moment of final cessation 34:26 – How Baba knew it was permanent 36:48 – What changes after enlightenment 41:35 – Frictionless experience explained 46:21 – Why Enlightenment is and isn't an attainment 52:26 – Integration after final cessation 57:35 – Why traditional Dharma fails trauma survivors 01:07:00 – Is full trauma healing actually possible? 01:15:28 – Panic, dissociation, and compulsive trauma 01:23:46 – How relationships fundamentally change 01:30:38 – Forgiveness and seeing perpetrators clearly 01:38:28 – Bliss, prana, and common misconceptions 01:45:05 – The full emotional range of Buddhahood 01:53:32 – Nonlinear astral purification 02:04:27 – Becoming your own refuge 02:14:44 – Tantra as full engagement with life 02:41:42 – Two-fold enlightenment and physical-body purification 03:05:12 – Enlightenment is binary