View Transcript
Episode Description
Karyn’s spiritual journey was documented in her book Findings from the Hunting Party’s Scout, which chronicles her four most intense years of spiritual growth as an ordinary working soccer mom into an embodied awakened faith leader. After a life-changing spontaneous awakening she shared her Toltec teacher’s teachings and her own experiences as an Interfaith minister ordained by One Spirit Seminary in NYC. In 2019 Karyn was certified as a Mindfulness Meditation teacher taught by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in their Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program Program.
Incorporating methods of mindfulness, The Four Agreements and mystical teachings of the world’s religion into her talks, workshops and writings, Karyn shares wisdom in a non-denominational, dogma free style that is accessible to people who are searching for an open spiritual path that they can call their own.
On her Substack, Karyn’s Findings, she released Inviting Grace In, a curated full year of quotes to guide readers through Four seasons of spiritual growth:
Spring-Uplifting Spirit,
Summer-Shifting Perspectives,
Autumn-Recognizing Wisdom,
Winter-Expanding the understanding of our being.
As a life long social activist, Karyn’s posts highlight ways we can mindfully and compassionately co-create a world where all life is uplifted with a new understanding of ourselves and the source of existence we often call God.
Website: karynobeirne.com
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group
Transcript of this interview
Interview recorded November 15, 2025
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00 – Opening quote on grace
00:26 – BatGap intro and guest overview
02:02 – From atheist soccer mom to seeker
05:01 – What grace is (and isn’t)
08:31 – Ordinary people and awakening (BatGap origin)
11:01 – Brother’s suffering and rejecting a punitive God
12:25 – Carolyn Myss, tears, and first cracks in atheism
15:05 – Belief vs direct experience
16:06 – Questioning religion and “Pale Blue Dot”
18:08 – One Spirit Seminary and UU principles
20:03 – Mystical cores vs literalism and misuse of religion
22:48 – Mystics, administrators, and organizing “truth”
24:03 – Don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec path, and Omega retreat
26:01 – Funeral visualization, love, and urgency
28:02 – 9/11 and not waiting to live and love
29:03 – Toltec community and vulnerability
30:05 – Living‑room meditation and erratic heartbeat
32:05 – Vision of lines, “unhooking,” and boundlessness
35:02 – Recognizing this as reality and calling it grace
36:02 – Aftershock, fear, and re‑forming identity
39:01 – “Accident‑prone” practice and stabilizing awakening
43:21 – How the glimpse guides Karyn’s work
44:21 – Conditioning and the Toltec “dream of the planet”
46:24 – Grace as unsolicited intervention; daily chances to love
48:33 – Retreats, disrupting routine, and nature as teacher
50:43 – “I am the awareness…” – Ireland insights
52:20 – Leaving “God” undefined; “everything is God”
54:20 – Omnipresent intelligence in life and nature
56:20 – “We are God’s love made manifest”
58:03 – Pain, injustice, and where we place attention
59:03 – Helping where we can; appreciating being alive
1:00:01 – Contemporary teachers (Tolle, Adyashanti, others)
1:20:00 – Death, responsibility, and “response‑ability”
1:30:00 – Karma and cause and effect
1:40:00 – Accepting “what is” vs resisting life
1:50:00 – Ways to invite grace in daily life
2:00:00 – Final reflections: open path and living as love
Karyn’s spiritual journey was documented in her book Findings from the Hunting Party’s Scout, which chronicles her four most intense years of spiritual growth as an ordinary working soccer mom into an embodied awakened faith leader. After a life-changing spontaneous awakening she shared her Toltec teacher’s teachings and her own experiences as an Interfaith minister ordained by One Spirit Seminary in NYC. In 2019 Karyn was certified as a Mindfulness Meditation teacher taught by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield in their Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program Program.
Incorporating methods of mindfulness, The Four Agreements and mystical teachings of the world’s religion into her talks, workshops and writings, Karyn shares wisdom in a non-denominational, dogma free style that is accessible to people who are searching for an open spiritual path that they can call their own.
On her Substack, Karyn’s Findings, she released Inviting Grace In, a curated full year of quotes to guide readers through Four seasons of spiritual growth:
Spring-Uplifting Spirit,
Summer-Shifting Perspectives,
Autumn-Recognizing Wisdom,
Winter-Expanding the understanding of our being.
As a life long social activist, Karyn’s posts highlight ways we can mindfully and compassionately co-create a world where all life is uplifted with a new understanding of ourselves and the source of existence we often call God.
Website: karynobeirne.com
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group
Transcript of this interview
Interview recorded November 15, 2025
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00 – Opening quote on grace
00:26 – BatGap intro and guest overview
02:02 – From atheist soccer mom to seeker
05:01 – What grace is (and isn’t)
08:31 – Ordinary people and awakening (BatGap origin)
11:01 – Brother’s suffering and rejecting a punitive God
12:25 – Carolyn Myss, tears, and first cracks in atheism
15:05 – Belief vs direct experience
16:06 – Questioning religion and “Pale Blue Dot”
18:08 – One Spirit Seminary and UU principles
20:03 – Mystical cores vs literalism and misuse of religion
22:48 – Mystics, administrators, and organizing “truth”
24:03 – Don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec path, and Omega retreat
26:01 – Funeral visualization, love, and urgency
28:02 – 9/11 and not waiting to live and love
29:03 – Toltec community and vulnerability
30:05 – Living‑room meditation and erratic heartbeat
32:05 – Vision of lines, “unhooking,” and boundlessness
35:02 – Recognizing this as reality and calling it grace
36:02 – Aftershock, fear, and re‑forming identity
39:01 – “Accident‑prone” practice and stabilizing awakening
43:21 – How the glimpse guides Karyn’s work
44:21 – Conditioning and the Toltec “dream of the planet”
46:24 – Grace as unsolicited intervention; daily chances to love
48:33 – Retreats, disrupting routine, and nature as teacher
50:43 – “I am the awareness…” – Ireland insights
52:20 – Leaving “God” undefined; “everything is God”
54:20 – Omnipresent intelligence in life and nature
56:20 – “We are God’s love made manifest”
58:03 – Pain, injustice, and where we place attention
59:03 – Helping where we can; appreciating being alive
1:00:01 – Contemporary teachers (Tolle, Adyashanti, others)
1:20:00 – Death, responsibility, and “response‑ability”
1:30:00 – Karma and cause and effect
1:40:00 – Accepting “what is” vs resisting life
1:50:00 – Ways to invite grace in daily life
2:00:00 – Final reflections: open path and living as love