It will melt your heart
Dear James,
Thank you for being on the internet where I found you and your explanation(s) of the scriptures based on Hindu philosophy. I have continually followed your teachings for about 1 year and have become aware of the missing part. Vedanta is so clear.
Similar to your journey, Thirty odd years ago I blindly did my first 10 day Vipassana Meditation silent retreat. Since then I’ve had a fairly regular practice, have done more retreats. This has made a profound impact on my life’s journey. Then I was introduced to Western philosophy: G.I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, Krishnamurti, and others. I then found Iyengar, Patanjali, K. Pattabhi Jois, Krishnamacharya and Ashtanga YOGA. I’m a certified Iyengar teacher. I’ve traveled to and studied in India on three separate occasions. I trekked to the Source of the Ganges, Wooppee! but what a profound experience for me.
I’ve got the fundamentals of ‘mind, body and spirit’ based on Eastern Philosophy. I understand duality. With Vedanta I now understand non-duality. With this awareness I sincerely thank YOU.
Engrossed in your website, Satang’s, books and videos you’ve sent, I’ve got it. I’ve got the fundamentals of Vedanta. I find that now I can leave the weekly visits. J ust in time, the website is changing, looks beautiful, fees are added to join You Tube. I like that. I feel I’ve paid my price to be where I’m at.
I truly ‘believe’ that so many of your followers ask intellectual questions, are confused and don’t seem to get it. It’s simple, you share knowledge, you repeat yourself in such a variety of ways. They still don’t get it. I honestly think it’s because they haven’t formed a regular and consistent sadhana/karma yoga practice. Of course, I’m generally judging. This is where I’m confirming with you.
I think it’s time for me to MOVE ON…… Otherwise, is there something I’m missing about ‘advanced Vedanta’? I’m not sure I need to perfect Sanskrit. It appears words convey masterfully. This is where I need more of your personal wisdom and guidance. In the Light, getting brighter all the time.
I respectfully await your response.
Don’t be Too Eager to Declare Victory
Dear Joe,
Lovely to hear from you! I don’t teach Vedanta. I teach the Self. Vedanta is only a means of knowledge that reveals your whole and complete self. It is not a philosophy. It is not an academic pursuit. When you understand what it means to be the Self, you are completely satisfied with yourself and the world. If that’s true, you have graduated from the school of life, which is to say samsara. As it says in the Vedas, “what use is water from a well when the whole land is flooded?” It means Vedanta is a throwaway.
You aren’t throwing it away…considering moving on…for the right reason. Water only vaporizes at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. At 2011 it is still water. There are no “advanced” inquirers. Everyone is a beginner…Zen mind beginners mind…until Self-knowledge is completely assimilated. Then Joe disappears. There is still a long way for him to go but if he moves on she will be back one fine day because The Heart cannot be denied.
I’m not sure what the changes on the website have to do with anything, but the you that “paid the price” and arrived “at” some psychological place isn’t real. It’s a conceptual person cooked up out of a long sequence of events, real and imagined, that purportedly define you. You are everywhere and nowhere. If there is an “at” it is in You. Or better yet, it is you but you are not it. The “you” that’s in the light may be shining brighter but the Light that you are does not wax and wane like the moon.
It’s obviously disappointing to think that you’ve “got” something and then be told by someone you respect that you didn’t get it. “Getting it” is observing the disappearance of the getter— the Joe person — and an 180 degree reversal of perspective. The one who “gets it” switches places with What he or she actually is in the wake of hard and fast Self knowledge.
And the What that you are never did all those things, spiritual and otherwise. It never sought and found. The getter gets but What you are can’t get anything because there is nothing other than it to acquire. What it wants is what it is. How absurd is that? There is no seeker and no finder. Ignorance is lost when knowledge is acquired but knowledge and ignorance are unknown to You, unborn existence shining as bliss-consciousness.
A Candle in a Room
This is the understanding that arises when you assimilate Self-knowledge. And how does it “feel” to assimilate Self- knowledge beyond the intellect? The palpable ever-present warm glow of unborn love is your constant companion. If you put a candle in the center of a large cold dark room the light reaches the walls, but the heat clings tightly to the flame. This indescribable unborn perfect conscious love includes Joe and everyone else and knows that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, the world is perfect as it is. I’d say you can move on when you see your mind thinking like the Isvara mind that wrote this letter. Otherwise, don’t move on. If it’s a matter of money, forget it. You can attend free of charge.
I Have No Followers
Finally, I have no followers. You say you understand duality but this letter suggests otherwise. You can only follow me if you are someone other than me. I am you and you are me. You can only understand. This knowledge that “stand’s under” you is the non-dual love that you are.
Much love,
James
