Dear James,
The more the mind thought about our satsang yesterday, in regards to my teacher, it really stirred up some powerful things. He REALLY REALLY is off-target, and for the past 2-3 years, I’ve been living with “his way’ of sharing, thinking he was correct and accurate. But he’s not! And that really messed me up for a loooooong time!!!!!! Until yesterday!!!!!!! Thanks to you (true wisdom)! I’ve always known something was just not right, and I battled with it for a long time. And it actually hurt!!!!! But now that’s all done, and there is PURE and UNSHAKABLE BEING (as there has always been)!!!
That being said, he, as well as many others, are doing much dis-service and harm to people through their own ignorance!!!! This needs to be known, and corrected!! (For mithyas sake!!!). I would like to do another Skype with you as soon as we can if that’s cool with you?
Hi Jackson,
Well, one has to go through what one has to go through, so the disillusionment you’re feeling with reference to X….’s “teaching” is good because it led you to Vedanta. Obviously you weren’t ready for it before. If you had recognized the value of Vedanta at the time you would have been uninterested in other paths. I never went to another guru, read another spiritual book or had anything to do with the modern spiritual scene for the last 50 years since the day I met Swamiji and realized that there was an impersonal scientific proven means of knowledge. Once you are on the Vedanta bus, you’re set for life. To be fair, X….’s “teaching” is Vedanta-like so it’s easy to be fooled. But it’s also Vedanta-lite. The modern guys have a short shelf life.
X…. is an intelligent sincere helpful person, one cut above the Neos, doing a useful service. I like him and he has been kind to me. He’s learned but he was never taught by a proper mahatma although he has rigorously explored the tradition itself and would be classified as a pundit, an intellectual with Self knowledge or Self realization, which he thinks is liberation.
Nonetheless freedom is not about Vedanta, which is about removing ignorance, not gaining knowledge. The subject matter of Vedanta is you. You are not knowledge. You are existence shining as consciousness, the one that illumines knowledge and the knower. Vedanta is a means of understanding this fact and for communicating it once you know that you’re not a knower and that you don’t know.
Like the other modern teachers, he interpreted what he read or heard in light of his own experience and came up with half a loaf at best. He’s close but close isn’t good enough. Water only turns to steam when it hits 212 degrees. Vedanta transforms you. You will not be the same person you were before. You will not be a person at all.
Yes, I’m happy to speak with you again but I’m going to tell you that you need to go back to the beginning and learn the means of knowledge properly if, as you’ve indicated several times, you’re interested in sharing. If someone’s ignorance is removed they will be happy but happy but it doesn’t make them teachers. A sharer perhaps, but without knowledge of the whole means of knowledge you will just mislead and confuse people too. If you are going the spiritual route once you understand the essence of the teaching and are enjoying the freedom and satisfaction it confers, you need to do it professionally. You don’t want to jump the gun. Inspiration has its downsides.
So the best thing to do is to follow the program as unfolded on the website. You should definitely read my satsangs and books religiously and in order. You should also get the Vedanta full set and go through videos in order. The whole path is laid out carefully over and over from every possible angle. I think you would make a good teacher one fine day but you need a teaching if you’re going to teach. It’s a role and a skill that should be done professionally, obviously not for money. I don’t support or recommend anyone unless they have an independent income, don’t charge and are committed to the teaching tradition. Anyway, I’ve got time to talk tomorrow if you wish. Please make a donation to further the dissemination of Vedanta and I will try to answer your questions. Let me know the best time for you.
Love,
James