Dear John
I watched our argument from the group meeting a few weeks back. I need to make some comments and get some answers if we are going to continue to communicate.
(1) What did you take away from our argument concerning (a) satsang dharma and (2) your state of mind? If applicable, to save you the embarrassment of dissembling I will answer for you.
(1) Your attitude was totally inappropriate. You were aggressive, arrogant and argumentative. You tried your best to irritate me. Among other insults, you contemptuously said, “You look like a fungus.” Is that an endearing attitude for someone who is seeking love? Rhetorical question. I didn’t block you on the spot because I could see that you were totally unconscious, meaning completely identified with your ego. As you will perhaps recall I was amused by your lack of class.
I continued to argue for two reasons: (1) to showcase the wrong attitude for inquirers, although everyone in the group is respectful and those that aren’t (if any) presumably know better than to insult me. You aren’t respectful because you don’t respect yourself. For instance, you claimed at the beginning that you (meaning your body) are ugly. The reasonable feedback we got from many (about 10) people was that you are a total jerk and should be kicked out. But since it’s the first time you made a fuss, it’s OK, but you are on a short leash.
(2) I sincerely tried to give you the difficult (for you but not for qualified people) solution for your problem, which is to take a stand in your non-dual nature, not in your conceptual nature. Was that clear to you? A simple yes or no will suffice. If no, you are wasting your time with the ShiningWorld group. You might as well use my books for firewood, as you suggested. If yes, you will showcase as much humility as you can muster henceforth or I will block you. I need to see the face that reflects your true beauty. If I want ugly I can get on social media.
Finally, You need to wipe your mind of all the ideas you picked up so far and listen to chapters 2-5 of the Gita if you are motivated to continue “seeking.” You do not have a clue what the first step of Vedanta practice is. Karma yoga is Vedanta therapy and you need a whole lot of it. You rightly claimed that you “don’t have a clue” what non-duality is because you are not qualified to understand, which actually momentarily surprised me…but not really. You are a real blockhead, John. Everyone but you can see it, Try to see through other’s eyes. If people treated you like you treat people, you wouldn’t like it in the least.
Somehow, you’ve managed to avoid hitting bottom, which is a pity. When I said in Existence Shining as Awareness that if after a few years of Vedanta you’re still the same person, you missed the point altogether because Vedanta transforms people. The hard arrogant part melts and one becomes a classy cultivated well-mannered self-actualized person. If you feel devastated by the drama you generated a few weeks back, that’s a good thing. If not, not.
Anyway, let me hear from you in the meeting tonight. People love redemption stories and will probably change their minds about you if you show contrition, keeping in mind that you will be blocked if you misbehave. Our free speech policy is very strict. If you need to dump garbage Twitter is a good trash can. But if understandably you are too embarrassed to open your mouth, you can reply by email and I will try to help you.
Love,
James
