Friday 30 May 2008

This comment was posted recently on here and I wanted to address it in greater detail.

Hi Doug,
Barry Long and Eckhart Tolle are very good, acceptable teachers from what I can see. What do you think about those teacher's who practice "crazy wisdom", like Adi Da or Osho? They were/are dangerous characters, by many people's definition. And what about the Illuminati (translation: the enlightened) who apparently control the world and are the cause of the wars on earth (if you believe the theorists). Are they enlightened? What is enlightenment?

Crazy Wisdom? Well every teacher has his or her own style and each of us is attracted to different teachers and styles based on our own spiritual needs. I have read some of Osho's work some years ago now and I still have a book of his on the subject of Meditation. I have looked at Adi Da's work on the Internet in the past and read some of his material along with his very interesting poetry. I don't have a bad word to say about any teacher . . .

Ultimately we are drawn to what we need. You dear reader are either drawn to what I have to say on my sites, and the teachers I guide you to, or you are not. There is no right or wrong about it, there is no good or bad about it, everything is as it should be.

Wisdom is wisdom. It is the wisdom of that greater Truth-Reality-Integrity, which is within you now. What is it greater than? It is greater than all your attitudes-beliefs-opinions, and it is within you, waiting to be discovered now. The only problem is that it is buried underneath all your conditioning. Buried beneath all your conditioned attitudes, beliefs and opinions. You are that wisdom, you are that greater truth, reality and state of integrity that you long for, it is not separate and apart from you. Any teacher worth his or her salt will be guiding you within, into the depths of your very being where all truth is realised. The only crazy thing is listening to any teacher who does not guide you into this state of being, or into the realization of your greater Truth-Reality-Integrity.

The Illuminati? Starting wars? May I loll about now, please? You will never find an enlightened individual starting a war. The enlightened have removed all their conditioning, they are free of psychological and emotional unhappiness, and free of all problematic living, meaning they have no problems in their lives and therefore they don't inflict problems on others.

Calling yourself Illuminati and actually being Illuminati are not one and the same thing, are they? Are you free of all psychological pain, suffering, sorrow, misery and unhappiness now, and every moment? Is your life free of psychological and emotional problems, every moment, regardless of the events that unfold in your life? No? Then you are not enlightened. The individual who is at war with him/herself is the one who creates wars externally. They could be wars with other individuals or wars with other nations, it is all the same subject: Psychological and emotional unhappiness!

Are you inflicting your own psychological and emotional pain, misery and unhappiness on others in one way, shape or form and at any time? Yes? Then you are not enlightened.

Are you controlled by the fear of losing what you have in your life or the desire to have what you haven't already got? Yes? Then you are not enlightened.

If enlightenment is something that you desire then you have missed the point. Enlightenment is what remains when you no longer desire anything, including enlightenment. Nothing positive can be done to achieve the enlightened state. What you have to do is become fully conscious of all the ignorant conditioning within yourself, and through this process of becoming fully conscious, all that is false and not real or true within you will fall away. It is a process of negation or removing what is not real, removing what is not a part of your original state of being. What remains at the end of his process is your natural state of being, which is integrated, whole and complete. Just what this enlightened state is like you will have to discover for yourself, if you are willing to do the work!

Is that clear now? I trust that it is, but if greater clarification is required then you should make it known to me, for that is exactly what this site is all about . . . the realization of the purist and clearest state of perception possible: Enlightenment.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Doug, it's clearer now. I probably wouldn't have anything bad to say about an enlightened teacher either, if I haven't had to tolerate seemingly intelligent individuals who did so with fierce determination. And I probably wouldn't be having doubts, asking questions and using a ridiculous name either, if i didn't persist in my boastful self-importance, and 'funny ha-ha' comments. Again: great blog, Google-bot has spun a web here and I'm very, very, very pleased to see it.

The trials and tribulations of QPR said...

Hey iamonfire, don't be so hard on yourself! You haven't done or said anything wrong have you, there isn't any right or wrong where self-knowledge is concerned, we are all on learning curves . . or unlearning curves depending on your perspective!

I wonder if someone, somewhere calls themselves 'IamaDampSquid?' I'm not taking the mick, you have to be able to laugh at yourself if you are going to move beyond all your baggage, beyond all the conditioning you've taken on board. I used to use spiritual labels but I moved beyond them, the right teachers and correct forms of meditation take you to a new level of perception and being . . eventually . . where all that is false just leaves you.

Why not keep in touch and pester me with some of your wonderful questions, it is a great way to learn for all of us, myself included. If I don't have an answer inside me for any question asked then I'll guide you to someone who has! The most important thing you can do is approach self-knowledge with a healthy sense of scepticism. Don't believe a word I or anyone tells you, find out for yourself if what is said is true or false by taking practical action. Self-observation is the Practical action you have to undertake. True, it can feel like hard work overcoming our conditioned 'self' but that is just the way it is. You have to be willing to do the work, that's the bottom line.

I hope you pay us a visit once in a while . . . We are all in this together . . .

Anonymous said...

Hi Doug, thanks for your response to my comment, didn't realize it was there...
I just wanted to highlight a comment you made in "Untitled", that, "you will never find an enlightened person starting a war". I understand the point your making but from a alternative perspective its not quite true. The Krishna story is a GREAT example of how enlightened action and violence can appear to exist side-by-side.

The trials and tribulations of QPR said...

Hello again my 'Flaming Friend!' I thank you for your point.

Can I just clarify that you are speaking of The Bhagavad Gita, which is a spiritual classic written in Sanskrit? It is the story of Arjuna, yes, and he is told to go to war by Krishna . . . no doubt about it? But who is he told to go to war with? Do you think the battle is with external people? He has to do battle with those closest to him doesn't he, friends and relatives even? Can I ask please, is it possible to interpret spiritual literature? I think we both know the answer to that. What is it that is doing the interpreting, could it be the conditioned mind? Sorry, but isn't it the conditioned mind that each of us has to go to war with? Arjuna certainly did go to war with his enemies and they were full of doubt, fear and worries, he experienced much soul searching and gut wrenching pain removing from his life all that he loved and was attached to on a personal level . . but they were not external enemies, they were his real enemies. Enemies who are much closer to us than our external friends and family . . they are our own conditioned fears, doubts, worries and all our psychological and emotional unhappiness, everything that we become attached to and think we are but are not. Of course I could be wrong about that but the only way you'll ever know for sure is by beginning the self-realization process, which requires of you the very same experience! As difficult as the process is I highly recommend it . . .