Pseudo Advaita: an critical article

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

I have found this very critical article about advaita teachers at the

advaita list. One of the members has forwarded it not knowing who is

the writer.

I also forward it here because I find many said in this article

illustrates the present "inflation" of advaita teachers very well -

one always wonders wherefrom they arise so suddenly. One need not

agree with all said in the article (not every statement in the

article may be correct) but I think it is worthy to be read as it

becomes more and more important to have a close and critical look

whom you trust and accept as a real teacher and not to believe that

with the first glimpses of awakening everything is already done. For

awakening one has to give everything (the ego must vanish) and it is

mostly a hard struggle. It is no cheep path, it is no quick path

(only in very rare cases) - nevertheless it is at the same time all

grace and bliss.

In Sri Ramana

Gabriele

What I for example don't agree with is the statement that Sri Ramana

sat in the cave for 20 years before he could be complete. That is

nonsense. The awakening of Sri Ramana was final from the beginning.

There was nothing left to be completed. But he was a very rare

exception.

>>We would like to express our concern regarding the recent phenomenon

of'satsang-culture' which in our opinion has impoverished seriously

theOrignial Spirit of Advaita. These days many individuals, who have

verylittle or no knowledge at all about the Process of Awakening,

feel qualifiedto give satsang and lead other souls on the

Path.Enlightenment has become very cheep these days. Nobody actually

really knowswhat is the meaning of this term as it virtually means

everything andnothing. Nowadays, it is sufficient to say 'I am

awakened' in order to givesatsang.Because of the unverifiable nature

of Enlightenment, this term has been muchmanipulated. Satsang has

been Americanised. In an average satsang-gatheringeverybody is

laughing, showing signs of euphoric and unauthentic joy, whilethe

teacher tries to look likehe or she is in a bliss. Just like a TV

show. Very few actually meditate.Why to meditate if we are already

all awakened?But Is this really Advaita? Is Advaita a poor repetition

of a severalslogans like 'There is nobody there,' 'You are That,' You

are alreadyawakened' or 'There is no Path', etc.? Has this anything

to do with teachingof great masters like N. Maharaj or R.

Maharishi?Ramana sat in caves for 20 years before he could be really

complete. In hispresence disciples had to meditate for months and

years before they couldreceive from him the glimpse of the Self.It is

true that New Millennium is a time of global awakening. But

thisawakening is mostly partial and relative to the level of most

people'sunconsciousness. It was Jesus who said that there would be a

time when manyfalse teachers will teach in the name of Light. It

seems to be happeningnow. Many of these teachers are not necessarily

'bad people' but simplyunqualified and lost, in truth. They have

believed too quickly in thethought 'I am now ready to teach!'It seems

that the pauperisation of satsang culture began after the death

ofPoonjaji. Many of his followers started to claim that Poonjaji

approvedtheir awakening.' It seems that they just took him too

literally. It is anAdvaita custom to say 'you are already awakened.'

This is however more ateaching device than a reflection of reality.

And even if some of hisdisciples had a glimpse of awakening, Poonjaji

knew very well that in mostcases neither it was permanent nor the

final state.An example was Andrew Cohen who was sent to give satsang

in the west. He wasmeant to represent Poonjaji and attract more

westerners to Lucknow. But heand others thought that Poonjaji

actually conformed his Enlightenment. Forthat reason, Cohen became

very hurt when Poonjaji started to criticize himwhen he began to act

as a master. From this wound came later the magazine'What is

Enlightenment?' which more represents Cohen's own insecurity and

anunsuccessful attempt to heal himself than a genuine search for

clarity. Bythe endless investigation into states of all possible

masters, and not beingableto come to any true conclusion, he has been

just confusing his students. Theonly thing which at the end remains

clear from his seemingly 'sincere'efforts to find clarity is that

nobody has the least idea 'WhatEnlightenment Is!'It is not our

intention to suggest that nobody reachesEnlightenment. We just wish

to make it clear that Complete Enlightenment andUnderstanding of its

nature is still an extremely rare phenomenon on theplanet earth,

which a plane of low evolution. And equally important, we wishto

emphasize that apartial or pre-mature experience of awakening does

not qualify one at all totake a role of a Self-realised

being.Enlightenment is not as cheep. Many seekers seem to be unaware

of a verysimple fact that there are actually many levels of

Self-realisation. Thereis an enormous difference between initial

awakening and the actual State ofEnlightenment. But who cares?Most

seekers would not bother to study these matters, for in their

casethere is really 'nobody there' - just a collective seeker's

mind.And most teachers would refuse to enquire into the true nature

ofEnlightenment because they already have a hidden doubt and deep

fearconcerning the validity of their own attainment.We would like to

suggest not to rush too fast with announcing oneself'awakened,' and

to rush even less with the idea of giving satsang. In Zentradition

one had to wait 10 to 20 years after Enlightenment before onecould

guide others. These days we hear about individuals who give

satsangthe next day after theiruncertain awakening!We would like to

clarify, for the sake of general knowledge, that there areactually

several levels of expansion beyond the mind.There are three basic

types of Inner Expansion:1) Awakening to Pure Awareness (the State of

Presence behind the mind).2) Awakening to the Absolute State (unity

with the unmanifested).3) Awakening of the Heart (expansion into the

Divine).> In each of these levels there are three stages: Shift into

a state,Stabilisation and Integration. For instance, many

satsang-teachers do notexperience the same state outside of teaching.

This is because they are notestablished permanently in the state

theyhave attained. For that reason, they can have a deep state during

satasng,but when they leave the satsang-room, they return back to

ordinaryconsciousness. In such a case only consciouscultivation of

the particular state can allow one to establish itpermanently.

However, if one does not believe in actual process ofawakening, how

can one consciously cultivate anything? One does not evenknow that

one is in a State. Here we see the importance of

correctunderstanding. If one just follows in a dogmatic and

unimaginative way theAdvaita idea that 'I am already That,' how can

one cultivate anything?We recommend to all students and teachers of

Advaita to be more critical.Follow Advaita, if you wish but know that

Reality is simply much more richthan any linear philosophy, with

Advaita included.The Practical Advaita and the Theoretical Advaita

are very different. In theTheoretical Advaita, the Self is the only

reality, there is no Path and weare all already awakened. But

Practical Advaita knows that there is a longway to go before the

truth of these statements can become our living truth.We would like

also to create a few practical anti-pseudo-advaita statements:'You

are not awakened unless you awaken!' 'You are not That, unless

youreach unity with Universal I AM!' 'There is no Path but only for

those whoCompleted it!' 'There is nobody here, but only when somebody

has dissolved!Until that time you are simply a suffering somebody who

only tries tobelieve in being no one or entertains oneself by giving

'satsang.'We have request to all those who experience any type of

awakening:PLEASE, THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO GIVESATSANG and

HONESTLYCOMTEMPLATE WHAT ARE YOUR TRUE MOTIVES BEHIND THE DESIRE TO

TEACH.Perhaps giving Satsang is not really necessary?Blessings to

Seekers of Truth and Clarity who have the courage to renouncethe

False.

[Guest guest]

On 3/6/02 at 12:34 PM Gabriele Ebert wrote:

Dear All,

I have found this very critical article about advaita teachers at the

advaita list. One of the members has forwarded it not knowing who is

the writer.

I also forward it here because I find many said in this article

illustrates the present "inflation" of advaita teachers very well -

one always wonders wherefrom they arise so suddenly. One need not

agree with all said in the article (not every statement in the

article may be correct) but I think it is worthy to be read as it

becomes more and more important to have a close and critical look

whom you trust and accept as a real teacher and not to believe that

with the first glimpses of awakening everything is already done. For

awakening one has to give everything (the ego must vanish) and it is

mostly a hard struggle. It is no cheep path, it is no quick path

(only in very rare cases) - nevertheless it is at the same time all

grace and bliss.

In Sri Ramana

Gabriele

What I for example don't agree with is the statement that Sri Ramana

sat in the cave for 20 years before he could be complete. That is

nonsense. The awakening of Sri Ramana was final from the beginning.

There was nothing left to be completed. But he was a very rare

exception.

Is that a matter of experiential verification or belief?

The belief in an essence of every thing and creature is called "essentialism"

as opposed to non-essentialism (believing there isn't such an essence).

As to no surprise, recently i wrote a short comment on the issue:

------------

Regarding essentialism, the belief in invariable and fixed properties

probably suffered a blow

from quantum mechanics: depending on expectations (the way an experiment is set up),

behavior can be like particle- or wave-like , but not simultaneous.

That already shows the impossibility to know what for instance light truly is (particle and wave

behavior being a subset). The same goes for every bit of matter: what

it "exactly" is remains unknown. That makes the assumption of a

'common substratum' a speculation.

Non-essentialism on the other hand denies the existence of any essence, a belief too.

This reminds of what happened to classical mechanics, once believed to be 'absolute truth'.

That belief was toppled by quantum mechanics.

Likewise, any rigid belief system regarding "optimal" human

functioning is likely to be toppled too, unless that possibility has

been accounted for.

-------------------------

Apparently, after enlightenment, the Buddha could preach immediately whereas for

some mind-bodies, a long period of meditation/ascetics is required.

For those familiar with the 'engine' of human behavior, it will be clear

that the Buddha already had practiced asceticism - only seemingly to no avail.

Regarding the "enlightenment" issue, before new agerism, it used to be divided

in 3 phases, for practical reasons:

1. pre-enlightenment (giving up "i" and my way) - in the "good old times" called discipleship.

This can be pretty hard - read how Marpa treated his 'best' disciple, Milarepa.

2. post-enlightenment I (U.L. dissolves any notion of "i"/doership/otherness)

If in doubt of that phase, read for instance Ramana's verses on Arunachala.

3. post-enlightenment II (U.L. dissolves any sense of bodyness)

Of no great importance as in the terms of the N.T., the second death

will be survived.

The above distinctions once were made on the basis of human functioning, not

essentialism, non-essentialism, universalism or another -ism:

Although there is but energy, a description of daily life in terms

of interacting photons would be a bit impractical despite the apparent

scientific truth, not to mention the requirement of a phd in physics in order

to talk even to your dog. One advantage, no more "enlightenment" issues as

there would be but light.

Jan

>>We would like to express our concern regarding the recent phenomenon

of'satsang-culture' which in our opinion has impoverished seriously

theOrignial Spirit of Advaita. These days many individuals, who have

verylittle or no knowledge at all about the Process of Awakening,

feel qualifiedto give satsang and lead other souls on the

Path.Enlightenment has become very cheep these days. Nobody actually

really knowswhat is the meaning of this term as it virtually means

everything andnothing. Nowadays, it is sufficient to say 'I am

awakened' in order to givesatsang.Because of the unverifiable nature

of Enlightenment, this term has been muchmanipulated. Satsang has

been Americanised. In an average satsang-gatheringeverybody is

laughing, showing signs of euphoric and unauthentic joy, whilethe

teacher tries to look likehe or she is in a bliss. Just like a TV

show. Very few actually meditate.Why to meditate if we are already

all awakened?But Is this really Advaita? Is Advaita a poor repetition

of a severalslogans like 'There is nobody there,' 'You are That,' You

are alreadyawakened' or 'There is no Path', etc.? Has this anything

to do with teachingof great masters like N. Maharaj or R.

Maharishi?Ramana sat in caves for 20 years before he could be really

complete. In hispresence disciples had to meditate for months and

years before they couldreceive from him the glimpse of the Self.It is

true that New Millennium is a time of global awakening. But

thisawakening is mostly partial and relative to the level of most

people'sunconsciousness. It was Jesus who said that there would be a

time when manyfalse teachers will teach in the name of Light. It

seems to be happeningnow. Many of these teachers are not necessarily

'bad people' but simplyunqualified and lost, in truth. They have

believed too quickly in thethought 'I am now ready to teach!'It seems

that the pauperisation of satsang culture began after the death

ofPoonjaji. Many of his followers started to claim that Poonjaji

approvedtheir awakening.' It seems that they just took him too

literally. It is anAdvaita custom to say 'you are already awakened.'

This is however more ateaching device than a reflection of reality.

And even if some of hisdisciples had a glimpse of awakening, Poonjaji

knew very well that in mostcases neither it was permanent nor the

final state.An example was Andrew Cohen who was sent to give satsang

in the west. He wasmeant to represent Poonjaji and attract more

westerners to Lucknow. But heand others thought that Poonjaji

actually conformed his Enlightenment. Forthat reason, Cohen became

very hurt when Poonjaji started to criticize himwhen he began to act

as a master. From this wound came later the magazine'What is

Enlightenment?' which more represents Cohen's own insecurity and

anunsuccessful attempt to heal himself than a genuine search for

clarity. Bythe endless investigation into states of all possible

masters, and not beingableto come to any true conclusion, he has been

just confusing his students. Theonly thing which at the end remains

clear from his seemingly 'sincere'efforts to find clarity is that

nobody has the least idea 'WhatEnlightenment Is!'It is not our

intention to suggest that nobody reachesEnlightenment. We just wish

to make it clear that Complete Enlightenment andUnderstanding of its

nature is still an extremely rare phenomenon on theplanet earth,

which a plane of low evolution. And equally important, we wishto

emphasize that apartial or pre-mature experience of awakening does

not qualify one at all totake a role of a Self-realised

being.Enlightenment is not as cheep. Many seekers seem to be unaware

of a verysimple fact that there are actually many levels of

Self-realisation. Thereis an enormous difference between initial

awakening and the actual State ofEnlightenment. But who cares?Most

seekers would not bother to study these matters, for in their

casethere is really 'nobody there' - just a collective seeker's

mind.And most teachers would refuse to enquire into the true nature

ofEnlightenment because they already have a hidden doubt and deep

fearconcerning the validity of their own attainment.We would like to

suggest not to rush too fast with announcing oneself'awakened,' and

to rush even less with the idea of giving satsang. In Zentradition

one had to wait 10 to 20 years after Enlightenment before onecould

guide others. These days we hear about individuals who give

satsangthe next day after theiruncertain awakening!We would like to

clarify, for the sake of general knowledge, that there areactually

several levels of expansion beyond the mind.There are three basic

types of Inner Expansion:1) Awakening to Pure Awareness (the State of

Presence behind the mind).2) Awakening to the Absolute State (unity

with the unmanifested).3) Awakening of the Heart (expansion into the

Divine).> In each of these levels there are three stages: Shift into

a state,Stabilisation and Integration. For instance, many

satsang-teachers do notexperience the same state outside of teaching.

This is because they are notestablished permanently in the state

theyhave attained. For that reason, they can have a deep state during

satasng,but when they leave the satsang-room, they return back to

ordinaryconsciousness. In such a case only consciouscultivation of

the particular state can allow one to establish itpermanently.

However, if one does not believe in actual process ofawakening, how

can one consciously cultivate anything? One does not evenknow that

one is in a State. Here we see the importance of

correctunderstanding. If one just follows in a dogmatic and

unimaginative way theAdvaita idea that 'I am already That,' how can

one cultivate anything?We recommend to all students and teachers of

Advaita to be more critical.Follow Advaita, if you wish but know that

Reality is simply much more richthan any linear philosophy, with

Advaita included.The Practical Advaita and the Theoretical Advaita

are very different. In theTheoretical Advaita, the Self is the only

reality, there is no Path and weare all already awakened. But

Practical Advaita knows that there is a longway to go before the

truth of these statements can become our living truth.We would like

also to create a few practical anti-pseudo-advaita statements:'You

are not awakened unless you awaken!' 'You are not That, unless

youreach unity with Universal I AM!' 'There is no Path but only for

those whoCompleted it!' 'There is nobody here, but only when somebody

has dissolved!Until that time you are simply a suffering somebody who

only tries tobelieve in being no one or entertains oneself by giving

'satsang.'We have request to all those who experience any type of

awakening:PLEASE, THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO GIVESATSANG and

HONESTLYCOMTEMPLATE WHAT ARE YOUR TRUE MOTIVES BEHIND THE DESIRE TO

TEACH.Perhaps giving Satsang is not really necessary?Blessings to

Seekers of Truth and Clarity who have the courage to renouncethe

False.

/join

All paths go

somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, perceptions,

and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of

Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It

is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the

Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of

Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self.

Welcome all to a.Your use of is subject

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