My Introduction - Dennis

[Guest guest]

Career-wise, I am a (Software) Metrics Consultant, specialising in Earned

Value. Or perhaps I should say 'was' since I was made redundant last June

and am still out of work. Trying to set up independantly, I have just

finished a book on the subject and established a web-site (evmetrics.com).

Married (twice) with a son from the first and a stepson and daughter from

the second, all in their early twenties. Lived all my life in England

(though moved around a bit!) and have a B.Sc degree in Chemistry (for all

the good it has done me).

 

And that's enough of that! I have been studying Advaita increasingly

seriously for over 15 years. Until the summer of '98, I belonged to an

organisation called the School of Economic Science in England. This received

guidance for about 25 years, until his death, from Sri Santanand Saraswati,

ex Shankaracharya of the North. I attended classes once a week and acted as

tutor to another group once per week. The disciplines are based primarily on

Jnana and Karma Yoga with a little Bhakti. I meditate twice daily (initiated

by the London School of Meditation, originally an off-shoot of TM), though

now largely for health and peace rather than because I think it is of any

spiritual value). I also learned some basic Sanskrit there (alphabet plus a

little grammar and numbers of prayers and quotations learned by heart for

chanting and reflection etc).

 

I left for various reasons. The teaching was becoming increasingly obscure,

pedantic and non-practical, with lots of emphasis on reciting Sanskrit

(without any real progress in teaching the language). I had derived the most

benefit from tutoring others for the last four years but this role was taken

away and, instead, I had to drive 35 miles to act as assistant Sanskrit

tutor. This group began at 06.00 for only 1 1/2 hours, of which the first

half-hour was meditation. And many of the group did not even know the

alphabet! The fundamental problem with the School is that members were led

to believe that they were making progress on a spiritual path and that the

key to this path was subjugation of the ego. I have also learned

subsequently that the teaching was not pure advaita but contains spurious

additions of samkhya yoga and kashmir shaivism.

 

Since then I have moved increasingly towards an extreme 'direct path'

position, believing that the concept of spiritual progress is meaningless

and that it is impossible for the ego to destroy the ego. There is nowhere

to go - who would go there? Who is there to realise the Self? In these sorts

of ideas, I recognise Francis Lucille as my effective spiritual

teacher, though I remain open to valuable insights from any source, whether

other current gurus such as Ramesh Balsekar and Wayne Liquorman ,

traditional masters such as Ramana Maharshi or Western philosophers such as

Schopenhauer. The more I search, the more I realise that so many are saying

exactly the same thing; it is just that some use language that is easier

for a particular mind-set to understand.

 

I have written a novel - an ecological thriller, also containing many

advaita monologues as well as being an original commentary on T. S. Eliot's

Four Quartets. My agent in Switzerland has so far failed to find a publisher

however. Over a year ago, I began writing my second book, which is (not

surprisingly!) an introduction to Advaita aimed at people who have never

heard the term. It will cover all of the aspects about which intelligent

people think (= worry) from time to time, showing how Advaita

considers/resolves the problems. I am illustrating the book with cartoons to

lighten the whole thing. Of course, I am also using the list to help me

resolve in my own mind some of the more knotty problems! Unfortunately, this

project has been on hold since last June to enable me to put everyting in

place for the consultancy. Hopefully, these preparations will complete in

another few weeks and then, not having any 'proper' work to do, I can return

to doing something useful and interesting!

 

Dennis