--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Last night I rapped for a little while about outlaws > and why I like them, and the flack they sometimes get > from others for living by no rules but their own. But > there is another reason why I love outlaws. For me > they are the perfect metaphor for the pathway to > enlightenment. > > In my considered opinion, *most* of the men and women > in human history who have realized their enlightenment > have done so by being outlaws. At some point in their > lives they decided to stop following the advice or the > "laws" of others, and follow only their own. > > You need look no further than the Buddha for an example. > Yeah, he studied with a few teachers during his early > days. But he rejected them all, and in the end wound > up "studying" only with the Self. And that was all that > was needed to realize the Self. That is essentially his > message, and in my opinion it is still true, all these > centuries later. > > Many in the spiritual community are *offended* by the > idea of DIY (Do It Yourself). They come up with all sorts > of intellectual arguments for how it isn't possible for > a self to realize Self all by itself. They repeat the > stuff they've been told (and, more often than not, *sold*) > by teachers who told them that they *needed* a teacher to > realize who they are. They go on and on like Ron does > about how a guru is essential, and how doing exactly what > he or she says is essential to become enlightened. > > Well, to echo Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire, "Show > me the enlightenment!" > > We were all told for years or decades within the TM move- > to Just Follow Instructions. "Do what we tell you to do > and you'll become enlightened." Yeah, right. We all know > how many people in the TM movement *that* worked for. > > And then I look at other spiritual traditions and what I > see is that the guys and gals who get written about *as* > enlightened beings are the ones who *didn't* follow > instructions, who *didn't* do exactly what they were > told to do. For the most part, the people whom history > records as the enlightened were outlaws. For a while > they tried doing things Somebody Else's Way, but in the > end the thing that enabled them to realize their enlight- > enment was finding Their Own Way. > > I could go on and on and on, listing the enlightened of > the past whose life stories suggest that they were outlaws. > It's pretty easy to do; there are far more of them than > there are stories about people who realized enlightenment > by doing what they were told. > > But instead, since I know that this is going to push > some buttons, I'll ask those who still believe that one > *can* become realized by doing what you're told to do > (or that that's the *only* way you can realize enlight- > enment) to provide some examples of this. Show me the > enlightenment! Trot out some examples of someone follow- > ing Someone Else's Path and getting enlightened by > doing what he or she was told to do. > > We've certainly seen Ron trying to do this here, and I > think we've all seen how believable his claims that all > these people are poppin' into enlightenment are. I would > suspect that there is not one person here who believes it. > But *Ron* believes it, and obviously believes firmly > that if he does everything he is told to do, for long > enough, that enlightenment will be the result. > > Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'm not > convinced. I think there is great value in the moment > in which one *rejects* doing what one has been told, > and does Something Else instead. > > That moment often is referred to by the enlightened as > the pivotal moment in their lives in which the seed of > realization was planted. It may not have actually been > *doing* the Something Else that "caused" realization, > but just making that decision to no longer be reliant > on Someone Else's Path in almost every case revealed > their *own* path to them. And that path led them home. > When sincere seekers are there , the universe offers a choice. Probably when the sincerety is kept up, more choices come along the way and the time frame is eternity so no need to worry.
It looks like out of the 6 billion people on the planet, not many follow a Guru, this is their choice, that is what free will is about. Hridaya
