Between the title and the chosen screen name I certainly can't fault you for incomplete disclosure.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, doctordumbass@... <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Someone once said that if a person is not serious about a spiritual journey, > better they do not start at all. Several people here seem to have gotten in > over their heads. I'll explain what I mean. > > Almost any skill is learned, by absorbing it, and practicing it, for > proficiency. Fly a plane, drive a car, play music, read a book, become an > architect, etc. The relationship of learner to object changes, only as > knowledge of the object deepens. There is an assumed 'I', in order to make > learning possible. > > The goal of the spiritual journey is to burn down any previous identity, and > transcend completely, in order to make genuine discoveries. Only then do we > begin to see the world as it is, watching its glorious and unending unfolding. > > But, it means confronting deep stories, beliefs, and the emotions, primarily > fear, that drive them. Typically, the journey begins with following somebody, > Buddha, Jesus (vs. Christ), Mohammed, Shiva, etc., within the context of > previous followers; go to a Buddhist temple, read the bible, start a > meditation program. > > Often times, what these followers will do, is substitute the issues of their > life, for the glory and promise they feel as new followers of whatever > vehicle they have chosen for their spiritual journey. In other words, the > previous dream is replaced, or enhanced, by the current dream, the second > dream. > > For many of us, the initial transcending brought about by the TM technique, > seems, and seemed, like a better dream. Get all cozy with Vedic > Knowledge-lite, sit in front of a guru, put on the trappings of the > organization pushing the technique, and dream, dream, dream on. > > Inevitably, if a person continues the spiritual journey, they are faced with > the extinction of the path and the organization that brought them this far. > This will mean they cannot return to the dream that set then on their path, > nor can they continue refuge in a religion or spiritual organization. > > They are on their own. HOLY SHIT! > > Losing one's contextual identity can be a scary thing. Cutting oneself out > like a paper doll, to stand alone, then reducing that to ashes, terrifies > most people more than physical death does. The response for many is to > retreat into the ego, and ideas and theories and beliefs, escaping into yet a > third dream. > > Like Curtis here, on the illusory basis of their ego-bound selves, they are > endlessly questioning and challenging these things they exposed themselves to > during that initial spiritual discovery - Maharishi was this and that, blah, > blah, blah, often simply spouting palaver to salve their foolish ways during > their rush to forget themselves at the feet of some teacher or other. They > earnestly reject the second dream, for the third; that of "earnest confusion". > > Its a good place to be these days, "earnestly confused". People appreciate > and respect this type of false searching, this questioning that never turns > inward, this dream of false discovery. > > It makes us appear genuine and heartfelt to others - a nice guy, a sweet > woman. Sadly it is neither. So, these terrified fools (sorry but calling it > as I see it) retreat into books, theories and thoughts that leave them > hopelessly caught in a vise, between whatever dream they falsely followed, > and their deep terror of complete dissolution. > > However, they have learned enough of their rejected path to have gained some > insight. This makes them appear "wise", and "knowledgeable" and "widely > read". The reality is that they are not a whole lot further along in their > spiritual path as when they started. > > Want to know how to see this type of person? They are tied to their past > formal path of spiritual discovery. Even though they are convinced they have > rejected it, and seen the truth of it for themselves, the confusion around > their previous path follows them around like a shadow. Sensing this shadow, > they are constantly denigrating it, often by attacking those they perceive as > accepting the same spiritual path in a less critical manner. > > This is all the "earnestly confused" have - this one insight that the > spiritual organization they got into bed with, was simply another dream! They > rail at it, and try to wake up others to this fact. They accomplished > something! They saw through the tmo dream! AND IT IS IMPERATIVE that they > convince others of this. > > However, since they are stunted on their way to spiritual freedom, and by > definition, continuing to dream themselves, they have nothing to offer those > who they are trying to wake up; the blinders leading the blind. > > And others smell this on them. These "third dreamers" become like > politicians, telling others the endless errors of their ways, but offering > nothing in return. So, unfortunately, they become lost between attempting to > convert others to their one insight, yet not recognizing that the resistance > they often encounter is not in response to their ideas, but a direct response > to their inauthentic vibes, the "earnest confusion", the silent message they > send of trying to change the beliefs of others purely to make their third > dream of "earnest confusion", a perfect dream for themselves. > > The last person any of us are going to listen to, or take seriously is > someone who goes after any organization, political, economic or spiritual, > and clearly has no self knowledge. It Just Don't Smell Right. >
