Turned on the TV at random in Hawaii recently and saw this guy, Eli Jaxson-Bear, speaking. Hadn't heard of him before, as I don't 'collect' teachers. He says some interesting things, though:
I was not drawn to a spiritual life initially. Personal awakening never interested me. Like most people, I just wanted to be happy, which meant that I wanted everyone to love me and do what I wanted them to do and to be free to do whatever I wanted to do. And like most everyone else, I was not successful at this. So even though I had loving parents and a comfortable upper middle-class life, I was miserable and I made those around me miserable. A typical neurotic childhood. In 1965, I was drawn into the civil rights movement as a first-year college student, and I loved the thrill of fighting for freedom. It made me feel very alive. So I became interested in stopping the suffering in the world. I never considered stopping my own suffering. I always saw the suffering as "out there," and I would do something to change it. Also, I never saw my part in creating suffering. Suffering was always created by others: racists, capitalists, corporations. In this way, I denied my own part and also did not look at the root causes of my own suffering. This is the immaturity that precedes the spiritual search. In my attempts to stop the suffering in the world I was tested, as everyone is tested. How far was I willing to sacrifice my own comfort, my own career, my own pleasures for what I said I truly wanted? In this testing, if you stay true to something more important than your own immediate self-interest, there is a maturing, a ripening. This is the spiritual path, whether it is called spiritual or not. The spiritual path is the willingness to confront yourself. To examine yourself and expose the lies that you have been telling yourself to justify doing whatever it is that you want to do. This is a painful, humiliating process and very uncomfortable. The temptation is to sit and meditate 20 minutes a day and call it a spiritual life; to have sex and call it tantra and make believe it is spiritual. True spirituality means ruthless selfÂ-examination and the deepening of a willingness to bear whatever it takes to stay true. This is a natural ripening that leads to finding the true teacher. Note: He goes on to describe the 'true teacher' as the Self. Also appears to be familiar with Papaji, who was mentioned earlier. for more: http://www.leela.org/library/interviews/connections97.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
