Unfortunately, no time for much participation in these wonderful discussions, but one quick point:
MZ, you seem to be evaluating enlightenment, Indian spirituality, etc., on the basis of your experience of enlightenment. What makes you think your experience was the real deal, and bears any similarity to what truly enlightened people were/are experiencing? I read one of your books 20-30 years ago, and watched the RC show with fascination from the sidelines, but I didn't get the sense that you were living enlightenment. It was some sort of awakening which to you had the flavor of Unity, but your ego was very much intact, which is not the case with genuine, abiding awakening. IOW, a very preliminary glimpse, profound as it may have been, but not a standard by which anyone else's state or tradition could reliably be judged or evaluated. I say this in friendship. No negativity implied or intended. One other thing. Don't jump to conclusions. Cultivate what Zen calls "don't know mind". Very helpful tool. Not only consistency, but certainty, is the hobgoblin of little minds.
