> > > From: "anartaxius@... [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> > > > Steve,
> > > You do need to pay attention to what other people say about > > > enlightenment, otherwise there are no markers as to whether you have made > > > progress or not. But then, who has the 'right' markers? There are lots of > > > descriptions of enlightenment in various traditions. Jim's experience is > > > one of them, but it has me being suspicious because he has said rather > > > little of it in detail, other than he has it, and he knows others do not. > > > The only teacher I know of who describes enlightenment in great detail > > > from start to finish, from a more 'personal' perspective, warts and all, > > > is Adyashanti. There may be other teachers I do not know of, > > > undoubtedly. Maharishi's system appears to have some general benchmarks, > > > but it seems many have had experiences that are of another quality. The > > > jury is out on this for me, but Jim seems to avoid going into much > > > detail about his experience. > > > 'Silence 24/7', a big release when it dawned, 'every perception sees the > > > infinity of the object, unity prevailing', but generally not > > > particularly creative in going beyond stock phrases that could be lifted > > > from Maharishi's tapes. Because he seems to be interested in creativity > > > and expression, I think he could do better at this and make up his own > > > words for this, because then you get more of a feeling of a connexion > > > with a person's mind. > > > To me Jim seems more bluster than Brahman, but I do feel he had a > > > profound experience from his point of view. I would just like to know > > > more about it, and he seems reluctant to go into more detail. Also Jim > > > seemed not to understand descriptions of enlightenment from other > > > perspectives, such as Vedanta, which should not be a problem. > > > Just something seems missing to me. Jim's performance strikes me as low > > > resolution bravura, and seems more interested in telling the tale of it > > > and how it compares to others' than in using it to illuminate our > > > understanding about it. > > > And Jim also said of Barry 'Barry told a silly little story about some > > > western-bubbleized person having a good time, and then realizing instead > > > they were a victim of karma, with a mind full of thoughts'. This was a > > > cut and paste a friend sent to Barry from Sam Harris's book. It was an > > > illustration that we can have experience which we misinterpret as > > > enlightenment, but the story was part of a larger context in the book. I > > > do think Barry was making a veiled reference to Jim, for Barry thinks > > > Jim's enlightenment is faux enlightenment, and the story Sam Harris told > > > was just that. > > --- <turquoiseb@...> wrote : > > Barry simply reposted the excerpt sent to him by Vaj, because it is a > > comment on the issue of Neo-Advaitan pseudo-enlightenment we've discussed > > here many times. > > Barry does not believe anyone on this forum is enlightened, no matter how > > much they claim to be, and has said so many times. If the ones doing the > > claiming get their panties in a twist over it, he considers that proof that > > they're not enlightened, and thanks them for providing it. :-) > > For the record, Barry also does not read any FFL posts made by either > > Richard or Steve, and doesn't much care whether they stop eating and die, > > because that wouldn't affect him in any way. If Edg or Anartaxius fasted > > themselves to death stopped posting to FFL he would probably miss their > > writing for a day or so but he'd get over it. > > Seems to me people should get over themselves and get back to the business > > of being ordinary. :-) > --- <awoelflebater@...> wrote : > Yes, follow bawee's example and become very, very ordinary. There is nothing > like being mediocre, average, run-of-the-mill, suburban, unmemorable, > unexceptional, commonplace, humdrum, middle-of-the-road, dull, bland or > conventional. Keep showing us how, bawee, so far you're doin' great. Somebody in the forum said, "Barry is one of those unusual people with a talent for looking down on others from the gutter."
