Teachers of the Path of Non Duality

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

 

Does anyone know of any advaita teachers in the New England

MA,NY,CT,RI,NH) area?

 

Is having a teacher along the path of advaita necessary? I am somewhat

frustrated as the only teachers I have come into contact with are either

unknowledgeable or seem to be (either wittingly or unwittingly) a

personality cult of sorts. Does anyone share in my feelings or experiences

or am I an isolated case? I am extremely hesitant to join many groups as

many I have come across appear to be manifestations of the guru complex. Not

that it is bad to have and respect one's teacher but...complete self

surrender to another human being at the expense of one's own judgement can

be a very dangerous thing.

 

Thanks everyone,

Jeremy

[Guest guest]

Hi Beck,

 

Nisargadatta, Beck <beck@b...> wrote:

> >Is it truly necessity, or if you really wanted to enough, could you

> >move somewhere that an " external " guru is available?

>

> That is a hard question. I have some really heavy family

> commitments here, right now. To what extent does one " interrupt

> life " vs. trust that when needed, the " external guru " will somehow

> appear?

 

I don't know. I gave up both the 'joys' and the 'sorrows' of family

life (never had one) and worldly commitments (don't want them) years

ago. And I discovered that " underneath " the endless pain/pleasure

cycle, the endless desiring and questioning and seeking is something

that could be called " causeless happiness. " Uncaused Joy, Bliss,

Transcendence. Attention fascinated with Attention only. Even as

these words get typed, they don't distract 'Attention' from its

endless fascination with Itself.

 

So clearly I'm in no position to answer that question or to help,

life circumstances differ drastically. Maybe after the family

commitments resolve eventually, then it will be different.

Ultimately, 'everyone' is alone in this kind of discovery -- life

circumstances differ so drastically.

 

> Yes, yes and yes. And, for that matter, does the " external guru "

> have to be physically present? Does he/she even have to be " alive " ?

> Is not a guru universally present?

 

The Guru is consciousness itself, the sense of beingness or " I-am-

ness. " Nisargadatta gave his entire life to teaching only this, in

every one of his teachings I see nothing but this single message,

repeated over and over again... yet somehow it remains

mostly 'neglected' or 'not understood' even to this day. Why, I

don't know.

 

Joy & Fulfillment,

 

Tim / Omkara

[Guest guest]

At 02:22 AM 6/1/01, you wrote:

 

 

>The Guru is consciousness itself, the sense of beingness or " I-am-

>ness. " Nisargadatta gave his entire life to teaching only this, in

>every one of his teachings I see nothing but this single message,

>repeated over and over again... yet somehow it remains

>mostly 'neglected' or 'not understood' even to this day. Why, I

>don't know.

>

>Joy & Fulfillment,

>

>Tim / Omkara

 

Tim:

 

I think it is neglected or not understood because it is too simple.

Most people who traverse this path are very intelligent and want

to feel that they have found the holy graile and the big cosmic

joke is that you find it by not moving. :-)

 

Peace & Love,

 

Michael

[Guest guest]

At 12:22 AM 6/1/01 , you wrote:

 

Hi Beck,

 

So clearly I'm in no position to answer that question or to help, life circumstances differ drastically. Maybe after the family commitments resolve eventually, then it will be different. Ultimately, 'everyone' is alone in this kind of discovery -- life circumstances differ so drastically.

 

 

 

 

Tim, I doubt you are interested in my life history, so I will avoid

it. Just out of curiosity, however, let me give you a quick snapshot of

today and let me ask you, from your position of " causeless

happiness " , what you would do.

My wife and I are living on three acres next to a navigable river on the

Oregon Coast. It is the property she was raised on. Her mother still owns

the property. She is an invalid to arthritis. I am a Registered Nurse. We

live here to take care of her - I work for her, 24/7, as her care giver.

Also living with us is Aubry, my wife's granddaughter. Aubry, now five,

was premature with a birth weight of one pound, eleven ounces. She is

blind in her left eye and severely challenged in her right. She has not

yet learned to speak, we don't know if she will. She is learning sign

language. She is developmentally delayed, currently her skills are at

about the 24 month level. We legally adopted her last spring - her mother

is a recovering addict and unable to provide. There is a good probability

she will be in our care for life.

On the social side, Aubry is the love of my life. She is absolute joy.

You can meet her on her website,

http://aubrychew.com.

 

I have seen it written that my worst enemy is my best friend because that

is the person who will give me incentive to seek Truth. This is true of

my mother in law. By her own words, she is " mean " . Naturally,

by her arthritis, she is angry and depressed, but from what I can gather,

her personality long predates her disease. I don't need to say more here,

you can use your imagination.

Now, let me ask you my question: Let us say I determine I need to move to

Los Angeles to find a guru (not that I find living in Los Angeles a very

spiritual thing to do :-). Enlightened beings are supposed to be

compassionate. Do you see any compassion in telling either Aubry or my

mother in law, " Screw you, I'm moving to LA to become

enlightened? "

 

 

 

 

The Guru is consciousness itself, the sense of beingness or

" I-am-

ness. " Nisargadatta gave his entire life to teaching only

this, in every one of his teachings I see nothing but this single message, repeated over and over again... yet somehow it remains mostly 'neglected' or 'not understood' even to this day. Why, I don't know.

 

Perhaps because the statement is so simple it is difficult to

understand, or easy to deny. If I understand the statement, it says I

don't really need a physical " out there " guru because that is

not where I will find my guru or my reality. If this is true, it matches

with what I have felt all along. Whenever I read someone saying I need a

guru, my senses react - somehow I sense this is not the truth. I sense

that Truth will be found inside, and inside only. My problem is to

release my problems, only.

 

Thanks for responding,

Beck

[Guest guest]

>Beck: If I understand the statement, it says >I don't really need a physical "out there" guru >because that is not where I will find my guru >or my reality. If this is true, it matches with >what I have felt all along. Whenever I read >someone saying I need a guru, my senses >react - somehow I sense this is not the truth. >I sense that Truth will be found inside, and >inside only. My problem is to release my >problems, only.

 

Please pardon this intrusion into your dialog.

As for an outer guru, I am of the persuasion that whatever appears before one at this

moment contains all the elements needed for immediate illumination. The outer guru is the circumstantial aspect of experience, whether or not a sage is apparent. The alchemy that transforms dull lead into lustrous gold is sparked when outer clamor resounds within inner silence in an integration of outer and inner "gurus."

 

All that is and nothing at all to you, Beck.

 

~ tomas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

At 10:13 AM 6/1/01 , you wrote:

Beck:

 

I believe the simplest way, no Guru required, to clear the most

blocks to happiness is to go to a 12 step group such as AA. Do the 12

 

steps.

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul

Paul, with all due respects, I thank you for your response. I did the 12

steps and they did nothing for me. I stopped drinking on my own.

 

To each his own, I guess.

 

Beck