Comments on The Peaceful Self.com: Awakening with the "Dream Police"

Hey Christine! I'll pop over to your place to...

2009-06-25T14:51:28.293-04:00

Hey Christine!

I'll pop over to your place to read what you wrote.

"enjoying your mind -the part you express here"

Hahaa! Thanks!

Of course, there are parts I express that many wish I wouldn't. And then there are parts that I don't express, but don't deny that I have.

Thanks!
mikeS

hi mike! i posted a comment on my last blog which ...

2009-06-25T12:40:49.683-04:00

hi mike!
i posted a comment on my last blog which kind of relates to some of what you say here... so i won't repeat myself.

enjoying your mind - the part you express here.
warm regards
christine

Hey Duff! Interesting interaction with Harris, th...

2009-06-25T10:07:59.934-04:00

Hey Duff!

Interesting interaction with Harris, the "marketer of gurus." You're gonna need to work through that "anti-marketplace shadow" before enlightenment. Ha! I'm sure Mr. Harris as just the tool for that.

I have no real difficulty with psychotherapies as they can be helpful in coping with our fears.

Yet, the 'invisibility' many of these so-called masters advocate is not the prescription to save an ailing postmodern world.

But that's just my take on things for what it's worth.

Great comment, thanks!
mikeS

I recently commented on Mr. Harris' blog entry...

2009-06-24T18:27:09.008-04:00

I recently commented on Mr. Harris' blog entry about "Does Holosync Resolve Shadow Material?"

I said maybe, maybe not, but Holosync and Meditation and Psychotherapy and Personal Development certainly doesn't resolve political, economic, or ethical questions...like whether or not it's ok to sell spirituality for high prices with pushy marketing.

He didn't much like that. Harris said I had an "anti-marketplace shadow." :) Interestingly, I mentioned I was his customer (purchased Awakening Prologue), but he didn't seem interested in my customer feedback, that I am an entrepreneur in his market, etc. but wanted to "let the market decide" what he should charge and how he should sell his products (the market of which I am a member).

I personally find Harris' contribution to spiritual practice through brain entrainment useful. He packaged the thing well in terms of his levels etc., but then overpriced and overhyped the thing. This is what I'm mostly critical of--that and of course any claims to any results being other than this ordinary world as a result of spiritual practice. He could have made the protocol open-source, or created a non-profit, or even just a small business with humble aims. But he chose to make the company so grand he could brag about his private jet. This in my opinion deserves discussion and critique.

As far as state experiences go, states come and go, but certainly can reconfigure one's relative perspective, which can be a wonderful and sacred thing. You do not need to purchase anything in order to have such a state experience of course. God is free and everywhere all the time. That said, some products and services and some religious or spiritual practices can make it more likely that you will have such experiences. The religious traditions from day one have advertised themselves by promising or hinting at such experiences. It's clear to me that overcharging and overhyping for spiritual products and services is unethical, but what of being subtle and suggestive while giving things for free or reasonable prices? I think it's an ongoing inquiry.

I do think aliveness or ecstacy and peace or contemplation are two sides of the same coin, but this isn't a new discovery by any means. Mystics have talked of this for 1000's of years, and it can be easily discovered independently of any tradition too. Of course this duality is not exactly true either--hence talk of "wu wei", nondoing in action, etc. Same as MC's "flow".

Great insight with the conspicuous consumption of spirituality. Spiritual Materialism as Trungpa would call it. Harris and Wilber and Genpo are certainly guilty of it in their sale of spirituality as a luxury item for the rich, famous, and "third tier." We are all guilty of this to some extent. I certainly have been on the consuming end of spiritual things.

Jody, Thanks for the kind words! mikeS

2009-06-24T16:16:48.263-04:00

Jody,

Thanks for the kind words!

mikeS

Crazy Pianist, Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the post....

2009-06-24T16:15:13.229-04:00

Crazy Pianist,

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the post.

Keep in touch!
mikeS

Let's try this again. Mike, great work! The wo...

2009-06-24T12:28:46.822-04:00

Let's try this again. Mike, great work! The world needs much more of this sort of thing.

Beautiful! I was just about to write a diddy abou...

2009-06-24T10:07:23.841-04:00

Beautiful!

I was just about to write a diddy about my boss, but you said everything I wanted to already.

As I always say about my boss, f*** her. I be me and she be she.

I can see we are of the same opinions about our respective situations.

No One, Thank you. mikeS

2009-06-24T08:40:10.942-04:00

No One,

Thank you.

mikeS

Amen. How cruel, to prey on ego-fears for financi...

2009-06-24T02:13:36.213-04:00

Amen. How cruel, to prey on ego-fears for financial gain. Yet even the idea of no-body or complete nondual "experience", however expansive a concept, is a box that tries to contain boundlessness, organise it, put it in some terms the mind can understand. Lovely blog entry Mike.