Comments on The Peaceful Self.com: Populist Gurus and Spiritual Cowboys

There's a lot of thinking went into these comm...

2011-11-15T21:15:30.490-05:00

There's a lot of thinking went into these comments. Blah, blah, blah...
I would find this more interesting if people would share exactly what their moment to moment experience is as to how they are functioning. Though I guess if your moment to moment experience is all in your head, then all it will ever be is blah, blah, blah. Why does everyone want to prove that they are enlightened or not, or someone else is enlightened or not, or bash each others beliefs in with a sledge hammer? I liked Jed. I like every bread crumb that falls in front of these feet. Life is an adventuresome frolic that forever plays hide and seek with itself. No end in sight as far as I can see. No I to see, lol.

I threw Jed McKenna's first book at the wall t...

2011-08-11T02:32:53.145-04:00

I threw Jed McKenna's first book at the wall the first time I read it I was so angry...a few years later and I have to admit he's right.. the price of truth is everything. I also really liked how a lot of his characters were women. He's the best and I'm not gonna let you Mr. Mike say nothin' against him..ya hear. Maybe you should read the books intstead of writing an article based on an interview based on an article. Straight to the source my man!

I would love to discuss Jed with others interested...

2011-06-18T14:12:36.918-04:00

I would love to discuss Jed with others interested in him.

He clearly has something so fundamental that on one level of all our beings we simply can't deny. Yes, some things seem impossible to go through or do or whatever that Jed talks about, but the fact remains, the center of us is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and yet at the same time clearly in existence on some level some where some how.

The deepest experience I ever had was after I got a thing called "Darshan" from a guru called Guru Maharaji (Prem Rawat). Absolute silence in my head not a thought for miles around. Yet personal conversations (emails) I've had with jed, he tells me that the silence/stillness business is bullshit. I don't get that. Seems like abiding non-dual awareness to me if there ever was such.

Any way, reading Moby Dick (pretty incredible book actually), but the SPIRITUAL AUTOLYSIS thing just never goes any where for me. Just always get to a dead end where every answer is: I DON'T F'ING KNOW. Where the hell do you go after that???

Well, there's my dead end of trying to do Jed's path. I still read and listen and watch his stuff all the time, but can't bust past that to make any profound changes in me to the NEXT LEVEL(?????). buzz1857@yahoo.com if you want to contact me directly, Mike

Pietro, Actually, I really don't put much tim...

2011-05-30T18:54:01.190-04:00

Pietro,

Actually, I really don't put much time at all into this blog, because there is no real goal.

Things come up and I jot 'em down. As you can see, some folks like, some NOT.

Not much more than that...

Thanks,
mikeS

Hey Mike, I spent about 20 minutes or so reading ...

2011-05-30T15:13:10.767-04:00

Hey Mike,
I spent about 20 minutes or so reading your blog. Just curious where you are coming from - what's the point you wish to make, etc? You have put a lot of work into this blog, so you must have a goal in mind, no? Thanks for answering.
Pietro.

Hi Faye, Like what you say. So far, all I can sa...

2011-04-18T07:53:52.538-04:00

Hi Faye,

Like what you say.

So far, all I can say with some sense of assurance (but even that is 'uncertain') is that we can't do it...

...alone.

Thanks!
mikeS

Loved your article Mike. I had a very similar resp...

2011-04-17T16:31:10.445-04:00

Loved your article Mike. I had a very similar response to "Jed's" books. I can't help but wonder (I cannot seem to quell the petty, egoic needs of my mind to delve deeper) if he's pulling a fast one on his readers and his next book may start out with "Gotcha Suckers."

It seems to me that the hypocrisy and many contradictions inherent within these books are perhaps included on purpose to demonstrate the fallacy and futility in believing oneself to be at an ultimate and finite state of awareness, self-labelled as 'enlightenment'.....there's part of me hoping that the 'real' message exists between the lines of these books.

The deeper I go into all of this personally, the more I come to realize that as far as 'truth' goes, I can never know anything for sure. If physical existence is in fact illusive, how then could we ever decipher 'absolute truth' so long as we're part of the illusion. (The way I see it, if I'm still having a physical experience, I'm still 'IN' it.)

The idea that we can completely transcend the 'illusion' and that we can know with absolute certainty that we've done so, is kind of silly in my opinion....haha..and yes, as someone who is NOT enlightened, I have lots of them!

The thing that Jed and others like him fail to see is that their assessment of 'ultimate truth' is just that also.....an opinion...a belief...another mental construct created by their physical mind.

If physical life is analogous to a program of sorts, then as a part of the program, how could we ever really know with any level of certainty just how deep the program goes?

Hey, Thanks Jed! mikeS

2011-04-04T09:53:54.462-04:00

Hey,

Thanks Jed!
mikeS

Hey yah all... Mr. Jed appears to have a site. I t...

2011-04-04T09:36:47.125-04:00

Hey yah all... Mr. Jed appears to have a site. I think it's B.S. In fact, I think the whole enlightenment thing is B.S. Jedmckenna.webs.com is full of B.S.

"You being such an idiot makes me satisfied o...

2011-02-01T17:04:45.880-05:00

"You being such an idiot makes me satisfied of your unhappiness."

Ha!

You gotta love the anonymity of the internet!

But don't fret fools...

I will post everything!
mikeS

Wow mike, you really let your frustrations and ang...

2011-02-01T16:57:11.355-05:00

Wow mike, you really let your frustrations and anger come out through your criticism.

You being such an idiot makes me satisfied of your unhappiness.

Sincerely

Thanks Tbony! mikeS

2010-10-13T20:58:13.410-04:00

Thanks Tbony!
mikeS

Nice one mike.

2010-10-13T16:22:25.158-04:00

Nice one mike.

Wow

2010-09-28T19:49:43.546-04:00

Wow

"From this writing it's quite obvious you...

2010-04-28T20:51:25.671-04:00

"From this writing it's quite obvious you haven't woken up yet. If you had, there would be no problem and no judgment about it. Nice try though."

And from your judgment...

I can obviously say the same...

Nice try though!
mikeS

From this writing it's quite obvious you haven...

2010-04-28T16:29:43.811-04:00

From this writing it's quite obvious you haven't woken up yet. If you had, there would be no problem and no judgment about it. Nice try though.

sleeping is more peaceful. not awakening is the e...

2010-04-08T18:35:26.874-04:00

sleeping is more peaceful. not awakening is the easier softer way. no one ever told me enlightenment is fun.

"You don't define Jed or his books with y...

2010-03-10T15:06:49.664-05:00

"You don't define Jed or his books with your whack-off blatherings. You just define yourself as one deeply asleep and dreaming they are awake"

Ha! Thank Gawd there are so many like you around to point that out.

If this is what Jed's "awakening" brings you...

Let's hope we all remain sound...

asleep....

Zzzzzz
mikeS

You don't define Jed or his books with your wh...

2010-03-10T14:59:46.412-05:00

You don't define Jed or his books with your whack-off blatherings. You just define yourself as one deeply asleep and dreaming they are awake.
Sweet dreams to you & hats off to Maya!

heyash "Who gives a shit about Jed's per...

2010-01-31T16:42:15.740-05:00

heyash

"Who gives a shit about Jed's personal life? What is that to any of us? Why is 'Jed' ever even a thing to discuss?"

Hmmm...it seems you do "give a shit" otherwise...

why ask the questions?

Focus on one aspect and its opposite is pops up. Assert in one direction and another direction magically appears and beckons. Say 'no' and 'yes' comes into view.

See how "enlightened" I am...

and am NOT...

Thanks,
mikeS

If we are to stick to the truth then we must ackno...

2010-01-30T18:15:17.243-05:00

If we are to stick to the truth then we must acknowledge first that Jed Mckenna's books are a projection of my own mind, just like everything else I am able to percieve in this state of manifest reality.
I have experienced that his writings agitate my ego, just like many other writers on this page seem to have experienced. only I have found this agitation to be precious and invaluable in illuminating my own nature, tendencies, etc. Helping me look at things I would rather not.
Mike, it seems, (though I could be mistaken,) that you haven't read his books. I think you would like them, as you and 'Jed' seem to have a lot in common. Of course you would have to let go of certain ideas about who, what, and how other people should exist according your laws of the universe, since it's doubtful that you'll ever be able to get them to stick. My own experience with maintaining such views has been one of varying degrees of aggravation.
Not only is it not fun, but the moral and logistical implications associated with realizing the neccesity of having to destroy 98% of the human population of earth is overwhelming.
besides, 'Jed' has stimulated a lot of genuine dialogue that simply doesn't come up with most other 'gurus'. Who gives a shit about Jed's personal life? What is that to any of us? Why is 'Jed' ever even a thing to discuss?
All we have is some paper bound together, with ink shapes arranged in a way that evoke mutually interdependent conceptual formations, to which we have to some extent already agreed upon.
next...
-heyash

Good for you Juan! (I'm not sure about having...

2010-01-11T18:01:13.167-05:00

Good for you Juan!

(I'm not sure about having "results" though. Seems somewhat finite)

Thanks,
mikeS

inasmuch as I can speak of "I", I have f...

2010-01-11T10:49:08.093-05:00

inasmuch as I can speak of "I", I have followed Jed's charted map and the results are exactly what he promisses: "abiding non-dual awareness". Enough said.

These three books remain in my core library. The f...

2009-12-12T09:11:10.163-05:00

These three books remain in my core library. The first and second ones resonated with me and were entertaining as well. (to me anyway) The second one gave me a tremendous reading list. The third, not so much. Spiritual Autolysis--did I spell that right?--I have done it over the past 4 years. I am not sure I would recommend it if you are pleased with your current life. It was just the right book for me at the right time.

Anonymous Friend! "So you'd like to separate the ...

2009-05-18T14:46:00.000-04:00

Anonymous Friend!

"So you'd like to separate the "the truth of wholeness" from the qualities in the physical realm of parts?"

No, actually when I made that statement "Qualities are inherent to the physical realm of parts, but I imagine it has little to do with the truth of wholeness" I was responding to your comment:
"This is called selflessness. It is quality that comes with "enlightenment".

Selfless most certainly could be considered a quality. However, it could just as easily be a quality anyone seeks to acquire, let alone a quality inherent to some vague and abstract concept we call enlightenment. The idea that enlightenment has "qualities" is what I question (respectfully). Does the "enlightened" one have qualities inherent to him or herself or does the audience project the qualities onto those we have decided are enlightened? And if we are the "decider" as to who is enlightened and who is not, since we are not enlightened does that negate our decision?

In addition, if truth is whole, then why would we expect it to manifest as qualities? Wouldn't manifest qualities, as observed by the ego-self, merely be renditions of relative truth, which, of course, is not truth at all?

And yes, I don't hold to any paradigm as absolute and thus have been known to debunk myself. self-debunking is a quality of this infinite game we play and that has been played for centuries and will be played for centuries more. I believe that quite possibly those afraid to self-debunk may get trapped in their own fantasies and the fantasies of those who claim enlightenment.

Hope this clears things up a bit, since this medium unfortunately lends itself to misunderstandings.

Thanks,
mikeS