Post-modern enlightenment lounge: Do what I say or do what I do?

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Do what I say or do what I do?

He has a sad because his followers not got enlightened.

One problem with following a spiritual teacher or path is that the event of "enlightenment" seems to occur pretty randomly - at least so it seems.

Even assuming that everybody who is claiming to be enlightened is enlightened - which I never assume- the stories are quite nonlinear.

One person I know even got enlightened being hit by lightning! Don't try that at home!

Everybody has a different story and it's not like doing any one thing actually always works. Generally people propose others do the thing that got them going even though that may not work for a single other person. Ramana Maharshi got enlightened by asking himself "who am I?" So thousands of people have followed that line of inquiry for the last century. But it doesn't work for very many people. Some other people got enlightened by meditating, so they propose that. Another fellow got enlightened while eating Chinese food. But he was smart enough not to recommend that as a method- LOL. Generally though people do recommend what they themselves did. But then it gets frustrating when nobody can actually follow them and get the same results.

This is not exactly new stuff. In fact it's the basic theme of the rock opera Tommy which I saw as a young dude. Blind little Tommy getz some enlightenment by playing pinball and so he teaches all his other disciples to play pinball too. Blindfolded. When it doesn't work, his followers rebel.

In real life, tho, not so much.

Instead, thousands of people are buying books, going to workshops and even a few sitting in ashrams all trying to do what someone did before. OK, I dig it.

It's even more funny with the guy who got enlightened by Chinese food and the other guy who got enlightened by lightning... What do they recommend? Well the same old stuff - meditating and
whatever. Well, what else are they going to do?

I feel kinda sorry for the poor spiritual teachers. Aside from all the sex, money and power they got a tough life. :-(

1 comment:

Disappointed in Blockbuster said...: Ha Ha Cosmici! Right on, you are!; 2:27 PM

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RULES OF THE GAME

-1. There are a lot of religions, so any one that claims to be the True religion/path is cancelled out by the other ones that claim to be true religions/paths.
-2. Not all religions/paths are equal, but any one that claims to be better than any other, has to do so by universalistic criteria, in other words, other than those from within the religion/path.
-3. Lots of people claim to be enlightened, but their claims are not necessarily valid.
-4. The lies and hypocrisy of any particular religion or teacher legitimately raise doubts about all similar ones, but do not necessarily discredit them.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

The Post Modern Enlightment Lounge is proud to present the following cast of characters for your internet pleasure:

Counselor Troi -- Empath, oracle, pole dancer to the deities, the Counselor will bring sexy enlightenment with cheeseburgers direct to your table...
Cosmici -- Strong, silent yet incredibly verbose, Cosmici will splash reality like an ice-cold martini right in your face.
You -- Where would you be without you? Good question. Enlightened or simply non-existent? Better minds than ours have been boggled by that one. Yet we might simply be figures of your imagination...

But that's just who's here now. Who knows who might show up later...