Last night I wanted to know how spirituality is doing on the internet. Out of curiousity, I tried a few key words and spiritualteachers.org came up right away.
It links to a discussion board that has active threads by people who aren't afraid to dig deep and share. I found the TAT Foundation, which has a Forum, and even lists world wide gatherings.
It links to a discussion board that has active threads by people who aren't afraid to dig deep and share. I found the TAT Foundation, which has a Forum, and even lists world wide gatherings.
Many well-known teachers started come up. A website about Nisargadatta, one of my all-time favorites; videos of Krishnamurti, who taught we don't need a teacher or organization to awaken; and audio interviews of Adyashanti. I found a few teachers who claim to be awakened, and are not, on Enlightenment.com. They are part of my past, and make for little stories. Yet, it's a disservice to name them. I'm not a spiritual cop or looking for a conflict, at least not right now.
In our exploration of the truth, discernment can keep false teachers from leading us off our path, unless we need the experience of being mislead. I've learned a lot from unenlightened teachers, and it's easier to trust someone who shares that they haven't awakened. As for the ones who claim it and are not, I know sooner than later. I'm not sure why I know this, or why I bring it up repeatedly. I do know that I will never let them get in my way.
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| Nisargadatta Maharaj |
I wrote an introduction on the bulletin board, and after hours of browsing and reading everyone's shares, it's just different ways of putting down the same words. Let's call it Enlightenese. I've been fluent since I had the direct and temporary experience in 2000, so it's no problem to join anyone's conversation. The words are only mind and illusion no matter how well they are crafted. Even this language is graspable when one can reach the limits of mind's ability to grasp, even if not awakened. That's why false teachers can fool many people. I also think of it as a "word salad." We should fill a bowl with many scraps of paper bearing words with spiritual meanings, and take turns reaching in to grab a handful. Then we can each arrange them in whatever order we like, and give a teaching.
