The full day intensive at Spirit Rock was sold out as usual,
and I sat there with my Ashanti-adoring wife breathing patiently, hoping he would call on me. He did, and I shared an intense long-time contemplation about the 5 criteria I had developed to describe the awakened state. The theme was "The Enlightened Mind" - appropriate I thought. As I got into it he asked me to be "succinct" hmmm...to bad we couldn't extoll at length about such an important matter. So I did: 1. The dropping away of the inner critic 2. The feeling that nothing was missing and nothing is here that isn't supposed to be here 3. Surrender of the mind to the unknowable 4. Comparison of one's experience to others stories of awakening 5. Realization of absolute reality as inconceivable and incomprehensible, causing shift of awareness such that all of this, the world and us, is seen as a relative reality, as an appearance that is a relative reality. There were additional words along with that. But it was his answers to my queries that told me I am finished with him. "Do you see any merit in this definition of what the awakened state is?" NO he said. "Would you encourage me to go further with this inquiry?" NO again, he said. We dialogued a bit more, but my subsequent contemplation over the next several hours told me that I am done with him, done with satsang, and need to keep my attention on what inspires me the most - my work as a medical doctor, and my place in the world as a human. Of course there is an ongoing SIG group with Prendergast where Im seeing about communicating to a small group. Spiritual work, just a corner of my current experience, just a tenuous sideline that may or may not develop into a meaningful contribution to humanity during my lifetime.
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