Author: David Christopher Lane Publisher: The NEURAL SURFER Publication date: April 1997
E-mail David Christopher Lane directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu
I want to go back to the home base now.
DICK WRITES: Dear Dr. Dave, Sorry, one of myselves (the human secularist one) forgot a question and another one of those selves forgot to express appreciation for your patient reply. It isn't easy keeping everyone in line which is why we have to keep going over the same material for the slower [oops, differently enabled] members of this class of goofballs. In addition to blinding yourselves to the drawbacks of your students, do you ever engage in a little harmless social deception to boost the students over the hurdle of their burdened past? If so, where do you draw the line between social lies and harmful personal dishonesty? If not, do you consciously hurt their feelings? This is headed into the 'what is a teacher/master' arena and the 'difference in degree' conundrum. DAVID LANE REPLIES: I am not certain about what type of social deception you are talking about, but I can say that on the first day of class I usually tell my students how much I DON'T know and how it is their job to rip, shred, and lacerate the teacher. As for teaching to their potential and not their burdened past, I simply don't worry about how badly they did before they came to my class. I liken my job to a coach. Whatever the fitness, I try to improve upon That..... Thanks for giving me a hint about what direction you would like to see in our continuing discussions (at least at this juncture). Anyone can follow any teacher they like, just as anyone can marry almost anybody (within certain age limits and certain nationalistic laws). Yet, at each turn, our friends and family will try to give us certain persuasive reasons for why we should avoid so and so and marry so and so. Sometimes they are convincing, sometimes they are not. In any case, if the would-be bride or groom is deeply in love he or she may find anybody's advice completely useless. So if we are to compare potential marriage partners to potential spiritual gurus (and I don't think the comparison is that off), I would argue that we look for gurus who are trustworthy, who are honest, who are committed, who are self-less, etc. Now this does not mean that we objectively know that this guru embodies all of those ideals; it just means that we gravitate towards people who appear to embody that. In any case, as I have argued before, I think the sincerity of the student is much more instrumental in the guru/disciple relationship. That sincerity, that love, that devotion is what brings results. It just so happens that trustworthy gurus tend to let those qualities blossom easier, just as trustworthy wives and husbands tend to build better foundations. Can a criminal be a guru? Yes, we see that all the time. What makes the difference, of course, is the disciple's "belief" and "faith" in his or her guru. I am sure there are millions of husbands in human history who have thought that their respective wives were singularly devoted to them; they believed that their spouses were in love with them as they were.... Yet, on closer inspection, it turns out that the women didn't love their husbands, were not devoted, and had, in fact, lied or cheated....... But, if the husband didn't know that latter fact, his love remained UNchanged. In a comparative way, we find our love of our gurus very similar to our love for our wives...... We may not always know 100% of our wife's devotion, but we can be fairly certain of OUR love for her....... That love, as I have argued previously, is what makes the thing tick. It is also the reason that each religious follower can be quite certain of their master or guru or path, despite criticism or doubts from outsiders. ------------------------ Okay, but if my daughter wanted to date a scum bag (and I knew it), I would try my very very best to persuade her not to go out with the guy. I would give her all sorts of reasons. ------------------------- She, naturally, may over-ride my concerns and my arguments and still find bliss, happiness, and tranquility. The same with gurus. I may give all sorts of reasons not to follow Thakar Singh, for instance (and they are legion), but still one may not be persuaded and will find that he or she is happy..... I don't think that happiness stems from Thakar, per se, but from the love and devotion and sincerity of the disciple. The problem with scuzzy gurus (like scuzzy guys) is that you can end up hurt when you discover their darker side.................. --------------------------------------- Is there one guru for all? NO. Is there one husband for all? NO. Is there the very best guru of all? NO. There is, rather, a huge branching out of choices....... Some choices, I believe, are better than others (for the same reason that I think there are better guys for my daughter to date than others), and I think it is healthy to spell that out for all concerned--rightly or wrongly. --------------------------------------------- P.S. I don't have a daughter....... at least as far as I know (just teasing) -------------------------------------------------- DICK WRITES: Dear Dr. Dave, Assuming that your use of the plural "myselves" is not a typo, which one of your selves is determining the drawbacks of the student's history? What methodology do you recommend for the invocation of a mystical expereience? DAVID LANE REPLIES: I think it was a typo, but maybe a Freudian one at that; I am more and more convinced that we are a spectrum of competing notions and that this sense of a "permanent" I is as illusory or as real as my nightly dreams. The only drawback that I can perceive is the one that the student claims to have and which he or she occasionally voices. Otherwise, I simply take what I get and try to make it better..... Now concerning methodologies for mystical experiences, there are quite a few.... I personally favor Consciously controlled Near-Death Experiences. Shabd yoga is, more or less, a technique to invoke experiences similar to those of NDE patients..... Where you and I may depart company is HOW we interpret the phenomena that arises during those NDE or meditational states. In any case, I am all for inducing NDE's that are safe and controllable. I have had few uncontrollable ones (big surf, intense illness, heart problems, etc.) and I find that it is more pleasant to have "consciously" induced experiments (small surf--just teasing, excedrin--just teasing again--and meditation--not teasing). ---------------------------- Let me plunge into some more controversial waters to liven this up a bit..... Remember how I have stated many times that I don't think visions of Rebazar Tarzs indicate his objective reality? Well, let me get right to the core and say something about my own background. I also don't think that visions of my guru confer or indicate his objective "astral" reality either. I think, rather, that they are part and parcel of my numinous neurology. Now such reduction does not bother me (I am still awed by the three pounds of glorious flesh and what THAT may ultimately be..... I haven't a clue) since I have always tended philosophically to be agnostic, with a huge emphasis on that A! ---------------------------------------------------- I was never really attracted to "Shabd Yoga" theology, as such. As I have often stated to myself and others, I love Charan Singh, DESPITE (not because of) Radhasoami. What this means, of course, is that I was attracted to the person first and all the rest was filler for me. For others in religion, it may be the opposite: he or she loves their guru or leader BECAUSE of the teachings or the path or the way..... --------------------------- Whatever visions one may have, I would argue, reflect a certain stage of consciousness (or numinous neurology--to coin a phrase); I don't think they reflect the reality of the thing or person perceived, as separate and distinct entities...... Just as dreams don't reflect the "reality" of the various participants who happen to show up nightly to me...... They are wonderful conjectures of my own mind, my own neural net..... As long as I think they are Real and Objective, I am BOUND to that. The moment I think they are unreal and part and parcel of my dream, I am FREED from that...... See the TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD for more on this type of philosophical line of argumentation...... -------------------------------------------- Radhasoami INCORPORATED is NOT Sant Mat Or If the Path of the Saints is a Structural Potential, and not merely a Cultural Nuance, then Trademarking Organizations have nothing to do with exploring transrational domains, even though such arresting bodies can still house genuinely enlightened CEO's Subtitle: Sant Mat is Universal because it is Inherent Or The Way of the Saints is part and parcel of our Bodies (neurological or mystical) and thus rightly belongs to anyone, anytime, anywhere Capitalizing on this transcultural numinosity is akin to privatizing oxygen. It may be done, but at what price? ----------------------------------------- Numinous Neurology vs. Cultural Infrastructure; or DNA (Divinely Natural Attributes) vs. INC (Interfering Narcotizing Corporations)..... In any case, Radhasoami is not Sant Mat and even Sant Mat is no longer Sant Mat. Which is another way of saying that if Kabir were alive today he would be criticizing the very groups that claim him as their own. Or, if Shams of Tabriz were to mysteriously show up at a Satsang, he would dump the "official" shabd yoga literature (particularly Julian Johnson's) into the YMCA pool. Why? Because what these organizations tend to do, after time, after building, after fossilizing, is to "capitalize" on that which, by its very nature, is universal, transcultural, and already inherent. No doubt, the group may be helpful to focus one's attention (at first), but what happens (almost naturally, almost imperceptibly) is that we begin to Con-fuse genuine function or utility with its form. We begin to think that the group is the path and that they are intertwined. Whereas, the path is already with everybody anywhere, anytime, anyplace. You don't need to search for a brain, if you already got one. You don't need to "connect" to shabd if shabd is already the Truth of our condition. Such dualism works, no doubt, to the advantage of an institution, but it has nothing to do with the deep structural insights of the mystics they are trying to champion. As Faqir once said, it may be a blessing to be born in a Church (read: ashram or satsang or any formalization), but it is a curse to die in one. Why? Because if Truth is the Condition of all conditions, the context for all texts and pretexts...... Then it is already the case and no secondary condition will be able to contain it. Since it is non-containable as something less. An ocean may manifest as a wave, but the wave cannot throw out the ocean in its wake. Rather, the wave will exhaust itself in that which is already living it. -------------------- Punchline: If Radhasoami is true or if any path is true it must have the seeds of its own destruction immediately available to its participants. That is, the only true path would be one that would immediately show its followers why and how it is NOT true, since Truth--as such, or God as such--could not be conveyed by the limitations of its revelations. Or, if we may invoke a Buddhistic Koan to get our point across. If you see a "True" Path on the Road, Kill It. Why? ----------------------------- to be continued
E-mail The Neural Surfer directly at dlane@weber.ucsd.edu
I want to go back to the home base now.