Open-Secrets

Month: March 2012

  • The Nondual Duel

    Nonduality is Not the Final Word on Reality

    I recently received this email from a fan of Open-Secrets:

    http://www.scienceandnonduality.com/SAND2012-self.shtmlJohn there are many nondual psychotherapists, among them Stephan Bodian, author of ‘Wake Up Now’, and the authors of ‘The Sacred Mirror’ and ‘Listening From the Heart of Silence’.  who criticize all progressive approaches.  They say to put all ones resources into realizing oneself AS  aware Presence first and then return to embody the Realization into ones personality afterwards.  
     
    They claim that the Diamond Approach keeps one endlessly mired in one’s history and is sort of an endless treadmill that never really crosses the gateless gate.  It can be too easy for the ego to think of these states and stations as attainments for the personality, and that the direct approach cuts through the ego activity much cleaner. 
     
    I understand and agree with Hameed that this seems like pushing oneself into a condition that might not be the natural unfoldment of the souls dynamism, and that by surrendering to where one is in the moment is much more appropriate. 
     
    I only say this because they have started an online journal that looks very interesting and are asking for contributions from bloggers and others interested in the field of nondual psychotherapy.  I would personally love to see a discussion started on the benefits and shortcomings of the direct / progressive paths.  I really like your blog and would love to see someone with a background in the Ridhwan school represented in the journal.

    if you are interested the web address is  http://undividedjournal.com/    Thanks for your awesome blog. 

    I make no claim of being established in nondual realization, though I have had enough experience of the nondual to recognize it and compare that state with others.

    Here’s where my curiosity leads me in regards to the above:

    • I’m curious about why this has significance to the author of the email. It’s an interesting point that he brings up, but people have been misunderstanding and taking exception to A. H. Almaas and the Diamond Approach for years. In addition, the DA is just one of many valid teachings and paths that assist people in moving toward the truth and realization of reality.
    • My experience is that many people have experiences of the nondual, but then reify their experiences into intellectual understanding which can then be debated for the rest of time. Rumi had the same problem with intellectuals of his day.
    • I have no idea if Stephen Bodian lives and abides in the nondual and I am making no assertion about him. If he does have the position stated above, then my curiosity wonders about “nondual positions” an oxymoron in its own right, and the answer to this question – Is there no value in learning and developing skills and insight that move one in the direction of reality and help to ease daily suffering?
    • It’s true, some people become endlessly mired in working on their object relations. Some get endlessly mired in meditating, or efforting toward nonduality. Ego identity, loves the muck and the mire – intellectual debate about the merits of anything can be a mire.
    • Almaas does not see nonduality as the end-all of the spiritual journey. It is just one manifestation of the infinite potential of True Nature. No one manifestation of TN has any more or less merit than any other – except to the subjective consciousness of the experiencer. Almaas has, over the past 6 or 7 years, been teaching more and more about Total Being and Freedom. This is what he refers to as the 4th turning of the wheel of the Diamond Approach. The 3rd turning of the wheel is associated with nondual awareness.

    These are a few of my first response thoughts. Now, I am returning to…

    BTW – Almaas will be speaking at the 2012 Science & Nonduality conference in October – sounds like a reat opportunity to get his personal take on all of this.

     

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  • Another Suicide, More Reflection

    Suicide, the Endless Why?

    Loss of Love SuicideTwo days ago I learned that another friend had committed suicide – this on the heels of two other friends’ suicides in February. Here again, I experienced a shock and a why – though, I suspected what the precipitating circumstances were in this case, and I was correct – love, relationship and loss – more complicated than this.

    During the night and the next day  I found my mind and heart circling the big WHY? of suicide and the sadness that seems natural when life ends too early and too tragically.

    According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) nn 2007, suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for 34,598 deaths. The overall rate was 11.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 people. An estimated 11 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.

    Almost four times as many males as females die by suicide. I wonder if that is because so many men are more estranged from their feelings than women.

    As I look at the 2007 figures for suicides involving young people, I now remember that last May, a friend of mine was distraught because a close friend of hers daughter was believed to have committed suicide by jumping off a well-known bridge.

    • Children ages 10 to 14 — 0.9 per 100,000
    • Adolescents ages 15 to 19 — 6.9 per 100,000
    • Young adults ages 20 to 24 — 12.7 per 100,000

    When I think of my friend, I see her with a bright smile and a happy heart – part of what seems to fuel the endless why.

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