I no longer believe in this thing called “enlightenment” or “liberated beings.” Perhaps there are people who break through something mysterious and become different from the rest of us. Why would such a person mention it to anyone? Why would they be interested in drawing attention to themselves? If someone were to become enlightened, I believe they would become the most invisible person imaginable, smart enough to be indistinguishable from the rest of us. Like water.
Because when someone claims a special status on the enlightenment scale, it sets up a hierarchy completely in opposition to their claim. It immediately establishes that you are lacking and they are not. For this reason, a person who is enlightened (if such a state exists) wouldn’t tell you. They would simply continue their life – and allow you to continue yours.
Excerpt from my review of American Guru by William Yenner, published in the Cultic Studies Review
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3 comments:
Lovely outlook!
Haven't read your review yet. Look forward to it.
Can't see a link there to a review by you. Am I doing something wrong?
Marta,
Sharpest two paragraphs I’ve read from you in awhile. They slice right through with the precision and weight of a guillotine and lay bare the exact the place I arrived at.
I don’t believe anymore either. Not in enlightenment at least. And if it does exist, I no longer see the attraction.
Siddha Yoga taught us enlightenment lay beyond the mind and body. But as it turns out living with my mind and being in my body is a far greater challenge than trying to become enlightened. My body and mind are works in progress, I hope, but not things I need to “transcend.” No way to be human without both.
But Siddha Yoga taught us the opposite was true.
Siddha Yoga taught us the opposite of reality.
The offer of enlightenment was the ultimate come on, the perfect carrot for to dangle, was it not? Perfect because it was unattainable. Unattainable because it does not exist.
- Lucid
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