Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be (Graham Ellis and Joey Lott)
The Nonsense of Know-Nothing Nobodies
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be: A Conversation About Non-Duality†by Graham Ellis and Joey Lott.]
This book consists of fifty pages of almost worthless dialogue between two clueless neo-Advaitans—Graham Ellis and Joey Lott—who endeavor to enlighten the world with—what else—neo-Advaita and pop Zen nonsense.
I’ll save you ninety-nine cents by presenting the core of Graham’s argument:
“I am Graham. Why? Because I am. What’s happening? Nothing. Who’s it happening to? Nobody. What’s there? Nothing. I am That...It’s nothingness. It’s who and what I am.â€
Joey is no more enlightening than Graham. He informs us: “An enlightened person is emptiness, vastness, totality.â€
First off, there is no such thing as nothingness, and for there to be emptiness, there must be something that is empty. In other words, emptiness has no ontological status; it simply pertains to a lack of content within a particular context, or universal Context—which, unbeknownst to these fools, is Siva-Shakti (Consciousness-Spirit).
If these clowns were capable of moving beyond pop Zen and “talking-school†neo-Advaita and actually experiencing Clear-Light Energy, the Sambhogakaya, or Dharma Cloud, they’d at least have a clue what En-Light-enment is about.
It’s almost humorous to hear them take phrases from En-Light-ened beings out of context and put their own deluded spins on them. For example, Joey informs us that enlightenment is “what is already always the case.†This description of enlightenment is taken verbatim from the pages of the great spiritual adept Adi Da Samraj--but in diametrical contrast to Joey, who reduces En-Light-enment to “emptiness, Da says “what is already always the case†is “Self-Existing, Self-Radiant Divine Being.†But in all fairness to Joey, he probably just copied Da’s phrase from another neo-Advaitan who copied it from another neo-Advaitan.
Even though I’m very critical of this book, it is not without entertainment value. For example, Graham writes, “I’ve even wondered whether the likes of Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi were CIA agents.†According to my proprietary calculations, that line alone is worth 9.9 cents. Hence, if you can get this book for fewer than ten cents, know that you are getting your money’s worth. But if you dish out 99 cents or more for this book and then realize you grossly overpaid, don’t blame me.
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be: A Conversation About Non-Duality†by Graham Ellis and Joey Lott.]
This book consists of fifty pages of almost worthless dialogue between two clueless neo-Advaitans—Graham Ellis and Joey Lott—who endeavor to enlighten the world with—what else—neo-Advaita and pop Zen nonsense.
I’ll save you ninety-nine cents by presenting the core of Graham’s argument:
“I am Graham. Why? Because I am. What’s happening? Nothing. Who’s it happening to? Nobody. What’s there? Nothing. I am That...It’s nothingness. It’s who and what I am.â€
Joey is no more enlightening than Graham. He informs us: “An enlightened person is emptiness, vastness, totality.â€
First off, there is no such thing as nothingness, and for there to be emptiness, there must be something that is empty. In other words, emptiness has no ontological status; it simply pertains to a lack of content within a particular context, or universal Context—which, unbeknownst to these fools, is Siva-Shakti (Consciousness-Spirit).
If these clowns were capable of moving beyond pop Zen and “talking-school†neo-Advaita and actually experiencing Clear-Light Energy, the Sambhogakaya, or Dharma Cloud, they’d at least have a clue what En-Light-enment is about.
It’s almost humorous to hear them take phrases from En-Light-ened beings out of context and put their own deluded spins on them. For example, Joey informs us that enlightenment is “what is already always the case.†This description of enlightenment is taken verbatim from the pages of the great spiritual adept Adi Da Samraj--but in diametrical contrast to Joey, who reduces En-Light-enment to “emptiness, Da says “what is already always the case†is “Self-Existing, Self-Radiant Divine Being.†But in all fairness to Joey, he probably just copied Da’s phrase from another neo-Advaitan who copied it from another neo-Advaitan.
Even though I’m very critical of this book, it is not without entertainment value. For example, Graham writes, “I’ve even wondered whether the likes of Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi were CIA agents.†According to my proprietary calculations, that line alone is worth 9.9 cents. Hence, if you can get this book for fewer than ten cents, know that you are getting your money’s worth. But if you dish out 99 cents or more for this book and then realize you grossly overpaid, don’t blame me.
