Dissing the Da Avatar, Part 2

August 19, 2014

EARLY ADI DA STATEMENTS (BEFORE HE CALLED HIMSELF ADI DA)

“My meditation is absolute. It is what is being reflected to you in these ridiculous conversations. Nor is my existence particular. I am manifested in particular but the confession I make to you is of a condition that is not particular. It is the Avatar in this moment. There could be Avatars all over the yard, you know! I do not know who they are. The Avatar is simply God present, God present and speaking through an ordinary manifestation. (Adi Da in “The Way That I Teach”). 

"There are some people walking around who claim to be the only incarnate God, the repetitive avatar of all the ages, the exclusive true guru, and such things. But they are the least among us" (Adi Da in “The Method of the Siddhas”). 

LATER ADI DA STATEMENTS (20 + YEARS AFTER HIS DIVINE SELF-REALIZATION)

“I Am Adi Da, the Adi-Guru, the Original and Eternal Teacher, here to Complete the Great Tradition of mankind.… Read the full article

Dissing the Da Avatar, Part 1

August 8, 2014
Over the years, I’ve received numerous complaints about my “love affair” with Adi Da (a.k.a. Franklin Jones, Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, et al). People cannot understand how I can unabashedly recommend the spiritual teachings of an “abusive,” “megalomaniacal” guru like Da.

First off, my “love affair” is not with Adi Da; it is with much, but hardly all, of his teachings. Secondly, I think his “abusive behavior” has been grossly exaggerated and that his “megalomania” is partially justified (which I’ll explain in Part 4 of this article).

Although I could not have “cracked the cosmic code” without Da’s teachings, and though I highly recommend most of them, in no way do I think Da is the final word on everything. In fact, if he was still trucking and I could meet with him, here are some of the things I would confront him with:

1) In the original “The Method of the Siddhas” (published in 1973),” Da writes: “the Process I describe as understanding is ultimately the same that Ramana Maharshi was describing. The same state or enjoyment is being communicated or served.… Read the full article

201, an Amazon Review Odyssey

July 25, 2014
As of today, July 25, 2014, I’ve now posted 201 Amazon reviews, mainly of spiritual books. Though the choice of books I’ve reviewed may seem random, it’s not.

When I began doing these reviews in 2012, I identified the categories of books I wanted to cover in my reviews: Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, astrology, nutrition; Pali, Madhyamika, Hua Yen, Yogacara, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism; Hindu Raja, Bhakti, and Kundalini Yoga, Advaita (and neo-Advaita) Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism; Adi Da’s Daism, Ken Wilber’s “Integralism, “new age" texts, and individual iconic teachers, such as Eckhart Tolle, Ayn Rand, David R. Hawkins, and J. and U.G Krishnamurti.

I’ve now reviewed most of the books I want to. I’ve got about twenty more to go – several on Buddhism and Kundalini Yoga books, a few on Daism and Sri Aurobindo texts, and some more on New Age and neo-Advaita Vedanta teachings.

Once I’m done with these reviews, I’ll continue to write more, but only one or two a month. Instead, I’ll focus more on writing my own books and doing youtube.com videos.

There are two main reasons why I’ve done these reviews: to educate spiritual seekers (many of whom have thanked me for my reviews), and to help market my own books.… Read the full article

Not the Buddha’s Dharma

July 18, 2014

I have, at this time, written 198 Amazon book reviews, and one of the major themes in my reviews has been my distaste for Madhyamika and Prasangika-Madhyamika Buddhism. These schools of Buddhism stem from the teachings of Nagarjuna, who, next to the Buddha himself, is probably the most influential figure in Buddhism. Although many, including Ken Wilber, consider Nagarjuna a genius, I don’t. In fact, I consider him the master of illogic.


Perhaps the most popular and respected book on Nagarjuna’s teaching is Jay Garfield’s The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Nagarjuna’a Mulamadhyamakakarika. And though very few people know about it yet, the best critique of Nagarjuna is Avi Sion’s Buddhist Illogic: A Critical Analysis of Nagarjuna’s Arguments.


Because I think it’s important for Buddhadharma students to critically examine Nagarjuna’s arguments, I am posting my reviews Garfield’s and Sion’s books.


The Perversion of Buddhism


This text, by Buddhologist Jay Garfield, provides a lengthy, in-depth Indo-Tibetan interpretation of Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakalarika.… Read the full article

I’d Love to Change the World, Part 3

July 12, 2014
The classical philosophic hierarchy that Ayn Rand’s Objectivism is built upon – metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics – provides an almost ideal framework for properly educating people. I say “almost,” because what’s missing is spirituality. Add that, and you’ll have the whole enchilada, so to speak.

Metaphysics (or ontology) is the branch of philosophy that studies existence, the nature of the universe as a whole. And if one injects spirituality into this branch, one would also “study” the Being, or unmanifest Existent, from Whom existence stems. Once one adds Being (Siva-Shakti or Sat-Cit-Ananda) to the equation, then spirituality, the practice of communing/identifying with this Being, becomes the 6th branch of the hierarchy. The way to “study” Being is to literally be it by communing/coinciding with It. This meditative practice of Divine communing/coinciding can be termed “onto-logic.” Logic, according to Rand, is non-contradictory identification of reality (meaning phenomenal reality). And what I call onto-logic, is ontical, or yogic, or spiritual, identification with Ultimate Reality, which Rand, unfortunately, didn’t have a clue about.… Read the full article

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