Re: Doug on The Work and Advaita

[Guest guest]

Doug wrote:

<< I really want to thank you all for sharing your awareness of 's

work and Advaita. It confirms something for me as well. Especially

about using " Who Am I " as a way to numb out. This was true for me. I

recognize it as a sort of spiritual addiction. Gimme more of that

bliss you been smokin' man " . 's work instantly brings me into

realtime relationship with practical day-to-day issues that bedevil me.

For awhile I've been feeling like I didn't have the tools to manuever

thru my stuff and when advaita was not doing the job I went into some

major despair. It seems so simple and obvious. Anything can be made

into a formula though. >>

Yes to all of the above.

I suspect that Advaita in its purest form (whatever that means) is more of a

tool for self-knowledge than a blissout experience, but because it's my

nature to seek a quick fix, I have gotten frustrated with it when it didn't

fix me. I did that with The Work also, and for a couple of months this year

when I was in the pits of hell, I didn't do The Work at all, preferring to

rely on 's words for my " fix, " and then wondering why that wasn't

working anymore. I'm a former cultist and I guess I'm a shakti addict (drop

the " I guess " :-) ). The Work is called " work " for a reason. I have to work

it myself...until I don't.

A lot of Papaji lineage teachers posit that there's nothing to do, that you

need only to sit with someone who is clear to get clear...and I would respond

to that with, if clarity is that contagious the opposite is also true.

Confusion, because it's familiar, is so easy to fall into. For me it is not

so automatic to go into the " Who am I? " inquiry in the face of another human

being pissing me off or a belief exploding in my face...and how often do we

get to sit in satsang with an " awakened " being? Once a week? Once a month?

Once a year?

The Work shows me that I can sit with someone clear every moment of every

day. I would not be surprised to hear that people have that experience with

the Advaita-style " atma vichara " also but for me it has not been as clear-cut

as The Work has been.

I'm enjoying everyone's input on this topic, thank you!

Love,

Carol S.

www.EclecticSpirituality.com

[Guest guest]

>

> I'm enjoying everyone's input on this topic, thank you!

>

> Love,

> Carol S.

> www.EclecticSpirituality.com

Amen sistah!

I agree that one of the traps of teachings/teachers saying there is

nothing to do is (for me) avoiding action. (Problem? What problem?)

Yes indeed, the Work is great for this western mind that wants to be

doing something. It is self-help at it's best. Okay. Enuf

discussion, it's off to live, play and work. All the same stuff!

:-)

doug