Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing > anyone read it?

Mark Lapierre · 07-26-2007, 05:41 AM

I didn't read them, but I listened to the audio books. I stopped listening halfway through Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment because he seemed to be repeating the same thing over and over.

Royce, I think one reason for the process is to discover those things that seem incongruous, because that's a sign it's not the core of who you really are.

But ultimately I think the process is more likely to result in reinforcing negative thoughts about the influence of society on our individual development. These thoughts would then prejudice us against those we see as continuing to influence others in a way we now see as negative. And not surprisingly Jed himself doesn't seem to care much for anyone not on the path, nor for those who follow a different path towards what they see as the same destination (and he's quite clear in what he thinks of the mysticism surrounding some spiritual teachings, despite employing some of the very same methods (particularly ambiguous, contradictory statements)). The concept of abiding non-dual awareness seems no less mystical mumbo-jumbo than much of what Jed seems to believe is just a distraction from the path towards spiritual enlightenment

The process, as Jed describes it, doesn't feel ultimately beneficial to me, though the core idea of striping away the layers which influence us is something I find appealing, only in the sense that some layers are beneficial, and some not. I don't see any purpose in completely stripping away everything, and especially not in doing so violently.

07-26-2007, 05:41 AM	#52 (permalink)
Mark Lapierre Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,061	I didn't read them, but I listened to the audio books. I stopped listening halfway through Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment because he seemed to be repeating the same thing over and over. Royce, I think one reason for the process is to discover those things that seem incongruous, because that's a sign it's not the core of who you really are. But ultimately I think the process is more likely to result in reinforcing negative thoughts about the influence of society on our individual development. These thoughts would then prejudice us against those we see as continuing to influence others in a way we now see as negative. And not surprisingly Jed himself doesn't seem to care much for anyone not on the path, nor for those who follow a different path towards what they see as the same destination (and he's quite clear in what he thinks of the mysticism surrounding some spiritual teachings, despite employing some of the very same methods (particularly ambiguous, contradictory statements)). The concept of abiding non-dual awareness seems no less mystical mumbo-jumbo than much of what Jed seems to believe is just a distraction from the path towards spiritual enlightenment The process, as Jed describes it, doesn't feel ultimately beneficial to me, though the core idea of striping away the layers which influence us is something I find appealing, only in the sense that some layers are beneficial, and some not. I don't see any purpose in completely stripping away everything, and especially not in doing so violently.