This book competently presents an introductory guide to the spiritual approach of self-enquiry in plain English. Nevertheless, it's hard to escape the impression that the title was chosen to exploit the naive in order to garner commercial success.
But the reas Despite the shonky-sounding title, this book reflects a serious intent in that Swartz has evidently studied his subject—Advaita Vedanta—in some depth over more than four decades and knows how to communicate it in a lively and engaging way.
But the reason I downgraded my rating on this book is because of the confused, outdated and downright harmful advice on diet.
Since when are animal products like chicken and fish flesh "sattvic"? This term signifies that the food concerned is the mode of goodness and non-violence, promoting a clear, harmonious and truthful mind and physical vitality, according to a yogic classification. I'm certain that his former teachers—the late, prominent Swamis Chinmayananda and Dayananda—would not endorse such an idea, which conflicts with the standard, so-called "pure vegetarian," or lacto-vegetarian diet prescribed by traditional Hindu gurus.
Of course, that diet, which includes dairy, is not ahimsic either since it involves animal exploitation no less serious than that involved in meat. But given that Swartz allies himself with a very "traditional" approach to Advaita Vedanta, it's mystifying as to how he can be seriously trying to claim that eating white meat is "sattvic," an idea that would be roundly rejected by the tradition he claims to represent.
It speaks loudly of distorting the traditional dietary approach—itself seriously flawed—to conform to his own predilections. If Swartz is going to comment on diet from a health perspective, he needs to ensure his knowledge is current, and not nearly 50 years out of date. Either that, or leave it out and stick to what he knows. What he should avoid doing is misrepresenting a diet that excludes animal products as more difficult and complicated than it is.
And as someone who has had coronary bypass surgery to unblock the atherosclerotic plaque in his arteries following a heart attack, he ought not to be advocating the kind of high animal fat and protein diet that led to that unfortunate situation. Getting enough protein on a vegan diet is a non-issue and requires neither special combining of foods nor the addition of any kind of animal products.
Perpetuating an obsession with protein in reflects that Swartz has failed to do his homework and is just repeating outworn myths. And this very much includes lacto and lacto-ovo-vegetarianism, which involves exploitation and killing of animals. They are simply advertising their own inconsistency and moral failure. They're promoting the harmful idea that spiritual enlightenment is compatible with inflicting gratuitous violence on the vulnerable. What an insidious idea!
To make matters worse, I've seen Swartz nonchalantly talking in videos about his favourite hobby of "fishing," i. This, while he tells us that "ahimsa is the highest form of dharma.
It's not that personally killing animals is morally worse than what most of us who aren't vegan do, that is, pay someone else to do our dirty work for us. But it does signify a disturbing psychological disposition involving a gross lack of empathy. Apparently, as a "fishing" enthusiast, he derives satisfaction from personally skewering the sensitive facial tissues of fish with sharp hooks, and then watching them wretchedly struggling, writhing and gasping while their lives ebb away.
All for the leisure and sport of the "ahimsic" Mr. It is quite evident that, as comprehensive as Swartz's theoretical knowledge of Advaita Vedanta is as can be seen in his body of work generally , and as lucid as his teaching of it often is, he has failed so far to integrate it into his life—an indispensable criterion for true understanding and for acting as a conduit of this ancient teaching method.
No one who tortures and kills animals for fun, and who blithely advises spiritual seekers that they can consume animal products not only with impunity, but "sattvically", should be presuming to write a book on how to become enlightened. Instead, they would do better to confront and remedy their own inadequate internalisation of the truths they propound before they set about trying to teach others. Swartz, in claiming to be able to teach others "how to attain enlightenment" is telling us that he believes that he, himself, is enlightened.
In fact, Swartz is a prime example of how a spiritual teacher can impress or seduce with in-depth knowledge and apparent profound insight while not actually living in a manner that any genuine assimilation of such knowledge or insight would mandate.
Swartz ought to heed his own advice that spiritual teachers need to "walk the talk" and that "enlightenment has no meaning apart from how you live. Swartz asks, "What use is enlightenment if it amounts to nothing more than a license for the ego to indulge its cravings? This includes cravings of the palate for the flesh and and secretions of those who were sentient beings, and who didn't want to suffer and die in order to titillate the palates of egos like Swartz.
All of this certainly bears out that it's a good idea to look carefully at what teachers do, and and not just at what they say, before hooking up with them. This glaring ethical blind spot—killing animals and otherwise engaging in animal exploitation while preaching "ahimsa"—leaves me wondering what other contradictions one might find in the behaviour of Swartz if one were to investigate.
I can't help but suspect it would be the usual fare of false gurus centering around sex, money and power. A lack of basic empathy for the most innocent and vulnerable does not bode well for any kind of real compassion or justice in dealing with others.
This vision, if it's authentic, necessarily must translate to genuine non-violence towards all sentient beings. And that means going vegan, and nothing less, as a basic, first step. While animal exploitation has always been morally wrong, we can make some allowance for those in the past who had no opportunity to be exposed to the moral logic of animal rights veganism; who were not challenged to question their own speciesism.
No such allowance can be made for contemporary teachers such as Swartz and so many others on the current advaita scene, and the spiritual scene generally. In the internet age, with the population of thriving vegans exploding, anyone with normal cognitive ability would have to be living under a rock, or be willfully ignorant, to be unaware that it's entirely unnecessary to consume animal products in order to be healthy, and that this fact renders their consumption contrary to fundamental justice, and hence basic morality.
Basic morality is considered a prerequisite by Advaita Vedanta, and indeed all the major schools of Hinduism, for embarking on the spiritual path. Animal exploitation is completely indefensible according to any interpretation of ahimsa or basic morality. That fact is irrefutable regardless of whatever reputation anyone has a supposed spiritual luminary take note, Dalai Lama.
James Swartz is, despite these contradictions, and perhaps perversely, an adept communicator of the principles of Advaita Vedanta, reflecting a good intellectual grasp of the area. You are an enlightened being! Wanna be part of Samayama Program on 23rd of Feb Bless me shower Your grace upon me and somehow let me be with You for those 7Days Make it happen for me I guess I have delayed already so much..
What stupid statement it is!. Sadguru not dispelling your darkness but making you feel darkness is light He and the so called tape recorder teachers will define as what i defined Guru means dispeller of darkness and then satguru means, they will get into wiki and do the copy paste.. Anyways all i am saying as enjoy with your virtual state.. As far as i understood there is no such enlightenment.
You guys become a prey already for his lust of money.. Lack of identification and lost identity are 2 different things. If u get hit on the head and lose ur consciousness you are a dumb vegetable, but dissolving your identity into oneness and being aware is being realised.
The word Thank you does not convey my full gratitude. I am short of words. All your words - teachings.. Please just shake me upside down, take out all the crap from me, leave me empty. Hit me so hard that the 'I' goes off. What to do for this? I just surrender. Do what you want to do with this. By taking responsibility to the split the elements you try to own the body. U r not the body, u r just the being. When your existence becomes obsolete there is nothing left for you to do but just leave in dissolution.
People want "fireworks" for everything. The 4th of July. An overpriced marriage ceremony. Cake and presents on their bday. Halftime celebrations. In the end it all signifies nothing. It's just a way to waste time and neglect inner work. Of course that will anger your ego because it loves to have attention on itself.
I said that when I first heard about enlightenment, my impression was that it changes your entire personality, transforming you into Yes, I continued. But now I suspected that you can have very deep mystical awareness and still be Especially when instructing me on fine points of Hinduism or other mystical doctrines, he spoke with an ironic inflection, mocking his own pretensions.
He tried psychotherapy and Zen, but nothing worked until he started practicing Transcendental Meditation in Introduced to the west by the Indian sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation involves sitting with eyes closed while repeating a phrase, or mantra.
Over the next decade, he became involved in the TM organization. Yes, as William James documented, mystical visions vary, but mystics from many different traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Judaism, have described experiences that are devoid of content. These are what Mike calls pure consciousness events. Shankara, Meister Eckhart, and the Zen master Dogen described their pure consciousness events in different ways, but they were experiencing the same deep reality.
Our conversation then took an unexpected turn. He stared at me, and when he continued he spoke in clipped, precise tones, as if trying to physically embed his words in my brain.
The pure consciousness event is just a stepping-stone, at best, to true enlightenment. But they are shifts in perception, not shifts in the structure of perception. And that's, I think, when things get very interesting, when structural shifts take place. Mike held up his water glass. Normally, he said, when you look at an object like this glass, you sense a distinction between the object and yourself.
He set the glass down, grabbed my pen from my hand, and scribbled on his napkin. He sketched the glass, complete with ice cubes and lemon, and an eyeball staring at the glass. There is a higher state of awareness, however, in which consciousness becomes its own subject and object.
And there is a kind of, not solipsism exactly, but a reflexivity to consciousness. Our Caesar salads arrived. Are there any levels beyond this one? I asked, pointing to the circle. Some people want to say that there are, beyond here, experiences. But I'm not convinced of that. As little as minutes is all you need to have a nice experience every day. Use this time to do something that reminds you why you enjoy living your life, such as listening to a favorite record, playing with your pet, or enjoying a special treat.
Let your thoughts pass without judgement instead of fighting them. Thoughts can be a great source of distress, especially if you hold onto them. Overthinking will prevent you from finding wisdom and mental peace. Instead, acknowledge what you think and feel, then let it pass. Instead of dwelling on that thought and letting it upset you, acknowledge how you feel. Express your gratitude for what you have in your life every day.
Practicing gratitude will help you combat negative emotions, like envy and jealousy, that can block your path to enlightenment. Instead of focusing on what you lack, acknowledge what you have in your life. Method 2. Be kind to yourself and others.
Extending loving kindness to yourself and the people around you can improve the way you think. Plus, it spreads goodness around you. Change the way you speak to yourself by replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk. Additionally, assume the best about others, and forgive people when they slip up.
For example, you might notice that a particular coworker is often late in meeting deadlines. Act according to your beliefs and values. List your goals, core beliefs, and what you want in life.
Additionally, think about what you think is most important in life, such as how you want to live and how you think people should be treated. To reflect these ideals, you might spend any extra money you make on travels, volunteer or donate to help others, treat others as you would like to be treated, and become a vegetarian.
Keep an open mind when learning about the world and other people. In some ways, this means that truth is relative. The only way you can really understand things is to open your mind to how others see the world. Be open to learning more about how others live and why. You can be more open minded by reading more and venturing outside your comfort zone. Find the lesson in your mistakes. Every person makes mistakes, but there can be value in your slip-ups.
Instead of being down on yourself, think about how that mistake can help you grow and progress toward enlightenment. Additionally, look for ways you can avoid making that mistake again in the future. Sometimes experience is the best teacher. Read what others have written about enlightenment.
You may not be able to become enlightened purely by reading the words of others, but learning what others think can help you understand more about your own thoughts. Read books written by great philosophers and teachers, especially those you believe have reached enlightenment. Method 3. Commit to mediating at least 10 minutes every day. You can sit or walk in meditation wherever you are. Just focus on your breath. Over time, you can expand the length of your meditations if you desire.
Do a sitting meditation to calm your mind. Sit in a calm, quiet environment with your legs crossed or in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and notice how your body feels. Then, focus on the sensation of your breath. When your mind wanders, return your thoughts to your breath as soon as you notice. Do a walking meditation to encourage greater awareness. A walking meditation changes the way you think. You can either wander or walk in an established path. As you walk, thoughts will come into your mind.
Let them pass without judgement or holding onto them.
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