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Post by siftingtothetruth on Nov 28, 2018 8:57:11 GMT -5
Who are the people most receptive to and interested in the non-dual message -- who aren't already attached to some guru?
Where could they be found in the real world?
At yoga studios? Unitarian churches? Drug rehab centers? 'Burning man' style festivals? College philosophy clubs?
Somewhere else? Where are those craving liberation, whether they know it or not?
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Post by zendancer on Nov 28, 2018 9:35:05 GMT -5
Who are the people most receptive to and interested in the non-dual message -- who aren't already attached to some guru? Where could they be found in the real world? At yoga studios? Unitarian churches? Drug rehab centers? 'Burning man' style festivals? College philosophy clubs? Somewhere else? Where are those craving liberation, whether they know it or not? The most common places seekers can be found are at non-denominational/alternative-type churches such as Unity, Unitarian, Centers for Spiritual Living, etc, but even in those places serious seekers are pretty rare. Adults who are already interested in ND probably already know about Adyashanti and other teachers in the Advaita tradition, and they can find ND retreats and ND organizations throughout the world simply by googling the topic. Richard Rose, who founded the TAT organization, used to give regular talks at universities, and almost all of his followers were originally young college students who became interested in ND as a result of his talks. Don Oakley, a teacher who studied with Adya, has a beautiful huge retreat center 45 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN. Don gives public talks at an ecumenical/alternative-type spiritual center in Knoxville, and he gets invited to speak at various ND retreats throughout the southeast. People who become interested in ND as a result of his talks often visit his retreat center for 3 day retreats. ND seekers, alone, would not nearly support such a retreat center, financially, so Reiki groups, Yoga groups, a wide range of other alternative spiritual groups, and even business and non-profit groups rent his facility for retreats. Even then, I suspect that Don subsidizes the financial shortfall, and I'd guess that he would be lucky if the center became self-supporting any time during the next five years. |
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Post by tenka on Nov 28, 2018 9:37:35 GMT -5
Who are the people most receptive to and interested in the non-dual message -- who aren't already attached to some guru? Where could they be found in the real world?At yoga studios? Unitarian churches? Drug rehab centers? 'Burning man' style festivals? College philosophy clubs? Somewhere else? Where are those craving liberation, whether they know it or not? You mean there really is a real world after all  . A real world with real Guru's . |
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Post by siftingtothetruth on Nov 28, 2018 9:42:09 GMT -5
Who are the people most receptive to and interested in the non-dual message -- who aren't already attached to some guru? Where could they be found in the real world? At yoga studios? Unitarian churches? Drug rehab centers? 'Burning man' style festivals? College philosophy clubs? Somewhere else? Where are those craving liberation, whether they know it or not? The most common places seekers can be found are at non-denominational/alternative-type churches such as Unity, Unitarian, Centers for Spiritual Living, etc, but even in those places serious seekers are pretty rare. Adults who are already interested in ND probably already know about Adyashanti and other teachers in the Advaita tradition, and they can find ND retreats and ND organizations throughout the world simply by googling the topic. Richard Rose, who founded the TAT organization, used to give regular talks at universities, and almost all of his followers were originally young college students who became interested in ND as a result of his talks. Don Oakley, a teacher who studied with Adya, has a beautiful huge retreat center 45 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN. Don gives public talks at an ecumenical/alternative-type spiritual center in Knoxville, and he gets invited to speak at various ND retreats throughout the southeast. People who become interested in ND as a result of his talks often visit his retreat center for 3 day retreats. ND seekers, alone, would not nearly support such a retreat center, financially, so Reiki groups, Yoga groups, a wide range of other alternative spiritual groups, and even business and non-profit groups rent his facility for retreats. Even then, I suspect that Don subsidizes the financial shortfall, and I'd guess that he would be lucky if the center became self-supporting any time during the next five years. Thanks! So Don has trouble, and yet the Adyashantis and Moojis seem to get by quite well (not a bad thing... actually I admire their savvy). I wonder why that is... what's their secret sauce? |
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Post by siftingtothetruth on Nov 28, 2018 9:42:30 GMT -5
Who are the people most receptive to and interested in the non-dual message -- who aren't already attached to some guru? Where could they be found in the real world?At yoga studios? Unitarian churches? Drug rehab centers? 'Burning man' style festivals? College philosophy clubs? Somewhere else? Where are those craving liberation, whether they know it or not? You mean there really is a real world after all . A real world with real Guru's . Only real compared to the virtuality of this message board! |
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Post by zendancer on Nov 28, 2018 10:36:35 GMT -5
The most common places seekers can be found are at non-denominational/alternative-type churches such as Unity, Unitarian, Centers for Spiritual Living, etc, but even in those places serious seekers are pretty rare. Adults who are already interested in ND probably already know about Adyashanti and other teachers in the Advaita tradition, and they can find ND retreats and ND organizations throughout the world simply by googling the topic. Richard Rose, who founded the TAT organization, used to give regular talks at universities, and almost all of his followers were originally young college students who became interested in ND as a result of his talks. Don Oakley, a teacher who studied with Adya, has a beautiful huge retreat center 45 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN. Don gives public talks at an ecumenical/alternative-type spiritual center in Knoxville, and he gets invited to speak at various ND retreats throughout the southeast. People who become interested in ND as a result of his talks often visit his retreat center for 3 day retreats. ND seekers, alone, would not nearly support such a retreat center, financially, so Reiki groups, Yoga groups, a wide range of other alternative spiritual groups, and even business and non-profit groups rent his facility for retreats. Even then, I suspect that Don subsidizes the financial shortfall, and I'd guess that he would be lucky if the center became self-supporting any time during the next five years. Thanks! So Don has trouble, and yet the Adyashantis and Moojis seem to get by quite well (not a bad thing... actually I admire their savvy). I wonder why that is... what's their secret sauce? I wouldn't say that Don has trouble. I'd say he's right on schedule considering what his goals are. His retreat center has only been functioning for a relatively short period of time, and the cost of the center, which is still under construction, is significant. As more people find out about his facility, it will most likely become self-sustaining in the future. I don;t think any of the other well-known teachers have built facilities; they tend to hold retreats at existing facilities (such as the Omega Institute in New York or the Stanford Retreat Center near Lake Tahoe). Don just happened to be a successful engineer and contractor before encountering Tolle and Adya, so after he attained sufficient understanding, he sold his business and decided to build a retreat center Adyashanti, Gangaji, Mooji, and Tolle are big names in the ND world, and are extremely well known, and they have thousands of videos and many books available. Adya and Gangaji have foundations with lots of volunteer help, and they receive donations from people who want to support their work and various programs (Gangaji, for example, has a prison ministry and other outreach programs). The reason that the best known teachers have lots of followers is because they're very clear, and because people enjoy being in the presence of such clarity. |
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Post by explorer on Nov 28, 2018 10:46:52 GMT -5
Don't forget Quakers either! Here is a Quaker quotation that chimes with non duality:
"So one approaches, by efforts which call for the deepest resources of one’s being, to the condition of true silence, not just not speaking, but of a wide awake, fully aware non-thinking... One becomes instead aware, one is conscious of being a participant in the whole of existence, not limited to the body or the moment...."
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Post by zendancer on Nov 28, 2018 10:57:30 GMT -5
Don't forget Quakers either! Here is a Quaker quotation that chimes with non duality: "So one approaches, by efforts which call for the deepest resources of one’s being, to the condition of true silence, not just not speaking, but of a wide awake, fully aware non-thinking... One becomes instead aware, one is conscious of being a participant in the whole of existence, not limited to the body or the moment...." Yes. Good quote. |
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Post by bluey on Dec 2, 2018 18:15:37 GMT -5
Also many seekers have dreams or visions of their teachers. Or a book may fall off a shelf in a bookstore.
I used to walk to Birmingham knowing I would meet a teacher after I had fallen awake as I couldn't language This. The mind was made still. And everyone kept on asking me why do you keep visiting Waterstones every week. But I knew He would appear. And He did.
Many people who I meet have either said I saw you at the foot of my bed or as I don't walk through Birmingham much one woman stopped me to say who is that man floating above your head. And she was talking of Ian and I was able to point her to him.
Just like one business man he kept seeing me through his inner experiences and through meeting different people on the spiritual circuit they said you should meet Donna. And Donna said you should meet Bach
Over a phone conversation I said let's meet up at the Convention Centre in Birmingham he asked what do you look like so I can recognise you.
I said if you're interested in This then you will see me. I put my baseball cap on. Walked over the bridge in the crowd and he called me over saying nectar a sweet taste was pouring down my neck when I saw you in the crowd.
He's had his experiences, problems in his marriage. Where he is saying I want to serve, know This but his wife wants to be the centre of a conversation. Both have needs and wants from where they are at. Nothing wrong with that.
He gave up his business as he came to understand there was so much leakage of energy even though it made him a lot of money, holidays with the wife. But he felt he was supporting his wife's lifestyle the parts of her that had never been met. She didn't have an ear for his experiences his needs or want for This.
As for the teachers who have been successful Osho pointed at Zorba the Buddha. One who is in silence yet enjoys the world too. Like Eckhart lives in a beautiful part of Vancouver yet shares over the silence that we all are.
Many gurus of the East have talked of no true guru charges. But their set up runs into the billions from donations, free seva.
There's an interview with a journalist asking Eckhart what will you do with the millions you've made. Eckhart said oh I may set up an organisation but I would have said well I have an apartment in Vancouver, my wife she's loves LV bags. I may need a plane at some point. I may need to check in to a penthouse apartment 25,000 a night to make love.
The East has thousands of years of understanding and serving sages. The West doesn't, it doesn't understand seva in the context of what the Eastern seekers understand.
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Post by explorer on Dec 7, 2018 4:17:30 GMT -5
I enjoyed your post Bluey. As we Quakers say, "it spoke to my condition." (I just love these seventeenth century English Quaker phrases by the way!) You talk (amusingly) of "falling awake" and looking for a Teacher to give you the language (context too?) for this experience. Also the company I guess of someone who speaks that same language. So, we are talking here about Sages and Spiritual Teachers (with all the shadows and pitfalls around them) and also learning how to be spiritual teachers ourselves, and what that means - being misunderstood, achieving little success, frustration, and occasional glorious (often unpredictable) break-throughs.
So to meet a God Person, a true Light Worker, a Radiant One, is such a help, such a blessing. I meet up with what I call a God Woman about once a week for just an hour for a chat. It is a weekly reminder of Sanity, Hope, Courage and Love. She does such great work with the homeless and lost of her town, and has such Trust in Light and Love and Guidance.
Meeting her helps me to keep on track.
Blessings to you all.
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. A real world with real Guru's . 
