1 Bhagavad Gita, A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6. (NY: Penguin, 1990). p. 165.
2 Gita, p. 174.
3 Gita, p. 371.
4 The Upanishads, trans. Alistair Shearer and Peter Russell, p. 36.
5 The Upanishads, Juan Mascaro, (NY: Penguin, 1985), p. 86.
6 Charles Tart: “Enlightenment and Spiritual Growth: Reflections from the Bottom Up,” Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 29.
7 ibid, p. 35.
8 This was a phrase that we told each other in those days, and one that Deepak Chopra uses in the Huffington Post, February 13, 2008, 23/6, on the occasion of Maharishi’s death.
9 Gita, p. 196.
10 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6. (NY: Penguin, 1990).
11 Steven Mitchell, The Enlightened Mind (NY: Harper Perennial, 1991), pp. 51 - 2.
12 Paul McCartney, “Cosmically Conscious,” first played on McCartney’s solo album, “Off the Ground.”
13 The Heart Sutra. Translated from the Korean by Zen Master Seung Sahn. Chanting book, Kwan Um School of Zen.
14 Lama Lodo, Bardo Teachings: The Way of Death and Rebirth (San Francisco: KDK Pub, 1982), p. 7.
15 Quoted in Joel Morwood The Way of Selflessness (Eugene OR: Center for Sacred Sciences, 2009), p. 29. No attribution
16 William Johnston, The Cloud of Unknowing and Book of Privy Counseling, (NY: Doubleday: 1996), p. 169.
17 Gita, p. 349.
18 Gita, p. 365.
19 Buddhism describes the process of experience and of having a sense of self as made up of skandas, generally translated “heaps.” All experiences are comprised of these five processes, which constantly churn and change. And our sense of our self as a discrete thing (an I) is so comprised as well. A nice introduction can be found in Robinson and Johnson The Buddhist Religion, second edition (Encino CA: Dickenson Publishing, 1977, p. 43 ff.
20. Gita, p. 428.
21 Gita 2.69, trans. Ramanada Prasad
22 To be accurate, we spent half our time in Mallorca and the second half in Fuggi Fonte, Italy.
23 Gita, p. 174.
24 Gita, p. 307.
25 Gita, p. 250.
26 Gita, p. 233.
27 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, quoted in TM and MUM “benefits” brochure.
28 Gita, p. 371.
29 See the 50th anniversary children’s book Harold and His Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (HarperCollins, 1998.
30 For this insight, and this phrase, I am indebted to John Hunt, publisher extraordinaire.
31 The Enlightened Mind, p. 53.
32 Chandogya 6:9, trans. Alistair Shearer and Peter Russell, p. 75.
33 Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary (Kandy, Sri Lanka, Buddhist Publication Society, 1980), p. 124.
34 Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary (Kandy, Sri Lanka, Buddhist Publication Society, 1980), p. 124.
35 The version Underwood gave us was The Diamond Sutra and The Sutra of Hui Neng, trans. A.F.Proce and Wong Mou Lam (Boulder: Shambhala, 1969). There are more recent translations, methinks, but few better. I will put page numbers in the text.
36 Robert K. C. Forman, Meister Eckhart: Mystic as Theologian (Element Books, 1991)
37 He lived, scholars generally hold, from 1260-1328.
38 W 1:41-2
39 James Clark and John Skinner, Meister Eckhart: Sermons and Treatises (NY: Fount Classics, 1994), p. 167.
40 Bernadette Roberts, The Experience of No-Self (Boulder: Shambala, 1984),
41 Ibid, p. 20.
42 I should note that, after the onset of this event, she discovered the writings of Meister Eckhart, which she felt did very nearly describe her experiences.
43 Roberts, p. 22.
44 Roberts, p. 34.
45 Roberts, p. 42.
46 Roberts, p 46.
47 See my Meister Eckhart, pp. 95-125.
48 See my The Problem of Pure Consciousness, (NY: OUP, 1990), and my Mysticism, Mind Consciousness (Albany: Suny Press, 1999).
49 Gita, p. 174.
50 Steven Katz, Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis (NY: Oxford University Press, 1978).
51. Katz, p. 26.
52. Robert Gimello, “Mysticism in its Contexts,” in Katz, ed., Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis, p. 85
53. This is a fictionalized account of a meeting with Thomas Nagel, who walked me through a similar set of thoughts. His example was his hobby of spiders, however, about which I know nothing. My apologies to Professor Nagel for ornothizing his arachnology!
54. Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness State University of New York Press, 2000. The Innate Capacity. Editor. N.Y: Oxford University Press, 1997. Meister Eckhart: Mystic as Theologian; An Experiment in Methodology Rockport Mass: Element Books. 1991. The Problem of Pure Consciousness Editor. Oxford University Press. 1990. Articles in numerous journals.
55. If I was doing something that was harming someone or doing something dishonest, I cannot imagine feeling quite so un-conflicted in my work. There would have been some sneaking doubts, however subtle, some pulling back. But in the event I have been lucky enough to work with a kind of settledness of commitment.
56 It was also unusual. I’ve heard from countless therapists that generalized anxiety disorder has no cure, and that it generally lasts a lifetime.
57 Jack Kornfield, “Sex Lives of the Gurus,” Yoga Journal. 63 (July-August1985), 26-28 and 66.
58 Jeffry Rubin, Psychotherapy and Buddhism: Towards an Integration, (NY: Plenum Press, 1996), 88.
59 Raved, Ahiya; Avi Cohen (May 18, 2006). “Rabbi Gafni accused of sexual assault“. Ynetnews, retrieved 7/25/08.
60 According to Andishehblog, retrieved October 29, 2008.
61 Karen Terry et al, “The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests and Deacons, prepared by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (Washington DC: USCCB, 2004).
62 Portions of this paragraph were paraphrased from Chip Brown, “How a Zen Master Found the Light (again) on the Analyst’s Couch” New York Times Magazine (Ap 26, 2009), p. 37.
63 This is confirmed by a report in the Integral Café blog spot on the work of Jeffry A. Martin. William Harryman reports that in the first study of its kind, Martin is assembling a data base of subjects who report enlightenment. What he finds is that “despite their claims of loss of self, most still take the “I” position in conversation. According to Martin’s psychometric tests, very little about (if anything) about their self is out of the ordinary. They seem to maintain their addictions, their mental disorders, their racial and gender biases, and so on. Those who know them often report no differences in their personalities.
As an aside, he mentioned one person who was taking anti-anxiety medications. This person reported absence of anxiety and appeared to test as such. However, he reported that if he did not take his meds, he would begin shaking and have an anxiety attack.
64 I have seen this tendency even recently in my own and other people’s spiritual and religious traditions. I’ve seen members of many sects deny and try to cover up perceived peccadilloes of their leaders, be those perceptions accurate or not.
65 I am grateful to John Hunt for this phrase and insight.
66 John Welwood “The Psychology of Awakening,” Tricycle Magazine, 2000, pp. 43 ff.
67 The exception my be Augustine, who was terribly consciousness of some of his mother issues. But even there I wonder if he got beyond the mom-hagiography.
68 I.e. that the ego is that psychological structure that controls thought and behavior, that remains in greatest touch with external reality¸ and that is subject to the superego.
69 Steven Katz, “Language, Epistemology and Mysticism,” in Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis, Ed Steven Katz, (NY: OUP, 1978) p. 39
70 Said first in a private conversation, then during a panel discussion in 1988.
71 As of November of 2009 there were 250,000 Google hits on the Katz Forman Debate.
72 This, by the way, is the theme of the Eminem film “8 Mile.” He is able to “win” the rap slam because he welcomes, and even recites aloud, everything that he fears. His dragon, like mine, is left mute, stammering and powerless.
73 Robert Forman, Grassroots Spirituality: What it is, Why it is Here, Where it is going (Exeter,Eng: Imprint Academic., 2004)
74 These more “sublime” perceptions come only when one has held silence for awhile, Maharishi teaches. The Science of Creative Intelligence: Knowledge and Experience [Course syllabus], Los Angeles: Maharishi International University Press. pp. 15, 23 -27.
75 Wu-mein, in Steven Mitchell’s The Enlightened Heart, (NY: Harper, 1989), p. 47
76 Maharishi, Bhagavad Gita, p. 427.
77 Anthony Cambell, Seven States of Consciousness, p. 76.
78 Jan van Ruysbroeck, The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, trans. By C.C. Wynschenk, London, J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1916. Quoted in W.T. Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy, p. 338.
79 W.T. Stace, quoted in Jeffry Kripal, Crossing Boundaries, p. 15.
80 Richard Jones, Mysiticism and Morality, (Lexington Books, 2004), p. 381.
81 To be quite correct, it was Flavor Aide.
82 I thank DeAnne Cartright for this phrase.
83 The Cloud of Unknowing, ed. James Walsh, (NY: Paulist Press, 1981), p. 137.
84 Underhill, Mysticism, p 416.
85 Underhill, Mysticism, p. 417.
86 Walsh, Meister Eckhart, vol. 2, p 105.
87 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad Gita, p.330- 331.
88 C.J. Jung, Letters, Letter to A. Tjoa and R.H.C. Janssen, quoted by Thomas Moore, The Education of the Heart (NY: Harper Perennial, 1997) p. 25.
89 Many Buddhist temples in Asia have rows and rows of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as objects of worship. But since they are believed to live in different “pure lands” and at different times, they are not interacting as in a group.
90 Kornfield, After the Ecstasy the Laundry, (NY; Bantam, 2001), p. xxi.
91 Jack Kornfield suggests Buddha did indeed struggle. He writes, although without a textual reference, about the time Mara, the tempting demon, comes to Buddha, and complains “about how difficult it is to be an evil one all the time. The Buddha listens to Mara’s stories sympathetically and then asks, “Do you think it is easy to be a Buddha. Do you know what they do to my teachings, what they do in the name of the Buddha at some of my temples? There are difficulties being in either role, a Buddha or a Mara. No one is exempt.” Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy the Laundry, p. 124
92 See Connie Zweig and Steven Wolf, Romancing the Shadow: A Guide to Soul Work for a Vital, Authentic Life.
93 Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart, p. 6.
94 This story actually was told to me several years before, at an “ISIS” meeting.
95 One Christian record of a group mystical experience comes in Acts 2, Pentecost. Quakers sometimes enter into a settled space together, though they share a belief system.
96 Samuel Bonder, Tom Callanan and the Fetzer Institute and Andrew Cohen all speak of enlightened relationships.
97 To be fair, considering the difficulty of writing, some or all may have expressed doubts and just never written them down. Nonetheless, we have no such evidence.
98 Pace Pentacost, a purported mutual visionary experience and Pace Quakers, who speak of settled meetings, which may be the mutually mystical. But here we have members of a single tradition.
99 Or the single and subjective, the plural and subjective and the single or plural and the objective. Wilber has written about this in many books; a nice introduction is Ken Wilber, A Theory of Everything (Boston: Shambhala, 2000), pp. 49 – 53.
100 Muslim female saint of the 8th Century.
101 Olivier and Danielle Follmi, Offerings (NY: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2003), July 1. Attitbuted to Jack Kornfield, no reference.
102 An insight I heard in a personal communication from Melissa West, which she attributed to Barbara Fischer.
103 Soshitsu Sen XV, Tea Life, Tea Mind (NY: Weatherhill, 1979), p. 77.
104 My friend Suzanne Murphy uses this phrase.
105 Bhagavad Gita, 2:48, 3:19. This is a loose translation, and mine.
106 This is a blues standard written by Jimmy Cox in 1923, and sung by countless folks, but made famous by Clapton in 1992.
107 See p. 162 f. above.
108108 The good is freedom, says Soren Kierkegaard in The Concept of Dread, trans. Walter Lowrie (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), p. 138.
109 Full disclosure: I joined the band.
110 Full disclosure. I am here combining two separate events. Also, I liked the Effengees so much, I joined the band! And happily belt out Mustang Sally!
111 Offerings. 16 August
112 What makes the human distinctive is our range.
113 Martin Buber, Between Man and Man, Trans. Ronald Smith (NY: Collier books, 1965), p. 18.
114 Søren Kierkegaard teaches that the goal of human development is freedom: “The good is freedom,” he says in The Concept of Dread, trans Walter Lowrie (Princeton, NJ, 1944), p. 138.
115 “The threat of isolation [always] accompanies the development of individuality,” I read long after writing this in Rollo May, The Meaning of Anxiety, (NY: Norton, 1996), p. 375.