Rodney J Owen - Blog

All Is One Review

7/16/2022

I just finished reading All Is One, a commentary on the Advaita Vedanta book Ellam Ondre. The book was originally written in Tamil by Sri Vaiyai R. Subramanian. The Commentary is by George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri), Abbott of the Spirit of Life Monastery in New Mexico. I have read a few of Abbott George's books, mainly on what he calls Original Yoga and Original Christianity. This commentary is in that vein, drawing from sources as varied as Jesus of Nazareth, Swami Sevananda, St. Paul, The Buddha Shakyamuni, The Bhagavad Gita, et al.

I found this to be a great little book, especially in light of the current jumble of double-speak, lyrical gymnastics, and bullshit that passes for Advaita these days. Yes, in the end it's all very simple and at the same time contradictory. But that not only doesn't help, it hinders while one is trying to understand and put together the pieces of the pie. By referring to other various sources, Burke helps one to understand the intent of the writing, and by extension, the philosophy of Vedanta.

I am personally grateful for the writings and explications of non-duality, including those by some Advaita teachers. However, on the whole I am not impressed in how many of these new teachers typically handle that philosophy. And I don't think there is a problem with the philosophy itself, but more with contemporary writers and teachers. Abbott George does a real service to the philosophy of non-duality with his commentary on this book. I recommend it.

Finding The Real

6/7/2022

I spend a fair amount of time on the road, so I have found a handful of podcasts I like to listen to that keep me entertained and informed. This is a good thing for me. I am and always have been curious about countless things and an avid reader. However, reading and driving is not good for one's health, so podcasts have become the next best thing.

I like listening to fitness-related podcasts, and I have found there is a groundswell of solid common sense fitness-based perspectives arising that cover everything from strength training, to mindfulness, to indigenous/shamanic healing, to whole-life solutions for anything that comes along. I don't agree with everything (of course), but I find it refreshing, especially considering the fear-based conventional mindset that portrays life as dangerous and toxic, but seems to have a corporate/chemical/pharmaceutical solution for everything. There appear to be more people these days proclaiming that life is not necessarily dangerous, it doesn't have to be toxic, and our biological systems--such as natural immunity--work just fine, thank you. Of course, that makes those of us who think this way a threat to the system. Odd, isn't it?

As I noted above, I don't agree with everything I find. One of the things I personally take exception to is bio-hacking. Now, before I go any further with that, I should say this is my personal perspective. I don't care if other people do these things. However, I am not personally interested and do have my own rather unoriginal position on this.

The human organism is a natural product of this universe. Everything it needs, mentally, physically, spiritually is provided and simply acquired, albeit with a dose of effort and discipline. In most cases the vitamins, minerals, and energy sources we need to function optimally can be found in a sensible diet. These can be supplemented with strength and internal-energy training to further optimize and approach actualization. And of course, the above can be supplemented even further with spiritual practice to the point of realizing self-actualization. Now reams of material can and has been written to further elaborate on the above, and many lifetimes of practice and training can and have been dedicated to said actualization. But it can all be done without more than the basic supplements, without psychedelics, without transfusions or other proto-medical procedures, and without self-flagellating diets, training regimes, or extreme personal adventures. What it does require is time, effort, and discipline. Researching, learning, and understanding Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Raja Yoga for example will take much longer than some of the more popular hacks to achieve a certain mind-body condition or bio-function, but they will deliver a natural solution that is in keeping with the natural flow of the Universe, not to mention being safer. To that end, I am sure so-called plant medicines can reveal the non-dual nature of the Universe, but so will dedicated spiritual practice, especially if one is fortunate enough to find a master teacher to study with. Given, it may take longer, but I have to wonder about the final product.

Again, I am not criticizing those who chose bio-hacking as much as I am arguing for what I consider to be a better, more holistic way to achieve a state of self-actualization. It takes a caterpillar a certain amount of time to break free of the cocoon. One could help the poor thing and free her earlier. But of course, the question then remains, would she still be the same butterfly. The trip is rarely about the destination. In fact, I feel quite sure that the trip itself is indeed the destination. And I can testify that the trip of engaged living is not in any sense of the word a short trip, nor is it ever really over. I feel it continues even after we leave this plane. Perhaps it's easier to dissolve supplements in our coffee, sit in a sweat lodge for a weekend, or be fed mescaline by a South American Shaman rather than follow a strict daily diet determined by one's constitution along with a regimen of long periods of meditation and many years of embodied energetic practice, and/or follow a template such as the Nobel Eightfold Path or Ashtanga Yoga. A life following the narrow path takes commitment, discipline, years of constant study and practice. So yeah, hacking may be easier. But personally, I can't imagine it is more rewarding.

Knowing the Source is the Source

3/26/2022

"The source of consciousness cannot be an object in consciousness." Nisargadatta

This is not a pun, this is the way. With our minds, we create subject and object. But this mental creation is only that, a creation, not absolute reality. And absolute reality is not an anthropomorphic godhead somewhere far away sitting on a cloud in judgement. Absolute reality is consciousness. If we back up, before our minds create the duality of subject and object, and observe clearly without conceptualizing, we may find that what we call observing is something else altogether. Consciousness cannot observe consciousness objectively. It is that. Now take it back again, and see that 'we' are that. We are consciousness and so is anything we observe, and further, so is the act of observing itself. Consciousness is the observer, the observed, and the observing. So, something appears to be happening, but it's not what we think it is.

I can't go any further with this, so I will leave it by saying that all of it is just the movement of energy, which we, as consciousness, are aware of. The rest is mystery.

Food for Thought (or a drink maybe)

3/12/2022

According to recent research, one drink a day is associated with reduced brain size, two or more and the reduction increases sharply. I haven't had a drink in twenty years, so I don't want to go on about this too much, less it sound righteous. That's not my intention for sharing this. But on the other hand, I quit drinking for a reason. I don't think alcohol consumption is beneficial to any degree. I typically keep my thoughts on this to myself. Either way, this seems like a well-grounded study and one worthy of consideration, especially for anyone who has 2+ drinks a day.

A summary: from U-Penn

The study: from Nature

Currently

3/10/2022

"I reached Cold Mountain and all cares stopped.
No idle thoughts remained in my head. Nothing to do I write poems on the rocks. And trust the current like an unmoored boat"
Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems.

There is so much here in such a short and concise poem. But that is the way with poetry. Good poetry doesn't inform us as much as it points to something. The rest is up to the reader. Words are sorely imprecise as it is. What we typically consider as informative, is often tainted with intent and loaded with extraneous meaning. Ironically, apparently vague and mysterious poetry is much more direct and informative as long as the reader is willing to do his/her part.

To that end, I'm not going to explicate Han Shan's entry noted above. That would only reveal my interpretation. What fun is that?

And in The End,...

3/9/2022

At a certain point, the spiritual search may come to an end (other than dying, of course, at which point it certainly comes to an end). At that point, all the previous activity and focus seems pretty much a waste of time. Things are as they have always been. There is nowhere else to go, and nothing to attain, other than what is already here and that's not attainable because we already have it, have had it, never not had it.

There is as much worth in searching as there is in anything else. One is and should be free to do whatever one pleases, as long as no one else is harmed in the process. But I think for many, what they are searching for is a conceptual pipe dream that is never found. What most people really want is an end to discomfort, for things to make sense, for a sense of purpose. Those are individual issues, although universally recognized. The pipe dream, on the other hand, is composed of lofty, mysterious concepts like Kingdom of Heaven, Enlightenment, Immortality, Transcendence. These are conceptual and not worth their weight in cow dung.

Spiritual organizations and religions work hard for retention by offering something that is appealing and eventually attainable as long as you stay engaged and follow the prescribed path(s). However, if you look around, it seems the only one who has attained anything is the guru in the big chair. Everyone else is till trying--forever.

I recently saw an advertised video wherein a teacher discusses 'coming full circle, the end of searching'. He then offers enrollment for his next satsang/workshop. Seriously?

I have nothing but respect for my teachers and those I have known on the path (any path). Again, that is as worth much as anything else. However, if we really look we find ourselves right where we started, right here. Changing paths or belief systems, falling down the nihilistic hole of Neo-Advaita, or becoming a raging atheist is basically just more of the same with different patterns, different carrots. Perhaps it is better to just be, not in any contrived way attained via secret teachings or blessings, but by stopping everything and just being. This is the way of no way.

Yes, Rhetoric Matters

3/8/2022

The following is an article from Discourse Magazine on Why Rhetoric Matters. This is crucial. Granted, I am biased, but I can't for the life of me understand why we are even questioning its relevance.

From the article:
"Rhetoric was a primary subject in formal learning from antiquity to the middle of the 19th century, when it was replaced by the study of literature and absorbed into the kind of English department we all recognize today. Exactly why it fell out of favor is a matter of debate, but now that rhetoric has made an academic comeback in the past 50 years as a distinct discipline, we would do well to know what it is and why it is so important."

“[I]t is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs, but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason.” (Aristotle)

"This is to say that language is inadequate for conveying one’s thoughts and discoveries to others clearly and directly. No two people can understand something exactly the same way. Thus, even if absolute truth exists, human language is inadequate for conveying it precisely. "

The complete article: Why Rhetoric Still Matters

New World Music

2/27/2022

There is something not happening here. Music, or the way we conceive of it, popular, corporately-delivered, processed over the commercial airwaves, seems to be stuck, not going anywhere at all. A recent article in The Atlantic claims that 70% of the US music market is comprised of old music. Further, the new music market is shrinking.
Source: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/

So, nothing new here. If anything, this is old news. But The Atlantic is talking about the commercial market. That doesn't mean there isn't anything new under the sun. Quality is not defined by quantity. This is a new world. The old rules don't apply. I have an intuition the music world isn't as bad as it is presented to be. Although I am not a connoisseur of the contemporary art world, and basically too old and otherwise distracted to care a lot, I can still see there is much that lives under the surface. And that's where real art thrives anyway, isn't it?

Examples:

So, yeah. There is plenty of new in this old world. It's just found elsewhere in this new world. Dig it.

Reflections Feb. 2022

2/25/2022

Russia is invading Ukraine. Inflation is out of hand. The supply chain (the Royal THE) is nearly broken. We are still dealing with society-at-large's response to COVID. And as I arose from sleep this morning, the sun rose from the east. At least it appeared to.

There is a parable that has been floating around for ever, attributed to the Buddha--without sources, mind you. I think the original source is Herman Hesse, but hey. Anyway, this parable has it that a person utilizes a boat to cross a river. Once he/she reaches the other side, there is a choice to either discard the boat or to pick it up and carry it along the rest of the journey. The meaning here is obvious. But knowing when to drop the boat and move on is not as easy as it may sound. We become very attached to our boats.

Sometimes our boats leave us. Teachers and colleagues die. Sometimes they change in a way that doesn't work for us anymore. Sometimes we change in a way that doesn't synch with them anymore. Growth is to realize that and move on. But again, it's not as easy as it sounds. I figure that many folks don't move on. If the teacher dies, they make him/her a deity and the teachings become larger than life. If the teacher changes, the students often change with him/her, regardless of what the changes mean. If the student feels the need to change, he/she will often ignore it. This is the root of suffering.

Some time back it occurred to me that perhaps the fear of heights is in reality a fear of jumping. I am reminded of Simba trying to talk himself out of going back to the village to take his place as heir to the throne, when the monkey shaman hits him over the head with his stick. "Why did you do that?" "Why does it matter? It's in the past." This is our lot. This happening, this experience, whatever it is, is constantly moving, as are all things. The antidote to potential suffering is to face it (whatever it is) head-on. To leave the boat.

Seeing things as they are, rather than as they are imagined, becomes a sort of curse. Once we realize it's all bullshit, it becomes rather difficult to carry on the same way. Of course, we can carry on, but if we want to stay in the flow, we can't in the same way. Perhaps to the outside observer it looks the same, or perhaps it doesn't. Either way, chances are it isn't. Intuition, man.

2/19/2022

2/19/2022

"A yogi has no particular path; he simply renounces imagining things. His mind then ceases of its own accord, and the perfect state just naturally occurs." Dattatreya. Avadhuta Gita; Ch. 2.28

The imagination, like all things, has its place. It is beneficial and harmful. It is incredibly useful when playing in the Fields of The Lord, Maya, the Tonal Reality. It has no place in the examination of the mind, reality, thisness. Like all things it is a contextual tool. The pathless path is just that, pathless, which implies a lack of definition. Imposing definitions in order to clarify the inexplicable only leads one in the opposite direction. Perhaps it is better to sit with not knowing.