johnw@farside.eng.ready.com (John Wheeler) (06/04/91)
Some posters to the "net" have expressed interest in some of my earlier postings about meeting a genuine elightened sage. One of the people was kind enough to share with me his spiritual background and experiences, which I was very interested to hear about. The following is from my reponse to him, in which I shared some of my own experiences. I thought it may be of interest to readers on the net. The purport of the text is not to emphasize any particular importance of my personal experience, which is not of much signifigance in itself, but to show some of the factors that led up to my meeting a genuine master. ___________________________________________________________________________ (I have made a few additions to the original.) Thanks for sharing with me your spiritual experiences. I always enjoy hearing about such matters. For one thing it reminds me of how we are all essentially doing the same thing, or seeking for the same thing, although the forms which that search take often vary. I am at least a little familiar with most of the teachings you mentioned, though I did not have the opportunity to study eastern texts to the degree you have. My own "background" began with an interest in science and nature which manifested when I was about 8 to 10 years old. I spent a lot of time reading books on animal life, geology, and astronomy, seeking to find out more about the world and how I fit into it. At about 13, my mother influenced me to attend some of the "charismatic" Christian church meetings she was involved in. Something resonated deeply, yet the kind of teaching and intrepretation of scripture available did not kindle my initial feelings and I eventually lost interest in it. In my teens, I had a friend who was interested in occultism, astral pro- jection, witchcraft, etc. Through his influence, I became aware of the world of metaphysical teachings such as Theosophy and other contemporary groups such as "Eckankar," which attracted me for a while. Throughout this period I came in contact with the life and teaching of the Buddha and various other assorted mystics and teachers. I had absolutely no discrimination as to what I was seeking or what kinds of teachings were of value to me. I briefly studied under a Sikh guru who came to Berkeley in the late 70s. He advocated a celibate, vegetarian lifestyle, including about three hours of seated meditation each morning. His philosophy was based on becoming attuned to an inner sound and light that was supposedly divine. I had little in the way of spiritual experiences in attempting to follow this path and abandoned it within a few months. I must have been about 20 years old at the time. I went back to studying Buddhist books, mostly zen-influenced and some Theravadin texts as well. They intrigued me greatly, but I could not seem, through my own efforts at meditation, to gain any understanding much less gain an experience of "Enlightenment." Of course I did not have the foggiest notion of what such a state might be, but it sure sounded great. About that time I discovered Krishnamurti. His whole questioning of mystical mumbo-jumbo and dependence on authority shocked me and caused me to reconsider the spiritual quest. He was still alive at the time and I was able to hear him speak. I even traveled to Ojai, California to attend one of his week-long sessions there. I was quite impressed at the time by his demeanor and seemingly rational inquiry into the nature of life and the mind. It took me several years to realize that he was not really established in a deep level of realization and that his intellectual analyses were not at the same depth of experience as enlightened sages such Buddha and the Ch'an masters. In short, his teaching was unsatisfying, so I again turned to Buddhism. I happened to be browsing in a local spiritual bookstore one day when I came across a series of books by an author with the mysterious psuedonym of "Wei-Wu-Wei." (I later learned he was a wealthy Scottish aristocrat, by the name of Terrence Gray, who had an affinity for non-dual philosophy and had traveled widely in the Far East and met several notable spiritual masters, apparently including the enlightened sage Ramana Maharshi.) His books were filled with quotes from Far Eastern teachers as well as his own humorous essays and imaginary dialogues. (Are you familiar with his works?) I was "blown away" by his uncanny humor and profound discussions of the nature of the mind, consciouness, enlightenment, etc. He also liberally quoted the words of enlightened sages, particularly from the Ch'an lineage. He also evidenced a profound respect for Vedantic masters such as Ramana Maharshi, Shankara, and the little known contemporary sage Sri Atmananda. My inner discrimination told me that this was the deepest teaching I had yet discovered and my inner desire to find out the truth hinted at in those pages was magnified. I spent several months with these texts, greatly exicited by my discovery and fascinated by the profound subject matter contained in them. Then I happened to come across a poster advertising "Satsang" in the Bay Area with a master by the name of Nome. I hadn't heard of him before. The poster, which was in a metaphysical bookshop near my house, mentioned that he was an enlightened master, whose teaching was in accord the the Ch'an masters and the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. I had nothing to lose, and besides I was profoundly interested in anything to do with spirituality, so I called the number on the advertisement and arranged to attend one of the Satsangs. I had no way of knowing what to expect. One thing though was that my ability to discriminate genuine teachings had been steadily increasing through my reading the teachings of enlightened masters. I won't mince words. The simple fact of the matter was that when I entered the hall and beheld master Nome, I came face to face with a fully enlightened Buddha, a genuine self-realized sage. The words are unimportant, the experience was undeniable. He sat at the front of the hall, silent, apparently absorbed in some unfathomable depth of introspection and inward peace. The feeling was tangibly present and seemed to permeate everyone in the hall as they sat meditating. Presently, the lights of the hall came up; the master slowly opened his eyes and took in everyone in the room with his deep gaze. He did not say anything, but simply remained seated and absorbed in the same silence that had been there all along. Then someone in the hall raised a question about their spiritual life and meditation. After a moment the master began to respond to the question. This was no mere advice or theoretical discourse. In fact, never had I heard such penetrating wisdom and insight. It is hard to describe the feeling. It is something like the feeling you have when reading a profound, authentic holy text or ancient scripture, but much more intense and living. Or again, it is like the feeling you might have when deeply struck by some profound expression of beauty or harmony. There is some innate ability within us to recognize the truth. In the presence of a genuine master this inner feeling becomes enlivened somehow. The dialogues continued throughout the evening. The master's words were filled with humor, love, and a sparkling clarity that made it obvious he was firmly established in the wisdom he was imparting. I came back again and again over the course of several months to verify that what I has found was true. My mind could not quite accept that I had found a fully awakened sage; I thought for sure he would waiver from his realization; perhaps some question would through him off and he would be unable to respond, or some incident would perturb him and reveal that perhaps his understanding was not so deep after all. Yet, the more I came, the more sure I was that his realization was genuine. He was obviously perfectly established in freedom and could easily employ any number of "skillful means" to bring others to the same realization as himself. He was extremely polite and never put himself above others; in fact, he said, this realization or enlightenment was available to all. Yet one could sense in him a power and confidence born of direct experience. Looking back, two factors were most important in enabling me to recognize the profound depth of what was available through the master: First, was the undeniable experience of freedom, clarity, and happiness felt in his presence. The experience was utterly different than anything I had found with other teachers. It was a direct, clear, non-verbal transmission of the state of freedom. Words cannot convey it, and those who know only words can scarcely have an idea of what such an experience might be. This was the "silence" of the Maharshi and the Buddha. Once in his presence, it was obvious. It had nothing to do with doctrines, words, techniques, or theoretical knowledge. Philosophical discussions and theoretical debates would have been laughable and utterly without meaning in such an atmosphere of freedom and happiness directly felt by all. The second factor which enabled me to recognize what was available with the master was the connection of the heart that arose from the first time I came into his presence. This was not on the level of mental acceptance or rejection, nor was it some slavish conformity to an external authority; it was the spontaneous recognition, in the heart, of the truth as conveyed in its pristine purity by he who knew it. I later came to find out that he had several fully enlightened students who were also established in the ultimate awakened state. Naturally, I became more and more interested in his teaching and how I might discover the truth for myself, and so began my relationship with him and my inititation on the path of non-duality, under the guidance of a genuine master. The essence of my message is that we have in America a genuine sage, an enlightened master of the same caliber as Buddha, the Maharshi, or Hui Neng. Several students of his are fully enlightened and many more are firmly on the path. It is said that some of the Ch'an masters had enlightened disciples numbering in the hundreds and perhaps thousands, during the "Golden Age of Ch'an." It is my belief that the same opportunity is available now. johnw