You don’t know what you need, but the proprietors of truth do and they claim it is their job to teach you.
Yet, because you are steeped in ignorance, you must be enticed. Otherwise, how else will you discover your teacher of truth, if you are not magnetically allured to do so?
Dave Oshana is an alluring merchant of truth that demands your attention. Dave says:
“Enlightenment cannot be taught. It is not a body of knowledge or a set of behaviours. However, when a person deeply desires to know the Truth meets one who knows the truth then something magical can happen, and enlightenment can occur.”Dave Oshana owns the truth and he will give it to you, provided you believe in him. Yet, one wonders, if Christ couldn’t do it, what makes these truth peddlers think they can? If Buddha couldn’t change the world, how will Dave Oshana do it?
But note the disclaimer (just in case you fail to become enlightened):
"The student must ensure that he/she is prepared to receive the Transmission. This opportunity may not present itself ever again. Oshana was at pains to remind me that he himself does not know if and when he would be directed to restrict his teaching even further. If you are drawn to the Energy and you are sufficiently prepared then open yourself to its all-encompassing influence, as you may not have this chance again in a thousand lifetimes! The student must be prepared to serve the Enlightenment Energies, to become an instrument through which it functions in this universe."Are you "sufficiently prepared to open yourself to its all-encompassing influence"? If not, then you lose and are cursed to a thousand lifetimes. Whew! What a let down, but these are the rules to the game of "awakening." Come prepared for what you expect and, make no mistake, you will have it. But it won't be truth, because truth cannot be restricted to your expectations. The fact that you believe it can be, is why you seem to be without.
Actually, the ancient secret, lost to the modern world, is that truth is a communal affair, not available to individual minds still divided against themselves:
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else." - Buddha
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ ... " - Galations 3:28
But wouldn’t ya know it, the ego went and co-opted that whole schtick. Now we have personality cults to suck in the ignorant (but faithful). Some might say that Truth is not supposed to change the world.
But then, what good is truth?
The truth merchants understand the attention deficit, hyperactive modern mind. They realize the ego must be stimulated by conventional metaphors and paradigms. Thus, for Dave Oshana:
“Liberation Commando Style: The expulsion of the False Identity can occur whilst human awareness is present but it usually only gets in the way of the Enlightenment Energies. What is more likely to happen is that the awareness is 'numbed' temporarily for the Enlightenment Energies to function more efficiently. Rather like the Russian Commandos who gassed both hostages and terrorists in a bid to save lives in their rescue mission.The Enlightened Commando Mommy is the ‘hero’ of this dream.
The urge to teach is undeniable - The Enlightened Teacher is like a mother who is there for her baby at all times. She cannot deny the cries of the child for milk regardless of time or place.”
She protects her babies and gives them truth by attacking and destroying the "evil ego" within. Notice the dramatic metaphors conforming to the egoic need for status quo, conventional paradigms of truth.
How can a world absent of truth give you truth through that same world’s conventional paradigms invented by the ego? The world reflects scarcity, limit and loss. Therefore, the "awakened master," and his "truth," must be a limited resource. Only a few can own the truth.
Oshana’s magnetic personality is apparent from his pictures. But then, who wants to sit at the feet of a boring guru? We need to be drawn in and mesmerized by the magical truth of the enlightened master.
Welcome to the Cult of Personality.
It's a paradigm we know well and most likely will learn nothing from. Millions of 'personalities,' teaching "truth," have left things pretty much the same for centuries (many would argue that life has become even more inhospitable).
Of course, this is the definition of insanity, whereby, we all continue doing the same thing over and over again, but each time expecting different results.
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
the Cult of Personality
I know your anger,
I know your dreams
I've been everything you wanna be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face of your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you; still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the Cult of Personality
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
(Living Colour)
Humor always appreciated but it's a bit too rough to be ready
ReplyDeleteIf you read Oshana without the occluding filter which you apply to many teachers you might realize that you are on the same page about some of the issues you print in your blog
For example
There is no Club here
enlightenment now,
ReplyDeleteActually my filter does not occlude. However, it does aid me in avoiding clowns and fools.
There are two differences between what I write and what many of the so-called modern gurus teach. First, I make no claim to knowing or transmitting truth and second, I make to claim to "enlightenment."
And this is why your comments, and all others, are always welcome.
Thanks,
mikeS