I posted the following comment to the Guruphiliac
blog, during a discussion of Eckhart Tolle, in response to someone who asked
“what would you consider an acceptable way of describing the heightened
awareness of this ‘essential being’ that many people do experience…”
There are lots of words we could use. I'd suggest calling it a "big,
special experience," since those are plain English words that express a
clear meaning.
> in the presence of greater and
> lesser teachers?
It's only rarely that big, special experiences happen in the presence of a
particular living teacher. Many people have them in nature, or in solitary
meditation. In America, when big, special experiences happen in an overtly
religious context, it's most often when people are praying to God or Jesus, NOT
in the presence of any guru or satsang.
> Because to deny that this
> happens is also ridiculous.
Right, people have big, special experiences. Then they build elaborate
idea-structures to try to explain them.
> It happens too often with too
> many people.
It should also be noted that there isn't any technique that automatically
induces big, special experiences. A guru like Papaji or Muktananda may have
many people claiming to have big, special experiences, but even then it's only
a TINY percentage of the people who came to them seeking to have a big, special
experience. Also, it seems so much more likely that the very fact that people came
to them with the hope and intention of getting big, special experiences is the
reason that at least this tiny percentage did in fact get them.
Taking a drug like LSD is a much, much, much more reliable way to get a big,
special experience. Just as when the experiences come in the presence of a
human teacher... the intention and expectation that one brings to the situation
are a key factor in what one experiences, how one interprets it, and whether it
has any lasting effect on one's life.
> Because this experience may be
> misunderstood or exploited
> doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
It's not just that big, special experiences can be misunderstood. It's that
they can't be understood. If they could be understood, they wouldn't be so big
and special.
And also, just because big, special experiences do happen, that DOESN'T mean
that we ought to want them, cling to them, glorify them, and direct our lives
around getting and keeping them.
Personally, I think getting big, special experiences now and then (or at least
once in a lifetime) is a nice thing. I'd recommend it. For lots of people,
about one week devoted to intense self-inquiry may be enough to induce one. Or
for the busy man-on-the-go, about 5 minutes smoking Salvia Divinorum. But just
as importantly, I'd personally assign an even higher importance to acting with
honesty, clarity, and kindness, moment-to-moment, in ordinary, everyday life.