What's Wrong With Neo-advaita?

[Guest Annetta]

I read Leo's insight here last night and did some research on this, but I want to know what your opinions are.
Why is Neo-Advaita considered to be less of a spiritual technique than the others?  What makes it inferior exactly? 

[Shin]

From what I read about it, it is because it use a very direct approach to realize your true self.

Which obviously can create a lot of Zen Devils.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Shin

[Dodo]

6 minutes ago, Annetta said:

I read Leo's insight here last night and did some research on this, but I want to know what your opinions are.
Why is Neo-Advaita considered to be less of a spiritual technique than the others?  What makes it inferior exactly? 

I think sometimes we need to speak about Ego Integration and not about Enlightenment. In my view all the consciousness work is for Ego Integration, making the Ego into Truth. Everyone is already enlightened and at the same time, there is infinite amount of work to be done to align to the highest self, which we cannot not be.

[Guest Annetta]

@Shin I don't understand how that would create a zen devil, though, if the approach is self inquiry. 
So, Neo-Advaita is essentially shadow work that transmogrifies into an enlightened experience?
 

[Shanmugam]

In my own experience, It took many years to completely unclutch myself from the identification with self.. There are a lot of unconscious patterns, old habits and unresolved issues which have to be worked on... But neo-advaita doesn't address any of these issues... It is not a practical solution to the problem we have on realizing our true nature. It is true that our true nature is accessible for anyone at this very moment, but a lot has to be done in order to remove whatever that is obscuring it. It is very tricky when we put these things in words because my last statement says that a lot of things to be 'done' in order to be enlightened, but enlightenment itself has to do with annihilation of the sense of a doer. To put it simply, Until you have lost the feeling that you are the doer,, you need to do something... Does it make sense?

Edited May 24, 2017 by Shanmugam

[Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj]

Who says that anything is inferior?

P.S. Look closer  

[Guest username]

18 minutes ago, Shanmugam said:

In my own experience, It took many years to completely unclutch myself from the identification with self.. There are a lot of unconscious patterns, old habits and unresolved issues which have to be worked on... But neo-advaita doesn't address any of these issues... It is not a practical solution to the problem we have on realizing our true nature. It is true that our true nature is accessible for anyone at this very moment, but a lot has to be done in order to remove whatever that is obscuring it. It is very tricky when we put these things in words because my last statement says that a lot of things to be 'done' in order to be enlightened, but enlightenment itself has to do with annihilation of the sense of a doer. To put it simply, until you have a feeling that you are the doer, you need to do something... Does it make sense?

Did you mean to say here, "Until you have lost the feeling that you are the doer, you need to do something..."?

[Shanmugam]

@username yes, pretty much.. thanks for correcting.. I still have to work on the language 

Edited May 24, 2017 by Shanmugam

[Guest username]

@Shanmugam You have some pretty good English already. Keep it up and you'll be golden!

[Guest Annetta]

@Shanmugam Yes that makes a lot of sense, thank you.

[Leo Gura]

Every teaching, every school, every method, has it's pros and cons.

There are no safe methods to enlightenment. All of them are fraught with dozens of traps.

[Ramu]

@Leo Gura Leo, what exactly offends you regarding neo advaita?

[Pierre]

We should be careful, who are we talking about? Are Rupert, Adyashanti, Tolle, Bernie, Mooji, Neo? They are very nuanced, and speak a lot about embodiment of realization. Guys like Paul Smit and Tony Parsons certainly are Neo.

Anyway here is an excellent article distinguishing Traditional, Modern, and Neo-Advaïta:

http://liveanddare.com/neo-advaita/

[Leo Gura]

@Ramu When they tell people to stop seeking. That shit ain't gonna work unless you've already spent a decade seeking. And even then, I doubt it.

And when they tell people that enlightenment/spirituality is simple. If it's so damn simple, how come all spiritual traditions and books are so complex? Common sense says it can't work that way. Simple truths are agreed upon by all. Nobody needs to write a 1000 page document about the existence of the sun.

Many of those Neo's ain't gone all the way down the rabbit hole, methinks.

[Guest Annetta]

@Pierre Thanks for this link, I read through this and found it interesting.

@Outer I practice it as well, if the definition is solely self inquiry and meditation.

.@Leo Gura If enlightenment is letting go of concepts and just being right here, right now, then perhaps when they say stop seeking they're onto something?

Who knows?  I certainly don't. 

Edited May 26, 2017 by Annetta

[Ramu]

@Dodo Matt Kahn talks about ego integrating with spirit on TrueDivineNature.  The direct approach is fine.  A heart centered approach to spirituality is the way for me.  I don't have to remember how to do 25 spiritual things each day and then feel like crap when I fail at them.  If one is spiritually aligned you can experience bliss.  He also talks about the end of the old paradigm and the beginning of the new paradigm.  No more spiritual acrobatics to fail at.  If you do fail, then love the one who fails more, not less!

[Ramu]

i agree with you on some points.  With respect to meditation, Douglas Harding, of the Headless way wrote that some spiritual teachers can be infuriating with the stress on meditation.  How do you know I'm not already at my True Home?  Because simply put...YES, SIMPLY put, I am.

[ajasatya]

mastering/embodying truth requires a complete shift on one's behavior towards virtues, altruism and purity.

intellectual gibberish or truth experiences alone won't lead to true happiness.

[Leo Gura]

@Maxx Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself.

I know what I'm doing.

[Prabhaker]

19 hours ago, unknownworld said:

People like Rupert Spira and Eckhart Tolle, give you a direct method, but because it's so simple and direct

Anyone who says , there is direct and simple method which is suitable for everyone is deceiving you. J. Krishnamurti was insisting his whole life that there is no technique for meditation. And the total result was not that millions of people attained to meditation; the total result was that millions of people became convinced that no technique is needed for meditation. But they forgot all about what they were going to do with the obstructions, the hindrances. So they remained intellectually convinced that no technique is needed.

It is easy to meditate if you don’t want to be blissful — it is very easy to meditate. Many people have tried to meditate without bliss because it is simple, less complex. You have to take only one work upon yourself: that you have to still your mind. And you can force your mind to be stilled, but you will become sad, you will have a long face.

They have avoided the complexity of spiritual transformation. They have chosen meditation, they have forced their mind to be still. It is a negative state; their minds are only empty, not silent — forcibly made still. But it is not a natural growth of silence, it is not the flowering of silence. Their silence is like the cemetery, it is not the silence of a garden.

You can meditate, force yourself to be silent. the whole truth is: bliss PLUS meditation. It is difficult of course, arduous, to manage both.