Dear James,
I hope this finds you well. Thank you for the Sunday Satsangs — I find them very thought-provoking and meaningful.
James: All good here. I’m glad you are enjoying Vedanta.
I’m writing because I noticed in your newsletter that you offer the opportunity to speak with initiates about their path and qualifications for Vedanta. To be honest, I wouldn’t have said that I began with a burning desire for liberation. Rather, it feels as though I’ve been gently but consistently guided toward Vedanta. It began with an interest in understanding psychological and cultural conditioning, really as a way to advance my own group work, and over the past year — especially the last four months — this exploration has taken up nearly all of my time.
James: Sounds like it’s burning if it is taking up nearly all your time. If it’s burning, you need to burn your bridges so there is no temptation to get bogged down in a successful life. If it’s burning it may lead you to a teacher that you will eventually discover isn’t good for you. Or if you have a proper store of merit earned by following dharma, which it seems you do, it has already attract a proper teacher with an impersonal teaching which will eventually free you. But you needn’t worry because ShiningWorld is the real deal.
Surprisingly, I’ve encountered almost no resistance to Vedanta. Whether in your excellent books and videos, the Satsangs, or even in the works of thinkers like Krishnamurti (whom I know is not strictly Vedanta), Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta, and Stephen Wolinsky — the clarity and depth have resonated deeply. I’m currently reading The Hero and His Shadow (link), which has been a helpful companion. However, when I recently read Shankara’s Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, I was shaken — it made me wonder if I’m too far gone to walk this path. I saw my many binding vāsanās, my strong identification with the body (I’m a lifelong athlete), and even my lingering enjoyment of things like beer, and began to doubt myself.
James: Yes, Vedanta is for big boys. It is definitely challenging. This is why burning desire is recommended, although any level…piddling or middling…is good. Having said that, I think the logical way you arrived is the best. Coming through psychology is very useful, unless you let the psychology hi-jack the Vedanta. Most life “coaches” are very enthusiastic about Vedanta until they see how nicely it works to life-adjust their neurotic clients. Obviously, they don’t have burning desire for freedom so they settle into a comfortable “successful” niche. The best way is to let Vedanta hi-jack psychology. It doesn’t happen much because psychological types are usually quite intelligent and therefore vain.
For context, I’ve always been open-minded and have explored many psychological and spiritual traditions. In my late 20s and early 30s, I did five years of intensive Jungian analysis and read extensively around Jung, which introduced me to the idea of the Self (albeit in a different framework). Early on, I read New Age authors like Jane Roberts (Seth), loved Alan Watts, and more recently, I worked with a guide connected to Dhyan Vimal. Although Vimal is interesting, his approach never truly resonated with me.
James: The main qualification is dispassion, the willingness to let something go and experiment with something new. Curiosity is always good. If you have dispassion, which is defined as indifference to the results of your actions, you will mature quickly because the other qualifications will flower: discrimination, discipline, devotion, etc. Sports is a good qualifier, as it requires consistent discipline.
Like you, I come from a business background, (in fact, my first job out of college was for a high-end antique dealer in LA) and for many years my work was grounded in strategy, economics, politics, and the material world, and I pursued graduate studies in economics. During the pandemic, however, I was able to step back and explore more intuitive and creative aspects of myself — especially in my coaching and facilitation work. Still, it has been a strange transition: from focusing on numbers and policy to reading ancient texts written by men in loincloths and grappling with ideas about consciousness, awareness, and identity. I thought the coaching work was a natural fit for me, and I’ve always had a natural ability to work with groups, however, after some corporate engagements, I again felt the ground shifting.
James: It’s best to go through the worldly world until you realize its limitations. Then the desire for freedom intensifies. Young people facing a complex difficult world often succumb to fake desire, wear the hair shirt or the orange robes and dick around in the spiritual samsara for many years. At the last moment they fall in love, make a family, and start a career. No blame.
At one point, I thought I’d pursue Francis Lucille’s teaching, which I mentioned briefly during one of your recent Satsangs. I assumed that, given his Western background and intellectual approach, I’d find him a good fit. But after attending a live session online, I realized the open Q&A format wasn’t suited to my learning — it felt too unstructured, and the questions were all over the place.
James: Francis is a good guy, a bit of an aristocratic curmudgeon with a trophy wife and his own tennis court on the top of a rolling hill in an LA exburb, but he is a typical Neo with no teaching. Get a confused emotional fool in the hot seat, commiserate and or scold as an audience of bourgeois psychophants watches with bated breath, and collect donations. Or you can attend one of his soirees and be treated to classical music if you’re tired of the pathless path analogy. None of the nitty gritty there; karma yoga, values, Isvara, qualifications, etc.etc. God bless hiim
I’m not entirely sure what I’m asking here. Perhaps I just wanted to introduce myself more fully, and to express that this path feels both compelling and daunting at times. I wonder where I stand in terms of preparation, and whether I am qualified — not in the academic sense, but in terms of maturity and readiness. Vedanta feels like the capstone on five years of intense self development work, but I am not sure where things go from here.
James: On the basis of the info in this letter, you’re good to go, Ken. Hitch up your big boy pants and keep at it. You’re mature enough. You won’t regret it. I will send you a huge folder of unsolicited testimonials if you doubt that Vedanta works.
Thanks for any guidance you can offer.
James: You’re welcome. If you are so inclined, please guide a donation to ShiningWorld charity so we can continue disseminating non-dual wisdom.
