Dear James,
I am still reflecting on our last email correspondence and as a consequence, I went to the meetings to see talks on the reflection teachings. In the process, I saw your response to me. In the first paragraph you say, “If you have been studying Vedanta for some time, ask yourself, “Am I the same person today that I was when I began.” If the answer is yes, you missed the point because you are chasing a goal, trying to become a free being, when you are already free.” I thought the answer was a definite yes. If I was not a student of Vedanta I would probably answer no but that is not the case here.
James: It seems you mean that Vedanta has changed you. It may have changed your mind in some way but I don’t think it has changed the experiencing entity, which is a thinking, feeling entity. That person seems to be frozen in time. My statement means that if you are actually listening to what is being said, you immediately notice that your relationship to yourself has changed in some subtle positive way. This excites you because being that same old boring opinionated person is killing you. So you get a feeling of hope that relief from being you is coming; you are eager to hear more. Consequently you no longer feel that you must assert and defend that person’s beliefs and opinions.
Joe: If I am wrong then you are right, I really have learned nothing.
James: That’s why I am always so gobsmacked when you write. I patiently explain things to you over and over for years now and your replies tell me that you haven’t learned anything about yourself. The same idea is modeled in the Gita where Arjuna asks the same question over and over. Nothing has actually gone in. He has to remain as that emotional person and do his job and maybe later the teaching will start to have an effect. The personal self should be changing all the time because it inhabits a dynamic life stream. If you are actually in the Vedanta stream you will not be the same person you were when you first began. The knowledge will see to it.
Joe: People say I’m a glutton for punishment when I put energy into lost causes or that I’m somehow vain because I think I can get through to obtuse people and perhaps they are right. On the other hand it is natural to help. If one part of the body is injured, another part, the hand for instance, tries to help.
James: Maybe you just love an idea of me. I wouldn’t call it bhakti because bhakti makes you sensitive to what the other person thinks and feels. It makes you alert and aware.
Joe: Maybe I model the self-confidence you are looking for. I don’t know. Perhaps you’re like the Trumpsters who sense that he is true to himself in some strange way but are unable to see that he is an insecure, selfish, dishonest blowhard who never stops tooting his own horn. They lionize him because they would like to be unapologetic like him. He is a champion, a gladiator, who puts a voice to their grievances. They feel they have been wronged and that he will set it right, that he will protect them from themselves or from the abusive father that persists in their minds. Who knows? I recently read a statement by one of his supporters who said that he felt sorry for all the difficulties Trump was going through, as if he had nothing to do with it and people should just do whatever he wants them to do. They wish they had that kind of (insane) self-confidence in the face of adversity. But he’s a big sissy too. The gladiators actually had to kill each other. They don’t see his insecurity and his bad values: arrogance, violence and revenge. Perhaps he loves his kids in some way. Anyway, it is hard being a human being. I empathize. It is naturally unnatural.
Joe: Also, from your last email it would seem that you think I have learned nothing. As I said, I am still sitting with my response but knowing how “gob-smacked” you are with me and how busy you are and apparently, frustrated with me, it probably best that I don’t respond.
James: There are many people who are qualified for this teaching whose lives have been radically altered in a very positive way that want to keep growing and actually listen to what I have to say. So it is only logical that I put my energy into them rather than argue with someone who doubts the teaching. After all it is not my teaching. It is a vetted timeless knowledge. Anyway, lurk in the background and listen. Maybe you will discover that is actually happening in these meetings. Don’t ask questions, just tune into the energy if you can. See if it doesn’t awaken something. I hate to abandon you but what is the point of serving you if the words fall on deaf ears.
