Shining World

Is God’s Sledgehammer Really Necessary?

Dear Sundari

I read the satsang you posted recently on an inquirer questioning James’ character with interest.  I found your replies very helpful and illuminating in understanding the kind of honesty required to assimilate and live nonduality. They were also touching in their transparency.  It is not often one finds this in a spiritual teacher. My experience before finding you and James, as you know, was horrendous at the hands of Andrew Cohen, who was the absolute opposite of everything you both stand for and model for your students. I cannot express how grateful I am that I have found you and James as teachers. It is so rare to find such shining examples of people actually living what they teach.

However, and forgive me for asking this, because of the abuse I endured at the hands of AC, I still have emotional triggers around the teacher taking a hard line towards their students, as you say Ramji has with you, and others. AC would make his followers endure what I now see as highly abusive practices, which included shaming, under the guise of busting the ego. You use the term God’s sledgehammer’, which while I understand in the context of sadhana as an inquirer now dedicated to moksa, is it really necessary? 

Sundari: Thank you for this open and honest inquiry, it is an important question you ask.  I understand your concerns on this topic, especially knowing your history with Andrew Cohen. The first main difference between Ramji and AC is that Ramji really is a Mahatma, a free person, and a qualified Vedanta teacher. Andrew was none of those, though he sold himself as such, and placed himself on a pedestal above everyone.  All he had was a ‘teaching’ based on his own experience, and a huge insecure ego that had never been addressed.  Hence his methods were extreme to keep his followers in line.

Ramji does not have followers, only students. Vedanta is an independent teaching which has nothing to do with the teacher, who is only a mouthpiece for delivering the means of knowledge. We tell everyone this upfront, and teach and treat everyone as friends and equals in the Self. But even though James is the Self and free of the person, he does not claim to be perfect as a person because that is not only impossible, it is unnecessary. If you are truly free of the person, meaning avidya is gone for you, you accept and love them as they are. We all have a certain character we are born with that will not change that much.  What has to change about our character are any tendencies that are self-insulting and break dharma, which will keep us from accessing, and living, Self-knowledge. This does not change the fact that we are always the Self.

Ramji has never been ‘abusive’ to or shamed anyone other than in their perception of his words, which point out things about themselves they do not want to see, and are ashamed of. Meaning, the fragile ego feels injured. When I use the term ‘God’s sledgehammer’, this is what I am referring to.  Ramji hates having to be hard on anyone and avoids it if he can because he is an ocean of compassion. He understands how complex the ego is, and how difficult it can be to be totally free of it. In fact, one of the reasons he was hard on me in the past was how my Durodhyana factor played out is I tended to be too direct with students. I needed to learn more patience and compassion as a Vedanta teacher, and for myself, as a person. 

It is Ramji’s job as lineage holder to make sure that it is protected. Only a handful of people over the years (mostly teachers of Vedanta) have been exposed to his tough side, me more than most. And that is because I am closest to him, he was teaching me to teach, and moreover, entrusted me with keeping Shiningworld going after he is no longer here. That is a big responsibility. Though nobody will ever fill his shoes and the bar is high for anyone teaching Vedanta, perhaps, it is more so for me. Plus it was not easy for me because of the nature or our relationship – he being both my ‘husband’ and teacher.

While Vedanta is not about perfecting the person, it is about seeing how their conditioning works, and applying nondual knowledge to it.  Your character, while set, will improve as a side effect because the hard parts that live in fear and resist love fall away.  This is what happened for me when things about my ego I could not see got exposed, which is why I am so grateful for all of it. I quite literally would not be the person I am today without Ramji’s help, and most likely, moksa would not have obtained for me.

If an inquirer is truly dedicated to moksa, when painful things about the ego are exposed, you will not give in to hurt feelings, but apply karma yoga and Self-knowledge to them. If you are not really dedicated to moksa though you think you are, the ego will win and you will allow hurt feelings to lead, and hate the messenger. This is what happened to the people mentioned in the satsang you are referring to. They were all given a huge opportunity to grow and they missed it.

I took the lessons from Ramji because I trust him and I know who he is. I am extremely privileged because he is ‘the real thing’, one of the best Vedanta teachers alive, and he does follow dharma impeccably. There are sadly very few teachers in the spiritual world who can be called that. Most so-called teachers either have no real teaching other than their own experience, and are ineffective, or they are happy to ‘bust’ your ego by handing out abuse, like AC This is something to be extremely discriminating about as an inquirer, which is why both the student and the teacher must be qualified when it comes to Vedanta.   

Vedanta does require no less than everything from you, if you are after freedom from and for the ego/person. But it is not about ‘busting’ the ego, only understanding how it functions and why so as to re-educate it, and disidentify with it as your primary identity. Often, for the ego to truly get re-educated, it does need to take a ‘beating’, psychologically speaking. The ego is highly resistant to nonduality and does not give in without a fight. So to answer your question – ‘is the sledgehammer really necessary’ – is this: when it is, it is. That is on Isvara alone.

As I said above a few times, and pointed out several times in my satsang, the crux of the matter is whether or not you are qualified for self-inquiry and truly after moksa, and if the teacher is truly a qualified Vedanta teacher and follows dharma impeccably. If they are, then the teacher is a representative of the scripture, and of Isvara. What they say to you, you need to hear, however much you may hate it. You pay attention because you take it as coming from Isvara, and apply the knowledge.

In my case, I can answer definitely yes to both. Thanks to my teacher, I developed all the qualifications, and ignorance of my true nature has been permanently removed. As for who he is as a person, whether you ‘like’ him or not, is really not very important. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Ramji has helped countless thousands find the truth of their being because he is the soul of kindness, and such a good teacher. Anyone who comes across him is extremely fortunate, whether they know it, or not.

I hope this helps

With much love

Sundari

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