People ask me all kinds of spiritual questions, and while my own ego death and spontaneous awakening experience was definitely spiritual in nature, I don’t consider myself to be a spiritual guru.
To me, a spiritual guru is someone who has devoted their whole life to spiritual refinement and is regarded by a larger community as an authority on spiritual subjects.
I was lucky. Spirituality was thrown at me. I didn’t work hard to attain it. I didn’t understand it when it happened. It just literally happened.
I don’t know the Sanskrit names for anything. Maybe a few of the Chakras. I didn’t even know what a Chakra was before my awakening.
I didn’t read the Bhagavad Gita when I was a kid. I was brought up as a Christian, had good moral values, became an atheist with good moral values, and then “WHAMO”, one day I was connected to the whole universe and existed as pure consciousness for a while.
People spend their entire lives seeking this sort of experience. I just happened to be crossing life’s highway when the juggernaut of enlightenment ran me over. No long hard journey. No devotion. No rituals. You can read my full experience here.
I’m NOT a Spiritual Guru, I’m a Teacher
I definitely plan to spend the rest of my life teaching people how to achieve stillness. How to experience oneness. How to be happy. How to silence their minds. But I just won’t go around calling my self a spiritual guru. That’s not fair to real spiritual gurus.
I could call myself the East coast, NJ version of Eckhart Tolle. but that would be unfair to him. He’s read books. He’s written books. He’s traveled and learned.
We had an almost identical awakening experience, but without him, I would not have understood what happened. So to me, he is my Spiritual Guru.
I could call myself a modern day version of Alan Watts. But that would be unfair to Alan Watts. He interpreted many Buddhist books and writings, and actively taught Zen doctrine in the U.S.
I had to spell check Buddhist just to make sure I got it right. And I wouldn’t know a Zen Koan if it leaped up and bit me on the hand.
I would love to speak as eloquently as Anthony De Mello. He was a Jesuit Priest in India until he had his own realization. He then brought his message to the U.S. where he taught at several spiritual retreats and seminars.
All of the people I mentioned above, have spent years teaching. But more importantly, reading, learning and understanding, so that they could bring a spiritual message into a modern framework.
I learned from those guys, simply because their material is available on YouTube. I credit them with helping me understand my spontaneous awakening and propelling me forward. They opened my mind. They stopped my mind 🙂
Insightful Diarrhea
And since my mind stopped, I find that insight and understanding just flows through me. I just sit back and watch what appears on my monitor as though I was watching someone else type. It’s like the information has to get out into the universe and it will use whatever means are at its disposal.
I guess that makes me disposable 🙂
So I am truly thrilled to be able to help people find peace and higher purpose. To experience true happiness in life.
But you will never hear me talk about the Buddha’s Dhammapada or give you a Zen Koan to mull over.
I prefer to teach using a practical, down to earth approach which will ultimately lead you to a spiritual place. If you want to learn about Dharma and the wheel of life, go right ahead. I think that everyday examples and real world analogies that people can apply to their own lives is far more effective though.
And finally. If I wore robes, people wouldn’t be able to hear my message over the sound of laughter, not to mention the volume of their own inner dialogue making comparisons to me and Gandhi.
I wish I could rock the robes like the Dalai Lama, or Sadhguru. But sadly, no.
I wish I looked good in a beard like Ram Dass, or wore a cardigan as well as Adyashanti.
All of whom I admire, and all of whom kept me grounded through my transformation. They are my spiritual gurus.
So, No. I do not consider myself to be a spiritual guru.
But do keep asking me spiritual questions. Do keep listening to my advice about silencing your mind. But don’t expect me to say Ajna Chakra, or even 3rd eye Chakra. I will probably call it the point between your eyebrows.
Namaste my friends???
