Mooji on Kundalini

I found this quite interesting. Mooji is one of those nondual guru types and I actually quite like his manner, generally calm and warm and humorous. Here however he's quite dismissive of the girl's attachment to her experience and kundalini as being of any value. I felt a little sorry for her, although he maybe has a point. Kundalini awakening should never be a goal in itself. Or should it?

Btw, what Christian teachers do people listen to on YouTube? There's plenty of Fr Keating and Richard Rohr. Anyone else? I must say I quite like the personal satsang approach to teaching Mooji offers. I take it he got it from Ramana Maharshi. Something about it makes me think of the warmth and personal nature of Christ's teaching, particularly in the upper room.

I enjoyed that, Stephen. Thanks for posting it.

Re. Kundalini, it seemed one of his main points was not to go seeking it nor to be attached to "experiences" or "power" or anything like that. I wish he'd said more about what he thinks is going on with such experiences, why they arise, and what possible value they might have, especially in terms of preparing the body/mind to abide in that enlightenment state he alluded to.

In listening to this man, I had the sense that he was talking about the non-reflecting awareness that is abiding, immutable background dimension of consciousness.

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I don't watch much youtube, but have seen clips of Rohr, Keating, Merton and others. Merton is by far my favorite contemporary Christian teacher and writer on spirituality issues. Rohr is among my least favorite.

I've recently been introduced to talks by Peter Kreeft, a Christian Philosopher, and have really enjoyed them. I've seen some of them on Youtube, but mostly I listen to the downloadable mp3 files.

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I wish he'd said more about what he thinks is going on with such experiences, why they arise, and what possible value they might have, especially in terms of preparing the body/mind to abide in that enlightenment state he alluded to.

In listening to this man, I had the sense that he was talking about the non-reflecting awareness that is abiding, immutable background dimension of consciousness.

Yes, me too. He's focused on this awareness you speak about, Phil, and much of what he says I do really like. I also like his manner - very laid back, very Jamaican.

YouTube is full of nondual teachers and gurus. This guy's my favourite so far. I can't really find many Christian teachers on contemplation. Merton's certainly my favourite writer too, but reading's difficult just now so I'm having to listen and watch more, and I like watching the human interaction that Mooji engages in. The field seems a little sparse from a Christian pov, at least on YouTube. I'm laughing at your Rohr comment . I have some family and friends who swear by him.

Thanks for that too, Jacques. I might check him out later .

Mooji on Teaching

I had to share this one too. He's really very funny .

Thinking about that youtube this morning, I was struck by the part where Mooji ridicules people in India who do things like stand on one leg for years, or roll on the ground to one town then another. He called that all a kind of Ego trip.

All the while, he is sitting on a little throne on a stage, with a lovely young woman sitting close by, seeking counsel. The tape begins with her paying homage to him, and closes with her doing the same. There is apparently a group of people watching all this, laughing at his derisive remarks about misplaced spiritual disciplines -- all seemingly conceding that he's some kind of an oracle who speaks absolute truth.

What a set-up for Ego! Unless, of course, you buy into the contention that he has "realized" absolute truth, Self, etc. . . which I do not!

How different that all is from the example of Christian Saints and mystics! You will never, ever, in the whole history of Christian spirituality, find an example of an individual who assumed s/he was completely realized, without sin, and still "one of the gang," though redeemed and healed. An old saying has it that even the greatest Saint falls seven times a day.

Yes, the set up got me a little at the start too, but I kind of glossed over it, putting it down to a kind of cultural thing with Hindus and the fact that he's in one of those lineages they talk about from Ramana Maharshi.

His interview with Rick Archer at Buddha at the Gas Pump is interesting because he does come across as very humble and ordinary while talking a lot of sense, and I think suggests there will always be residual ego and deeper levels which can't be realised in the body here on earth. I might need to watch that again to corroborate.

But yes, the set up .

I do like the personal touch he offers, however (without any shaktipat nonsense).

I had no time to watch the whole video but from the bit I saw I gathered that they are arguing about energy (kundalini) versus stillness (no energetic movement, true self)

The Tibetan Buddhist take on this is that they are both one-sided. It is exactly the bringing together of stillness and kundalini that is the final state and not one versus the other.

So, we develop both state of minds during the meditation and gradually they come more and more into one experience.

That's my sense as well, Tara -- that K process integrates the body/mind with the more interior spiritual consciousness. So, naturally, K process will have experiential movements, but these do seem to have a "goal," which is to be fully alive and awake in body, psyche and spirit.