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From: johnw@farside.eng.ready.com (John Wheeler)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: How I Met a Sage (Long)
Message-ID: <1991Jun4.025901.21054@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 4 Jun 91 02:59:01 GMT
Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov
Organization: Ready Systems
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Some posters to the "net" have expressed interest in some of my earlier
postings about meeting a genuine elightened sage. One of the people
was kind enough to share with me his spiritual background and experiences,
which I was very interested to hear about. The following is from my
reponse to him, in which I shared some of my own experiences. I thought
it may be of interest to readers on the net. The purport of the text is
not to emphasize any particular importance of my personal experience, which is
not of much signifigance in itself, but to show some of the factors that 
led up to my meeting a genuine master.

___________________________________________________________________________

(I have made a few additions to the original.)

Thanks for sharing with me your spiritual experiences. I always
enjoy hearing about such matters. For one thing it reminds me of how
we are all essentially doing the same thing, or seeking for the same
thing, although the forms which that search take often vary. I am at least a
little familiar with most of the teachings you mentioned, though
I did not have the opportunity to study eastern texts to the degree
you have. 

My own "background" began with an interest in science and nature which
manifested when I was about 8 to 10 years old. I spent a lot of time
reading books on animal life, geology, and astronomy, seeking to find out
more about the world and how I fit into it.

At about 13, my mother influenced me to attend some of the "charismatic"
Christian church meetings she was involved in. Something resonated deeply,
yet the kind of teaching and intrepretation of scripture available did
not kindle my initial feelings and I eventually lost interest in it.

In my teens, I had a friend who was interested in occultism, astral pro-
jection, witchcraft, etc. Through his influence, I became aware of
the world of metaphysical teachings such as Theosophy and other
contemporary groups such as "Eckankar," which attracted me for a while.
Throughout this period I came in contact with the life and teaching
of the Buddha and various other assorted mystics and teachers. I had
absolutely no discrimination as to what I was seeking or what kinds
of teachings were of value to me. I briefly studied under a Sikh
guru who came to Berkeley in the late 70s. He advocated a celibate,
vegetarian lifestyle, including about three hours of seated meditation
each morning. His philosophy was based on becoming attuned to an inner
sound and light that was supposedly divine. I had little
in the way of spiritual experiences in attempting to follow this
path and abandoned it within a few months. I must have been about
20 years old at the time.

I went back to  studying Buddhist books, mostly zen-influenced and some
Theravadin texts as well. They intrigued me greatly, but I could not
seem, through my own efforts at meditation, to gain any understanding
much less gain an experience of "Enlightenment." Of course I did not
have the foggiest notion of what such a state might be, but it sure
sounded great. 

About that time I discovered Krishnamurti. His whole
questioning of mystical mumbo-jumbo and dependence on authority shocked
me and caused me to reconsider the spiritual quest. He was still alive
at the time and I was able to hear him speak. I even traveled to Ojai,
California to attend one of his week-long sessions there. I was quite
impressed at the time by his demeanor and seemingly rational inquiry
into the nature of life and the mind.  It took me several years to 
realize that he was not really established in a deep level of realization 
and that his intellectual analyses were not at the same depth of experience 
as enlightened sages such Buddha and the Ch'an masters.  In short, his 
teaching was unsatisfying, so I again turned to Buddhism. 

I happened to be browsing in a local spiritual
bookstore one day when I came across a series of books by an author with
the mysterious psuedonym of "Wei-Wu-Wei." (I later learned he was a wealthy
Scottish aristocrat, by the name of Terrence Gray, who had an affinity for 
non-dual philosophy and had traveled widely in the Far East and met several
notable spiritual masters, apparently including the enlightened sage
Ramana Maharshi.) His books were filled with quotes from Far Eastern 
teachers as well as his own humorous essays and imaginary dialogues. 
(Are you familiar with his works?) I was "blown away" by his uncanny 
humor and profound discussions of the nature of the mind, consciouness, 
enlightenment, etc. He also liberally quoted the words of enlightened 
sages, particularly from the Ch'an lineage. He also evidenced a profound 
respect for Vedantic masters such as Ramana Maharshi, Shankara, and the 
little known contemporary sage Sri Atmananda.

My inner discrimination told me that this was the deepest teaching
I had yet discovered and my inner desire to find out the truth hinted
at in those pages was magnified. I spent several months with these texts,
greatly exicited by my discovery and fascinated by the profound subject
matter contained in them.

Then I happened to come across a poster advertising "Satsang" in the Bay
Area with a master by the name of Nome. I hadn't heard of him before.
The poster, which was in a metaphysical bookshop near my house, mentioned
that he was an enlightened master, whose teaching was in accord the the
Ch'an masters and the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi.

I had nothing to lose, and besides I was profoundly interested in anything
to do with spirituality, so I called the number on the advertisement and 
arranged to attend one of the Satsangs.  I had no way of knowing what to 
expect. One thing though was that my ability to discriminate genuine 
teachings had been steadily increasing through my reading the teachings 
of enlightened masters.

I won't mince words. The simple fact of the matter was that when I
entered the hall and beheld master Nome, I came face to face with
a fully enlightened Buddha, a genuine self-realized sage. The words
are unimportant, the experience was undeniable. He sat at the front of
the hall, silent, apparently absorbed in some unfathomable depth
of introspection and inward peace. The feeling was tangibly present
and seemed to permeate everyone in the hall as they sat meditating. Presently,
the lights of the hall came up; the master slowly opened his eyes
and took in everyone in the room with his deep gaze. He did not say anything,
but simply remained seated and absorbed in the same silence that had
been there all along.

Then someone in the hall raised a question about their spiritual life and
meditation. After a moment the master began to respond to the question. This
was no mere advice or theoretical discourse. In fact, never had I heard
such penetrating wisdom and insight. It is hard to describe the feeling.
It is something like the feeling you have when reading a profound, authentic
holy text or ancient scripture, but much more intense and living. Or again,
it is like the feeling you might have when deeply struck by some profound
expression of beauty or harmony. There is some innate ability within us to 
recognize the truth. In the presence of a genuine master this inner feeling 
becomes enlivened somehow. The dialogues continued throughout the evening. 
The master's words were filled with humor, love, and a sparkling clarity that 
made it obvious he was firmly established in the wisdom he was imparting.

I came back again and again over the course of several months to verify
that what I has found was true. My mind could not quite accept that I
had found a fully awakened sage; I thought for sure he would waiver
from his realization; perhaps some question would through him off and
he would be unable to respond, or some incident would perturb him
and reveal that perhaps his understanding was not so deep after all.
Yet, the more I came, the more sure I was that his realization was
genuine. He was obviously perfectly established in freedom and could
easily employ any number of "skillful means" to bring others to the
same realization as himself. He was extremely polite and never put
himself above others; in fact, he said, this realization or enlightenment
was available to all. Yet one could sense in him a power and confidence
born of direct experience. 

Looking back, two factors were most important in enabling me to recognize 
the profound depth of what was available through the master: First, was
the undeniable experience of freedom, clarity, and happiness felt in
his presence. The experience was utterly different than anything I had
found with other teachers. It was a direct, clear, non-verbal transmission
of the state of freedom. Words cannot convey it, and those who know only
words can scarcely have an idea of what such an experience might be. This
was the "silence" of the Maharshi and the Buddha. Once in his presence,
it was obvious. It had nothing to do with doctrines, words, techniques, or
theoretical knowledge. Philosophical discussions and theoretical debates
would have been laughable and utterly without meaning in such an atmosphere
of freedom and happiness directly felt by all. 

The second factor which enabled me to recognize what was available with
the master was the connection of the heart that arose from the first time
I came into his presence. This was not on the level of mental acceptance
or rejection, nor was it some slavish conformity to an external authority;
it was the spontaneous recognition, in the heart, of the truth as conveyed
in its pristine purity by he who knew it.  

I later came to find out that he had several fully enlightened students
who were also established in the ultimate awakened state. Naturally, I became
more and more interested in his teaching and how I might discover the
truth for myself, and so began my relationship with him and my inititation
on the path of non-duality, under the guidance of a genuine master. 

The essence of my message is that we have in America a genuine sage, an
enlightened master of the same caliber as Buddha, the Maharshi, or Hui
Neng. Several students of his are fully enlightened and many more are
firmly on the path. It is said that some of the Ch'an masters had enlightened
disciples numbering in the hundreds and perhaps thousands, during the
"Golden Age of Ch'an." It is my belief that the same opportunity is available
now.

johnw