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From: jeffty@sco.COM (Jeffery Tye)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Spirituality as an Ordeal
Summary: Pay your way to salvation - all over again.
Message-ID: <1991Jun26.193404.23191@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 26 Jun 91 19:34:04 GMT
References: <1991Jun26.060307.26874@nas.nasa.gov>
Sender: news@nas.nasa.gov
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Lines: 52
Approved: prabhu@amelia.nas.nasa.gov



In article <1991Jun26.060307.26874@nas.nasa.gov> johnw@farside.eng.ready.com (John Wheeler) writes:
>

[Proseltyzing about the Sage Nome deleted]

>Having had the good fortune of spending several years in his company, I 
>can say from experience that his realization and teaching are in perfect 
>accord with other genuine sages from history. Also, in contrast with some
>popular teachers, his daily life is in perfect harmony with what he teaches.
>It is remarkable how clear and deep his wisdom is. It has a power to bring 
>others to the same experience. To me, this is one of the greatest confirmations
>of its genuineness.

I disagree.  All of the great Sages invited *anyone* who is interested
to come to Satsang with them. Your teacher has built an *organization*
around himself which screens people before they can come to Satsang.
If the person wants to continue attend Satsang they must pay $100
per month for a six month trial period. After that discipleship
costs $200 per month. The organization, Society of Abidance in Truth
(SAT), is very rigid on these rules. In my view this is not in
harmony with non-duality, Love, or Truth. It is just another
organization set up to worship the Guru. I've been told master Nome
is in complete agreement with the policies of the organization.
Obviously, he has *landed* in the role of Guru and all the traps
that come with it.

Forget Gurus, teachers, and enlightened beings. The only teacher
I've met that I truly respect is one that continually pointed
me back to the Self and told me I do not need them for answers. All
answers are right before our eyes, so to speak, and Truth will
manifest itself from a variety of sources.  Teachers are great
in the right context but ultimately fail when the seeker starts
identifying with them as, "My teacher", "My Sage", "My Guru."
It's a trap that the mind sets up. A person is exposed to a great
Truth, expands their consciousness/awareness, but *lands* in it
and becomes a follower of someone else.

You are the Self, the "I" behind all this illusion.

Jeffery






-- 
``You have been so accustomed to objectification that you lost the
knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified.''
-- Ramana Maharshi