Radical Inclusivity (Jeff Carreira)
Dumbed-Down, Dimension-Deficient Dzogchen
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Radical Inclusivity: Expanding Our Minds Beyond Dualistic Thinking” by Jeff Carreira.]
The author of this book, Jeff Carreira, clearly got his “radical inclusivity “ meditation method – “Let everything be as it is” – from a Dzogchen teacher, but he never mentions the name of his teacher at his 60-day retreat (where he received the method) or the spiritual tradition associated with the retreat.
The gist of Carreira’s “radical inclusivity” meditation and philosophy are summarized on page 7 of this book: “The realization of radical inclusivity in the moment of this meditation practice is the realization that no matter what I experience, it is the way it is, and there is nothing I can do to make it otherwise.”
Before I critique the author’s “radical inclusivity” meditation, I want to criticize his philosophy. The idea that there is nothing that one can do to make one’s experience otherwise is complete nonsense, and this should be clear to any clear-thinking individual.
The method “let everything be as it is” is hardly a new one, and synonyms for it include – “Thy Will Be Done,” unconditional surrender, effortlessness, and no-seeking. This method is an essential one, which I also teach, but taught in and of itself, it is an incomplete practice and won’t lead one to Nirvana. It took me a long time to figure out why “non-doing” alone doesn’t “produce,” or unveil Enlightenment – and when I finally realized that the Enlightenment process mirrors an electric circuit, I developed my Electrical Spiritual Paradigm (ESP), which utilizing Ohm’s Law, analogizes non-doing to ohms-reduction, which is just 1/3 of the Ohm’s Law Enlightenment formula. In other words, Carreira properly emphasizes “letting everything be,” but he does so exclusive of full context, by neglecting to describe the other two essential components (or dimensions) of the Enlightenment project – Plugged-in Presence (Awareness + Oneness) and Spirit-current conductivity.
This short and superficial text is bereft of an esoteric dimension and riddled with faulty philosophy. And given the philosophers and teachers who have influenced Carreira – Immanuel Kant, Charles Peirce, and Andrew Cohen – it’s no wonder. (To see what I think of Kant, check out my one-star review of “Refuting the External World,” and to how I view Cohen, check out my two star review of “Evolutionary Enlightenment.”)
Carreira writes, “All the radicalness is contained in the phrase ‘always already.” Carreira got the phrase “always already” from Andrew Cohen, who got it from Ken Wilber, who got it from Adi Da. Unbeknownst to Carreira, one cannot realize what this phrase truly means by practicing just “letting it be.” Anyone who reads Adi Da and/or me will learn that without obviating the self-contraction at the Heart-root via a profound consciousness process, the realization of “always already,” is just a pipe dream.
Because this Kindle book is just a $1.49, and there is no arguing with “letting everything be” as a valid (though incomplete) meditation practice, I have, after some deliberation, decided to give it three stars.
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Radical Inclusivity: Expanding Our Minds Beyond Dualistic Thinking” by Jeff Carreira.]
The author of this book, Jeff Carreira, clearly got his “radical inclusivity “ meditation method – “Let everything be as it is” – from a Dzogchen teacher, but he never mentions the name of his teacher at his 60-day retreat (where he received the method) or the spiritual tradition associated with the retreat.
The gist of Carreira’s “radical inclusivity” meditation and philosophy are summarized on page 7 of this book: “The realization of radical inclusivity in the moment of this meditation practice is the realization that no matter what I experience, it is the way it is, and there is nothing I can do to make it otherwise.”
Before I critique the author’s “radical inclusivity” meditation, I want to criticize his philosophy. The idea that there is nothing that one can do to make one’s experience otherwise is complete nonsense, and this should be clear to any clear-thinking individual.
The method “let everything be as it is” is hardly a new one, and synonyms for it include – “Thy Will Be Done,” unconditional surrender, effortlessness, and no-seeking. This method is an essential one, which I also teach, but taught in and of itself, it is an incomplete practice and won’t lead one to Nirvana. It took me a long time to figure out why “non-doing” alone doesn’t “produce,” or unveil Enlightenment – and when I finally realized that the Enlightenment process mirrors an electric circuit, I developed my Electrical Spiritual Paradigm (ESP), which utilizing Ohm’s Law, analogizes non-doing to ohms-reduction, which is just 1/3 of the Ohm’s Law Enlightenment formula. In other words, Carreira properly emphasizes “letting everything be,” but he does so exclusive of full context, by neglecting to describe the other two essential components (or dimensions) of the Enlightenment project – Plugged-in Presence (Awareness + Oneness) and Spirit-current conductivity.
This short and superficial text is bereft of an esoteric dimension and riddled with faulty philosophy. And given the philosophers and teachers who have influenced Carreira – Immanuel Kant, Charles Peirce, and Andrew Cohen – it’s no wonder. (To see what I think of Kant, check out my one-star review of “Refuting the External World,” and to how I view Cohen, check out my two star review of “Evolutionary Enlightenment.”)
Carreira writes, “All the radicalness is contained in the phrase ‘always already.” Carreira got the phrase “always already” from Andrew Cohen, who got it from Ken Wilber, who got it from Adi Da. Unbeknownst to Carreira, one cannot realize what this phrase truly means by practicing just “letting it be.” Anyone who reads Adi Da and/or me will learn that without obviating the self-contraction at the Heart-root via a profound consciousness process, the realization of “always already,” is just a pipe dream.
Because this Kindle book is just a $1.49, and there is no arguing with “letting everything be” as a valid (though incomplete) meditation practice, I have, after some deliberation, decided to give it three stars.
