That is That (Nirmala)
Dumbed-Down Dharma Drivel
[My 2-star Amazon review (October 15, 2013) of “That is That: Essays about True Nature†by Nirmala.]
This book was available for free at Kindle yesterday, so I downloaded it and read as much of it as I could stand. The author, the “spiritual†teacher Nirmala, has nothing new, interesting, or profound to say, and when he attempts to explain anything potentially meaty, such as Self-enquiry, he reveals himself as a superficial talking head with real insight into true spirituality or the Self-realization process. He reduces Advaita Vedanta and Zen to a “psychologized†New Age level, and the result is the same dumbed-down Dharma drivel that innumerable other unoriginal and Un-en-Light-ened “spiritual†teachers peddle. If you’ve read Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and other contemporary Advaita and neo-Advaita-type teachers, don’t expect to glean anything of value from this text.
The author’s description of Self-enquiry (asking the question “Who Am I?â€) is a complete joke, and he ends the description with “There are many dimensions to your true nature, including the absolute emptiness of Being, so the exploration is truly endless.†First off, Being is not emptiness; it is Consciousness-Energy (or Siva-Shakti, or Cit-Ananda). Second, the exploration is not endless: the goal of Self-enquiry is to trace one’s thoughts to their Source, the spiritual Heart (the Hridayam, not the anahata heart chakra), and then rest in, and as, Heart-felt Self-awareness. When, after years or lifetimes of practice, the Heart-knot is cut by the force of Shakti, the Power of awakened Consciousness, then the search, or “exploration†– samsara – is permanently over, and one eternally, or timelessly, rests in Nirvana, Divine Being.
If you’re interested in spiritual Truth from an Advaita Vedanta perspective, read Ramana Maharshi (whom Nirmala has read but not grokked) and Robert Adams. If Buddhism turns you on, study Dzogchen texts. And if radical, esoteric Christianity intrigues you, check out the texts “Electrical Christianity†and “Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism.†But I cannot recommend
In summary, “That is That†is an off-the-assembly-line rehash of similar pseudo-spiritual material currently glutting the Advaita-New Age market; hence I do not recommend it for serious spiritual seekers.
[My 2-star Amazon review (October 15, 2013) of “That is That: Essays about True Nature†by Nirmala.]
This book was available for free at Kindle yesterday, so I downloaded it and read as much of it as I could stand. The author, the “spiritual†teacher Nirmala, has nothing new, interesting, or profound to say, and when he attempts to explain anything potentially meaty, such as Self-enquiry, he reveals himself as a superficial talking head with real insight into true spirituality or the Self-realization process. He reduces Advaita Vedanta and Zen to a “psychologized†New Age level, and the result is the same dumbed-down Dharma drivel that innumerable other unoriginal and Un-en-Light-ened “spiritual†teachers peddle. If you’ve read Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and other contemporary Advaita and neo-Advaita-type teachers, don’t expect to glean anything of value from this text.
The author’s description of Self-enquiry (asking the question “Who Am I?â€) is a complete joke, and he ends the description with “There are many dimensions to your true nature, including the absolute emptiness of Being, so the exploration is truly endless.†First off, Being is not emptiness; it is Consciousness-Energy (or Siva-Shakti, or Cit-Ananda). Second, the exploration is not endless: the goal of Self-enquiry is to trace one’s thoughts to their Source, the spiritual Heart (the Hridayam, not the anahata heart chakra), and then rest in, and as, Heart-felt Self-awareness. When, after years or lifetimes of practice, the Heart-knot is cut by the force of Shakti, the Power of awakened Consciousness, then the search, or “exploration†– samsara – is permanently over, and one eternally, or timelessly, rests in Nirvana, Divine Being.
If you’re interested in spiritual Truth from an Advaita Vedanta perspective, read Ramana Maharshi (whom Nirmala has read but not grokked) and Robert Adams. If Buddhism turns you on, study Dzogchen texts. And if radical, esoteric Christianity intrigues you, check out the texts “Electrical Christianity†and “Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism.†But I cannot recommend
In summary, “That is That†is an off-the-assembly-line rehash of similar pseudo-spiritual material currently glutting the Advaita-New Age market; hence I do not recommend it for serious spiritual seekers.
