The Mystique of Enlightenment (U.G. Krishnamurti)
The Story of a “Snake-Bit” Seeker
[My 4-star Amazon review (March 23, 2013) of “The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti” by U.G. Krishnamurti.]
The late U.G. Krishnamurti was the ultimate "spiritual" iconoclast. But perhaps "spiritual" is the wrong term to use when describing U.G, because U.G, in his teachings, reduced spirituality to a biological energetic phenomenon. U.G., who, putatively, gave up all seeking for anything whatsoever, and lived in what he called a "declutched" state, a state wherein one no longer grasps after thought-forms, insisted that spiritual en-Light-enment is a myth, a non-reality rather than the realization of the Real that mystics claim it is.
About twenty years ago, I attended a three-day Jean Klein spiritual retreat at the Mt. Madonna Center in Santa Cruz, California. Jean Klein (1912-1998), a renowned Advaita Vedanta guru, was a very tranquil and composed fellow, but when, in a group Satsang, I broached the subject of U.G., likening some of my symptoms from Kundalini awakening to what U.G. had experienced, Klein almost exploded, and without mincing words, he heatedly described U.G. as "pathological." Thereafter, Klein seemed cool and aloof toward me. Apparently, just by mentioning U.G., I had managed to push some very deep buttons in the guru, who, incidentally, was a friend of J. Krishnamurti, who also vociferously denounced U.G.
I read "The Mystique of Enlightenment" about thirty years ago, and I could really relate to it because, like U. G., I suffered from, and continue to suffer from, a Kundalini disorder. It's as if my body is overamped from intense Shakti--and the more deeply and fully I "declutch," the more powerful is the Spirit-current coursing through me. But after years of endless self-emptying and detaching from thought-forms, I realized that letting go, in and by itself, is not the Way of Truth, the Way to the Real. I realized that it is just one aspect of an integral en-Light-enment, or Divine Yoga, practice. And now, though I have not cut the Heart-knot, I regularly abide in blissful Heart-felt at-one-ment with the Energy that used to just psycho-physically oppress and overwhelm me.
An integral en-Light-enment, or Divine Yoga, practice, which I detail in my book "Electrical Christianity," is about consciously plugging into and receiving and uniting with the Spirit-current. It is akin to Ohm's Law. An integral yogi must generate maximal conscious force ("voltage," or whole-bodily presence + oneness, or communion, or relationship), then utterly self-empty (or "declutch"), which is akin to (Ohm's, or resistance, reduction); then he must consciously receive and unite with the down-poured Spirit-Energy, or Divine Force.
In my estimation, U.G. did not go all the way to full en-Light-enment, or Self-realization. Unlike Ramana Maharshi or Adi Da, he did not awaken as the Heart, the true Self (or Buddha-nature). His practice was one-dimensional; and though he seemingly totally let go, he was guilty of the Great Refusal--the failure to consciously, or yogically, unite with and be Blessed/Blissed, or en-Light-ened, by Divine Light-energy, the Shakti, or Sambhogakaya, or Spirit. The great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart beautifully summarized spiritual life: "I penetrate God, and God penetrates me." Divine yoga is simply uniting the "vine" of one's soul (or consciousness) with universal Spirit (or Energy) and being en-Light-ened by its Blessing/Blissing-current.
In summary, I recommend this book, because it is an interesting read about an apophatic (or "negative") yogi who practiced "poverty" (self-surrender), but not "obedience" (communion, or conscious at-one-ment); and hence his life, though imbued with (lower) Kundalini, was less than Divine, because he lacked the "purity" (Clear Light Energy) that stems from union with the (higher) Kundalini--Mother Shakti, or the Holy Spirit.
[My 4-star Amazon review (March 23, 2013) of “The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti” by U.G. Krishnamurti.]
The late U.G. Krishnamurti was the ultimate "spiritual" iconoclast. But perhaps "spiritual" is the wrong term to use when describing U.G, because U.G, in his teachings, reduced spirituality to a biological energetic phenomenon. U.G., who, putatively, gave up all seeking for anything whatsoever, and lived in what he called a "declutched" state, a state wherein one no longer grasps after thought-forms, insisted that spiritual en-Light-enment is a myth, a non-reality rather than the realization of the Real that mystics claim it is.
About twenty years ago, I attended a three-day Jean Klein spiritual retreat at the Mt. Madonna Center in Santa Cruz, California. Jean Klein (1912-1998), a renowned Advaita Vedanta guru, was a very tranquil and composed fellow, but when, in a group Satsang, I broached the subject of U.G., likening some of my symptoms from Kundalini awakening to what U.G. had experienced, Klein almost exploded, and without mincing words, he heatedly described U.G. as "pathological." Thereafter, Klein seemed cool and aloof toward me. Apparently, just by mentioning U.G., I had managed to push some very deep buttons in the guru, who, incidentally, was a friend of J. Krishnamurti, who also vociferously denounced U.G.
I read "The Mystique of Enlightenment" about thirty years ago, and I could really relate to it because, like U. G., I suffered from, and continue to suffer from, a Kundalini disorder. It's as if my body is overamped from intense Shakti--and the more deeply and fully I "declutch," the more powerful is the Spirit-current coursing through me. But after years of endless self-emptying and detaching from thought-forms, I realized that letting go, in and by itself, is not the Way of Truth, the Way to the Real. I realized that it is just one aspect of an integral en-Light-enment, or Divine Yoga, practice. And now, though I have not cut the Heart-knot, I regularly abide in blissful Heart-felt at-one-ment with the Energy that used to just psycho-physically oppress and overwhelm me.
An integral en-Light-enment, or Divine Yoga, practice, which I detail in my book "Electrical Christianity," is about consciously plugging into and receiving and uniting with the Spirit-current. It is akin to Ohm's Law. An integral yogi must generate maximal conscious force ("voltage," or whole-bodily presence + oneness, or communion, or relationship), then utterly self-empty (or "declutch"), which is akin to (Ohm's, or resistance, reduction); then he must consciously receive and unite with the down-poured Spirit-Energy, or Divine Force.
In my estimation, U.G. did not go all the way to full en-Light-enment, or Self-realization. Unlike Ramana Maharshi or Adi Da, he did not awaken as the Heart, the true Self (or Buddha-nature). His practice was one-dimensional; and though he seemingly totally let go, he was guilty of the Great Refusal--the failure to consciously, or yogically, unite with and be Blessed/Blissed, or en-Light-ened, by Divine Light-energy, the Shakti, or Sambhogakaya, or Spirit. The great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart beautifully summarized spiritual life: "I penetrate God, and God penetrates me." Divine yoga is simply uniting the "vine" of one's soul (or consciousness) with universal Spirit (or Energy) and being en-Light-ened by its Blessing/Blissing-current.
In summary, I recommend this book, because it is an interesting read about an apophatic (or "negative") yogi who practiced "poverty" (self-surrender), but not "obedience" (communion, or conscious at-one-ment); and hence his life, though imbued with (lower) Kundalini, was less than Divine, because he lacked the "purity" (Clear Light Energy) that stems from union with the (higher) Kundalini--Mother Shakti, or the Holy Spirit.
