The Ten Thousand Things (Robert Saltzman)
Pop-Zen Head-Tripping
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Ten Thousand Things†by Robert Saltzman.]
A fan of my spiritual writings requested that I review this book. So, I set aside today for reading it, and tomorrow for writing my review. Well, so much for my plans, because once I was 20% into the book, I could take no more of author Robert Saltzman’s awakening nonsense. I cut my reading short, which, thankfully, meant I could write this review today and leave tomorrow open for more amenable endeavors.
Anyone with deep understanding and experience of the spiritual Awakening project will quickly recognize Saltzman as a deluded pretender. His psychologized pop Zen descriptions of reality and his own state reveal nothing but ignorance of Enlightenment and Self-realization. I’ll quote some of his statements, then comment on them.
Saltzman writes: “So for me, awakening means the end of “spirituality†in the face of the undeniable understanding that all conjecture on the subject of “myself†falls short— must fall short— of actually explaining anything. In each moment, I find myself here as an apparent focus of awareness without ever having chosen to be here, without knowing what I “really†am, and without needing to know.â€
Saltzman reduces awakening to an end of spirituality, to not knowing what he is, and to not needing to know. IOW, he confesses his spiritual ignorance and disinterest, and considers that to be “awakening.â€
Saltzman writes: “Awakening never ends.†It certainly did/does for true masters such as the Buddha and Ramana Maharshi. But despite being engaged in a never-ending awakening process, Saltzman confesses he knows very little. He writes:
“ I know what I know right now from the present perspective, and that is precious little. I know nothing about ultimate matters: nothing about submission to the will of God, as in Christianity and Islam; nothing about realizing one’s identity with Brahman, as in Hinduism; nothing about what happens when you die, and nothing about how all of this got here— none of it. All I know is the constantly changing flow of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts in this stream of consciousness, including the habitual, recurrent thought called ‘myself.’ I have no reason to believe in anything permanent. Nor do I doubt it. I simply do not know, and that “not-knowing†is part and parcel of what I consider ‘awake.’’
I’m amazed that Saltzman felt the need to even write this book. He could have just stood on a soapbox in Times Square and done a YouTube video with him shouting to the world: “I know nothing, even though my never-ending awakening continues.â€
Saltzman writes: “When a famous guru tells you that, “you are not the mind,†what could that possibly mean? Why should you believe such a statement?â€
If Saltzman had a spiritual clue, he’d know it means that one’s True Nature is the Self – Being-Consciousness-Bliss. And true gurus don’t ask anyone to believe such statements, but to do spiritual practice to find out for themselves.
Saltzman writes: “In the eyes of the world Robert may be a person, but to myself I am not a person, but a happening, a stream of consciousness over which I have no control.â€
Maybe the fact that he has no control over himself explains why he repeats himself ad nauseum and says nothing spiritually profound.
Saltzman writes: “I did nothing to awaken… Quite suddenly there was a shift of focus. It was seen that the endless stream of consciousness I had been calling “myself,†was not a myself at all and never had been, but constant motion, an endless stream of feelings, thoughts, memories, originating I knew not where, beyond judgment, and beyond regulation.â€
This is typical neo-Advaita nonsense. He skipped on sadhana, Kundalini Awakening, Shaktipat, and samadhis, but—presto! – a sudden shift in focus awakened him. And his awakening was not to the transcendental Self or Buddha-nature, but to the rudimentary insight that the conditional self is in a constant state of flux.
Saltzman, without elaborating, does offer some awakening advice. He writes: “Without trying to change anything, just allow whatever may arise in each unique instant to be whatever it is, and you may see what now is.â€
His advice is the same advice, or practice, that various spiitual traditions recommend, but unlike Saltzman, advanced practitioners in these traditions experience profound awakenings to a timeless Now that that underlies and transcends the momentary now which Saltzman’s awakening never moves beyond.
Saltzman writes: “So, where Ramana Maharshi says, ‘Let thoughts change, but not you. Let go the changing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging self,’ I would say, ‘Everything is always changing, including ‘myself.’ Let it all go. Hold onto nothing, and then see where you are.’ I care nothing for promises of ‘eventual attainment.’ But hey, if Ramana Maharshi, and the quest to ‘realize’ the self and know ‘God’ sounds good to you, there’s plenty meat on those bones to keep you chewing for a lifetime, or several lifetimes. In that regard I happen to be a vegetarian.â€
Saltzman doesn’t have a clue regarding Ramana Maharshi’s teachings or Self-realization; he’s a clown in a spiritual circus. If you’re interested in serious spiritual literature, do yourself a favor and skip on this bozo.
[My 1-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Ten Thousand Things†by Robert Saltzman.]
A fan of my spiritual writings requested that I review this book. So, I set aside today for reading it, and tomorrow for writing my review. Well, so much for my plans, because once I was 20% into the book, I could take no more of author Robert Saltzman’s awakening nonsense. I cut my reading short, which, thankfully, meant I could write this review today and leave tomorrow open for more amenable endeavors.
Anyone with deep understanding and experience of the spiritual Awakening project will quickly recognize Saltzman as a deluded pretender. His psychologized pop Zen descriptions of reality and his own state reveal nothing but ignorance of Enlightenment and Self-realization. I’ll quote some of his statements, then comment on them.
Saltzman writes: “So for me, awakening means the end of “spirituality†in the face of the undeniable understanding that all conjecture on the subject of “myself†falls short— must fall short— of actually explaining anything. In each moment, I find myself here as an apparent focus of awareness without ever having chosen to be here, without knowing what I “really†am, and without needing to know.â€
Saltzman reduces awakening to an end of spirituality, to not knowing what he is, and to not needing to know. IOW, he confesses his spiritual ignorance and disinterest, and considers that to be “awakening.â€
Saltzman writes: “Awakening never ends.†It certainly did/does for true masters such as the Buddha and Ramana Maharshi. But despite being engaged in a never-ending awakening process, Saltzman confesses he knows very little. He writes:
“ I know what I know right now from the present perspective, and that is precious little. I know nothing about ultimate matters: nothing about submission to the will of God, as in Christianity and Islam; nothing about realizing one’s identity with Brahman, as in Hinduism; nothing about what happens when you die, and nothing about how all of this got here— none of it. All I know is the constantly changing flow of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts in this stream of consciousness, including the habitual, recurrent thought called ‘myself.’ I have no reason to believe in anything permanent. Nor do I doubt it. I simply do not know, and that “not-knowing†is part and parcel of what I consider ‘awake.’’
I’m amazed that Saltzman felt the need to even write this book. He could have just stood on a soapbox in Times Square and done a YouTube video with him shouting to the world: “I know nothing, even though my never-ending awakening continues.â€
Saltzman writes: “When a famous guru tells you that, “you are not the mind,†what could that possibly mean? Why should you believe such a statement?â€
If Saltzman had a spiritual clue, he’d know it means that one’s True Nature is the Self – Being-Consciousness-Bliss. And true gurus don’t ask anyone to believe such statements, but to do spiritual practice to find out for themselves.
Saltzman writes: “In the eyes of the world Robert may be a person, but to myself I am not a person, but a happening, a stream of consciousness over which I have no control.â€
Maybe the fact that he has no control over himself explains why he repeats himself ad nauseum and says nothing spiritually profound.
Saltzman writes: “I did nothing to awaken… Quite suddenly there was a shift of focus. It was seen that the endless stream of consciousness I had been calling “myself,†was not a myself at all and never had been, but constant motion, an endless stream of feelings, thoughts, memories, originating I knew not where, beyond judgment, and beyond regulation.â€
This is typical neo-Advaita nonsense. He skipped on sadhana, Kundalini Awakening, Shaktipat, and samadhis, but—presto! – a sudden shift in focus awakened him. And his awakening was not to the transcendental Self or Buddha-nature, but to the rudimentary insight that the conditional self is in a constant state of flux.
Saltzman, without elaborating, does offer some awakening advice. He writes: “Without trying to change anything, just allow whatever may arise in each unique instant to be whatever it is, and you may see what now is.â€
His advice is the same advice, or practice, that various spiitual traditions recommend, but unlike Saltzman, advanced practitioners in these traditions experience profound awakenings to a timeless Now that that underlies and transcends the momentary now which Saltzman’s awakening never moves beyond.
Saltzman writes: “So, where Ramana Maharshi says, ‘Let thoughts change, but not you. Let go the changing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging self,’ I would say, ‘Everything is always changing, including ‘myself.’ Let it all go. Hold onto nothing, and then see where you are.’ I care nothing for promises of ‘eventual attainment.’ But hey, if Ramana Maharshi, and the quest to ‘realize’ the self and know ‘God’ sounds good to you, there’s plenty meat on those bones to keep you chewing for a lifetime, or several lifetimes. In that regard I happen to be a vegetarian.â€
Saltzman doesn’t have a clue regarding Ramana Maharshi’s teachings or Self-realization; he’s a clown in a spiritual circus. If you’re interested in serious spiritual literature, do yourself a favor and skip on this bozo.
