2017 Update: My Plans for the Year

January 13, 2017
I had planned on finishing my book “The Power of Now Meditation Guide” in 2016, and then starting work on a Dzogchen text; but I became absorbed in a study of Mindfulness texts and the Pali Canon, and put work on my own books on hold. I wrote reviews of all the texts I read, and I’ve posted some of them at Amazon, with another dozen-plus to come over the next several months. (I could post the reviews all at once, but I prefer to spread them out.)

My study of Mindfulness texts has motivated me to write my own book on the subject, because, frankly speaking, I’m on a different level than all these authors, and can elaborate the subject better than any of them. The question for me is whether I want to begin work on this book directly after my Dzogchen text, or if I first want to finish my Sam Harris critique. My goal for 2017 is to finish the “Power of Now Meditation Guide” and my Dzogchen text, and then either return to work on my Sam Harris critique or begin the Mindfulness text.

My Facebook group, Meditation-Consciousness-Spirituality, has degenerated into a New Age-level site, but I’ll be starting Power of Now and Dzogchen groups after I finish my books on those subjects, and these will be serious meditation/spiritual philosophy groups that will not tolerate New Age crap.… Read the full article

Dr. David R. Hawkins and the Apotheosis of Applied Kinesiology

January 1, 2017
[Although he is no longer living, the controversial teachings of Dr. David R. Hawkins are still popular. When students of mine ask for my opinion of the late psychiatrist-guru, I direct them to my three-star Amazon reviews of two of his book: “The Eye of the I, “and “I, Reality and Subjectivity.” Below are the reviews.]

A PROVOCATIVE, BUT FLAWED TEXT

David R. Hawkins (1927-2012), the late psychiatrist-guru, was a controversial and interesting fellow. I first learned of him about ten years ago, when two ex-Adi Da follower friends of mine became students of his. After my friends told me about Dr. Hawkins, I immediately bought three of his books, including the "The Eye of the I," generally considered one of Hawkins' best texts; and my reaction to it is the same now as it was then--mixed.

First, the negative. In "The Eye of the I," Dr. Hawkins, like many mystics, impugns the efficacy of the human mind. He asserts that "the human mind is incapable of discerning truth from falsehood." In other words, your mind is incapable of determining if two plus two really equals four; and if someone claims a disabled midget is actually a better basketball player than Lebron James, your mind cannot ascertain if that statement is true or false.… Read the full article

J. Krishnamurti Versus U.G. Krishnamurti

December 20, 2016

Renowned mystic-philosopher Jiddu (or J.) Krishnamurti (1895-1986) had no use for gurus, religion, or even the term “spirituality.” His teachings of self-liberation could, perhaps, best be classified as “radical psychology.” I used to attend Krishnamurti groups in San Diego in the ’70s. I even traveled to Ojai, California, where Krishnamurti lived, to hear him speak. From my perspective at the time, no message could have been more liberating than his.

J. Krishnamurti’s message, in a nutshell, is: practice effortless, choiceless awareness from moment to moment. This will free you from your self-created bondage and enable you to awaken “real intelligence.” Although J. Krishnamurti occasionally alludes to a transcendent dimension, which he calls “the Highest,” he never refers to it as Spirit and doesn’t emphasize mystically uniting with it.… Read the full article

Rudolf Steiner: A Great Philosopher and Esotericist?

December 1, 2016
I have read four books by Rudolf Steiner, and have no plans to read more. In my opinion, Steiner is among the most overrated 20th-century spiritual teachers. Moreover, even though he had a PhD in philosophy, with an emphasis on epistemology, his writings on the subject pale in comparison to Ayn Rand’s in her “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.” The iconic Valentin Tomberg eventually recognized Steiner’s limitations, moved on to Christian Hermeticism, and penned his classic “Meditations on the Tarot.”

Below are my three Amazon reviews of Steiner texts and an article by me on Tomberg’s “Studies on Rudolf Steiner’s ‘The Philosopher’s Stone” (which Tomberg wrote while still a Steiner acolyte).

An Overrated Epistemology Text [My three-star review of “Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path.”]   

“Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path” is a mixed bag. It has positive aspects—its stress on ethical individualism (which mirrors Ayn Rand’s rational self-interest) and it emphasis on thinking as a “spiritual” tool – but as a text on epistemology, it is teeming with flaws.… Read the full article

Reviews of the Writings of the “Traditionalist” Julius Evola

November 16, 2016

The writings of Julius Evola (1898-1974), the renowned, iconclastic “traditionalist,” or “perennialist,” provide a stark contrast to much of contemporary spiritual and sociopolitical literature. Whereas the Divine Feminine is in vogue nowadays, Evola was a staunch advocate for the Divine Masculine; whereas equality and egalitarianism are now prevalent themes in the zeitgeist, Evola argued for a social hierarchy, with military and spiritual “warriors” at the top of the pyramid, in a monarchistic rather than a democratic sociopolitical order. Evola eschewed pacifism, and as his writings make clear, he viewed even the spiritual quest in terms of battle.

Evola has recently been “discovered” by factions of the Alt-right, who are enamored with his arguments for nationalism, patriarchalism, and anti-semitism. Curious about Evola’s quasi-fascist sociopolitics, I recently decided to give his controversial, again popular “Revolt Against the Modern World” a read.… Read the full article

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