Dzogchen Thodgal (Togal): Namkhai Norbu’s POV Versus Mine

December 13, 2014
[Note: This is a book review of “The Crystal and the Way of Light” that I posted at Amazon on December 12. In a few weeks, I’ll write and post Part 2, at integralspiritualmeditation.com. It will be a regular article, not a book review.]

There is not a single living Dzoghen master/teacher who really impresses me – but the best of the bunch, IMO, is Namkhai Norbu. I wasn’t looking to read another book by Norbu; I’d already read four (see my five-star review of “The Cycle of Day and Night” and four-star review of “The Supreme Source”), but when I recently read Jackson Peterson’s “The Natural Bliss of Liberation” (see my two-star Amazon review), which conflates the term “kundalini” with the Tibetan term “thigle” (which means “bindu, sphere, bead, drop, essence, sphere of light, spherical drop, spot, dot, droplet, seed-essence”) I was intrigued: I had not encountered this conflation before. I Googled “thigle and kundalini,” and sure enough I was led to excerpts from “The Crystal and the Way of Light” – and so I purchased the book.

The editor of the book writes that it took four years to complete the project of putting this book together and that he continually revised the manuscript before it took its present form.… Read the full article

Dumbed-Down, Disintegral, Discombobulated Dzogchen

December 6, 2014

[Note: This is my just-posted Amazon.com review of “The Natural Bliss of Being” by Jackson Peterson.]

Before I begin this review, I should preface it by stating that before reading this book, I was unceremoniously expelled from Jackson Peterson’s Dzogchen Trekchod Facebook group within a couple of days after joining and participating. Clearly Jackson was threatened by my superior understanding of Dzogchen and mysticism in general, and I was perceived as a threat to his Dharma. Jackson posted a final response to me at his Dzogchen Facebook page, but because I wasn’t allowed to respond there, I will do so here. In the latter part of this review I’ll present my response to his response.

The first thing that needs to be said about this book is that the Kindle edition, which I purchased, is grossly overpriced. Instead of $17, an appropriate price (for this 191-page book) would be about half that amount. I ordinarily would not pay $17 for a Kindle book, but in this case I had special motivation to read and review it.… Read the full article

Pompous Pontifications of a Misanthropic Mystic (A Review of Sam Harris’s Uber-Popular, But Grossly Overrated, Text “Waking Up”)

November 21, 2014
If you’re an off-the-assembly-line, Matrix-bound moron, “programmed” by Church (mainstream religious institutions) and/or State (public schools and progressivist government propaganda) and/or Mainstream Media (including clueless pseudo-profound talking heads such as Bill Maher and John Stewart) and/or “Higher” Education” (meaning the Ivory Tower idiots hiding behind fancy sheepskins), and/or pop/superficial Buddhism/neo-Advaita Vedanta teachings (check out my 237 Amazon reviews, in which I deconstruct many of these teachers and teachings), then you might find Sam Harris’s “Waking Up” an enlightening read.

But for someone like me, who has “cracked the cosmic code,” waved the zeitgeist goodbye, and become, arguably (I challenge anyone to argue otherwise), the foremost expert in the world on mysticism and esoteric spirituality, it is a pathetic joke by a pompous pontificator who doesn’t have a clue what “waking up,” or spiritual Enlightenment, is really about, but yet pretends to be able to educate us on the subject. The guy no doubt knows brain science (which doesn’t include understanding consciousness), but he is out of his league when he ventures into the subject of Enlightenment – and he does real spirituality a real disservice by reducing it to his circumscribed level of understanding.… Read the full article

Sri Aurobindo’s “The Synthesis of Yoga”

November 11, 2014

The iconic Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), the father of integral yoga and integral psychology, is doubtless one of the most profound and influential spiritual philosophers ever to walk the planet. And in the text “The Synthesis of Yoga,” his unique, complex, and intricate vision of Yoga, which explicates his integral philosophy – “All life is Yoga” – is on full display for 900 pages.

Before there was Adi Da Samraj (whose teachings partially derive from Aurobindo’s), there was Sri Aurobindo, and to venture into his elaborate expositions of yoga practice and philosophy is sure to deepen and expand one’s understanding of  spiritual life and Divine Truth.

“The Synthesis of Yoga,” along with Aurobindo’s magnum opus, the 1100-page “The Life Divine,” contain the bulk of his most important and illuminating essays on spiritual life and how it impacts, and can transform, earthly existence.… Read the full article

The Case Against Paul Case’s Tarot/Qabalah/Astrology

October 30, 2014

At my Facebook page (L Ron Gardner), on October 11, I posted an article entitled “Ken Wilber and the Enneagram.” In my article, I stated that despite my deep and wide reading, I hadn’t come across an impressive Kabbalah book – meaning one that explicates and elaborates the “two Kabbalahs (mystical-ecstatic and theurgical-theosophical) to my satisfaction.

In response to my lament,  poster Robert Wilkinson suggested that I read “The Tarot, the Key to the Wisdom of the Ages,” by Paul Case -- and so I did; and now I’m ready to review it.

The legendary, late Dr. Paul Case (1884- 1954) is considered an occult genius by many, but I’m not one of the many. In short, I simply do not agree with his exegesis of the Kabbalah and his correlations of it with the Tarot Major Arcana.

First off, Case does not account for Da’at, the “invisible” 11th sephirah; and without such an accounting, the Kabbalah does not make sense to me.… Read the full article

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