Not having an experience is the next step beyond spirituality and oneness

The man of understanding is not having an experience.

Thank you to Marcus Dalton for introducing me to the Alan Watts forward to The Knee of Listening by Adi Da. Mr. Watts suggests that the Epilogue is particularly insightful. I don’t believe that I have ever read the Epilogue and I don’t remember ever finishing the book. Most of guru Adi Da’s writing is too dense and meandering to hold my attention. I prefer the classics when it comes to putting spirituality in my head. So what a jolt of enlightenment to finally read the Epilogue yesterday. Adi Da has taken me into a new level with, “The man of understanding is not having an experience.” From now on, I am no longer having an experience. I just am. I AM.

There is Only Ordinary Life

Ask any guru and he will tell you that enlightenment is no big deal. Da is quite correct in that there is only the ordinary. We all know that the man of understanding is not religious and we need Da to remind us that the man of understanding is not spiritual either. The man of understanding is not moral or inoffensive. The man of understanding is a Zen grifter!

Adi Da is saying the same things that all credible Eastern teachers espouse. Understanding is not so much learning as surrendering what we think we already know. Giving up our conditioned minds. Shaving the inside of my head. These days my well-meditated mind is taking me to a deeper layer of silence. I think my meditated mind has ruined watching TV for me. These days most media seems like clutter streaming into my consciousness. It is the time of my life for the blissful silence of golden solitude.

12 Step Evolution

The 12 Steps are everyday God in action A.A. 12 Step zeitgeist is also moving in this direction of “not spiritual.” Now I am not even thinking of nature as spiritual anymore. Nature is nature. Nature appears Godlike, as in “thank God it is finally raining again in Los Angeles.” Rain is God to me in this moment.