The Truest Spiritual Teachers

[Bright Garlick]

Hi folks - it's been a long time since I have been engaged in PA but I thought I might start a new thread that may interest some of you.

I am no longer a seeker in the traditional sense. I look for confirmation of what feels true. But my days of chasing new teachers and teachings has come to an end. I begin this thread with the intention to assist others in their journey.

I wish to list a few of the HUMAN teachers who have had a significant impact on my life and encourage others to list teachers who they feel reflect ultimate truth and have something of great value to offer others.

I began my spiritual journey with a love of the natural world and later embarked upon a quest to understand true magic. After falling in love with a practitioner of Catharse, I realized that such attachments to changing reality brought little ease to my suffering. I then set out on an aimless journey of seeking, following hunches, intellectual curiosities, leads from my study in science, social work, therapy and education. Cancer pushed my seeking into full throttle and ultimately brought it to an end. I realized that I am the truth and that SELF has all the answers. I am the question the answers seek.

We are all in different developmental places and different stages of life. We have all experienced different types of conditioning and different traumas. But we all suffer and in some way seek liberation from suffering and to know our true nature (some such as myself, say we are already free). Some, like myself, have also had the privilege of looking honestly at death. Death is and continues to be a wonderful teacher. Death and all his friends - the four horseman of impermanence !

So, I wish you all well in your journeys and good fortune to those who will find new directions in their journey.

But one gentle reminder - seeking is the greatest obstacle to truth.

YOU ARE. YOU ARE both relative (a separate body/entity/mind) and absolute (a unified whole, ALL, GOD). My life's experiences with my sense of self, peoples, animals, the natural world and ET's has taught me that this is true. Perhaps some of you also know this and others who do not know what I am saying, will learn that this is true. We are emptiness, the relative I and the absolute I (GOD).

Here is my list :

* Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) - the great teacher of impermanence and the cause and treatment of suffering. He may be nothing more than a myth.
* Dadaji - the great teacher of God as self / the anti guru : http://dadaji.info/ (Thanks Meeredas) (a favourite)
* Sri Ramana Maharshi : Self is all - you are the cosmos (a favourite) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi
* Mother Meera - God is in you - http://www.mothermeera.com/ (Thanks Meredas again !)
* Sri Sri Ma You are god : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandamayi_Ma
* Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - I amness : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj
* J Krishnamurti : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti
* U Krishnamurt - Jiddus nemesis : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U._G._Krishnamurti
*Ken Wilbur - despite great ego, a wonderful idea with Integral Spirituality : http://www.kenwilber.com/home/landing/index.html
* Lawrence LeShan - Meditation master, therapist, father of mind body medicine and paranormal thinker extraordinaire ! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_LeShan /
http://www.cancerasaturningpoint.org/ (a favourite)
* Genpo Roshi - despite being disrobed as a Zen Monk for 3 extramarital affairs, Genpo has created a remarkable way of understanding self with the Big Mind concept : http://bigmind.org/
* Victor Vernon Woolfe - Holodynamics - drop all the language and pseudoscience - the idea has merit as a concept of self : http://www.holodynamics.com/
* Carl Jung : His ideas on the shadow are the foundation of integration psychology : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung
* Joseph Campbell - the father of scholarly archetypes/mythologies : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
* A Course in Miracles (a favourite)
*Eckhart Tolle - for those who are just starting out on understanding teh mind/stillness/silence.
*JW Dunne's An experiment with time and all his other books : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Experiment_with_Time / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Dunne
* Lucida Vardi's God in All Words - a nice croo section of spitiual wrings :
* Jane Roberts/Seth : The Seth goodies are remarkable for their unique insights and confirnations of many traditional teachings (a favourite)
* Ilie Cioara - Silence as self - boundless self (a favourite)
* OSHO - but proceed with caution and learn about the man before his works. OSHO is a great teacher but a man with many flaws.
* Greg Humpreys The Wisdom of Negative Thinking : http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Negative-Thinking-Tony-Humphreys/dp/1580910971/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371973549&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Wisdom+of+Negative+Thinking / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Humphreys / http://www.tonyhumphreys.ie/
* Bert Hellingers family constellations and orders of love : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Hellinger / http://www2.hellinger.com/en/
*Frederick Perl's work on Gestalt Therapy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Perls
* John Bradshaw's work on boundaries and relationships (more recent is less evangelical) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bradshaw_(author) / http://www.johnbradshaw.com/
* Ainslie Meare's - The Australian Psychiatrist who taught a revolutionary and simple method of relaxation based on what he learned in India in the 60's : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainslie_Meares
* Nan Huai-Chin - the greatest modern teacher of Chinese Zen : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Huai-Chin
* The Dalai Lama - his teachings on Dzogchen (the ground luminosity) and his compassionate example are significant : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama / http://www.dalailama.com/
* Sakyong Mipham : a young teacher of Dzogchen/Calm Abiding : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakyong_Mipham
* Thich Nhat Hanh - a living Buddha and a wonderful interpreter of Buddha's original message : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Nhat_Hanh
* Ajahn Chah - another great interpreter of teh Buddha's teachings : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Chah
* Gil Fronsdal - a great modern Buddhist Zen teacher : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Fronsdal / http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/1/ / http://www.zencast.org/category/Gil%20Fronsdal (a favourite).
* Lama Surya Das - another great modern Buddhist teacher in the Tibetan tradition : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surya_Das / http://www.surya.org/
*Mal McKissock - all of his work on grief and life stories : http://www.bereavementcare.com.au/index.htm
* Thomas Moore - embracing the darkness/shadow : http://careofthesoul.net/
* Brian Weiss work on past and future life therapy : http://www.brianweiss.com/
* BASHO The Complete Haiku : http://www.amazon.com/Basho-The-Complete-Haiku-Matsuo/dp/4770030630
* John Paul 2 The Place Within : http://www.amazon.com/The-Place-Within-Poetry-Pope/dp/0679760644 (beautiful)
* Julia Cameron : art as spiritual expression : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Cameron
* Rumi : Find the right interpretations. Rumis expressions are sublime : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
*Omar Khayam : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Khayy%C3%A1m
I could go on but this is a good start.

Of course any type of religious text has value. For me :
* The Upanishads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta)
* Buddha's The Dhammapada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammapada, The Fire Sermon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Sermon , Heart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Sutra and Diamond Suttra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Sutra.

Despite learning from many teachers through books, my greatest teachers have been the natural world, family, my 2 Chinese guides and my ET friends. Life of course has been the ultimate teacher.

May you all be well,

Brighticus !

[markpierre]

Well I think you've covered most of as much of the range of human spiritual thought as is possible for a boy from Oz. You must be satiated.
I reached that point you spoke of as well, it was an odd feeling. I couldn't locate where and when it had happened.
You can be so different and not even know it. I don't know that it means 'found' necessarily. It means it won't be found
if you've predetermined what it is.
That would make the search a bit of a fraud.

Just a realization in retrospect, that I wasn't a seeker anymore. I couldn't think of any questions. I dropped the books.
I couldn't hear anything anymore from any perspective other than my own. I could write a book about it that would have to say
what every other book has had to say. 'You are it, exactly as you are'. There isn't anything else.
That should save some trees.

Really sweet to hear from you BG. I'd recommend every one of those resources to anyone. But I'd add; pick one, and become it.

[Star Tsar]

This thread is truly in the spirit of Project Avalon! (Or @ least what I feel it should be)
I thank you Mr Garlick...

[dianna]

Thanks Bright Garlick -- your post brings this quote to mind, from one of the teachers on your list


"I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. That is my point of view, and I adhere to that absolutely and unconditionally. Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or coerce people along any particular path. If you first understand that, then you will see how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.

........

This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountain-top to the valley…."

(Jiddu Krishnamurti)

[Sunny-side-up]

Hi and welcome back Bright Garlick

Thank you for such a wealthy list of stepping stones.
they will greatly blanket my surroundings and help define ME by separation of other externals (Matrix).

[Fred Steeves]

You can be so different and not even know it. I don't know that it means 'found' necessarily. It means it won't be found
if you've predetermined what it is.
That would make the search a bit of a fraud.


I could write a book about it that would have to say
what every other book has had to say. 'You are it, exactly as you are'. There isn't anything else.


Reminds me of one of those Jim Morrison zingers:


We're reaching for death
on the end of a candle
We're trying for something
that's already found us

[kenaz]

Just a realization in retrospect, that I wasn't a seeker anymore. I couldn't think of any questions. I dropped the books.
I couldn't hear anything anymore from any perspective other than my own. I could write a book about it that would have to say
what every other book has had to say. 'You are it, exactly as you are'. There isn't anything else.
That should save some trees.


Maybe it's the rooted trees that have something to teach.
We humans roam and search while most of the natural world
has already arrived. I've decided to let the answers come to
me and then I'll figure out the question.

[ghostrider]

I believe there are no accidents, we encounter people along the way who sometimes without knowing , have a spiritual impact on us, helping us achieve a higher awareness ... each teacher has pieces of the puzzle we need for a bigger perspective of our lives and our relationship in the cosmos ... if i had to narrow the field, I would lean towards anything that deals with re-incarnation ... Bright Garlick it's good to hear from you brother, hope all is well ...

[Arpheus]

Jiddu has always been my favorite followed by Carl jung,i too have reached that point a few years ago my friend,i cant wait to see where my journey will end up taking me to...

[Shamz]

BG - great thread and resources you mentioned in there... wonderful treasure for a beginner like me -- I had read a lot in past few years..and still doing it.... but I know all the answers lies with me...deep within.
I don't need to look for the truth out anywhere...its all inside... and that is my goal to realize it...one day or other...one life or other...

thanks

[Hazel]

Well I think you've covered most of as much of the range of human spiritual thought as is possible for a boy from Oz.

chuckle.. Oi whatever can you mean
are you attempting to reinstall 'the cultural cringe' into the Australian psyche ;)


So good to see you here Bright Garlick.. you are clearly thriving spiritually, heres hoping you are well bodily also x

[CdnSirian]

Bright Garlick posted today.

we-R-one posted that Twinkies are back.

I have seen a tall one. What is that in its hand.

With thanks.

[wobbegong]

Thankyou Bright Garlik for this excellent thread. I am glad you mentioned Brian Weiss, for me his books were a great revelation about reincarnation.

[Knowrainknowrainbows!]

Cancer pushed my seeking into full throttle and ultimately brought it to an end. I realized that I am the truth and that SELF has all the answers. I am the question the answers seek.


So good to know you are still sharing and teaching ...

Thank you.

KRKR
:tea:

[conk]

Simply be. Hold loving thoughts. Surrender all to God. Enjoy. Then surrender that too.

[WhiteFeather]

Hey Bright: Just finished a book from Dr Weiss, Many Lives Many Masters 1988. Awesome read. I have been indulging myself with his research (Reincarnation Field) in the past week or so. Many good videos on youtube as well. Highly Resonating and Soothing Material, If I May Add. And The Bump to a wonderful thread my friend.

<~We Are All 1 Tribe~>

W.f.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BVJfAXp_Hc&list=PL76A4BADA887FEE3F


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BVJfAXp_Hc