Alan's blog Resources: Business ethics For-Benefit Enlightenment gurus involvement teaching technology tradition video Vinay Gupta
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Alan's blog Resources: Business dialogue ethics For-Benefit Enlightenment gurus involvement practice teaching technology tradition video Vinay Gupta
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Alan's blog Resources: Business dancing enlightenment earth ships ethics For-Benefit Enlightenment gurus infrastructure involvement Lahiri Mahasaya model setting off grid organisation models practice Stephen Gaskin teaching technology the farm tradition video Vinay Gupta
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Building a New Tradition: A Conversation with Vinay Gupta
A week ago I was fortunate enough to be joined in my flat by Vinay Gupta, inventor of the Hexayurt, founder of the Bucky Ghandi Design Institution, editor of The Future We Deserve, and state-failure guru, where we explored the various aspects of organisation and infrastructure necessary to develop my ideas for a new enlightenment tradition.
I video’d the conversation using my Flip HD, which has a narrow focus so you’ll have to excuse my head being partially in shot, and after ruthlessly editing down the talk I can now present the best bits in a 20 minute video.
I know what you’re thinking: without some violence, tits or CGI to hold your attention, you’re going to find it difficult to concentrate for that long. And that’s why I’ve also cut the film up into small bite size chunks, the first of which you will find below the full length film. I intend to post a new segment (of which there are 3 more) over the coming days (it might also make for a more structured conversation around the points made in each segment).
So if you’re feeling brave (or you’re particularly interested in this topic) here’s the full thing:
Building a New Tradition: A Conversation with Vinay Gupta from Alan Chapman on Vimeo.
Alternatively, here’s Part 1:
Relevant links (for part 1):
Earth ships (one example of off grid sustainable living)
Note: In the video, we touch upon stepping away from a ‘corrupt economic system’. It should be emphasised that this is not a knee jerk and all too common reaction within the ‘spiritual scene’ to money in and of itself; rather, the current economic model or system is what is being called in to question and rejected wholesale. I’m all in favour of investigating initiatives such as the Totnes Pound or even a Resource Based Economy, but exploring alternatives such as these are a natural conclusion if we take a mindful approach to money, our behaviour and the consequences of our spending seriously. Check out Hokai Sobol talking about this topic over at Buddhist Geeks.
Alan's blog Ask Alan Teachings: Ask Alan enlightenment gurus maps meditation Open Enlightenment practice resonance teaching transmission video
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How to experience enlightenment
How to experience enlightenment from Alan Chapman on Vimeo.
Better late than never, eh? Videos should be more frequent from now on.
My last video transformed the blog into a forum, and amongst many other terrible accusations thrown my way I was rather confusingly compared to Andrew Cohen. Let’s see where this one takes us…
Alan's blog Events: Advaita Vedanta Being Ordinary enlightenment expectations false beliefs maps meditation non-duality Open Enlightenment philosophy Platonism post enlightenment satsang video
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Being Ordinary Interview: Life, the Universe and Everything
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Being Ordinary‘s Tom Buckley-Houston. Tom has done a wonderful job in editing down our very long discussion into a listenable interview. Although I talk about some of things I already touch on in this video, we end up discussing a diverse range of topics including astronauts, direct vs developmental paths and even the future of the human species. Check it out here!
Alan's blog News: book dialogue enlightenment excerpts expectations free ebook insight involvement Open Enlightenment post enlightenment teaching tradition
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The End of Open Enlightenment?
It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?
My absence has been due to the bad customer service I’ve received from a certain broadband service provider, but as frustrating as this experience has been, it has given me time to take stock and reflect on the purpose and value of this blog.
I haven’t been lazy in my time away; I’ve written a rather lengthy two part article on morality and how it relates to wisdom, an article entitled ‘More Buddhist than Buddhist’ for the new Buddhist Geeks digital magazine, and a piece on the relationship between the Dharma and money, with an emphasis on how it relates to my future teaching plans.
But I doubt any of them will see the light of day.
You see, just as it took some time to fully understand the purpose of the Baptist’s Head project, so too has the purpose of Open Enlightenment slowly emerged. At first, I thought OE would facilitate what I felt was a necessary and beneficial conversation, and the aim was to try to explore the best way of understanding enlightenment and our relationship to it. This wasn’t always clear to many readers, and we spent a good deal of time arguing with detractors. As it became obvious that the conversation I hoped to have was never going to happen if we only ever repeated ourselves, I wrote the ebook to move the conversation along and act as a jumping off point.
But as time marched on it slowly began to dawn on me that this blog serves a rather different function. Both Duncan and I have posted our thoughts on enlightenment right from the word ‘go’, despite the fact the experience of awakening was still very fresh and we hadn’t enjoyed the benefit of allowing the dust settle. For some, this could be seen as a mistake that can easily lead to making embarrassing public gaffs; but if it wasn’t for this blog, which has acted as a focus for getting my thoughts down and sorting the wheat from the chaff, I would never have reached the understanding and view I know hold about enlightenment. If anything, blurting out what could have been premature and perhaps ill-informed comments about awakening (which, for the record, I don’t really believe we have done) as and when they arose has led to what I consider a much more mature view of the phenomenon than if we had remained quiet and careful. And for those with a genuine interest, there is perhaps more value to be found in witnessing what we have posted and how this has changed over time than perhaps in the actual content, something only an honest and regularly updated journal of post-awakening experience and thought can provide.
However, we’ve now reached a point with the blog where I feel we may start repeating ourselves (again), and I have to question the value of that. It doesn’t help that we still have to answer the same dull and ignorant comments we’ve endured since beginning this project, which sometimes feels like a constant uphill struggle. I still believe the conversation whose parameters I outline in the ebook is very important and worth having; I just don’t think many people are ready to have it yet.
Just as I felt it was necessary to write the ebook to answer the many common questions and objections we would frequently find ourselves dealing with, I now feel it is necessary to try and present a view of enlightenment that is both comprehensive and able to highlight and explain the common misgivings regarding the phenomenon that (I believe) frequently crop up during public discussion. As this view has emerged, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to discuss awakening, because what I wished to say would almost always require many more lengthy explanations before I could expect my comments to really make sense.
So I need to write another book, but this time it requires something more substantial than an ebook. But rather than write this blog off, shut up shop and spend the next year writing in seclusion, I’m going to utilise the wonderful power of maintaing a blog in focussing my efforts. Although there will no doubt still be regular postings here from me and Dunc (but probably mostly from Dunc), you can expect posted excerpts from the work in progress for your enjoyment and feedback.
My journey with Open Enlightenment has also led me to a particular conclusion regarding teaching and that rather thorny subject of mixing money with Dharma, and the material I am now working on will inform my future teaching in the form of course material. So this ‘new’ direction isn’t just about a book, but what I hope will eventually form the backbone of a new Western school of awakening.
I hope to have the first excerpt posted in the coming weeks.
(P.S. So the answer to the headline is, erm, ‘no’.)
Alan's blog Articles: Advaita Vedanta Folk Theory of Enlightenment Guruphiliac gurus Jody Radzik Kali non-duality practice Shimmering Dead End Shiva
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The Folk Theory of Enlightenment: An Interview with Jody Radzik
Jody Radzik is the infamous webmaster of Guruphiliac, a site that sheds light on the scams, crimes and abuses perpetrated by the mad, bad and sad hucksters and would-be gurus of the enlightenment scene. Jody recently gave a talk on the Folk Theory of Enlightenment (FToE) at the Science and Non-duality Conference 2009, details of which can be found at his new blog, Shimmering Dead End.
As a fan of his work, I was delighted when Jody agreed to the following interview, where we discuss his spiritual career, the negativity he frequently receives from telling the truth, working with Kali, and the FToE.
Alan's blog Articles Teachings: enlightenment ethics evolution history joy Original Nature post enlightenment sorrow
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The Joy of Existence
‘Only Original Nature is’ does not mean that the manifest world is an illusion.
It means that all of existence is Original Nature, from the universe to the galaxies to the planets to single celled organisms to fish to plants to insects to birds to animals to humans.
However, Original Nature is not any of these things.
You are Original Nature.
But Original Nature is not you.
Ignorance is Original Nature; but Original Nature is not ignorance.
Sorrow is Original Nature; but Original Nature is not sorrow.
Change is Original Nature; but Original Nature is not change.
The self is Original Nature; but Original Nature is not self.
The opposite is also true:
Enlightenment, joy, peace and selflessness are all Original Nature; but Original Nature is not enlightenment, joy, peace and selflessness.
However, with the recognition of Original Nature, enlightenment, joy, peace and selflessness all arise spontaneously as expressions of that recognition, because Original Nature is, has and always will be free from ignorance, sorrow, change and self, all of which afflict the conscious human being.
(The first tastes of enlightenment are always the most blissful or awe-inspiring, but ultimately enlightenment has nothing to do with bliss or awe.)
It is ignorance that is the cause of the horrors of existence, being the root of all sorrow, loss and isolation.
It is awareness or wakefulness that is the cause of the bliss of existence, being the root of all joy, completion, and wholeness.
Evolution is the diminishing of ignorance and the growth of awareness; with this growth comes the recognition that change is rest, creation is peace, development is complete and life is meaning itself.
Evolution is Original Nature; but Original Nature is not evolution.
This is the joy of existence.
Alan's blog Articles Teachings: enlightenment expectations Original Nature post enlightenment teaching
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What is enlightenment?
Enlightenment is the recognition of original nature.
It is called original nature only because it has been forgotten. It was never lost, because it is the nature of even our forgetting.
Original nature is recognised as whole, complete, satisfied, peaceful, free, unbounded, unified, perfect, over-abundant, clear, divine, good, just, loving, compassionate, beautiful, untainted, unconditioned and true. Original nature – being Whole – is its own self-negation, manifest as the phenomenal world; and so only original nature is.
Enlightenment is the recognition that you are not this self, in a world of others, and never were. You were never born, and will never die; original nature is both birth and death, because only original nature is.
Enlightenment is the recognition of complete and absolute non-relation between any one thing and any other thing, because where there is no separation, no relationship can exist. How can original nature be reached, and by who, when only original nature is? Original nature is the subject that searches for original nature.
Enlightenment means there are no such things as ignorance and enlightenment, and the path and the purpose are one. Because there is no such thing as time, everything has always been this way and always will be. Only original nature is.
Enlightenment means all things have no beginning, no end, and are a non-issue. Enlightenment is not the beginning of anything or the end of anything, nor was ignorance ever a problem. Enlightenment is not an escape but an intimacy with all things, because only original nature is.
Enlightenment neither means life is not worth participating in, nor that life continues as it always has unchanged; recognition of original nature manifests as the expression of the good, and the actions of the person who has experienced enlightenment reflect this, because only original nature is. A person that has no beginning, no end and has no issues is a perfect expression of original nature: boundlessly compassionate and peaceful.
Enlightenment creates a better world for everyone through an open mind and an open heart, even though there is no world to improve, no one to improve it or anyone to help, because only original nature is.
However, none of this is recognised unless recognition has occurred.
Enlightenment is and always will be an event that happens to people, because only original nature is.
Alan's blog Events News: Business ethics expectations For-Benefit Enlightenment involvement meditation morality Open Enlightenment practice satsang teaching
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Lost in Translation
I’m only five satsangs in to my teaching career, but I think it’s time for a course correction.
In the past I‘ve always considered the irreverence for authority prevalent in the West to be a good thing. Authority is prone to abuse, and is often faked; respect should only be forthcoming when genuine authority is demonstrated.
In the past I’ve found the offense Eastern teachers take from the Westerner’s failure to acknowledge position and status a quant example of culture shock. I’ve also considered Westerner teachers who bemoan our irreverence to be suffering from their own power trips.
But then I had never tried to teach before; I had never encountered how easily people’s issues can co-opt a session (to their complete ignorance); how the failure to honour a teaching hierarchy (especially on my part) can allow others to sabotage the time with their own lack of integrity by holding forth with their opinions; how a student first needs to recognise the teacher’s function and their own reason for being there before any real teaching can commence.
I’ve experienced all of these things (and more) in my very short time as a teacher. And all of this is due to my own naivety!
My plan was simple: I would adapt a traditional Eastern method of teaching by holding a weekly satsang, where those wishing to explore enlightenment could come and ask me questions as a means of facilitating their own enlightenment. It would be relaxed, open and informal. As I was just starting out, I thought adopting a donation model would work best: the room was cheap, and maybe if everyone gave a couple of pounds, I could cover the room hire and perhaps save a bit of cash that could eventually go towards hiring a bigger and better venue, or perhaps allow me to buy a few cushions for our sits, or even organise a weekend retreat.
But the sad fact is very few people are interested in enlightenment, many cannot and do not recognise the function of a teacher, and some couldn’t care less if the cost of the room is covered if they don’t really have to pay.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we Westerner’s only really respect one thing: what we have paid for.
About turn
I like to think of myself as a quick study rather than a failure, but the truth is I have come realise that I am doing my students or the attendees to my teaching sessions an incredible disservice by not honouring the fact they are Western, thereby failing to offer them:
a). a structured, easy to digest teaching (perhaps in modules or stages).
b). a structured, formal teaching environment.
c). the facility to pay a set price for a given service. Let’s face it: you’re only going to pay for something you actually want, and if you’ve paid for it, you’ll definitely try and get all you can out of it!
So I’ve cancelled my forthcoming satsangs, and I hope in a short while to return with a series of talks/workshops that will cover my teaching in a structured, easy to understand manner, and with a set ticket price. I hope this will naturally follow on to weekend and week long retreats.
I have gained a few formal students in this period (and I will continue to accept prospective students) with whom I maintain frequent, personal contact on a 1-2-1 basis (which is a bonus as no money is involved). If you were intending to come to one of the cancelled satsangs, and you are genuinely interested in enlightenment, feel free to e-mail me: alan at (replace with @) openenlightenment.org (no spaces) and we’ll see where we go from there.