It's Black or White

It's Black or White liver since the very beginning of my teaching career, peo- ple have responded to my message in extreme ways. I have always been passionate as a teacher, not due to any choice of my own. Compelled by a knowing that streams up from deep inside of me, I am often as surprised as anyone else at how strongly 1 feel about the need to awaken. To some this passion has given great courage and inspiration; to others it has caused aversion and even offense. Initially this struck me as odd, as 1 have always only spoken about the possi- bility of becoming truly free in this life, and about being willing to sacrifice any and all obstacles for that end. While this made perfect sense to many, others found it extreme. My insistence that a seeker's relationship to spiritual liber- ation was ultimately black or white, yes or no, was often not well received. This approach was perceived as being too absolute. Over time I began to understand why. It became clear that this teaching left httle room for the individual who was not convinced that they wanted to go all the way. It's Black or While As I HUM more and more seekers, many of whom had already been on ihc path lor some lime, it became apparent thai lor I he mosl pari they were trying to lit the explosive revelation of enlightenment into a life that was based on very personal and fundamentally limited motives. It was rare thai even those who were lucky enough to have glimpsed the enlightened perspective were able to ultimately break free from the confines of a personal and historical relationship to hfe. It became obvious that unless the seeker had the inten- tion of unconditionally liberating themselves from the veil of the personal, no matter how deeply they dove into the unknown, they would almost always return to a view that was profoundly limited. Indeed, it seemed that most seekers, without realizing it, were trying to fit that which had no limit into a shell that could never contain it. I began to understand why so few had gotten ver)^ far. So much of what was being pursued in the name of spiritual awakening seemed merely to romanticize and glorify a per- spective that was fundamentally limited, rather than com- pletely obliterating it so that a new perspective imiainled h\ the needs of the personal could reveal itself. As long as the individual has any investment in that which is personal, liieir ability to interpret the way discovered in jirofound rexelalion will always be distorted by that need, ll is impossil^le to con- tain the explosive and ultimately revolulionar\ implications ol the spiritual vision as long as the individual feels comjx^llecl [o hold on in any way to that which is t)ld, sale or kncnx ii. An l^monduuvml Rchuionship lo Life The Discovery OF A Bigger View