Warning about "Awareness Watching Awareness"
Tags:
I have encountered here a question asking about the method known by the name "Awareness Watching Awareness" and have decided to post my opinion. I will appreciate others who are acquainted with it to post their own opinions about it.
There is a book called "The Most Rapid and Direct Method To Eternal Bliss" (Previous name of the book was "The Imposter") by Michael Langford which suggests the method of "Awareness Watching Awareness" which is claimed to adhere to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj.
You can read the book online in http://www.albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/contents.aspx
The book is well ordered like a mathematics or logic book and this may be excellent but it appears, of course, that format is not enough - the content itself, the method, has fundamental unfortunate flaws.
It is an erroneous distorted interpretation of Ramana Maharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj in general and of the Self Inquiry in particular.
It is based on many inaccurate axioms (e.g. that thoughts are words-based only while in reality thought movement can be also made of "visual clips" alone such as the visual scene of an event stored in memory) and confuses between different concepts (e.g. Nisargadatta's concept of "I AM" and the Self).
But worse of all, it assumes that the Self or as it termed there "background awareness" can be watched as an object while it is fundamental that anything that can be watched as an object cannot be the ultimate subject, the self, but is just another face of the "I" thought. Regarding the self, you can only abide in it, not watch it, i.e. peel off the onion to remain naked as the self.
Bottom line: beware of this or any other method which claims to improve Self Enquiry and stick to the simple and pure Ramana's Self Enquiry.
- banana's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer friendly version
Selling books
"The Most Rapid and Direct Method To Eternal Bliss" by Michael Langford
Michael Langford probably wanted to write a book called
" The Most Rapid and Direct Method To be a Billionaire" ..and while he was writing he probably discovered that perhaps the quickest way to become a billionaire is to write a book called "The Most Rapid and Direct Method To Eternal Bliss"... if there are enough suckers to buy this book ...
... and then maybe his next book will be :
" The Most Rapid and Direct Method To Win the Lottery" ... or
" How to Buy the Brooklyn Bridge."
If Langford uses anything from Ramana Maharshi and/or Nisargadatta Maharaj to support his book... . the title of his book -- then MOST OBVIOUSLY he has absolutely not a clue
NOT A CLUE
about anything they have to say about "Spirituality" Advaita, non-duality, Self, alias... "Eternal Bliss" ... about "every hair on your head is predetermined"
-- NOT A CLUE.
We should judge by the content itself only
I think we should be very careful and judge the book purely according to its content and not according indirect circumstances - wanted to sell books or not, the name of the book etc. One can argue in response that Langford was generous enough to put the softcopy of the book free of charge on the net!
"The Power of Now" of Tolle as well the publications of Ramana Ashram, "I am That" of Nisargadatta, the books of Osho and many others are great spiritual books and yet are sold for money. So what? Money is not dirty, "I Am That" is even over expensive (Chetana Publications).
I think that though the strict format and clarity of the book and the smart repetitions are very impressive and unique, and though it is clear that enormous serious editing work was invested in the book, indeed it seems from a first read that the writer has fundamental errors in the content itself which is what makes this book problematic.
After reading this post yesterday, I decided to be fare enough (also with myself, who knows what opportunity I may missing by being quick judgmental) and print the softcopy and read it thoroughly before I make my final judgment.
reading books
-- Langford is not alone with his ignorance of Spirituality, Non-duality ... the concept, alone, that there is some sort of thought called "Awareness that can Observe Awareness" defies/denies/defiles literally everything in Ramana's/Nisargadatta's "non-duality."
of the thousands of people who claim to have read "I AM THAT"... "The Truth Is" ... .... few have a clue to what these books are about ... if they did they would clearly understand why Ramana can say without reservation that "every hair on you head is predestined."
indeed when it comes to the very core of non-duality, Advaita, nobody seems to have a clue what three words mean, even though there is a three volume book written about these three words: "Nothing Ever Happened" ... indeed, if there was a library full of books to explain these three words "Nothing Ever Happened" this library would do little to awaken mankind to its meaning.
as for Tolle's book "The Power of Now": it is a lot of fragrant garbage that does little but cover the Now.
only dreams have awakenings -- sleep is samadhi. -- O'no
Does little but to cover the Now
I wouldn't make such sweeping statements.
I also think that "I AM THAT" is a masterpiece (also thanks to the superb translation work of Maurice Frydman - the English versions of the later books of Maharaj do not enjoy the level of clarity of "I Am That" partly due to the translations though they are more advanced in terms of content) and so is "The Truth Is". But one has to remember modestly that the fact that he/she favors a certain path does not mean that this path and its books are the absolute truth and there is none except them - these books are valuable to someone favoring Advaita or that feel drawn to the general idea of Advaita. For people of other paths and approaches these books may seem a rubbish powwow and they will surely have their own set of favorite books.
Regarding "The Power of Now" - I suspect you totally missed the point of this book which its greatness is exactly due to its simplicity, careful phrasing and focus. At the end of the day it's not the many reasonings and sophisticated analytical schemes that make the difference in spirituality but exactly this that "does little but to cover the Now". Is there anything else significant? I think the tremendous transformation it happens to do in so many people from so many different places and backgrounds is the proof for the magical effectiveness of this book, I have some friends whom I amazed what this book has made them.
It's the expectations
I think that precisely because of the fact that the book is flawless technically (the format and editing are quite impressive!), the flaws of the content itself stood up. You develop expectations. Because after all, 90% of the spiritual fall far behind it.
Understanding the above, I'm going to give it a try. There were so many inferior books (and teachers) that I still gave them a try and in retrospective learned from them a lot. Plus, we may be wrong in our prompt easy judgment. Plus, the attitude of overruling something right upfront is more of a reaction of the ego and fears rather than an honest action.
Tim, others - what do u think?
I came across this online version of the book some time ago, gave it a serious attention and had similar doubts - it is definitely a serious work and with almost unparalleled quality of structure and delivery and i felt the things there work and yet... i also felt that still something subtle there is out of tune... it is and it is yet not...
Tim, shira, phroggy, leo, enlight, nancy, angel76 (and of course many others here) - I learned to value your opinions about advaita even if sometimes I do not agree with you - I will appreciate your unbiased opinion about the book. Please, if you haven't read it, give it a fair trial without prejudice as if you didn't read all the above comments. Regardless of its true value, it is an interesting unusual read due to its structure. Try to approach it with a positive attitude and to read it thoroughly and say what you think...
Distortion of Sri Ramana's Self Enquiry
Funny, I came across this "awareness watching awareness" sometime ago and had the same reservations.
I wonder what others think.
too perfect is imperfect
I learnt to distance from too organized and decided books. This analytical approach is maybe good to depict reality in mathematics or in any other field of the mind but not in chaotic spirituality. The Heart does not adhere to numbered phrases and closed models.
This is precisely the case of http://www.gurusfeet.com/blog/plastic-flowers-or-law-imperfect-perfect