aflatun wrote: ↑Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:17 pm
DId you ever discuss JK with UG? As I recall (youtube of course) UG voiced some scathing criticisms of JK. I'm curious what he might have said in conversation with you, if you feel comfortable sharing of course.
Many times, aflatun. Because of his association with JK, the subject would be brought up by the people who came to visit him. They would ask questions and make statements that UG would directly respond to. On the surface, it would often seem that UG was always criticizing JK's approach. One comment he made was that JK had seen the sugar cube, but never really tasted it. Something like that, you get the drift. UG would always remind people that choiceless awareness was impossible because of the conditioned mind which we all use to observe things. Sometimes he would harangue JK with talk like this and dismiss him as a Victorian bred character. However, UG said if it wasn't for JK, he wouldn't be the man he was. UG's 'calamity' began in the tent in Switzerland while listening to JK talk. I won't elaborate on that as it is too big a subject and it's better to read about it in his own words. He felt JK brought him to a certain point but never talked about 'the natural state' that UG finally lived. JK was like a meditation master, skilled in the ways of the mind and aggregates, showing people the conditioned aspect of their lives. UG, otoh, was a transcendental event. JK touched on this, but UG brought it to life. Perhaps similar to the Buddha with his two gurus who brought him to the formless jhanas, but not to realization of true nature.
One day, UG told me JK had appeared to him when he was alone in his room. I asked him what took place. He said nothing, he just appeared. Most of his responses to JK questions centred around people's fixations on certain aspects of what JK talked about. Sometimes he would laugh, sometimes he would forcefully object to a statement regarding JK. No doubt, he had respect for the man. Even the Dalai Lama upon being told about JK said something like 'we have here a veritable 'Nagarjuna'. OTOH, UG would curse out the Dali Lama!
For me, JK has made more sense, in general, about the state of mankind than any modern thinker that I know of. He has helped revolutionize many of the accepted concepts on religion, belief, as well as what real contemplation is. I would have liked to been able to see JK in a more casual setting, much like visiting UG. All I know of JK is this elderly, austere figure, who seemed to be talking from a place of deep wisdom, filled with an energy that his words conveyed, making the space like a meditation hall. I would have liked to just chit chat with him, much like I used to do with UG. It wasn't always serious and deep. Much of it was very light hearted, simple conversation.