Publication Date:August 25, 2008 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Promotion:Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout.Terms and Conditions Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Product Description The clearest book that has ever been written on the subject of enlightenment, it provides a detailed examination of the satsang phenomenon (and its more extreme, neo-Advaita variant), contrasting these approaches with the traditional methods passed down from teacher to disciple for over a thousand years. What is enlightenment? What is it not? - exposes the myths and defines this misused term once and for all.
This Whole Argument is StupidJune 20, 2008 3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Look, this whole argument is stupid. There is no right or wrong answer. Some people might like more of the neo-advaita writers, while others might like more of the traditional writers. No group is better than the other or more right than the other group. It will depend on the individual. Again, there is no right, no wrong, no better and no worse. And there should be no argument.
Time for bed. Sleep well.
A Necessary Addition to Everyone's LibraryJune 13, 2008 12 out of 14 found this review helpful
Dennis Waite's book "Enlightenment: The Path Through the Jungle" is a necessary addition to everyone's library because it can serve as a checklist against which they can test their understanding. Have you ever had the experience of trying to do something new, struggling with it to no avail, and then someone comes over to you and shows you what you have been doing wrong and suddenly - voila! - you understand? This book is that someone. Dennis has collected together over 500 `pointers' and categorized them under aspects of understanding Enlightenment, going to great pains to clarify the meaning of words used in nondual writings, the purpose of and need for practice, and the necessary value of scriptural teachings and guidance from an experienced teacher within Advaita. This makes it easy to find the pointers needed when questions arise for you - you can always find what you are looking for in Dennis' Index, if not in Reality!
While there will be some that take his assertions about the necessity of effort on the part of those who wish to find enlightenment and end their suffering, and his criticism of certain "neo-advaita" teaching methods, as negative, I feel it is worth the time of everyone to read what he has written and pause to digest these gentle assertions and see if they do not ring true. There is that old adage: "You get what you pay for," which, if you see your efforts to reach understanding as the payment, holds just as much in this realm as in any other.
Of course there will always be those who are in too much of a rush to "stand in line," and they don't listen to anyone anyway. This book isn't for them.
There is a disturbing current finding favor in modern Nondual circles, which Dennis points to, which I characterize as anti-Intellectualism. Concepts, more and more frequently of late, are considered to be wrong in all cases. And it is this judgment that leads to teachers today presenting an understanding of ultimate reality as requiring nothing more than a short tagline, such as "you are That!," to achieve. As Dennis explains, this is the reason that effort is rejected and scriptural authorities are ignored. But it isn't that easy to dispel ignorance, and if you spend the time to contemplate the good feelings of being together with your satsang and how you were before, you will see that all you have done is replace one misunderstanding of reality, coupled with whatever suffering, or dis-ease, this brought on, with assertions that you really don't understand when you try to make sense of them, coupled with the good feelings of companionship that one finds in satsangs. And it is this failure to make sense of these assertions that is today esteemed because it means that one is not "lost" within concepts. Yes, but one is also bereft of understanding!
You are That, and nothing needs to be done to change you, but until you understand what that little tagline means you are not enlightened. It is the conceptual wisdom of a long tradition like Advaita that has proven effective in moving individuals like you and I to this understanding. It is the ignorance that must be dispelled, as Dennis points out, and that does require effort. Understanding is not like coins in the pocket - something that you have - and you do not get $200 for just passing "Go". Understanding is something that you are, and this book will help you realize what you are "doing wrong" to become that!
James Corrigan An Introduction to Awareness
Best, clearest , and most thorough book ever written comparing traditional and non-traditional teachings of nondualityJune 11, 2008 3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I would highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to know more about the traditional teachings of Advaita/Vedanta.
It would be especially useful for those who have been exposed to the recent satsang method (or non-method) of teaching, or any other non-traditional teachings of non-duality, and who have begun to wonder why after so many years of listening to various teachers, they don't seem any closer to the goal than when they started.
The teachings of Advaita/Vedanta offer a tried and true methodology which enables the student to understand and reach the goal of self-knowledge. The other newer non-traditional teachings of non-duality have no informed knowledge of, and therefore cannot offer, this approach.
Dennis's book clearly compares and contrasts the traditional teaching of Advaita/Vedanta with the various and numerous non-traditional approaches to the subject. In a logical step by step fashion, Dennis illustrates why and how traditional teachings work as an effective means of self-knowledge, and why non-traditional teachings are very unlikely to bear fruit.
Anyone who has a sincere interest in this subject will no doubt be greatly benefited from reading this book.
Take this book to satsangJune 5, 2008 6 out of 6 found this review helpful
What is traditional advaita?
Traditional advaita is a process, a culture, and a methodology for achieving enlightenment. It is founded in Indian scriptures, but more important than scriptures are the teacher and the methodology, according to Waite.
What is neo-advaita?
Neo-advaita gets right to the point that so many people already sense, intuit, and know from experience. The point is that "this" is "it." Stop and see. Neo-advaita confesses the truth that there is only "this." Neo-advaita doesn't go through a process of education, nor does it unfold scriptures chapter by chapter. It just says what is, in various ways.
Since it's impossible for people to gather around any interest at all without some kind of organization arising, there are processes, methods, and a culture of neo-advaita that can be identified, but they are very thin compared to traditional advaita..
Some of the teachers of neo-advaita, though they themselves do not use the term neo-advaita, include Tony Parsons, Jeff Foster, Richard Sylvester, Nathan Gill.
Theme and purpose:
The theme of this book is that you can become enlightened through traditional advaita, while it is unlikely you will become enlightened through neo-advaita and satsang.
Dennis writes about the book's purpose: "The purpose is specifically to address the concerns of seekers who are dissatisfied with the satsang or neo-advaitin approaches to the teaching of advaita and to answer related questions." Waite says, "I am not primarily criticizing neo-advaita in respect of the truth or falsehood of its actual statements but as regards its utility as a teaching methodology."
The evolution of advaita:
Neo-advaita is less than 30 years old and evolving. Traditional advaita is 1200 years old and it too is evolving. For example, one organization, The Philosophy Foundation in Waltham, Massachusetts, is dedicated to traditional advaita and offers an Eckhart Tolle reading group. Swami Chinmayananda's ashram offers youth camps and senior citizens homes. Both those organizations are mentioned by Waite in his book and their recommendation is implicit.
Dennis Waite has freeze-framed the evolution of neo-advaita, analyzed it, and suggested it bend and graft onto traditional advaita. More than anything else, that suggestion makes this book controversial. It sounds as though he is asking Tony Parsons to teach classes in the Upanishads. That is unnatural. Kindly allow me to ask, When did Dennis Waite become the Pope of advaita?
This is an important book in the nonduality genre for several reasons. Dennis Waite makes a distinction between neo-advaita and traditional advaita that is detailed and clear. Well-known players in the nonduality game back Waite's thesis. Also, Dennis Waite has developed a potential force for the evolution of neo-advaita. If his book is read by people who attend Western satsang and if they ask the right questions, that force could be absorbed by neo-advaita and a new faction might split off that looks like a neo-traditional advaita.
It's all in the seeker...May 31, 2008 7 out of 15 found this review helpful
I recently read a short debate between Tony Parsons and Dennis Waite on this very topic.
For whatever it's worth, I tend to agree with Dennis Waite about the lack of depth or 'efficacy' in modern teachings. Yet, I don't necessarily agree that the traditional teachings are 'better'. The actual teaching itself is quite simple - self-enquiry, just BE-ing and direct seeing.
There really isn't that much to 'teach' - it's all in the sincerity and dedication of the 'student'. From here the traditional teachings have *much* more to offer the sincere, but neither modern nor traditional teachings have a single, solitary thing to offer the half-arsed, uninterested and/or uncommitted seeker.
