Q. Who is the greatest teacher in your view?
A. Your self. You know yourself, your situation, your energy, your character and your foibles better than anyone else. This is about a little understanding and a lot of personal energy management to shift your brain from its current state to that state which allows you to access/connect/produce bliss. No guru can be with you when you lose your job, when your partner is giving you grief, or when you’re struck by insurmountable fear. These are the times that really test you.
Q. Who are your top gurus?
A. I have never visited a guru, only listened to their videos, and read their books. Out of all of them, the only ones I would recommend to anyone are Ramana Maharshi, Papaji, and Mathru Sri Sarada, Mooji. Yet, there is still an awfully high amount of interpretation in the words of each and a woefully lacking amount of science. I lean towards necessary scientific explanation of mechanisms at play, otherwise we just enter the world of fact-less subjective experience.
I would also say that none of their truths are a true as mine is to me. I find all lack some scientific background, and all but Mathru seem to forget the level of repetition and practice that can be required. In any event, for another to represent the truth of the absolute factor within you, to you, is impossible because whatever they say is already relative to you and can be observed by you. It’s not in the books, the words, the teachers! Consider using any words and teachings as auxiliary to yourself; focus being the you that is aware of all teachings and all else and bliss will come.
Q. What was good about these gurus or do you have any criticisms?
A. Ramana with the question, “Who Am I,” is the brain asking the brain who it is, which takes one deeper within. He was from an age when neuroscience wasn’t in the equation so a vital piece of the puzzle is missed. He apparently had a quick enlightenment, too, creating a bit of a deficit as regards teaching others that didn’t. Also, of course, he is not around today either, leaving a lot of what he says open to different interpretations. For Papaji, the great thing he taught me was inner silence. This helped unabsorb from the mind/change my brainwaves a little; however, in the end and after a stage, there is no need for inner silence. The mind can be as noisy as it likes and bliss remains. The worst part of Papaji’s teachings was the reborn many times myth until you get enlightenment. If this is true, why don’t we have an ever decreasing number of people here? Where do all the new people come from? Such things are interpretations, and I try and stay with facts.
Mooji should be commended for really asking you to see who the “you” you think you are. He, however, seems to offer the same advice to students, over and over, when differing advice is needed at different levels. You have to be very well practiced to take his questions properly. He has some good end of game questions, but a lot of the people that ask him questions need to go and practice being conscious of the mind in order to alter their brain and brainwaves, a vital part of his journey for me he doesn’t highlight enough is his time practicing. Practice is vital because for your experience to change, so must your brain!
Learn Bliss 