What exactly is enlightenment?
Who would be the
best teacher for me?
Follow Berthold Madhukar Thompson's burning quest, as
he searches for-and tirelessly questions-a total of
twelve spiritual teachers who are widely recognized
as enlightened.
 |
|
Osho • Papaji • Harish
Madhukar ï Gangaji • Annamalai Swami •
Lakshmana Swami Ramesh Balsekar • Dadaji
• Kirin • UG Krishnamurti •
Andrew Cohen • D. B. Gangolli |
As his book opens, the author forsakes a conventional
existence in his motherland of Germany, where he is
a successful businessman. He heads over land to India
at a time when very little was known in the West about
Advaita spirituality i.e., the now-popular Vedanta philosophy
of nondualism that is the centerpiece of this book.
Like Odysseus the warrior-hero, Thompson becomes a heroic
inner warrior: Meeting the teacher Osho, he begins to
engage in an arduous inner battle as Thompson would
put it--against his deep ignorance about his own true
nature. After Osho's untimely death, he forms "alliances"
with other spirit-warriors (his many gurus), whom he
at times questions ruthlessly. The Odyssey of Enlightenment
records chapter after chapter of Thompson's varied ordeals
with these teachers, not unlike the diversified ordeals
that Homer reports in The Odyssey. Under each teacher's
inspiration, Thompson deploys the "weapons"
of spirituality that he finds at hand--selfless service,
meditation, devotion, and gnosis. And then, after more
than a decade on the inner battlefield, the author is
recognized by a renowned teacher to have won the war:
He is declared "enlightened."
| Madhukar
Thompson |
 |
But also not unlike the stouthearted Odysseus,
the way home to the West is a worse ordeal for our author.
He rejects the designation of "enlightenment"
that has been conferred by his second guru. Seeking
to become better established in the Self, he finds himself
impelled to voyage to other unknown destinations where
he encounters strange beings and a confusing diversity
of teachings. Finally, the publication of a book becomes,
in a real sense, part of his arduous journey home. Thompson
first self-publishes many volumes in his attempt to
explain his many trials on the road. In the end he completes
his full chronicle and earnest report to the West about
his inner conquests. It now includes an advanced set
of well-honed questions and answers, plus a new set
of even more advanced questions and wise reflections
that he carries home.
Along the way, the author engages in a series of wholehearted
commitments to five renowned teachers, each of which
are depicted in a long chapter: Osho, Papaji, Ramana
Maharshi (through the vehicle of his senior discliples),
Ramesh Balsekar, and D. B. Gangolli. Unique and diverse
contributions to the progress of his odyssey are provided
by these beloved teachers.
His root guru was Osho. Also known in the West as Sri
Bagwan Rajneesh, the notorious Osho made the author
aware of the ways in which his European social and emotional
conditioning blocked the realization of "buddhahood."
Fully exploring the body-mind-emotion complex through
therapeutic and meditation techniques was Osho's main
emphasis--and as a result Thompson's investigation into
nature of the Self took a back seat, especially in the
earlier years of his discipleship.
In stark contrast, the teaching of his next guru, Papaji,
(Sri H.W. L. Poonja), pointed almost exclusively to
the true nature of the Self and facilitated experiencing
this in his presence and under his direct guidance.
Except for sitting in satsang with the master, Papaji
said, no other practices were necessary. Thus the exploration
of the body-mind-emotion complex was ignored in his
teaching. He declared that the first occurrence of a
full recognition of the Self is enlightenment; according
to him, no further stabilization and establishment in
the Self was necessary. Writes the author: "I no
doubt experienced that which he referred to as enlightenment,
but very soon found that these blissful experiences
in no way meant an end to my odyssey."
Third, the practice of the self-inquiry method passed
down from Ramana Maharshi through his brief but profound
encounters with Sri Ramana's disciples Annamalai Swami
and Lakshmana Swami, became a mainstay in the author's
personal spiritual practice.
His fourth guru, the well-known Ramesh Balsekar, taught
that everything is predestined, including one's own
enlightenment. In Balsekar's view, practice is actually
detrimental to enlightenment. Says the author: "Why,
then, I wondered, did he hold satsang and teach at all?
For me, this three-year association merely ended in
a philosophical conundrum."
Finally, Thompson's last teacher, D.B. Gangolli, taught
that the recognition of the Self is indeed crucial but
is definitely not the last step on the path to enlightenment.
Thompson learned that he still needed to become established
in the Self through even more advanced Advaita Vedanta
practices. Among the important teachers the author interviews
are the respected American master Andrew Cohen, whose
gives a highly original and inspiring account of the
perils and opportunities of the path to enlightenment.
Until Thompson came across the traditional Advaita
Vedanta teachings (sourced from the great ninth century
adept, Shankara) taught by the brilliant D.B. Gangolli,
he founding himself stilling clinging to the notion
that the spiritual power and transmission of the guru
would somehow mysteriously make him enlightened. "What
hooked me," writes Thompson, "was the fact
that so often in their presence, I was transported into
another realm where what I had been so desperately seeking
was simply there. This made it difficult not to believe
that the teachers themselves were somehow the source
of these experiences. Yet to this day, I cannot say
for sure: What combination of factors and realities
were actually responsible for these experiences? Was
it the teachers? Was it me? Was it grace? Was it the
Self? Was some measure of destiny involved? These are
questions about which all seekers have to find their
own answers."
Indeed, Thompson provides in this unprecedented volume
a set of questions and answers that will surely inspire
thousands of readers in their own odyssey for truth.
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