Jun 26, 2014 — OJAI, CALIFORNIA (SUN) —
Non-Dual Satsanga… Oxymorn?
Another year has gone by and it's time again for the annual Ojai July 4th Independence Day Parade Rathayatra. Last year at this time I did a short run-down on some of the usual lectures and "Pseudo-Spiritual" gatherings that I had an opportunity to attend in Ojai during the 2012-2013 year. One of the colorful characters that I reported on was the mayavadi sannyasi, Swami Atmananda Udasin from Rishikesa, India. My critique of his lack of brahminical acumen came under the section entitled: 'Poorly Informed Mayavadi Sannyasi, Atmananda Swami', in the article entitled "Liberation Day for Impersonalists".
Now I am writing to report about the interesting turn of events that occurred when Swami Atmananda Udasin recently returned to speak in the city of Ojai. The Vaishnava community will find this article instructional, revealing, and perhaps even a bit entertaining. Swami Atmananda Udasin is a young man who I am sure means very well, but has become hopelessly entangled in the spaghetti like, twisted reasoning of Sankaracarya's Neo-Non-Dual song and dance.
It was brought to my attention that Swami Atmananda Udasin returned to Ojai during the last week of May 2014 by friends who are not mesmerized by his unconvincing, unprofessional, and self-serving so-called "Non-Dual Sat Sangas" . In fact, they found it a bit comical that he advertises his gatherings like this without realizing that it is an oxymoron. His followers simply don't realize that in Kali Yuga, there is virtually nothing true (sat) about the way the Neo-Non-Duality path is taught or practiced.
Last year when I attended Atmananda Udasin's lecture l listened to him twaddle on about how we are all just consciousness and nothing more than that. He repeatedly echoed the usual Non-Dual propaganda which seems to find its way into nearly every so-called spiritual event held in Ojai. The routine is quite consistent and predictable with slight variations on the "You Are That" theme and the admonishment to stop looking in sacred scriptures for help. I have collected a lot of material on the Neo-Advaita scam that is capturing the attention of so many innocent but well intended individuals. At a later date I intend to address their sophistry in a more comprehensive presentation that will probably evolve into a full blown book.
For now however, my intent is to just report on what happened when Swami Atmananda returned to Ojai for about a week during the end of May 2014. His behavior was so peculiar that an objective person can only wonder, just what are his qualifications to speak about the science of the soul, and what is his real agenda?
Apparently some of Atmanandas' sycophant cheerleaders did a global search on their guru's name and they came across my paper published on Sampradaya Sun, mentioned above. In that paper I critiqued last year's "Non-Dual SatSanga" conducted by Swami Atmananda. I summarized what I observed in the following closing paragraph to that critique:
"The sad truth is that Swami Atmananda sounded like one of the most mixed up, boring and sadly deluded individuals I have had the opportunity to listen to in a long time because he dressed like a holy man but he spoke like a fool. When asked about Karma, he set all the concerns of his audience aside by declaring: "As long as one continued to be completely detached from what you are doing, then there will be no karma!" (So if you tell the officer that you are completely detached about breaking the law… you will not get a ticket?)
Preaching to the Choir
The Neo-Advaita tradition is also referred to as Mayavadi Philosophy because it postulates that the divine became overwhelmed by maya, which explains our current unfortunate position. This thinking attracts a lot of well-intended innocent individuals who are quickly swept away by bits and pieces of philosophical truths that have a foundation in the Vedas, without ever realizing that the conclusions they are led to by the Neo-Advaita representatives are skewed.
For example: Sadananda Yogindra, one of the greatest Mayavadi acaryas, has written in his book, Vedanta-sara:
"The Absolute Truth of eternity, knowledge and bliss is Brahman. Ignorance and all products of ignorance are non-Brahman. All products of the three modes of material nature are covered by ignorance, and all are different from the supreme cause and effect. This ignorance is manifested in a collective and individual sense. Collective ignorance is called visuddha-sattva-pradhana. When that visuddha-sattva-pradhana is manifested within the ignorance of material nature, it is called the Lord, and the Lord manifests all kinds of ignorance. Therefore He is known as sarvajna."
Thus according to Mayavada philosophy, the Lord is a product of this material nature and the living entity is currently covered and trapped in the lowest stage of ignorance. That is the sum and substance of Mayavada philosophy.
However this is an incorrect conclusion.
When we read the Upanisads a bit more carefully we discover that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a person with unlimited potency. For example, in the Svetasvatara Upanisad it is stated:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of everything, and He has multiple potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the cosmic manifestation. He is the origin of all religion, the supreme deliverer, and the possessor of all opulences. I understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be just like the sun, profusely distributing His energies while situated beyond the cloud of this material cosmic manifestation. He is the master of masters, and He is the supreme of supremes. He is known as the greatest Lord, the Personality of Godhead. His multiple potencies are variously distributed."
Also, the Rg Veda (1.22.20) states that Visnu is the Supreme and that saintly persons are always anxious to see His lotus feet. And in the Aitareya Upanisad it is stated that the cosmic manifestation came about when the Lord glanced over material nature (1.1.1–2). This is confirmed by the Prasna Upanisad (6.3).
The negative descriptions of the Lord which occur in the Vedic literature (such as apani-padah: "the Lord has no hands or feet") indicate that the Lord has no material body and no material form. But He does have His spiritual, transcendental body and His transcendental form. Because the Mayavadi philosophers misunderstand His transcendental nature, they explain Him as impersonal. The Lord's name, form, qualities, entourage and abode are all in the transcendental world. How can He be a transformation of this material nature? Everything connected with the Supreme Lord is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. (Ref: TLC 19: Further Talks with Prakasananda)
None of this is ever explained by the purveyors of the Neo-Advaita tradition because for the most part, none of them have been fully educated themselves in these important philosophical distinctions. Instead we get individuals like Swami Atmananda promoting his own flavor-of-the-month Non-Duality with these following rather immature speculative tidbits:
"There is nothing to be attained… One has to watch the fluctuations of the mind… We should just ignore the stream of thoughts… enlightenment is the dissolution of the person or ego-identification." - Swami Atmananda Udasin
Gee. You would think that people who preach like this would have no objection to letting someone participate in a "Sat Sanga" , particularly when it is advertised as: "All spiritual seekers are welcome" . But that was not the case when I attempted to sit down for the usual "Silent Meditation" that always precedes a gathering of Non-Dualists.
Please remember here that the last time the Swami came to Ojai I never said a word, not even after he asked for questions. I did not disrupt his presentation in any way. Even those who knew me attempted to reassure this "Enlightened" soul that I would not be rude or disrupt his "Sat Sanga"… but this master of oneness who preaches about detachment would not allow it. He unequivocally declared that an Advaita heretic like myself was not welcome to listen to what he had to say! He was apparently only comfortable preaching to the Non-Dual silent choir.
Of course, it is understandable why his less advanced sycophants would still be trapped in the duality of seeing me as the "Bad Guy", but why did this swami, who is affectionately referred to as "The Real Deal" have such an objection to me sitting in again on his lecture? His groupies provided the answer to that question when they rushed to his defense: "Because you wrote such a mean spirited article about Him… You are not open to what he has to say!"
Setting the Record Straight
I suspect even many Vaishnavas would question why I chose to expose Atmanandas' foibles. After all, there as so many mayavadi gurus belching out all sorts of nonsense… who has time to keep up with them all? In that regard I agree. It is quite overwhelming to see how many people are being cheated by the shallow teachings of Neo-Advaita impersonalism, but as Vaishnavas we are really the only ones properly equipped to expose this pseudo-religion for the irreligion that it really is. We may be few, but this was the mission of our Spiritual Master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and it is our duty to carry on with his mission, despite all the odds against us. Ours is to simply do the best we can to present Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement and leave the results in Krishna's hands.
However there was clearly more going on here than the usual scrambled word pontification we are all familiar with hearing from the proponents of Neo-Advaita. In this case, what motivated me to critique Atmananda's "tamo-sanga" , specifically for Vaishnavas, was because of the ugly way he portrayed the path of Bhakti to his audience. We are all aware of the fact that these guys are in the business of telling poorly informed sentimental "seekers" broad sweeping, low content, confusing statements like:
"Pure Consciousness is all there is. It is another name for the divine Being or Presence. It is the ultimate Reality, beginningless and endless. It is beyond time and space."
That in itself is indeed frustrating for a Vaishnava. We understand that reducing everything down to just consciousness is not only ignorantly simplistic, but it completely negates God's superior energy, which lies beyond the speculation of the jnani yogis.
"Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme." - (Bhagavad Gita As It Is7.24)
However Atmananda Swami went way beyond the usual negation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: he chose to belittle the entire lineage of Bhakti. He arrogantly insulted the impeccable nature of our most beloved guru, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta as well as all of the remarkable acaryas in our parampara! That was when I took out my pen! Or to put it in the words of America's tough guy, hero Rambo: "He drew first blood!"
Those poor, foolish followers of Bhakti!
What provoked me to describe Atmanandas' "speculations (as) shallow, frivolous, completely useless, and (not being able to) improve anything, but… actually mak(e) things much worse" was the way he portrayed those who take up the path of Bhakti.
When he was asked to comment about his understanding of Bhakti-yoga, Atmananda began to jest with the audience about how "Irrational those silly followers of Bhakti are. They have such foolish ideas of what a guru is!" He rhetorically appealed to his audience: "Can you believe it? How naïve can one be? Those people who follow Bhakti take an ordinary guy who drinks liquor, chases women, and carries on like the rest of us and they put him up on a throne, give him everything and worship him like he is God! Now how ignorant is that? They bow at the feet of a debauchee and then listen to him for spiritual advice!"
For a Swami to speak like this while sitting on the revered seat of Veda Vyasa was not only tragically offensive and immature, but it also clearly revealed the epitome of his ignorance.
Before I go any further I need to unequivocally declare that unfortunately in Kali Yuga, there have been many impostor gurus who take advantage of gullible followers. However, they show up in both the Bhakti path as well as in the Neo-Non-Dual tradition. What is important to note here is that Atmananda was obviously completely ignorant about the teachings of Rupa Gosvami. His pejorative depiction of the Bhakti Yoga Guru revealed that he was not only very ill-informed, but grossly prejudicial and intentionally misleading.
"(Only) a sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the minds' demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world.(Become a Bhakti Yoga Guru)" (Rupa Goswami (Author of the Science/Nectar of Devotion) Upadeshamrita – Nectar of Instruction Verse 1)
Acarya = One Who Teaches By Example
What is even more significant is there has not only historically been a long chain of extraordinarily pure individuals who have taught Bhakti Yoga, but even today there are many highly qualified individuals both living and teaching the Bhakti path! That is what the word 'acarya' means. One who teaches by example.
However this cannot be said about the Neo-Advaita teachers. Virtually all Neo-Advaita Gurus are cheating their followers because none of them are practicing the Non-Duality they claim to be teaching. Atmananda is a textbook case which proves this point. He couldn't even follow his own advice to: "…just ignore the stream of thoughts" and let me sit silently in the audience to hear what he had to say.
If there are any serious followers of Advaita we would never know about them because they would remain completely un-entangled with the world of names and preferences. They may be living in remote parts of the Himalayas, but I highly doubt it. If they are out there, they have NO attachment to ashrams, followers, or the quest for any form of profit, adoration or distinction. Those individuals, wherever they may be, understand that all these superlatives are measuring sticks that simply do not exist in the world of Non-Duality. They could not care less about who's going to win the Super Bowl, social conventions, the daily news, or what ice-cream they prefer. In fact, the real path of Non-Duality means one makes absolutely no distinction about what they eat. In fact, they don't even care IF they eat, what to speak of if they attend spiritual discussions or ever experience emotional or sexual urges. The Non-Dual path means being 100% completely aloof from it ALL! As soon as you fail to "…ignore the stream of thoughts" you have again become implicated in the world of dualities, like the rest of us.
We do not expect the Neo-Advaita followers to even know who Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is, what to speak of appreciate what this most recent incarnation of Krishna had to say. But perhaps those who haven't drunk the Non-Dual passion-juice might appreciate the concerns this 1500 Century avatara had to say about those who take up the Non-Dual path. Here the word mayavadi is used in place of Advaita, but it refers to the same convoluted Advaita rhetoric that is impossible to understand and beyond the ability for anyone in Kali-Yuga to properly follow.
"Sankaracarya, who is an incarnation of Lord Siva, is faultless because he is a servant carrying out the orders of the Lord. But those who follow his Mayavadi philosophy are doomed. They will lose all their advancement in spiritual knowledge." ( Adi 7.114)
It was bad enough that the attending sergeant of Non-Dual arms asked me to give up my chair just as the "Sat Sanga" began, but the eroding of Atmananda's holiness patina did not end there. Apparently, the Neo-Advaitists reserve the right to be as picky, judgmental and opinionated as everyone else when they "feel" it is "necessary" to do so. (Notice the double standard, illustrating why it is impossible for anyone to really practice the Non-Dual path with integrity in the Age of Kali.)
The Swami really did not want anything to break the bliss of those who were merging into their own pre-Sat Sanga silent stupor, so I was actually escorted quite urgently all the way out to the street beyond the earshot of enlightenment hall. Ironically. it turned out to be more disturbing then it would have been had I been allowed to quietly sit down and wait for the lecture to begin.
Non-Dual Hyperbole
When asked by the bouncer to follow him out to the door I responded like anyone would with the appropriately reasonable question: "Why?" That led to a whole bunch of fast talking political-like-spin about how the meeting wasn't intended for people like me. Of course, this led to ask further clarifying questions which were followed by even more transparently bigoted hyperbolic spin. I was eventually blatantly told to my face. "We don't want you here!"
Huh? How Non-Dual loving does that sound? I reassured the obviously disturbed individuals who were paying attention to this exchange that as a brahmin, I had no intent to stay where I was not welcome… but how was I supposed to know that Vaishnava brahmins were not invited to "Holy Sat Sangas"! I had to remind them that the advertising did read: "Everyone welcome!"
When we got to the street and the temporarily dualist, Non-Dualist calmed down I was told: "The Swami would have been "happy" to speak with you if you had arrived early." Apparently he was now in his performance mode, which was why I had to leave. (More spin.) But how was I to know that I was expected to show up early in order to earn entry into the inner sanctum? Gee if that was the rule to the game, why didn't somebody call to tell me that I was the lucky guy who was going to be offered such special treatment?
I was then informed that Atmananda ji actually had a deep respect for the Bhakti path and would enjoy meeting with me if I wished to set up an appointment (more downward spiral spin). I was informed quite emphatically that four days later on the following Monday, the Swami would be done preaching to the silent choir and he had the whole day free to speak with me about whatever I liked. I was promised I could meet with him for an hour if I wished to do that. Well, who would have thunk it?
So I accepted the invitation to have a "Personal Darshan" with Swami Atmananda that next Monday. After all, I was told that was the day he intentionally left open before he departed, specifically for post Sat Sanga follow-ups like me! I was reassured repeatedly that Atmananda was the "Real Deal!" As such he would most certainly agree to help a confused soul like myself better understand that my belief in God was just an illusionary crutch planted in my head at an early age which I need no longer sustain. I was told that the Swami was empowered and that after meeting with him, many people realized that all these silly ideas about a Supreme Lord were false and absolutely no longer necessary. When a seeker gets that… by golly that's when they realize they are really FREE! Well then,... that would pretty much take care of everything, wouldn't it? A one-stop-shop comprehensive formula to assuage all introspective reconsideration anyone may have about a past mishap or future blunder. Wow! Advaita is the secret for guilt free solipsism!
"Sure I'll meet with him" , I said with genuine enthusiasm! Perhaps then we could have a serious discussion like a Sat Sanga is supposed to be! I really did want to know how Swami Atmananda Udasin felt so positive that his assertions about living free of fear, karma, and God were correct. In fact, I was really curious to know how he thought it was possible for any human being to understand anything accurately by dint of their own efforts. Didn't he realize that Vedic sages made it clear that the whole process of self-examination begins when one acknowledges that we all suffer from the following four human defects: 1) subject to illusion, 2) propensity to cheat, 3) imperfect senses, and 4) mistake prone? Certainly he could not be so naive to think that if a mixed up kid in California just sits down and meditates, all of the most confidential secrets of the universe would be magically revealed flawlessly to him. Did he think that the effulgent Brahman sends out unambiguous Morse code telegraph messages to help the neophyte meditator navigate through all the contaminating issues that are prevalent in this age of Kali?
"In the conditioned stage, ones' conceptions of life are sometimes polluted by passion and ignorance, which are exhibited by attachment, hostility, greed, lamentation, illusion, fear, madness, false prestige, insults, fault-finding, deception, envy, intolerance, passion, bewilderment, hunger and sleep. All of these are enemies. Sometimes ones' conceptions are also polluted by goodness." (Srimad Bhagavata Purana Canto 7: The Science of God Chapter 15 Instructions for Civilized Human Beings Text 43-44)
The master of Non-Dual arms reassured me he would call me the next day to tell me exactly what time on Monday I could plan on meeting with the great one. It was a done deal!
Well… I thought all of this was really interesting, but had absolutely no confidence that this meeting would ever happen. I have witnessed so much gobbly-gook spin from the Neo-Advaita people. I even informed the protector of the Sat Sanga as nicely as I could that it appeared he too drank the Kool-Aid. He might be under the illusion that the Swami was this really knowledgeable, peaceful, honest and "Real Deal" kind-of-a-cool Swami dude that would keep this appointment, but I already knew that this meeting was never going to happen.
Historic Sidebar
In the 1500's Lord Caitanya was invited to meet with the renowned Advaita pundit Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. He listened to him ramble on for seven days. When he was finally finished the scholar asked Lord Caitanya to comment on what he thought was an eloquent understanding of Vedanta. Because he was asked, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began by pointing out hundreds of grammatical, scriptural, and logical mistakes that were made by the big pundit. Back in those days people who assumed the seat of Veda Vyasa actually had enough personal integrity to listen closely to opposing viewpoints. The purpose of Sat Sanga wasn't to wow poorly informed groupies, but to actually have a serious inquiry into what was really going on for the benefit of ALL who attended. So when it was clear that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had a more comprehensive understanding of the Absolute Truth, the great Bhattacarya actually surrendered to Lord Caitanya.
"Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya said, "My dear Sir, You have delivered the entire world, but that is not a very great task. However, You have also delivered me, and that is certainly the work of very wonderful powers. I had become dull-headed due to reading too many books on logic. Consequently I had become like an iron bar. Nonetheless, You have melted me, and therefore Your influence is very great." (Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila 6 The Liberation of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya Text 213 & 214)
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya eventually went on to become a pure Vaishnava who then lead many other followers on the path of Bhakti.
Busy Signal
Based on everything that had already occurred, it was clear that I was not dealing with a genuine pundit. All this talk about appreciating Bhakti and looking forward to meeting with me was just more obvious damage control spin. In fact, the way all of this was unfolding seemed like a spiritual version of those "Investigative Reporter" stories that show up on the TV show, "60 Minutes." The producer sends in an innocent client with a new car they know has nothing wrong with it to see what happens. If the repair shop tries to take advantage of what they assume is a poorly informed car owner by generating a phony repair bill, they get busted for cheating their customers.
To actually have a meeting with Atmananda would be equivalent to the 60 Minutes reporter getting an interview with the owner of the cheating auto shop. It never happens. At best, what we see is the crook running from the door of his shop to his car, ducking under his raised jacket, while dodging cameras and microphones as reporters attempt to get him to comment. Nope. Those who get caught taking advantage of others never want to explain their repugnant behavior, especially when it is at the cost of losing business from those who placed their trust in them!
The evidence was already abundant. In the Spring of 2013, Atmananda had already shamelessly revealed his gross prejudices, ignorance and lack of respect for the Bhakti path. By not allowing me to sit silently and listen to his presentation on Neo-Advaita, like I had done the previous year, it was clear he had absolutely NO interest in conducting a serious inquiry into what is true, like a genuine Sat Sanga. Instead, Atmananda's behavior revealed he was either overwhelmed by his own bigoted opinions about Bhakti Yoga, or his fear of being exposed as not being enlightened after all.
I didn't get the call the next day. It was Monday morning when the message was conveyed to me that Swami Atmananda could not possibly meet with me. I was told: "The swami was too busy."
Ah….. If these mayavadis were not responsible for spewing some of the most bile ignorance in the guise of holy teachings, they would be comical. Unfortunately that is not the case, as predicted in the Bhagavad-gita.
"That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Partha, is in the mode of ignorance. "(Bhagavad Gita As It Is 18.32)
Although for the most part the Neo-Advaita people scoff at all scriptures and deride all concept of a personal deity, some of them do seem to have at least a little respect for Lord Siva. However we can only wonder just how much they understand about His relationship with Lord Vishnu based on Lord Siva's own commentary: While speaking to Bhagavati Devi he said:
srnu devi pravaksyami tamasani yatha-kramam
yesamsravana-matrena patityam jnaninam api
aparthamsruti-vakyanam darsayal loka-garhitam
karma-svarupa-tyajyatvam atra ca pratipadyate
sarva-karma-paribhramsan naiskarmyam tatra cocyate
paratma-jivayor aikyam mayatra pratipadyate
"My dear Devi, sometimes I teach Mayavada philosophy for those who are engrossed in the mode of ignorance. But anyone in the mode of goodness who happens to hear this Mayavada philosophy falls down, for when I teach Mayavada philosophy I say that the living entity and the Supreme Lord are one and the same."
Then in the Padma Purana Lord Shiva declared even more emphatically:
"The theory of Mayavadism, (The Non-dual Advaita Teachings) - though given a facade of great importance and claiming itself to be derived from the Vedas, is in truth a non-Vedic theory O goddess (Paravati) It is I, who have propagated this concocted theory which is the root cause of the world's destruction." (Mahadeva Siva speaking to Parvati, Padma Purana)
Mayesvara dasa (ACBSP)
AKA: William Roberts MBA/MIS, CCP
Director: American Vedic Association
Proprietor: Jagannatha Enterprises
687 West Villanova Road
Ojai, California 93023
(805) 640-0405
mdjagdasa @ gmail.com
