![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Spirituality Information |
|
![]() |
Spirituality: Impersonating Jed McKenna
"No man is a prophet in his own country." That line keeps running through my mind as I sit over lunch with my sister who I haven't seen in several years. These days I'm the enlightened guy, but to her I'm just the bratty kid who couldn't make eye contact when she wore a bikini. It's summer '01 and we're having lunch in lower Manhattan. She read a preview copy of Damnedest and has had a few months to digest it. It was very nice of her to read it because it's really not her kind of thing. She's a good citizen; a successful executive, wife, mother, Republican, tennis nut, Christian-ish, and all-round productive member of society. (She once told me she was raising her children to be productive members of society and I winced so hard I almost chipped a tooth.) She's a wonderful person, but not a member of the demographic the book speaks to. There's a plate of chilled pasta in front of me and a salad in front of her. We're both drinking iced tea. She's runs the creative side of a medium-sized ad agency and, I have no doubt, she's very good at it. She's taking time out of a busy schedule to have lunch with me. After this, I'm going to the park to lay in the grass and watch people play with their dogs. Visiting your sister and having lunch shouldn't be a confusing ordeal, but it is. Is she really my sister? What does that mean? We share some history and acquaintances, such as childhood and parents. Are my parents really my parents? Genetically they are related to my body, but the person who lived my childhood is no longer here. The past I share with this person is about as real and important to me as if I'd read it in a brochure. The problem is that these people, my family, are all related to my shell, and I'm not. They're looking at the outer Jed McKenna and assuming an inner Jed McKenna. I'm inside Jed McKenna looking out and I can't really remember what he's supposed to do or say. It's all fakery. I'm an actor playing a role for which I feel no connection and have no motivation. There cannot be anything genuine in my dealings with people who are dealing with my outer garment. (The whole thing is further entangled by the fact that there's no "I" inhabiting my shell, just a fading echo, but let's not go down that road just now.) Actually, it's not really confusing. I possess not the least shred of doubt about who and what I am. The tricky thing is that who and what I am is not related to this pretty, professional, salad-eating woman across from me. By coming to this lunch I have inserted myself into a situation where I do not belong. I am an imposter. I have some residual fondness for my sister and if she died I'd be saddened to think that she was no longer in the world, but the simple fact is that our former relationship no longer exists. Okay, so why am I telling you this? Because that's what I do. I try to hold this enlightenment thing up for display and this seems like an interesting aspect of the whole deal. How do you relate to the people who were most important to you before awakening from the dream of the segregated self? She asks why I'm in town. "My astrologers told me it was a good time to get away and not try to accomplish anything. They said that ketu and rahu wouldn't be letting me get anything done for awhile anyway..." I look up and see that she has stopped chewing in mid-mouthful and is staring at me incredulously. "What?" "My astrologers..." "You're not serious. You have astrologers?" Oh yeah. I guess that sounds weird. I was vaguely aware that I was trying to be funny by starting a sentence with "My astrologers told me..." but what's a little amusing to me is other-worldly to her. Might as well have fun with it. "I have dozens of astrologers. I can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone who's doing my chart or explaining how my future will unfold; advising me on pretty much everything." Her expression doesn't change. "You have astrologers?" "Lots. Gotta beat 'em off with a stick." "And they tell you... They tell you what the future holds? What you should do? When you should do it? What you should avoid? Is that what we're talking about?" "I suppose." She resumes chewing but the wide-eyed gaze remains. There's a chasm in this conversation across which there's no point trying to communicate. She knows I'm into some serious weirdness, but not how much or what kind. I don't really have astrologers, of course, but in those days it did seem like I was surrounded by students of Eastern and Western astrology who were always very eager to share their readings. "What do you do with all that information?" "Me? Nothing. I mean, I don't ask for it. It's not like I wake up and summon the court astrologers to plan my day." "Sounds like you do." "I was speaking lightly." I'm trying to skip playfully along the surface of this conversation. I don't want to sink down into the kind of answer I'd give a serious student. The truth is that I don't possess any mechanism that would allow me to be curious or concerned about the future, but saying that doesn't make for breezy conversation. "Jesus," she says, shaking her head. "My little brother has his own astrologers." "Well, they're not really mine. They're just in attendance, so to speak." I'm used to conversing with people who aren't awake and aren't happy about it. Everything else is chit-chat; talking for the sake of talking, reinforcing the illusion of self. I'm not against it, I just don't care to participate in it. My fault. "So, you obviously have a great deal of influence over your students," she says as she sips her iced tea. I mull her statement over and decide that I don't have a response. I take another bite of pasta, wishing I'd ordered something with meat. "I mean," she says, "they obviously hold you in very high regard. That's quite a responsibility." She thinks, quite understandably, that she's my big sister and we're having a reunion; a nice little catch-up lunch. She's been thrown a curve with this little-brother/spiritual-master thing and she's trying to handle it. Does she think I'm a fraud? Does she think I'm running a game? Does she think that underneath it all I'm still really her little brother? I don't know and I don't much care. The fact that she's read Damnedest doesn't mean that she and I can speak; it means she should know we can't. She doesn't seem to be clear on that. Maybe she thinks the enlightenment thing is just my day job and that I can step out of that role to be with someone who knows the real me. "I don't know. I suppose it's a responsibility." "You don't know? Obviously these people are strongly influenced by you. You don't think that's a big responsibility?" I shrug. The first thing she said to me when we got together was that I wasn't dressed well enough for the restaurant. Such a statement is so alien to me that I could only shrug. Now it seems that every statement she makes is so alien to me that I can only shrug. In accepting this lunch engagement, my hope was that I could slip back into my old persona enough to manage a civil meal. That was too hopeful. I can no longer impersonate myself and I am simply unable to formulate a reply to anything she has to say; I've forgotten my lines. We don't share a common tongue and there's no way I can make her see that. From her point of view she's saying perfectly normal, conversational things. "Yes, I suppose it's a big responsibility," I say, trying to say something that sounds like I'm saying something. She lowers her voice. "You hear a lot about people in your position taking advantage of that responsibility for... unsavory purposes. I hope you would never do something like that." I could simply tell her what the preview copy of the book was meant to tell her, that we are no longer related because what I am now doesn't relate. But why say it? To satisfy myself? It wouldn't. To inform her? It wouldn't. "You mean sex stuff? That sort of thing?" "Whatever. Power corrupts. I just hope you'll be careful." Sweet. Big sister giving little brother some advice on how to shoulder the burden of power. Being in advertising, perhaps she thinks we have something in common; wielding the power to influence people's thoughts. Maybe she thinks we're in the same business, I don't know. I set down my fork and sit back. "Well, when I walk through the house, I always have someone proceed me with a boom-box playing Darth Vader theme music to lend a weighty and ominous air to my approach. And I certainly don't dress like this. I have, you know, the robes, the beads, and I always carry fresh flowers. Just trappings, all very tiresome, really, but the minions expect it. There was a little resistance at first to having them call me Shri Shri Shri Shri Jed, but they got the hang of it. And remembering to speak in the first person plural there and singular here can take a little getting used to, but we are, I mean, uh, I am, happy to make the effort. Noblesse oblige and all." She stares at me for a moment, then bursts into laughter. I guess some ice has broken because we are able to continue in a lighter and friendlier manner, and eventually say goodbye with genuine fondness. I doubt I'll ever see her again, but I'm happy knowing she's still in the world. ::: About the Author "Jed McKenna is an American original." -Lama Surya Das Jed McKenna is the author of "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" and "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment", published by Wisefool Press. Coming in 2005: "Spirituality X" and "Jed McKenna's Notebook". Visit http://www.WisefoolPress.com to learn more.
MORE RESOURCES:
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
Christian Love Actually, loving does not take any great effort on our part because it is not something we must put forth great effort to achieve. When God enters our heart, soul, and mind, love is spontaneously produced because He is love. Beneficiaries of the Promise We are the beneficiaries of the promise God made to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. He is the only Old Testament Character Scripture says was introduced to the gospel in advance (GAL 3:8). Discipline of Prayer: Always Connected Every workday, five days a week, I take the light rail into downtown Dallas. Only last week, this routine finally taught me a lesson about prayer. Who Is He? "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" --MATTHEW 22:42, NCVAfter three years of ministry, hundreds of miles, thousands of miracles, and innumerable teachings, Jesus asks, "Who?" Jesus bids the people to ponder not what He has done, but who He is. It's the ultimate question of the Christ: Whose Son is He? Is He the Son of God or the sum of our dreams? Is He a figment of our imagination?When we ask that question about Santa, the answer is the culmination of our desires. Ultimate Truth:The Beginning You decide! We are often asked to make decisions. Decision is described as, the passing of judgment on an issue under consideration, the act of reaching a conclusion or making up one's mind, a conclusion or judgment reached or pronounced, hence a verdict. The 17 Miracle Prayer Points that Make You Rich Someone asked me the other day what was the most effective prayer point to pray and become wealthy.I did some digging around and found out that the most powerful prayer points for wealth are the ones prayed by one of our partners over 5 years ago. Dead Man Walking One of my favorite movies is "The Green Mile". A memorable scene was when the presumably guilty murderer was being brought into the jail and they announced his arrival as "the dead man walking. Path to Healing It is within us to explore and draw upon our inner resources to heal. Some wounds are embedded so deeply that no amount of professional expertise can cure, much less heal. The End of Guilt What is the purpose of guilt?Well, let's look at it.Some would say that guilt is necessary to help us remember things we did that we should regret, so that,We won't make the same mistakes again, so that,We can feel we are learning from our mistakes, so that,We can become more moral, more compassionate, more confident, more self respecting and more virtuous human beings, so that,We can feel better about ourselves, so that,Our Self Worth can rise, and so that,Our Self Esteem can rise. Clear Mind, Empty Head: A Leak In Mind Like Water There's a lot of talk in meditation circles about emptying the mind.This is a roadblock for many people. Are You Following Your Knows Or Your I Dont Knows? We have all heard the phrase, "follow your nose". This means to keep your direction straight and you will find the way you are going. The Purpose of Life, Told by an Agnostic Talked to an interesting person today at a coffee shop, after about 10 minutes or so told me he was an atheist. Which is interesting and lends it self as to why we were having this particular conversation about "THE MEANING OF LIFE". Mind, in Time and Space One cannot make a decision in the moment of now. All decisions are made from the past, and then you work in the past to recreate a future that has already passed based on that decision. Petitioning for Your Needs Human beings are blessed with a unique gift: the gift of prayer or petition to the Infinite for our needs. A religious person would call it prayer; others may call it petition or meditation. Will the Angels Abandon Us? If we don't behave according to a specific church's doctrine, will our guardian angels turn their backs on us? If we are struggling with our overall belief in God or we're questioning the validity of the holy books, will the angels abandon us? What if we believe in God and in the Bible, but we just feel like screwing off for awhile? Will they desert us? Do we have to be good and pure and perfect in order for angels to look after us?I can only speak from my own experience. I was not raised in a church because my father is an atheist and my stepmother just didn't care either way. Creating A Tithe Account Almost every spiritual and religious teaching exhorts its followers to donate a portion of their income to the support of the community and the common good, both as a way of ensuring (and insuring) the community's ability to care for its own and as a way to allow the tither to realize the extent of and to express gratitude for their own success. Although each religion and sect has its own idea of what constitutes a proper tithe (usually around 10% of the participant's earnings), the concept of tithing is a wise and long-standing tradition - one that each of us should be encouraged to add to our lives. The Healing Hand of God "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Kundalini and Enlightenment We all hear of the concept of the "Enlightened Master", and I do believe they exist.However, awakened kundalini DOES NOT automatically make one an enlightened master. God's Eyes- If These Four Walls Could Talk? Can you imagine being sent out into the wilderness for forty years like Moses? If Moses would have lived his life up until then differently would God have spared him the discomfort? Was God trying to prove some point to Moses by making an example of him? What can we learn about this story?When was the last time you drove down the road with out the radio in your ears? When was the last time you just listen to your kids, your spouse or a friend and not said two words? When was the last time you just stopped and listened to the coffee pot making coffee early in the morning? Whether by design, life or nature most of us during our lives have built up barriers (walls) in our minds and around our hearts. By doing so most will never reach the full potential of what God has for their lives. Buddha Never Bowed Before a Statue, and Jesus Never Kneeled Before a Cross, From Divine Source Far to many people have become "followers" rather than BEING and living the messages they hold dear. True spiritual enlightenment comes from one Source; it is the same source that Jesus, Allah, Buddha, and You are connected to. ![]() |
home | site map |
© 2006 |