Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Scott Bradley, Please Shut Up

Scott Bradley

Mr. Bradley, you have invited us to share our thoughts here, and I now do so by way of asking you to please shut up. For although you have frequently entertained us and even sometimes given us food for thought, ultimately you are a fraud. I do not mean to imply that you are willfully deceiving us, pretending to have spiritual insight when you do not, for you frequently tell us of your failings. Yet, you continue to blabber on as if this does not matter. It does matter.

Are there really no genuinely realized teachers who can better instruct us? Are we not wasting our time reading the speculative probings of someone more in the dark than ourselves? Would a genuine teacher please stand up!

Mr. Bradley, it seems that every week you discover a new gate which leads to your theoretical 'transcendence'. And with each new gate we forget the previous one without either you or us having passed through it. Is this really the way to proceed? Are you not really simply deceiving us by turning your project into an end in itself? Not only do you not have an 'answer', you apparently never will.

Admittedly, you tell us you are a mess and that your ramblings are a working through of your own problems. Your honesty is commendable, as is your project of growth. But what makes you think it helps us to be privy to your needs or to your endless attempts to overcome them? By providing an example of such a project, you would likely respond. Fine. The point has been taken. Now maybe it's time you shut up.
You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

10 comments:

  1. Dear Mr Bradley,

    Please could you
    1)share
    2)blabber
    3)instruct

    regarding
    1)8 Pillars of Taoism
    2)Pa Kau
    3)Taoist Internal Alchemy

    but I will practise understanding if you
    1)object
    2)are obstinate
    3)walking on the beach.

    Many thanks, J

    ReplyDelete
  2. The 8 pillars are the PA KUA, or in pinyin, Bagua. I am the copy editor of the group...and I study and practice neidan, but I don't think anyone else here is much interested in that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And lest you think I'm just being picky, pa kau looked like a Hawaiian word to me, and I was afraid we going to go all Huna, or something...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. baroness, a typo, I confess my fingers oft'times move more slowly than my brain . . .


      "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
      Moves on; nor all thy Piety nor Wit
      Shall lure it back or cancel half a line,
      Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

      Or Chinese Proverb:
      There are 3 things that don't come back: the 'spoken' word, the sped arrow & the wasted life.

      [or perhaps just Hakuna Matata ;)]

      Delete
    2. Mei wenti. It is a fetish of mine to be precise, not that I don't make my own typos. Unfortunately, written words do stick around. And I'm picky about the Chinese.

      Delete
  4. Is "genuinely realised teacher" the New Age version of "righteous prophet of the Lord"? Laughable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No. In classical Taoists texts there are suggestions that, in additon to tudying the texts, you must seek a "spitritual immortal" or "enlightened teacher." In Liu I-ming's commentary (during the Qing Dynasty,mid-18th century)) of Zhang Bo Duan's 12th century work, Wu Zhen Pian, he writes:
      "By reading the texts, [students] can distinguish false and true, genuine and bogus, and can extend their knowledge and perspective; calling on enlightened teachers, they can ascertain the verity of the priniciples they have discerned. Study on one's own and finding a teacher are both necessary." (tr. Cleary).

      If you cannot find a "genuinely realized teacher," at least you might find one who is further along the path than you are yourself.

      Delete
    2. Good reason to avoid "classical" Taoism then - reminds me of what I left behind. We're all just human, finding our way. There are no realised teachers, just people who've had different learning experiences. Anything and anyone can teach us. At least that's the approach I prefer now, maybe it's not for everyone.

      Delete
    3. Perhaps you haven't met a good teacher. What exactly did you leave behind?

      Delete
  5. Does the person, who wrote you this letter, have someone standing over their head with a gun forcing them to read what you write?? Forcing them to put to practice what you say??? If yes then they should be cribbing about the one with the gun and not you....

    And if they of their own will are reading your writings then they need to shut up themselves coz they can always choose not to follow u....

    I enjoy ur writings scott....i dont think your preaching something here...its just ur thoughts...and its great ur sharing them

    I mean the name of the blog is rambling taoists right!

    ReplyDelete

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