Jed McKenna's Theory Of Everything X

Scott Bradley

At the least, Jed McKenna is a great "spiritual entertainer". At the most, he is an 'enlightened' teacher who assists others to enlightenment, something that he claims to have done, if I remember correctly (and this may be the "credentials" to which he lays claim, hollow though any such claim must ultimately be in that neither his nor any other personal reality can be known, which leads us back to the faith issue).

The following posts will share some of his more 'entertaining' (and perhaps practical) suggestions, but first, a re-iteration of my working paradigm: My guess is that there is an awareness possible for human beings which is described as 'enlightenment'. I don't care much for the term (and neither does McKenna) since, for me, it seems to connote some kind of purposeful Reality, as if to make sense of existence, to tell us that we are, after all, special and 'saved'. It is, in the end, a religiously interpretive ‘answer’. Because the experience is not "our birth-right", there is no reason to believe that it is available for all.

I suspect that it is both accidental and natural, in the sense that a particular abnormal brain chemistry or structural anomaly is required. This is not intended to be dismissive of the experience; we would be fortunate to be so endowed. What it does do, however, is suggest that if one chooses to pursue it, it might be best to do so with a view to enjoying the process rather than striving overmuch for the end. The problem, however, is that it may very well be that whatever anomaly it is that makes the experience possible is only triggered by some kind of 'spiritual' anguish. Given this, and the highly unlikely chances of success, I, at any rate, choose not to pursue it.

It is understood, of course, that McKenna and other 'enlightened' ones would likely have a good laugh at my benighted analysis, but that's okay with me since we can all agree, I think, that it really doesn't matter all that much in any case.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.