Spiritual Autolysis – Jed McKenna
―Spiritual Autolysis is a writing process that allows us to utilise the fullest potential of our intelligence by bringing the mind into the sharpest possible focus. Autolysis means self-digestion, and that‘s the purpose of this technique.
Unlike journaling or keeping a spiritual diary, it‘s all about finding and illuminating the next obstacle to our progress. It is not concerned with finding answers, but questions. There are no answers to be found, only the questions that define our limitations. Understand the question, and you destroy the limitation. It is through courageous thought and clear-seeing that delusion is destroyed.
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Everyone thinks they think, but when someone begins to truly think (surgically, unemotionally, and destructively) they quickly see that it‘s not something they‘ve ever really done before. It is by writing, by externalising the thought process, by depersonalising it, by standing back from it and representing all sides in an organised and objective manner, that we are able to unleash an intellectual ferocity of which we are normally incapable and unaware.
A good way to start is to write down a statement you‘re sure is true, and then try to figure out exactly why the statement is false, which unless you have stated a negative (no beliefs true), made a subjective observation (my foot hurts), or wrote the only true thing you know (I am), it is.‖
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My Impression On Above Chapter: „If You Are Ready – Read On‟
In Jed McKenna's first book, ‗Spiritual Enlightenment - The Damnedest Thing, ‘
we met Julie Meyers, a new age journalist assigned to interview Jed for a magazine. In that book Julie Meyers begins by asking questions a good journalist would ask. Then almost imperceptibly the questions take on the nature of personal inquiry. She becomes a student of Jed McKenna.
At the end of ‘ Damnedest,’ Jed reveals this about Julie:
―She is visibly processing herself into a new level of awareness and the only way I can help is by not interrupting. This is it ……… the first step……… In a few years I'll ask her how the enlightenment thing is working out and she'll say,
‗Real good, thanks. Really getting a kick out of it. You?' But that's still a ways down the road.‖
In ‗Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment‘ it is two years later and Jed is literally a ways down the road, sitting at the sidewalk table of a little cafe in Montreal.
Julie approaches Jed and asks, ―So how's the enlightenment thing working out for you?‘ I look up and smile . ‗Oh, real good, thanks. Really getting a kick out of it,‘ I recite . ‗You?‘ ‗Oh, same, yeah. Real pleased,‘ she says.‖
Non-separation, or not-two-ness, is the hallmark of non-duality. Julie is Jed and Jed is Julie. Jed gives the taste of non-duality to the reader through direct teachings, demonstrations of how he goes about life, and in more subtle ways, as illustrated above. He even plays with the boundaries of his own identity.
Who is Jed McKenna? I have not come across anyone who knows him.
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Are the events he describes fact or fiction? The answers are contained within the books. They hinge on an understanding of the ‗Break-Out Archetype,‘
described briefly below.
While Jed is using literary means to give the taste of non-duality , he is giving practical means for experiencing it at two levels. One level he calls ‗Human Adulthood, ‘ and he doesn't spend much time on it. The other level is
‗Enlightenment. ‘ Where enlightenment might be a rare occurrence and beyond anyone's control, human adulthood is available and can be willed.
Human adulthood is release of ‗Egoic‘ bonds and opening to grace, the will of
‗Allah,‘ (1) as in ‗not mine, but thy will be done.‘ To effect the movement toward human adulthood, McKenna recommends a combination of ‗Spiritual Autolysis‘ and fervent prayer. He says human adulthood isn't an enlightenment thing in particular. It's more a human thing, but it certainly has parallels to the larger awakening process, and it's a precursor to enlightenment; a prerequisite.
Although human adulthood isn't discussed much in the book, its mention has a memorable impact since it's not only achievable but every person's responsibility. The book's themes of human adulthood and enlightenment achieve a practical dimension with the method of ‗Spiritual Autolysis.‘ Chapter eight of ‗Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing‘ is dedicated to the topic. Jed says, ―It doesn't matter where you start.
You could start by using ‗Ramana Maharshi's‘ (2) query, 'Who am I?' or 'What is me?', and then just work at it. Just try to say something true and keep at it until you do. Write and rewrite. Make it cleaner and cut out the excess and Ego and follow it wherever it leads until you're done. ……... It's a process of discrimination, of unknowing what is untrue, of progressively stripping away the false and leaving only what is true.‖
According to Jed, one who is driven to undergo their brand of ‗Spiritual Autolysis‘ until it is done represents the ‗Break-Out Archetype.‘(3) He discovered in reading ‗Herman Melville's - Moby-Dick,‘ which Captain Ahab fulfils and defines the archetype. McKenna lists several characteristics of the break-out archetype .
They include monomania (the sense of standing alone) and having lost a significant part of oneself, no thought of the fruit of one's actions, being driven and not merely drawn, inability to swerve or be swerved, the embracing of one's madness, knowing the truth of one's reality. There are many others listed which are exemplified in Moby-Dick.
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Jed points out that he, Herman Melville, and Julie belong to the archetype along with Ahab. Jed implies, via extensive quoting, that ‗U.G. Krishnamurti,‘ (4)
‗Henry David Thoreau‘ (5) and ‗Walt Whitman‘ (6) also belong. Many others are quoted, serving not only a literary purpose but also to teach the reader to hear the voice of the break-out archetype, if it isn't already known.
Since there are four break-out archetypes in Jed's books, if follows there could be an equal number of identifiable spiritual autolysis events. There are three levels of spiritual autolysis happening in ‗Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment, ‘
as presented via Julie's journal entries; Herman Melville's as expressed through his journal known as Moby-Dick , and Captain Ahab's autolysis expressed through his search for the white whale. There's a fourth autolysis, according to Jed's confession, and it is his first book, ‗Spiritual Enlightenment - The Damnedest Thing. ‘ The literary grace, with which these autolysis are layered throughout the two books, generates the potential for a fifth autolysis, which is at the level of the reader and which could lead to ‗Human Adulthood‘ or
‗Enlightenment.‘
In the front pages of ‗Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment,‘ which are normally reserved for excerpts from glowing reviews, is only a two-page letter from an anonymous woman in Seattle. She writes in part, ―Do you realise that if people do as you suggest that their lives would be ruined? ........ What you call enlightenment I call a horrendous nightmare.‖ These are the reactions from someone who had a glimpse of the breakdown of the boundaries that keep her separate from others and from nature. She couldn't handle it. But if you are ready, step into Jed's world. It is intelligent and powerful.
FOOTNOTES
1.
Wikipedia – Allah;
2.
Wikipedia – Ramana Maharshi's;
3.
Wikipedia – Break-Out Archetype;
4.
Wikipedia – U.G. Krishnamurti;
5.
Wikipedia – Henry David Thoreau; and
6.
Wikipedia – Walt Whitman.
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