The Existential Danger of Radical Non-Duality

There was never a time when I was comfortable with teachings espousing the unreality of the body and the world. 

While I understand the dogmatic reason(ing) behind such, I always deeply felt that our bodies and the World were the most efficacious routes to The Divine. Each and every sense a Divine Portal into our inherent birthright of a natural connection with God, Source, Spirit…call it what you will…and The Universe. 

Additionally…and, most especially, the denial of the body and of a world led to a nihilistic view that SO easily covered for, not only the potential for harm, but for the actuality of disregard and abuse.

And, by extension, there were the very real dangers of becoming an automaton by statements such as ‘thoughts and emotions are unreal.’

If one needs to say anything about a body/ and world it would be more accurate to say “You’re not the body and you’re not NOT the body” and “The world is real but, like everything, impermanent.” 

Was the necessity to abandon everything, literally, what was ‘intended’ by The Universe for us to realize our rightful and Holy place in the Grande scheme of things? 

Is this what was/is truly meant by Love?…or was/is The Totality beckoning each of us to claim our rightful place in this Divine Inheritance?

Is there anything that is not held in the deepest embrace of this All?

Even though I never embraced this ‘duality of radical non-duality’ I none-the-less fell victim (yes, there are victims as long as anything is excluded) to the necessitation of lies/deceptions in the upholding of such a structure of radical division. Talk about salt in the wound. 

I became the inadvertent holder for the deceptions of that out-of-balance dogma…a dogma upheld by numerous non-dual teachers, institutions and supporting organizations. https://integrityintruth.com/systemic-collusion-in-the-non-dual-field/

During my time with that radical non-dual teaching I let go of family, friends, education, likes and preferences, things that I love, my own creativity…and essentially my Life…my sacred Life — which is All of it.

Then…after “falling through the cracks” (Russell Smith) those same teachers manipulated the rest of this Life with existential controls involving siddis (occult powers).

Many contemporary teachers borrow heavily on teachings removed in time, space and culture. 

The classic Rumi poem “Out beyond ideas of right and wrong there is a Field…” contains beautiful and sacred words which are often taken out of time/space and cultural context and unfortunately used to justify and hijack moral authority in order to cover where there has been actual harm.

Furthermore, if someone has the courage to speak up when/where there has been harm those very teachings are used to scapegoat and gaslight the one reporting on the harm.

The destruction of a Life that has been ripped apart by such radical dogmatic delusion is extreme and total. It may be the reason why so many felt they would…and, literally, had to…remain at SAT for life.

In that regard…and with reference to ancient teachings: not all egos need to be killed.  Not all egos need eradicating.  Not all egos even need diminishing. 

The damage from such delusion cannot be overstated. 

Some egos actually need building UP to realize a ‘transcendent’ and all-inclusive Freedom. 

It was several years after having been at SAT…and dedicated to the teachings and teachers… that Nome, all of a sudden declared that his teaching was “radical non-duality.”

My original resonance with the all-inclusive Pantheon of ALL Truth teachings…and the broad-based inclusiveness of all major traditions…was what originally resonated with me.

I had no clue what was meant by “radical non-duality” except that it’s radical in the embrace of denialism (duality) and harm.

The Play of Karma and ‘As Above, So Below’

Sri Yantra and the infinitude of the sacred geometry of ‘as above, so below’ representing the exquisite Balance of all Creation: may we honor the Integrity of That.

In order to bypass the law of ‘as above, so below’ various non-dual teachings have, for years, operated within the dualistic system of separating the universe into such dualities as ‘real and unreal’ etc. 

It provides an effective and efficient barricade to any harm that might occur within any particular ‘non-dual’ framework in what has been brilliantly described as, ultimately, ‘authoritarian.’ (See ‘resources’ below)

Combine a system in which the guru is in a ‘no-loose authoritarian situation’ with some high-level siddis (occult powers) and you’ve entered into some potentially dark-matter…and ultimately controlling, territory….as was the case in this life.

The universal law of Karma, however, exists as the purveyor of ‘as above, so below.’ 

This can certainly be seen playing out in what occurred in this life at the hands of the following teachers:

Nome (and his wife Sasvati) and Russell Smith (and his wife Helga Schleiter-Smith) of SAT, The Society of Abidance in Truth in Santa Cruz, CA and Candice O’Denver, a.k.a. Candice Rinpoche of Great Freedom/Balanced View headquartered in Marin County, CA.

Karma, ultimately, is not a punishment but a balancing of energies…a ‘boomerang’ of sorts…even of those who say they are ‘beyond karma’…as Nome, himself, said many times. 

The first 8 videos in the series ‘Information I Hold’ protected the names of the teachers involved in silencing and isolating me for a decade due to being the ‘holder’ for their lies and deceptions. That time is over.

Following is the link for Video #9: ‘Information I Hold: Naming-theNames’…

If you prefer to read the text of this video you can do so here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cnhrbr18iljk5yk/TEXT%20FOR%20%239%20video%20…for%20those%20who%20prefer%20to%20read.docx?dl=0

The names were originally withheld for a number of reasons, not the the least of which was due to an internal ‘death’ threat (Source: Nome) should any of the ‘information’ ever become public knowledge.

That time of being silenced…and threatened…ends with Video #9. I am no longer willing to continue to martyr this life for their lies nor for the cover-up occurring in the non-dual community.

In the words of Russell Smith during a taped, private session… “You will fall through the cracks.” 

Those ‘cracks’ were the lies and deceptions put forth by the above named teachers…lies which I was forced to hold, under threat, for a decade.

A series of actions creating a ‘final straw’ was the prompt to finally speak-the-names, openly and publicly, of those who are acting teachers and who are continuing to harm and control this life. This requires the silent and systemic complicity of the many in the non-dual community who are entirely willing to continue to cover for the above teachers and who, as a community, are engaging in airtight collusion and coercion to protect the lies and deceptions of the above-named teachers.

There has been gaslighting and scapegoating with regard to my reporting on the abuse by these teachers.

The actual teachings around ‘victim identification’ (there certainly are victims) and ‘story’ telling’ have been used to cast doubt and/or to shame with regard to this reporting. 

Regarding ‘stories’… what I am sharing is a truthful experience and observation of deception and overt control for the purpose of silencing.

That is not a “story”, in my worldview, rather it is a sharing of facts.

Thank you, always, for reading/listening. ❦

-Leslie

Photo Image: Sri Yantra (Bing.com/images)

Resources: The Guru Papers’ by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad