Excerpts from the new book, "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" by Jed McKenna

The last two Nondual Highlights have been fantastic. From Issue #2638 (which also contains an excellent Vernon Howard quote about the difference between thinking and awareness), Jed McKenna makes no effort to pull his punches in the following excerpt from the aforementioned book:

One millionth of one percent false is completely false. Everything in duality is false -- false as in not true, not true as in bullshit. There are not exceptions. Black and white, no shades of gray. Truth is one, is non-dual, is infinite, is one-without-other. Truth is dissolution, no-self, unity. There's nothing to say about it, nothing to feel about it, nothing to know about it. You are true or you're a lie, as in ego-bound, as in dual, as in asleep.

In Issue #2639, Jerry Katz describes Jed McKenna as an enlightened guy who runs an ashram. I particularly liked the climax of the following excerpt, in which McKenna reveals some secrets about how simple, non-mystical, and non-spiritual enlightenment can be. He does this by describing how he really spends most of his time, and by what his single chosen book would be if he were stranded on a deserted island. The whole excerpt below is well worth reading. It gives ready insight into how simple enlightenment can be.

"Which two or three dozen?" Mary asks, and it takes me a moment to realize that she's jumping back to my statement about which books would remain if I were more discriminating about the library.

"Oh, I'd want to be a little careful answering that," I say. "The reason for the books I'd choose wouldn't be that they are particularly enlightened or enlightening books, or even specifically on the subject of enlightenment. My choices would be based on what I feel is useful knowledge on the path to enlightenment, which is very different from enlightenment itself. In this light, I'd have a bunch of books and maybe some movies, too, because they're often a common experience we share and can provide interesting framework for highlighting certain issues..."

"Like what?" she asks.

I think about some of the movies I've seen in the last few years that most everybody would be familiar with.

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