Jed McKenna’s Theory of Everything: The Enlightened Perspective
“A real guru, if there is one, frees you from himself”
U.G. Krishnamurti
I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge fan of U.G. Krishnamurti, but I certainly agree with his opinion on spiritual teachers. I once believed that it was my desire to pick away at things until they fell apart that was my greatest liability, but it has now become my greatest asset. My extreme skepticism (not to be confused with modern skepticism which is all about defending things that can’t be proven as real) has led me closer to the truth by showing me that all beliefs are flawed. I’ve put enough spiritual teachers (and their beliefs) up on pedestals only to later crucify them that I now see this as my job in life – my prime directive is to rid myself of bullshit. The only spiritual teacher around today that I haven’t yet been able to completely dismiss is Jed McKenna – probably because he does not claim to be a spiritual teacher, and I did say “yet”.
Jed McKenna Might Be Full of Bullshit
I would not be surprised to find out that Jed McKenna is completely full of the brown stuff. The fact that he has released another book after saying he was done with this work, following the publication of his trilogy, is suspicious – even if this new book is a fantastic read. So he might not only be full of bullshit, but also greedy for more money and attention. It also makes me suspicious that it has taken him so many words to say something so simple. Yeah, I would say that Jed McKenna might definitely be full of bullshit, but it is very, very convincing bullshit, and I can’t really fault him. What I’m saying here is that it would not matter one jot how much bullshit he is full of because it’s not going to take anything away from the truth he is pointing at.
Jed McKenna’s Theory of Everything
I read Jed’s TOE yesterday. I bought it for Kindle, and I was initially disappointed to find that it is a relatively short book – a slim paperback, I think you might call it. After reading it though, I have to admit that he probably made a good decision to keep the word count down because what he has to say would lose its power by adding fluff. It took me about six hours to read, and it only cost $7 (including the Amazon penalty tax for not living in America), so I can’t complain.
I posted on here before about one of Jed’s other books – Spiritual Enlightenment: the Damdest Thing. The first time I read this work it all sounded kind of revolutionary and almost sacrilegious, but I went back and read it again a few years later and by then most of what he was saying sounded obvious to me. I’d reached many of the same conclusions as him, but it had nothing to do with me becoming enlightened – it was more about me running out of things to believe. With this new book, there was this strange sense of déjà-vu as so much of his thinking mirrored my own.
Jed is dismissive of all belief systems – including science. I share his concerns, and in my own experience it is the believing in things that are untrue that leads to all kinds of suffering including addiction. I don’t understand how anyone can claim to be searching for truth when they begin with assumptions that can never be shown as true. I fully agree with Jed that science and religion are basically the same at a fundamental level. This is one of my favorite quotes from the book:
All scientific claims should be prefaced with a disclaimer. That seems like a scientific-y thing to do. A standard disclaimer would probably suffice in most cases:
Warning:
The scientific findings contained herein are based on the uncritical acceptance of consensus reality as true reality, and must therefore be viewed in the same light as mythology, folklore, superstition, and religion.
The Beliefs of Jed McKenna
Jed is convinced that consciousness exists, but the universe doesn’t. He provides some nifty arguments for why this is the case. I strongly believe that he is right, but it is a belief for me – I don’t know with 100% certainty that all that exists is consciousness, and the rest is just like a dream – so I have to remain an agnostic believer.
I’m not sure that Jed’s TOE accomplishes much, but who said that the truth has to accomplish anything? As far as I can see, Jed’s TOE provides far more than the vast majority of spiritual books out there, so it is worth it for that alone. I hope this book sells well for Jed – even if he is full of bullshit, he deserves every cent.
I completely agree that we live in a world of belief systems, and that these belief systems create barriers. Goto any online forum and you will see people hurling belief systems at each other.
Questioning everything is the Natural Path. I first heard this from J Krishnamurti. I have also just started studying Ajaan Buddhadasa properly, and he is rocking my world. He is extremely Pali and is devoted to promoting the truth of what the Buddha said. BUT not in a dogmatic way. You have read far more of the suttas than I have but the way Tan Ajaan reads it there are no beliefs. Just quenching suffering and experiencing.
If Jed has no belief systems I might try and read him.
Hi Bill, I’ve come to the conclusion that any teacher who wants me to take on more beliefs is working against me. I don’t see how anything built on beliefs can be ultimately true –these beliefs might make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, at least temporarily, but they won’t be taking me any nearer the truth. I think the key to all of this is to let go of as many beliefs as possible, and doing this does not require any teacher or belief system.
I like what Jed has to say about many things, and I feel that he has far more to offer than most spiritual teachers – not that this is saying much 🙂
Jed Has beliefs systems. All narcissistic people have belief systems.
Maybe Shawn
I completely agree. Believing in belief systems means filling the mind, much like what happens at school. Minds are filled so the kids cannot think. Fill the mind with a belief system and people only think the belief system. Why I liked Ajaan Buddhadasa is that I was able to understand more of anatta, that I is also a belief system. This is so hard to deal with but trying to come to terms with it is helping.
Which is Jed’s first book?
I agree Bill, all beliefs act like filters on reality – they are always going to limit us in some way.
The first book was Spiritual Enlightenment – the Damndest Thing.
Jed’s most complete book?
That’s difficult to say Bill. I’ve never really thought of them that way. I suppose if you read any of his books you would get the core message about beleifs. I suppose his first book would be a good one to start with.
These guys more than complement Jed’s work, after listening to the what is a belief audio I though he was Jed, any way Jed talks about deleting your beliefs and these guys show you how to do it. “Jed Mckenna” is probably a pseudonym (who cares ?). “The Four Agreements” and “The Fifth Agreement” by don miguel ruiz
I suggest you listen to every podcast on beliefs
http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/index.htm
http://www.miguelruiz.com/index.php?p=Store
I found these guys the same way I found jed mckenna, by absolute chance, I wasn’t even looking for anything like this (when the student is ready the teacher will arrive ?) and now I can say that my life is a lot different from what it used to be.
Hi Paul, I’m a huge fan of the idea that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I think these people act like signposts, but we get in trouble when we stay to long to admire the signpost. The nicest thing about all of this is that the guy who comes to repair my internet router can be just as much a signpost as the most popular spiritual teacher – in fact, the person might be completely full of bullshit most of the time, but they say or do something that somehow triggers something inside of me.
4 agreements works for me.
Yeah, Jed McKenna is a pseudonym. No one seems to know who he really is. I enjoyed one of his books I read. I like how he says he couldn’t care less if humanity evolves or is plunged into the next Ice Age.
I’ve heard some people claim that he is Adyashanti, other people say that it is Richard Bach, there is even the claim that it might just be a fictional work based on the life of Richard Rose – I like the mystery.
First few pages of “damnest thing” has a fictional feel.
Hi Bill, nice to hear that you took the leap into Jed’s world. He is a fictional character who is claiming to be enlightned, so it is probably best to suspend belief. I would be deeply skeptical of anyone who claimed to be enlightened – never mind somebody who doesn’t even reveal their true identity. It wasn’t the truth or untruth of Jed’s words that interested me so much, but the truth of what he is pointing at.
I will be careful.
It reminds me of Castaneda. I first read him in my early 20’s, and it had a deep effect – Journey to Ixtlan. After I retired I tried again with some of his later work, an I found I had to jump through his hoops to understand. Then I watched a programme that legitimately cast doubt on what he wrote, was there a Don Juan? Too many doubts it wasn’t worth the effort. But Ixtlan helped me.
Assuming it is fiction doesn’t prevent it from containing worthwhile stuff, however what was clear to me was that I will have to spend time getting used to his vernacular. Maybe/maybe not??
I know what you are saying Bill. I didn’t read any of the Castaneda stuff until after hearing some pretty bad things about him. I stil enjoyed his work though, and even if Don Juan was made up it didn’t mean that the wisdom was rubbish. In the past I’ve fallen into the trap of black and white – believing that a teacher is an enlithened being or a worthless slug. I like what Alan Watts used to say about being a spiritual entertainer – I think that this is all most of this stuff really is.
I think we are all on our own journey, and there will be things that other people write or say at a certain time in our life that will have a huge impact on life. I feel something can be complete bullshit but still have a hugely positive impact on our life – my bet is that it would be incredibly hard to write a book and for it not to contain at least a couple of nuggets.
Jed McKenna made me laugh a few times, and I agree with his attitude towards beliefs. I’m not sure about all the enligtenment stuff though. He never says anything in the book that convinces me that he is enlightened, but I’m not sure if there even can be such a being.
re Castaneda and other spiritual writers I read to learn – I study. In the early stuff of Castaneda I tried to come to terms with concepts such as “stopping the world” and “death over my left shoulder”. Much of what he spoke of in Ixtlan came to a crunch when I physically trusted myself to follow my own Path when I had got lost – a lesson I have never forgotten; I was 24. I had believed that he was speaking with a man who had Yaqui Knowledge and it was therefore worth the effort. His later book – Fire from Within, I did a bookblog, I had to come to all kinds of acceptance in order to understand, but then when I saw the drunk and the exploitation I began to question whether Don Juan was fabrication at least at that stage. It was not worth the effort to accept.
It is strange how and where we learn our lessons; it can be anywhere that something strikes you. But when there is so much good stuff out there that I haven’t read a book with 2 nuggets is not high on the agenda. In the case of the later Castaneda work forcing myself to learn a new framework in order to assimilate what might be untrue is definitely not, stuff that I would have to later unlearn is not worth it, the system gives us enough of that kind of stuff. I am too black and white – retired maths teacher, but when it comes to truth black and white is good.
I haven’t made time to get any further than a few pages but feel there is some truth in the bullshit. For me a good measure of enlightenment is arrogance, he does not pass that benchmark. Enlightened people, not sure, but there are many wise people. Following people such as Osho is not worth the risk when there are wise people isnot sensible. Suppose in my ignorance something Osho says convinces me, and then I follow him more and more will I follow him into criminality? I am too ignorant to draw a subtle line so I keep away.
Laugh is great but Lee Mack makes me laugh sometimes!!
Thanks Bill. I just read spiritual books for entertainment value these days – I’m no longer a spiritual seeker. I’m not looking for a guru, and I don’t approach these books like a student. I’m not sure if you would fully agree, but I now work on the basis that if there is a lesson that I need to learn in life, the universe will send that lesson my way somehow – I don’t have to concern myself with how it arrives. I agree with you that there are many books out there that are just not worth the effort. That’s why I prefer somebody like Jed McKenna who knows how to tell a good yarn.
The fact that many of the people around today who do claim to be enlightened are arrogant is kind of worrying. It suggests to me that rather than awakening to the truth, they may have entered a new delusion that is even harder to escape than the one they left. I just don’t understand how anyone can be 100% sure that they are not somehow deluded – how do they know that the universe is not just letting them see what they want to see? I’ve been meaning to do a post on my attitude towards enlightened beings, so I might get around to that today.
The spiritual books I read or the people I listen to are too dry to be entertaining – were the speakers at Littlebang entertaining? I slept too often. I hope your way works for you – sitting back and waiting for the universe to teach.
My judgement of Jed is that he is an enlightenment wannabee who has travelled the spiritual circuit – that is my feeling but I have no idea whether it is true. He irritates me and I am not as yet sure why; maybe I am irritated because I think he is a charlatan. If he is why am I irritated? I was going to delete his book, then he said something that sparked my interest so I am going to continue.
Would an enlightened person behave the way he describes himself in the book (damnest thing)?
Hi Bill, I’ve no idea how an enlightened person would/should act. I would have to say that Jed McKenna is in character for the type of enlightenment he is claiming.
In character with enlightenment? Shawn describes the book persona as narcissistic, I would go as far as arrogant although not necessarily disagree. How can such be a description of enlightenment? In Buddhism they talk of anatta, elsewhere getting rid of the ego – arrogance and narcissism would be characteristics of ego?
Hi Bill, I have no idea about how an enlightenment person should behave – how could I? I’m not enlightened, and I’ve no interest in achieving such a state – if it exists at all. I’m not really sure what you want me to say here. All we have are the descriptions that other people have given about something that they call enlightenment, and I would have to invest a huge amount of faith to take any of these descriptions as fact.
If my ego-assessment is correct then all the “type of enlightenment” people you are talking about per se are not enlightened?
I’m not convinced that any of them are enlightened either, but this is what they are claiming – of course, I could be completely wrong.
Paul, I don’t want you to say anything, I am only exploring the notion; it is not a topic I invest much time in because as you say it requires too much faith in what people say. In fact I am only taking an interest now because of my studies of Ajaan Buddhadasa, he never claimed enlightenment but he did say Nibbana was possible.
“I’m not enlightened, and I’ve no interest in achieving such a state – if it exists at all.” If it were possible – whatever it is, I would be interested.
Hi Bill, this is the way I see it, life is enough – in fact it is more than enough. The universe has put on this amazing show for us, and it seems a bit ungrateful to waste time searching for something different. Most of my suffering in life has occurred when I tried to escape reality – I worry that seeking enlightenment is just another way to try to escape reality, and that it is life denying. I don’t judge other people negatively for choosing to walk that path, but it is not for me anymore. I’ve found a path that works for me, and it involves loving what is.
Interesting. This is just a quick answer, your comment deserves more than that. What you say is very similar to something that Jed was saying, that students of this spiritual stuff are taking a path from one place to another. I talk about Path or my journey, but I don’t see it as a coming from or going to, although both words suggest that – your last sentence does as well. I see it as taking off blinkers. Different steps on the journey show why I have been doing things wrong and how improvements can be made. I am not searching for something different to “what is the universe” as the terminology suggests, but improving how I relate to he universe by seeking to see it clearly. The truth?
Is it not worth seeing if all the blinkers have been removed?
I’m done with seeking. I change in response to my life, but I no longer go looking for trouble. It is more important for me to focus on what I have now – which is far more than I ever expected to have in my life – than to waste time seeking something that may not even exist. I don’t believe that I’m broken, so there is nothing that needs to be fixed – I’m satisfied with the possibility that this is as good as it gets. I experience long stretches of inner contentment these days, and that is enough for me.
It’s nice to read this, long may it continue for you.
Great books, great thread…
Great thread. Thanks Paul.
I began my spiritual journey after unchaining my self from my family’s and my society’s faith, i’m from Cairo Egypt, it’s hard to do that here, it puts you in an indefinite isolation, for 10 years being alone has helped me greatly … i was first introduced to J.Krishnamurti … this guy gave me a clear understanding of the human psyche and why it is the way it is, regardless of where you are on the globe, then it was Jed’s books … beyond the world of description we are using now, Jed show me that it was always me all along, my society, family, all the experience i had regardless of it’s label i gave it. Since it was consciousness all along, the one that i am using now righting this even, the one i saw and read this thread with and got introduced to you guys and your wonderful thoughts. Consciousness is King as he says.
As for all the worries, problems and misunderstanding happing in the world … well it’s just that … pure misunderstanding, Truth is as it has always been but the people of the world has been taught other wise. I always imagined this example to help make it easy to understand .. i imagine a post apocalyptic world where the people have never seen a moving car but they have always used cars as couches to sit on, oblivious to the fact that this couch and the two chairs move just by a turn of a key, same here we have misunderstood what we are, using our mind/body/consciousness in a way that does not maximize our potential …. my potential that is 🙂
Jed is no body, so as me and every body else, there is no globe, there is nothing but this thing alive. I Am.
there i’m happy i shared my view … and thanks for your thread Paul.
Really nice to hear from you Aladdin. My journey has been about breaking away from my beliefs as well – I too had to give up the faith that was given to me by my family. I think basically all beliefs are bullshit, but there is a type of knowing that doesn’t involve beliefs.
I am 49, living homeless in a tent in the woods. I am an enlightened being if such a thing exists by overcoming Beliefs and Illusions about reality. And I gained the enlightenment very similar to what Jed describes doing. Spiritual Autolysis. But I used facebook as the forum for writing for 4 years. I’m done.
Why is it suspicious that he wrote another book? In the third book of the trilogy he talks about how he’ll probably keep writing even though he had only planned on doing the trilogy. Actually technically his first book was supposed to be his last book but he decided to keep writing. I think the guy just likes to write and I don’t see anything suspicious about it.
Hi Jon, I meant my remark to come across as lighthearted irony – he has said that the thing he is pointing to is beyond words (not to be found in libraries), yet he has written five books about it. I like his stuff, and I hope he produces plenty more stuff in the future.
” I’m not sure if there even can be such a being.”
Completely deprogrammed human being? Why not?
I think its worth remembering that Mr. McKenna does state that being a human adult is actually preferable to enlightenment.
The purpose of life id not to be enlightened the purpose of living within a dream is to live the dream. or somesuch.
Hi Paul and everyone. I just found your site and I’m enjoying it very much. Currently I’m on book 3 Spiritual Warfare. The first two books really made sense to me. I’m 64 now and living in a Christian monastery the last 15 years after being married for nearly 30 years, we have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. I’ve been at this whole spiritual thing for a long time. I was very much into Rajneesh in the mid 80’s although I was busy with my young family at the time. I really fell in love with what Rajneesh was describing. I tried it all the ‘spiritual’ detours.
I’m having the same feelings about what Jed is talking about in the books. My faith in Christianity has been wavering the last several years. I’ve come to realize that I’ve actually been running away from life I suspect for almost all of my life. My parents divorced when I was 3 and I’m sure that led me down some roads that most don’t travel. I had my bouts with alcohol, some drug use but I was never fired from a job and was only married once. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, or just shows cowardice on my part.
I do resonate with the idea in Jed’s books about FEAR driving us. I’m curious as to how you feel about Jed’s work now, after all these years?
All the best,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, lovely to hear about your journey. I think it is true that when we are ready the teacher appears, and for a brief period in my own life, Jed’s books were exactly what I needed. I feel the purpose of any teacher is to help us get beyond whatever obstacle is currently blocking our path to what I call Stillness. It sounds for you that obstacle is fear. There was a teacher called Paul Brunton who suggests there are two paths – the long path and the direct path. The long path means dealing with any obstacles in the way between us and Stillness (aka pure consciousness, pure awareness, unborn awareness, the deathless, and I suspect Christian terms like Spirit). The direct path is to just rest in Stillness. It appears that most of us have to do a lot of work on the long path before we are ready for the direct path. It appears to me that all legitimate spiriutal paths (including Christianity) end on the direct path. On the direct path, we move our attention away from outward teachings and teachers to the inner teacher.
Thanks Paul for the thoughtful response. I will look into Paul Brunton. I’ve also been watching youtubes by Rupert Spira about the Direct Path and it sounds similar to what you mentioned? I’m about halfway through Jed’s TOE and I do love how he describes things. But I wonder if he’s full of it at times. Is it possible to do as he’s describing? You’re right in your assessment that fear is big issue for me and one of the things that Jed says is that, “fear drives us.”
Thanks again Paul, keep up the good work!