Customer Reviews

Radical Awakening: Cutting through the Conditioned Mind

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I devoured this book. I believe Stephen Jourdain to be truly enlightened ; this word seems so cheap sometimes and so many books claim to come from enlightened beings. What truly fascinated me is how personable and passionately alive SJ is. Great masters have explained that when you renounce (or lose) your individuality you truly find what makes you unique. This is what this book will reveal to you : the intensity of love, the delightful pleasure of living together with the knowledge and awareness. This book will make enlightenment closer to your heart I believe. And very funny too.

This is a well structured conversation with Stephen Jourdain. Probably, the original conversation took place in French and then later translated into English. The translator used words which are not very common in American English conversations which forced me to use the dictionary. I had difficulty understanding what Stephen really intended at some very important places because of lack of clarity in translation or punctuation or correctness of expression or some other fault.

Nevertheless it is a special book. It is different from `As It Is' by Tony parsons or similar books which talk of pure Presence etc. Because the author does not have an established framework and vocabulary, the explanations are difficult to grasp completely. However there are brilliant presentations of awakening which may work as hints on how a seeker can approach to understand it.

However, the book lacks in establishing either the cause, preparation or a clear-cut path to this realization. There are some discrete ideas which are helpful. But, they may not form a complete guidance for a seeker.

Stephen has not given any Yes or No answers to Reincarnation, who will get this enlightenment, a path and other questions. We have to live with this ambiguity. At times the answers are contradictory.

Page 37:

SJ: "There is certainly a union of the subject and the object but they do not "Fuse", they do not disappear in some kind of undistinguishable magma. What's miraculous in these experiences is that, without in the least losing my identity, in legitimately remaining who I am, I become the table, the stove, or the mountain, or the entire landscape, which in turn, remains integrally itself." . . . . . ..

. . . . "The extraordinary thing is that two completely different things can be truly joined while each, at the same time, maintains its original nature."

The nature of an awakened is explained quite forcefully through out the book. The essays on `The Powers', `Practical Work' are very important and highly forceful. These present the nature of illusion and the solution in a very direct way. The thoughts are very profound (but at some places unclear) and one needs to read the essays in completion. I am quoting a few thoughts here.

Page 55 and 56:

SJ: " . . . . . . I'm talking about certain qualities of discernment that do not exist in the normal conscious state and which are the properties of the awakening. When the awakening presents itself, they take their place in the same way that the faculty of attention, the faculty of reasoning, etc., return automatically and instantly upon awakening in the morning."

GF: What are these faculties ?

SJ: "First and foremost, the discernment of a primordial thought springing forth directly from the spiritual essence. Therefore, it does not concern the thought that emanates from the usual psychological subject, but from the original thought preceding that. This thought does not gush from the faucet but from the spring itself which, as everyone knows, is the ultimate source of the faucet. This discernment is immensely important because it is what brings about the "disidentification". Following that is the conscious discernment of this combination called my "spirit" or my "inner life" as an image. The usual state of consciousness proceeds from the postulate that if I can create a mental image of my mother or of a tree, they're like little paintings hung in a room, yet the room is not an image, no more, infact, than I who produce all that. But the awakening brings the recognition of a primordial, mental imagery issuing directly from the source. In other words, the picture my own spirit has of itself is a presentation of nature full of images. There is not, of course, any kind of awareness of this in the state of normal sleep. The extraordinary thing is that doing away with that means doing away with "my spirit". Finally, I'll mention the discernment of the me as originally conceived, which can be declared as the mortal enemy of me in its integrity. The usual state of consciousness is "me degrading into a thought of me"."

Page 171:

"In order to reabsorb the hallucination, bring back what is only thought to the source of thought in such a way that it appears in its true mental nature, that is to say as nothingness, a first method would consist of making an attack at the very heart of the dream. The central rivet of the hallucination is nothing other than the absolute belief in myself in the act of producing a thought, of dreaming of this or that. Whether my thoughts are happy or sad, it would appear that I can't place the objective reality of the situation into doubt: I am there and I secrete an inner world, yet my mood swings, and I question myself about the existence of the awakening, about my chances of getting there or, quite simply, of boring myself silly; all that has no real existence. There's a paradox here: having no power over your own inner states, you endure them. You'd prefer not to worry anything while, at the same time, establishing that the generative thoughts of worry resist you. You can't easily chase them. Yet, that means that, while having the intuition that what you are is not reducible to your thoughts ("I worry" necessarily supposes the existence of an "I"), you confer on the latter the fact that they resist you, an objective status. In other words, the usual state of consciousness has the characteristic of an extraordinary madness: having the presentiment that at the center of myself there is only myself while at the same time, being certain of the presence at the center of myself of a not-me - as a matter of fact, if the worry wasn't from the not-me, I would be able to reabsorb it and not endure it. The most interesting way to accomplish this is to question the reality of what happens within me now, immediately, right away."

Some people may complain that Stephen sounds very egotic in referring to his personal privileged gifts which opened the awakening for him. Some may even get discouraged that it is not for them. We only have to accept what he is saying whether we like it or not. After all he is very un-conventional through out the book. Whatever may be our feelings, the book has profound explanations of awakening and has clues into the mind of a man who lives by it.

It is worthwhile reading it.

This is a very useful book. I found the dialog with Stephen Jourdain authentic. I had an experience about a year ago that left me on one hand profoundly and ultimately changed, but on the other hand utterly the same. Hearing Stephen speak about what it is like to see the world from his awakened perspective gives clarity to many of the things I have been perceiving since then. I know that his descriptions are true not from an intellectual standpoint but from an experiential one. The most important thing Stephen said in the whole book (see pages 95 & 96) and the thing that helped me most to return to the world was this- "But--watch out--he pretends to believe because if he doesn't, reading becomes impossible." I had begun to forget how to read, Steve's warning helped me to return to the stage, but with a bucket of ice water poised carefully above my head just in case I get drowsy.
Thanks Steve.

mr jourdain is another of that rare breed who see beyond what the rest of us are capable of seeing. awake! he sees beyond the poor shadows and ego games we take as real life and a real world. he knows how to be still and know I AM. this is an interesting book of conversations with a very rare bird indeed. in my humble judgement i rate jourdain with the likes of david hawkins and jed mckenna, but probably still short of ramana maharshi and nisargadatta maharaj and a few, very few, others. i notice these great ones generally tell us seeking is futile, there's no "place" we should go and there's nothing we need "do." they hold rank on me and i can't argue but i always notice that they themselves were extremely driven "seekers" before the great awakening came. things that make you say, "hmmm"...a very interesting read this book is, about a very interesting fellow. for myself, though, i think i'll just keep right on knocking to open, asking to be given, seeking to find.....

Definately a Frenchman in his consumate appreciation of language. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was reading someone with the playful rollercoaster verbosity of a Gilles Deleuze only with a more metaphysical slant. Unfortunately the book comes across more as an ego trip than an ego transcendance but who's to be the judge in these matters? How do you critically evaluate a mystic, when you are not awakened? Instict, intuition? Perhaps. Jourdain speaks about the ineffable with an admixture of nihilism, dizzy poetic baroque language and literary vigor. The only evident thing here is the man can talk! Don't expect anything else -It's HOPELESS!!

This is a fascinating account and dialogue of a person who self-awakened. For anyone interested in the process of "enlightenment" this is a must read. I especially recommend this to those interested in the nondual approach.

This is the first time I read about how awakened one (referring to Stephen Jourdain) may integrate his life into practical aspects of daily life. Stephen lived as real estate agent in all his years since his awakening as 16 years old boy. He refers to those with ordinary consciousness as sleepers, a kind of harsh but I am very open-minded. The choice of vocabulary may be a bit harsh sometimes but I could read the message Stephen was trying to convey. If you are looking for ways to cut through our conditioned mind while having a regular family life, this book really lives up to its title quite well.

You may also find this book a worthy read in case if you are stuck into the kind of vocabulary used in oriental spiritual texts for too long. The choice of words used in this book in my opinion are throughly original and refreshing in the sense it came out from a person who speaks from experience, a person who have lived an enlightened life throughout his life.

During the course of reading this book, I experienced some little moments of Eureka. Now I am feeling indebted to the spiritual teacher who recommend this book as must read for all serious spiritual seekers. O thank you teacher!

These conversations with our man Stephen Jourdain should be read as dispassionately as possible. To be fully engrossed in his words, one must forget what is usually taken to be the signs of a rambling personality on fire. This is not that. This is something much more, and it should become clear to anyone who is really interested that the words explain much about the state Steve is experiencing.

Therefore, it might help to read it more than once and even try to puzzle over the words and find out what it might have been like to be Steve. Overall, I give this 4 stars because I like the man and have never come across anyone who speaks about this experience so clearly; that is, almost exclusively concentrated on personal experience and in the language of a European. Even my personal favorite teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj speaks in the language of Hinduism: tamas, rajas, sattva, the five elements, etc. However, it does not warrant 5 stars because it is just a set of conversations, there is nothing complete about it. I imagine his written books go into much more detail but they are not widely circulated here in the States; never read any of them.

This is not a method-based expression of the awakening, it is mostly a personal recollection. Steve is not a teacher of any technique or school of thought or religion. Above all, remember to forget these words, because they are not to be taken absolutely at all. For any "westerner" interested in "liberation from the false" this is quite a good introduction to what that could mean. Be careful not to let your ego sting too much with it, it is hard to read it without worrying over one's own worth. To be sure, we are all headed in this direction, however far along we may appear to be. Don't believe me? Well read it, read it again, and then forget it.

All too often we find ourselves caught up in the "path" (practice, dogma, doctrine, etc.) to enlightenment rather than the awakening itself. This book cuts through all that and gives a "simple" (it is possible to awaken but not probable - no pill yet!) formula for attaining the awakening.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "All is merely pure thought, nothingness, a little of one's own thought wearing the mask of reality."
What of the "path?" - There is no "path!"

For a more "complete" discussion of this type of "path", I highly recommend "I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj." ...

As Srikrishna said, "the book lacks in establishing either the cause, preparation or a clear-cut path to this realization."


That's problem with most (if not all) books on awakening: the author doesn't know how it happened to him therefore cannot tell it to you. I recently came across a book that does tell you how to go about having the same nonevent as Stephen and that book is "The Book of Secrets" by Osho. More specifically, the nonevent is explained on pages 117-129; 147 et seq. of that book.

In Radical Awakening, the chapter on Reincarnation, Stephen said: "First, let me tell you what my position has been for a long time--there's indubitably a relation between the extraordinary energy I expended during my battle with Descartes' Cognito, the madness and stubbornness I showed even when I was nearly passing out, and the eruption of the awakening."

What seems to have happened to Stephen is that the extraordinary energy he expended during his battle with Descartes Cognito, was the same energy that threw him back to his "inner center," which term is more fully explained in the book and pages cited above.

Here are some quotes from The Book of Secrets, page 187-189:

"Because if much energy is centered at one point, the point will explode."

"The experience is personal; method is impersonal. Method is always scientific, impersonal; experience is always personal and poetic."

"A new birth has taken place. You have become one with the cosmos. Now you do not have any center; you cannot say "I." Now there is no ego. A Buddha, a Krishna, goes on talking and using the 'I.' That is simply formal; they do not have any ego. They are not.

"Centering is the door to the experience [nonevent], and when there is the experience there is no centering. So centering is just a passage."

I've probably read Radical Awakening 5 times already. Thanks to the Book of Secrets I can now pick up Radical Awakening and know exactly what Stephen is talking about.

Tip:

"It [the awakening] only comes to you while you are engaged somewhere else so totally that your inner space is vacant. These techniques are all indirect. There is no direct technique for spiritual happening." (pg. 174 of the Book of Secrets)

P.S. And don't forget to read page 783-4 of the Book of Secrets in the subsection titled: Feel: my thought, I-ness, internal organs--me. Now that is one topic you cannot miss as it relates to how Stephen Jordan's I became ME.