Customer Reviews

Relaxing into Clear Seeing: Interactive Tools in the Service of Self-Awakening

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

 

 

Although Arjuna's book deserves all the accolades, the hype obscures his message. Arjuna insists that there is nothing to attain because we are already That which we seek.

To that end, his book is about self-empowerment (my word and an apparent anomaly ... a nondualistic reference!), attentive exploration and inquiry.

He presents a number of optional tools (which are to be discarded when they have served their purpose) to aid one to "unobscure" the Self and to deepen and stablize the awakening of "the view". He speaks to those who are attracted to Truth within their present responsibilities of family and job.

I found this to be a very practical and clear book.

With all the high praise and stellar reviews of this book, what more can be said? A little testimonial: when I first heard about this book I thought "oh, no, not another book saying more of the same" but especially after participating in a weekend "Beyond Belief" with Arjuna and his partner Pamela, I can only humbly recommend this book as a treasure of insights and simple "practices" drawn from the waters of the greatest spiritual teachings. A workbook/study resource guide and a compelling tale of deepening, this is a jewel of a book celebrating life at its most personal and impersonal.

It is really hard to fault this book! It is clear, funny at times, and extremely practical. I love it. It is so much more embodied than many of the other spiritual books I've read. Makes me feel like I want to learn more.

This is a how-to book of enlightenment from a hypnotists perspective. Arjuna gives several hypnosis-type "induction" scripts to bring one to an experiential understanding of otherwise spiritual concepts like: Surrender, Self Enquiry, Separation, Memory, God, Higher Self, Right Livelyhood, Desire, Fear and Judgement. I can see this book being useful if you have a partner who you can work with. Probably less effective if you record or buy recordings of the scripts. For some students this will be exactly what they need.
The book didn't have the impact for me like the words of Ramana (who is often quoted in the book) Maharshi or Nisargadatta. Arjuna claims to be a disciple of Poonjaji who was Ramana's famous student and has several photos in the book of himself and Poonjaji.

There are an every increasing number of spiritual books available, this one is definately a cut above the rest. As well as insight, this book offers practical tools to make enlightenment a living reality. I read this book when it first came out in 1997, and loved it. I took all six levels of Arjuna's Living Essence Training, and I've been using the tools ever since, on my own and with other people. Having just re-read the book, I wanted to rave again, this is the best book on the market about spirituality. It is down to earth, punchy and, thank God, practical!

Arjuna's other work is considerably clearer and more usable than the material presented in this volume. It is, nonetheless, an excellent, but not outstanding, presentation of Advaita philosophy.

So I bought it.My favorite books are Talks(Ramana Maharshi)& I Am That(Nisargadatta Maharaj).Arjuna uses some of Ramanas teaching & has a picture of Ramana in the beginning of the text.The book is not bad,It seems that he has a background in Hypnotism & Raja yoga.The direct Advata Vedanta tradition is Yani yoga & makes it clear that all these techniques are not needed.It just seems a little busy.All I can say is stick with self inquiry & there will be no one left to do all these techniques.

When reading Arjuna Nick Ardagh's book the warning on medicine bottles came to mind: not for internal use.

"Relaxing into Clear Seeing : Interactive Tools in the Service of Self-Awakening" is not bad as a book, but as a spiritual work it is irrelevant.

Nick is more an entrepreneur than a spiritual man. He jumped from Osho to Papaji when the market was right. Nick has simply been employing his hypnotic selling techniques for fun and profit in different ways over the years. It's laughable, even commendable, how so many fine upstanding members of the spiritual community fell for Nick's class act: Stephan Bodian, Mark Jaquier, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jack Kornfield, Ken Wilber, Peter Russell, Stephen and Ondrea Levine - because the truth has come out now that Nick has publicly declared that it was all, in fact, an act. Nick no longer gives satsang, no longer is seen as enlightened. Yet another Papaji disciple to bite the dust. But Nick is still standing - just like Sir Elton and George Michael - because Nick is the consummate performer.

Nick's document mixes manipulative hypnotic techniques with Hindu philosophy aimed ostensibly at freedom. The result of the book which alternates Nick's case history sessions with his gurus satsang stories is sheer self-adulation. It's not so easy to see it in the carefully chosen transcript, but anyone who can a get a video of these "Nick satsangs", will see someone so desperate to get people to make him look successful that he actually goes as far as to mouth the words that he wants them to say. Hypnosis is not always subtle.

Please, unless you are some wicked svengali intent on power, fame and fortune, do not use these techniques. Do not believe everything that is printed.

If you want to find the real thing then get yourself out and tread the paths through hilltops and streets until you find a real guru. For exotic, check out a Tibetan lama or if you prefer Western urban then try Barry Long, Wu Wei Wu, Dave Oshana or the Barefoot Doctor.