Jed - Yeah, That Guy Jed McKenna

I started reading a book yesterday called "Spiritual Enlightenment - the Damnedest Thing" by someone called Jed McKenna. I heard about it on the Open Enlightenment blog. Anyone else read this? I'm not sure what to make of it. It appears as if it's been written by someone who's capable of abiding in non-dual awareness. The narrator, Jed McKenna (or whoever it really is) reminds me a bit of Daniel Ingram. A kind of dharma iconoclast who aims high, shoots straight from the hip and asks questions later. The difference is Daniel puts his real name on all his stuff. This person doesn't. Makes me wonder why.

Have any of you read this book?

"
I started reading a book yesterday called "Spiritual Enlightenment - the Damnedest Thing" by someone called Jed McKenna. I heard about it on the Open Enlightenment blog. Anyone else read this? I'm not sure what to make of it. It appears as if it's been written by someone who's capable of abiding in non-dual awareness. The narrator, Jed McKenna (or whoever it really is) reminds me a bit of Daniel Ingram. A kind of dharma iconoclast who aims high, shoots straight from the hip and asks questions later. The difference is Daniel puts his real name on all his stuff. This person doesn't. Makes me wonder why.

Have any of you read this book?

"

Hi Chris,

I've read this book and the second in the series, but not the third.

Didn't really care for them when I read them, not sure why. For some reason they didn't ring true to me (what do I know?). But I recently read a positive comment or two by Kenneth about Jed McKenna, so I'd thought I'd give them another chance, this time as audio books. In fact my wife and I just started listening to them in the last few days.

The jury's still out, but I like the first one so far better as an audio book than I did as a printed book.

Jed McKenna is something of a mystery in spiritual circles. No one knows who he is, or even if he's real. Kenneth commented that he seems real enough and references McKenna's spiritual autolysis technique. Here's the DhO thread with Kenneth's comment: www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discu...9A2D7AAE64809737C120

Michael

Hi Chris,

Yes, I read his first book. From Jed comment on Open Enlightenment, it seems that the guy who is hiding beyind this pseudo lives in a similar way (big house, bicycle riding, etc.) but not in an other US State. Then, his spiritual autolysis technique is identical to Adyashanti's self-made method of enquiry, namely sitting in a cafe with a notebook, trying to write a true statement, digging deeper and deeper (see Adyashanti's "True Meditation").

So I would say that Jed is either Adyashanti's dark twin brother or one of Adya's students. If I was Adhyashanti, I would be fed up playing the nice and sweet Californian Mr. Nice Guy. Jed would then become my dark alter ego.

-Alex

Michael, I agree. There's something just a little bit "off" about the book. It has to do with two things, I think. One, the guy makes stuff up as he goes along, fact-wise. He says there are only a few enlightened people on earth at any one time and then he says his little house graduates a couple a year. Second, his version of the truth seems awfully sterile to me. But as you said, what do I know?

Alex, I was planning on reading all three books but I think I'll probably stop after this first one. And thanks for the link. Now that I read them I happen to agree with Kenneth's comments on Jed McKenna. Kenneth is pretty astute about what's going on with ol' Jed, especially the part where he says Jed is good but also somewhat misleading.

And there are parts of the book that are a bit contrived, plot and literature-wise. But I figure he has to set up those situations where he can wax eloquent and poke the students with a sharp stick

Also just read the first one. Such books are needed to conterbalance the pseudo-Buddhist self-help crap that plague the shelves of popular bookstores, but they are not meant to become sutras

Yep.

I hope Kenneth doesn't mind but it's so relevent I'm going to copy some of what he said here:

***********************************************

By the way, although I think McKenna is enlightened (an arahat), some of his/her conclusions about what it means to be enlightened (i.e. you have to be a socially alienated loner) are wrong and are apparently based upon extrapolating his or her own experience to others. In other words, McKenna seems to be saying that "since I am enlightened and a socially isolated loner, every enlightened person will be socially isolated." This is faulty logic and probably due to the author's lack of experience with other enlightened people. As far as I know, enlightenment does not generally change one's personality or one's social functioning .

All in all, I would recommend McKenna's work to anyone as a hilarious and deeply insightful peek into one enlightened person's mind.

************************************************

WTF would we do without Kenneth? Seriously.

I read the first book and part of the second. I really enjoyed the first book, but it didn't seem complete to me (although he seems to go to great lengths to convince his readers otherwise).

I agree with Alex that such books are necessary to counteract the popular psycho-babble Buddhism we're constantly bombarded with. But, I don't think he is in anyway the poster child of enlighenment. Whether someone is a withdrawn loner or a socially engaged saint has little to do with their being enlightened or not. So, in some ways the book has just as much pontential to harm as it does to help.

It is a good read, though...

~Jackson

We're a spoiled bunch, it seems...

I read all three books. The first two, twice. They are exhilarating to read: like MCTB with only the "lightning flash" chapters on "inflammatory" subjects. And for me at least, they arrived at just the right moment, just when I got busy seriously cooking up a truckload of content based on all the maps and models. Good stuff to counter complacency. And I recall a Sutta which essentially was about "don't settle down, nothing to see here, keep moving", i.e. "FURTHER" in Jed-Speak.

As to the enlightenment model presented in the trilogy: to our jaded tastes, yeah, maybe a bit simplistic, too few data points and so on. But hey, I was a bit disappointed, too, when I first read the list on Daniel's site about what doesn't automatically happen with Arahatship. Apparently, it doesn't transform loners into party animals, either. (There's a passage in the first book where he remarks on having been "completely lame" and uninteresting prior to enlightenment).

I think if I'd discovered Jed before Daniel, this trilogy would be my all time favorite set of Dhamma books. As it is, MCTB already sits in that space.

Oh, and he also quotes all my favorite books.

Cheers,
Florian

"The narrator, Jed McKenna (or whoever it really is) reminds me a bit of Daniel Ingram."

Not to be inflamitory, because I like secrets, but I have always thought that Jed McKenna is Daniel writing under a pseudonym. I have heard others express that belief as well, but as far as I know there is no evidence to back this up. I almost asked Daniel about it, but I didn't want to ruin the mystery.

Hi, Mark. You're not being inflamatory at all, but I doubt your hypothesis. The voice is different, and the approach to realization is radically different. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so. So.... let's ask directly:

Daniel Ingram, if you're reading this please reply --- are YOU Jed McKenna?



Now, we wait

Oh-oh aren't there laws against inciting a riot? Forgive me for mentioning it Daniel, but if cmarti is gonna come right out and ask, I too am all ears...

One thing's for sure, don't go by the voice. The person narrating the audiobooks is definitely not Jed. You can tell because he mispronouces the names of a few folks who are common in spiritual circles. For example he calls "Ramana Maharshi" "Ramana Maharishi" Small mistakes, but mistakes that a person who was actually familiar with the spiritual teachings would never make.

You are very right though, even if the attitudes are similar the approach to realization are rather different, and to his credit that is one place that I would not expect Daniel to compromise.

"
Oh-oh aren't there laws against inciting a riot? Forgive me for mentioning it Daniel, but if cmarti is gonna come right out and ask, I too am all ears...

One thing's for sure, don't go by the voice. The person narrating the audiobooks is definitely not Jed. You can tell because he mispronouces the names of a few folks who are common in spiritual circles. For example he calls "Ramana Maharshi" "Ramana Maharishi" Small mistakes, but mistakes that a person who was actually familiar with the spiritual teachings would never make.

You are very right though, even if the attitudes are similar the approach to realization are rather different, and to his credit that is one place that I would not expect Daniel to compromise.
"

Mark, I think Chris was referring to "voice" as it is used in literature - not the actual voice used in the audiobook. Having read MCTB a number of times, I'm certain that Ingram didn't write the McKenna books.

Not only that, but McKenna's method for attaining enlightenment (Spiritual Autolysis) is nearly antithetical to Daniel's Mahasi Sayadaw style vipassana approach. McKenna is more of a Zen and Advaita guy, and Daniel is pretty much straight up Theravada.

As mentioned above, McKenna's "Spiritual Autolysis" is more akin to the method Adyashanti describes in "True Meditation," which is why some people think that Adyashanti wrote the Enlightenment trilogy. I think this is more likely, but am not fully sold on this hypothesis either.

~Jackson

"Not to be inflamitory, because I like secrets, but I have always thought that Jed McKenna is Daniel writing under a pseudonym. I have heard others express that belief as well, but as far as I know there is no evidence to back this up. I almost asked Daniel about it, but I didn't want to ruin the mystery."

Not to sound offensive, but Mark have you actually read Daniel's material? The only similarity I will admit is that both are very blunt, and open, and have a sense of humor. Otherwise there is absolutely zero in common, with the crux of the matter being that Jed has no idea what he's talking about, while Daniel does. I know this sounds harsh, but Jed has NO method. He reminds me of J Krishnamurti, who is too overtly intellectual and lacks pragmatism. Jed even says that meditation isn't necessary, this is absurd. I took Jed seriously but realized that such teachers are to be avoided. They are on top of the mountain looking down and yelling "C'mon up! You don't need any food or gear or anything, just jump up!" which from their perspective seems right, but only shows that they truly are not at the top of the mountain at all, since such an approach only shows their lack of wisdom.

Well, I certainly can't argue with any of that; as I said before I realize that in terms of approach the two are totally different. I guess it's just that "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment" where Jed is at the cocktail party reminded me very much of Daniel's MCTB Chapter 30 "Models of Enlightenment"

At any rate, I certainly agree that they are both open and have a great senses of humour. Very admirable traits. Following suit, I'll be open to speculation on their identities, and able to laugh at myself if I'm wrong.

"... but if cmarti is gonna come right out and ask..."

The shortest path between two points is a straight line, right?

>The shortest path between two points is a straight line, right?

I quite agree. Unless there are obstacles in the way; in which case the shortest line is not always straight. But if your perception is that there are no obstacles, then Lead on McDuff. As I said, if Daniel chooses to respond, I'm all ears.

Hi Mark,

Personally, I think Jed McKenna is this guy:



Whaddya think?

Kenneth

P.S. Daniel has never kept a secret in his life.

Whoever writes under the pen name "Jed McKenna" knows. You can't make that stuff up on your own, so you have to know it or have it ghost written, which in this case would be completely nonsensical.

And yes, Jackson is quite right. By "voice" I meant literary voice, not physical, recorded human voice.

<Kenneth slipped in....>

www.kiloby.com/index.php

Jed could be Scott Kiloby, but Scott uses classic Advaita Vedanta pointing out instructions to recognize awareness here and now like Krishna Menon or 'Sailor' Bob Adamson, while Jed's only method seems to be 'spiritual autolysis', which is pretty much what Adyashanti did (as mentioned earlier by Jackson).

If we keep talking about him he might eventually pop up on this forum, as he did on OpenEnlightenment.

"If we keep talking about him he might eventually pop up on this forum, as he did on OpenEnlightenment." -Alex

Alex, by "him," do you mean Kiloby, McKenna, or Adya?

Sorry Kenneth, I meant Jed McKenna.

Duncan wrote an article entitled "Would The Real Jed McKenna Please Stand Up?"
People started speculating as to who is hiding behind this pseudo, as we are doing here.

Suddenly Jed popped in and wrote:

"Consider me the awakened equivalent of the Everyman, then. I am not the only teacher living in this fashion, as a quick survey of the territory would tell you, and changing the name of a state doesn't exactly require genius.

J.D. Salinger was no pseudonym, though. And anonymity only seems difficult to those attached to their identities."

So who knows, he might be reading this thread - Hi Jed!