Beer, Aidsbabies & Enlightenment

From sugary aidsbabies to smelly subways, from the global economic system to ineffective spiritual teachers that charge money, from porn & pills to recycling sexual energy, from piles of dead pigs to forest gardens and permaculture, from depression and burnout to radiant health, from ‘Buddha’ garden gnomes to child-molesting priests, from the spiritual swamp to breaking your own mental chains – from the ‘being’ state to the absolute. Beer, aidsbabies & enlightenment is about the mental, economic and spiritual swamp and some of the major delusions, traps and tricks which prevent us from even beginning an honest process of self-enquiry. The struggle for enlightenment is no joke – it is the toughest struggle upon which anyone can embark. This book describes the essential issues that one encounters during this process: radical despair, intensive self-enquiry, obsessive and destructive thinking, intense energy, the heart-knot, esotericism, illusory experiences, hypocrisy, contradictions, etc. Crucial topics which affect everybody – such as food, sex and the money system – are also discussed. The essence of this book, however, lies in its explanation of the difference between effective teachings and ineffective teachings, between the ‘stay-trapped’ approach and the ‘take-action’ approach, between the ‘being’ state and enlightenment. For contrary to common assumptions, abiding in the ‘being’ state - being ‘one with everything’ - is not the end of seeking. It is this false assumption which has triggered the massive increase in so-called ‘spiritual/non-dual teachers’ in our era, most of whom are also engaged in the most hypocritical practice of all: charging money. The spiritual swamp, which traps one in mental inertia, is full of teachings which point vaguely at what to seek – some state of being – but not how truly to end seeking once and for all – enlightenment.