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Aversion, Death, Rebirth, Vanity                        

 

 
SELF REALISATION
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

1. ALAN JACOBS

 

Alan Jacobs was born in 1929 in London. From an early age, he has been interested in religion and mysticism. He commenced a personal search for truth, and studied comparative religion. He then entered the Gurdjieff Society in 1957 and remained there until the early seventies. He then met Jiddu Krishnamurti, and studied his teachings until 1979.

 

Next, he discovered Ramana Maharshi and became familiar with his extensive literature and spiritual practice. He is currently President of the Ramana Maharshi Foundation, UK.

 

Alan's first book was 'Dutch And Flemish 17th C Painters: A Collectors Guide for McGraw Hill'. He then compiled an anthology, 'Poetry For The Spirit', published by Watkins Publishing and Barnes & Noble.

 

As a poet he has versified for O Books 'The Bhagavad Gita', 'The Principal Upanishads' and 'The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius', as well as compiling a major prose anthology, 'The Ocean Of Wisdom'. For Watkins Publishing, he edited 'Ramana, Shankara and the Forty Verses', versified 'The Essential Gnostic Gospels' and compiled an anthology, 'The Wisdom of Ramesh Balsekar'.

 

XLibris have published a volume of his own poetry, 'Myrobalan of The Magi', and a history of London from a spiritual perspective, 'Mysterious London'. He has recently completed an anthology, 'The Wisdom of the Native American Indians', 'Plato's Republic: An Abridgemnent and Modernisation' and 'When Jesus Lived In India', all for Watkins Publishing.

 

His latest book, published by O Books, is a Utopian novella exploring up-to-now undiscovered land of the legendry Emperor Prestor John, found in Ethiopia, founded on Gnostic principles: 'Eutopia: The Gnostic Land of Prestor John' describes their direct path to Self-realization.

 

Amazon link: 

www.amazon.com/Alan-Jacobs/e/B008GJQ3HG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1395600145&sr=1-2

 

INTERVIEW

 

Alan Jacobs interview with Paula Marvelly for  Non-duality magazine

 

 

 

NDM: When and where did you meet Robert Adams and how did he inspire you?

 

Alan Jacobs: I met Robert for seven weeks before he died in Sedona where he taught. His very relaxed presence breathed love and peace. His kindness and informal words were often short and to the point; his love for Sri Ramana Maharshi was outstanding. All this I found highly inspirational.

 

NDM: Could you give a short factual biography of Robert?

 

Alan Jacobs: Robert Adams was an American Self-realized teacher, who was born in 1928 in the Bronx and died in 1997 in Sedona. The best biography of him that I know is on the web, posted on The Wanderling website:

 

http://the-wanderling.com/adams.html

 

NDM: Was Robert a jnani (Self-realized man)?

 

Alan Jacobs: Beyond any shadow of a doubt, Robert was a Self-realized jnani. He passed Ramana's acid test that you could feel the power of love and peace in his presence.

 

NDM: Is this different from being an arhat (saint), and if so, what are those differences?

 

Alan Jacobs: The saint is a very virtuous man or woman of good deeds and yet may still be identified with the mind and world illusion.

 

NDM: Robert attained 'enlightenment' as a teenager and yet he went to India to meet Sri Ramana Maharshi shortly after. Why did he feel the need to do this?

 

Alan Jacobs: After meeting Paramahansa Yogananda near San Diego, he told Robert that Sri Ramana Maharshi was his guru. This impelled Robert to go to Arunachala, where he gained complete moksha.

 

NDM: What else did Robert gain from his time in India?

 

Alan Jacobs: After Sri Ramana Maharshi died, Robert met the recognized sages Nisargadatta Maharaj, Swami Ramdas and Anandamayi Ma. When I was staying with Robert in Sedona, Papaji called him on the telephone to talk to him about the teaching.

 

According to David Godman, Papaji was so impressed by Robert's material that he spent several weeks one summer reading his transcripts out loud at his own satsangs.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIo0AbN8LzA 

 

NDM: What is the essence of Robert's teaching and how should it be put into practice?

 

Alan Jacobs: The essence of Robert's teaching is that of Sri Ramana Maharshi, his guru: Atma Vichara (Self Enquiry) and Surrender. The masterly book, ‘Silence of the Heart’, as well as his satsang transcripts, give this teaching immaculately.

 

NDM: Robert advocated minimal publicity for his work. He shunned the media and believed that anyone who courted attention as a nonduality teacher was essentially driven by ego. (Robert's widow actively removes most of Robert's material from the Internet.) Could you expand on that?

 

Alan Jacobs: Robert shunned publicity because he said that he did not wish his satsangs to become a circus like Papaji's.

 

NDM: What was Robert's policy on charging for satsang?

 

Alan Jacobs: Robert never charged for satsangs. If donations were voluntarily made, they were private and never disclosed.

 

NDM: What was Robert's policy on celibacy?

 

Alan Jacobs: Robert had no policy on celibacy. Like Ramana, he believed that men and women were free to marry. The real brahmacharya to him was abidance in Brahman, not celibacy.

 

NDM: Robert married and had two daughters many years after his 'enlightenment'. Why would a jnani feel the need to have a family (and sex, for that matter)?

 

Alan Jacobs: When asked why he was married, Robert said, 'It just happened.’ Nothing else. One accepts it was the Divine will for him. He was laid back about sex, as was Ramana.

 

Ramana is reported to have said, 'Get on with it but don't think about it.’ Ramana felt that if this very strong desire was unfulfilled by some, it was more dangerous than abstention. It was fantasizing that he strongly objected to, as did Robert. Many devotees were happily married, living fulfilled lives.

 

NDM: Both Sri Ramana Maharshi and Robert say that it is possible to realize the Self as a householder, and yet many other nondual traditions infer that the monastic/hermetic life is the only way. Could you expand on that?

 

Alan Jacobs: Both Robert and Ramana felt that the monastic life was stultifying and did not recommend it. They felt that the life of a householder was much more harmonious and better in most respects.

 

NDM: What is Robert's legacy today?

 

 Alan Jacobs: Robert's legacy is that he has become the Guru of the West because his easy everyday language appeals more to devotees than heavy translations by other Indian jnanis. 

 

 

 

 

Robert Adams

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END OF INTERVIEW