non-duality
magazine
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| Winter 2013 |
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3.
Non Conceptual
Awareness is the Awareness within which all experiences arise.
David Bingham
INTERVIEW
I would like to ask you about the financial aspects of
communicating with people. Is there some sort of agreement beforehand about
the monetary aspects of this?
David Bingham: Until I did the first interviews on
Conscious.tv
I'd only spoken to friends and people who came into my space. I'd not
intended to become a teacher but have responded to those who have felt
inspired to contact me.
There was quite a good response to the interviews on
Conscious.tv
and Iain McNay suggested setting up a website so that people could contact
me directly, rather than going through Conscious TV.
I’m in a reasonable situation financially and prefer not to charge. After
I'd been speaking with people for a couple of years the demand grew and I
needed to manage time more effectively. I started to charge 40 pounds an
hour to regulate the number of people making contact. I prefer not to charge
people at all. I don’t like the idea of charging for group meetings and I
don’t like the idea of charging for speaking one to one.
I did some interviews in 2011 which generated more
interest and I continued charging. For those who are inspired it generally
isn’t an issue. My preference is to speak to people only once. In a one hour
session it’s usually possible to identify where the blockages are to clear
seeing. I feel the whole process is being administered by infinite
consciousness so the right people seem to turn up. It's been incredible to
witness the number of people who have recognized their true nature. So in
another way you could say, how do you put a price on realization? (Laughs)
The whole process seems to take care of itself. Last year
I was very busy speaking and doing meetings. This year is more moderate so
I’m charging fewer people. I don't do any promotion but just respond to
those interested.
You mentioned that it was John Wheeler that helped you
with the realization, and that his teacher was Sailor Bob and before him,
Nisargadatta?
David Bingham: Yes.
And I think he spent something like 40 years teaching in
India and he never charged anyone at all when he taught. There are also
other teachers in India who do not charge. Why do you think that’s different
in the West?
David Bingham: Well Nisargadatta's day job was selling
cigarettes so with Nisargadatta and myself, we both had a little job before
we started doing this stuff. (Laughs) If your needs are taken care of
there's no need to charge, that’s my feeling. Each case is different though.
Some perfectly valid teachers do charge because their personal circumstances
dictate the need for an income from teaching. If they didn’t charge they
wouldn’t be able to teach. It’s different in the West, because the cost of
living is much higher than when Nisargadatta was teaching. If what is being
imparted has real value, the need to charge or not is of secondary
consideration. Ideally it’s better not to charge but there are some truly
great teachers who need to generate an income.
The teachers charging the most seem to be the ones
emphasizing the need for a "shift" so you have to keep going back for years
(Laughs) Adviata is a very simple message. It points to what is already the
case but has been overlooked. There is actually no shift into realization.
There is only a seeing that we are not what we thought we were. We were
never the limitations.
Understood, let me use this metaphor here: say for
example that you met someone who was orphaned as a child, abandoned as a
child and they started seeking for their true birth parents. And you had
happened to have been around at the time of their birth and you knew who
their true birth parents were, and this person was seeking all over the
world, traveling everywhere inquiring, investigating, hiring private
detectives and trying to find their birth parents and you knew all along who
they were and if this person came to you, would you say ok I’ll tell you who
they are but for a price.
David Bingham: Maybe! No, not really.
So then what would the difference be with telling someone
their true identity as being non dual awareness?
David Bingham: Charging for anything to do with
Self realization is actually taking money on a false pretense because you're
charging someone for what they already have. It’s like stealing a car and
selling it back to the owner. That’s the core reservation I have in regard
to charging. Non dual pointing is more of an exchange than a giving because
a deeper clarity arises on both sides. It isn’t just the teacher giving to
the student. An exchange of energy is taking place. So the student should
also be charging really. (Laughs)
So did you find that these people weren’t really serious,
but maybe wasting your time or absorbing your energy or something like that?
David Bingham:Most people seeking Self realization are
actually seeking an end to suffering. Suffering has it's basis in sub
conscious mind programmes and over the years I've discovered ways to reduce
the impact of these programmes.and reduce suffering. Many people are
surprised to discover that the mind programmes can continue to have an
effect even after realization but realization can also make the programmes
more easily detectable. I sometimes help people to dissolve the mind
programmes and reduce suffering but this process takes more time than non
dual pointing. This is the area where it's necessary to be conscious of the
amount of time and attention being given to each person.
END OF INTERVIEW
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