Mariana Caplan holds degrees in Cultural Anthology from the University of Michigan and Counseling Psychology from the California Institute for Integral Studies.
However, she attributes the majority of her education and inspiration to years of research and practice in the world's mystical traditions, and to studying and living in villages in India, Central and South America, and Europe. As an example, she cites, seemingly very wisely, that the Bribri Indians in Costa Rica gave her an "advance course in anthropology" by undermining all of notions about it, as well as relating that the saint from southern India, Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar, "taught her lessons that 10,000 Ph.D.’s in Religious Studies could never come close to." She also spent many years living in a small, spiritual community in the deserts of Arizona under the guidance of her teacher, Lee Lozowick.
Caplan is a popular guest on radio and television due to her emphasis on the need for authenticity in an increasingly impersonal world. She presently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently an adjunct faculty member of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She is the author of five books including:
- HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment
- UNTOUCHED: the Need for Genuine Affection in an Impersonal World
- When Sons and Daughters Choose Alternative Lifestyles,"
- THE WAY OF FAILURE: Winning Through Losing."
Ken Wilber, who, as a major theme in his writings, attempts to devise a 'General Unified Theory' of consciousness (id to ego to Godhead) by correlating East-West psychological, philosophical, and spiritual cognitive maps in his books, presents to the reader in One Taste that there are probably only 1000 truly Enlightened beings currently inhabiting the planet. After reading this impressive work of authentic scholarship, one begins to suspect that Wilber's estimate is too generous.
In Halfway Up the Mountain, Mariana Caplan has crystallized in-depth interviews with dozens of accomplished teachers, practitioners, clinicians and scholars into an accessible, well-written indictment of much that attempts to pass as authentic spiritual Enlightenment in modern America. Caplan tells us:
"Real Enlightenment definitely is not on sale at the corner store, it doesn't contain preservatives, and isn't wrapped in plastic. Absolute surrender to God, or the Universe, is the greatest gift, the "pearl of great price," and it will never be cheap. That is why one should question the ersatz gems that pseudo-spiritualists so readily sell in their fancy packages. If one wants the real thing, one must learn about counterfeits; otherwise, one is showing off a rhinestone to God, convinced it is the Hope Diamond."
In addition to ego being an inordinately clever and cunning obstacle to Enlightenment, Caplan also presents a powerful argument for "the land of the free and the home of the brave," being less than an optimal place for Attainment: "In the mass importation of Eastern spiritual traditions onto Western soil what has been imported are the visible, tangible practices and expressions of these traditions and not the cultural matrix from which they arose - Western culture is so violent and antithetical to spiritual truth it is like trying to plant a rainforest fern in the Sahara desert." (see)
There is much that is rich and compelling in this work. Bottomline, the message is that when seeking in the spiritual marketplace, always, always, always - buyer beware.
The above with thanks to Mark Brady.
MARK BRADY, Ph.D., is a Global Faculty Mentor for
the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. He is a
transpersonal psychologist, group facilitator, faculty mentor,
and author. In his work with dying and grieving people over
the past 12 years, he has had ample opportunity to hone his
listening skills under challenging circumstances.
Caplan's book HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment is an absolute must read for anybody interested in Enlightenment and the Awakening process. Due to the reflective nature of the material contained in the book and its dual focus (theoretical/general and practical/personal), it has been suggested that several weeks be taken reading the book. For example, the guide below has been designed to follow the divisions in the book to be read over a five week period:
Week One — Enlightenment and Mystical Experience
Week Two — The Dangers of Mystical Experience
Week Three — Corruption and Consequence
Week Four — Navigating the Minefield: Preventing Dangers on the Path
Week Five — Disillusionment, Humility, and the Beginning of Spiritual Life
Asking such questions as:
- What is your understanding of the term "Enlightenment?" How does it relate to discipleship, spirituality, and faith formation?
- Why do people want to rush to Enlightenment? Why do many people react negatively to the concept of Enlightenment taking a lifetime?
- Reflect on the list of Enlightenment definitions on pages 39-48. With which definitions do you most resonate? With which do you most strongly disagree? How do these definitions challenge or broaden your understanding of Enlightenment?
- What motivates people to seek spiritual Enlightenment? Which motivations have the greatest power to sustain you on your own spiritual path?
- What are the essential ingredients in a process of Enlightenment? (Reflect on what you believe is necessary for you to become Enlightened. Visualize what you would look like as an "Enlightened" individual.)
- Who judges the validity of a mystical experience? How can we decide whether a mystical experience is real or not?
- How does ego impede our spiritual development and Enlightenment?
- What are some of the dangers that spiritual seekers face when they decide they no longer (or never) need teachers or spiritual guides?
- What are some of the critical elements for a healthy relationship between spiritual teachers and students?
- What are the dangers of engaging in teaching when one is not prepared? What qualities should students expect (demand) of their spiritual teachers? What qualifications should a teacher have to promote himself or herself as a spiritual guide/director?
- By what standards do we test the integrity and authority of spiritual leaders? How do we test the validity of spiritual experience and teaching?
- The practice of spiritual disciplines prepares people for greater experiences of personal growth and acts of mercy and service. Why do so many people with a sincere desire to grow spiritually resist, avoid, or ignore disciplined spiritual practice?
- How does Chapter 19, "True Teacher — or False?" challenge our current understanding of what it means to be a teacher? What gifts, talents, skills, or abilities should our teachers be developing?
- After reading and reflecting on the first four sections of Halfway Up the Mountain, how has your thinking about spiritual Enlightenment changed? What criteria are most important now in seeking teachers and spiritual direction? (Have these things changed since the first session?)
- What are your personal goals as a spiritual seeker? What would you like to learn? What would you like to do in the future? Who would you like to be? What steps are you taking to become the person you want to be?
- What assistance do you provide to others on their spiritual journey? In what ways are you a spiritual disciple? In what ways are you a spiritual teacher?
The above questions are excerpted from a Discussion Guide Study prepared for Caplan's book by Dan R. Dick, Director of Quest General Board of Discipleship. The full original copyrighted © 2000 General Board of Discipleship.
Without being excessively overly flipant here, if, as Ken Wilber presents to his readers in One Taste that there are probably only 1000 truly Enlightened beings currently inhabiting the planet, and Caplan suspect that Wilber's estimate is way too generous, the question arises, if Enlightenment can unfold for even half the amount, for whatever reasons that it did, can it also unfold for YOU? What stops it from unfolding for every Tom, Dick and Harriette that comes down the pike? General people must buy the possiblity in some sense that if Enlightenment is not a full possibility it is at least not a totally remote out of the question possibility either. How about being possible, for example, Paris Hilton? Completely out of the question? Why?
PARIS HILTON AND THE ART OF ZEN ENLIGHTENMENT
It is often said that when you truly need a teacher --- or that which will function in lieu of a teacher --- one (or it) will appear. This may due to some inexplicable serendipity. It may be due to the fact that the seeker has searched deeply within himself or herself and determined what sort of instruction seems to be required. It could be swept over him or her like the First Death Experience of the Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, or the Bhagavan's little known Second Death Experience. Or it could be a spiritual desperation on the part of the seeker, or maybe no more than a successful sales pitch by a teacher (sincere or not). It may be a combination of the previous factors, or some intuitive awareness beyond expression. For whatever the reason, the saying often applies and the coming together of the results of inner and outside forces, some within one's control, some without, can be found most eloquently as they all come together in the following:
SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI: THE LAST AMERICAN DARSHAN
RECOUNTING A YOUNG BOY'S NEARLY INSTANT TRANSFORMATION INTO THE ABSOLUTE DURING HIS ONLY DARSHAN WITH THE MAHARSHI
Fundamentally, our experience as experienced is not different from the Zen master's. Where
we differ is that we place a fog, a particular kind of conceptual overlay onto that experience
and then make an emotional investment in that overlay, taking it to be "real" in and of itself.
(PLEASE CLICK)
AWAKENED TEACHERS FORUM
SEE ALSO:
FOR THE LATEST FROM MARIANA CAPLAN
VISIT HER WEB SITE AT:
Among two of the people interviewed by Caplan for her book, above, Joan Halifax
and Andrew Cohen appear on the GATE KEEPER'S List of Spiritual Teachers
For Ordering Info Contact Thom Shelby
HOHM PRESS
P.O. Box 2501
Prescott, AZ 86302
