“I am so glad to salute the brave, reckless gods in another man. So glad to meet a man who will abide by his very self… If only people would meet in their very selves, without wanting to put some idea over one another, or some ideal. Damn all ideas and all ideals. Damn all the false stress, and the pins.I am I. Here am I. Where are you?” - D.H. Lawrence
I am not enlightened, nor do I have any special powers or mystical attainments. I have played the role of expert in the past (teaching English in South Korea, teaching three year-olds how to skateboard, teaching single men how to meet and keep the woman of their dreams) but at my core, I claim no authority over life's great mysteries. I'm a student first, and a student of all the unfathomable and unending intricacies of this world of mind and matter.
I'm willing to talk about anything or explore anything without hiding behind a sense of taboo or secrecy. And, with a great respect, I may at times assume that the readers of this website are mature enough to handle some of the straight-forward facts of life, as well as the perhaps not so factual opinions of my crazy mind.
I am interested in spiritual awakening, travel, and all kinds of artistic expression (including: painting, music, dance, poetry, skateboarding, fashion, writing, yelling, chewing with your mouth open, public speaking, politics, cooking, architecture and so forth.) My current life project revolves around the complete mastery of meditation, with that being the main topic of this website.
My spiritual practice follows primarily from the teachings of the Buddha (the Buddha-Dhamma), particularly the Theravada tradition and the practice of Vipassana-Bhavana (Insight Meditation) which I've been practicing for a few years. However, my teachers have varied far and wide throughout the many years of my personal evolution, and would be such a large list that it'd be impossible to compile here. Let's just say, I like it all, and my mind is usually more bent toward synthesis than sectarianism.
You may also notice that I like exploring cultures, and I like to travel. Having already visited 19 countries across the globe and many of the 50 United States, my current pilgrimage to India and Nepal will be the next chapter in this story.
I appreciate a love for truth and honesty, for the desire to peel back layers of appearance and discover who and what we really are. I prefer the company of fellow adventurers who openly share what they know and what they experience in order to help each go deeper into their own journey.
I write with the hope that I may entertain, inspire, delight, inform, stir things up a little, and generally give something back to the many wonderful people who have supported me and continue to support me on my journey.
I received a BS degree in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, and spent most of my life living in California. I've held jobs doing everything from living on an organic farm and selling fruits and vegetables, to environmental chemist, to working personally with hundreds of men as a life coach and mentor, to sales and marketing, to video editor and director of photography, to fire prevention and maintenance. And when not working, I enjoy creating art, playing guitar, or swimming in a creek or ocean.
Enjoy yourself, and don't hesitate to contact me.
Live fully, and love fully.
- Daniel Johnson
14 comments:
Daniel wrote: "I prefer the company of fellow adventurers who openly share what they know and what they experience in order to help each go deeper into their own journey."
You asked. Here's my know-it-all answer, sure to irritate and hopefully to gnaw away at your mind: In my experience, Vipassana meditation, at least in the Theravadan tradition, is a waste of time, at least if you're interested in enlightenment, that is. Though I suppose that it can help indirectly. For me, it created lots of suffering, and it got me completely disillusioned with controlling the mind, which indirectly contributed to my awakening. It prepared me to completely let go of control (with a nudge from Adyashanti's "True Meditation" audio program, available on itunes), for the first time in my life. Which led to me to realize who I really am and helped me to start getting what I've been looking for all along: freedom and peace, at the deepest level.
Perhaps you have to go to the ends of the earth in your exploration of Vipassana in order to get disillusioned with it and with control of the mind in general. I just hope you don't end up like those Zen meditators that Adya talks about in Spontaneous Awakening, still meditating decade after decade, not getting what they're really looking for, but unable or unwilling to let go.
Perhaps you can skip the years of Vipassana that I went through and skip straight to the disillusionment and the surrender. Or perhaps not. Maybe you need to go through all this. I don't know. I just want to save you some suffering and help speed you towards your goal (assuming enlightenment is your goal; I can't imagine a goal more worthy), if I can.
Regardless, I hope your trip is going well.
Your friend,
Damian
PS A piece of friendly, unsolicited advice: If you're still insistent on exploring Vipassana, and as long as you're in that part of the world, how about sitting with a Vipassana teacher who at least is pretty clearly enlightened? The only one I know of is Ajahn Jumnien, who teaches at his monastery, Wat Tum Sua, in Krabi, Thailand. He claims to teach Vipassana, though it's unlike any Vipassana I've seen before. He's the first clearly enlightened teacher I've ever sat with, and the first teacher to help me experience a spiritual awakening, a taste of incomparable peace and freedom, and an unshakable knowledge of who I really am. What do you think?
Damian
Thanks Damian,
I'm curious what makes a person "pretty clearly enlightened?"
As far as I know, Vipassana just means seeing very clearly into the nature of reality. And, it's not something that one can control, but rather something that emerges if/when the conditions are ripe for it's emergence.
I'm pretty sure that's what the Buddha meant by it, since he used the words Vipassana-Bhavana which literally means cultivating the conditions for deep insight to emerge.
Anyway, I always appreciate your perspective.
- Daniel
Hi Daniel,
You ask: What makes a person "pretty clearly enlightened"? Well, to me it means free of ego, and free of unnecessary suffering. What struck me about Ajahn Jumnien, for example, from the first time I saw him, was how alive, peaceful, and relaxed he was, and how free he seemed to be from blame, shame, guilt, embarrassment or any other form of unnecessary suffering I could imagine. But whether or not this guy--or any other guy--is enlightened is, to me, beside the point. The point to me is whether or not someone else has something that I want for myself. I spent years and years looking for that something in people like S.N. Goenka, Jack Kornfield, and the Dalai Lama, and it wasn't until I met Ajahn Jumnian (and then Adyashanti, and other "pretty clearly enlightened" teachers) that I felt like I had found it.
I'm curious: Have you found that something that you really want for yourself in S.N. Goenka, or anyone else you've encountered on your spiritual travels?
By the way, your definition of Vipassana seems reasonable to me. Problem is--from my perspective--"seeing very clearly into the nature of reality" is not what most modern "Vipassana" teachers seem to teach--because, from my perspective, they don't seem to actually see very clearly into the nature of reality. The blind leading the blind, as far as I can tell. And while they might try to teach "seeing very clearly into the nature of reality," almost all of them also seem to teach people to control their minds and their bodies (focus on this, focus on that, sit this way, do this, do that), which, in my experience, is just the opposite of what leads to clear seeing.
That's just my two cents, anyway, for what they're worth. I hope you find something of value in them.
Damian
No, I don't find "that something" in others. I find it in my practice.
Regarding teachers, they're all human, and I don't imagine it's an easy job at all.
I can't explain what it is that creates that precious moment where the mind stops it's habitual pattern of delusion and sees the truth.
The Buddha said that "a good friend" is one factor which certainly will lead to that kind of awakening. I consider S.N. Goenka, Jack Kornfield, Adyashanti, Christopher Titmuss, Buddha, J. Krishnamurti, Jed McKenna, Daniel Ingram, Thich Nhat Hanh, H.D. Thoreau, Webu Sayadaw, Fritz Perls, Fritjof Capra, even Jesus Christ and many many many others to have been very good friends in my life.
I also considered you to be a good friend.
Thanks for the dialogue, I quite enjoy it.
You "considered" me to be a good friend. Was that a typo, or did you mean to imply that our friendship is now only in the past? I consider you a friend in the present as well as the past; if I've done something to cause you to consider our friendship in the past but not the present, I'm sorry, and I'd appreciate you letting me know.
Regarding "that something": As you may see in my last comment, "that something" is a shorthand for "that something that you really want for yourself." Are you saying that you haven't found anything that you really want for yourself in someone else? If so, could you *imagine* finding something that you'd really want for yourself in someone else? I don't mean that there's literally something in them that's not in you. But perhaps someone has easier access to peace, or aliveness, or freedom, or what-have-you than yourself, and perhaps that someone inspires you, no? Or perhaps you haven't come across someone who inspires you deeply yet?
Friends are great, but who, if anyone, truly inspires you? I'm not talking about teaching ability here--I've encountered a number of apparently enlightened teachers who, I think, are pretty lousy teachers (e.g., Eckhart Tolle), regardless of how human they may be and how difficult spiritual teaching may, as you say, be. I'm talking about people like the Buddha and Jesus--who leave people thinking, "Wow. How can I get what he's got?--but people whom you've seen and heard with your own eyes and ears. Anyone? Do Jack Kornfield and S.N. Goenka inspire you (lord knows they don't inspire me)? If so, how so? If not, I'm curious why you would follow either of their teachings?
You say that you "can't explain what it is that creates that precious moment where the mind stops it's habitual pattern of delusion and sees the truth." To me, that's the most important thing of all to figure out. Actually, the *moment* seems relatively unimportant to me--a mere moment just becomes a memory, and nothing more. What seems important to me is what it is that creates the complete and enduring cessation of the mind's habitual pattern of delusion and replaces it with an abiding experience the truth.
After about a decade of spiritual searching, what I eventually discovered (from--guess who?--my favorite teacher, in his favorite work, which I shall not name here for fear that you'll roll your eyes and dismiss the rest of what I have to say, but I think you know what I'm talking about) is that it all boils down to letting go of control. Letting go of control of the mind, letting go of control of the body. Please don't ask me how to do that. For an answer to that question, if you're interested, I refer you to you-know-where.
Thank you as well for the dialogue. I quite enjoy it too.
-Damian
Hey Daniel!
So glad I re-found your blog, Patrice reminded me of the title. LOVING reading about your adventure, and so is Suzy. As you may recall, she's heading over there in a couple of months, visiting Nepal and India. We're in the middle of camera shopping for that purpose and wondering what you're armed with over there. She's enamored with a lot of your India shots, especially the depth of field effects, and we're just curious about whether you took them with a DSLR or with something less "pro."
Thanks in advance for the info, and for all of the great stories! Talk to you soon.
- whit
Hey Whit,
I'm using a Canon Xsi - DSLR. I've got two lenses 18-55mm and also 55-250mm. I love them both. The telephoto is awesome for taking "sniper" shots that people don't notice.
I'm glad I brought it with me, though it's sometimes a bit much to lug around.
- Daniel
Hey dude.
Best of luck for your inner journey. I myself am also taking an inner journey which has been filled with delights.
Once while meditating deeply on Impermanence in a south indian mountain town a greaet peace overcame me.
That peace has not left me, even though I'm now a busy surgeon working with very negative people.
Continue on your journey friend. It is the journey others rarely take and the only one with any significance.
I recognised you from watching some old pickup 101 videos! Were you actually any good with women or was it just another job?
Take care friend,
NEVER GIVE UP ON THE INNER JOURNEY - it is the only true lasting journey.
Vinay
Hey Vinay, thanks for the comments. Ha!... yeah, I looove women, and it was not just another job. I'm not sure I've ever had "just another job." Whether I was "good" with them or not? - you'd have to ask them :)
May you grow in peace. May the inner journey never give up on you.
Rather than travels to third world countries, yoga, or PickUp 101, what you need is to seriously refocus away from yourself. Your inner monologue is soooooo tiresome. You haven't learned a thing.
Thanks for your comments, Anonymous. I apologize if you found my monologue tiresome, but hopefully you were able to navigate away from the webpage before it had too many ill effects.
By the way... yoga? I haven't done any yoga in maybe four years or so.
Great blog. I hope the back and forth between Damian and Daniel back in 2010 was not too serious here.
But I am curious about the teacher Damian was referring to at the end? Who was he afraid to mention... Feel free to email me directly: yuriy@wisdomtraveler.com.
Thanks,
Yuriy
www.meditationcorner.com
Keep up your thingking, it's keeping the world moving in balance..<3 & Hugs
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