Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment

Rating:
Summary: This is the book for you.
Review: For those of you earnestly and honestly searching to know the truth about yourself and all-that-is, "Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing" is THE only book you will ever need. Buy it, read it, follow its advice to the letter and you will be able to find all the 'answers' you ever thought you sought.

For those of you interested in all things related to the search, Enlightenment, self-improvement, self-development, or the Great American Spirituality, this is the book for you. With his second book, Jed has answered the only possible criticism I could have given his first book, namely, does he have advice for those interested in growing up instead of waking up. It turns out he does and this will lay it out for you. Interesting and entertaining, with "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment," Jed McKenna has reinforced my deeply felt appreciation for his style and skill. For anyone who has ever felt even a mild curiosity about the larger questions in life, give this book a go, I can think of no other author I'd recommend more highly, and if in the end you think you're in for the no-nonsense game of true awakening, you can easily pick up his first book and get started, but as the wise men say, "Better never start..."

Rating:
Summary: You're either on the bus, or off the bus. Further.
Review: Here's what I "get".

I "get" that I started upon the "spiritual path" being hopelessly depressed about what I felt was the meaninglessness of life.

I "get" that over 20 years of seeking has earned me an impressive library, a pretty good intellectual grasp of what it means to be spiritually enlightened and endless frustration on my inability to awaken.

I also "get" that since I have no real intention to faithfully study, meditate, pray, chant, find a guru, quit smoking or change several non-spiritual-like habits, the chance of my awakening in this lifetime are...well...hopeless.

So being stuck in this "seeker limbo", I've continued to search for the One Method that will free me from this spiritual dilemma. It was through browsing book sites (yet again) that I happened to "stumble" upon Jed McKenna's book. I had no problem "getting it" as he seems to describe the exact state I've been going through for quite a few years. What's more, IMHO, he provides a solution to freeing myself from this self imposed prison.

Hopefully, his 2nd book will be the last book concerning spirituality I'll have to add to my library. For the first time in years, I'm hopeful that I'll soon come to the point where I can honestly say...

"I QUIT."

Rating:
Summary: reader from florida
Review: His first book blew me away. Anything I say will only detract from this book. Not that Mr McKenna would care, but I am so grateful to him for wacking me in the head.

Rating:
Summary: ok, but not great
Review: I have read both Jed Mckenna's books. They are OK but not great. I can think of many more books which are more helpful. The idea that "spiritual autolysis", that one can write one's way to the truth, well......if writing is not my strong suit then oh well. Entertaining, I got it from the library.
It is not a book I would refer to again so I am glad I did not spend money on it. Make up your own mind.


Rating:
Summary: 2 Stars only because its a bit entertaining
Review: I've read Jed's first book and I've just read this book, "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment" (catchy title, huh? Manages to brand other spiritual books as politically correct, while promising the real inside scoop.) Not that I believe there is a Jed - has anyone met him?

Jed can be an entertaining read - but seems to describe a dissociated self, not an enlightened one. He describes himself as having no framework in which anything is better than anything else. He says that it doesn't particularly matter what he does, that he has nothing to guide him except his own comfort and discomfort, and that he's not too bored or unhappy about it.

Jed approaches others with contempt - at a dinner party, he confides to us about the other guests, "I've decided to strangle the next one that swirls their wine and sniffs it." Later he complains, "I gotta get away from people."

Jed's arguments/insights are unassailable because they are often trivial. At one point he argues that there is nothing beyond truth, and that if something is not fully true it is false; if enlightenment is not realizing truth, then it is delusion - which isn't very enlightened. Got that? Nothing like setting up a straw man and then knocking it down.

Where is Jed's playfulness? His energy and spirit? All great enlightened beings talk of love and joy - Jed talks of contentment.

This book is discouraging, not enlightening. [...]

Rating:
Summary: Do you thirst for truth like a drowning man for air?
Review: If not, don't bother to read this. If you do, first read McKenna's previous book- Spiritual Enlightenment- the Damnedest Thing- and then, this one.
Here are some other questions to help determine if you really want to buy this book:
(1) Did you love Melville's classic novel Moby Dick but not really understand Ahab's madness? Would you like to?
(2) Do you sense that all spiritual and religious tenets, practices, sects, and techniques are all variations of the
same frenetic movie script?
(3) Are you willing to bring up every single vestige of fear you have ever been programmed to identify with- fear of death, loneliness, pain, shame, guilt, stupidity, ridicule, depression, hopelessness, angst? Is truth worth that much ? Really?
(4) Could you do it without believing in anything- without a religion or teacher- just to clear away the tons of inner debris and then see what, if anything remains?
I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of allegedly spiritual books. Many narcotized me, some intrigued me. These
two books have touched me at a cellular level, yet ego has just barely dipped its toe in the ocean..........

Rating:
Summary: Does it really matter
Review: It appears some of the reviewers of Jed McKenna's books are concerned whether "Jed Mckenna" exists.Does it really matter?Surely it is the content of the book which is our concern.For a number of people the books will appear a little frightening-the message disconcerting.The truth maybe impossible to express in words but Jed comes as close as is humanly possible to describe it.You may want to wake up or not that is up to you but one thing you can be sure of it is not pretty and it is more than refreshing to find someone who is not afraid to tell you.

Rating:
Summary: Trust Yourself. . .That's it!
Review: This is a difficult book to review because most people won't get it. Jed McKenna is a heterodox individual. His approach to enlightenment and awakening are unorthodox. In his first book, Spiritual Enlightenment-The Damnedest Thing he guides the reader through the maze of theories and practices towards a desirable conclusion. His approach is simple, his words direct and uncut and his methods are shameless. Oh, but how effective!
In Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment, he takes a classic piece of literature, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" and dissects it with the skill of a surgeon. His carefully placed quotes by Mark Twain, U.G. Krishnamurti, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman move the reader strategically from one chapter to the next. The conclusion he draws from the classic is astute, logical and unsullied.
This is an unusual book by an unusual man and it requires an unusual review. After reading both of Jed McKenna's books, this reviewer has come to the conclusion that spiritual enlightenment or awakening is as easy as ABC. Let me explain using the theater as my vehicle.

A Audience- Most of the world's population fits into category "A" or the Audience. These people are happy to buy their ticket, sit in their seats and watch the illusion play out on the stage. They have no desire to become the actors or to direct the play.

B Balcony- Some people move from the audience into the Balcony; usually clutching their Bibles, while expounding the virtues of religious spirituality. People in category "B" consider themselves above those in "A" spiritually, but are content to sit and enjoy the illusion as long as they have their ingrained Beliefs.

C Characters- After trying the balcony seats, people often move on in their search for the ever illusive enlightenment, to the stage where they become Characters. Copying their new spiritual Mentors, they wear the Costumes, hold the props and act out their own new illusion. These people feel that they have achieved greater understanding through their Chakras, Chants and Crystals. They think they are now Content.

D Disillusioned with the costumes and the play-acting, some seekers actually go backstage looking to Discover a different set design, learn some new Dialogue and Dissimulate themselves. However, these people often miss the Curtain Calls and return to the stage "C" driven not by truth but Ego.

E Encore for the Ego or exit stage left, enter stage right, repeat as necessary. This is where many get stuck changing costumes, learning new dialogue all in an effort to achieve Enlightenment- Evolving turns into revolving, a never-ending search for Euphoria. A merry- go-

round as the author describes it. Jed McKenna's books are not for people in category "A", "B", "C", or "D". Don't waste your money; you won't like it and you won't get it. However,
people like Julie, the student in the book who shares her Spiritual Autolysis while in category "E", may want to see the Finale.

F Finale-In the Finale, those that jump or fall off of the revolving stage end up in the dressing room. Facing Fears, Free of Falsehoods, Facing Facts- layer after layer of makeup is removed only to find another layer beneath, until only the naked truth remains. The costume lies discarded on the Floor, the script has Failed, the props didn't work and now you must Finally Face the Truth.

G Go, going, gone. Running through the stage door, away from the illusion- gone is the mystery. The seeker has awaken!

H Home. Author, Jed McKenna rose from his seat, tried the balcony, took his turn on stage, closed the curtain, stripped off his makeup, threw away his costumes, ran for the stage door and is safely spiritually at Home, where he enjoys the most Important letter-

I "I"

Simple really and what a coincidence that Jed's book takes us through Herman Melville's, Moby Dick. The story of Ahab and Ishmael, (A-I) Coincidence? I think not!
Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment guides the reader to the realization that being enlightened is reaching a point were you realize that there is no "self" to be enlightened!
If you are really ready to Awaken, pick up a copy of this book today. Way to go Jed, you did it again! Bravo! Reviewer: Shirley Roe

Rating:
Summary: Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment Reviewers!
Review: What a hoot! The title gives it all away "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment". When McKenna wrote his first rabble-rousing wild-west fiction novel as a piece of auto-biography his publisher sent it out to hundreds of spiritual teachers. Some replied, ignoring Lao Tzu's advice that the Tao should remain silent - and they fell into the clever trap.

Their comments on "Spiritual Enlightenment" became The Thing That Damned Them because McKenna does not really exist!

Jed McKenna is a character made of foam on a shaving mirror - which Ch'an practitioners know should be cleaned daily (unless they are lazy and choose to believe that the damned thing doesn't exist).

So far, so good! We can now recognise the pseudo-gurus not by their headless-ness (ref: Douglas Harding) but by the promotional photos that they willingly supplied then and their beetroot red-faced-ness now.

With McKenna's sequel we see less lemming-like spiritual personalities rushing to make good reviewer's copy possibly because they are busily meditating on their previous egotistical faults. The shame of it all!

What we do find is McKenna getting up to more fanciful antics. In his own little world McKenna is the king of cool: the sky-diver, the mountain-biker and the zen-cowboy. This genre is "James Bond" crossed with "Skinhead". By "skinhead" I mean cynical youth. McKenna knocks everything, but in such romantic way that he supports the very dream he is supposed to be demolishing.

In the first book the only advice given was to practice "Spiritual Autolysis" - supposedly a way to self-digest one's own spiritual bulls**t. Somehow, I don't think it worked!

If less people read McKenna's "Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment" then maybe it worked. But I doubt it. It is a good airport read. The sort of people who feverishly digest books in the hope of relief from consciousness-constipation administered by mind-doctors like Tony Parsons, Ramesh Balsekar, Satyam Nadeem, Conor Patterson, Jan Kerschott and a bandwagon jumping hoarde of copy-cat artists will not find it in this book.

The minimalist advaita schtick is just zen-in-drag. It's a pompous belief system that masquerades as a non-teaching. McKenna, who fondly quotes the likes of Walt Whitman, is just adding more sandbags to the anti-intellectual cool stockade that has been around since the 60's Left Bank. It acts as an artificial escape for dishonest intellectuals who cannot face their personal paradigm's brokenness.

My advice is: get yourself out in nature! If nature does not speak to you then go see a teacher who speaks in silence and/or runs you to the finish line like Dave Oshana - not one that dumps you after a 2 hour read-through!

Rating:
Summary: Trust Yourself. . .That's it!
Review: What I love about this book is that regardless of what he tells us, Jed reminds us that we are indeed our own best experts. There is no outside authority that can tell us otherwise. If I had to keep only five books in my entire library, Jed's two would definitely be there. But, that's just me, I trust that when I encounter what is necessary for me in my journey, the key will appear. Jed may be that key for you, or may not. Check him out and trust yourself!