Provider and providee

A couple of friends popped in today. We got to chatting about this and that and a question arose which lead to a convoluted discussion. I listened for a while. It was much of the same old, same old, neo advaita. You know the stuff that begins "there is not a thing you can do..." and then goes off on one. Apparently this type of fatally-sic philosophy is becoming increasingly prevalent and very popular. Of course it is, it justifies your life and any behavior you care to do, because, after all, the self-proclaimed enlightened chappy said "nothing is my fault" and justified his own eye-raising behavior in the same way. Sounds great!!

It was a fun conversation until I piped up, "Sorry folks, this is all just so much cowpat. You pay $495 (or whatever charge there might be) for a weekend satsang so that some self-indulgent chappy sitting on a dais will tell you it's not your fault and you just have to go with the flow. You actually paid for this, did you? Are you completely mad?"

My friend then said, rather sheepishly, "But he was entertaining, I enjoyed the experience. And there was a resonance."

I replied, "The resonance was merely the outcome of your relationship as a buyer with a provider. You believed you were getting something from him. As for the entertainment, at that price it bloody well should be entertaining. One side of your newly formed resonant relationship laughed, and I bet he laughed all the way to the bank."

My friend was quiet for a while. Then we had tea.