Leonard Jacobson and related teachings and themes
I thought I would summarize some points, themes, and keywords from some recent research on Leonard Jacobson's teachings. LJ kept appearing on some of my information feeds over the last few years, and I thought it was time to really examine what he was saying and the approaches he uses to achieve the teaching's aims.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn about Leonard Jacobson and his approach to spirituality and awakening. It's a very relevant message- the power and very important need to be here now, to show up and be present in one's daily activities and life experience. I was impressed with how LJ constantly delivers this message as the first thing in all of his talks, writings, and teachings-- the simple need to be present, and importantly, that this can be done with minimal fuss by stopping and noticing what is present and here now (via the senses).
The teaching is fairly simple- wake up from the dream of the mind, out of imagination, discursive thinking, self stories, etc., and into the reality of the present moment, beingness, and what's happening now.
This message isn't new or unusual. It is a common aim in spiritual circles and is wide enough to encompass any number of other schools and teachers, from Buddhism to contemporaries like Eckhart Tolle, Barry Long, and many many others. In fact, while listening to LJ, I kept being reminded of ET and Barry Long repeatedly. I had to work out if LJ was somehow tapping into ET and BL or if he had something new to bring to the table in his teaching or approach. I am sure there's no overt connection, as LJ seems to describe his own awakening experience in detail in a few podcasts, and doesn't mention much about his own teacher(s) apart from that awakening, however, one can't help but notice the uncanny resemblance to a few other western teachers who also founded their teaching on the 'present moment' approach.
Some history I gathered from various sources:
- LJ got into J Krishnamurti at some point in the 80s or before
- had a series of non-traditional awakenings, mostly in nature and on retreat, and highly personal and mystical in content (religious, etc)
- began his career as a spiritual teacher, writing books, running retreats, etc., and is pretty much a full-time task at present, noted that LJ is in his 80s now.
Some key points in LJ's teachings:
- There is a 2 step process that LJ uses for awakening (although this is not the way that LJ himself 'woke up'). Step one involves becoming present both in the senses, and then in beingness or "I am"ness. Step two involves becoming aware of how and when one is removed from the above state of presence, and how to resolve such obstacles.
- Our natural state is to be awake, present, undistracted by the personal story, and connected to one's ever-present state of being
- There is more of an emphasis on the relaxation of tension and effort, rather than striving for any future state. Meditation and pathways are mostly discouraged.
- There is room in these teachings for both ordinary reality via the senses, and metaphysical reality through religious and spiritual concepts (e.g. soul, incarnations, other realities and planes of existence, God, etc.)
- There's a community effect or a social effect related to presence, and the invitation to become 'present'
- LJ repeatedly comes back to the basics of being physically and mentally present, via the senses and physical environment as a way to disengage from the mind, habitual thinking, mental distractions, and obstacles to being grounded in the present moment. This is probably the core point in the teaching. The instructions around this are basic and minimal, and there is only one type of meditation that is used (which is related to being aware of the body and breathing and moving to an awareness of one's conscious existence or being)
- There's nothing special about awakening, enlightenment, or being present (ie in this definition of the word(s))
- Just by being present, one's personal story is transformed
- LJ's teachings have evolved from the start of his teaching career to the present.
The good:
- Uses simple, easy-to-understand language, while avoiding most spiritual jargon and concepts
- Approachable directly, LJ is directly communicating with people and his students via various communications media
- Easy to follow teachings and approach, appeals to a large variety of people
- Speaks plainly about his own awakening experiences in various talks and interviews
- Great intro into awareness, awakening, and present moment awareness for beginners and those starting off on the journey of awakening
- Has a good deal of material that students can delve into to get the gist of his teachings and approach. A large amount of this is freely available.
- Is constant in his message and emphasizes the simple approach to being present and showing up for life without being lost in the world of the mind, distraction, thought, concepts, and much of what defines humanity now. This is even more important now that most people are completely consumed by electronic and digital devices and media channels (ie. by design by billion-dollar companies who want to take 24x7 control of people's attention to boost revenue and achieve their own corporate aims).
Some small concerns:
- At various points, LJ seems dismissive of meditation and practices in general and gives reasoning related to meditation being a focus on the future, an obstacle to being present, an effort and a journey, etc., etc. -- most of these reasons are common in the neo-advaita type schools. He seems to miss the point that meditation can also be a way to efficiently train the mind to actually be present more frequently and more deeply. His own 'presence meditation', which he conducts at the start of some sessions is, in fact, a meditation (breath awareness). It's possible to acknowledge that meditation can have pitfalls, but also serve as an essential tool on the path. Personally, I can't think of any more effective means than structured forms of mindfulness meditation for training the mind to recognise when it is lost in thought, stories, emotion etc., and return to the experience of just being in the present. Further, even small sessions can build up the required mental muscles of concentration, equanimity and clarity of sense experience.. the very things that these sorts of teachings require.
- Overly simplistic approach. The approach of just being physically present within one's environment with the senses is fine. However, this alone rarely leads to awakening or a permanent shift in one's way of being due to much stronger habits of thought, tendencies, mental triggers, emotional events, etc. (in Sanskrit- vasanas and samskaras). This is the same issue that others such as Eckhart Tolle have with advising simplistic methods of being present and the carrot of 'awakening' following these simplistic methods, that doesn't eventuate for the vast number of people following these types of teachings that appeal to the mass audience. Why? Because they're just not precise enough, structured enough, or done over long enough periods with frequency to really embed themselves into one's life experience and overcome deeply ingrained habits of mind movement away from the present. Hence why successful spiritual aspirants DO meditate frequently and in a structured way, go on occasional retreats, and have massive amounts of motivation for the path and liberation of LONG periods of time.. rather than just casually trying to remember to 'be present' for a few minutes here and there randomly done when remembered.
- LJ doesn't seem to have a good grasp of some Eastern teachings (e.g. emptiness in Buddhism, or not-self, or consciousness etc.), and seems to misunderstand a lot of these concepts when they do surface at various times in talks, thus not really doing justice to the teaching. This is fair enough, but just something for some students to be aware of, when asking such questions from teachers who are not familiar with the territory.
- Following on from this, many of the talks contain sweeping statements about 'all the great masters' essentially saying the 'same thing', which equates to being 'present in the moment'. People like 'the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Jesus, Ramana Maharshi' are all mentioned in one sentence as essentially saying the same thing (and this being presented of course in the talk). I have an issue with this-- because all of these teachers were saying vastly different things and offering vastly different approaches at different times. Yes, perhaps the distant end goal was similar, but the approaches are so obviously different, that comparing these teachers in one sweeping sentence is doing them a disservice, and watering down the teachings that each presented in their own way.
- One has to either believe or disbelieve when the LJ's teachings start speculating on ideas like human evolution, spiritual evolution, what Jesus really meant or represented, past lives, and other dimensions, etc. Are these real or just part of LJ's imagination and own 'stuff'? Belief comes in here. One could argue that these concepts that get presented at various points in the talks and teachings actually distract and run counter to the goal of just being present with one's reality as it is now. This could be a selling point for some to jump into the teachings and find some helpful transformation, but for others, they will likely become distractions and rabbit holes away from the task at hand. Granted, LJ does hammer home his main point about being present, and disidentified with the mind and imagination.
Other notes:
For those who've been around the block with spiritual teachings, especially those related to these themes of being present, awake, aware etc., the Leonard Jacobson won't appear to be saying anything new or extraordinary. Sure, there's a lot of metaphysical stuff thrown in such as other dimensions, past lives, human evolution etc., but 90% of the pointers and approaches presented have been done by others or well-known contemporaries who have jumped onto the 'be-here now' 'power of now' bandwagon. That said, LJ should be applauded for keeping his overall teaching grounded in easy-to-understand basics to be more present and available in life, and more aware of when we're totally absorbed in our constructed personal story or mind-constructed 'reality'. I also find LJ's message to be the most simple to understand and most practical to implement when compared to most other 'present moment awareness' type teachers out there.
For some there's likely to be a certain amount of attraction for this type of simple teaching, grounded in helpful practices or philosophy with some metaphysical content thrown in. LJ does speak to those coming from a Western, Christian-type background who are searching for more than the usual conceptual orthodox teachings they've grown up with and are looking for practical ways to improve their spiritual life, without having to take up a new tradition. For some, there might be some 'father figure' or 'wise old man' transference going on, and that would also be a motivating factor for some. His use of plain English without any spiritual jargon is excellent as well, and his ability to hammer home points repeatedly, while also keeping his talks and sessions interesting is great.
If LJ appeals to you, then I'd say 'go for it', as there are not a lot of issues presented here in these teachings, and it feels very helpful and benign. The good outweighs the bad here.
There's heaps of content available online both free (podcasts, YT) and paid (on the author's website below).
Here are some links below for further information and talks:
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