Greetings Sarlo!

First let me thank you for your Hum Drum Guru website.  I think it's great - if nothing else then for its concept and the thoroughness you have applied to it.  I use it often to look up teachers I have heard about to see if your 'take' matches mine.

Recently the Teacher that started my group is now included - MSI.  I don't know how you came by the info you have on him  - I see that his name was suggested for inclusion by someone else. 

So, I have some comments on your rating.  First, I wouldn't say that there is "bogus history".  MSI would neither confirm nor deny it to his own eldest son - I would say the history of the teaching's lineage is 'unconfirmed'.    Also, the Ishayas are not descended from Jesus - they are the Immortals that watch over mankind (like Babaji).  The Himalayan Ishaya monks were founded by John the Beloved.  (I have recently found a group of Ishani monks who trace their lineage back through the apostle Thomas in India - they have a monastery in Borrego Springs, CA!))

Also, I winced at the comment that we practice affirmation meditation - having done affirmations for some time (with no effect).  I had a linguist in one class I taught tell me that we meditate with 'declarative' statements - more like a 'positive thinking' meditation.  These thoughts do more than create resonance with positive emotions - they engage BOTH hemispheres of the brain which creates a coherency and links us into the positive currents of creative energy which comprise life - praise, gratitude, love and compassion.  This coherency and positive resonance naturally lets the mind begin to stop thinking (which I'm sure you know is fear-based),  which naturally lets one relax into pure consciousness with continual use.

From my own 4-year experience with the Ishayas' Ascension, I have gotten to stabilized self-awareness - which is something I had not done with 12 years of vipassana.  I also love that there is no belief system to learn with Ascension - MSI did not want to be a guru - he said that any true teaching leads one to their own Truth.

I also did not understand the final comment you made about 'some pyramiding may be involved'.  The only pyramiding I know of is with MLM schemes - could you explain please.

To conclude, I would like to see MSI rated as a 2 or 2.5 "bud" teacher.  This teaching is not for everyone - it's for people who want to let go of the game instead of learning how to win the game - in that it is limited - and the teachers that are carrying on the teaching are definitely still developing.  I'm going to be part of an advanced teacher training with one of MSI's senior teachings in 3 weeks - we'll be doing a deep retreat for a number of months - mainly 'cycling' as we call it - Ascending for 10-16 hours a day.  Don't know what's happening after that - but that's part of the Adventure!

Anyway, thanks for your effort and for your time.  Oh, could you change the link name to our website to "Ishayas' Ascension", with a s'?  Thank you!

In the Perfection of the One,

K

[That the precise text for MSI does not match what K refers to reflects some changes made as a result of this feedback – Sarlo . . . A year later, i received the following clarification from another Ishaya to debunk my description of their Ascension method as "affirmation-like."]

The phrase "affirmation-like meditation to create resonance with positive emotions that make us ascend" is not correct. First, the Ascension Attitudes & Cognition Techniques aren't Affirmations. I'm making the assumption that you have never attended a First Sphere weekend lecture, or learned to Ascend yourself, or you wouldn't be making that statement.

As from the book ASCENSION, page 175: "Each of the Ascension Attitudes has three aspects. First, there is an emotional content to drive the experiencer inward -- Appreciation, Gratitude, Love, and Direct Cognition. The second aspect is a direct alignment with the Ascendant. This unites the conscious mind with the Infinite Source within. The third characteristic of each of the Ascension Attitudes is a mental focus on one of the root areas of the individuality that is stressed and could be more fully lived." An emotional Ascending experience for the Right Brain, combined with an logical Ascending experience for the Left Brain, applied to a Root Stress of the Ego, leading to Pure Perception.

The Ascension Attitudes are called Statements of Truth by many. An Affirmation is defined as "something declared to be true". A distinction must be made here. If a person is experiencing a lack of abundance, for whatever reason, the affirmation "I'm am rich & abundant" directly opposes the judgement that his ego is imposing on his life experience, & will not in the least change his experience of an empty bank account.

Ascension Attitudes do no oppose your beliefs or your judgements. They are seed thoughts that open you to a new experience, the True Nature of Reality, while not fighting against your ego's hold on your life.

Assaulting the Ego directly is like laying siege to hostage takers in a well-defended fortress, that seems to get more impenetrable as the battle goes on. This is what Affirmations attempt to do. They try to correct the ego's perception of the world with a phrase that diametrically opposes it. "What you resist persists".

Ascension Attitudes do not assault the ego directly. They dissolve the foundation of what supports the ego: root stresses about out lives, & the nature of reality. The Attitudes cut off the water & supply lines of the fortress. They address the motivations of the hostage takers (i.e. the way the ego had taken over our lifes & minds). They show the mind the error of it's ways, of believing the ego, without conflict, much like a hostage negotiator.

The natural tendancy of the mind is to seek greater happiness & pleasure. The ego has taken that and twisted it into the avoidance of sadness & pain. It's a simple shift, but had tremendous consequences to how we live our lives. The ego is a structure that is perpetuated by it's own faulty perceptions. A child can fall off a horse & get right back on, where an adult could very well say," Aw, I'm not good at riding horses", despite the fact that it may be his first time ever riding a horse. The innocent mind sees possiblility, where the ego sees lack. The Tree of Life VS the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, or the Tree of Duality.

The 50-60,000 thought that we have every day are produced by the ego, a filter of doubt, fear, & faulty perception, that is built on Root Stresses, subjective & objective. These Root Stresses motivate the constant stream of judgements, & the flood of faulty perceptions that come thru our awareness supports the Root Stresses. The ultimate self-sustaining machine.

The Ascension Attitudes, when used in a daily eyes-closed practice, address these few root stresses, thereby undermining the foundation of the very strength of the ego. When used eyes open, they interrupt the stream of thoughts that interfere with pure, innocent perception. If used long enough, the Ego will simply dissolve, leaving Pure Consciousness.

– IndraDeva