An Interview With My Masters — An Introduction
The teachings of Nabir
I have always been a seeker, and in 70 plus years, I have had many masters.
I have been a seeker of both spirituality, mystic knowledge, and have sought ways to create a life filled with meaning.
I always had a passion for ideas, but I was an unconventional child and my parents were a bit at a loss concerning what to do with me.
I did have my own little tribe of “freaks”. One of my favorite classes was the Polish Folk Dancing Class held every Friday evening at The New York Society for Ethical Culture.
Housed in a lovely stone building on the corner of 64th Street and Central Park West, most of the attendees were young African Immigrants who thought this was American Culture, white kids wearing tie died shirts and dred locks, and Asian girls wearing thick black eye-liner, black lipstick, and bright red nail polish. Remember this was 1968.
During the school week, back in the South Bronx, I was either getting suspended for some transgression of the rules, it getting sent to the back of the classroom, where I sat quietly memorizing the Encyclopedias that were lined up on the back wall.
On one level I was always getting kicked out school, and on the other I was growing emotionally and spiritually at a rapid pace.
A few years earlier, when I was 14 years old, I was introduced to the writings of Alan Watts the great Zen teacher. I received the book from an amazing young woman who was a budding tantric explorer just past puberty, and who was reading everything Watts had ever written. You might say, she “turned me on” in many ways.
A year of two after this introduction both to Watts, and the wonders of the erotic life, my mother gave me a book by J. Krishnamurti. Mom had been given the book by a patient in the dental office where my mother worked. Mom had been concerned about what influences I was absorbing in the 1960s counter-culture and she had expressed her concern about my well-being and my personal growth to this woman. The woman, whose name I never knew, said, “Let him read this book, called “Life Ahead”. Life Ahead and Watts’ book “The Wisdom of Insecurity” would serve as the foundation of what would become my spiritual Life, both as a student and teacher.
Today I teach Mystic Taoism, and Essential Zen and am a leader in both communities.
Over the years I’ve encountered many teachers many who in some way had been connected in their own lives with Krishnamurti, including Helen Nearing, and Joseph Campbell. Campbell, a respected Anthropologist was close to Krishnamurti, Watts, and Nearing, and had been a major influence and advisor on the symbolic and mythological elements in Star Wars. He later did a wonderful PBS series on the Power of Myth.
I began my informal studies with a Zen teacher, and shaman-like fellow named Vincent Collura. An intense and loving character, Vincent was long distance runner, who had been an amateur boxer, and a training pacer for Rocky Marciano. Vincent would go on 40 day water fasts, twice a year, meditated a few hours every day, and had a large dinner for his student apprentices every evening. Here we would discuss spirituality, the minimalist lifestyle, and Eastern philosophy.
At this time I was also introduced the teaching of Ram Das through his book “Be Here Now”.
While I was studying with Vincent I was introduced to the ideas of Stephen Gaskin, the American counterculture Hippie icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s, and for co-founding “The Farm”, a spiritual commune, in 1970.
Gaskin was an early advocate for campaign finance reform, universal health care, and philanthropy. A true thought leader and a self-proclaimed professional Hippie, he was imprisoned for growing a few pot plants, and formed one of the largest communes in the United States, which still exists today, as a pioneering Intentional Community
Vincent turned me on to his spiritual teacher, who would become my Guru for the next 45 years. I corresponded with this teacher, Maharaj Charan Singh Ji in 1972 and remained a “disciple” until 2001, when I was introduced to Game Theory, and moved away from all that Indian, spiritual stuff. Though I no longer would say I have a Guru or any kind of spiritual teacher, I have positive feelings about Charan Singh, and his teachings.
In 2001 I began to focus my attention on game theory, and how to strategize in the world. At that time I used that interest, to explore Zen and Mystic Taoism. I started working on a translation and meta-analysis of the Tao te Ching that I began in 1972, and completed in 2012.
Over the last half century while studying with Vincent (who passed on in 1990), and the Radha Soami Masters (Charan and Gurinder Singh), I was introduced to many respected Taoist and Zen teachers. I also studied the works of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the radical Tibetan Buddshist teacher who founded Naropa University, and also wrote the important book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism.
Ultimately, I studied with many teachers some of more evolved than others, and some of them more well behaved than others.
Over the years as I built my career as an Advanced Life Coach and Naturopathic Practitioner I was mentored by Daniel J. Wiener PhD (Rehearsals for Growth), and Thomas Leonard (The founder of the modern coaching movement) as I more deeply immersed myself in manifestation studies, the Chinese concept of Wuwei (The action that requires no action), and Somatics. I also sought out, and attended seminars with many of the old masters in personal growth including Albert Ellis PhD, and others. Some of these pioneers were already in their 90s.
As I integrated all these teaching and lessons, game theory became the foundation of all I did in my daily life. In 2002 I developed a personal apprenticeship with Harvey Slatin a retired scientist in his 90s who lived in my rural town. He had worked with John Von Neumann, Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman and the others, who were involved in the Manhattan Project where game theory was actually explored and developed over poker games at Los Alamos,
Over the years, working and studying with all these generous and magnificent teachers I kept volumeous notes. They told wonderful stories, tested us with Zen Koans, Kabbalah codes, lessons from the Sufis, Christian Mysticism, and the Hassidic Masters. The Zen teachers guided me towards Awakening with their Zen Koans, stories, and practices. I added yoga, Tao Chi, and Aikido to the mix. I was all over the place, and yet I was intensely focused.
For me, it was all about applied wisdom, and how I might grow while offering service to the world.
Over the last decade I began organizing all the notes from all these teachers. I merged the essential, universal lessons, and created a series of dialogues.
While doing this, I remembered that one of my early influences was Kabir a great Indian poet. I had also developed a lot of friends who were Punjabi, or observant Sikhs, or were involved in spiritual communities that were related offshoots from that faith. Through them I became familiar with the teaching of Guru Nanak.
Ultimately, as I merged all of these teachings into a type of structure Socratic dialogue. I created a fictional teacher named Nabir (Nanak-Kabir). A sort of general wisdom teacher. Through Medium stories he would offer wisdom drawn a bit from each of the teachers I studied with, or who had influenced me the most.
Of course, there is my wife an incredible woman who’s traveled the world suffered greatly, and landed well. She taught me how to focus on my needs rather than my wants, as a spiritual practice and discipline, and then became my partner and lifelong friend. The wisdom that I got from her as well as all of these different teachers have been filtered into a series called An Interview With My Masters. I hope you benefit from them.
Lewis
Here is a Medium story on this subject: @twoemb
Here is one from the archives @LewisCoaches
This story is an excerpt from my Module for making the best choices, from my book and online Course, “Beyond Thought”.
To learn more email me at [email protected]
Author: Lewis Harrison is a Manifestation Coach, professional futurist (forecaster), and a philanthropy consultant. He is the creator of the Ask Lewis Mentoring Method as well as HAGT — Harrison’s Applied Game Theory. He is the Executive Director of the International Association of Healing Professionals an educational organization that offers programs around the world in Intentional Living. He is also Independent Scholar, with a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. You can read all of his Medium stories at [email protected].
For a decade, Lewis was the host of a humor-based Q & A talk show on NPR (National Public Radio) affiliated WIOX FM in NY.
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If you have any ideas you would like me to write about, just email me at [email protected] or check out all of my books, blogs, and videos through my portal www.asklewis.com
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