Interview with Bruce Frantzis

[Ormus]

Dear all,

 

 

does Bruce teach Nei Dan,and to which school of Daoism he belong?

 

All the best,

Ormus

[idquest]

If by neidan you mean Lu Dong Bing's method of Golden FLower replicated in numerous sects over millenia - then no, BKF doesn't teach that.

[Perceiver]

I watched the first six minutes of that interview, and I got the impression of a guy with an ego. A guy who is focused on letting us know how special he was as a kid, how New York "wuz real tough" and perhaps how he himself is "real tough". Look at his facial expression while he speaks. Hypermasculinity.

 

I can't say whether it's objectively true though. It's just the vibe I'm getting.

[Spotless]

He's the real deal. Having said that...I just get a feeling from him...he thinks highly of himself. In a way I don't like. But I like his books, his system is for real, and he is accomplished.

He is from New York, he is Greek and he is very intelligent and was born with a gold spoon in his mouth - none of this is bad in the least, it is what it is. If you have not been from NY and do not know New Yorkers then this energy is very different, add Greek and high breeding and you have someone that goes for it if presented the opportunities and leads because "leading is what one does".

 

He has also moved way beyond accommodating those on the "slow death path".

 

Some of the comments in this post have been hilarious regarding whether he is in shape or not, comments about getting old and losing power or fading away, suspicions about how many accidents he's had and the possible omens of that. While some powers may appear to dwindle I can assure you that they can be made up for "if that is the case" by such things as knowing futures and not wasting energy on "positions" and frenetic brain spasms and assumptions that blind and compressions that have become ones story.

 

He does not come from China where the mode of behavior is often extreme humility. He is actually more like many Indian teachers - very self assured from both practice and knowledge and they often speak about this stuff as if they were going to get some water to make tea.

 

It is a bit like a procession of young troglodytes without a clue here.

 

Bruce is obviously a treasure house and I would be surprised if his teaching is not excellent.

He lives in the Bay Area.

 

In all of that interview his big points were Practice is the key - really doing it. Most are not actually interested in that, they like to study the engineering though and die in the process of becoming experts and writing books. Basic practice is the core. Compressions (he used another words - contractions I think) bind us up and create our story - (this is subtle stuff and hard to understand). And very important notations regarding time and how we do not see that it is "all happening at once" - this cannot be understood from reading or pondering - and it is not done by meditating 15 minutes a day.

Edited May 10, 2015 by Spotless

[Mandrake]

He is from New York, he is Greek and he is very intelligent and was born with a gold spoon in his mouth - none of this is bad in the least, it is what it is. If you have not been from NY and do not know New Yorkers then this energy is very different, add Greek and high breeding and you have someone that goes for it if presented the opportunities and leads because "leading is what one does".

 

He has also moved way beyond accommodating those on the "slow death path".

 

Some of the comments in this post have been hilarious regarding whether he is in shape or not, comments about getting old and losing power or fading away, suspicions about how many accidents he's had and the possible omens of that. While some powers may appear to dwindle I can assure you that they can be made up for "if that is the case" by such things as knowing futures and not wasting energy on "positions" and frenetic brain spasms and assumptions that blind and compressions that have become ones story.

 

He does not come from China where the mode of behavior is often extreme humility. He is actually more like many Indian teachers - very self assured from both practice and knowledge and they often speak about this stuff as if they were going to get some water to make tea.

 

It is a bit like a procession of young troglodytes without a clue here.

 

Bruce is obviously a treasure house and I would be surprised if his teaching is not excellent.

He lives in the Bay Area.

 

In all of that interview his big points were Practice is the key - really doing it. Most are not actually interested in that, they like to study the engineering though and die in the process of becoming experts and writing books. Basic practice is the core. Compressions (he used another words - contractions I think) bind us up and create our story - (this is subtle stuff and hard to understand). And very important notations regarding time and how we do not see that it is "all happening at once" - this cannot be understood from reading or pondering - and it is not done by meditating 15 minutes a day.

 

Your reply is gold. People that aren't used to some modes of expression don't always have the right social tools to interpret them correctly.

 

And this:

"He does not come from China where the mode of behavior is often extreme humility. He is actually more like many Indian teachers - very self assured from both practice and knowledge and they often speak about this stuff as if they were going to get some water to make tea."

 

Not all traditions have the Buddhist/New Age/XX type of outer display of humility as the ideal. I have interacted with several students of Bruce, that have literally removed the worst kind of mental crap you can imagine from their body-mind systems. Who cares about how the teacher carries himself on camera; I care about results and doing!

 

 

Mandrake

[Spotless]

This is one reason I highly recommend watching batgap.com (Buddha at the gas pump).

If you watch 50 or more of the interviews from awakening awakened individuals you will come to see a great deal about what you resist because some of them will bug you - but as you continue a unique thing begins to happen - real humans that have awakened emerge in front of you - before they are immortals, before they have the throngs, often before they have even a page up somewhere to respond to people.

 

They tell you in real words what happened and what it was like, is like - and it's fresh and in English raw - not handed down from devotees - live. From all walks of life.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Spotless

[Mandrake]

With age and experience I have learned to be skeptic of words and nice, pleasant appearances; they don't hold much value to me.
The times in my life where I have run into serious distress and obstacles, these nice--"spiritual"--people run away; and who stepped in and helped? the people who had countenances that were wry, angry, dour, impatient and unpleasant to many.

Any measure of "enlightenment" for me is connected to action, to behaviour--especially in hard circumstances--and not to cheap, passive facades.


M

[Gerard]

I have interacted with several students of Bruce, that have literally removed the worst kind of mental crap you can imagine from their body-mind systems.

 

That alone is 100% worth the practice.

 

Benefiting human beings, improving their lives is what matters the most.

 

WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.

[Bearded Dragon]

I watched the first six minutes of that interview, and I got the impression of a guy with an ego. A guy who is focused on letting us know how special he was as a kid, how New York "wuz real tough" and perhaps how he himself is "real tough". Look at his facial expression while he speaks. Hypermasculinity.

 

I can't say whether it's objectively true though. It's just the vibe I'm getting.

 

He just tells it how it is, and he has a very yang personality. Nothing wrong with any of that. 

[Rocco]

Question  about the guided meditation at the end:

What does it exactly mean to put the mind down?

Is it to visualize slippig down the internal organs so that I get the impression that the "I" am slipping into the desired place and "I" am IN that place and see and feel my body from that place?

 

MC also talks often about putting the mind (down) somewhere, but it's not clear to me how to do it exactly.

Can anyone experienced help?

[Spotless]

Question  about the guided meditation at the end:

What does it exactly mean to put the mind down?

Is it to visualize slippig down the internal organs so that I get the impression that the "I" am slipping into the desired place and "I" am IN that place and see and feel my body from that place?

 

MC also talks often about putting the mind (down) somewhere, but it's not clear to me how to do it exactly.

Can anyone experienced help?

 

It is not an engineering instruction - it is like saying "put the gun down" or "drop the banter" or "release your mind from the day".

[thelerner]

bump

good read.

[Robin]

On 1/19/2013 at 3:03 PM, JustBHappy said:

Another great example of Kumar's exceptionally huge ego and flare for exaggeration. He is nothing but a good salesman, and clearly many are fooled by his pitch. It's an interesting study in sociology how and why so many are so easily fooled. Just tell everyone how good you are and that you are a master, and viola!... a large number will just blindly believe you. Just keep telling them that your a great master and making up stories. Very interesting indeed.
 

Have you studied with the guy? I agree he seems to have big ego and a pretty abrasive personality, but he is clearly extremely knowledgeable and is generous with his knowledge. Your judgement of him seems to say as much about you as it does him.

[Robin]

On 5/18/2015 at 3:09 AM, Bearded Dragon said:

 

He just tells it how it is, and he has a very yang personality. Nothing wrong with any of that. 

I have very rarely seen him smile, in many years as a student with him. His material is great, and it may well be that relative to the trauma he has experienced (including a psychotic mother), the way he shows up is testament to the quality of the teachings and his application of them. But at face value, there does seem to be a lack of warmth, and a lot of ego.

Edited July 13 by Robin