Quotes from Jed McKenna

What do we know for sure? That's the real question. That's what the cogito is. That's what solipsism is. This isn't theory. This isn't belief or faith. This is the basic fact of existence. It's all about figuring out exactly what we know for certain as opposed to everything else. It's truly amazing that something so glaringly obvious and irrefutable is so universally ignored by science and philosophy and religion.

If there is conflict between idea and actual, then the idea is in error.

A little meditation in the morning or evening, an hour of church on the occasional Sunday morning, sponsor a hungry kid, a little reading or discussion now and then, and our spiritual itch is adequately scratched. No one gets hurt or does anything crazy; certainly no one unplugs themselves from the great hive and wanders off on their own.

The truth is that no belief is true, and to say that any belief is true is to open the floodgates and say that all beliefs are true.

There's no overestimating our ability to avoid making eye contact with the obvious.

The point isn't to make yourself feel that you're a part of everything, but to stop for one minute insisting with every thought and feeling that you're not.

The answer is to stop struggling, to go into the fear. Let her go. The cause of the unhappiness isn't the situation, but the resistance. You're making disease and decay and death evil, but they're not evil, they just are. The clinging is the cause of the unhappiness. Release is the answer. Let her sink.

What do you know? The answer is: I Am.

All fear is ultimately fear of no-self. "And what is enlightenment," I ask Sarah, "but a swan dive into the abyss of no-self?

All beliefs. All concepts. All thoughts. Yes, they're all false; all bullshit. Of course they are. Not just religions and spiritual teachings, but all philosophies, all ideas, all opinions. If you're going for the truth, you're not taking any of them with you. Nothing that says two, not one, survives.

Allegiance to any spiritual teaching or teacher—any outside authority—is the most treacherous beast in the jungle.

Truth is a uniquely challenging pursuit because the very thing that wants it is the only thing in the way of it.

The power of our devotion to teachers and teachings is not a reflection of their value, but of ego's will to survive. It's ego—the false self—that exalts the guru and declares the teaching sacred, but nothing is exalted or sacred, only true or not true.

Dedicating one's life to lofty spiritual ideals is every bit as life-defining and purpose-giving as the quest for heaven or power or money or love. Just because there's a flashing neon sign above the door that says "Free Enlightenment! The Shortest & Easiest Way! The One True Path!" doesn't mean that what goes on inside is really about enlightenment, or that the people who go in really want it.

People are dust-bunnies," I finally respond, "little bundles of lint and cobwebs that collect in shadows and dark corners, held together and drawn together by fear. Once you see them clearly, trusting them becomes very easy. I trust everybody and I'm never disappointed. It can be the same for you.

You don't have to trust people not to betray you or break your heart or steal your purse; you just trust them to be who they are. Once you understand fear, get a little distance from it and see what it really is and how it operates in the world, then you can understand everything about people. In an eyes-closed being, everything flows from fear; good and bad, courage and cowardice, love and hate, all flow from the same well.

The fundamental conflict can only be resolved by altering the equation. Yes, it's cheating, but everyone's okay with it. Spiritual enlightenment gets redefined as something attainable by ego, and now the equation works to everyone's satisfaction. Ego gets to continue the noble quest and a thriving spiritual industry continues to thrive. Of course, no one gets the grail, but if you understand the fundamental conflict, you'll see that no one really wanted it anyway.

When you become so dissatisfied with your office that the hundred story plummet and the sidewalk seem like the better option, so dissatisfied that you actually hurl yourself out the window, then you know the level of dissatisfaction necessary to awaken from delusion.

The various forms of spirituality and religion are not the path to truth, but the antidote to it.

Here's all you need to know to become enlightened: Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what's true until you know.

The price. Of truth. Is everything.

Depression is fear with hope removed. It arises as we discover that something we thought could be ours will never be ours. Unhappiness is when we worry about not having something, depression is when we realize we'll never have it, and freedom is when we realize that nothing is ours and nothing can be ours, so that, in effect, nothing isn't ours.

I want to stop not knowing who and what and where I am. I want to stop being confused and unclear. I want to stop pretending lies are true and that I understand things when I don't. I want to stop playing make-believe and find out what's real.

If we gauge societies in light of the developmental maturity of their citizens, we see very little difference, even between extremes. One society may be, on average, slightly further along than another, but the reality is that no society has advanced beyond the stage where girls play dress-up and boys torture frogs.