Glenn Morris died

[thelerner]

Someone touched in this in another thread. Glenn Morris, author, esoteric martial artist and teacher is gone at age 62. I was very impressed w/ his first book, "Pathnotes of an American Ninja Grandmaster". Despite a hoky tittle, it was very well written and had indepth information on meditation, enlightenment, fighting arts and dreamwork, from someone who had been there.

 

Despite the lofty position of Soke(founder) of a martial art, Morris was very friendly and open in his teachings. He will be missed.

 

Here is someone who I consider to be 'enlightened' and certainly considered himself to be enlightened, having gone through Kundalini and decades of practice, dead at a relatively young age. It seems like a great many high level practitioners are dying the last few years.

 

Maybe its due to the explosion of esoteric literature in the 70's and 80's. The people who were influenced by Chia(Morris was) and Carlos Castaneda (himself, dead relatively young).

 

I think these arts can make you a better life, but if you're looking for much of an extension, I don't think so.

 

Michael

[Yoda]

got to reduce calories to live longer. It's the only way science knows to extend life. Cardio exercise doesn't, btw.

 

Didn't know that Castaneda pierced the veil. Is that 100% confirmed or is that one of his antics?

[三江源]

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Edited March 26, 2015 by 三江源

[tumoessence]

what did he die of? I googled but didnt find anything.. wondered if he was ready to go, if he knew he was going.

 

 

From what I heard from close students was that he died sitting up in meditative posture, eyes open, and that he knew for years that he would go out early. I don't think they are posting that kind of info on any sites related to him.

[cloud recluse]

 

Didn't know that Castaneda pierced the veil. Is that 100% confirmed or is that one of his antics?

Yoda,check out "SORCERERS APPRENTICE" by Amy Wallace(daughter of Irving wallace).Details the last years of Castanedas life & the impact of his death on his disciples.Amy was one of his lover/disciples right up to the end.

[Yoda]

I just looked at Sorcerer's Apprentice on amazon. His books were always adventurous and interesting but never very "nice" it looks like his life followed suit.

[cloud recluse]

One thing I really regret is not being able to meet Dr Morris in person,I missed both his australian tours ! PATHNOTES was the first book to really bring Chi Gung to my attention,& his writing style was as engaging as it was informative.As far as you can ever say without meeting someone personally,he came across as a man of creativity & honesty,someone who could really take his students somewhere worthwhile.I dont think studying with him would ever have been "easy",I imagine it would have been productively demanding, one could be assured of tapping into something genuine.Castaneda impresses me a whole lot less,but I acknowledge his initial significance in generating interest in Shamanism Regards,Cloud.

[thelerner]

Its hard to know anything for sure about Castaneda. He did die a few years back, probably cancer, though his followers burned his body as quickly as possible and said he voluntarily ascended. That was part of his developed mystique. I'm pretty sure his first book, the one that made him famous was originally a college dissertation and that it was pretty much .. not so much made up as..anthropoligical fiction. He knew his stuff, had juice, but created a story that took over his life.

 

He rarely gave interviews, avoided the public. But he had a wife and child who didn't paint a pretty picture of him. Still, he was an excellent writer and opened the door for many people. Most of the concepts he wrote about were real.

 

Castaneda invented a world that could be, and placed himself into it as a character. I think Glenn Morris wanted to see the world as it was. Castaneda was secretive, Morris was open and friendly.

 

IMHO the ultimate for Morris was making friends, learning and sharing esoteric wisdoms of the world. I think Castaneda was about acquiring power, being a lone warrior/sorcerer.

 

Michael

[cloud recluse]

To be honest,I dont think Castaneda even begins to approach Dr Morris.Morris was the genuine article,Castaneda an outright fraud . Time for a Castaneda thread ? Regards,Cloud.

Edited April 23, 2006 by cloud recluse

[Mandrake]

Yes, I think one of his strenghts was his openness.

But, I actually threw his books away, why?

They're just packed with his own misunderstandings and misconceptions,

such about Kundalini and enlightenment.

That raising kundalini isn't enlightenment, rather a small (very good) step toward it, isn't too unknown in cultivation, yet he promotes this idea in pathnotes.

Another comments was about religious texts, not reading anymore those who didn't describe how to reach the goal painted - his favorite was patanjalis yoga sutras. Now, this is strange as well. In yoga, yes, they speak about kundalini, but the real weight is the samadhis which are praised over all. Again, the whole absorbtion/jhana issue is very lacking in pathways.

But off course, during that time it was hard to find good teachings in the west, so he tried his best.

 

The positive is that his books probably opened up the idea of spirituality to a lot of martial artists, and got them going.

 

Mandrake

[cloud recluse]

Greetings Mandrake.Could you go into more detail please.Certainly Dr Morris seemed to equate kundalini with Enlightenment per se,& I cant recall any discussion of Absorption states,but I thought his work was mainly about the succesful embodiment of energy through Chi Gung (with martial art applications).You say his worked is "packed" with misunderstandings,are these in the area of Chi Gung?If so ,please specify.I myself have only just begun studying Chi Gung & Yang style Tai Chi (second lesson today in fact ),and as I found Dr Morris' books so inspirational in that area,specific criticisms would be of interest (as long as they are comprehensible to a beginner). Regards,Cloud.

[Mandrake]

Aah, sorry for being so vague cloud recluse.

 

To raise ones Kundalini is indeed a marvelous thing to do, and not the easiest thing obviously.

In yoga it is a prerequisite for samadhi so it is a thing that you will pass on the way to the absorptions. Basically, you let your body transform to a more suitable spiritual vehicle.

 

One misconception is that of Kundalini(also called gTummo) being very violent. What happens in those cases is the sometimes very painful initial purification of the body, but when that is done with, you get the blissfull, warm Kundalini energy in your whole body.

 

After your Kundalini have risen, you enter Samadhi - a state of extremely (relaxed) concentration and awareness, detached from the senses. You use it to observe your underlying, fundamental nature. You then work with going to finer and finer samadhi-states from where you hopefully can make the leap to that fundamental nature, tao. Usually our awareness and insight is so entangled and obscured by the physical realm, so you want to detach from it.

Kundalini is a stepping board to these realms.

 

Then, how you practice, of course depends on what your aim is - increased health, find out spiritual truths, or both. In either case it's good to meditate, energywise, will give you concentration in your MArts and more benefits.

 

All my understanding

 

All the best!

Mandrake

[thelerner]

I mostly agree w/ Clouds assessment of Castenada. Matter of fact I think being caught up in the role of guru/sorcerer probably shortened C.'s life. You can't go see a doctor when you've got access to magical powers and just released a video on the Ultimate Healing method.

 

Those the gods would destroy, they first make mad.

 

Michael

[thaddeus]

I mostly agree w/ Clouds assessment of Castenada. Matter of fact I think being caught up in the role of guru/sorcerer probably shortened C.'s life. You can't go see a doctor when you've got access to magical powers and just released a video on the Ultimate Healing method.

 

Those the gods would destroy, they first make mad.

 

Michael

The other interesting thing about him was he seemed really concerned about getting cancer and I think claimed he could never die of it. Ironic that cancer killed him.

T

[cloud recluse]

Mandrake,thanks for the prompt reply.Perhaps Im the one who has been vague,as it wasnt the relationship of kundalini to absorption states or Enlightenment itself that I was asking about.What Im getting at is Chi Gung.My impression of Dr Morris was that he was an acknowledged trailblazer in this area,especially as his works included a lot of advice on the potential psychological fallout,& subsequent necessary intergration,of high energy states.When you wrote that his work was packed with misconception,was it only due to the absorption-enlightenment issue,or were you dissatisfied with the'mechanics' of his chi gung?You see,one of the first reservations I had was actually his apparent equating of kundalini & energetic renewal of the body with Enlightenment as such.So Im actually quite receptive to your observation in that area.But I found his work on Chi Gung & Kundalini so fascinating,as well as his pomposity-free writing style,that it didnt put me off at all.So thats what Im getting at,did you have technical criticisms of his Chi Gung?If so,THAT is what I would really be interested in hearing about Regards,Cloud.

[Mandrake]

CR - no, I'm sure he has a lot of good input concerning chigung. Don't worry. If you liked his style of writing, you may be interested in Robert Bruce, kind of writes directly about the experiences he makes on his journey. Lot's of info lacking, but it's non pompous as well, and personal. Mostly about OBE (which I don't practice adn advocate), but also about his own energy building system.

 

Regards

Mandrake

[三江源]

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Edited March 26, 2015 by 三江源

[sean]

Someone touched in this in another thread. Glenn Morris, author, esoteric martial artist and teacher is gone at age 62.

My respect.

[Tenguzake]

I met Glenn in '87. He was a good friend and a mentor for many years. I don't agree with his interpretation of all things, but I learned a lot from him. He is missed.

 

Be Genki,

 

Tenguzake

[MatthewQi]

From what I heard from close students was that he died sitting up in meditative posture, eyes open, and that he knew for years that he would go out early. I don't think they are posting that kind of info on any sites related to him.

 

Hi everyone,

 

What I read on another post board that Glenn frequented as explained by a person who he had expressed that he could leave at anytime was that medically speaking he died of a heart attack.

 

From what I understand, he had a nice meal that night then went to sleep and never woke up.

 

In respect,

 

Matt

[tumoessence]

Hi everyone,

 

What I read on another post board that Glenn frequented as explained by a person who he had expressed that he could leave at anytime was that medically speaking he died of a heart attack.

 

From what I understand, he had a nice meal that night then went to sleep and never woke up.

 

In respect,

Matt

 

Matt,

I thought you might chime in on this topic. I remember that you had studied with Glenn recently. I thought you might comment on his practices especially in the light of the above discussion. I had the impression that Glenn had gotten deeply into emptiness practices and samadhi lately and was wondering if you could comment on it.

Bill

[GrandTrinity]

Yeah Matt showed me this guy too, Matt there is a dope concert at CLifton Springs 4/30 Sound Tribe Sector 9 if youd like to join, ill be there. I found Glenns first book, havent gotten through it, to be "out there" in comparison to studying Chias stuff, but I wish I had time for it and was planning to go deeper, left it on the back burner. Ninjas are great. As are some of the things on his Kundalini SUpport Network website. Nonetheless I like how he ties together the Kundalini as someything that popped up in all cultures around the world (or the few he decyferred)...caduceus. Glenn had a part of the puzzle, for sure.

[MatthewQi]

Matt,

I thought you might chime in on this topic. I remember that you had studied with Glenn recently. I thought you might comment on his practices especially in the light of the above discussion. I had the impression that Glenn had gotten deeply into emptiness practices and samadhi lately and was wondering if you could comment on it.

Bill

 

Hi Bill!

 

I actually didn't study with Glenn but did a lot of meditation and energy stuff with people that did Kundalini work with with him. So I don't know anything more.

 

Regards,

 

Matt

 

 

 

Yeah Matt showed me this guy too, Matt there is a dope concert at CLifton Springs 4/30 Sound Tribe Sector 9 if youd like to join, ill be there. I found Glenns first book, havent gotten through it, to be "out there" in comparison to studying Chias stuff, but I wish I had time for it and was planning to go deeper, left it on the back burner. Ninjas are great. As are some of the things on his Kundalini SUpport Network website. Nonetheless I like how he ties together the Kundalini as someything that popped up in all cultures around the world (or the few he decyferred)...caduceus. Glenn had a part of the puzzle, for sure.

 

Thanks for the offer GrandTrinity! I am going to be in VT most of Sunday. I like how he linked it all as well.

 

Where are you living now? In the area?

 

Matt

[GrandTrinity]

Yeah I wish I has time to get through both Glenn's books but now I feel less bad about it since hes dead. I guess that is good.

 

Im not sure now if Ill make it to that show Sunday but I'll call you and see whats up if Im in the area. I am leaving Geneseo to be stationed out of CT for the summer.

[Fireblood]

Morris came across as a nice guy. I used to keep in regular contact with him about four years ago. We sharply disagreed on a few points but he was very tolerant. His openess in teaching was well know. Never got to meet him in person though.