May 10, 2007
Douglas Rosestone

I view UG as a hero of humankind. What he has said is best understood as a critique of the sad state of affairs the human race has fallen into, rather than an addition to the spiritual literature. That having been said, he clearly was a great Sage, which is the highest expression of our human potential. He remains by far the finest example of a human being that I have ever meet or heard of in our era.

In all the fourty years I knew him, I never saw the slightest fault in his integrity. His loyalty to his friends was off the charts. He could have had a large organization, and chose instead to leave nothing behind. He never made a dime from the books people published based upon what he said. I have no doubt that he transcended J.Krishnamurti in every way. I believe that JK was the harbinger for UG's appearence and there is much to be learned by the study of their joint story.
For those of you who are new to the subject, I suggest you go to the original material on the Web. UG can be very hard to take. This is because we are in the Matrix. Remember, Neo had a very hard time at first when Morpheus told him where he was at. UG's devotion was, and is to the “Neo” in all of us.

April 21, 2007

Theron G. Burrough

Hello. I came across your site a few years ago when searching for works by Jiddu Krishnamurti. I never read a whole book by UG but I got the message pretty well.

So I'd check your site once in while to see what he was up to, noting to myself UG's age. Ah, I am sad now that I have visited and learned UG has passed on. I was comforted by the obituary's excellent description of his last times here.

Though raised an atheist I became an agnostic, diligently so, when a former Catholic pointed out to me I took my lack of faith in God on faith. I never forgot what I learned as I watched my opinion change.

But having been around more religious folks in recent years, I sometimes send a Non-Prayer out to the Universe, General Delivery. For a friend's Mother in New Orleand during the flood. For James Brown in his travels after dying. I stopped to do that when I finished reading UG's obituary and when I did, no words came into my mind because his impact on me was so much more than emotional.

UG was the one who wrote down that the body is a machine. I concluded that this is why if you exercise your muscles they will be supple and if you do not they will find it unnecessary to remain at the ready. If you see a yellow dog, the cells in your eyes, in your optic nerve and in your brain are all configured to perceive a yellow dog because the creature's presence caused all those structures to react. If you think a thing is true, that is because the cells in your brain that form your perception are in a state of so doing. In the latter case, the perception you hold might be a simulated perception of reality that is not true -- a thought, a belief that someone told you to have, or some misinterpreted stimulus.

Or maybe that isn't what UG meant and I have it all wrong. As I said, I didn't read more than a few essays or chapters, watch and listen to a few recorded lectures.

Who cares? My brain is only one organ in my body; it just happens to be the one that "wants to know". Irrespective of my thoughts on reality, the villi in my intestines and the hydrochloric bath in my stomach work just fine.

I would do better to learn how to have a cleaner colon than to "study philosophy". Only in a sense is that true ... only in the LITERAL SENSE, the one that is pertinent to my activity in life, which is the activity of my body.

So thanks to you for bringing UG into my home through your diligent and insightful work for these years. You are a good fellow to take the trouble. And I am sorry if you are still sad because you and UG were friends, but you will feel better.

My best regards to you,

Theron G. Burrough
New York, NY

April 13, 2007

By the time I met U.G., I had been all "gurued" out. I had spent 8 years with Da Free John and my ex-husband was a guru. I certainly did not want any more gurus in my life.

I did not want some "enlightened" man telling me he had something to give me if only

I would surrender in devotion, or meditate or whatever . . .

Something in me after all those years of "practice" clearly told me "this is bullshit."

But that does not mean the search ended. Those questions persisted like a red-hot ball lodged in the throat. You can't spit it out and you can't swallow it.

Then I met U.G. First I met him through a book -- The Mystique of Enlightenment.

Then I met him through the videos of him traveling all around the world with my friend Julie Thayer. Then I met him in person.

Because of my aversion to gurus, I was determined not to let U.G. fall into that category.

And he never ever gave me even the slightest opening to relate to him like that.

As a matter of fact, at times I felt very envious of others who were able to be very personal with him and have him in focus in that way.

They would serve him, call him and talk to him regularly, ask his advice. Clearly they let him influence their lives and the decisions they made.

But with me, it was always very impersonal. He never told me what to do.

Oh, wait, once. He turned to me out of the blue one day, looked me in the eye and said "don't live with your children." After that he said he did not remember saying that to me. And when I decided to live for a while with my granddaughter, he said "grandchildren are different."

He was so sweet!!!

From the beginning I tested him. To me, the sign of a truly "enlightened" man (what other term can I use?) was the demonstrated absence of pretension.

I saw it in U.G. in so many ways. I loved his disclaimer at the beginning of all "his" books. These books were not written by him, but were transcribed or written by others. He made no profit from them and his only requirement was that they not be copywritten. He wanted everything to be freely available and that was that.

U.G. showed a lack of self righteousness with others. I never saw him tell anyone not to smoke, drink, eat meat, have sex. He just lived his life that way. Whatever anyone else did was their choice. He said he did not want others to do as he did or to not do as he did.

Once I saw a video of U.G. sitting in a small room with a nadi reader who was smoking a cigarette. Every now and then the nadi reader would blow a puff of smoke in U.G.'s face. I looked for a reaction. There was none.

Another time, in U.G.'s hotel room where he was staying in San Rafael, California, I saw him get up from his chair and go to the kitchen to get some water. While he was gone, a woman sat down in his chair. When he returned, I looked to see what he would do. That might seem strange to one who has not been around guru's, but the chair is looked upon as a sacred place, and one just does not sit in the guru's chair. But U.G. returned to the room, and without the slightest notice, sat on the coffee table and continued his conversation.

I had always hated what I called "lunch righteousness". That is, when people who are vegetarian get self righteous when others eat meat around them. So, when I first went to lunch with U.G., I ordered chicken. U.G. did not seem to even notice or make any note of this, even though I was sitting right next to him.

That is not to say that if you were living around him, traveling with him, etc., you would just sit around smoking and eating steak. But he just did not require anyone to change anything with any goal in mind.

It was hard for me to not want to be like him and to not try to use him as a model, because he was so free and he had what I wanted!!!! But there seemed to be no censor in him. His clear admonition was to be your self. He would say it is the easiest thing to be yourself, you don't have to do a thing!

I loved the way he created his own reality around the people who were his close friends. He would build some people up and give them much more important positions than they really had. A girl who was a French teacher became a world renowned lecturer of French and Italian. A mediocre tango dancer became a famous tango dancer. A woman who studied ballet as a child and young girl became a great ballerina. Some people were "holy men" others were "criminals". A woman who was a nurse took on the highest medical credentials and could almost psychically read his pulse to determine everything about his health condition. A well-established doctor was a "quack". A woman who was a very accomplished photographer, was a terrible photographer who only took "pictures of my back." A man who was a very successful contractor was a "cooley", and a "criminal". A man who was a brilliant artist had no talent as an artist, and who would buy that crap!

The world according to U.G. was a very funny place. I always wondered why people felt he was negative and somber. His sense of humor was so profoundly all pervasive, and never ceased. Even on his death bed he was making everyone around him laugh.

Just as with any guru or great man, people will give testimonials, and tell stories of their great deeds, of the miracles and synchronistic happenings around them. This is true with U.G., and I like to tell many of these stories myself. But that is not the point, at least not for me.

I prefer to be left with the mystery of his glance and the fact that he preferred to leave no trace.

--
Ellen Chrystal

April 11, 2007

GURU SPELLED BACKWARDS

You were not my guru. I have had guru's and you were not that.

But what?

When you were living I came and went. Your door was always open.

Of course, at first I asked the same stupid questions.

They got knocked down and knocked out.

But I did not have much of a personal relationship with you.

I never called you.

I never asked you for advice about my life and you never gave it.

I would spend months, years, without even calling or visiting --

Involved in my own webs and quagmires – burning out the search.

But then, I would really really need to see you.

You were calling me in some deep part of my heart

And no time had come between us

Nothing needed to be said,

Just, it's so good to see you U.G.!

And the door was always open.

I often felt you did not like me.

Now I know it was me who did not like me.

That last glance. Those eyes!

I have to say it was love. Sorry. Cut, cut!!!

Your body was so wasted. You looked very very small.

But those eyes.

And that force of life.

Then you told us all to leave you so you could go.

It was an explosion.

Everyone scattered in all directions.

Leaving you in your cave with Mahesh and Larry and Susan – the chronicler, the minister and the doctor -- to wait with you.

It was so perfect and natural and clear and everything I see and know is true.

It was so U.G.

You never told me to come, you never told me to go.

But the door was always open. And I am so glad I walked through it.

by
Ellen Chrystal