She should speak normally.
Jac O’Keeffe in her audio version of Born To Be Free.
(And also Gangaji and the Advaita guy from Portland.)
Is it true?
Yes, it feels true in the moment.
What happens when I take that story as true?
Hm. My attention goes more to how she speaks than what she says, because she is talking in a very unusual way. She sounds like a zombie or as if she is demented or on strong drugs.
I remember that Ganagji talks that way too, and a couple of Advaita guys in Oregon. I make them all wrong in my mind.
Why would they want to speak in such a weird way? A way that only distracts from what they say?
I compare them with other folks who do it right in my mind: Adyashanti (calm and pleasant, but not weird), Byron Katie, Genpo Roshi, Douglas Harding and many more.
I have more stories about them: It seems affected. Contrived. A transparent teaching strategy. It distracts from the content.
They even make it look as if awakening has to do with a state (zombie state) instead of being independent of states. Why would they want to give that impression? Why not behave and talk normally and show it is independent of states?
I have resistance to listening to the audio book. I consider not listening to it. (I dropped out of the group the guy in Portland had.)
Who would I be without that story?
More receptive. Interested.
Perhaps find that the unusual way of talking helps me pay more attention to the content.
(I notice a resistance to admitting that. I even had that thought recently when I listened to a podcast. A woman said it is painful to listen to Dalai Lama because he speaks slowly. My internal response was that I enjoy listening to the Dalai Lama just because he is not a slick soundbity guy, it helps me pay attention to what he says.)
Turnarounds.
She shouldn’t speak normally.
It may help some or many of her listeners when she speaks that way. It may be a very conscious decision on her part.
Also, it helps me notice this belief.
I should speak normally.
Yes. The advice is for myself.
I also see I wish to speak normally in my thoughts. I wish for receptivity and clarity.