White Fire: Spiritual Insights and Teachings of Advaita Zen Master Mooji

I want to make a useful contribution to the readership by writing a discerning review. So, without excitability, this is what the book is.Anthony Paul Moo-Young, or Mooji as he is known now, was an independent student of Papaji (Sri H. W. L. Poonja), under which he experienced the fullness of the realisation that most people call enlightenment. As a mystic, his experience of this most neatly falls under the Advaita (non-dualistic) and Zen modes of experience. It would be fair to say that he has become a living master in these traditions, given that he displays all the signs pointed to by the tradition. People will know him from his Satsangs (sittings with questions and answers to a living master) which are often broadcast on Youtube, and the proliferation of his quotations on social media. He is well known for his eloquence and joviality in explaining the most sublimely abstract points of his enlightenment tradition with simple and explicitly practical terms. His methods of teaching this is didactic, he wants a conversation which will point to the method of "self-inquiry", which is at the heart of his system, and was taught to him by his teacher.This book is a collection of his sayings and quotations, transcribed from his writings and talks. It weights in at 353 pages, and reads much like a Zen book with small paragraphs of separate thoughts for one to contemplate. There are no chapters, and although the book was put together to form a logical flow, the paragraphs are distinct directly because the information is meant to be chewed on in small chunks, in the way that the guru-student transmission happens in the East.It is much more of a coffee table book for those that enjoy either him as a guru, the enlightenment traditions of Advaita or Zen, or those that have studied the same. The themes covered in this book are the prisons and cages of the mind, liberation, realisation of existence outside of the person, and the sublimity of Truth beyond the same. For anyone that likes these topics, this book will be brilliant. For those that are looking for an introduction to him and his talks I would highly suggest either watching his channel on Youtube, or reading his previous books on Amazon: 'Before I AM' and 'Breath of the Absolute'.

A blurb on the back of this book by Zuzia Blach (whom I do not know) reads: " Elegant yet stunningly raw. This book is a murderer. It is going to murder the unreal and set the real free. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"This quote is absolutely accurate, and is to be taken quite seriously. I am 67 years old, have been "a serious seeker" for well over half a century, and have had the privilege of many, many, many intensive retreats and prolonged "accompaniments" with a number of exquisite teachers, all of whom have been invaluable to me, and for whom I have the deepest gratitude. And it is simply true that Mooji, and this book in particular, is the clearly perfectly fitting culmination of all the immensely bright and shining teachings and encouragements with which I have been graced. And it occurs to me that everything of all those years have been steps toward this Wonderful White Fire of this teacher and his relentless devotion to my/our liberation. He is, for me, clear, and penetrating, and undeterred in his presence within his words that--be forewarned--may well set you ablaze, even as you perhaps find yourself weeping, maybe also shaking, with a realization of a suddenly revealed unfathomable depth of gratitude.All our paths are uniquely our own. But I must say that I, for one, was not prepared for this ambush. And that I am inexpressibly indebted to Mooji for the great good fortune of that ambush. I am not the same. I am not the same as before White Fire. Me too, Zuzia, whomever you may be. Thank you, thank you, thank you is simply not enough, not by far. White Fires, however, do their work swiftly and effectively, leaving little room for bumbling mutterings, burning as cleanly as they do completely, ashes and all, before disappearing into the infinite space that is home.I have never been so happy to be witness to a murder.

I will always be grateful for discovering Mooji.I had a distorted view of emptiness, and my years of searching had led to a point of bitterness, iconoclasm, nihilism. As a last ditch effort I took on a study of Zen for a couple of years and did some self-inquiry. Shunryu Suzuki solidified what I had learned in a phrase, when someone asked him what he teaches, he said "I only teach my students to hear the birds sing." Then, holiness was not far away from me. I understood true emptiness, not the distortion of nihilism. But I still did not know my true nature.Within half an hour of reading this book, tears were hitting my cheeks. Here is grace, something I had convinced myself did not exist, finding it's way to me. And that is the essence of grace, isn't it? It finds you where you are. He reintroduced my wayward mind to it's guru, the heart. None of it is something that I did. Rather, grace undid the blinders that I might, as the Bible puts it, be still and know.I love you Mooji. All questions have vanished. The search is over. Thank you.

Mooji is a living Buddha reminding us all that we too are Buddha. I give it 5 stars

I'm not keen on the format. I would rather hear his own spontaneous thoughts as in a friendly talk without input from others.

a1

It doesn’t matter where the book falls open, Truth and Love radiates out. I never tire of reading these wonderful pieces of guidance from Mooji.

An excellent book by an excellent Teacher/ Master who has the most wonderful.gift to reveal the Truth in us in a way that is both simple and profound. Highly recommend for those seeking the simple direct Path to Truth.