Most people have become so alienated from themselves by being in the world that they do not hear the silent summons of the Court of Conscience within their hearts. Thus they are convicted by default, and live the rest of their lives in dread of death. Karma does not require any external agency, an omniscient divine judge or mystical accounting system. We ourselves are the plaintiff, the judge and the bailiff. Knowing well what we have done and not done, we condemn and sentence ourselves to a just punishment. The vast majority of human beings go after death to lower embodiments: animal wombs or other hellish conditions. These are already conditioned by their activities in this life. The process of Dependent Origination reliably brings that name-&-form into manifestation in the next life. This can happen over an entire lifespan, or in a moment. This dukkha: suffering or displeasure. The Buddha taught dukkha as the First Noble Truth, because realizing how deeply we are caught in the web of suffering is precisely the motivation to getting out.

1. The Esoteric Teaching
Call of the Friend 4: The Friend

2. Call of the Friend
•Foundation Series:
•Becoming Genius:
•Being in the World:
•Call of the Friend:
Process of Becoming
Learning how to Learn
Ontological Analysis
Achieving Authenticity

3. Most people have become so alienated from themselves by
being in the world that they do not hear the silent
summons of the Court of Conscience within their hearts.
Thus they are convicted by default, and live the rest of
their lives in dread of death.
Karma does not require any external agency, an omniscient
divine judge or mystical accounting system.We ourselves
are the plaintiff, the judge and the bailiff. Knowing well
what we have done and not done, we condemn and
sentence ourselves to a just punishment.
Call of the Friend

4. The vast majority of human beings go after death to lower
embodiments: animal wombs or other hellish conditions.
These are already conditioned by their activities in this life.
The process of Dependent Origination reliably brings that
name-&-form into manifestation in the next life.This can
happen over an entire lifespan, or in a moment.
This is dukkha: suffering or displeasure.The Buddha taught
dukkha as the First Noble Truth, because realizing how
deeply we are caught in the web of suffering is precisely
the motivation to getting out.
Call of the Friend

5. The Friend has been where you are; that
is why he can have true compassion on
your state of life. He truly sees you as
you are, and knows your pain. He gives
you The Call and explains how dangerous
being in the world really is. He knows he
may have to shock you to get you
started on the Path out of dukkha.
Call of the Friend
The Friend
Inauthentic
Self
The Call
Compassion

6. The Friend is not a god, not a guru or even
a teacher in the ordinary sense. He is
someone who cares, but not in the
ordinary way of being in the world.
The original Friend is the Buddha, who saw
being in the world for what it is, and then
found a way out. He Called us, and shared
his discovery with us over 45 years of
dedicated and selfless teaching.
Then he disappeared. So now it is up to us.
Call of the Friend
The Friend
Inauthentic
Self
The Call
Compassion

7. The Buddha is Unbound—gone, gone
beyond, gone beyond the beyond. He is
never coming back. Each one who gets
the Call of the Friend and realizes his
teaching for himself has a responsibility
to share this Call and teaching with
others, to help them even as he was
called and helped.There is no way to
repay the Friend’s compassion except to
become a Friend to others.
Call of the Friend
The Friend
Inauthentic
Self
The Call
Compassion

8. The videos of Skillful Living Network are
the Call of the Friend to you, urging you
to make the commitment to seek out
authentic Being for yourself and share it
with others.
So far we have presented the Call of the
Friend in the language of western
existentialism. Existentialism has pretty
much become the default mindset of
most of the world today.
Call of the Friend
The Friend
Inauthentic
Self
The Call
Compassion

9. Against this background, beginning in our
next series, Being Integrity, we will
present the teaching of the Buddha in his
own words.This is not dogma or
doctrine; we personally followed this
path of realizing the teaching of the
Buddha. Our direct experience is that
following the Buddha’s instructions with
understanding is the Path to the
cessation of dukkha.
Call of the Friend
The Friend
Inauthentic
Self
The Call
Compassion