From a site visitor: “It seems to me that by touting natural living and discounting all of the spiritual work that some people do, you might end up discouraging people from doing some of the things they need to do along the way. My mind is almost always racing, but it stops when I my friends and I meet to do our morning meditation. I know I’m being helped by doing meditation and using some of my spiritual accouterments. For example, the bell I ring at the beginning of a session automatically resets our minds to a different level of consciousness and prepares us for entering the no-thought state. If I miss a session, my mind races all day, and to encourage anyone to give up something that deprives them of that kind of benefit is not in their best interest.”
To continue from yesterday with pointers offered in response to excerpts from the above e-mail:
I know I’m being helped by doing meditation and using some of my spiritual accouterments. For example, the bell I ring at the beginning of a session automatically resets our minds to a different level of consciousness and prepares us for entering the no-thought state.
First, there is no one to be helped. Next, as far as your endorsement of the use of a bell, can you explain how so many were able to grasp The Original Understanding prior to the invention of the bell? In fact, can you explain how any person ever grasped The Original Understanding before the invention of all the “accouterments” that you refer to and that religious and spiritual personas use?
A person claiming that his time in a particular ashram had “changed his life” sent a solicitation requesting a monetary contribution to help fund the ahsram so it could continue to provide a place for people to visit and to experience “spiritual growth.” He enclosed a picture with his guru who had penned a warning that “false advaita is becoming popular.” The picture showed the two seated on a special rug. Surrounding them were special candles, a special crystal, burning incense, and a special bowl on a special pillow with a special mallet nearby for striking the bowl. They were wearing special saffron robes, had special food nearby, and a special bell. And above such a scene, that pair felt they could sensibly print on their mailer the words, “Beware of Fake Advaitans”? Physicians, heal thyself. Persons, claim not that you sit in the noon-time sun when the dawn is just now breaking.
I know I’m being helped by doing meditation and using some of my spiritual accouterments. For example, the bell I ring at the beginning of a session automatically resets our minds to a different level of consciousness and prepares us for entering the no-thought state.
First, there is no one to be helped. Next, as far as your endorsement of the use of a bell, can you explain how so many were able to grasp The Original Understanding prior to the invention of the bell? In fact, can you explain how any person ever grasped The Original Understanding before the invention of all the “accouterments” that you refer to and that religious and spiritual personas use?
A person claiming that his time in a particular ashram had “changed his life” sent a solicitation requesting a monetary contribution to help fund the ahsram so it could continue to provide a place for people to visit and to experience “spiritual growth.” He enclosed a picture with his guru who had penned a warning that “false advaita is becoming popular.” The picture showed the two seated on a special rug. Surrounding them were special candles, a special crystal, burning incense, and a special bowl on a special pillow with a special mallet nearby for striking the bowl. They were wearing special saffron robes, had special food nearby, and a special bell. And above such a scene, that pair felt they could sensibly print on their mailer the words, “Beware of Fake Advaitans”? Physicians, heal thyself. Persons, claim not that you sit in the noon-time sun when the dawn is just now breaking.
The Original Understanding was grasped, and can still be grasped, without accounterments. In fact, the use of accounterments reinforces the assumption of religious or spiritual personas as false identities. Though the playing of those roles is the third of seven steps to Realization, anything that encourages fixation in that role-playing, rather than transitioning those roles, thereby delays the "journey" to Realization. As a result of understanding That Which Is Real, the Realized see all of the nonsense shown in the picture described above as that which is actually fake. The Original Understanding happened pre-rugs, pre-candles, pre-crystals, pre-incense, pre-bowls, pre-pillows, pre-mallets, pre-robes, pre-holy foods, and pre-bells.
Relatedly, last June, during a walk through a wooded area in central Louisiana, two women were seen setting up their crystal collection next to a body of water. They reported that their collection, which had cost $100,000, was being arranged to take advantage of planet alignments "in order to increase consciousness on earth." It would have been useless to offer the pointer that they could not "increase consciousness" since consciousness can neither be created nor destroyed nor increased nor decreased. (Their belief in that concept is as insane as believing that a person can take a cup of water from the ocean and increase the H2O.) Witnessing objectively what is really revealed via (1) a money request from an ashram, via (2) a photo showing two persons proudly displaying all their "spiritual" accounterments, and via (3) the beliefs of two women who spent $100,000 on a crystal collection might help you see the insanity of the belief that accumulations are required in order to understand teachings about de-accumulation!
Next, to your comment that
the bell I ring at the beginning of a session automatically resets our minds to a different level of consciousness and prepares us for entering the no-thought state
Relatedly, last June, during a walk through a wooded area in central Louisiana, two women were seen setting up their crystal collection next to a body of water. They reported that their collection, which had cost $100,000, was being arranged to take advantage of planet alignments "in order to increase consciousness on earth." It would have been useless to offer the pointer that they could not "increase consciousness" since consciousness can neither be created nor destroyed nor increased nor decreased. (Their belief in that concept is as insane as believing that a person can take a cup of water from the ocean and increase the H2O.) Witnessing objectively what is really revealed via (1) a money request from an ashram, via (2) a photo showing two persons proudly displaying all their "spiritual" accounterments, and via (3) the beliefs of two women who spent $100,000 on a crystal collection might help you see the insanity of the belief that accumulations are required in order to understand teachings about de-accumulation!
Next, to your comment that
the bell I ring at the beginning of a session automatically resets our minds to a different level of consciousness and prepares us for entering the no-thought state
there are no “different levels of consciousness.” Advaita teaches that there are no differences, no dualities, and no “two.” There is only the “not two.” Consciousness is consciousness. It does not come in levels. It can be contaminated, just as a river can be contaminated, but the water of the river and the water of the ocean and the water of the sky are all just H2O.
As for the “no-thought state” you mentioned, that is a temporary condition. The “thought state” will re-emerge unless the “no-mind state” is reached. If you want a “goal” to aim for, let that be “the target.” The suggestion for you is to set aside your meetings with all your "spiritual fellows" for a time since those activities have obviously not led any of you to Realization. Furthermore, set aside your bell, sit in the quiet alone, contemplate these pointers, and see if a glimpse of The Original Understanding might come (whereby the Realized--when on the "path"--came to understand all that they were not and thereafter sensed intuitively Who/What They Truly Were, Are, and Shall Forever Be). Please enter the silence of contemplation.
