Parts of an e-mail from a site visitor were addressed yesterday. [See the 23 December 2006 posting to read the entire letter.] Today, the responses continue:
V. Then I feel a bit hurt, because I want to believe that its only these prayers that had delivered me to this witnessing state.
F.: First, never use the word “I” unless it is understood that the “I” that is speaking is the energy-consciousness. That is not the case here since energy cannot be hurt, energy cannot have a belief, energy cannot pray, and energy cannot be delivered. If the consciousness were truly purified and if witnessing were truly happening, none of those declarations would have been made. Thus, since it is not consciousness speaking, WHO is it that feels hurt? WHO is it that wants any belief when Full Realization follows the discarding of all beliefs?
Secondly, to the mention of prayers. The Advaita philosophy uses thorns to remove thorns—concepts to remove concepts—but prayer is an attempt to use a mirage to remove mirages (whether the mirage being used is called the Zeus mirage, the Thor mirage, the Vishnu mirage, the Siva mirage, the Rama mirage, the god of Abraham mirage, or any other label applied to the mirages that persons have taken to be real over the ages). All of the beliefs and concepts and dogma programmed into people, and all the practices and actions and doingness that result from conditioning and enculturation, are the mirages. Also among the mirages are the gods and supernatural powers that have been dreamed up by men and that are now believed to be real by most persons on the planet.
V. Then I feel a bit hurt, because I want to believe that its only these prayers that had delivered me to this witnessing state.
F.: First, never use the word “I” unless it is understood that the “I” that is speaking is the energy-consciousness. That is not the case here since energy cannot be hurt, energy cannot have a belief, energy cannot pray, and energy cannot be delivered. If the consciousness were truly purified and if witnessing were truly happening, none of those declarations would have been made. Thus, since it is not consciousness speaking, WHO is it that feels hurt? WHO is it that wants any belief when Full Realization follows the discarding of all beliefs?
Secondly, to the mention of prayers. The Advaita philosophy uses thorns to remove thorns—concepts to remove concepts—but prayer is an attempt to use a mirage to remove mirages (whether the mirage being used is called the Zeus mirage, the Thor mirage, the Vishnu mirage, the Siva mirage, the Rama mirage, the god of Abraham mirage, or any other label applied to the mirages that persons have taken to be real over the ages). All of the beliefs and concepts and dogma programmed into people, and all the practices and actions and doingness that result from conditioning and enculturation, are the mirages. Also among the mirages are the gods and supernatural powers that have been dreamed up by men and that are now believed to be real by most persons on the planet.
To pray to an image to remove all images would be tantamount to asking a mirage in Arizona to eliminate all the mirages in New Mexico, and to take that action would be tantamount to being insane. What of those who claim, “It does help. I feel better when I go to temple, church, synagogue, the place where we hold our spiritual meetings, etc.” Temporary respites can happen when a new ego-state of “the religious person” or “the spiritual person” is adopted by “the protégé” who is mourning (or as “the husband” who “lost” “wife” is mourning or as “the parent” who “lost” a “child” is mourning or as “the devotee” who is worshipping is doing his worshipping). Yet that which is temporary is not real, so the respite will not last. The "leaders" (an upgrade of the illusion) in those buildings admit as much, reminding you that you must come back “in a week” or “within 24 hours” or “within a matter of hours.” A truly Realized “Advaitan teacher” would never suggest such nonsense, knowing that when You abide as the Absolute, your “position” is not temporary but is permanently fixed.
Understanding that what you thought you were praying to (which is really nothing more than an imagined entity that was conceived of by persons who want power in order to be able to control their imaginary world) will then allow an understanding of the next pointer: when you pray, you are actually just talking to yourself—to some false self. Next, realize that if you hear an answer, it is only coming from the agenda of another of those false selves that you have internalized. Furthermore, understand that when persons don’t realize that the voice which they think they’re hearing is simply coming from within, that is the result of a mental condition that professionals—academically trained to detect and to treat mental disorders—will diagnose as “psychosis.” For example, in the U.S. in those days before fundamentalists took control of the government, there were institutions where those claiming to hear voices would be locked away and treated for their mental disorder. (That assured their safety and the safety of the public at large.) But when a "president" (an upgrade of the illusion) claimed to have heard a voice telling him to bomb and invade another sovereign nation, he—and millions of other persons—actually believed that “the voice” he claimed to hear was coming from outside his head rather than from within his distorted “mind.” Because of his being allowed to roam about freely and govern, the safety of the public at large has been compromised. Are you seeing the relative existence toll that is paid when praying persons live in delusion rather than in touch with Reality?
Some believe that religion is the “opiate of the masses.” (They are downgrading the illusion.) Others believe that religion or spirituality is that which keeps the dark side of humans in check and is, therefore, a “wonderful institution that is saving the world.” (They are upgrading the illusion.) Even among the latter, however, there is a drawback to “holy” or “religious” or “spiritual” or “born-again” persons who dualistically think that they are (a) praying to a god and (b) hearing a god answering them and (c) having a god that is telling them what they need to do in order to be “good” or “right.” The downside (relatively speaking) is this: if you believe that you are among the “good” people who can hear voices that guide you and them to do what you consider to be “good” things, then you must also accept the consequences when other persons believe that the voice of a god is telling them to do what you consider to be “bad” things. Further, you also must accept the relative existence results when other persons claim to be hearing voices that inspire them to do “things that they think are ‘good’ but that you or other persons think are ‘bad’.”
Once you and others buy into the belief that there’s a god or gods that answer prayers, then there can be no regulation of the variety of answers that people will claim to hear and no regulation of the insane behaviors that follow. One man visiting a session years ago reported that two decades earlier his god had told him to kill his wife, so he “served his sixteen years in prison with neither remorse nor regret. Ultimately,” he continued, “there is only god’s will.” That man would be considered insane by the same persons who support a political leader’s decision to start a war and kill thousands because he had talked with the Father above and received guidance from God to bomb and invade.
There is a saying in the U.S.: “What is good for the goose is good for the gander.” If you think a god is telling you what to do, you must accept the results when other persons have your very same belief. Adolph Hitler, for example, was a Christian Catholic from Austria leading a nation of Christian Lutherans in Germany who went about the task of killing Jews and political dissidents and homosexuals. Their justification for killing homosexuals and Jews? The “holy scriptures” in the first part of their “holy book” does order the murder of homosexuals. Also, the second part of their "holy scriptures" makes clear that the Jews killed their Christ, so they claimed. Thus, their genocide was made legitimate by their religious beliefs. Do you now understand “the prayer trap” more clearly? The number of insane happenings that result when persons are trapped in the insanity of their dualistic and magical thinking is almost unlimited; therefore, the level of insanity on the planet is almost unlimited as well. Realization is the treatment, the antidote, for the widespread insanity. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
Understanding that what you thought you were praying to (which is really nothing more than an imagined entity that was conceived of by persons who want power in order to be able to control their imaginary world) will then allow an understanding of the next pointer: when you pray, you are actually just talking to yourself—to some false self. Next, realize that if you hear an answer, it is only coming from the agenda of another of those false selves that you have internalized. Furthermore, understand that when persons don’t realize that the voice which they think they’re hearing is simply coming from within, that is the result of a mental condition that professionals—academically trained to detect and to treat mental disorders—will diagnose as “psychosis.” For example, in the U.S. in those days before fundamentalists took control of the government, there were institutions where those claiming to hear voices would be locked away and treated for their mental disorder. (That assured their safety and the safety of the public at large.) But when a "president" (an upgrade of the illusion) claimed to have heard a voice telling him to bomb and invade another sovereign nation, he—and millions of other persons—actually believed that “the voice” he claimed to hear was coming from outside his head rather than from within his distorted “mind.” Because of his being allowed to roam about freely and govern, the safety of the public at large has been compromised. Are you seeing the relative existence toll that is paid when praying persons live in delusion rather than in touch with Reality?
Some believe that religion is the “opiate of the masses.” (They are downgrading the illusion.) Others believe that religion or spirituality is that which keeps the dark side of humans in check and is, therefore, a “wonderful institution that is saving the world.” (They are upgrading the illusion.) Even among the latter, however, there is a drawback to “holy” or “religious” or “spiritual” or “born-again” persons who dualistically think that they are (a) praying to a god and (b) hearing a god answering them and (c) having a god that is telling them what they need to do in order to be “good” or “right.” The downside (relatively speaking) is this: if you believe that you are among the “good” people who can hear voices that guide you and them to do what you consider to be “good” things, then you must also accept the consequences when other persons believe that the voice of a god is telling them to do what you consider to be “bad” things. Further, you also must accept the relative existence results when other persons claim to be hearing voices that inspire them to do “things that they think are ‘good’ but that you or other persons think are ‘bad’.”
Once you and others buy into the belief that there’s a god or gods that answer prayers, then there can be no regulation of the variety of answers that people will claim to hear and no regulation of the insane behaviors that follow. One man visiting a session years ago reported that two decades earlier his god had told him to kill his wife, so he “served his sixteen years in prison with neither remorse nor regret. Ultimately,” he continued, “there is only god’s will.” That man would be considered insane by the same persons who support a political leader’s decision to start a war and kill thousands because he had talked with the Father above and received guidance from God to bomb and invade.
There is a saying in the U.S.: “What is good for the goose is good for the gander.” If you think a god is telling you what to do, you must accept the results when other persons have your very same belief. Adolph Hitler, for example, was a Christian Catholic from Austria leading a nation of Christian Lutherans in Germany who went about the task of killing Jews and political dissidents and homosexuals. Their justification for killing homosexuals and Jews? The “holy scriptures” in the first part of their “holy book” does order the murder of homosexuals. Also, the second part of their "holy scriptures" makes clear that the Jews killed their Christ, so they claimed. Thus, their genocide was made legitimate by their religious beliefs. Do you now understand “the prayer trap” more clearly? The number of insane happenings that result when persons are trapped in the insanity of their dualistic and magical thinking is almost unlimited; therefore, the level of insanity on the planet is almost unlimited as well. Realization is the treatment, the antidote, for the widespread insanity. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
