WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Sixteen

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

RETREATS OR SATSANG w/ floyd ONE-ON-ONE, by TELEPHONE, by INTERNET CHAT ROOM, and via THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)
For details click ADVAITA VEDANTA RETREATS & SATSANG
or contact floyd by clicking CONTACT floyd

Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

THE IMPURITY OF FOLLOWING THE “I AM” WITH ANY WORD, Part D

[You may review the 25 February 2009 post for comments being addressed, including this one today: ONE WOMAN OVERHEARD IN A STORE: “I’m suffering right now but we’re praying more than ever. All of this seems to have opened us up more to receive God.” The response from the woman she was talking to: “Hang in there. Your suffering now is going to earn you a big reward later on.”]

F.: [This posting is for those seekers that have moved far along the “path”] The non-Realized attach to the liabilities generated by their personalities. Seekers who have completed a part of the “journey” and have assumed identities such as “The Religious One” or “The Very Spiritual One” attach to the assets associated with those roles.

Yet all liabilities and assets are nothing more than personality traits and are therefore illusions. The Fully Realized, freed from all personal identity, make no claims about assets or liabilities.

You might as well lean across a countertop in your kitchen, put your mouth near an electrical outlet, and ask the energy if it was “good” or “bad” yesterday, if it has been “patient” or “impatient” today, if it plans on being “moral” or “immoral” tomorrow.

You might as well whisper into the wall outlet and tell the energy that you think it has been very helpful, the way it participated in preparing pancakes that morning by operating the mixer. In fact, the energy is merely being. There is no do-er that is deciding to do or not do anything. The energy did not “think through” a set of options and make a decision to operate a mixer or not.

If certain actions by persons on the planet resulted in that energy being involved with some event (such as functioning with a coffee pot in the morning and with a blender later in the day) it all happened spontaneously, without thought on the part of the energy.

Thoughts can only happen if a “mind” has been formed. If those thoughts are expressed via words, then soon they will generate some action. In the process, a person thought some thought, a persona expressed the words, and then the persona became convinced that it is real and that it is a do-er and that it is doing something and that it choose to do that.

In fact, it has been shown often on this site that everything labeled a “problem” is centered in the “mind.” The “mind” is no more a benefit than any of the "asset traits" assumed by personas.

RECEIVED RECENTLY FROM A SITE VISITOR: Way back, You told me that if I knew what the mind was actually like, I would abandon it like an abusive spouse. That was a “tough love” pointer for “me” – it felt like having ice water dumped over my head – it was such a dramatic shock.

That pointer is occasionally recalled, and of course is now known to be completely true. The mind and mind-generated personas are so toxic, it seems unbelievable that the mind-body-personality construct was once called home – and was even believed to be remotely habitable. Interestingly, with this understanding there is simply no possibility of going back. It is useful to witness the personality under stress simply for this verification I guess.

With a “mind” generating (always distorted) thoughts and with the practice among the non-Realized of following the I AM with nouns and adjectives, then it is understandable (though totally illogical) that some persons have been programmed and conditioned to believe that “suffering” can be noble or beneficial.

A site visitor inquired about “floyd’s” pre-Realization days, including behaviors and “relationships” and miseries and delusions and mind-generated suffering. This exchanged followed:

She: So much suffering. Exhausting. Do you agree with the idea that “suffering works”? Would you have been as intensely focused on the “search” if the ex had a more benign personality and there was greater relative calm and you had stayed together? Is there a sense - post-realization - that it had to be this way for “floyd”?

F.: No, suffering does not work, it being nothing more than a totally-unnecessary consequence of ego and egotism. As for anything hastening the movement along the path, the focus was there from "floyd's" very early days, even prior to elementary school. The tendency to question illogical nonsense was automatic after the basic personality was formed.

No external impetus is required for one “wired” to seek the Authentic Self. [Note: Among the few that will seek that Authentic Self, they will be miserable if It is not found, and they can be at perfect peace if It is. How many on the planet develop during childhood the personality type that automatically seeks Self? One-half of one percent.]

Nor did it have to be the way it was, but it was that way as a result of programming and acculturation. As for still being together with the "ex," we never were together. It was all image and distortion, and all over the world tonight, people claiming to be “married to each other” or “in a relationship together” will actually share only a roof in common;

therefore, they will be very much alone, and the few that understand that can have all the company imaginable, along with solitude and peace. It has been noted: 'Tis better to be alone and free than to be in prison with company.

In that regard, Thoreau (who spoke of a “unity beyond the multiplicity,” who was “wired” to seek the Authentic Self, and who—even though not fully Realized—did have considerable pieces of the understanding) said something you will understand completely:

I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls.

That said, did all of that misery and suffering allow the manifestation of an understanding of the roots of suffering as well as an empathy for seekers? Sure. There is no one lost in personality that is not understood from "floyd's experiences";

the most asleep visitor to the site is no more asleep than was "floyd"; and no one that is so lost in the distortions of his/her culture that they reach a point where they can no longer tolerate their very existence are any sicker than “floyd” was, relatively speaking.

Does that mean some “good” came of the suffering? No. Does it mean anyone is being helped ultimately? No. There are no “ones” to help. There is merely the spontaneous flow that determines what is shared.

And that sharing happens, without agenda or motive or hope, but with an awareness that maybe the suffering of persons might be slightly mitigated for the time that all those specks are manifested and trying to negotiate the relative existence.

But it's all just happening naturally, just as with the deer that came and went last night when “floyd” was out of corn and just as the deer will come tonight and eat...now that the corn is restocked.

(And last night they had no thoughts about “floyd being inconsiderate" and tonight there will be no thoughts about “floyd actually being a really nice guy after all. " Their peace happens because of their mind-less, thought-less condition which preempts any ability to think or judge or separate from or cling to.)

Too, suffering is only optional for those about the Realize. Once Realized, suffering cannot manifest since it can only happen when the prerequisites for suffering (namely, body, mind, and personality identification) are assumed.

For all persons (the non-Realized), suffering is mandatory. For those programmed with dogma, they will actually upgrade the concept of “suffering” and “put a spin on the facts” (that is, distort the facts involved with their relative existence).

As a result, they will assign value to suffering, will expect to be reward eternally "later on" for their suffering, will ennoble their suffering, and will even claim that they are now able to be “The Helper”—almost immediately upgraded to “The Super Helper”—as a result of their suffering. And it is those who have adopted a religious and/or spiritual persona that most often engage in such distortion. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION

WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Fifteen

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

RETREATS OR SATSANG w/ floyd ONE-ON-ONE, by TELEPHONE, by INTERNET CHAT ROOM, and via THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)
For details click ADVAITA VEDANTA RETREATS & SATSANG
or contact floyd by clicking CONTACT floyd

Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

THE IMPURITY OF FOLLOWING THE “I AM” WITH ANY WORD, Part C

[You may review the 25 February 2009 post for comments being addressed.]

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Received yesterday] Reading your writings, I’m finally understanding my mom’s behavior to some degree. She is in her late sixties, dating a man with a history of abusing women. She admires him because he is a preacher, even though he recently put her in the hospital. Now, she has gone back to him. I looked at what you’ve written about personality and see she’s a type two who thinks she HAS to be in a relationship – has always been searching for love.. Then I look at what you said today [February 26, 2009] in the blog and know what you say about pain and pleasure is right on. And you are also right in that she is willing to accept all the pain to get a little pleasure. I might try to discuss this with her, but I doubt she’d change. Thanks at least for helping me and my sisiters to understand a little more about why she is doing what she is doing. Anonymous

F.: One of your references is evidently to the pointer offered yesterday that most of the non-Realized believe “…it is worth putting up with such fluctuations and tolerating pain in order to have some pleasure.” Your mother’s behavior illustrates the pointer exactly. Driven by personality, she will tolerate a hundred pounds of pain to receive an ounce of pleasure. That is common among the non-Realized, in fact, typical. Many will conclude that she is insane, but what she is doing is more likely the result of personality and its subsequent personality disorders. You have provided site visitors with a concrete example of the way that these “supposedly theoretical” teachings really do reflect what is happening in the relative when personality is directing the play. Now, the discussion of the concept of “patience” that began on Wednesday will continue, even as the e-mail above also provides a pointer about patience as well, the woman being quite patient with her abusive partner.

If you claim “I am patient,” you will be impatient at times as well. Why? Because a person (meaning one with a belief in a “personal I”) is guaranteed to be in a constant state of flux.

When one is in a constant state of flux and also claiming that she/he is patient, then impatience will be guaranteed to follow. As noted in other postings, to be patient is to be waiting, and to be waiting is to be wanting or expecting; and to be wanting or expecting will trigger periods of being impatient.

The concept of “being patient” also results in ignoring the only “real time” there is (NOW) and causes non-Realized persons to give credibility to the illusory “future.” As a result, no peace or contentment can happen. Consider this specific example:

During a seminar with employees of a business that uses enneagram results for hiring and for development of staff, it was seen that seven of the employees were Personality Type Threes.

Threes focus on success and achievement, historically ignoring the now and concentrating instead on their long-range financial goals, which they can always express in exact, concrete amounts of currency.

When asked about the amount, a Three will not require so much as a second for contemplation since they have already determined the exact amount of money that, once accumulated, will be evidence of having achieved “success” in their “minds.”

When each Three was told, “Your type always has a specific dollar amount in mind, an amount that you believe will indicate you are a success and which will allow you to finally enjoy your life. What is your amount”?

Without a second’s hesitation, the numbers came: “$1,000,000; $10,000,000; $12,000,000; $50,000,000; $100,000,000; $500,000,000; and $900,000,000." (The latter explained, proudly touting his humility, that "only arrogant people would say they have to be 'a billionaire' to be happy." Yes, that is an example of distortion, sleepwalking, delusion, and many other factors that mark the relative existence of persons.) When asked about the odds of ever accumulating such sums, they all spoke of “being patient” and of “persevering” (though Three’s are one of the least patient of the nine basic personas).

Interestingly, nearly three years ago, the man who cited “$12,000,000” as his magic number had reported that $1,000,000 was the goal. When asked about the change, he said that he “was getting close to a million and that he always raises his goals and sets new ones if he is about to reach an old goal.”

Do you see the trap among those assuming the ego-state of “The Super Achiever” and among other persons with the same thought-life, claiming “patience” and “perseverance” until they reach their goal someday?

First, they are removed from living in the now. Secondly, if they achieve their goal, then their identity of “The Achiever” would end since there would be nothing more to achieve, so their goals and magic number must always be a moving target…always being moved out of reach.

Note the Catch-22: if they are to sustain the false identity of “The Achiever” or “The Performer,” they must never achieve their goals. The most that can happen in this scenario is they “get close to” a goal. In the process, therefore, they guarantee that they will never experience a sense of fulfillment.

Their “patience,” which drives them to keep plugging away day in and day out (and to keep waiting for their goals to be met someday with their belief that “all good things come to those who wait”) assures that they will always feel the frustration of unmet desires; of unreachable goals and expectations; of a constantly-increasing sense of self-worth and an overly-inflated value of self; and the subsequent arrogance that shows up often with that type.

Another contradiction with that paradigm is that freedom becomes dependent. Its manifestation depends on giving up any and all concepts, including the ones that some cultures teach are the “good” ones (such as “patience”) because they are a setup for duality—which is, in turn, a setup for feeling empty, incomplete or confused.

To accept the concept of patience as truth is to suggest that there is someone who can be patient. For every “asset” that persons assume, they reinforce a sense of separation; they believe they recognize the opposing "liability" in others; and that bolsters a sense of better-than-ness.

It’s all duality, and all duality is false. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION

WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Fifteen

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

RETREATS OR SATSANG w/ floyd ONE-ON-ONE, by TELEPHONE, by INTERNET CHAT ROOM, and via THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)
For details click ADVAITA VEDANTA RETREATS & SATSANG
or contact floyd by clicking CONTACT floyd

Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

THE IMPURITY OF FOLLOWING THE “I AM” WITH ANY WORD, Part B

[You may review the 25 February 2009 post to read the comments being addressed.]

F.: Yesterday, this pointer was offered (but only for those at the last steps on the “path”):

If you are claiming certain “positive traits” as a result of your religious or spiritual efforts and practices and disciplines, then the question to ask is “WHO is making such claims?”

This e-mail from a regular visitor to the site included a question that elicited a response that might clarify the teachings at this level. The visitor began by looking at the concept of “peaceful” and the exchange unfolded as follows:

L.: Peaceful – does that count?

F.: Peaceful counts relatively speaking (yet have You considered this: in the end, WHO is peaceful vs. who is anxious)?

L.: So who? The Advaitan. The One Without Attachments. The Wise One. The One Who is Unruffled by Events in the Relative – including deadlines. The Recluse. Yes – so here is a Someone with an Attribute: peacefulness.

[Note how "peaceful" follows the "I am" construct. Note too the way she realizes that “peaceful” is a descriptor, a trait, a characteristic and sees that descriptors are all personal…all about a person and not at all applicable to a quantity of energy.] She continues:

L.: If I look more closely at the “peacefulness,” I see it masks a variety of old programmed “anxious” behaviours: nail biting, forgetfulness, over-eating. Usual deadline pressure stuff.

In fact is this really peaceful at all? Is it just that irritability, panic, self-criticism, self-pity and being reactive with others under stress (old anxious behaviours that seldom show up any longer) are absent from the mix? It “feels” peaceful, but perhaps what I call “peacefulness” could actually be described as “anxiety”. Just depends what benchmark is used.

I am starting to “get” that non-duality means … um … well …. non duality. Why then, do You talk about joy or sweetness – aren’t these dualistic terms?

F.: Excellent question, and yes, those are dualistic terms, level-appropriate for some seekers; now, it is time for You to move on beyond that level. Understand that the pointers in Your case are now being offered at a different “level,” fitting for seekers that are as far along the “path” as You.

Conditions or states (sweetness, peace, patience, joy) are all attributes that can only (1) be thought to have been “experienced” by persons or that can (2) be known by a knower. And in either case, that is happening only during the relative manifestation. Too, they often inspire denial, such as, "I'm so advanced along the 'path to peace' that none of this is affecting me."

"The Religious One" and/or "The Spiritual One" ego-states can generate misery while inspiring a claim that their dogma or practices are providing peace, thinking their "journey" into the (day) light has led them to noontime when it is really only dawn for them.

Seekers seek sweetness and peace and patience and joy and some few find them, but what they have found is all a part of the relative, and what is known is known via the manifested consciousness. Since the consciousness is ever-moving, then the seeker that knows sweetness and peace and patience and joy at times will also know bitterness, disharmony, impatience, and misery at other times.

RECEIVED RECENTLY FROM A SITE VISITOR WHEN THIS SUBJECT WAS LAST DISCUSSED: Youre wrong about the mind and youre wrong about seeking pleasure. Maharaj asked what’s wrong with the mind seeking the pleasant and avoiding the unpleasant. He said “Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows.” Michael

No disputing that Maharaj said that to one particular seeker, Michael; however, if you read the entire transcript of that talk, rather than one extracted quote, you would see that Maharaj eventually offered a different set of pointers to that same seeker.

You would see that the same seeker’s questions and comments revealed that he might be ready for an understanding available to those farther along the “path" then Maharaj's first assessment. If you review the transcript, you would see that M.’s later pointers changed from the one that you are quoting. He said,

“Desire is the memory of pleasure, and fear is the memory of pain. Both make the mind restless. Moments of pleasure are merely gaps in the stream of pain. How can the mind be happy?” Later, he added, “…Joy is joy only against a background of pain.”

Then, even later he pointed out that “…pleasure and pain are all in the mind. The Self stands beyond the mind, aware, but unconcerned.” In due course, he taught: “Pain is the background of all your pleasures. You want them because you suffer. On the other hand, the very search for pleasure is the cause of pain. It is a vicious circle.”

You have been told here that whatever gives pleasure will surely give pain. You have been told that whatever gives the greatest pleasure will surely give the greatest pain. Many persons who have visited this site and read those pointers believe that is enough...that it is worth putting up with such fluctuations and tolerating pain in order to have some pleasure. So it is. Others will minimize the frustration of constant seeking and flux and chaos, even justifying the “negative” by upgrading the “positive.”

Some have written here to say the nisarga yoga is all wrong, that their yoga is right for it has led to bliss now and will assure eternal bliss as well. Though Easterners, their belief systems have a rather Baptist or Presbyterian ring to them.

It matters not if your "god of bliss" is imagined to look like a corpulent elephant or like old man Zeus, the key word here is “imagined.” The reality is that neither bliss nor misery will be known post-manifestation. The unmanifested consciousness will merely be absorbed into the pool of awareness that is not aware of anything. There will be neither bliss nor misery, neither reward not punishment.

Furthermore, the paradox is that those states of peace and joy and sweetness—once known—are (A) fleeting and thus frustrating and (B) are capable of making the opposite, former states all the more miserable when revisited. Then, seekers write to complain, “I'm sick of all of this ‘I’ve got it—I’ve lost it—I’ve got it—I’ve lost it’ cycling.”

Only being free of the knowing, the known, and the knower does the fluctuating end. Persons/the non-Realized will never know sweetness, peace, patience, joy; some seekers will know those, and will then take those as indicators that they have reached the end of the “path”;

yet they will still experience the annoying fluctuations if not abiding as the natural, original state. In that awareness that is not aware of abidance, then happenings associated with "the Am-ness mode" will actually be rooted in "the THAT-ness mode." Then, there will be no claims about any attributes or traits or characteristics—all of which are aligned with personality.

Now, all that said, the paradox is that when Reality is overlaid on the Am-ness, joy or pleasure can happen NOW without any notion that there is an experiencer, without any of the constant fluctuations that mark the manifestation, and without any return to the no-joy misery state—an all-relative state that cannot be registered in the awareness that is not aware of state.

The stability of the THAT state becomes overlaid on the otherwise unstable Am-ness state. Further, just because Reality is overlaid on the Am-ness does not mean that I—this consciousness—am not at One with your pain, with your suffering, with the anguish and affliction that mark the existence of so many persons on the planet.

This awareness after the At-one-ment is understood and after Real Love manifests is what moves this space to take the morning’s cup of cappuccino to an in-house office each morning, is what moves this space to sit before a screen, and is what determines which keys are spontaneously struck.

And if you should reach a point along the “path” before Full Realization happens, and if at that point you write (as many seekers do) to describe a level of freedom that has, in turn, generated what most certainly seems to be a sense of joy or bliss, then this space will nod…yes. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

[The discussion of the concept of “patience” will continue tomorrow]

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION

WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Fourteen

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

RETREATS OR SATSANG w/ floyd ONE-ON-ONE, by TELEPHONE, by INTERNET CHAT ROOM, and via THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)
For details click ADVAITA VEDANTA RETREATS & SATSANG
or contact floyd by clicking CONTACT floyd

Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

THE IMPURITY OF FOLLOWING THE “I AM” WITH ANY WORD, Part A

FROM A SITE VISITOR: People should be told that there should be no rush to Realize. The fact that I am patient ended up being valuable. Edward

ONE WOMAN OVERHEARD IN A STORE: “I’m suffering right now but we’re praying more than ever. All of this seems to have opened us up more to receive God.” The response from the woman she was talking to: “Hang in there. Your suffering now is going to earn you a big reward later on.”

HEARD IN SATSANG: My suffering was all worthwhile ‘cause now I am helpful to others who are suffering.”

FROM A SITE VISITOR: I must be doing something right. I am more peaceful than I’ve ever been in my life.

FROM A MAN ATTENDING A WORKSHOP ON PERSONALITY: I think my personality is an asset…I am an achiever because of it.”

[All of the above will be addressed over the next several days during this part of the series. NOTE: This discussion is level-appropriate for seekers that are far along the “path.”]

F.: At a certain point, Advaitin seekers might be admonished to focus on the “I AM” only. As long as the “mind” is the most influential factor during the relative existence of the non-Realized, then thoughts will drive words and words will drive deeds.

To think, “I am [insert a noun]” or to think, “I am [insert an adjective]” then the "mind" and thoughts and personas behind those thoughts and words will assure that Realization cannot happen.

In the early stages of “the journey,” of course the seeker that says he/she has no peace will hear about peace; seekers feeling trapped will hear about freedom; the seeker trapped in self-criticism for not fixating in the natural state but fluctuating throughout the day instead might be urged to be patient.

But none of that has anything to do with Truth. In the statements above, WHO is reporting on certain relative conditions? WHO (that is, what false persona) is being reinforced, often by the extolling of his/her “virtues”)? WHO is, in effect, making the claims that…

“I am a patient person,” “I am a sufferer,” “I am a helper,” “I am a peaceful person,” or “I am an achiever”? To the seeker that “found Advaita a few days ago” and asks, “Are you peaceful—can I be peaceful too,” the answer at that point can be in the affirmative.

Later, as that same seeker nears the end of “the path,” a level-appropriate question might result in a different understanding by the seeker. At that point, the seeker might be asked, “WHO (that is, which ego-state) is making a claim that she/he is peaceful?"

Can energy be at peace as long as there is any identification with the consciousness or with an assumed role? If seekers hear one extolling “the high level of peacefulness that he/she has attained,” is it not obvious that some ego-state has been assumed and that there is a thought that is generating those words? And mustn’t the thought have something to do with that braggart’s “self-concept”?

If one is touting the level of patience attained, is not some identity instigating that claim? Of course Edward is far from alone in touting self and concepts and thus self-concepts. It happens trillions of times per day on the planet. In the East, many tout as an asset the concept of naixim or Nai Xim to use one Chinese word for “patience.” Yet “assets” and “liabilities” are merely aspects of personality.

Here, there is no one who has any assets; nor is there anyone here who has liabilities. Yes, persons or seekers who come here speak of the peacefulness, of feeling comfortable, of this or that. But in effect, there is no one here to be peaceful or not, comfortable or not, a helper or not, a hope-giver or not. There is just the beingness for now, but abidance is not even happening as the beingness.

“Surely,” it has been asked in satsang sessions, “you are not going to devalue the notion of patience, are you?” The answer is, “Yes.” Look at the effects of making claims about being peaceful or helpful or patient:

Ancient dogma taught in the Mideast asserted that “The lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him” which served as the basis of a proverb, "Good things come to those who wait";

Of course, that concept is part of the programming and dogma disseminated by organized religions that leave billions of persons each day in a “waiting mode,” waiting for their prayers to be answered…and waiting…and waiting…and waiting.

All misery and suffering is associated in one way or another with a fear or a desire, specifically a fear or a desire taken to be real by a persona. Patience does not eliminate either fears or desires. Patience perpetuates wanting and, therefore, perpetuates a sense of longing or disappointment or dread or suffering.

Patience will keep persons from questioning and from seeking other possibilities. Patience will trap them in the ego-states that result after being programmed to wait and being conditioned to “just be patient.”

In the West, patience is given lip service, especially among Christians and members of “self-help” groups…patience being a concept which the personas claiming membership in those groups often endorse but rarely practice. The Truth cannot be stated, so anything given lip service is most assuredly false.

All notions and concepts will be devalued here. Patience is merely one-half of a dualistic pair, namely, patient : impatient. It is not unlike asset : liability. It is not unlike virtuous : debauched. It is not unlike peaceful : anxious. It’s all duality, and it all traps persons in identifying with one or more assumed identities.

If you are claiming certain “positive traits” as a result of your religious or spiritual efforts and practices and disciplines, then the question to ask is “WHO is making such claims?” Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION

WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Thirteen

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

RETREATS OR SATSANG w/ floyd ONE-ON-ONE, by TELEPHONE, by INTERNET CHAT ROOM, and via THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)
For details click ADVAITA VEDANTA RETREATS & SATSANG
or contact floyd by clicking CONTACT floyd

Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

F.: [Continued from yesterday]

THE IMPURITY OF CLINGING TO THE MIND, PART C, The Conclusion

In an example yesterday, the pointer which was offered to one seeker that attended a retreat applies to all: of all of the ideas and concepts and beliefs that form the “mind,” it is impossible to question one belief or concept or idea at a time if You would Realize.

The “Eureka,” peripetia moment must happen, after which it is suddenly understood once and for all that it is all nonsense, all non-truth, all to be discarded. The truth cannot be stated, so to seek a version of truth that can be put into words is futile.

In the 50’s as a child, the two days of the week when milk would be delivered to the front door of the home were anticipated. The homogenized milk came in tall bottles with several inches of heavy cream floating atop the milk.

Sometimes the cream would be poured over blackberries that had been gathered from along the sides of a nearby creek. Other times, the cream would be whipped, sugar would be added, and the whipped cream would be used as a topping on cake or ice cream that was served on rare occasions.

In every case, though, a separator was used to skim the cream and separate it from the milk, though both were to be kept and used. Similarly, the farmers in the family would have to separate the grains they grew from the chaff.

The grain would be kept and used while the chaff might be plowed into the soil to increase nutrients or might be used as fodder for their livestock. Those farmers also separated the hens from the rooster and the products from the hens was kept and used.

They churned their own butter and when drawn butter was occasionally called for, they used a separator to keep what they wanted to keep and to divide it away from the rest. When making a gravy, they also used a separator to split off the fat. Time and again, things were separated and one or both parts were kept and used.

The problem that is encountered by most seekers who begin this “journey” is that they will try to use the same approach at the second of seven steps although they have been invited to purge all of the contents of the “mind”;

instead, they will cling to the belief that "surely the contents of the mind should be separated into two groups and that some parts are to be kept and used while others parts are to be selectively separated and discarded."

They believe that, as in the cases mentioned above, they can use a filter or a separator when it comes to “the mind,” convinced that surely some parts are worthy or worthwhile and should be kept and used.

Unlike the cases dealing with milk and cream, grains and chaff, as well as gravy and fat or butter, there are no parts of the “mind” that should be kept and used after other parts have been separated out and discarded.

If the contents of the “mind” were likened to the items mentioned above, all of the content of your “mind” have soured and must be tossed; all of the content amounts to nothing more than chaff; all of the content is fat instead of gravy. There is nothing to be kept and used.

If the discarding of belief in all concepts has not been accomplished fully, then it explains why many believe that they are farther along the "path" than they truly are. They believe they have Realized or have almost Realized but they are really still at the second of seven steps. Then, they complain about "having it" but then "losing it."

To reject belief in what you know to be a lie is sound and sane and logical and reasonable. But the "Catch-22" is this: if “the mind” remains, it will prevent being sound and sane and logical and reasonable.

It will prevent differentiation between the true and the false because it filters or separates out everything that is heard which is contrary to its contents—to what it believes.

So with that restriction, what possible chance is there to be free of the “mind”? The key lies in this Advaitin pointer which is shared with some other teachings such as the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) as well: the truth cannot be stated. Truth can be known during the manifestation, but it cannot be told.

That means that everything you have ever been told, which includes specifically all of the concepts and ideas and beliefs that currently form your/“their” fiction-filled “mind” must be false. Everything that you have ever been told that was said to be the truth really forms a large body of non-truths.

Some things told can point You toward the truth, but nothing told can be the truth; therefore, if you would be free, You must Realize that. If You discard all of the contents of the “mind,” then You might also Realize THAT. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION

WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL, Part Twelve

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Maybe the drop has dissolved into the ocean, but has the ocean yet rushed into the drop? If so, then the next question must be: after the drop dissolved into the ocean and after the ocean rushed into the drop, did both the ocean and the drop eventually dissolve as well?

F.: [Continued from 22 February 2009. Please read “Part A” first if you have not yet read yesterday’s post]

THE IMPURITY OF CLINGING TO THE MIND, PART B

A man who came recently to a retreat finally understood why he has been stuck for decades at the point of trying to be rid of the “mind” and the ideas and concepts and beliefs stored therein. He had spent most of his adult years researching one piece of dogma or ideology or concept after another.

For example, when he found the truth that disproved one of the church’s teachings, he’d discard belief in that single teaching and then move on to the next to be considered and studied and researched. He employed the same method as he studied the tales told during the decades of his life by politicians and parents and teachers and revisionist historians.

He was shown at the retreat that his method could never lead to Realization and freedom because he could not possibly live long enough to question each teaching individually and disprove one concept or belief at a time.

He was told: “You have found scores and scores of instances where the words of your priest and your culture have been shown to be false; you have found scores of examples where the scriptures in the book he called ‘special and holy and one-of-a-kind’ were shown to have been plagiarized from pagan and mythological works;

“you have seen how the gray-haired, white-bearded Zeus and the multiple gods of creation and the multiple gods of sustenance and the multiple gods of destruction were all morphed into ‘the one god of Abraham’;

"you have seen other instances where your priest’s supposedly unique scriptures were merely lifted from ancient fables which had become tales that were widely-shared as oral traditions for centuries before being purloined and written and eventually printed;

"you have seen thousands of lies told by politicians and parents, and you saw how your so-called self-help program with its dozen steps failed to address your real problems as the persons there encouraged you to employ magical, supernatural thinking to treat issues that actually required the skills of professionals rather than amateurs;

“you have found time and again examples of supposed ‘truths’ that were later seen to have been false or inaccurate or nonsensical. So the question now is, ‘How many more examples are going to be required in order for you to conclude once and for all that those scriptures are all purloined twaddle and that the words heard from leaders in your culture are claptrap and that the teachings from other cultures are drivel'?”

Now, since you asked about being free of the reactions inspired by the content of “your mind,” the next consideration for you is this: “Are you willing to rake through a bag of garbage just before the collectors come, thinking that there might be at least one useful thing in the trash that would be worth keeping, or is it possible that you really do need to toss all of the garbage and be done with it once and for all?

“And if you search through the trash bag and find its contents truly are nothing more than valueless garbage, and if you determine that the proper course of action would be to toss the valueless garbage, then why would you decide not only to keep the fouled garbage bag but also to honor it as well?”

Is it not time to be done with both the "mind" and its content? Many have asked, “But floyd, how can anyone survive nowadays without a mind?” The fact is, everything that is currently surviving right now on the planet is doing so without a mind, all except non-Realized persons. “But isn’t a mind required for “survival” or “success”?

A basic fact about "survival and success" on planet earth is this: if every human were struck down today, life on the planet would prosper as a result of the contributions that mindless insects make to plant sustenance and, as a result, to the continuing cycling of consciousness;

however, if every insect were struck down today, human life would end abruptly. Why? Plant life would end without the contribution made by insects to the growth cycles; the cycling of consciousness among humans would therefore end; and the end of all human existence would follow, not matter how mind-full and knowledgeable those humans might be.

Humans with their "minds" and their accumulated knowledge (a.k.a., learned ignorance) are rendered less effective and less adaptable than bugs. When considering the worth of "the mind," or lack thereof, contrast the value of what bugs provide to events on the planet as opposed to the worthlessness of what is generated from "the minds" of humans.

Both historically and currently the mindless insects have thrived and are thriving; they would continue to thrive even more in the absence of humans with “minds.” As a matter of fact, the planet did quite well without people for billions of years but has not fared so well now that it is experiencing the effects of "mind-driven beings."

[Recall the humility-inspiring pointer mentioned recently when a seeker finally admitted that the roaches that occasionally visit his house are functioning in a far more logical manner than the persons in that home…and those roaches are totally mind-less while the people there are completely mind-full.]

The conundrum for most persons who would be free of the effects of the content of the “mind” is that the ego is seated in the “mind” and it is the ego that values itself without limit; as a result, the ego values its abode (the "mind") as well. To set out to be rid of ego only but not to be rid of every concept and belief will still leave “the mind.”

Thus, to answer your question in that regard, no the “mind” will never tire. The body can be so tired that it cannot rise from a bed, but the "mind" will not tire; instead, it will work and churn and toss and turn without pause. Thus, for as long as you continue to tolerate it, it will always continue to support assumed ego-states or will generate new ego-states to replace any that disappear.

“The Husband” disappears? “The Ex” appears, along with “The Hunter of a Replacement Spouse” or “The New Lover” or “The One Who Wants to Die,” ad infinitum. If you witness how consistently the "mind" malfunctions, and if you witness the malfunctioning and its effects objectively, then you should reach the conclusion that the "mind" is not only useless but is actually a major detriment as well.

To set out to be rid of it, however, will trigger every possible ego-defense mechanism imaginable, and all of the assumed ego-states that are fed by the concepts and beliefs stored in the “mind” will, without fail, continue to be a source of delusion, illusion, distortion, and obstacles that block the consciousness from seeing truth.

No piecemeal efforts will produce the result being sought. To toss the garbage but to keep the putrid bag and to show respect for that which stored the garbage—or to toss the putrid bag but to still accumulate more garbage—will leave you nonetheless in the polluted presence of rubbish that can eventually debilitate you completely.

Your history is that, prior to 2001, you sought far and wide via multiple venues, and in each venue you were taught new garbage. You were never once invited to be rid of your own garbage and their garbage too. Only via these Advaita teachings were you told, "I have nothing for you. There is nothing you need to learn from Me. There is, however, much that must be unlearned."

In all of your years of trying to confront and be rid of ego, do you now see how those venues actually just reinforced the ego and in the end generated belief in even more ego-states? And which venue alone invited you to end belief in the ego and ego-states without telling you that "you must believe what I believe if you would be sane and free"?

Was it not ironic and even contradictory that in at least one of those venues you were told that your main problem “centers in the mind” but it was never suggested that you be rid of the main problem and the place where it is centered? Is it not ironic that they taught you that magical, supernatural thinking would address…your thinking problem? Thinking is not the antidote for thinking.

Why not find the place where the main problem is centered and be rid of it? If the doctors had eliminated only select parts of "floyd's" cancerous growths, the results would have been nil. All of the contents of the "mind" are a cancer on your relative existence. Remove it all. Regards, Peace and Light. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

FOR AN IN-DEPTH TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT:

Click IT’S ALL BULLSHIT

Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY

Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

Click LIBERATION