THE OSTRICH EGG: AN ADVAITIN ANALOGY. PART 2

An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Nothingness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

Furthermore, for those who have developed a preference for any non-nisargan yoga or who prefer Traditional Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita: here you will only find the use of the Direct Path Method of teaching along with the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga, all shared in simple, everyday English.

(Please note: The Annual Fall / Winter Season Book Sale is now under way. Most Non-Duality eBooks at floydhenderson.com are on sale at 30-50% off regular price.)

Yesterday you were invited to participate in a perception exercise involving an ostrich egg, and the human body. To recap:

The invitation was to view an object against its backdrop – and to perceive the scene from the vantage point of pure understanding.

The invitation was to stabilize the view on the “emptiness” in which the object appears, and to “run” a type of time-lapse film perceiving how elements combine to create the object, how the object appears to exist temporarily, and then how the elements un-combine and the object “disappears”.

The invitation was to perceive this sense of the temporary appearance of objects in empty awareness with two different objects: an ostrich egg and a human body.

The invitation was to see that all objects are essentially empty. Beautiful or ugly, finely-crafted or mass-produced, natural or artificial, animate or inanimate – these are all descriptors of objects that are fleeting, temporary, subject to change and decay.

The invitation was to see that flowing from these reflections; it is natural and logical to ask the questions: What then is permanent? What is unchanging? What is beyond all appearances?

Your ability to participate in this perception exercise will be affected by the filters of perception described below. In a sense, you can use the exercise to “see” where you are currently located.

Body Identification: When convinced without a doubt that you are the body, it will be impossible to perceive with a vantage point that is anything other than human. The eyes you see out of will be two human eyes. There will probably be fears around death of the body. There will be fascinations with the state of the body’s physical appearance.

Mind Identification: When identified with the mind and its false concepts, it will be impossible to perceive with a vantage point that is anything other than intellectual. The view you see will be filtered through conceptual learning. There will probably be an emphasis on the greatness of the human mind and an emphasis on right ideas rather than wrong ideas. There will be a preoccupation with acquiring more knowledge and learning more concepts. Note: Many spiritual seekers are trapped at this intellectual stage, and become the spiritual scholars or pundits with no direct understanding of the concepts they expound.

Personality Identification: When identified with the personality and the false personas, it will be impossible to perceive with a vantage point that is anything other than personal or persona-driven. The view you see will be filtered through the eyes of a fictional persona and its myriad of desires and fears. There will be a pre-occupation with keeping the persona-of-the-moment intact and its desires fed and its fears assuaged. Note: With seekers, the personas are often traded up for more spiritual and refined ones. The language of the seeker will become peppered with I-statements, for example:

I do not want to give up my ability to look at a beautiful sunset and weep.
I'll take the bad in order to have the good.
To be able to relish the beauty, I will tolerate whatever ugliness comes along.

Witnessing: When viewing from the witnessing stage, it will be impossible to perceive with a vantage point of identification. The identification with the body-mind-personality construct is over. The view is clear, impersonal. The eyes are not human eyes, but the eyes of pure understanding. Note: In the book From the I to the Absolute, “floyd” describes the two stages of witnessing: subject-object witnessing and pure witnessing.

The perennial question in Advaita Vedanta is: Who Perceives. Notice that in order to perceive a filter of perception, you yourself must be beyond. In this way, the modes of perception are indicators of movement along the “path”. In reality, there is no movement. There is only perceiving clouded by filters of false understanding. The removal of each false filter allows the already pristine view to shine unobstructed.

The elimination of a particular filter of perception may imply “loss” for the identified seeker.

The body-identified seeker may be reluctant to let go of the beautiful or comfortable physical form, the sensual experiences, the physical addictions, for example to sex, drugs, alcohol, food, exercising, etc.

The mind-identified seeker may be reluctant to let go of the grand theories and ideas, the addiction to acquisition of concepts, the endless pursuit of learning.

The personality-identified seeker may be reluctant to let go of personas with their “beautiful” desires and their “shameful” fears, or perhaps the lifestyles and enjoyments bound up with them. However, the “loss” is entirely fictional. The “treasures” are hollow trinkets.

Stabilize as Yourself – be the treasure you seek.

To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

Comments or clarifications may be sent to: louise.advaita@gmail.com

The guidance on removing the layers of conditioning that obscure the True Reality are available in From the I to the Absolute, the Advaita Retreat DVD series, or face-to-face and online Retreat options.

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Much of what Louise has shared has resonated with many site visitors. to that end, some have inquired recently if Louise offers the online Advaita Internet Course. The answer is, "Yes."
Whether taking the course with Louise or Floyd, the price of the course includes all 11 of the Advaita eBooks, questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.
With either teacher, you will be guided through all seven of the steps, in order, that lead from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond). For more specific information and details about the course, you may click on the link to the right.
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Louise

by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:

Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd

by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:

Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond
Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.
To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.
For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.
[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.

NOTE: When you order this package, you receive three additional ebooks free: CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS, FINDING REAL LOVE IN AN UNREAL WORLD and THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS (offering the Advaita teachings in a fictional novel format)

You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.

3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes

Received 19 August 2010 from one that just completed the entire course:

I would like to extend deepest appreciation towards you for these teachings that you have offered. It has been most valuable towards what may not have been revealed throughout this manifestation labeled "anthony." Understanding Truth and finding words for gratitude are one as is all. Thank you again for pointing "me" to THAT and the understanding that came as well. Hopeful for future "contact"! Sincerely, Anthony M. W.

For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally.
Presently, Skype sessions are being conducted with parties in Australia; The Netherlands; New Jersey, U.S.A.; London, England; Italy; and India.
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session
6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.

The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders offers the non-duality message by way of a mystery-adventure novel, discussing the movement from pain to healing to awakening to peace.
From Dr. R.F. Maley, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Houston: "Floyd Henderson's book, The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, is a fun read and an interesting mystery, but perhaps more importantly it serves as a vehicle for blending Eastern Philosophy and Native American Spirituality to make an intellectually challenging novel. The book's insights into both relationships and authoritarian conditioning of people in our society make it a must read, tracing the roots of narcissistic, sociopathic and psychopathic behaviors to the very core of the culture. This truly witty and politically-incorrect study of the aggressive nature of 'the American character' offers not only a diagnosis but also a treatment plan, making the book an excellent supplemental reading in courses such as psychology, anthropology, philosophy, sociology and counseling."

You may purchase your copy of the ebook version of THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS then start reading within minutes:

The Sequel to The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders:
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS

For a paperback or eBook version of the book, click:

The Board of Directors of Wars

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YOUTUBE ADVAITA VEDANTA YOGA VIDEOS

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Please enter the silence of contemplation.