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.
As for Maharaj, you will find here some of his early pointers for beginners but some of his later pointers that are for seekers farther along the "path." During his last years, he said of I AM THAT: "That book and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today" and am "emphasizing different aspects." What he offered later differed considerably from his earlier talks, making clear that the pointers in I AM THAT will take you to the midpoint of "the race" but that his final talks point the way to "the finish line."
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From "GIVE PEACE A CHANCE"
(John Lennon / Yoko Ono)
"This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m."
(John Lennon / Yoko Ono)
"This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m."
FROM A SITE VISITOR (Received 18 January 2012) Today's post, the part when John and Yoko wrote about is-ms, really triggered something. Do any of your books discuss is-ms? If so, which ones?
F.: To review:
1. There are those who are truly seeking peace.
2. There are those who are not seeking peace because they are attached to control and are addicted to the excitement of chaos in an effort to relieve a dull existence of its tedium and boredom and depression and monotony.
3. In an effort to escape monotony, both chaos and dualism seem appealing.
4. For those truly seeking peace, it cannot happen unless one is freed from belief in and attachment to any "-ism."
5. Nor can peace happen unless one is freed from belief in any false identity or role or personality or personas because they are the prerequisite for misery and the driving force behind all suffering.
5. The peace / "-ism" dilemma is this: attachment to "-ism's" reinforces attachment to "-ism"-related personas, and "-ism"-related personas reinforce attachment to "-ism's."
Example #1:
"We are a helping, civilizing people when we invade nations with their backwards populations and share our advanced culture with them," which actually means "we have a history of imposing our high cultural standards upon lesser people to our economic advantage." To assume the role of "The Helping, Civilizing People" reinforces attachment to colonialism; colonialism reinforces the false belief that the invaders are "helping" and "civil." That is not unlike the parent who says, "I am disciplining you by whipping you because I love you" while the child is thinking, "Then just stop loving me, you ignorant ass. Your version of 'love' is killing me."
Example #2:
"We (Jews / Christians / Muslims) are the only ones whose beliefs are right" reinforces belief in and attachment to Judaism / Protestantism or Catholicism / Islamism. Attachment to Judaism / Protestantism or Catholicism / Islamism, in turn, reinforces the false belief that "I am a Jew" or "I am a Christian" or "I am a Muslim." Such beliefs, in turn, support duality and a sense of "separation from" and "better-than-ment" and "different-from-ness," and those concepts and false identities and drivers of attachment to "-ism's," in turn, have resulted in more murdering than any other single factor in human history.
6. Attachment to "-ism's" will always nurture duality; distortion; illusion; delusion; learned ignorance; varying degrees of psychic unhealthiness as a result of personality disorders; a variety of neuroses; an assortment of psychoses and full-blown insanity; and the resulting inability to be in touch with reality or Reality either one.
7. So, personality and "-ism's" work hand-in-hand to support each other and to nurture attachments and personality-assumption.
8. Personality-assumption robs persons of the ability to choose thoughts and words and deeds and leaves persons at the mercy of the hidden agendas of personality (which is the root of all usually-unfounded-fears and all unmet-and-thus-frustrating desires).
9. Fears and desires generate misery and suffering and rob persons of any chance of finding peace.
10. To understand personality and which personalities are generating the personality-trance which traps persons in an endless cycle of misery-producing thoughts ("mind"-chatter) and which determines subconsciously all words and actions, the Enneagram provides a tool that can uncover the subconscious drivers of thoughts and words and deeds and can reveal - on an exact scale - the degree to which each assumed personality is driving a person.
Thus, the tool that can assist seekers with seeing which personalities are driving them - and to what degree and with what consequences - was introduced yesterday.
It was noted that Ichazo used Enneagram analysis to show seekers exactly how "the ego begins to develop, [how] there is a transition from objectivity to subjectivity, and [how humans] fall from essence into personality."
Ichazo saw the Enneagram as a tool that can be used to examine specifics about the structure of essence and particularly about the ways in which the qualities of essence "become distorted, or contracted into states of ego."
In developing his Enneagram theories, he drew upon the teachings regarding "the nine divine forms"; the teachings of Plato; the teachings of Plotinus; and teachings by early mystics who focused their studies on "the loss of the divine forms in ego consciousness" (those forms including tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment).
Therein lies the core Advaita message: when trapped in "an ego-state / personality consciousness" as opposed to being free as a result of awareness of the essence and the True Self, then tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment will never manifest during the AM-ness.
The opposites of the "divine forms," in the course of their travels from Greece to Egypt over the course of a century, became distorted and reduced by religion to "seven deadly sins" which pointed at the means by which "the divine forms" became distorted into the so-called "sins" of anger, pride, envy, avarice, gluttony, lust, and sloth.
Ichazo's non-dual message that was delivered with a focus on personality and "personality-driven defects" also drew from the teachings of the Kabbala, but his key contribution as far as Advaitins are concerned was in discovering how these "divine forms" and their corresponding distortions connected with the already-existing Enneagram symbol and with human thinking, feeling, and instinct.
With that understanding, he showed how a person loses both awareness and the sense of pure presence, falling away from essence into the trance of the personality; how the loss of awareness becomes a person's ego-fixation; how the loss of contact with essence and Self eliminates tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment;
and how the loss of contact with the essence and the Self sets the stage for persons to be driven by their "characteristic passion" (or "passions" or "personality traits"), including wrath and resentment and anger; pride; deceit; melancholia and jealousy and envy; greed and avarice; panic and cowardice; conceit and gluttony; lust; and indifference or laziness.
The link with the Advaita message is this: when one loses contact with the essence and with Self and falls into a personality trance, then the combined effects of
(1) that loss of contact with the essence and the Self
and
(2) the subsequent identification with body and mind and personality
become so acute that the person's ego-states become preoccupied with recreating the contact.
It is - at least in some cases - that "acute" search for contact with one's Original (Pure) Nature that drives persons to assume the role of "The Seeker."
That would be fine except for the fact that - without a Realized teacher as a guide or without being in touch with the inner guru - then the search unfolds in a totally futile and self-defeating way.
The masses are engaged in that blind search for their essence and for an awareness of the True Self, but blocked from seeing clearly by the sources of ambiguity and duality (rooted in programming, domestication, conditioning, acculturation, and their personality trance), they know not what they seek;
in most cases, their seeking ends at the third of seven steps on the seven-step "journey" from identification with the false "I" to abidance as the Absolute (the third step being where they assume the false identity of "The Religious One" or "The Spiritual One" or "The Realized One" and where their search becomes focus of seeking control and power);
furthermore, the odds are slim that they will ever cross paths with a Fully Realized teacher that can reveal to them exactly what "that / That" is which they are "missing" and thus seeking; therefore, they will usually seek blindly or will be misled by their "leaders" or "big name teachers" - all of whom are equally blind.
So it is, but so it need not be for those that have come this way and that accept what the Enneagram and the Advaitin teachings combined can reveal.
1. There are those who are truly seeking peace.
2. There are those who are not seeking peace because they are attached to control and are addicted to the excitement of chaos in an effort to relieve a dull existence of its tedium and boredom and depression and monotony.
3. In an effort to escape monotony, both chaos and dualism seem appealing.
4. For those truly seeking peace, it cannot happen unless one is freed from belief in and attachment to any "-ism."
5. Nor can peace happen unless one is freed from belief in any false identity or role or personality or personas because they are the prerequisite for misery and the driving force behind all suffering.
5. The peace / "-ism" dilemma is this: attachment to "-ism's" reinforces attachment to "-ism"-related personas, and "-ism"-related personas reinforce attachment to "-ism's."
Example #1:
"We are a helping, civilizing people when we invade nations with their backwards populations and share our advanced culture with them," which actually means "we have a history of imposing our high cultural standards upon lesser people to our economic advantage." To assume the role of "The Helping, Civilizing People" reinforces attachment to colonialism; colonialism reinforces the false belief that the invaders are "helping" and "civil." That is not unlike the parent who says, "I am disciplining you by whipping you because I love you" while the child is thinking, "Then just stop loving me, you ignorant ass. Your version of 'love' is killing me."
Example #2:
"We (Jews / Christians / Muslims) are the only ones whose beliefs are right" reinforces belief in and attachment to Judaism / Protestantism or Catholicism / Islamism. Attachment to Judaism / Protestantism or Catholicism / Islamism, in turn, reinforces the false belief that "I am a Jew" or "I am a Christian" or "I am a Muslim." Such beliefs, in turn, support duality and a sense of "separation from" and "better-than-ment" and "different-from-ness," and those concepts and false identities and drivers of attachment to "-ism's," in turn, have resulted in more murdering than any other single factor in human history.
6. Attachment to "-ism's" will always nurture duality; distortion; illusion; delusion; learned ignorance; varying degrees of psychic unhealthiness as a result of personality disorders; a variety of neuroses; an assortment of psychoses and full-blown insanity; and the resulting inability to be in touch with reality or Reality either one.
7. So, personality and "-ism's" work hand-in-hand to support each other and to nurture attachments and personality-assumption.
8. Personality-assumption robs persons of the ability to choose thoughts and words and deeds and leaves persons at the mercy of the hidden agendas of personality (which is the root of all usually-unfounded-fears and all unmet-and-thus-frustrating desires).
9. Fears and desires generate misery and suffering and rob persons of any chance of finding peace.
10. To understand personality and which personalities are generating the personality-trance which traps persons in an endless cycle of misery-producing thoughts ("mind"-chatter) and which determines subconsciously all words and actions, the Enneagram provides a tool that can uncover the subconscious drivers of thoughts and words and deeds and can reveal - on an exact scale - the degree to which each assumed personality is driving a person.
Thus, the tool that can assist seekers with seeing which personalities are driving them - and to what degree and with what consequences - was introduced yesterday.
It was noted that Ichazo used Enneagram analysis to show seekers exactly how "the ego begins to develop, [how] there is a transition from objectivity to subjectivity, and [how humans] fall from essence into personality."
Ichazo saw the Enneagram as a tool that can be used to examine specifics about the structure of essence and particularly about the ways in which the qualities of essence "become distorted, or contracted into states of ego."
In developing his Enneagram theories, he drew upon the teachings regarding "the nine divine forms"; the teachings of Plato; the teachings of Plotinus; and teachings by early mystics who focused their studies on "the loss of the divine forms in ego consciousness" (those forms including tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment).
Therein lies the core Advaita message: when trapped in "an ego-state / personality consciousness" as opposed to being free as a result of awareness of the essence and the True Self, then tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment will never manifest during the AM-ness.
The opposites of the "divine forms," in the course of their travels from Greece to Egypt over the course of a century, became distorted and reduced by religion to "seven deadly sins" which pointed at the means by which "the divine forms" became distorted into the so-called "sins" of anger, pride, envy, avarice, gluttony, lust, and sloth.
Ichazo's non-dual message that was delivered with a focus on personality and "personality-driven defects" also drew from the teachings of the Kabbala, but his key contribution as far as Advaitins are concerned was in discovering how these "divine forms" and their corresponding distortions connected with the already-existing Enneagram symbol and with human thinking, feeling, and instinct.
With that understanding, he showed how a person loses both awareness and the sense of pure presence, falling away from essence into the trance of the personality; how the loss of awareness becomes a person's ego-fixation; how the loss of contact with essence and Self eliminates tolerance, humility, sincerity, gratitude, non-attachment, courage, patience, temperance, and discernment;
and how the loss of contact with the essence and the Self sets the stage for persons to be driven by their "characteristic passion" (or "passions" or "personality traits"), including wrath and resentment and anger; pride; deceit; melancholia and jealousy and envy; greed and avarice; panic and cowardice; conceit and gluttony; lust; and indifference or laziness.
The link with the Advaita message is this: when one loses contact with the essence and with Self and falls into a personality trance, then the combined effects of
(1) that loss of contact with the essence and the Self
and
(2) the subsequent identification with body and mind and personality
become so acute that the person's ego-states become preoccupied with recreating the contact.
It is - at least in some cases - that "acute" search for contact with one's Original (Pure) Nature that drives persons to assume the role of "The Seeker."
That would be fine except for the fact that - without a Realized teacher as a guide or without being in touch with the inner guru - then the search unfolds in a totally futile and self-defeating way.
The masses are engaged in that blind search for their essence and for an awareness of the True Self, but blocked from seeing clearly by the sources of ambiguity and duality (rooted in programming, domestication, conditioning, acculturation, and their personality trance), they know not what they seek;
in most cases, their seeking ends at the third of seven steps on the seven-step "journey" from identification with the false "I" to abidance as the Absolute (the third step being where they assume the false identity of "The Religious One" or "The Spiritual One" or "The Realized One" and where their search becomes focus of seeking control and power);
furthermore, the odds are slim that they will ever cross paths with a Fully Realized teacher that can reveal to them exactly what "that / That" is which they are "missing" and thus seeking; therefore, they will usually seek blindly or will be misled by their "leaders" or "big name teachers" - all of whom are equally blind.
So it is, but so it need not be for those that have come this way and that accept what the Enneagram and the Advaitin teachings combined can reveal.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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For those seeking the full explanation of the topics addressed on this site: there are non-duality books offered below as well as retreats and Skype or telephone sessions available at Floyd Henderson's Website
The full explanations are also available in the books in the author's collection that explain in detail all of the non-duality, nisarga teachings offered here:
1. Most non-duality books below are available through Amazon.com.
2. Read Kindle books on your own device by downloading a free app.
The full explanations are also available in the books in the author's collection that explain in detail all of the non-duality, nisarga teachings offered here:
1. Most non-duality books below are available through Amazon.com.
2. Read Kindle books on your own device by downloading a free app.
The available books are arranged on the carousels below. Use the arrows to move each book to the forefront; then, you may click on any book that you might be interested in to find more information or to purchase.
THE ADVANCED SEEKERS' SERIES
From the I to the Absolute
Consciousness / Awareness
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
The Final Understanding
The Advanced Seekers' Series in paperback
The Two Meditation Guides
From the I to the Absolute
Consciousness / Awareness
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
The Final Understanding
The Advanced Seekers' Series in paperback
The Two Meditation Guides
The BLISSFUL ABIDANCE SERIES, PART ONE
What BLISS Is and What BLISS Is Not
Why You Must Be Empty If You Would Be Full
When Reality Is Overlaid Upon the Relative
Freedom from Shifting Between States of Happiness and Unhappiness
Liberation
The Blissful Abidance Series (6 books) in paperback
What BLISS Is and What BLISS Is Not
Why You Must Be Empty If You Would Be Full
When Reality Is Overlaid Upon the Relative
Freedom from Shifting Between States of Happiness and Unhappiness
Liberation
The Blissful Abidance Series (6 books) in paperback
The ADVAITINS Collection
with THE SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ SERIES, including:
(1) Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the ADVAITA TEACHING?
(2) Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution
(3) A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
(4) Going Crazy / Going Sane
(5) The Final Fifteen Topics Discussed by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
and
(6) The Non-Duality Pointers Offered by YESHU'A ("Jesus the Christ")
(7) William Shakespeare the Advaitin
with THE SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ SERIES, including:
(1) Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the ADVAITA TEACHING?
(2) Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution
(3) A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
(4) Going Crazy / Going Sane
(5) The Final Fifteen Topics Discussed by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
and
(6) The Non-Duality Pointers Offered by YESHU'A ("Jesus the Christ")
(7) William Shakespeare the Advaitin
(8) The "Final" Talks of Floyd Henderson
(9) QUOTATIONS AND POINTERS dealing with NON-DUALITY, ADVAITA, NISARGA YOGA and more)
The BLISSFUL ABIDANCE SERIES, PART TWO
Overcoming the Fear of Being Totally Independent
I AM THAT (vs. "This Is Who I Think I Am")
The Essence of the Teachings
There Is Nothing That Is Personal (Including You and Including God)
Lessons in Non-Duality from Travels in South Africa
The Path to Freedom vs. the Path to Misery
Overcoming the Fear of Being Totally Independent
I AM THAT (vs. "This Is Who I Think I Am")
The Essence of the Teachings
There Is Nothing That Is Personal (Including You and Including God)
Lessons in Non-Duality from Travels in South Africa
The Path to Freedom vs. the Path to Misery
The FREEDOM FROM THE MIND Series
Instability / Insanity: What the Advaita Teachings Can (and Cannot) Address
PROGRAMMING, CONDITIONING, DOMESTICATION, AND ACCULTURATION
The Ultimate Sickness, The Ultimate Medicine
Going Crazy / Going Sane
There's No Such Thing As "Peace of Mind" (There Is Only Peace If You're Out of Your Mind)
Dancing Lightly
Instability / Insanity: What the Advaita Teachings Can (and Cannot) Address
PROGRAMMING, CONDITIONING, DOMESTICATION, AND ACCULTURATION
The Ultimate Sickness, The Ultimate Medicine
Going Crazy / Going Sane
There's No Such Thing As "Peace of Mind" (There Is Only Peace If You're Out of Your Mind)
Dancing Lightly
RECOVERY LITERATURE, the RELATIONSHIP books
A Twelve-Step Journey to SELF-Realization [Kindle]
A Twelve-Step Journey to SELF-Realization [Paperback]
A Guide for Working the Twelve Steps (In the Manner Used by the Founders)
The Twelve Steps and Advaita / Non-Duality: A 21-Day Plan for a Psychic Change
Finding Real Love in An Unreal World
Casting Light on the Dark Side of Relationships
A Twelve-Step Journey to SELF-Realization [Kindle]
A Twelve-Step Journey to SELF-Realization [Paperback]
A Guide for Working the Twelve Steps (In the Manner Used by the Founders)
The Twelve Steps and Advaita / Non-Duality: A 21-Day Plan for a Psychic Change
Finding Real Love in An Unreal World
Casting Light on the Dark Side of Relationships
The NO DEATH books, NON-DUALITY IN FICTION, FINANCIAL SANITY
The Myth of Death
What Happens When I Die?
The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders (Non-Duality) [Kindle]
The Board of Directors of Wars (Non-Duality) [Kindle]
The Board of Directors of Wars (Non-Duality) [Paperback]
Living Within Your Means
How Your Personality Type Shapes Your Spending Habits
The Myth of Death
What Happens When I Die?
The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders (Non-Duality) [Kindle]
The Board of Directors of Wars (Non-Duality) [Kindle]
The Board of Directors of Wars (Non-Duality) [Paperback]
Living Within Your Means
How Your Personality Type Shapes Your Spending Habits
NON-DUALITY BOOKS, EACH CONTAINING A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING ONE OF THE SEVEN STEPS ON THE PATH TO REALIZATION
FOR THOSE WHO PREFER PAPERBACK, THE FOLLOWING PAPERBACK BOOKS ARE ON SALE NOW
(Click the pictures for information on the paperback versions)
(Click the pictures for information on the paperback versions)
(FOUR BOOKS IN ONE)
(SIX BOOKS IN ONE)
FOR THOSE SEEKING FURTHER EXPLANATION
An online Advaita Internet Course is offered here. The price of the course includes the four Advaita eBooks used as the texts; questions sent after completion of the assigned readings; replies to your answers; and follow-up as required.
The price of the course includes the four Advaita eBooks used as the texts; questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.
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. To get started now now, click the pay button below and receive the $365 course for a discounted price of $325.00.
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd
by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:
Or, if you prefer, begin by arranging a one-hour Advaita session via Skype with Floyd:
Next, you can now 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).
The price of the course includes the four Advaita eBooks used as the texts; questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.
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. To get started now now, click the pay button below and receive the $365 course for a discounted price of $325.00.
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd
by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:
Or, if you prefer, begin by arranging a one-hour Advaita session via Skype with Floyd:
Next, you can now 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, Seven-Hour Video (DVD) Set of an advaita retreat, or the downloadable file version. To find out more or to purchase the DVD or downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
International buyers: note the separate option for those outside the continental U.S.
2. BY READING the explanations offered in the collection of non-duality books that are available on this site.
3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
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. Use the Contact link for information or use the link below to pay for your first Advaita session.
You may click the BUY NOW button below to begin arrangements for your first Advaita session with Floyd via Skype and he will contact you to schedule:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:
1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk, Seven-Hour Video (DVD) Set of an advaita retreat, or the downloadable file version. To find out more or to purchase the DVD or downloadable computer file version of the retreat, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
International buyers: note the separate option for those outside the continental U.S.
2. BY READING the explanations offered in the collection of non-duality books that are available on this site.
3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
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. Use the Contact link for information or use the link below to pay for your first Advaita session.
You may click the BUY NOW button below to begin arrangements for your first Advaita session with Floyd via Skype and he will contact you to schedule:
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