Today's Considerations
A few weeks ago, a friend asked
if we might meet at a coffee shop for a cup and a visit. Three young men in
line ahead of us were overheard as they discussed a wide array of items currently
in the news, ranging from (1) what they perceived to be “an uptick” in the
killing of unarmed black males by the armed authorities here (though the only “uptick”
involved is an increase in awareness of what has been going on for many decades,
and longer);
to (2) the "uptick" in the levels of turmoil and chaos in the Middle East and North Africa and Central Africa after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq inspired the "Arab Spring Uprisings" in those areas; to (3) the recent "uptick" in instances of people being "radicalized" and inspired to strike targets in the U.S. via the effective use of social media by ISIS (ISIS being the direct by-product of the Bush Administration's decision in May of 2003 to disband the Iraqi army, putting 250,000 very angry men out of work . . . 250,000 angry men who had been well-trained-to-kill . . . 250,000 angry men put out on the streets . . . and 250,000 angry men who were well-armed and ready to use those arms in the way that they had been trained to use them - to kill);
to (4) several items in the local news reporting "a recent rash" of persons shot and killed when two men were arguing over one woman and fighting over who would be the one to be with her. (Again, that scenario is nothing new among humans.)
Then, one of the men asked, “What the hell is going on?” That question opened the door for the elderly woman ahead of the three men in line to turn toward them and then offer the explanation which she had been programmed and conditioned for decades to believe and share. She said most confidently ans assuredly: “People have moved away from God. Time for people to get back to the values that this country was founded on.”
One of the three men replied, “Or at least time for people to become a lot more spiritual,” to which the elderly woman nodded her head in agreement, having taken her religious beliefs and his spiritual beliefs to be close enough to be one and the same.
It was suddenly noticed that the one I had met was about to open the mouth to offer some point about the common element shared by all those events which they were discussing, namely, the role that dualistic thinking has played for thousands of years as it has generated a pervasive sense of separation and different-from-ment and better-than-ment and arrogance and judgmentalism . . . such duality being at the root of all fighting and chaos and conflict and killing and bloodletting and bloodshed throughout the history of humanity for the last several thousand years.
Before sharing that truth, though, the one I had met turned toward me, locked eyes, and saw my head move very slowly from left to right and then from the right back to the left. The mouth closed before any pointers came out, probably as other pointers offered here returned to consciousness:
"This message is for a few, not for the general masses”;
"Go only where invited”;
"Answer if asked; otherwise, remain silence”;
and
"Remember they loved a fellow called "Jesus" as long as he was parroting the company line that was spread inside Jewish temples and synagogues, but he was killed after he left organized religion and began talking non-duality in private homes and on hillsides and eventually in public venues in Jerusalem."
Of course, the discussion over coffee turned to the past and present commonness and popularity of bloodletting and bloodshed and to the rarity nowadays of anyone evidencing what was at one time a common and widespread sense of non-duality and wisdom and abiding naturally and sensibly.
Ironically, (or maybe not so ironic at all) Andy - that is, Andy Gugar, Jr. - contacted me two days later and asked: “Is there anywhere on your site where you have discussed in detail the link between dualistic thinking and all of the bloodshed that has characterized the human experience for thousands of years?” After Andy listened to many seconds of raucous laughter, he heard the reply that “actually, it came a few days ago that that should probably be the subject matter of the next series after the discussion of the Original Nature is completed."
And so it was set.
Bloodletting and bloodshed. A lot of that has gone for a lot of years since (a) some persons began dreaming up dualistic concepts involving conceptualized “Powers” and concepts about ownership of land and people and accumulations and concepts rooted in xenophobia and in its cousin named “narcissism” and since (b) their followers began believing unquestioningly all of their dreamed up concepts.
For 7000 years, the bloodletting has involved animal and human sacrifice, including (A) the willingness of parents to sacrifice their virginal daughters in rituals intended to please “other-worldly Powers” who were supposedly controlling all events in “this world” and including later on (B) the willingness of fathers to sacrifice their sons (and even the dreamed up willingness of “The Father in that other world” to sacrifice “his son in this world” – a dualistic belief about “this world vs. that world” which has been codified for 7000 years and which has subsequently generated more dualistic beliefs than any other single concept).
Such bloodletting and bloodshed is not only a part of the last 7000 years of humankind’s history but is also a still-pervasive part of humankind's present experiences all around the globe, rooted in dualistic thinking and dualistic believing and dualistic talking and duality-driven behavior.
Those three men in the line at a coffee shop went on to share with each other - and many all around them - their many theories about the cause of all of the events which they had disparaged about, but Maharaj made clear that “the cause of all is all.”
That having been said, the sages for ages (including Maharaj) have in their discussions focused on the effects of duality, on the consequences of the Ultimate Sickness, and on the effects of the “ignorance and insanity” which now accompany that illness on a universal basis among humans and which continue to generate the same kind of bloodletting and bloodshed which humans have been preoccupied with - and which they have willingly and energetically and fanatically engaged in - for thousands of years.
to (2) the "uptick" in the levels of turmoil and chaos in the Middle East and North Africa and Central Africa after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq inspired the "Arab Spring Uprisings" in those areas; to (3) the recent "uptick" in instances of people being "radicalized" and inspired to strike targets in the U.S. via the effective use of social media by ISIS (ISIS being the direct by-product of the Bush Administration's decision in May of 2003 to disband the Iraqi army, putting 250,000 very angry men out of work . . . 250,000 angry men who had been well-trained-to-kill . . . 250,000 angry men put out on the streets . . . and 250,000 angry men who were well-armed and ready to use those arms in the way that they had been trained to use them - to kill);
to (4) several items in the local news reporting "a recent rash" of persons shot and killed when two men were arguing over one woman and fighting over who would be the one to be with her. (Again, that scenario is nothing new among humans.)
Then, one of the men asked, “What the hell is going on?” That question opened the door for the elderly woman ahead of the three men in line to turn toward them and then offer the explanation which she had been programmed and conditioned for decades to believe and share. She said most confidently ans assuredly: “People have moved away from God. Time for people to get back to the values that this country was founded on.”
One of the three men replied, “Or at least time for people to become a lot more spiritual,” to which the elderly woman nodded her head in agreement, having taken her religious beliefs and his spiritual beliefs to be close enough to be one and the same.
It was suddenly noticed that the one I had met was about to open the mouth to offer some point about the common element shared by all those events which they were discussing, namely, the role that dualistic thinking has played for thousands of years as it has generated a pervasive sense of separation and different-from-ment and better-than-ment and arrogance and judgmentalism . . . such duality being at the root of all fighting and chaos and conflict and killing and bloodletting and bloodshed throughout the history of humanity for the last several thousand years.
Before sharing that truth, though, the one I had met turned toward me, locked eyes, and saw my head move very slowly from left to right and then from the right back to the left. The mouth closed before any pointers came out, probably as other pointers offered here returned to consciousness:
"This message is for a few, not for the general masses”;
"Go only where invited”;
"Answer if asked; otherwise, remain silence”;
and
"Remember they loved a fellow called "Jesus" as long as he was parroting the company line that was spread inside Jewish temples and synagogues, but he was killed after he left organized religion and began talking non-duality in private homes and on hillsides and eventually in public venues in Jerusalem."
Of course, the discussion over coffee turned to the past and present commonness and popularity of bloodletting and bloodshed and to the rarity nowadays of anyone evidencing what was at one time a common and widespread sense of non-duality and wisdom and abiding naturally and sensibly.
Ironically, (or maybe not so ironic at all) Andy - that is, Andy Gugar, Jr. - contacted me two days later and asked: “Is there anywhere on your site where you have discussed in detail the link between dualistic thinking and all of the bloodshed that has characterized the human experience for thousands of years?” After Andy listened to many seconds of raucous laughter, he heard the reply that “actually, it came a few days ago that that should probably be the subject matter of the next series after the discussion of the Original Nature is completed."
And so it was set.
Bloodletting and bloodshed. A lot of that has gone for a lot of years since (a) some persons began dreaming up dualistic concepts involving conceptualized “Powers” and concepts about ownership of land and people and accumulations and concepts rooted in xenophobia and in its cousin named “narcissism” and since (b) their followers began believing unquestioningly all of their dreamed up concepts.
For 7000 years, the bloodletting has involved animal and human sacrifice, including (A) the willingness of parents to sacrifice their virginal daughters in rituals intended to please “other-worldly Powers” who were supposedly controlling all events in “this world” and including later on (B) the willingness of fathers to sacrifice their sons (and even the dreamed up willingness of “The Father in that other world” to sacrifice “his son in this world” – a dualistic belief about “this world vs. that world” which has been codified for 7000 years and which has subsequently generated more dualistic beliefs than any other single concept).
Such bloodletting and bloodshed is not only a part of the last 7000 years of humankind’s history but is also a still-pervasive part of humankind's present experiences all around the globe, rooted in dualistic thinking and dualistic believing and dualistic talking and duality-driven behavior.
Those three men in the line at a coffee shop went on to share with each other - and many all around them - their many theories about the cause of all of the events which they had disparaged about, but Maharaj made clear that “the cause of all is all.”
That having been said, the sages for ages (including Maharaj) have in their discussions focused on the effects of duality, on the consequences of the Ultimate Sickness, and on the effects of the “ignorance and insanity” which now accompany that illness on a universal basis among humans and which continue to generate the same kind of bloodletting and bloodshed which humans have been preoccupied with - and which they have willingly and energetically and fanatically engaged in - for thousands of years.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
