Today's Considerations
In the process of developing a commercially-viable light
bulb, Thomas Edison actually went through over ten thousand prototypes before “getting
it right.” Later he said, “I did not fail 10,000 times. I succeeded in
proving that there are 10,000 ways that will not work. When I eliminated the ways
that did not work, I found the way that worked.”
In the process of developing a viable method or approach for
treating the Ultimate Sickness, Maharaj actually considered dozens of versions
of the Ultimate Medicine before “getting it right.” He tried . . .
visiting and talking with many persons, and in the process, he was bombarded with talks about “nine
forms of bhakti”; about "two types, three stages, and nine facets of bhakti"; about “the nine modes of bhakti,” including Archana,
Atma-Nivedana, Dasya, Kirtana, Padasevana, Sakhya, Smarana, Sravana, Vandana;
about “four ways for practicing bhakti,” including to the
Supreme Self (Atma-Bhakti); to God or the Cosmic Lord as a formless being
(Ishvara-Bhakti); to God in the form of various Gods or Goddesses (Ishta
Devata-Bhakti); and to God in the form of the Guru (Guru-Bhakti);
about “the nine processes of bhakti,” including, the chanting
process; the complete surrender process; the deity worship process; the
executing orders process; the hearing process; the praying process; the
remembering process; the serving as a friend process; and the serving the lotus
feet of the Lord process;
then he tried working with a guru, followed by years of consideration;
next, he isolated from his family and gave forest dwelling a shot;
later, he returned home and tried discussing the Realization process
/ processes with hundreds of visitors who came to his shop;
he later tried to come up with a Hinduism / non-duality compound version of the
Ultimate Medicine in which he encouraged singing and chanting and dancing about, and during those many sessions a day, he also conducted meditation sessions in which he tried to lead persons (if only
temporarily) into the samadhi state.
From among all of the many, many types of bhakti with which he was inundated, he specifically
tried
guru-bhakti;
god bhakti and a religious / non-duality compound version of
the Ultimate Medicine;
setting aside the religious / non-duality compound version
of the Ultimate Medicine;
trying atma-bhakti;
blending jnana yoga with non-duality;
blending a spirituality / non-duality compound version of
the Ultimate Medicine;
setting aside the spirituality / non-duality compound
version of the Ultimate Medicine;
blending nisarga yoga with a non-duality compound version of
the Ultimate Medicine; and ultimately,
blending a nisarga yoga / non-duality / psychological compound
version of the Ultimate Medicine.
An ancient and key pointer from the non-dual teachings
had been circulated for thousands of years before Christ began sharing the
non-dual message. It was this: “A dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.”
When one sees what Maharaj and thousands like him were being
exposed to (including dogma; spiritual precepts and principles; guidelines; rules; instructions;
religious and spiritual laws; forms, ways, processes; practices, etc.) how could
anyone possibly - at least for a considerable period - not end up being dual-minded
and triple-minded and quadruple-minded and multi-minded and, therefore,
unstable in all ways, and in all the ways they tried to learn and teach?
Of course he tried his hand at formulating and dispensing many different versions of the Ultimate Medicine over the years,
yet the perfectionistic, judgmental, obsessive-compulsive types who are critiquing him would also likely be the
types to congratulate Edison for not giving up and trying 10,000 different ways
to achieve what he sought to achieve. But they slam Maharaj for not giving up
and for trying dozens of different ways and methods and approaches in his effort to
find an effective version of the Ultimate Medicine.
Maharaj, similar to Edison, could just as accurately have said,
“I did not fail dozens of times. I succeeded in proving that dozens
of versions of the Ultimate Medicine do not work. When I eliminated the
ways that did not work, I found a way that can work for some seekers.”
Once he looked to the body-mind-personality triad, he came
to realize that the Ultimate Sickness is not rooted in the body per se (though
body-identification-only can be a contributing factor to the core issue); he also came
to realize that the Ultimate Sickness is
not rooted in minds having been filled with too little dogma (persons having
been exposed to dogma more than any other single thing on the planet); and he came
to realize that the Ultimate Sickness is
not rooted in some mystical, mythical “sick soul,” “spiritual malady” or “sick
spirit.”
So then, he looked at the only other possible contributing factors:
(1) the mind (and the distorted and delusional and nonsensical ignorance
and insanity with which it is filled via the distorted and delusional and
nonsensical and ignorant and insane processes of programming and conditioning and
acculturation and domestication and brainwashing and indoctrination to which
all persons are exposed); and
(2) the assignment and assumption of false personal identities /
roles / ego-states / personalities / personas / psychological masks and even Supreme
Identities, all of which trigger egotism and the use of a plethora of other ego-defense mechanisms and
all of which perpetuate an attachment to ignorant beliefs and all of which generate personality
disorders which can deteriorate into neuroses and psychoses and insanity (and all
of which are dependent on and evolve from “the mind”).
Had Maharaj not been the sole maverick, rebel, mutineer, revolutionary,
and radical dissenter in a 5000-year lineage of Far Eastern teachers who
offered so many different ways and forms and processes to be used to address
an illness which was rooted
in humankind’s most significant problem
but which
had
been completely misdiagnosed as a too-little-dogma problem and / or misdiagnosed
as a spirit-related problem,
then
the few who are seeking, and seeking via Eastern teachings,
and who have been exposed to the teachings offered during the last stage of Maharaj's
evolution and during the days when his experimenting with various forms of the Ultimate
Medicine had been completed,
then
those seekers would have likely had no alternative method or approach
available to use to address the true roots of the Ultimate Sickness, namely, the mental
problems which now plague the masses all around the globe.
[Want to seek via religion (or not seek at all because religion has convinced you that it and you already have all the answers)? Fine. Want to seek via spirituality (or not seek at all because spirituality has
convinced you that it has moved you to a higher plane than religious people are on and has convinced you that you now have found all the answers)? Fine. But consider potential scenarios "A," "B," and "C":
(A) Imagine what the results might be if the 97% of the people on the planet who are involved
with one organized religion or another could persuade the other 3% of the people on the planet to join them
and become religious; or,
(B) imagine if the millions who proudly boast that
they “are not religious but are spiritual” could entice the billions of religious
people to abandon their dogma and take up spiritual exercises and principles; or,
(C) imagine
if everyone on the planet suddenly understood the concept of “the Supreme Self”
and started thinking and talking and behaving like a “Supreme Self.”
Then imagine – in contrast to those three
scenarios - scenario "D":
(D) Imagine what the results might be all around the globe if persons were effectively
treated for “learned ignorance” and “insanity,” just as Maharaj eventually recommended.
Which of those four scenarios might any truly honest and objective and sensible and astute and wise observer conclude is most likely to have any significant effect on changing the way that persons behave on a global basis?
Which of those four scenarios might any truly honest and objective and sensible and astute and wise observer conclude is most likely to have any significant effect on changing the way that persons behave on a global basis?
Being religious? Being spiritual? Identifying
with a Supreme Self and acting like a Supreme Self with everyone encountered?
Or being freed of ignorance and being returned to one’s original condition of being sane?
Of those four, isn’t the accurate choice a no-brainer?]
That said, Maharaj was not invested at all in what method or
approach any seeker tried, nor did he try to persuade those not seeking
to begin seeking. Same here.
Now some persons want to debate what method Maharaj
used, not realizing that he tried many methods and abandoned many methods. And some actually want to explain to me what approach is being
used here though they haven’t the slightest degree of understanding regarding
what approach is presently being offered vs. what methods were tried in the
past and abandoned.
With Maharaj, his attitude was . . . argue away if you like, but the argument is going to be one-sided because the debate will happen without my
participation. (And isn't that always the reality of what is involved? Persons
who want to enter into such arguments are always actually just arguing with
themselves, with one or more of their false selves).
Somewhere along the way a man who offered non-dual pointers
was heard to say something that related to this topic, something about how he no longer
assumes any role, including the role of desiring to wake up anyone. He said he was no more driven by a desire to do that than anyone among the non-realized
masses is driven by a desire to try to wake people up who are sleeping and dreaming.
Here, the same view is held: argue on, but the argument will
have to happen without any participation on this front. An old redneck comment
heard mainly in the deep South in the U.S. is, “I ain’t got no dog in that fight,
so I don’t care about that fight at all.”
Maharaj had no dog in that fight. I have no dog in that
fight. Fight on, but the focus here will remain on those who have at last –
once and for all – tired of the fight and are now earnestly seeking a method or approach
that might finally lead to peace (and to peace NOW, not “later”).
What disrupts the peace more than anything? Ignorance and insanity. So what can restore peace more effectively than anything? Religion? Spirituality? Assuming the identity of a Supreme Self? Or an end to one's ignorance and insanity? Hummm. Which would you conclude?
What disrupts the peace more than anything? Ignorance and insanity. So what can restore peace more effectively than anything? Religion? Spirituality? Assuming the identity of a Supreme Self? Or an end to one's ignorance and insanity? Hummm. Which would you conclude?
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE:
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