Today's Considerations
More than ten years ago, in one of the earliest entries on
this site, it was explained that the focal point of all of the postings that were
to come would ultimately deal with what was called “Applied Advaita.” That
meant that the site was going to offer frequent and repeated invitations to
consider whether a sane and sound and practical result of the Realization process would (a) allow seekers to assume the role of “Spiritual Giants” and / or (b) assume a mental, escapist stance in
some Noumenal realm
or would instead
(c) afford seekers an opportunity to be as in touch with the I AM as
with an understanding of THAT and (d) afford seekers an opportunity to function sanely and soundly and practically throughout the remainder of the manifestation.
The invitation was nothing like what Maharaj would have offered
during his guru-bhakti phase; or during his religious / non-dual phase; or during
his spiritual / non-dual / Self-Inquiry phase. But it aligned exactly with
the message offered in his later talks, the message offered after he told seekers to “stop
reading 'I AM THAT” and to “give up spirituality” and to “just abide naturally.”
The attempt here from the very beginning was to make clear that the approach here
was not going to be anything close to what most had been hearing about
non-duality. The attempt was to invite seekers to accept Maharaj’s invitation to
“go back,” to “follow the path back from whence you came, but in reverse order” so that seekers could come to understand the ways of the Original State prior to manifestation;
to understand how the manifestation of conscious-energy happens; to understand how the
consciousness becomes totally blocked; and to understand how to remove the blockages once and for
all so that clear seeing can happen and so that freedom from learned ignorance and freedom from insanity can happen.
The attempt was made to make clear that (1) the “goal” was not
to undertake the “journey” back along a “path” with specifically-defined steps to
the Absolute in order to (2) stay there
but was instead
(3) to then complete the next leg of the so-called "journey" by “coming
back in via the same steps as before” but without accepting along "the way back in" any of the nonsense
which is forced upon persons via programming and conditioning and acculturation
and domestication and brainwashing and indoctrination.
The attempt was made to make clear that the process does not
end with “being ‘there’” but should continue by taking the new-found freedom from ignorance
and insanity and by overlaying that on the relative existence so that the
remainder of the manifestation will no longer be marked and marred by the symptoms
of the Ultimate Sickness (identified by Maharaj as “ignorance, stupidity and insanity”).
In other words, the attempt was to make clear that the deal
as offered here was not going to be about (a) finding a one-way ticket to Foo Foo Land
and thereby escaping the oftentimes-unpleasant and sometimes-downright-miserable “realities”
of the relative existence but was going to be more about (b) grasping Reality
and then overlaying that on reality . . . on the relative existence. That is, understanding “THAT”
even as the AM-ness continues; understanding Reality and reality both; and
understanding how the masses have a totally-distorted view of reality and have no
awareness of Reality and cannot, therefore, enjoy any of the balance pointed
to in the summative statement of non-duality: “I AM THAT; I AM.”
(Not just “I AM THAT?” No. Both “I AM THAT" and "I AM” (at least for now). And why is NOW all that matters? Because there will be no “one”
to know or understand or enjoy anything post-manifestation.
Maharaj; “You were not born even once, so you most assuredly
cannot be ‘born again’.”
Thus the suggestion offered ten years plus two
months ago and the suggestion offered now remain unchanged: grasp the understanding and then “apply” it to one’s
relative existence (even in the absence of any belief in “an applier”). The original
invitation – and the continuing invitation – is to reach a state where it can be seen clearly that even as
the AM-ness is and continues to be for a period, an understanding can be attained which will lead to being awake and
aware and conscious; to being sane and reasonable and logical; and, maybe above
all, to being practical.
So consider the span of Maharaj’s “teaching career” and the
changes that came to his message as his understanding evolved, shifting his pointers away from their earlier religious / non-dual content; beyond their spiritual
/ non-dual content; beyond the suggestion that Self-Inquiry was a requirement;
and to being focused on the mind-root of the Ultimate Sickness and thereafter understanding what is truly
required in order to be free of the symptoms of ignorance and insanity.
Was Maharaj’s message forever impractical? Or was it always sometimes
impractical at its core? Or were the ultimate, most relevant pointers those which he arrived at in the end when his message became staunchly and
solidly and steadfastly and unwaveringly and unshakably practical? Consider:
“practical”: of or concerned with something employable or functional
rather than with theory and ideas; referring to what is real rather than what
is possible or imagined; to what proves to be reasonable and employable; to what proves to be appropriate or suitable for
actual employment throughout one’s existence.
“impractical”: not adaptable for employment; not functional;
not sensible or realistic; not effectively applicable in terms of realistic
matters; idealistic; romanticized; naïve; not viable.
See? "Applied Advaita" is functional NOW. The understanding is only employable NOW. It is relevant only NOW during the relative existence because nothing will be relevant post-manifestation. Whatever happens post-manifestation will "take care of itself," so to speak, meaning it will all happen naturally and automatically without any "one" present to know or do or even be.
In nature, among all living things (except humans), abidance
is managed by the brain, and what any normal and healthy and undamaged brain
comes up with is going to be practical. In the case of humans, the majority of that which the brain would normally manage in a sound and sane and practical manner is not happening nowadays. The brain's natural and normal influence is being superseded by that which is stored
in a part of the brain called the mind, and the mind’s influence leads humans
to be unsound, insane, and impractical.
And even those living things which do not even have a brain
(some of which have a set of nerve bundles called “ganglia,” for example) the unblocked
conscious-energy is yet manifested in those spaces and the unblocked consciousness always leads to what would
be practical.
Even single-cell, no-brain entities function far more sanely and reasonably and practically than almost all humans. Damnation.
Even single-cell, no-brain entities function far more sanely and reasonably and practically than almost all humans. Damnation.
It is the blocked consciousness – blocked by the nonsense set in
place in minds by way of programming and conditioning and domestication and
accumulation and brainwashing and indoctrination and the learning of ignorance –
which blocks any chance for most humans to function in a sane and sound and
practical manner.
Even the actions of a brainless amoeba make more sense
than the actions of most humans. Double damnation.
So the deal – that is, this “path” or “journey” or “process”
- is about being restored to sanity, about returning to being “normal”:
Maharaj: "Prior to taking this form, you were formless;
spontaneously the form came, and when the form came there was a natural longing
to return to the formless state. When you want to return to the formless,
desireless state, then only you come here. The consciousness has to know the
consciousness. When it realizes itself, then only do you return to
normal."
It does not take a chock full mind for humans to function sanely
and soundly and reasonably and practically; in fact, a chock full mind will prevent that mode of functioning. Nor does it take great intelligence for
humans to function sanely and soundly and reasonably and practically, the most intelligent
humans often exhibiting the most insane and unsound and unreasonable and impractical
thoughts and words and actions of all.
What it does take is freedom from the mind. When the content of the mind is discarded, the
stage is set for wisdom to come, wisdom which can only become operative when there no longer remain any of the impediments
which had blocked the consciousness from seeing clearly. Once all blockages ("beliefs") are discarded, then the way is cleared for wisdom to manifest, wisdom which will then allow a brain
(which started out normal but was made abnormal) to “return to being normal.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE:
The four most recent posts follow. You may access all of the posts in
this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]
