Today's Considerations
Most seekers fixate at the third of seven steps on “the
path” that is offered here (and which Maharaj offered, just without the
enumeration). It is at that step where religious and spiritual roles are
assumed and played, which is usually a necessary step. The rub? Most never move
beyond that step, quite pleased with themselves (with their new and improved
false selves) such as “The Super Religious One,” “The Spiritual Giant,” “The Super
Seekers,” “The Something Really Special and Beyond,” etc.
Yet Maharaj, in detailing the process for being free of
learned ignorance and imposed insanity (which come via programming, conditioning,
domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination) did not advise
seekers to “go back about halfway, reverse about halfway, to the source.”
Nor did he advise, “Follow the same path by which you came,
and when you reach what is close to the halfway point, stop there and play the
roles you have assumed at that point.”
Instead, he advised:
“…You should go back, reverse, to the source”
and
“Follow the same path by which you came.”
“Follow the same path by which you came.”
What must happen in order to transition the third step and continue
along the way to “full realization,” to “full clarity,” and to “total freedom from
learned ignorance and believing insane beliefs”?
There must be an understanding of the facts surrounding
third-step religious or spiritual role-playing. Maharaj said:
"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all
happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in
the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud"
and
“Whatever you have tried to understand during your spiritual
search will prove false”
and
"There is no question of elevating to a higher level.
Here it is only a question of understanding"
and
"There is no progress"
and
"Go to zero concepts."
If that happens, then one will transition beyond the
fixation step - the third step on the "path" where most seekers stop
their (therefore incomplete) "journey" - and can then be free of all phony, false identities.
Thus Maharaj said: “From my angle, you are nothing. You have no identity.”
How to reach the “zero concepts,” no-mind state? Continue
“going back, reversing, to the source”; continue “following the same path by
which you came.” If that happens, then the third step will be transitioned; all false identities will be set aside (including the so-called "bad" ones as well as the so-called "good" ones); and
one can then return to the fourth step known as “The Child Ignorance Stage,” which is pointed to here with the term, “The Child No-Knowing State.”
A “no-knowing
state” is a state of “zero concepts." Per Maharaj, that "would be enough."
And when was the last time in anyone's case that true peace was
experienced, which was lost after programming, conditioning, etc.? It was prior to your being robbed of peace as a result of the
development of a mind by way of programming, conditioning, etc. As Maharaj noted: “There is no such thing as peace of
mind,” amended here to point out that “There is no such thing as peace of mind
because there is only peace if you are out of your mind" (that is, out from under the influence of the nonsensical content stored in the mind).
It was at that prior-to-mind point when you were mindless
because (1) you were at that point an un-programmed, un-conditioned,
un-domesticated, un-acculturated, un-indoctrinated, and un-brainwashed composite unity
and because (2) you had not yet been taught any peace-robbing concepts, ideas,
misperceptions, warped perspectives, notions, theories, views, etc. (a.k.a.,
“false beliefs”).
That earliest version of the manifested composite unity (which
you still presently are) enjoyed a condition of “lightment,” of being light,
of being unburdened. To complete the entire "path" back as Maharaj recommended,
a seeker must reach the fourth step of a seven-step "journey" where
the seeker "returns" to that previously "light," previously unadulterated, previously
uncontaminated, previously pure, previously unconditional, previously
unconditioned, previously unqualified, previously unambiguous, previously clean
and previously clear tabula rasa state that existed during the early years of
the manifestation.
[The suffix "-ment" refers to "a condition" or "a state," so the term "lightment" is coined to refer to a condition or state of being light, of feeling light as opposed to being in a condition or state that is dark and heavy and weighted down and burdened.]
Therefore, the way of humans is this: a composite unity manifests (that unity being a composite of earth elements which allow air and conscious-energy to cycle). Within a few years, it is weighted down with all sorts of what Maharaj called "learned ignorance" (that being an accumulation of nonsensical concepts and ideas and notions, etc., a.k.a., "beliefs" which become stored in a section of the brain called "the mind").
The belief in nonsense will assure that one's existence will be marked by a sense of heaviness. (Far too many persons, including seekers, take themselves far too seriously - and take whatever their personas are interested in far too seriously - to ever feel truly light and unburdened. That is a key point discussed in the eBook Dancing Lightly).
If persons come to understand what they are not, then they can have an opportunity to become freed from the hidden, subconscious agendas of their false personalities (which are driven by fears and desires and self-ishness). Should "enlightenment" come, that is, should they see that they have been driven by two key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (namely, "ignorance and insanity"), then there is the chance to be free of those symptoms.
So the way that things go for most humans is this:
“Lightment” > Weighted > Heaviness, lasting for an entire relative existence.
The way that things can go - for those that reach the understanding and freedom from being driven by learned ignorance and insanity - is this:
“Lightment” > Weighted > Heaviness > Enlightenment
> Lightened / Lightment
This is the way it is explained in Part One of “THE
RATIONALE FOR COMPLETING THE SEVEN-STEP JOURNEY”:
It has been said, accurately, that "The main problem
[of humanity] centers in the mind." How did that come to be the case?
The original nature of the Consciousness prior to manifestation (a.k.a., "Awareness" that was not yet aware of ) was this: it was unbound, limitless, expansive, spacious, roomy, sprawling, vast, unfettered, unrestrained, and, therefore, moving about freely.
When that energy manifested in plants and was transferred to bodies-cum-consciousness, it was robbed of its original nature. It became bound up, limited, confined, cramped, overcrowded, restricted, fettered, restrained, and thus no longer able to move about freely. Later, it would be robbed even more of its originally-pure and unconditional and unconditioned nature via nonsensical programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
In that condition, it longed to be free once more, (comparable to a child's supposedly subconscious "desire-to-return-to-the-more-familiar-and-more-comfortable-womb-notion" that some psychologists discuss).
Whether "trapped" within the confines of a plant, an acorn, a tree, a dog, a roach, a cat, a rat, a bird, a deer, or a human, the confined conscious-energy would "escape" and return to its one, true, original nature and once again be unbound, limitless, expansive, spacious, roomy, sprawling, vast, unfettered, unrestrained and, therefore, moving about freely. (It does, as Maharaj said, want to reverse, to go back.)
The "non-Realized" masses . . .
The original nature of the Consciousness prior to manifestation (a.k.a., "Awareness" that was not yet aware of ) was this: it was unbound, limitless, expansive, spacious, roomy, sprawling, vast, unfettered, unrestrained, and, therefore, moving about freely.
When that energy manifested in plants and was transferred to bodies-cum-consciousness, it was robbed of its original nature. It became bound up, limited, confined, cramped, overcrowded, restricted, fettered, restrained, and thus no longer able to move about freely. Later, it would be robbed even more of its originally-pure and unconditional and unconditioned nature via nonsensical programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
In that condition, it longed to be free once more, (comparable to a child's supposedly subconscious "desire-to-return-to-the-more-familiar-and-more-comfortable-womb-notion" that some psychologists discuss).
Whether "trapped" within the confines of a plant, an acorn, a tree, a dog, a roach, a cat, a rat, a bird, a deer, or a human, the confined conscious-energy would "escape" and return to its one, true, original nature and once again be unbound, limitless, expansive, spacious, roomy, sprawling, vast, unfettered, unrestrained and, therefore, moving about freely. (It does, as Maharaj said, want to reverse, to go back.)
The "non-Realized" masses . . .
. . . who claim to desire "peace of mind"
and
. . . who long for some way to end the chatter of a thousand monkeys that is going
on endlessly inside their heads
are guaranteed to suffer (1) the misery of their trapped consciousness (which is
never at rest) and are guaranteed to suffer (2) the added "burden" of the consciousness being subjected to the
restrictive condition of being in a compressed "cell" as opposed to its prior-to-manifestation-and-entrapment condition when it had been able to "run free."
Imagine how a deer would feel if it had roamed an entire forest for two years but was subsequently trapped in a net and then locked inside a cage that was so small that it could not even turn around freely.
How can there possibly be any "peace" when the consciousness - like that deer - has been removed from its natural environment and been robbed of the opportunity to abide naturally?
And how can there possibly be any peace when a person - with the consciousness manifested within the confined space of an elemental plant food body - has been robbed of its natural, free state and subjected to an unnatural state instead?
And how can there possibly be any peace when a person - with the consciousness manifested within the confined space of an elemental plant food body - has been robbed of its natural, free state and subjected to what is said to be a "supernatural" state instead?
Every "living" thing on earth has one job (namely, some moderate amount of "work" to survive and then relax and play and enjoy sex and entertainment) except for "non-Realized" humans.
Yet humans that have undergone programming, conditioning, etc., will assume a second, theoretical need of an extra job (in order to accumulate and then maintain accumulations) and, additionally, will assume a third, theoretical need for an extra job (namely, an extra job that involves learning dogma and / or conducting "spiritual exercises" which are thought to be required for peace to manifest now; thought to be required for rewards to be received now; thought to be required for eternal rewards to be earned; and thought to be required in order to avoid eternal punishment).
Awareness can relieve persons of all theory-based, learned ignorance and allow them to be as "smart" as the deer and to have only one job, namely, meeting the basic requirements for survival (without the added burden of excessive accumulations) and then being able to relax and play and enjoy pleasure and entertainment - all of which, combined, contribute to a state of "bliss," NOW.
The Original Nature of the Awareness is available - NOW - when (A) "Full Realization," i.e., full "freedom from ignorance," per Maharaj happens and when (B) the Awareness that is typically and historically not aware of suddenly becomes aware of itself - and of its original nature - and abides in that fashion for the remainder of the manifestation.
The result: a sense of boundlessness, of limitlessness, of expansiveness, of spaciousness, of roominess, of vastness, of suddenly being unfettered, unrestrained and, therefore, able to move about freely.
The invitation is to complete all seven steps on the "path" to Full Realization, to understand Your Original Nature, and then to abide as THAT for the remainder of the manifestation. Option Two, per Maharaj, is simply to find out who you are not; to discard all content of the mind; to reach a state of "zero concepts" which will shift you back to the earlier "Child Ignorance Stage" or "Child No-Knowing State"; and to allow you afterwards to return to that earlier condition of enjoying an unconditional version of peace.
Imagine how a deer would feel if it had roamed an entire forest for two years but was subsequently trapped in a net and then locked inside a cage that was so small that it could not even turn around freely.
How can there possibly be any "peace" when the consciousness - like that deer - has been removed from its natural environment and been robbed of the opportunity to abide naturally?
And how can there possibly be any peace when a person - with the consciousness manifested within the confined space of an elemental plant food body - has been robbed of its natural, free state and subjected to an unnatural state instead?
And how can there possibly be any peace when a person - with the consciousness manifested within the confined space of an elemental plant food body - has been robbed of its natural, free state and subjected to what is said to be a "supernatural" state instead?
Every "living" thing on earth has one job (namely, some moderate amount of "work" to survive and then relax and play and enjoy sex and entertainment) except for "non-Realized" humans.
Yet humans that have undergone programming, conditioning, etc., will assume a second, theoretical need of an extra job (in order to accumulate and then maintain accumulations) and, additionally, will assume a third, theoretical need for an extra job (namely, an extra job that involves learning dogma and / or conducting "spiritual exercises" which are thought to be required for peace to manifest now; thought to be required for rewards to be received now; thought to be required for eternal rewards to be earned; and thought to be required in order to avoid eternal punishment).
Awareness can relieve persons of all theory-based, learned ignorance and allow them to be as "smart" as the deer and to have only one job, namely, meeting the basic requirements for survival (without the added burden of excessive accumulations) and then being able to relax and play and enjoy pleasure and entertainment - all of which, combined, contribute to a state of "bliss," NOW.
The Original Nature of the Awareness is available - NOW - when (A) "Full Realization," i.e., full "freedom from ignorance," per Maharaj happens and when (B) the Awareness that is typically and historically not aware of suddenly becomes aware of itself - and of its original nature - and abides in that fashion for the remainder of the manifestation.
The result: a sense of boundlessness, of limitlessness, of expansiveness, of spaciousness, of roominess, of vastness, of suddenly being unfettered, unrestrained and, therefore, able to move about freely.
The invitation is to complete all seven steps on the "path" to Full Realization, to understand Your Original Nature, and then to abide as THAT for the remainder of the manifestation. Option Two, per Maharaj, is simply to find out who you are not; to discard all content of the mind; to reach a state of "zero concepts" which will shift you back to the earlier "Child Ignorance Stage" or "Child No-Knowing State"; and to allow you afterwards to return to that earlier condition of enjoying an unconditional version of peace.
Here’s further explanation in regards to "the rationale for completing the 'journey'" for those that might be interested:
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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