TODAY’S CONSIDERATIONS
Maharaj: “It is the dance of the conscious presence.”
Some have suggested over the years that the non-dual understanding and that talk of a sense of the Oneness unity vs. a sense of separation and that talk of Love rather than fear and hate requires looking at all through a pair of rose-colored glasses and perceiving all via a “Pollyanna-ish, unrealistically-optimistic mindset.”
Nothing is farther from the truth.
“The fully realized” have no mindset because they have no mind. They have no unrealistic views because Reality has been overlaid on reality – on the relative existence – so all is seen as it actually is rather than viewed in the unrealistic way in which the masses perceive / misperceive.
In fact, on a planet dominated by duality, the “fully realized” see not only the rare but light examples of Love but also see all of the dark examples of ignorance-and-insanity-inspired heaviness which is manifesting because of fear and desire and hate and anger and emotional intoxication and acts of violence.
In the book Dancing Lightly, this is offered for consideration
SEEING THE HEAVINESS
Some who only think that they have “Realized Fully” may "stray" from the path of light and into the darkness. Yet even “the fully realized,” while exempt from the insanity of emotions, are not exempt from feelings. Why?
1. Because there is a major difference in feeling and emoting; and in what allows feeling to happen only among "the realized"; and in what causes emoting to happen only among "the non-realized"; and in what allows "the fully-realized" to be free of all emoting and, therefore, all emotional intoxication.
2. Because "the realized" do not dissociate; they do not become non-attached by way of sociopathy; they are not so isolated from "life" that they never rub up against the darkness of the relative existence; and they do not become unaffected by the happenings in "the world" by escaping into the detachment of the psychotic who has mentally moved into "a different world."
Of course “the realized” see the heaviness of the darkness, but they know that it is the light only which can bring an incredible sense of lightness. How could the bringer of light not know the darkness? Just as the peacemaker does not go where there is peace, the light giver does not go where there is always light. And the seeker of the light is either (a) in the darkness or (b) in the light but unaware of the light.
Some become so sure that they have "gotten it" that - when they seem to have lost touch with the stability-producing understanding which they saw via the light - they can take a detour which then drives them to become judgmental and / or self-judging and critical or self-critical; some will then enter the gloomy darkness of guilt or the miserable shadows of shame.
Understand that guilt comes if you think you have done something that was "bad"; shame comes if you conclude that you are bad. Neither conclusion can be drawn if non-duality is understood. But if those "detours" come, what then? What advice did Maharaj offer that can be relevant when such detours occur?
Maharaj: "Let things happen as they happen. They will sort themselves out nicely in the end. You need not strain towards the future. The future will come to you on its own. For some time longer you will remain sleep-walking, as you do now, bereft of meaning and assurance; but this period will end and you will find your work both fruitful and easy. There are always moments when one feels empty and estranged."
[What did he recommend during such times? Shifting to a position of neutrality. He continued:]
"This is detachment: when the old is over and the new has not yet come. If you are afraid, the state may be distressing, but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Remember the instruction: whatever you come across, go beyond."
What it is that persons "come across" which must be "gone beyond"? The darkness, which triggers the self-destructive drive of emotions which leads to obsessing which leads, in turn, to the insanity of behaving compulsively and then to the most insane behaviors imaginable. What is "beyond" such chaos-generating emotionalism?
Hardness? Coldness? Feeling nothing? Being robotic? No.
What is beyond is feeling without becoming emotionally-intoxicated and then being driven to behave blindly, without logic or reason, entering into risky behavior to try to manipulate external sources to do what a person thinks is needed in order to alleviate whatever is being feared at the moment or whatever is generating depression or anger at the moment.
The "fully realized" will not emote, but they will feel. Feeling is normal and natural; emoting is abnormal and unnatural. When feelings arise, “the realized” watch them rise and fall. When emotions arise among "the non-realized" (or among those on "a detour") senseless actions will be taken.
So, is the answer to "feel only but do not emote?" No.
Feeling without emoting is but a way-station on the path to sanity and freedom and peace because feelings that do not rise and fall but linger instead can - in the end - interrupt sanity and freedom and peace almost as much as unchecked behaviors that are being driven by emotionalism.
First, witness the insanity of persons who are running head-long into entanglements or relationships with no basis at all, behaving as if love has developed over a period of months and years when the fact is the two people involved met in a bar only the night before. Lust at first sight is hardly love at first sight, much less Love.
Then witness the way that the fears and anger and depression which personality can generate will remove any self-preserving sanity and can drive one into a "full speed ahead" approach to life (and death) which is typical among the masses.
To see the difference in feeling vs. emoting, recall the buck and the doe that certainly seemed to be feeling sadness when dealing with the event of a still-birth outside the window of this office. When it was seen that the fawn would not be rising and walking away with them, something strong was being felt. But they did not become emotionally intoxicated.
They did not lower their heads and run as fast and as hard as possible into one of the trees in this yard, hurting or killing themselves as a result of being insane because they entered a state of emotional intoxication.
No. They remained still, and then eventually they moved on with the life that did remain.
So emotions are unnatural, always generated by the illusion of personality; feelings, on the other hand, are natural. Does that mean that as long as you do not emote, it is recommend to feel constantly?
Absolutely not. Here, joy is felt at times, but to believe that joy-only can be felt 24 / 7 would be as insane as the behaviors which follow the manifestation of emotionalism. Here, sadness is felt at times, but to believe it is fine to feel sadness 24 / 7 would be as insane as the behaviors which follow the manifestation of emotionalism.
Feelings rise and fall. Some are said to feel "good" and some at said to feel "horrible," and that very duality should show that feeling any single feeling for an extended period is dualistic and therefore unnatural.
Emoting guarantees misery; extended feeling can eventually bring misery as well. Psychologists suggest that those with psychic health can process an unhealthy emotion or an unhealthy feeling in a fairly short time.
The tool used by Advaitins for such processing involves employment of the "WHO cares?" question. "WHO" (which persona) is driving a comment or an emotion? Anger, depression, and fear can all be emotions when driven by personalities; they will seldom be processed.
Anger, depression, and fear can also be feelings, the difference being that, among the Realized, they are processed. "The realized" all understand exactly "WHO" is in fear.
Sometimes it might be "The Unemployed One" who thinks that he is dying because "The Employer" has just declared that he / she must leave the workplace with a final check in hand. To see that, ask "WHO" is depressed? Sometimes it might be "The Lonely One" who believes that happiness is an outside job and can only come if "The Right Person" comes along, the right person being the one showing up and bringing along loads of money or sex appeal or the status of a higher lifestyle. To see that, ask
"WHO" is angry? Sometimes it might be"The Abandoned Wife" whose husband left when she was pregnant with their third child, disappearing with another woman.
If those people emote, then someone could return to the workplace and begin shooting up the place with an automatic weapon; someone could either commit suicide or remain depressed forever; someone could track down the abandoning spouse and use a knife to take revenge. If those person feel, then they have the opportunity to process the feelings, to find out "WHO" thinks she or he is dying when nothing more is ending than a false identity.
So emotions are unnatural, and natural feelings can become unnatural when they are not processed. How are such extended feelings viewed by "the non-dualist" that understand that little in the relative existence is more destructive than thinking?
Ultimately, Maharaj put feelings and thoughts on the same objectionable level:
Maharaj: "Thoughts and feelings are flimsy, transient and meaningless, mere mental dust that blinds and chokes, yet they are there, obscuring and destroying."
The same lightness-blocking fears and depression and anger which can drive persons to act out in unnaturally-destructive and unnaturally-self-destructive ways can also manifest as feelings which are natural but which do not lead to destructive or self-destructive behaviors if they are processed.
Emotions are never processed though they might occasionally be seen in retrospect to have been insane; "the realized" can see the potential effects and consequences of extended periods of feeling and can process feelings away before they devolve into emotions and inspire irrational conduct and relative costs.
"Blowing the Still" was a whistle command which was delivered in the past on
British ships. In a time of threat or potential crisis, the tendency of
the crew might be to race about and panic. "Blowing the Still" signals
that all are to pause and to wait to hear a message from the captain which can help avoid destructive, panic-driven behavior and which can
bring about an orderly response to whatever must be faced, relatively
speaking.
Emoting results in motion; processing feelings does the opposite. Emotions refuse to hear when the captain "blows the still"; it is the sanity of realization and the presence of light which blow the still, which stop all motion, and which preempt insane and risky and damaging behaviors (all relatively speaking, of course).
If "a detour" comes, the sane find the way back to the path; when emotional intoxication drives the bus off the road, there is sometimes no coming back. Some do survive the crash, though they can be left in a helpless or wounded condition. That sometimes requires one who cares enough to offer assistance to come along and toss a rope which can be used to pull the one that survived such a wreck back onto the actual path.
The invitation is to shift into the background of motion which, otherwise, can transport one from feeling . . . to emotion . . . to self-destructive motion.
Maharaj: ". . . In reality there is only the source, dark in itself, making everything shine. Unperceived, it causes perception. Unfelt, it causes feeling. Unthinkable, it causes thought. Non-being, it gives birth to being. It is the immovable background of motion. Once you are there you are at home everywhere."
And once you are there, only the motion of dancing lightly will ever be truly comfortable and comforting.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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