TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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To review:
That which is natural is rooted in non-duality; all which involves unnatural thinking and / or supernatural thinking is rooted in duality.
Whether speaking of Maharaj's lesser focus on the Nisarga Yoga in the beginning or discussing his near-total focus on abiding naturally in the end (as opposed to trying to live supernaturally and / or unnaturally), it is granted that all of that is relevant only to the AM-ness, but presently, what happens in the AM-ness impacts every person far more than anything to do with the THAT-ness.
So, to continue with excerpts from the book Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings? as considerations about the Nisarga (natural) fashion of abidance are offered:
If Teachers Do Not Know All of the Steps on the Entire Path
The case here and the case with Andy Gugar (who is the editor of "The Advanced Seekers' Series" and "The Blissful Abidance Series") ran parallel: there was triggered very early on what would prove to be a too-long-lasting longing which led to decades of seeking and searching .
As was also the case with both, the road which was traveled here before "the Advaita path" was crossed, by chance, was a long and grueling and onerous road. The "journey" had been quite arduous.
Happening upon certain words and names such as "advaita" and "non-duality" and "Maharaj" - and then entering into a thorough study of those - aroused some hope; however, after so many years of searching in vain, the hope took on a more cautious and guarded nature; thus, many instances of hope were dashed along the way, time and again.
The restraint was warranted. Along with the words of Maharaj in I AM THAT - which he later advised seekers to stop reading - the words and writings of more than fifty non-duality teachers were read, and while each of them may have been able to guide other seekers somewhere,
A. not a one of them presented the teachings in a way which provided the necessary "Aha! Moment" here;
B. not a one provided the final, search-ending flash of the peripetia;
C. not a one ignited the gunpowder that finally blew away all of the blockages which had been built up via programming, conditioning, acculturation and domestication;
D. not a one offered the Ultimate Medicine in a manner which finally brought to an end the misery of the Ultimate Sickness which had generated suffering for decades;
and
E. not a one made clear the means by which
(1) full realization
and
(2) the ability to abide naturally and normally and steadily and Lovingly and simply and sanely and enjoyably throughout the remainder of the AM-ness
could both happen.
Yes, there were years in the deepest pits of despair; yes, there were years where the head was in the clouds and a parade of even-more-obnoxious-personas-than-before all came and went, including "Floyd the Religious One" and "Floyd the Spiritual Giant" and "Floyd the Lofty Thinker" and "Floyd the Supreme Self."
Even as talk of "the Oneness" happened, the fact is that there was a greater sense of separation while playing those roles than during any of the darkest days of the past. And part of that happened even after finding and exploring the many different "brands" of non-duality.
All of the talk of "the path" and "the journey" proved to be a disservice for it implied that the there was "a path" that could be followed to its end and I would "arrive" somewhere;
and all of that talk also suggested that, if I would but complete "the journey," I would arrive at a destination which was "there" - well away from "this world" which had rendered a Type Four Personality (the type that accounts for only 1-2 of 1% of the earth's population) feeling quite the alien on this planet.
What was the missing element in the explanations and talks by all of those teachers who talked of "the path" and "the journey"? What was missing was the key fact that there is not one passage that is to be completed but that there are actually three in total. Even if one wants to claim that there is but "one journey," then it must be made clear that the journey has three legs.
And Maharaj's earliest statements (which were his only statements that were read originally) seemed to point to a two-leg "journey":
“. . . You should go back, reverse, to the source”
and
“Follow the same path by which you came.”
If one reads the book Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution,
it becomes clear that the early emphasis was not solely on the ultimate "goal" of abiding naturally. The "totally unadulterated version of a purely Nisarga message" came years later.
Most teachers, gurus, religious leaders, and spiritual guides, not understanding all of the steps on the entire path, never guide seekers beyond the third step where religious and spiritual roles are assumed and played for the remainder of the manifestation.
Those who visited Maharaj were, for years, stuck at the third step where religious roles are assumed and played for the remainder of the manifestation.
When "spirituality-seeking" Westerners began showing up in the loft ans then returned to their homes, they also fixated at the third step and played out their spiritual or Noumenal roles for the remainder of the manifestation.
The same happened with those coming to "floyd" for guidance. Where "he" was stuck, they too became stuck.
So in the process of seeking along an incomplete non-dual "path," there was . . .
a fruitless search for "the exact way";
an unsuccessful search for all of the steps required to travel the entire "path";
a futile search for the means by which "the journey" could finally be completed once and for all,
and, therefore,
an unproductive search for the way to reach "the final destination" of "the journey" and abide naturally thereafter.
It took a vision that came one afternoon while leaving the delta level of consciousness and entering into a theta state of consciousness to finally "break the code" being used by so many teachers and understand
** what the entire three-leg "journey" involves,
** how only one-leg of "the journey" will happen with the masses,
** how an entire three-part "journey" must happen if one would realize fully (meaning, per Maharaj, "being completely free of all learned ignorance")
and
** what happens after "the journey" is completed so that the remainder of the relative existence can happen in a not-insane, non-stupid, not-ignorant, non-fluctuating, non-chaotic, not-unstable, but totally steady and logical AS IF manner instead.
That manner is marked by freedom and joy and peace.
Moreover, it is marked by the presence of an ability - when freedom and joy and peace are challenged - to merely witness whatever events the relative
existence might toss one's way and which might fall outside the
categorization of "perfectly tranquil happenings," to process the effects and to then move on.
Thus, the discussion will continue with an explanation of what AS IF living looks like post-realization and after the third and final leg of "the journey" has been completed.
To be continued.
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