TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. [See the offer in gold text
following this post for details on how you can watch a retreat on video
which includes a detailed discussion of all seven of the steps on the
path as used by Maharaj]
2.
Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of
god," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the
invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns. See the green text after today's post for the full meaning and implications of that.
3.
A new video ("Number Ten: Awakening Together Satsang, March 2018") has
now been added in the far right column of this page, offering the
opportunity to view a recent 2018 satsang session with Floyd being
interviewed by Regina and Jacqueline of "The Awakening Together Group."
(See the details in the blue text after this post.)
4.
Some prefer paperback books even if they have to wait a day or so to
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Now, 10 paperback books by Henderson are in print and are available
through Amazon. See the end of this post in red text for details.
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ENTERING INTO "THE CHILD IGNORANCE STAGE" OR "THE CHILD NO-KNOWING STATE"
[Included are excerpts from the book entitled The Relative Results of Returning to "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State"]
Abiding Naturally vs. Trying to Abide Supernaturally / Unnaturally
and
If Only You Can Reach at Least the Fourth of Seven Step, the Other Steps Will Not Be Necessary
Abiding Naturally
Of course, the recent talk of "nothingness" is reserved from those seekers at the end of the "path," not those at the beginning. In the beginning, the invitation is to be free of body identification; next comes the invitation to be free of mind identification and believing that others’ beliefs - which persons adopt as their own – define them; next comes the invitation to forfeit all belief in always-false personality identifications.
What awaits?
The unconditional happiness and / or peace which can come via returning to the (fourth step) “Child No-Knowing State.”
In the latter case, to enjoy unconditional happiness and / or peace, one must transition the third step where what are usually the last three personas really dig in and entrench themselves, including “The Super Religious One,” “The Spiritual Giant” and “The Super Seeker.”
Those three guarantee a no-peace, go-do-zoom mindset. “The Super Seeker” cannot rest. Much more supposedly needs to be known. “The Super Religious One” and “The Spiritual Giant” much engage constantly in learning more and more dogma or in the spiritual workaholism which the roles inspire.
To invite “Spiritual Giants” to give up all of the supposedly “Special” and “Supreme” Identity or Identities they have accumulated and then abide naturally rather than supernaturally is not unlike inviting gun nuts to admit that giving the citizenry of a nation the right for each of them to build a cache of military-style assault weapons of war might not be something that a sane population would endorse. Those in both groups would find it hard to imagine, so most in both groups will reject the invitation without a second’s consideration.
Reaching the fourth step and being free of the learned ignorance and the imposed insanity requires a sane progression from the beginning to the end, and the invitations seen to be “too radical” can only be considerate progressing through a series of steps rather than coming to that place in one fell swoop with one is to be understood coming in a specific order.
In the anthology entitled THE ADVANCED SEEKERS' SERIES, (available below in paperback at Amazon) consider what is to be understood, and in what order:
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality) provides transcripts of satsang sessions that guided seekers through the seven-step-shift from identifying with the false "I" to understanding the Absolute.
CONSCIOUSNESS / AWARENESS clarifies the two aspects of the summative statement of non-duality: "I AM THAT; I AM," meaning, "I AM THAT" (AWARENESS); "I AM" (CONSCIOUSNESS).
The third book in the series, FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS, provides the full treatment of the shift to identifying with the Nothingness - with the Void - and then, eventually, not even identifying with that. Eventually, there is no identify at all.
The fourth book in that set is THE FINAL UNDERSTANDING and the transition to the end of seeking, followed by abiding naturally for the remainder of the manifestation.
That "overview" should place in context exactly "where" on the "path" one must be in order for the pointers in this series on "Nothingness" to be relevant and level-appropriate.
For those who find themselves (that is, who find their "selves") rebelling against the notion of not being something, of not being something special, of not being a spiritual person (for that is merely another assumed persona / identity), the rebellious reaction is typical for those in the early stages of the "journey."
The invitation is especially for those who are stuck at the third step (the religious-or-spiritual-role-playing step). The invitation to those types is to move on and find that which can be found in the remaining four steps on the seven-step "path"; then, find the complete understanding of the summative statement "I AM THAT"; I AM";
after that, find how to move beyond all identification, including identifying with the Absolute or the Am-ness or the THAT-ness or any other "lofty and / or spiritual selves or Selves" or with a self or with Self-ness; then, grasp "the final understanding" and be done with it all. After that, the abidance can unfold in a natural, AS IF manner.
If Only You Can Reach at Least the Fourth of Seven Step, the Other Steps Will Not Be Necessary
If you only reach the fourth step of seven on the "path" from identification with the false "I" to abidance as the Absolute (that is, if you only reach the Child Ignorance Stage or the Child No-Knowing Stage), then you will still have transitioned beyond body-mind-personality identification. No personality (or persona, role, character, actor, ego-state, false self, guise, facade, front, or individual) will be erroneously assumed as an identity;
furthermore, there can no longer be even the slightest sign of any pretense, cover-up, deception, disguise, pose, impersonation, pretending, subterfuge, concealment, scheme, plot or masquerade.
There will be no belief that you can become something other than that which you have been, are, and shall forever be, and what that s involves no whoness, no self-ness, non-Selfness.
Please consider again the pointer offered earlier:
After having seen the results of the personality disorders that follow the development of personality, and after having seen the relative effects of the assignment or assumption of personalities / personas as identities, is it not clear why the invitation here is to at least "go back" as far as "The Child Ignorance Stage" / "The Child No-Knowing State" and then abide in a manner that is free of concepts and beliefs, free of a fiction-filled "mind," and free of the personalities that are at the root of all of the ignorance and chaos and mental disorders and insanity that plague the relative existence on this planet?
Only then can one return to that earlier state of happiness that allowed for the enjoyment of unconditional happiness (as long as the most basic needs of food and clothing and shelter were met).
Now, consider that state and what it can offer to an adult presently engaged in "seeking." Consider also the condition of the consciousness during the early days of its manifestation in any given space or form, as discussed in the introduction to this book: There comes with each form or space a seed of consciousness.
One property of that seed is "conscious-of-ness," that is, the ability to be conscious of consciousness. That property of the seed allows the form to be conscious of itself, that is, to be conscious of its beingness . . . of its present existence . . . of its Is-ness . . . of its AM-ness.
Another property of the seeds of consciousness when manifested early on is to be aware of the unicity, the Oneness; thus, over a period of approximately 20-24 months, a child senses that it is its mother and that its mother is it. One. No separation. No duality.
As the child enters into that age bracket from two to three - an age span known in some cultures as "the Terrible Two's" - a shift occurs. The shift is discussed in detail in the author's book on "Programming," but the short version is this:
During the early no-mind phase referred to herein as "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State," the child is witnessing in a subject-object manner but is also witnessing purely (that is, the child is sensing the Oneness).
The child takes that familiar voice that was heard while the child was in the womb - and then takes the source of that voice that the child finally sees during the post-womb days - to be the child itself ... its self. That identification with the mother continues until the child begins to take notice of its own body and begins to notice that its body is separate from the mother's body.
As a result, the child begins automatically to develop a sense of self without ever having chosen to do so. Only Subject-Object Witnessing remains because the earlier form of "Pure Witnessing" which sensed the Oneness comes to an end. With that belief, a sense of duality begins, spontaneously, at that point. Everything that the child will be taught from that point on will reinforce a sense of duality and separation and distance while pushing the individual - the developing persona / personas - farther and farther away from that original sense of the Oneness.
Soon, the desires of that "individuated self" take preference over the wishes of the mother, and what was labeled as "mommie's little angel" turns into what will be labeled as a "Terrible Two" or a "little devil." Then an onslaught of programming and conditioning - alongside a heavy dose of domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination - begins as efforts are made to teach the child who it is, what it is, what is right and wrong, what is okay and not okay, what the child must stop doing, and what the child should always do instead.
At that point, the seeds of learned ignorance take root and begin to form a "mind" that will be filled with fiction and non-truths and myth-and-superstition-based teachings that are presented as "the gospel truth" . . . as "the never-to-be-questioned truth." The seeds of ignorance at that point take root and begin to choke out the seeds of pure consciousness. The result is the "contaminated or blocked consciousness."
The process that is presented by the author is a seven-step process of "going back" to the weed-free condition that existed prior to being subjected to the learned ignorance that came via programming, conditioning, domestication, and acculturation, but even if only four of seven steps are completed, an amazing shift can happen:
Maharaj: "By knowing what you are not, you are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens quite spontaneously and effortlessly"
and
Maharaj: "You need not know 'What You Are'. Enough to know what you are not."
It is at the end of the third of the seven steps offered here that you will come to know what you are not, and that itself can be enough.
The result of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination is that all persons who are subjected to nonsense early on will try to abide supernaturally (a.k.a., unnaturally and abnormally) as opposed to abiding naturally.
The process of going back with your guide / guru to that earlier "blank tablet" state is that the guru can hit a "reset button," so to speak, and the process can unfold again but, this time, in the natural way that does not result in the acceptance of nonsensical ideas and concepts and beliefs and falsehoods as truth.
The "path" to realization provides a means that is similar to the way by which a garden can be cleansed of weeds. In the case of the earnest seeker, the weeds can be cleared away so that the seeds of consciousness can bloom in the natural way that would have happened in the absence of being taught nonsense:
Maharaj: "This work of mental self-purification, the cleansing of the psyche, is essential"
and
"Being free from the false is 'good' in itself; it wants no reward. It is just like being clean - which is its own reward."
The invitation is to clean out the weeds (the nonsense) from the mental garden so that the seeds of consciousness can bloom in the way that nature intended: naturally.
When nisarga, natural living happens, you will not believe that you are something that you are not, and you will not believe that you can become something other than - or in addition to - that energy / matter which "you" have always been, are, and forever shall be. And what is the relative existence like after that understanding comes? Consider:
Maharaj: "By knowing what you are not, you are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens quite spontaneously and effortlessly."
When the child's basic requirements of food and (dry) clothing and shelter were met, there were no desires and fears (which are a product of personality assumption and the fiction-filled "mind" that is the storehouse of personalities and personal, false identities).
The invitation from Maharaj: "Turn away from your desires and fears and from the thoughts they create and you are at once in your natural state." Then there will be no need to search for happiness for one will be abiding in the same state of unconditional happiness that was last experienced while in "the Child No-Knowing State":
Maharaj: "All search for happiness is misery and leads to more misery. The only happiness worth the name is the natural happiness of conscious being."
But "the natural happiness of conscious being" cannot come when one believes that he or she is "being this" or "being that," and it cannot come when one has not been liberated from the driving, controlling, subconscious forces of the hidden agendas of personality:
Again, Maharaj: "Non-identification, when natural and spontaneous, is liberation. You need not know 'What You Are'. Enough to know what you are not. What you are you will never know, for every discovery reveals new dimensions to conquer. The unknown has no limits."
The last time that the vast majority of persons who make up the non-Realized masses were enjoying the unconditional happiness of "non-identification" was when they were two years old. Whatever your current age, hasn't it been long enough since that unconditional happiness was last enjoyed?
To be continued.
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Here,
with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of god,"
the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation
to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns.
THE EXPLANATION
If
looked at as nouns, they point to illusions and are, therefore, a total
waste of time to even discuss; if looked at as verbs which are
resulting in certain sane but rare behaviors among humanity, then they
are worthy of some attention during the relative existence.
Meaning?
There are members of certain groups who say things such as "My concept
of god in the past was of a weak god, an absentee god, A Santa
Claus-type god, a mean, punishing, vindictive god, etc. Today, I am in
close contact with a loving and caring god whom I worship and praise and
glorify and give thanks to."
The
reply to that usually goes like this: "If you are in contact with a god
that wants to be worshipped and praised and glorified, then you're
dealing with someone like yourself - a narcissist - and hanging out with
narcissists will never bring an end to your narcissism (that narcissism
evidenced by the fact that you think you are "godly").
Next,
in the phrase 'loving and caring god,' any supposed god that truly had
her or his act together would tell you that the totally irrelevant part
of that phrase is 'god' and that the only part that is relevant is the
"loving and caring" part.
"That
is, a non-narcissistic their god / their goddess would say, "I care not
an iota about being worshipped and praised and glorified by you or
anyone else. How arrogant and insecure and needy would I have to be to
want that? Forget the man-made, dreamed up noun 'god' and focus on the
'god as a verb' understanding and then go forth and let loving and
caring be verbs - not adjectives - and let them generate the act of love
and the act of caring and let those actions manifest through you."
Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:
"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
and
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places
but are states of mind, nothing more than
concepts dreamed up by men."
--Pope John Paul II
"There is no hell."
--Pope Francis, the current pope
in an interview with journalist Eugenio Scalfari,
a writer used by the Pope to issue off the record
teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium.
[That
said, would that the popes who have shown the courage to reject a core
concept of their dogma - namely, "hell" - would find the additional
courage required to question the very existence of their institution in
light of the centuries-long cover-up of their history of raping children
and in light of the mental and emotional and psychological scarring of
billions of their members past and present.
And
that need for courage also applies as questions need to be asked about
why so many other sky cults are still being supported and allowed to
continue to exist as well. When certain types of programming and
conditioning have been shown to blind the masses, they should end. Will
they? Not likely. Why?
Because
what the masses think and say and do is most influenced by the
international crime families which hold sway over the masses as
criminals conduct their planet-wide operations. What are the major
international crime families and which are the most influential and have
the largest memberships?
The
Mafia / La Cosa Nostra; the Catholic Church (with it 1.2 billion
followers) whose Vatican Bank worked for decades with the Mafia while
laundering mob earnings (for a 15% all-profit charge by the Bank);
Protestant and Evangelical Churches (with over 1.2 billion followers)
like the one I was raised in where the youth director molested and
sexually assaulted young girls; big business which has long created
environments in which people have been abused; powerful political bodies
like the U.S. Congress, etc., etc., etc.)
With
all of those crime families, neither the followers nor the leadership
ever voluntarily step down or shut down their criminal activities. Be
they gangs, organized crime families, religions, big business,
politicians, etc., they all want control and they all want power and
they all want money, and nothing internal will interfere with the
driving forces at play.
The
masses must demand that all those in charge must step down and their
groups and institutions must shut down, and there's the real problem
because the continuation of their crimes are enabled not as much by the
people running such crime organizations as they are enabled by the
masses of people who - wanting some perceived "payoff" - remain involved
with them and give them money and support them and aid and abet the
continued existence of those criminal enterprises and thus facilitate
the ability of church criminals and political criminals and other types
of criminals to continue to commit their crimes.]
Here's
the direct link to the VIDEO VERSION
of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier, 18 MARCH 2018
or
You can click on the picture link which has now been added for video "Number Ten" in the upper right-hand column on this page.
If preferred, here's
the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION
of that session.
