WHY IS CHILD IGNORANCE PREFERABLE?

F.: A prerequisite for being at peace during the relative existence is to be able to witness with detachment. The prerequisite for being able to witness with detachment is to detach from body identification and to detach from the influence of their concepts that—having been accepted as the truth—now form what is called your “mind.” The next prerequisite for being able to witness objectively is to be free of the duality inspired by religious or spiritual concepts. After that, the next prerequisite is to be free of all other concepts and “return” to the bliss of the child ignorance stage.

Only a child—existing in a pre-programming, pre-conditioned state—can witness without judgment, without thoughts, and without beliefs based in duality. For adults to be able to witness without judgment, without thoughts, and without beliefs based in duality requires a shift “back” to the state of child ignorance by casting aside all of the nonsense which has been generated by conditioning and programming and enculturation. Nothing is more at peace than a child with its physical needs having been met. As long as health and food and shelter requirements have been met, perfect peace happens. Contentment happens in that pre-mind state of existence. Realized, contentment happens as a result of returning to the no-mind state. Why should you, as an adult, settle for less contentment than that experienced by a child?

A contented child in ignorance—prior to being programmed—does not yet know the euphoria (and accompanying emotional intoxication) of “love offered”; nor does it know the misery (and accompanying emotional intoxication) of “love withheld.” A contented child in ignorance does not know what it feels like to enjoy being labeled “good” but shortly thereafter to be in the misery of being labeled “bad.” A child in ignorance does not know the suffering that comes with trying to meet the ever-changing “standards” of critical, hypocritical, holy, or spiritual persons. A contented child in ignorance does not yet know the frustration of the duality of striving constantly to gain reward or to avoid punishment. A contented child in ignorance can lie comfortably on its back and have no opinions or concerns about whatever it witnesses. It can witness people without thought or criticism. It can enjoy a natural scene outside a window and can just be. It needs to do nothing in order to try to feel better. It need not hum, pray, chant, knell, genuflect, nor "contribute," and it does not need to meditate, power nap, burn this, nor smell that. It needs only the simple movement of the breath. The contented child in ignorance need not seek knowledge in order to make a “better” life. It needs nothing more because it can merely witness as a result of having no concepts, no “mind,” no assumed identities, and no perceived needs (which are always based in the ego-states of persons in the child's culture).

Because the child in ignorance has no concepts and no “mind,” it cannot be driven out of its mind by persons. That will not happen until adults decide the child must leave the child ignorance stage and start learning “right from wrong” and “good from bad.” It will leave behind the contentment of the child ignorance stage when adults decide that punishments and rewards must be used to condition the child to behave as those particular adults want the child to behave. Expectations will be defined, demands will be made, and then the child living with the restrictions of that newly-gained knowledge will know tremendous frustration. The ability to witness impartially will be lost, dualistic concepts will be learned, the dual-minded child (and later that adult) will be unstable in all ways, and the peace that comes from existing in a concept-free manner will end.

The “journey” to Realization is conducted by following in reverse the route that resulted in the shifting of the consciousness from its pure, Absolute nature to its contaminated state. To shift beyond (a) the duality of body identification, mind identification, and religious and/or spiritual role identification and (b) into the witness state first requires a movement into the child ignorance stage. One who is not free of all concepts is not free at all, and one who is not free at all can—obviously—never know the joy of independence. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

A PAUSE TO RESPOND

From a site visitor: “I really have sat in contemplation and tried to come up with answers for all the questions you offered on May 12th, but when I get to the discussion of religious and spiritual roles, I try but I just can’t imagine there not being a God. I’ve been taught all my life to turn to Him during times of need. I’m at a roadblock.”

F.: You have two obstacles on your path, so consider the first one: if you have trouble imagining there is not a God, then imagine there is a God. For the sake of argument, imagine there is a God that is all-powerful and all-knowing, and “He” has a plan and is in charge of everything. Study the results of "His" techniques of managing life on planet earth via "His Divine Plan": deadly plagues, pestilence, volcanos, and earthquakes; millions of children and adults dying from AIDS; global poverty and hunger; religious wars; tsunamis; ghettos; genocide; religious leaders sexually molesting little boys and adults giving money to pay for the cover-up; fatwas; ignorance; rape; murder; pandemics; ethnic cleansings; pollution of 99% of the waters and much of the air; corporate corruption and other thefts; jihads; nuclear proliferation; terrorism and bioterrorism; cancer; inadequate schools; inquisitions; decimations; less and less freedom; more and more insanity; holes in the ozone layer; global warming and its accompanying hurricanes, flooding and storms; war-loving megalomaniacs…ad infinitum. So again, imagine there is a God.

Now, are you impressed? Does “He” deserve your worship and adoration with that record? Is it suddenly easier to detach from the awe that was programmed into you? Or, can you still not see the nonsense in worshipping someone who could supposedly eliminate evil and suffering but chooses to allow both to happen? And why does “He” supposedly allow that to happen? You have been told that he allows evil and misery and suffering in order for there to be “consequences”—the price that must be paid—for people who do not use their free will properly to make the “right” choices, even though persons (a) have been programmed and conditioned and therefore have no ability to choose and thus (b) have no free will at all. Or, is your claim that your religious or spiritual practices have left you so blessed, and in such “good company,” that your relative existence is untouched by the misery of the human condition that prevails on most of the planet? Then you do not yet know the Oneness.

The second obstacle you face is a result of your belief that you have “times of need.” If you are without shelter, it shall be granted that, physically, you have a need. If you have no food, it shall be granted that, physically, you have a need. But that is not your case. Your “needs” are not real; they result from your distorted perceptions which have resulted from your enculturation. Only ego-states perceive needs, and perceived needs are about emotions and about the “mind,” both of which are erroneously based in your assumption of false identities. “Husband” needs “a wife” to exist, but You need nothing. “Boss” needs “employees” to exist, but You don’t. The one assuming the role of Super Teacher needs Super Students to exist, but That Which One Truly Is needs nothing.

In order for you to move farther along the “path” to Realization, you must see that the beliefs that have been passed along to you are rooted in myths and superstitions and concepts dreamed up by controlling men over the last 5000 years. You must see that all of the gods of all of the ancient, pagan cults and religions were morphed into one god by Abraham. And you must see that “their” beliefs have been morphed into what you now take to be “your” beliefs (which are not yours at all). What you think Moses knew or Christ knew or Sankara knew or Mohammed knew or Ramana knew is all irrelevant. What Benny Hinn claims he can do or what is shared on this site is also irrelevant. What the Dalai Lama or Jerry Falwell claim to know is lunacy as well (one believing Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans because of “the past karma of the residents” and the other claiming that the storm was sent because a gay pride parade had been planned. Get free of all of the nonsense involved with magical, supernatural thinking.)

Ultimately, as far as your movement along the “path” to Realization is concerned, the only thing that matters is what You know…WITHIN. Forget outer gurus and outer gods for a time. Question all you’ve been told and see the fiction for what it is. Then, try tapping into Your inner resource to find what You have always known but have forgotten as a result of focusing on what you think others know that you need to know also. It’s all learned ignorance, so unlearn it all. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: A continuation of the review of the questions. Next: “Why is child ignorance preferable?”

WHO TOLD YOU THAT RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL ROLES WERE “THE ULTIMATE?”

F.: The next question posed in the 12 May set of questions that can guide one to Realization was, “Who told you that religious or spiritual roles were “the ultimate”? For those persons who would travel the “path” to Full Realization, one or both of those roles are necessary stops along the way. If one never transitions beyond body-mind identification alone, then the understanding of the functioning of the totality can never happen. Why? The focus is only on the limited and the restricted, not on the infinite and the boundless. That which is not focused upon cannot be seen. Yet those two supernatural roles that would free persons of their personas actually reinforce new ego-states and result in more unnatural living if not transitioned. Further advancement on the “journey” will not happen for persons who believe that they have arrived at the pinnacle.

So who told you that those roles are the ultimate? Is it possible that no one ever verbalized that for you but that certain of your own ego-states convinced you of that belief? Who are those who accept that self-important characterization of religious and/or spiritual ego-states as being "the ultimate"?

1. Is it possible that those roles are considered the ultimate by persons who are absorbed in “doingness” rather than in beingness and by those absorbed in accumulation rather than de-accumulation? Even those spiritualists who talk about reaching a state of beingness recommend practices that must be done in order to attain. Is not the gathering of more religious or spiritual knowledge (also know as “learned ignorance”) an act of accumulation? Are not the “practices” and “disciplines” merely more accumulations? Isn’t the collection of accoutrements and concepts and “holy” books and “holy” stuff also accumulation?

2. Might religious or spiritual roles be the ultimate for persons who have caused great harm to humans in this relative existence? The “relief” experienced by many persons has been witnessed as they were told that “all can be forgotten if you become a member here and ask for forgiveness.” To hear, “We’ll give you a fresh start and you’ll be as pure as the new-fallen snow” sounds far better to most persons than to hear, “You have to give back everything that you have taken from people during your life.” Escapism can include escaping from responsibility by “turning it over” to some external power or entity that has been dreamed up by controlling men.

3. Is it possible that those roles can be considered the ultimate by persons who become emotionally-intoxicated with their new belief systems, beliefs which they consider “lofty” and which therefore separate them from those "others"?

4. Is it possible that those roles can be mistaken for the ultimate by those who want to gather knowledge of the content of “holy” books and then show others how much they know?

5. Is it possible that those roles can be considered the ultimate by those who also love playing the role of “The Answer Man” or “The Answer Woman”…by those who enjoy the ego-building status that comes when persons believe that those role-players are the "experts"?

6. Is it possible that those roles are considered to be the ultimate by those persons who feel “better” (or who feel “better than” others who aren’t as religious or as spiritual as they)?

7. Is it possible that those roles are taken to be the ultimate by those who want to tell others how to live?

8. Is it possible that those roles are believed to be the ultimate by those who do not encourage others to (a) find all the lies and then the understanding on their own but who (b) want persons to believe what they believe and act the way they want them to act?

9. Is it possible that those roles are assumed to be the ultimate by those trapped in the ego-states of “Super Religious Person” or “Spiritual Giant”?

10. Is it possible that those roles are considered to be the ultimate by those who want to control others by talk of an “eternal reward” (or by threats of “eternal punishment” if persons do not live as they live, believe what they believe, think as they think, and behave as they behave)?

11. Is it possible that those roles are taken to be the ultimate by persons who are dual-minded (even though many religious and spiritual persons have taught that “dual-minded persons are unstable in all ways”)? Wouldn't religious and spiritual role-players have to be dual-minded with their concepts of “good vs. bad,” “better than vs. worse than,” “moral vs. immoral,” and “right vs. wrong”?

Religious or spiritual roles must be played in order to reach the third stage of separation from Reality; however, if those roles are transitioned, then persons move beyond the Seven Degrees of Separation from Reality. At the point of transitioning those roles, the pace of the “journey” quickens as the remaining steps are steps that move one closer to Realization, closer to the Original Understanding, closer to freedom from all concepts (including the ones used on this site and by Advaitan teachers). Then, and only then, can freedom manifest NOW. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

WHAT IS THE “MIND,” REALLY? Part Three

F.: Recently, a woman wrote to discuss her husband’s ego-states that she finds "disgusting and intolerable." After visiting the site, she claimed that she “finally realized that she had been putting up with his phony roles and watching him fooling everybody for twenty years and was sick of it.” (That was far from the “realization” being offered, but so it is.) She is currently making deposits into a secret account in order to build up a cash reserve so she can leave him “within a year or so.” The e-mailed response asked her, “And what roles will you be playing between now and when you finally leave?” Her answer: “The dutiful wife. We all have physical needs, so it’ll be easy to keep the charade going until I’m in a position to leave him.” The e-mailed response to that: “Yet you suggest that the justification for leaving him is that he’s playing phony roles and fooling everybody? What of your phony roles and your fooling him?” She has not been heard from since. So few can distinguish between the reflection and the real, and few can stand the heat of self-awareness when the glare of the light shines back on them and the lies they are living. Seeing that which is being projected onto others is a fool-proof tool for finding one’s own personal traits, yet persons always fail to see in themselves what they hate in others, and they always fail to distinguish the real from the false.

Count Marcello of Venice, Italy spoke of the “Venice Effect” to discuss how often the real is mistaken for a reflection and how often a reflection is mistaken for the real. He said, "Sunlight on a canal is reflected up through a window onto the ceiling, then from the ceiling onto a vase, and from the vase onto a glass. Which is the real sunlight? Which is the real and which is the reflection? What is true and what is not true? That is the Venice Effect." Actually, it is the “Persona Effect.” Persons (the non-Realized) cannot differentiate the true from the false and cannot see that their own personas are merely masks. They take the play to be the real. They think they have seen the light but are mistaking the dawn for high noon.

Just as a phony woman can hate a husband for being phony, players can despise players even as they continue their own play-acting. How chaotic role-playing is. What a physical and mental toll the dishonesty of playing roles and maintaining facades takes on humans. How debilitating it is to try to maintain an “outside appearance of peace” that is actually in direct opposition to the “inside condition of chaos.” How effectively the play-acting separates personas from the real…from ever finding the answer to the question, “Who Am I, really?” Are you seeing that no freedom can happen as long as the mind-games of role-playing continue? Are you seeing that freedom, in the early stages of the “journey” to Realization, is as much about freedom from the influences of the “mind” as anything else? Are you seeing that enlightenment begins by making an honest assessment of self instead of an assessment of “others”? When the false self (or selves) are seen and the True Self is known, then awareness of the Oneness happens, a sense of At-one-ment occurs, no “others” are imagined, and no longer will there be anyone to get “sick” about the roles that “others” are playing. No one would look at Pavlov’s dogs as they salivated over the sound of a bell rather than over the smell of meat and say they were “sick” of the ways those dogs are behaving. No one who understands the way that conditioning drives insane behavior would find their unnatural conduct to be "disgusting" or "intolerable." In fact, the understanding opens the door to true tolerance. Becoming aware of the conditioning that has driven you all of your life makes you aware of the conditioning that is driving all persons on the planet. You understand. You no longer judge. You do not find a spouse or anyone else to be "disgusting" or "intolerable." You are not bothered in the least when you witness “others” who are powerless…who have lost all ability to choose…who are blindly driven by programming and conditioning. You merely witness it all. To “know ThySelf” requires knowing your self first. The lies about self must be seen before any chance of seeing the truth about Self can happen.

In the 26 May posting, the pointer was offered that the decision to discard the ideas and concepts and beliefs of others becomes simple “because it will be no different from trying to decide whether to keep your neighbor’s garbage (or your parents’ garbage or the garbage collected by men 5000 years ago) or to throw it all away. Realization is about being in touch with reality (that is, being sane). Isn’t it clear, now, that it is insane to collect and keep and value the garbage of others? Isn’t it clear that it is sane to discard all garbage? Yet the weakness among persons is that they give great value to the garbage, to the beliefs, the concepts, the ideas of ignorant men of the past that are held in such esteem today. Yet for those in touch with reality to even a small degree, it is clear that sanity happens when you are out of your “mind” and when you are free of being controlled by their warped “minds.” Freedom is being free of all of their garbage (which you now take to be your own garbage). Freedom is about being free of all of their ideas and concepts and dualistic thinking. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

WHAT IS THE “MIND,” REALLY? Part Two

F.: Above the main entrance to the original Globe Theatre in London was a sign in Latin that read: “Totus mundus agit historiem,” variously interpreted as “The whole world plays the actor” or “The whole world is a play” or “The whole world is a playhouse.” The Realized poet Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Relatedly, the Eastern term “lila” refers to the concept that this “world” is a cosmic puppet theater, literally meaning “play” or “a game being played spontaneously.” The playwright’s quote continued, “They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” That’s really all that is happening: the consciousness manifests (it has its entrance); typically, the consciousness is bastardized and each person plays many parts or roles and takes those phony roles very seriously; and then the consciousness has its exit (that is, it unmanifests). The way that cycle is perceived by persons, though, is as “birth” of a body, a “life” of personality and accumulation, and then “death” (with the hope for eternal reward and everlasting continuity of the body-mind-personality). How could the vast majority of persons on the earth not be miserable…playing their phony roles, being driven to accumulate, trapped in their warped personalities, fooling themselves and others, and believing all along that their acts are real?

Therein lies another irony: because of the faulty programming that generates foolishness and delusion, the players take the play to be real. They play their roles for so long that they actually believe that they are their roles. And the longer that persons play the roles, and the more they take those roles to define who they are, the farther removed they are from awareness of the Real Self; then, they become more and more phony...more and more lost in their role-playing. And in the process of being less and less genuine—less and less in touch with the reality of Who/What They Truly Are—the more miserable they become in that state of incongruity (acting like something they are not). Those with any remaining degree of awareness will become so miserable that they will make comments such as, “I don’t even know who I am” or “I’ve lost myself in all of this” or “I can’t live with myself anymore.” Do you hear the duality in those comments…the self vs. The Self?

Another irony is that, as soon as a role (an ego-state) is taken to be a real identity, the ego which supports the role-playing elevates the role player to “super” status; thus, when one adopts the identity of a religious person, one is immediately elevated in his or her “mind” to a “Super Religious Person.” One is not a teacher but immediately becomes—in his or her “mind”—“Super Teacher.” One is not just spiritual but becomes a “Spiritual Giant” in her or his "mind." And in those roles, they use their “holy” books and share their “holy” messages and really believe that they are having a positive impact on the world as they try to tell others how to live and what the truth is. The beauty of the Advaita Teachings that are rooted in the Original Understanding is that the Realized will never claim that any book is holy and will never claim that they can state the truth. The truth can be known by the Realized, but it cannot be stated. Yet few will ever find that truth and most will play their body roles or mind roles or religious and spiritual roles and believe that they are “better” as a result. They will actually take their false images to be real as they fool themselves (and fool those about them who are unaware and are sleepwalking through the relative existence).

Once heavily invested in their roles, the use of ego-defense mechanisms are triggered and then used by persons to try to maintain their false images. Anything which suggests that a role is phony or not real is met with a tremendous defense and then a counter-attack by persons since attacks on the validity of personas are taken by persons to be personal attacks. Though no real attack was initiated by the one pointing out that a lie is a lie and that a role is nothing more than a role, the role-player takes that pointer as a personal attack…the reason being that a persona is been revealed as nothing more than the mask that it is.

Are you attached to your roles, to your body, to your “mind” and to its concepts? Are you seeking approval and esteem by publicly displaying how pious and faithful you are? Are you attached to your religious or spiritual role-playing and game-playing? Then the remainder of the “path” to Full Realization for you is blocked. You have not reached a halfway point but believe that you have arrived. You have left Delhi and reached Lucknow but believe that you are in Kolkata. You have left L.A. and are in Kansas City but believe that you have already arrived in New York. You have seen the dawn but have mistaken it for the noon. The arrogance of ego-states and the distortion of the “mind” will convince you that you have found the truth, and such self-deceit will end all opportunity to continue the "journey" and to Realize the truth.

On the other hand, have you discarded all of the labels and assumed roles and false identities that your culture has used to define who you are? Are you sick of the phony roles being played and ready to get Real? Then the “path” lies open before you, and if you only travel it far enough to find all the lies without ever being able to articulate “the truth,” the remainder of your relative existence can still unfold in a spontaneous and natural AS IF fashion. That is enough. [You may see the 18 December 2005 post for more on AS IF living.] Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE BODY, REALLY? WHAT IS THE “MIND,” REALLY? Part One

F.: The next two questions from the 12 May posting dealt with body and “mind.” What is the body? Nothing more than plant food. Via photosynthesis, the energy which reaches earth in a form that is unusable by life forms is converted into a usable form. No plants? No life. No sun? No life. Beginning of the story of the body. End of the story of the body. Now, to the source of all human misery and all suffering: the “mind.”

All life forms on the planet—except for humans—are driven by the functioning of a brain + natural instincts. For millions of years, each human (or each ancestor of a human) also functioned under the auspices of a brain + natural instincts. All six senses were being properly used along with the brain, so humans and their ancestors lived naturally. After languages developed, nonsense increased and natural living decreased. The 13 March 2006 entry explained this:

Originally, the brain consisted only of the parts that are now called the “hindbrain” and the “midbrain," which have always controlled natural processes. As the species developed communication skills and as a “forebrain” developed, supernatural thinking and unnatural behavior followed.

Persons began to dream up concepts and teach those as if they were the truth. The brain and natural instincts would eventually have less influence over humans than would the unnatural, artificial “mind” and all the fictional beliefs therein. Thus began the misery and suffering that plagues the relative existence of humans. Why?

The "mind" is an accumulation of lies, a conglomeration of the false beliefs and bogus concepts taught via enculturation and accepted as truth. It is the “mind”—that storehouse of fiction—which impedes the proper functioning of the brain’s ability to perceive accurately. For Realization to happen, the brain must be active but the “mind” and its phony content must be rejected in order for persons to Realize and then be free. And being free in this context means being free of the influence of the bastardized consciousness and then enjoying the freedom that comes when the consciousness is re-purified (that is, freed of all the contaminating lies and beliefs and concepts and attitudes and ideas received via programming and conditioning). An obstacle to the re-purification of the consciousness is the fact that the indoctrinated haven’t a clue that they have been indoctrinated, just as role-players haven’t a clue that they’re playing phony roles and assuming false identities.

What of you? Have you ever taken pen and paper in hand and listed all of “your” beliefs? If so, you found all of that which drives you through life. Have you ever considered that anything that drives you is in charge of you, is determining where you go and what you do and where you end up, and is taking away the freedom to choose independently? Have you ever studied those beliefs one by one and determined that you did not come up with any of those but that they were programmed into you? If so, you have seen that you have no beliefs of your own but have unconsciously assumed those beliefs to be “yours” when they were really “theirs.” And if you trace those beliefs of theirs that you have assumed to be yours, you find that all of those ideas are nothing more than ancient concepts dreamed up by ignorant, uneducated men thousands of years ago. If you realize that, then the suggestion to cast aside all ideas and concepts and beliefs becomes very easy since you’ll have Realized that you have no ideas, concepts, or beliefs. Then, deciding to take the required steps in order to re-purify the consciousness becomes the only sane and sound alternative. Why? Because it will be no different from trying to decide whether to keep your neighbor’s garbage (or your parents’ garbage or the garbage collected by men 5000 years ago) or to throw it all away. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHERE WERE YOU PRIOR TO CONCEPTION?

F.: The next question from the May 12 posting that—if answered accurately—can move persons along the “path” to Realization was, “Where were you prior to conception?” The entry continued:

That is, before the sperm fertilized the egg, where was the sperm? How did that sperm happen to exist in that location? Since neither the sperm in men nor the eggs in women are obtained by eating sperm or eggs, what was consumed that “made” the sperm and egg and that provided its energy? Where did the energy that was in that consumed source come from?

Yesterday, the pointer was offered that “there was no body with beingness prior to the manifestation of the conscious-energy that You Are.” The You that You Are existed, but "you" did not; that is, the conscious-energy existed prior to manifestation, just as it shall exist post-manifestation. The body-mind-personality that persons take themselves to be, however, had no prior existence. Rather than your “birth” being some “godsend” or the result of some “supernatural influence,” the body came about as a result of a simple act of friction.

Where was the sperm before it fertilized the egg in your “mother”? In the body of he whom you call your “father.” And how did the sperm happen to exist in that location? Your father ate plants—or animals that had eaten plants—and the cycling of cells as discussed in the 24 May post happened. Among the cells that were cycling via the space known as your “father” were millions of sperm cells. So both the sperm cell and the egg that were involved in the conception that would be “you” existed because two humans ate plant food that transferred the energy-conscious from plants to cells. Where did the energy that was in that consumed source come from? Back to the scientist Szent-Gyorgyi: “What drives life is thus a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.”

The entire process that resulted in sperm cells, in eggs, in an act of friction and impregnation, and in eventual “birth” was a totally natural happening that was driven by the sun and by the natural urge to copulate. No more thought went into the entire process that resulted in “you” than went into an oak dropping an acorn that resulted in another tree. The same process that results in squirrels and rats or in eagles and crows also happened with "you." The consciousness “guides” it all, “oversees” it all, and has “dominion” over the entire process so that it all seems to happen automatically. Once the egg is fertilized, the “father-to-be” has no further input, and neither does the “mother-to-be.” She does not have to squint and push and twist and say, “Today, I’ll make arms for the fetus.” It just all happens spontaneously and naturally. Since that is how “you” came to be, that is the only sane way for “you” to live: naturally and spontaneously. As with all life forms on the planet, “life” is (a) “driven by an electric current” called “conscious-energy” and is (b) “set up by the sun.” That consciousness is all there is. All else is distorted perception. Any images that are eventually thrown onto the screen of warped consciousness are taken to be real, but they are merely images and are not real.

So where were “you” prior to conception? Trace the “stations” in reverse back to the location of the sperm prior to ejaculation, back to the plant food which was eaten and “made” the sperm, back to the plant food, back to the sun, back to the original hydrogen and helium atoms that crashed together and exploded in a fashion that resulted in “this universe,” back to all prior universes and back to the pool of energy that was, is, and shall forever be (which was neither created nor shall ever be destroyed). Then the functioning of the totality will begin to be revealed, and then you will understand how it is that I have been present for the manifestation of all of the universes, and so have You. Then, too, You will understand that nothing “Supreme” was involved with the copulation, with the friction, with the ejaculation, with the movement of sperm cells during the race to the egg, or with the conception that resulted in the body that you take to be “you.” Contrary to comments made by overly-proud parents, therefore, “you” are not “Supreme” either. (Nor are you the “worm” that puritanical dogma sets forth. You Are merely the Amness, for now, but You Are That forever.) You Are but that manifested conscious-energy that temporarily “abides” in a space and which shall eventually unmanifest and cycle to the pool of universal consciousness from whence You “came.” What healthy result—in terms of being free of the influence of arrogance and egotism—might follow your realizing the truth of how you were conceived (naturally) and how your body came to be (spontaneously)? Do you realize that You will be just fine if You realize that You are neither "the best" nor "the "worst"? Do you realize that the remainder of the period that the consciousness is manifested can be far more enjoyable if you are, in fact, freed of the influence of all dualistic beliefs? Please enter the silence of contemplation.

WHAT IS IT THAT REALLY CYCLES…AND WHAT DOES NOT?

F.: Earlier in the month, a series of topics for meditation (that is, for consideration) were offered. Each was a topic that, if considered in the order provided and if thoroughly understood, could eventually lead persons to Full Realization. The first asked, “What is it that really cycles…and what does not?” In order to answer that, all nonsense must be cast aside, so the pointers of the last days have offered a way to clear away the nonsensical beliefs in order to make way for the truth to become known. If the nonsense has been seen to be nonsense (and if one is willing to question every belief that she/he has been taught), then the foundation has been laid for movement along the "path" to Full Realization.

First, there is that which cycles during the relative existence. The expression "earth-to-earth" does accurately characterize the “physical cycling” that happens. As reported, the scientist Szent-Gyorgyi noted that “what drives life is...a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.” Via the process of photosynthesis, plants convert the energy of the sun into a form that is usable by life forms on the planet. Energy with the capacity of consciousness is constantly being supplied to life forms via plants or via animals that eat plants. Also, the physical, cellular elements of the "body" are constantly being replaced, so the physical “you” is not “who” you were even days ago. Therein we find the first thing that is cycling in this existence: the elements that form the space that humans refer to as the body. Not only will those elements cycle from the earth (in the “beginning” of the space) and back to the earth (at the “end” of the space) but they are cycling every second as well. An earlier posting explained it this way:

The human body is constantly replacing and regenerating cells to maintain proper and efficient function. (If you spend ten minutes reading this post and considering the content, during that time you will have shed 250,000 skin cells and those will have been replaced by 250,000 different cells. Not one cell of the billions of skin cells that came about during the last twenty-eight days is now present.)

So while it is true that physical elements are cycling during this relative existence, a false belief among persons in regards to cycling is commonly-held. Persons believe that the body-mind-personality will cycle into some eternal existence, a lie that is taken to be true as a result of conditioning, of programming, and of accepting myths and superstitions as fact. Are you aware that elements dealing with the physical body are presently cycling in the relative existence but that the physical body itself will not cycle into any realm beyond the relative? The point was offered this way in an earlier posting:

There has never been one body with continuity, and there will never be a body with continuity (whether talking about pre-manifestation, manifestation or post-manifestation).

That is, there was no body with beingness prior to the manifestation of the conscious-energy that You Are…talk of sacred contracts notwithstanding. Next, even during the period that the conscious-energy is manifested, there is no body continuity since all components of the body are cycling ever second. Finally, after the conscious-energy is no longer manifested, there will be no continuity of the body…talk of heaven and hell notwithstanding. After the initial shock of realizing that your physical body will not cycle out of the physical realm (and realizing it will neither enter a heaven and be rewarded forever nor enter a hell and be tormented forever), what new and higher level of freedom might come with that awareness? How might the sanity and joy of NOW suddenly manifest as a result of that realization? Please enter the silence of contemplation.

SENSE OR FAITH: Freedom or Bondage for Humankind, Part Three

F.: "Faith" has been defined as “a belief in God” or as “complete trust” or as “belief with strong conviction in things that cannot be proved.”

BELIEF IN GOD
Belief in that which has never been witnessed will inspire belief in many things not observable: angels; demons; saints; an omnipresent god of evil as well as an omnipresent god of good; a god of good that is supposedly omnipotent but who cannot—or chooses not to—destroy the god of bad; and an all-powerful being in another world that micro-manages events in this world and gives rewards to some but punishments to others, all the while claiming to love unconditionally. The conditioning that results in such magical thinking also leads persons to believe in many other things that exist only in their distorted perceptions, such as personal power, or the power to control the path of a storm via prayer, or the power to make it rain or not rain, or the ability to bring a blessing or a curse to others. "Faith" produces magical thinking which removes persons from being in touch with Reality, therefore leaving them out of touch with reality (a.k.a., insane).

COMPLETE TRUST
It is normal for children to be so naive that they can have complete trust. They believe parents who tell them that there’s a Santa Claus, an Easter Bunny, and a Tooth Fairy. They believe parents who tell them that cows are sacred. They believe the authorities who tell them that god will send them to an eternal sex orgy if they will only kill themselves while killing members of other religions. Some learn that cows aren’t sacred; others learn that there’s no Santa, Magic Bunny or Magic Fairy. They learn that they were lied to by people in authority whom they respected and by persons whom they, wrongly, had trusted completely. Amazingly, though, they continue to have blind faith and complete trust in all of the other concepts that those same liars tell them. Such blind faith and unquestioning trust, however, is about being a child. As an adult, blind faith in authority is not only childish but is also dangerous because it separates persons from reality and traps them in distorted thinking and makes them (and often others) suffer the consequences of their distorted thinking. Why would adults be trapped in the naivete of children and continue to have complete trust in the fiction presented by authority figures? Because as children they were conditioned through use of rewards and punishments to accept unquestioningly the dictates they received from authorities; as adults, therefore, they continue to behave as children. They are driven to seek rewards now and "later" and to try to avoid punishments now and "forever more." Like children, they continue to seek approval from authority figures, leaving others in control of the way they "feel." Few persons ever realize that the only "reward" available is freedom from belief in the lies that drive them, that steal their ability to make independent choices, and that trap them in dependency. Few persons ever realize that the only "punishment" is living under the control of a "mind," believing that it is your mind while all along it is their mind. And their "mind" is nothing more than an accumulation of beliefs and concepts that can be traced back thousands of years...beliefs and concepts that were dreamed up by ignorant, arrogant men and are now taken as gospel truth by persons who have been programmed to accept all that they are told with unquestioning, complete trust.

A BELIEF WITH STRONG CONVICTION IN THINGS THAT CANNOT BE PROVED
To believe with strong conviction in anything that cannot be proved is the very essence of being blind, illogical, and trapped in delusion. The tool that controlling persons use to hook others into such blind, illogical, and delusional thinking is blind faith. It is blind faith that allows the consciousness to be vulnerable to being warped. The consciousness of Pavlov’s dogs became so warped that the dogs responded to a bell in the way that normal dogs only respond to the smell of meat. As a result of conditioning, the dogs had “strong convictions” about something that was false, but they could not realize their mistaken beliefs because of the conditioning; thus, they questioned nothing and insanely salivated without logical or real cause. Conditioned persons with their “strong convictions” (or, "blind faith") are as helpless and as illogical in their conduct and beliefs as Pavlov’s dogs. Just as conditioned dogs are delusional, so conditioned persons are delusional.

Because the “journey” to Realization begins with a questioning of everything that one has ever been told, then “faith” is obviously a roadblock on the path to Realization; blind faith is a barrier to those persons who would move beyond living a life under the influence of conditioning; blind faith is a hindrance to ever being freed from the effects of programming; blind faith is an impediment to breaking free of the bondage of enculturation; blind faith is an obstruction to ever being free of the widely-held nonsense that was dreamed up by ignorant men of ancient times and believed in by ignorant persons of modern times; blind faith is the tool of those who would control others and is the drug that leaves those “others” vulnerable to being controlled. Being “restored to your senses” means (a) living naturally through full and conscious use of the five basic senses and (b) being in touch with the sixth sense as well. Further, being “restored to your senses” means being out-of-touch with nonsense and in touch with Reality. And the irony is that the Realized (who make no judgments about "moral" or "immoral" and who label nothing as "good" or "bad") automatically live in the manner that persons of judgment would call "moral living." Are you living naturally, unnaturally, or supernaturally? Have you seen that what you have always taken to be “your” beliefs are not yours at all? How free do you want to be? Freedom comes with “getting rid of,” never with “getting.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.

SENSE OR FAITH: Freedom or Bondage for Humankind, Part Two

F.: [Continued from yesterday] Nowadays, freedom is still being stolen because children are being programmed and conditioned as concepts are force-fed into their brains…creating warped “minds” as the Original Understanding has been lost and as the Misunderstanding is being taught as fact. Along with the introduction of Western concepts such as “good” and “bad” and “punishment” and “reward,” an entirely new vocabulary of cerebral imprisonment has evolved. The members of the earliest human communities were Realized and did not suffer the mental anguish common to persons today. How is that known? It is known that those early cultures had no dualistic words for concepts such as ownership, greed, war, right, wrong, good, bad, reward, punishment, my, mine, yours, ours, theirs, hate, contend, competition, rival, separation, time, or problem—all words that mark the cultures of the unenlightened masses. More importantly, those cultures had no word for “I”—the word which is at the heart of delusion and egotism and the false sense of separateness that plagues persons. Thus, those early people were stable and sane and free because they suffered no dual-mindedness. It is known that dual-minded persons are unstable in all ways, but in those early cultures of unicity, no duality or multiplicity was being imagined. Quite to the contrary, they were consciously aware of the Oneness, so they knew the greatest degree of mental and emotional stability and freedom that humans, on the whole, would ever know. Today, that level of freedom can again be known by following a path to Realization…to realizing what the earliest humans knew intuitively as well as what each person now knows but has forgotten.

The more nonsense that was introduced over the ages, the more persons became imprisoned, trapped in their “minds,” suffering the consequences of trying to negotiate this relative existence with their consciousness having been bastardized with concepts. How, then, can humanity return to at least the maximum level of freedom that can happen in this relative existence? Freedom comes with enlightenment, and enlightenment begins with being free of all learned ignorance that is being taught by cultures, parents, priests, worshippers, moralists, preachers, spiritualists, and all the others who claim to know what is “absolutely right” and what is “absolutely wrong” in a relative existence. In Reality, what could be more insane—more out of touch with Reality—than trying to apply absolute labels to relative situations? Yet the masses accept those lies as fact because they live under the influence of blind faith, and therefore under the influence of those to whom they give blind allegiance. In fact, it is that which persons so proudly call their “faith” that prevents their seeing the light and thus locks them (and almost all humanity) in the darkness. Only one variety of faith exists, and it is blind faith. So what of you? Are you seeing clearly, or is faith preventing your taking the one action that must precede even the beginning of the seven-step “journey” to Realization, namely, being willing to question it all? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: Faith, God, Trust, and Belief in Things That Can Never Be Proved

SENSE OR FAITH: Freedom or Bondage for Humankind, Part One

F.: “Senseless” actions are those of persons who are not in touch with all six senses, who do not sense the oneness, and who are therefore driven by a false sense of separation. When one is being driven, he has no say about where he will go; he may as well be blindfolded since he has no real input regarding where he will end up at any given moment. Only the driver—whoever or whatever is driving him—will determine the course that is followed, will decide which turns are taken, which turns are not taken, and what all the destinations will be on his total journey. Such persons may as well be in total bondage, and—in fact—they are.

Anyone being driven by anything or anyone has no freedom at all. Accordingly, those being driven by “their faith” have no choice. To be living a life without the ability to make conscious choices and to be driven blindly and unquestioningly by the beliefs of others is to be in bondage. Such persons are so blind that they even speak of “their faith” when it is not their faith at all: it is the blind faith of others that they have now blindly assumed as their own. Their circumstances differ not at all from those who speak of “their beliefs.” Persons do not realize that they have no beliefs of their own because they have never listed every component of their belief systems and then sat in the quiet to weigh the veracity of each belief and then determined if that belief can be factually proved or not. He who believes in non-facts and non-truths is out of touch with Reality and is therefore insane. The only journey that need be undertaken by any person is the journey back to Reality, back to sanity. That only happens after discarding every belief that one had claimed to be his or hers when it was really theirs; it only happens when one is sane enough to be able to differentiate between true and false; it only happens when one respects established fact over blind faith. Only at the end of that “journey” to Full Realization can true freedom be had.

Of course, the concept of “freedom” on this planet and in its relativistic existence must always be accompanied with an asterisk. Even as the birds in the wild are free to come and go as they please—as are all animals, fish, and insects—none are so free that they do not have to work to sustain the consciousness. That said, all of those other life forms are far freer than humans today. The possibility exists, however, for mankind to be freed of the suffering that comes from belief in concepts and lies and misunderstandings. The opportunity lies in following a “path” back to the Original Understanding.

At one time, humans were as free as birds (and all other life forms) when humankind grasped the “Original Understanding.” Cave paintings dating to 30,000 B.C. show that the walls of some caverns actually served as the earliest form of “blackboards” used by “teachers” with their “students.” The teachings—possibly the earliest examples of satsangas—offered the understanding of the unicity of the beingness and the sun, of the beingness and conscious-energy. [Recall the pointer offered by the scientist Szent-Gyorgyi who noted that “what drives life is thus a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.”] Thousands and thousands of years later, a dualistic notion of a separate element—a supernatural element—crept into cave drawings as some persons had obviously begun to teach concepts involving a subject-object duality dealing with a “you” and a “creator of you.” Persons began to ignore the “Original Understanding,” and dualistic thinking (along with the concepts generated by such distortion) began to take hold and steal from humans whatever degree of freedom they had.

The “newer” teachings, rather than offering true freedom, created dependency instead, and dependency negates independence. Humans lost the freedom that only accompanies the understanding of the functioning of the totality via the Original Understanding. They had been led into the trap of dependency (and thus bondage) because they blindly accepted by faith the bastardized teachings of so-called “spiritual” (and later “religious”) guides who began to offer the Original Misunderstanding that has now evolved into the world’s religions and the world’s spiritual movements. Today, billions across the globe are walking about blindly, accepting the bastardized versions of the Original Understanding because the teachings adumbrate just enough of the Original Understanding that the religious dogma and spiritual tenets seem to resonant as “truth” at some level:

“You will not die.”
[True, since there is no “you” to die.]

“You can have everlasting peace.”
[Call it “peace” if you like, but when merged into the Absolute, there is no awareness at all. If the deep sleep, no-thought, no-awareness state is peaceful, then, yes, peace shall be.]

“Atonement is available to you.”
[Awareness of the “at-one-ment” is certainly available to the Realized, but only while manifested.]

“An eternal existence follows this life.”
[True to the extent that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.]

Meanwhile, 1/3 of the population of the earth who claim to be “Christians” focus on the early talks of Christ as he repeated the Jewish dogma that he was programmed with during his youth while they totally ignore the Advaita teachings he offered as an adult, post-Realization:

“No one shall ever see the kingdom of heaven—it is within.”

“Heaven and earth shall fade away” (as shall all images fade away when the consciousness unmanifests).

“When you speak of me, speak of me as I AM.”

“Before Abraham was, I AM.”

His followers today cling to the comments he made for audiences of “wet charcoal” and ignore the pointers he offered to those at the level of “dry charcoal” or “gunpowder.” Only to the Realized do his statements above make sense. As for the billions of non-Realized persons, they shall cling to his pre-Realization talks and shall continue to believe that their bodies shall resurrect, that their minds shall re-form, and that their personalities will be in tact for eternity. Such has been the case since the Original Misunderstanding replaced the Original Understanding. Does the Original Misunderstanding drive you? Are you living in the bondage of blind faith and dreaming that you are free, or have you grasped fully the Original Understanding that comes via Full Realization? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part Six

F.: Another part of the definition of “nonsense” suggests that it involves “giving supposed value to things of no importance.” Persons (the non-Realized) typically make mountains out of molehills and then end up living in the darkness and shadows of the valleys formed by those mountains. That "giving of supposed value to unimportant things" is another aspect that perpetuates the belief in nonsense among persons:

GIVING SUPPOSED VALUE TO THINGS OF NO IMPORTANCE
Just when it seemed that no person could reveal any nonsense not already heard during satsangs that were offered a few years back, a man came to the house and wanted to discuss the belief that he should possibly kill his daughter. He believed that his god might prefer that she be dead rather than being allowed to live and give birth to a baby “out of wedlock.” He based his belief in the fact that his “holy book” told of men who stoned non-virgins to death. He also quoted a passage from the Book of Revelation in that text:

"Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation…and I will kill her children with death.”

We determined that the value he was assigning both to the words in his “holy text” as well as to the concept of “virginity” might now be over-rated since, for 99% of the entire time that humans have walked the planet, all conception had been “outside wedlock” and since most pregnancies occurred during the “teen years.” If one pretends that the time in which humans have traversed the globe equals an hour, then the concept of "adultery" has only been around for a fraction of the final second of that hour.

Once it was determined that he need not follow literally the suggestions in his holy text that he should kill his daughter, then the next question was, “Well, should we force her to marry him, or should we take her to get an abortion?” When it was determined that neither of those had to happen, a third possibility was suggested: (1) a very natural happening had happened and (2) in seven months he might find that he enjoys holding his first grandchild in his arms.

Several months later he again returned in a state of panic, overwhelmed with guilt when the daughter miscarried and the family was arranging for a funeral for a still-born child. “Did I cause this by not wanting the child initially?” he asked. (Supernatural thinking convinces persons that they have far greater power and influence than they have. In this case, a man really believed that he could cause an abortion with his thoughts alone. Others trapped in supernatural thinking believe that their thoughts and prayers can change the weather, can result in the accumulation of wealth, or can initiate god-sanctioned wars.)

Programming and conditioning and enculturation give so much supposed importance to things of no value: virginity above life, golden robes, pointy hats, special buildings, special texts, words written by controlling and ignorant men, titles and roles, assumed identities, concepts, precepts, dogma, image, status, standards, absolute definitions of “right” and “wrong,” ad infinitum. And all that nonsense evolves from the programming which inspires belief in all of the concepts that shifted humankind away from living naturally—as do other life forms—and instead inspires persons to live in the very unnatural way that supernatural thinking inspires. (Only twisted, supernatural thinking could inspire a father to think that the unnatural act of killing his daughter, rather than protecting his daughter, would be the natural response to her actions which did not coincide with his dogmatic morals and supernatural beliefs.)

Such magical, supernatural thinking creates desires and fears, twisted thoughts, and imaginary needs...all of which can inspire perverted, unnatural behavior. Such supernatural thinking can create ego-states that are more concerned with their image in the community than with natural instincts; thus, cultures are now marred with far more unnatural behavior than with natural behavior. Such magical, supernatural thinking can inspire a person to force a daughter to marry someone she did not love. Such magical, supernatural thinking can make a person want to terminate a pregnancy at one point and then cry because the same pregnancy ended at another point. Is it any wonder that persons (the non-Realized) are so confused, driven as they are by the whims of their bogus “minds” and constantly being blown about by the winds of emotional intoxication?

The Realized poet William Shakespeare offered the pointer that “in nature, there’s no blemish but the mind.” The “mind” is the storehouse of nonsense, a blemish on what had once been the pure consciousness. Peace and sanity can only come when the nonsense—the “mind” and its content—are cast aside, when the blemish has been removed, and when the consciousness is re-purified by eliminating all concepts and ideas and beliefs. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: SENSE OR FAITH: Freedom or Bondage for Humankind

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part Five

F.: Yesterday, the following definition of “nonsense” was offered: "Nonsense" has been defined as “language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense” or as that which “leads to instances of absurd action” or as that which “gives supposed value to things of no importance.” (The irony is that, once the consciousness has been so thoroughly bastardized via enculturation, persons must actually engage in the nonsense. Religious roles and spiritual roles must be played for a time in order to shift the focus of persons away from their identification with the body and away from their obsession with the materialistic “mind.” To reach Full Realization, however, both religious and/or spiritual roles must be transitioned since they are sources of levels of nonsense that reach the highest heights.)

Today’s posting will focus on two elements of the definitions of nonsense above to show how nonsense is perpetuated via “ideas” and how it also results in the taking of "absurd actions":

IDEAS
To perpetuate nonsense via ideas, believe in an entity (or entities) living in other worlds that manipulate everything in this world. Believe that holocausts, religious wars, cancer, genocide, AIDS, poverty, child abuse, murder, misery, and suffering are all happening within the framework of a divine, supernatural plan. Believe that storms are sent by a god for punishment. Believe that a god orchestrated the killing of 3000 people in an office building because He was angry about non-Christians, liberated women, and gays. Tell your children during worship services that they are drinking the blood and eating the body of a man, but criticize vampirism and cannibalism. Accept fictional and/or allegorical writings in “holy texts” as literal truth and allow those fabrications to control every aspect of your life. Believe that the body will reform after decaying or cremation. Believe that a virgin can have a baby and still remain a virgin. Believe that you can control weather via prayers. Believe people who tell you that there is a god in another world that wants you to give away part of your money and that he’ll bless you if you do. All of that will perpetuate the nonsense that persons believe in and will thereby allow nonsense to control their behavior.

ABSURD ACTION
To perpetuate the nonsense of "absurd actions," stand by a wall and wail as you bob your head and body back and forth. Strap on a bomb vest and blow yourself up while killing infidels. Destroy a family because a spouse is “not religious enough.” Give away your money. Have ten children even though you can only afford to care adequately for two. Wear special hats or clothes in order to be more religious or more spiritual. Hear voices and have conversations with fictional entities. Go to a "holy building" and roll on the floor and speak gibberish in order to worship a diety. Let holy cows roam your streets. Be willing to die if ordered to do so by persons with distorted beliefs. Believe that you heard a god tell you to bomb another country, even if it would result in the killing of thousands of civilians there...and then do it. Wear your hair in a specified fashion as defined by religious leaders. Practice corporal mortification, wear a spiked chain around your thigh for two hours each day, and use a knotted rope to practice self-flagellation. Eat only what religious leaders tell you to eat. Do spiritual disciplines all day long, every day, rather than living a normal, natural life. Think magically. Give up sex to better serve an invisible "lord." Wear robes. Believe that magical words can transform bread into the human body of a man who has been dead for two thousand years. Let your conduct be controlled by words dreamed up and written thousands of years ago by ignorant men. After learning that your religious leaders are molesting small boys, continue to go to their "holy buildings" and continue to give them portions of your income to use to cover up their crimes. All of that will perpetuate the nonsensical actions undertaken by persons.

Realization is about being restored to sanity, about getting back in touch with reality. Belief in nonsense is about being insane, about being out of touch with reality, and about refusing to complete the "journey" that is required to be free of the programming and conditioning that generate distorted thinking and insane behavior. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: The Nonsense of GIVING SUPPOSED VALUE TO THINGS OF NO IMPORTANCE (Why a religious man said he felt the need to kill his unwed, pregnant daughter)

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part Four

“In nature, there’s no blemish but the mind.”
—William Shakespeare

F.: "Nonsense" has been defined as “language, conduct, or an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense” or as that which “leads to instances of absurd action” or as that which “gives supposed value to things of no importance.” It is the collection of all nonsense that becomes known as the “mind.” Humans are born with brains but are not born with minds. The “mind” is that conglomeration of falsehoods and concepts that results when ignorance is learned and when the consciousness is bastardized as a result of persons being programmed to believe in nonsense. Then, in the arrogance that follows the assumption of ego-states as identities, each person will speak of "my mind" rather than realizing that it is "their mind"...nothing more than the accumulation of the beliefs and concepts of others. That results in persons forgetting what they knew intuitively and believing instead in the learned ignorance that they are taught by others.

Consider each element mentioned in the definitions of "nonsense" above to see how persons become trapped in their belief in nonsense:

LANGUAGE
Say “God bless you,” as if you have the power to get a god to give some blessing to others, even if according to "doctrine" they do not deserve a blessing. Buy into the egotistical belief that you can bring about good fortune for others (or use the phrase openly as an arrogant way to let all know how “holy” you are). The language of "talking in your sleep" can perpetuate the nonsense dreamed up by men in days gone by.

CONDUCT
Knell now, rise now, and then knell again. Ring a bell. Put a bowl on a pillow and strike it with a special stick. Wear a special robe or cross. Kill yourself while killing members of other religions. Hum and chant or shout and scream. Ask favors of some external power. Arbitrarily follow holy diets rather than the food plan indicated for your body type. Wave your arms in the air. Roll on the floor. Speak in unknown tongues. Cry. Sing praises. Faint. Give away your possessions or money. Let a healer strike you on the forehead and then swoon. Fight with others who have different beliefs. Cast out demons. Give thanks for all the angels that float about in your presence. Listen to religious leaders who tell you what movies you can or can’t see and which books you can or can’t read. Allow spiritual leaders to tell you what you should or should not eat. Allow men in Rome to influence how many children you have instead of deciding for yourself. Question nothing; believe it all with unwavering "faith." Let outside influences control every thought you think, every action you take, every feeling you feel, and every word you say. The conduct of behaving as others tell you to behave can perpetuate the nonsense so typical among persons. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: The Nonsense of IDEAS and of ABSURD ACTIONS

UPCOMING: The Nonsense of GIVING SUPPOSED VALUE TO THINGS OF NO IMPORTANCE (Why a religious man said he felt the need to kill his pregnant daughter)

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part Three

F.: Programming and conditioning inspire supernatural and unnatural thinking which in turn inspires persons—the non-Realized—to (a) believe nonsense and to (b) “have faith.” Belief in nonsense, along with an unquestioning acceptance by faith in that which is totally imagined and unsupported by fact, results in more unnatural behaviors and even more supernatural, magical, insane thinking. Thus, those who move along the “path” to full Realization are the ones who first realize that thinking—that “stuff” generated from the “mind”—is at the core of all problems in the relative existence.

The animals and birds and insects and fish—that is, all life forms on the planet—all “come and go” and live naturally…except humans. Hundreds of millions of trillions of life forms exist on the planet. Birds and animals and fish and insects outnumber the seven billion humans by the millions of trillions, and another part of realization involves seeing that the birds and insects and animals and fish fare far better than humans. Looking at the lake from the deck yesterday…

…a few examples bore witness to the fact that, while billions of trillions of birds and animals and fish and insects live naturally and do just fine during the entire period that the consciousness is manifested in the space which they "appear" to be, humans don’t function nearly as well. Yesterday it was observed that, during the hours before dusk, the heron had stood watch and ate once; some insects had been seen to land on the water, only to have a fish strike the surface and consume them; earlier in the day, other flying insects such as wasps had been searching for a location for their new nest; squirrels chased each other about as they played their love-making games, as did the ducks; and some birds flew alone while others moved in unison in swooping patterns of synchronicity. All those activities with the birds and fish and insects and animals merely happened, and it all happened without stress or annoyance, unlike two angry boat owners who were cursing the engine that have gone dead during the winter sojourn. All of those life forms which live in an opposite fashion from humans live a natural, peaceful existence right up until the instant that the consciousness unmanifests. Why are they all more adept at sane living than humans who live insanely?

Birds and insects and animals and fish are never driven to accumulate, so they never know the stress of trying to maintain accumulations. They neither desire nor want, so they never experience dissatisfaction or perceived “needs.” They are not driven (as a result of their fears) to rob, steal, overwork, or marry for support. They are not inspired to give gifts to fictional entities in order to receive gifts in return. They are not concerned with this life, much less with “an afterlife.” They do not give a portion of what they forage for in order to gain rewards that have been dreamed up by the humans around them. They have no dogma, so they do not hate and do not kill other species that do not agree with their dogma. They all live just as the deer lives.

The deer can be startled by a human walking into its territory, but it will move away to extend the consciousness that it is. It will not claim ownership of land, nor will it be trapped in fear for days or months or years as a result of the encounter. It will move away from trouble and then just be. It will do the minimum that is required to sustain the consciousness. It will eat only enough, so it will never overeat and will never use food to provide “comfort” or “a sense of feeling full.” It will not become insane as a result of accumulating concepts and beliefs. It will accumulate nothing. No animal or bird or fish or insect has to pray or meditate to try to be at peace. They do not want or desire. Because they automatically do whatever is required to extend the consciousness for its period of manifestation, they are not concerned about the future, about “good vs. bad,” or about being accepted or rejected for now and for eternity.

Thus, they live in the NOW because they have no concept of a “past” or a “future.” They live naturally and are free of unnatural or supernatural beliefs. They merely are. All that happens with them happens naturally. They do not plan or expect, so they do not suffer the misery of foiled plans or unmet expectations. They have no faith in anything at all but do just fine, and early humans lived exactly in that same style. Only when nonsense and faith were introduced did humans stop living in the natural style. Only then did all of the insanity among humans come about, and only then did humans begin to believe that they needed supernatural intervention in order to survive now and “later” as well. Only then did humans begin to experience what neither humans nor fish nor animals nor insects nor birds had experienced before: desire, want, fear, need and frustration. So now, the few billion humans on the planet who egotistically take themselves to be members of the “superior species” or who think they represent the “highest life form” cannot pull off what billions of trillions of small-brained insects, mindless fish, no-intellect birds, and no-mind animals can pull off: living naturally with a predominant sense of ease and comfort. Movement along the “path” to Realization continues after persons are freed of their egotism. One way to become free of that egotism is for persons to see that small-brained insects, mindless fish, no-intellect birds, and no-mind animals live more sanely than persons have lived so far. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: Nonsense

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part Two

F.: Yesterday’s post addressed the nonsense that most humans believe regarding their conception. Because persons (the non-Realized) believe in the nonsense that each human conception has a magical, supernatural component to it, then everything that follows in the “life” of each human has a magical, supernatural (and therefore nonsensical) element to it. Furthermore, everything that persons imagine, say, do, feel, or believe is distorted because it is all viewed through the murky lens of their magical, supernatural thinking. For example, at the moment of this writing, confused persons in Indonesia are evacuating their homes that are near a volcano that is predicted to erupt. Why “confused?” Because they had been faithful in paying homage to the volcano to appease it, having tossed in money and jewelry and live animals as sacrifices or gifts that were intended to calm the anger and avoid the wrath and to assure that they received the rewards of life and health and safety and blessings.

A self-proclaimed Christian was heard to mock the Indonesians’ superstitious beliefs and conduct, yet that person is tithing regularly (giving 10% of all earnings to his church) claiming that the teachings in his “holy book” (a) support his belief in his religion’s “prosperity ministry” as well as (b) the belief that his god will be disappointed if followers do not give and that (c) his giving will guarantee that he will be rewarded with life, health, safety, blessings and everlasting continuity of body and mind. The nonsense that is generated by magical, supernatural thinking can inspire one to label as “insane” the tossing of valuables into a volcano while simultaneously believing that the tossing of valuables into collection baskets and plates each week is “sane.”

The nonsense can move beyond religious dogma and can involve “spiritual” beliefs which suggest that a person who has been driven insane can be restored to sanity by merely asking a god to do that. Because magical, supernatural, nonsensical thinking is so prevalent among the persons of the earth, it has become the “norm” and living in a sane and natural fashion is now the exception. So what is “sense” and what is “nonsense”? If one studies the etymology of the word “sense,” it is found that it involves “the ability to reach sound conclusions and to have an understanding that is typically marked by practicality.” Is it practical to toss money, jewelry and animals into volcanoes? Is it practical to give money to churches that have already accumulated treasuries, treasures and holdings that are worth trillions of dollars? Is it practical to believe that sanity can be restored merely by asking?

Moreover, having “sense” really refers to being in touch with the sixth sense or the intuitive awareness that allows one to live naturally and practically, as does the deer. Humanity in its early stages lived naturally, as does the deer. A shift occurred when persons developed language and began talking nonsense. The subsequent programming and conditioning that produced the widely-held beliefs in myths, superstitions, dogma and “the supernatural” shifted humans away from natural living and trapped them in a lifestyle that has lost the practicality that comes with the “understanding” that provides the ability to reach sound conclusions.

As a result, a culture can suggest that it is “practical” to believe that an angry god kills persons by using hurricanes or by allowing people to fly planes into office buildings...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.” A culture can suggest to someone who owns a life-sustaining goat that it would be “practical” to toss it into a volcano to keep it from erupting...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.” A culture can convince people that it is “practical” to give money to one of the richest institutions on the planet in order to gain a reward now and a reward later...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.” A culture can convince people that it is practical to starve while allowing cattle to roam free...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.” A culture can convince people that is practical to blow yourself up while killing people of different religions...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.” A culture can convince insane people that they merely need to ask a god to restore them to sanity and that their wish for sanity shall be granted...and the masses accept that as a “sound conclusion.”

So what of you? Have you accepted at face value the beliefs held by your culture at large? Has your “faith” denied you the right to question the most nonsensical teachings of your culture? Is your every action practical? Do you have the “understanding” that allows you to realize how the totality functions? Has your life been marked by reaching sound conclusions, or do you accept the conclusions that have been drawn by others throughout the ages? Are you in touch with the inner resource and living naturally, or are you listening to outer resources and looking to outer powers to determine how you live and what you do? Is it possible that faith has generated acceptance of nonsense? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
TOMORROW: Faith and Nonsense

SENSE…and NONSENSE, Part One

F.: Recently, the following invitation was extended to site visitors:

“You're invited to forget magical, supernatural explanations and to find the true, scientifically-provable facts, for in that finding, you will come to know Who/What You Truly Are and You will understand the functioning of the totality: ‘What is it that really cycles…and what does not?’ and ‘Where were you prior to conception? That is, before the sperm fertilized the egg, where was the sperm? How did that sperm happen to exist in that location? Since neither the sperm in men nor the eggs in women are obtained by eating sperm or eggs, what was consumed that ‘made’ the sperm and egg and that provided its energy? Where did the energy that was in that consumed source come from?”

For those who took the questions offered in the 12 May 2006 posting into consideration and found all the lies that they had believed and then found the truth, then their search has ended, their “spiritual work” has been transcended, and they are now living an AS IF existence in which they know the I AM and also know the THAT. They are free, meaning “free of the nonsense that was programmed into them.” For those who have not yet reached the point of Full Realization, each pointer shall be discussed.

A recent poll indicated that eighty-seven percent of all adults in the U.S., and possibly an even higher number worldwide, don’t have a clue how human babies are made. Please note that the survey did not say that “children” don’t know how human babies are made. It showed that “adults” don’t know how human babies are made. That percentage indicated that they believe that after an act of fornication results in an ejaculation, from that point forward a god or some supernatural force takes over control of the route run by the 20,000,000 sperm released per ejaculation and determines their course. Those persons believe that in the case of the two conceptions per second that are occurring on the planet (along with the occurrence of thousands of other instances of ejaculation that do not end in pregnancy) that there is a god that is micro-managing—at any given second—the movement of trillions of spermatozoa. They believe that, in each case, some other-worldly power is determining which single sperm cell—of the trillions released per second on the planet—reaches which particular egg or reaches no egg at all. (While many believe that it is a sin to waste sperm, they ignore the fact that even when an impregnation occurs, 19,999,999 other sperm die and are thus “wasted.”) Where better to begin a discussion of "sense and nonsense" than in the faith-based lies and misunderstandings around conception? The Realized not only understand how conception happens but also know where “they” were during the days prior to conception. So what is that “faith” that can lead adults to believe in the nonsense that 87% believe in? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “faith” is “a firm belief in something for which there is no proof.”

Relatedly, what is “sense” and what is “nonsense”? Knowing the difference in those two is the essence of Realization: the Realized recognize and discard nonsense; persons have “a firm belief” in nonsense.

For those on “the path” to Realization, the task is (a) to pause regularly, (b) to focus on every idea, concept and belief that is “firmly believed in” by the majority (and that has been passed on to you), and (c) to question each and every idea, concept, and belief to determine if you are holding firmly to something that can be proved or if you have blindly accepted what “they” told you is the truth.

The survey mentioned above shows that 87% of all persons do not stop to question even the most nonsensical of the magical, supernatural ideas that they have accepted as “their” beliefs, and it is their magical, supernatural thinking that prevents natural living. After decades of presenting the Teachings, Maharaj estimated that the percentage of those who are blindly accepting nonsense is 95% or more and that the percentage of those who will ever Realize is 5% or less. When was the last time you questioned any of your belief systems? What—other than the ego that is generated by the assumption of ego-states as false identities—would prevent a person from pausing to ask, “Why do I believe that? Is it something that I sensed intuitively, or is it nonsense that 'they' dreamed up and that I blindly accepted as fact?” Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

FOCUSING ON THE PROCESS OF REALIZATION

F.: Meditation was originally "the setting aside of time to consider pointers," not a time to hum, not a time to try to make contact with a fictional god, and not a time to try to reach a “no-mind” state. “No-mind” states that are reached during meditation are temporary, and nothing temporary is the Real; post-Realization, YOU will be in a perpetual no-mind state. For the next several days, therefore, you are invited to sit in the quiet and to consider certain questions, knowing that nothing you’ve ever been told is of any use in finding the true answers. The answers have always been within, merely obscured from your view because of programming. So for the next several days, please take the following questions into consideration until an answer comes that is unlike any answer you’ve ever been given by any person. You're invited to forget magical, supernatural explanations and to find the true, scientifically-provable facts, for in that finding, you will come to know Who/What You Truly Are and You will understand the functioning of the totality:

What is it that really cycles…and what does not?

Where were you prior to conception? That is, before the sperm fertilized the egg, where was the sperm? How did that sperm happen to exist in that location? Since neither the sperm in men nor the eggs in women are obtained by eating sperm or eggs, what was consumed that “made” the sperm and egg and that provided its energy? Where did the energy that was in that consumed source come from?

What is the body, really?

What is your “mind,” really?

Who told you that religious or spiritual roles were “the ultimate”?

Why is child ignorance preferable?

What is the witness?

What is the Pure Witness/the True Self/the beingness/the I AM ?

What is the non-beingness?

What is the Absolute... the THAT?

What complete cycle is revealed by understanding all of the answers to the above? That is, what is it that really cycles...and what does not?

REALIZATION AND ACCEPTANCE

From a site visitor: "(1) Seems like being Realized (and I know I am not there) is best enjoyed when you don‘t have to work or do. (2) Guess it would be great to have been Realized all along, but it wasn‘t to be. (3) By the way, I saw something by Tolle the other day, who speaks almost your same words, that said ‘acceptance means even accepting the fact that you can‘t accept things as they are.’ Guess that means just move on and live or be."

1. Seems like being Realized (and I know I am not there) is best enjoyed when you don‘t have to work or do.

F.: Not true. Some Realized have to work; some don't. Work continued for three years after Realization, but the shift was from (a) assuming the false identity of "Super Teacher" and thinking that there was an "I" who was doing (that I was “teaching”) to (b) the acceptance that on any given day, teaching might happen...or not. Then, no doing was involved. There was only the beingness and the witnessing of teaching as it happened...or as it did not happen. The Realized can be at peace if work is happening or can be at peace if work is not happening. Or, when challenges arise as happen with many jobs, the Realized can feel whatever feelings that rise and fall as they witness those, too, but no emotional intoxication results because there are no false, assumed identities that generate such intoxication. As for persons, by way of contrast, they can like work one day and hate it the next. Some persons can find it impossible to sit in the quiet if not working while others find it impossible to keep up with the pace of a job.

2. Guess it would be great to have been Realized all along, but it wasn‘t to be.

F.: Again, Realization does not guarantee that all feelings that are felt/witnessed are what persons would call "positive" or "good" feelings.

3. By the way, saw something by Tolle the other day, who speaks almost your same words, that said ‘acceptance means even accepting the fact that you can‘t accept things as they are.’ Guess that means just move on and live or be.

F.: Right. For example, 50% of the U.S. population from the beginning did not find the bombing of Iraqis to be acceptable conduct. It can be accepted without any emotional intoxication that the bombing of people is insane behavior and is unacceptable to sane people in the relative existence. AS IF living allows some of the Realized to work to alleviate suffering in the relative existence by addressing issues like war and poverty and disease and protection of the environment; it allows the consciousness to speak via some of the Realized and to point proteges along the "path"; and it also allows some of the Realized to not work and to not address anything. So it is. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

FALSE ABSOLUTES

From a site visitor: “You mentioned ‘false absolutes’ and ‘peripetia’ and I’ve never seen those in my advaita readings. Please explain.”

F.: Thanks for the e-mail. For more on the “peripetia,” please see
[http://advaitavedantameditations.blogspot.com/2005/10/what-happens-when-body-ends-part-five.html ]

As for “false absolutes,” they appear in many varieties. Persons express false absolutes when they use such terms as “always” or “never” in discussing happenings in the relative existence. They also use false absolutes when they use dualistic terms to categorize happenings or persons in the relative existence: “good,” “bad,” “right,” “wrong,” “moral,” immoral,” etc. There is only one Absolute, and any concepts or beliefs which suggest that anything in the relative can be defined in absolute terms is false.

Is it wrong to lie? “Yes,” many say. You're living in 1940’s Holland and are hiding Jews in a closet. The Green Police arrive with a Nazi backup force and ask if you're hiding Jews. You lie. You say "No." Is that wrong? There can never be anything in the relative existence that can be accurately categorized as being “absolutely right” or “absolutely wrong.”

Is it wrong to kill another person? “Yes,” many say. Would it be wrong if a man broke into my house, was going to kill my daughter, but I killed him to protect her?

If I’m living in India and my family members are dying of starvation, would it be wrong to kill and eat the cow that I own? “Yes,” most say, “because I’d rather die than eat the vessel of the sacred life-force.” But you’ll eat plants? “Yes.” So what do you believe is the source of the life-force in animals if not the plants that they eat? You do not know that animals derive that life-force by eating plants? Since the plant is the primary source, wouldn't the plant that you are eating be even more sacred than the animal that you are not eating?

Combine the concepts of “sacred” with the concept of “eating in a holy manner” and people will starve before eating beef or will go hungry rather than eat meat on Fridays or will die while pork rots in their presence. The 2/3’s of the population that needs protein in order for their organs to function properly will suffer as a result of deprivation that is inspired by faulty programming and insane conditioning and bizarre beliefs spread throughout their culture. Then expand that to the fact that all suffering and misery among persons results when they believe in false absolutes as well as the rest of the lies that they have been taught in their culture.

In the relative existence, no absolutes apply and all concepts and dualities are false. The Absolute Is, and all else is false. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

THE MISGUIDED QUEST FOR PEACE ON EARTH, Part Four

F.: This pointer was offered in yesterday’s posting: “Those false personas or ego-states always feel that they need “more” in order to feel complete or okay, so persons are driven to accumulate when the real solution to their trouble is to de-accumulate….” There are five stages from being programming to being free of the effects of programming. The following is a quotation from the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE which contains transcripts of talks with proteges:

“I've mentioned five stages that can be transitioned if one takes The Seven-Step Journey to Reality. Persons are exposed to twenty years of programming and conditioning. In the Western cultures especially, the programming is to get, to accumulate. Afterwards, most persons pass the next twenty years in the second stage, consumed with the process of accumulating. Fears and desires mark their passage. Some few might ask, 'Who am I?' and move into the fourth stage as they begin a process of Self-Inquiry, investigation, and discovery. Most persons will never make that shift and will continue trying to accumulate until the relative existence ends. For the few who focus on the search for an answer to that critical question, some will complete all seven steps along the path and reach the fourth stage of realization. [That is the stage where de-accumulation occurs, and de-accumulating does not involve getting rid of physical “stuff” but getting rid of the mental and emotional and persona “stuff” as well.] So what does the remainder of the relative existence look like for the realized? The fifth stage is AS IF Living.”

It is programming that bastardizes the consciousness, and if the consciousness is to become re-puried, it is all of the learned ignorance accumulated via programming that must be discarded. Can persons gathering in groups be programmed and conditioned? Of course. It happened in stadiums when Hitler and Mussolini spoke. It happens in classrooms. It happens in churches and temples and synagogues. It happens when masses listen to speakers via television or radio. It happens around the tables in so-called “spirituality-based” programs.

Can persons gathering in groups be de-programmed and freed of the effects of conditioning? No. Group gatherings are the tools of enculturation and programming, not the tool from attaining freedom from the liability of a "mind" or warped consciousness. Lies are learned in groups; truth is found in the silence when alone; thus, persons who believe that they (or their group) can change the world are misguided.

Can one person at a time be de-programmed and be inspired to de-accumulate? Yes. Realization comes to one person at a time as that person is freed of body identification, “mind” identities, personas or the influence of personality, and beliefs in man-made concepts. That happens when one takes considerations into the quiet and contemplates their meaning in order to see all of the dualistic lies that he/she has been taught and has erroneously accepted as truth. Those who are totally insane (totally out-of-touch with reality) haven’t a chance. They now have “minds” that drive them to live unnaturally or they are under the influence of magical thinking that drives them to buy into supernatural or myth-based beliefs. Only those who are willing to question everything they have been told and who have some ability to tap into the truth that can be known via the inner guru or the inner resource have a chance. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: “You’ve used the terms ‘false absolutes’ and ‘peripetia’ and I’ve never seen those in my advaita readings. Please elaborate.”