PAUSING TO ANSWER E-MAILS (Continued)

From a site visitor, continued from earlier postings: “Why do you put path and journey in quote marks? The path I’m following on my spiritual journey is very real.”

F.: So infected have “the minds” of the persons on the planet become that most haven’t even the slightest clue regarding what “natural” living involves. Too, most haven’t a clue how being embroiled in the activities of what you call your "spiritual journey” actually prevents natural living. All the happenings that inspire persons to turn to religion or spirituality are the root problem of programmed and conditioned persons. The problem is not the absence of religious or spiritual personas but the presence of all other personas. 95% in the U.S. practice some form of self-abuse with self-destructive behaviors or habits. [Of course the false “self” or “selves” will always try to self-destruct.] Millions turn to religion to seek a “better” life, but nothing in any dogma addresses the core issues that drove the self-abuse, so avoidance might happen but true solution does not. Millions of other persons turn to spiritual programs or journeys to provide a cure, but those processes do not address the central issues that drive self-destructive behaviors; therefore, some persons might stop abusing alcohol but will continue their self-abuse via use of other substances or practices to try to address the core issues that remain and are not addressed. What good can come of being physically sober if a person remains mentally intoxicated, emotionally intoxicated, and spiritually intoxicated?

How could the original relativistic problem of playing roles possibly be addressed and cured by playing more roles and by adopting new personas to replace former personas? Where is any evidence that the Ultimate Medicine has been received and applied? How could that which inspires the assumption of more personas possibility eliminate personas that are at the root of all self-destructive conduct? Where is any evidence of sanity having been restored? Where is any evidence of truly being in touch with reality? Where is any evidence of natural (self-constructive, AS IF) living in the relative existence amidst all that religious fervor or spiritual giantism? “Avoidance” does not equal “cured,” and that is evidenced by the fact that religions admit their approach has a one-week limit of effectiveness before persons need to return for another “treatment” while spiritual programs only promise a “daily” release before more treatment is needed. Where is any permanent shift in either? Neither offers the Final Remedy since both are four steps removed from restoration to sanity and from being in touch with reality. [See the magical thinking that both inspire for evidence.] Religious and/or spiritual practices are absolutely necessary in the process of shifting from body and mind identification. They are also necessary as a bridge that can allow persons to reconnect with reality, but they are only a bridge to Reality…not Reality itself. And neither ever leads to consistent, natural, AS IF living for the remainder of the manifestation.

Study the remote tribes that anthropologists have found in recent years to gain a glimpse into what natural living was like for humans for millions of years prior to the last five millennia or so when men dreamed up the concepts that became the basis of modern religions and modern spirituality as well as the “spiritual journey” that you think you’re on. Study the remote tribes that have no dualistic concepts and that have no words for “good” or “bad” or “reward” or “punishment” or “sin.” See how they live with none of the crime that is typical in “the godly nations.” See how they are free of all of the "hangups" of programmed and conditioned and traumatized persons. See how they suffer none of the rigidity that marks and mars the relative existence of persons nowadays who are trying to adhere to the tenets of unnatural standards of conduct dreamed up by “leaders” and imposed on the masses by their institutions. See how they are persona-free. Only by seeing the natural alternative and how far persons today have been removed from natural living can one see how far away from sanity persons have moved in the so-called “developed nations.” And when awareness of the ways of natural living are lost within a culture, then unnatural living and super-natural “living” both flood in to fill the seeming “void.”

But for those who sense that their religious and spiritual movements are a watered-down version of truth or that the movements are not providing the whole truth, then pointers to that which is beyond disciplines and devotion and worship and study and action and "service" and spiritual states are offered. For those who can read these postings with a non-judgmental attitude, it can be understood that I AM the Absolute, that state in which even the “I am” consciousness is not present. [Consider that billions long for that state every night, wherein they are in such deep and restful and peaceful sleep that they are not even conscious of their “I-Amness” but are completely “at-rest.” Then, consider how their learned ignorance and their desire for continuity of body inspire them to hate the notion of being in that state post-manifestation.]

As the Full Realization happens, the shift is (1) away from the belief that “I am my body” and (2) away from such mindsets as “I am a spouse” and “I am a boss” and “I am a Christian or Muslim or Jew or Buddhist” or “I am a very spiritual person” to (3) abiding in the awareness of only the “I Am” to (4) even being free of any consciousness of “I am.” Like the rest that comes when in a delta-level sleep, such is the reality of the Absolute. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

PAUSING TO ANSWER E-MAILS (Continued)

From a site visitor yesterday: “Why do you put path and journey in quote marks? The path I’m following on my spiritual journey is very real.”

F.: On this site, all that is shared is rooted in the Original Understanding which preceded all texts, all religions, all spiritual movements, all "paths,” all "journeys,” and all teachings by teachers. Long before anyone dreamed up the term “Advaita,” there was no duality. Obviously the earliest humans (like those humans living in isolated regions today who have been free of exposure to “modern societies and cultures”) grasped the Original Understanding rather than believing in the dualistic concepts held sacred by conditioned and programmed persons. How do we know that? Because their languages—the conveyers of concepts—were free of concepts and duality. No words appear in their languages to identify such concepts as “hate,” “war,” “greed,” “contend,” “competition,” “rival,” “heaven,” “hell,” “reward,” “punishment,” “separation,” “holy,” (a word which by definition means “different from”) “bad,” “good,” “time” (much less “time eternal”), “problem,” "ownership," "accumulate," or “personality.”

For millions of years, humans just lived…and lived naturally. They did not consider themselves to be “holy” or “different from.” They did not judge their children or brand them with “good vs. bad” labels. They did not burden their children with such concepts as “reward or punishment now” or such concepts as “eternal reward or eternal punishment later.” What kind of life remained for those not encumbered with such concepts then (and for those not encumbered with such concepts today)? Hunting and foraging and gathering to meet basic survival needs took only about 2.5 hours per day. The remainder of the day was spent in socializing, swimming, playing, having sex, craft-making, etc. since humans then were free of the expensive accumulations that now require two and three jobs to maintain. Note also that humans for 13-14 million years did not find it necessary to follow a “path” that required the wearing of funny hats or the burning of anything special, much less genuflecting or bowing or hitting gongs and striking bowls or any of the other things that are done by persons who claim to be “on a path” and who are embroiled as you claim to be in your “spiritual journey.” The only path they followed was a trail that passed through the peaceful woods. Some ask, “And on what basis do you claim to know?” Simple: I Was there then, and I Am there now.

Today, among religions and spiritual movements and yes, even among philosophies such as Advaita, the Original Understanding has been lost. Some warn against the dangers of “pseudo-advaita” while sitting on a special carpet in a special robe with a special necklace and a special cup and a special haircut and a special crystal ball. "Pseudo” is accurate. Many “sages” and some “gurus” and “jnanis” will expound upon whatever they choose to expound upon and then move protégés into sadhana or bhajans or bhakti…into disciplines and devotion and worship. Some prescribe unnatural, life-long regimens of study and action and service. Not with my teacher, and not here. My teacher ran the religious and spiritual giants out of his loft quite regularly. They were not ready to hear the consciousness speak, for it would invite them to move beyond the ego-states wherein they think they know it all to a position in which they actually come to abandon all of their role-playing and come to understand the functioning of the totality…to truly understand it all. Believing they know it all, those visitors would only ignore the consciousness that spoke anyway, so they were not allowed to stay. And even those protégés who were ready to listen were only allowed to remain for a very limited number of sessions before he told them to leave. After his pointers were offered, he encouraged them to leave, to find a quiet place, to contemplate the words heard when consciousness spoke, to realize the lies, to realize the truth, and then to live AS IF in a natural fashion for the remainder of the manifestation.

Here, the focus is on that which was prior to consciousness and therefore certainly before disciplines and devotion and worship. Disciples and devotees and worshippers prefer a watered-down version of “spirituality” while believing they are partaking of the chock-full blessed waters. So it is. For those who believe they are content in what some teachers call “spiritual kindergarten,” so be it. They choose to live unnaturally and supernaturally, not living in the natural fashion that humans did for millions of years but behaving and thinking instead in the unnatural and “super-natural” fashion that controlling men dreamed up only a few thousand years ago. Among the sane, those in touch with reality, only natural living happens since they are free of all personas. For those out of touch with reality, unnatural living happens among some persons who adopt false identities; others who are out of touch with reality adopt super-natural personas. A religious "person" and a spiritual "person" are still persons...still false personas, playing their roles instead of being Real. Do you see that the "spiritual journey" you claim to be on actually prevents any chance of transitioning all personas and then living in a natural fashion? That persona may have served you well for some part of the relative existence, but to be in touch with reality, you're invited to forfeit all roles and Realize fully. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

PAUSING TO ANSWER E-MAILS

From a site visitor: “Why do you put path and journey in quote marks? The path I’m following on my spiritual journey is very real.”

F.: As the heading on this website notes, pointers are offered to point toward Reality. Any path that persons think they’re following and any journey they think they’re taking can only lead to unreality. Why? (1) The type journey that you mention—a “spiritual journey”—cannot lead to Full Realization because spiritual concepts are still concepts, and all concepts entangled persons within the aspects of religious or spiritual knowledge—that is, learned ignorance. Once entangled, the “journey” cannot continue; the seeker becomes fixated at that point instead, believing he/she has found all that is to be sought. If one is traveling from L.A. to New York and is in Kansas, but truly believes that Kansas City is New York, why would any journey continue? (2) Real journeys are about going. There is no real Advaita path or journey because there is nowhere to go and no "one" to go there. That which you seek is That Which You Truly Are and is “the destination.” You need go nowhere; you are invited, instead, to sit in the quiet until you remember what is already known deep within. Why “deep”? Because the truth has been buried beneath a culture-full of lies and concepts.

(3) Moreover, religious and spiritual journeys involve gathering knowledge, but reality—being prior to consciousness—is certainly prior to the formation of religions and spiritual movements and the dogma and knowledge they urge you to accumulate, all of which was dreamed up by men and amounts to learned ignorance. The “journey” spoken of in these writings is merely a series of “steps” that are all intended to move persons away from gathering more of anything (including more knowledge) and certainly not toward gathering more of anything (including knowledge and learned ignorance).

Consider “steps” only in this fashion: many “steps” ensue within the body when an antibiotic is taken to eliminate an infection, but no one is really “taking steps” when they take the cure. It’s all within. [Must one be exposed briefly to a written prescription and to a person who can interpret its vague message? Yes. Likewise, a person seeking realization might be exposed briefly to a writing—such as on this site—and to one who can interpret the now-vague Original Understanding. But the period spent with the pharmacist is brief, and so should the exposure to an outer guru. The exposure should be limited as the consciousness speaks via the space called an outer guru as that connects you with the Real Guru: the inner guru.] Similar to one taking an antibiotic whereby the healing steps follow within the body, persons must take the Ultimate Medicine in order to eliminate the mental illness that results in the belief in personas and myths and lies. In one case, the cure must be taken to remove the impurities from the infected body; in the other case, the cure must be taken to remove the impurities of the infected (warped) consciousness. In one case, the cure dissolves away the infections in what is called “the body”; in the other, the (Advaita) cure dissolves away the infection called “the mind.” Many “steps” are taken in order to re-purify the consciousness, but no steps are being followed to gain anything. As with an infection, the goal is to get rid of it all. In truth, therefore, there is no “journey” to take nor any “path” to follow since you are already at your objective now and need but Realize that. You Are That Which you would know, and You Are where you would go. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

PAUSING TO ANSWER E-MAILS

F.: (Having completed the series on the Absolute, responses to some e-mails can now be posted. Thx for your patience.)

From a site visitor: “You badmouth knowledge by calling it learned ignorance, but I believe that planet earth is a school where we’re taught by those who came before and where we teach those who come after us. That is our purpose.”

F.: Sorry to challenge your perception that what is actually happening spontaneously on this planet has some noble purpose, but earth is not a school. It is an insane asylum that is currently filled to almost 95% capacity. The 95% who are completely insane as a result of programming, conditioning, and enculturation are passing on their fictional religious and spiritual knowledge (which constitutes the majority of the “learned ignorance”) and are thereby spreading their insanity. [Over 93% of the persons on the earth claim a religious affiliation for themselves and also assign that same affiliation to their offspring. For those who believe that “millions can’t be wrong,” please visit

http://advaitavedantameditations.blogspot.com/2006/04/how-religion-normalizes-separation.html

and read response #2.] One concession will be made: to the degree that 93-95% are being taught lies as truth, you are correct. Persons are being “schooled” in nonsense and non-facts and being convinced that the insane fiction that they have been taught is rational and factual. Few will ever hear the pointers required for them to be rid of their learned ignorance and then be restored to sanity.

Next, what benefit could possibly be derived from learning the erroneous, myth-based lies that persons are taught by “those who came before?” What benefit could possibly be derived from teaching the erroneous myth-based lies to “those who come after us”? And WHO do you think exists that could benefit from anything? Do you not know that your belief in concepts like "those" and "who" are also part of the learned ignorance? What would be known is already known, within, but has been forgotten because it is obscured by layer upon layer of learned ignorance. Cast aside the fog of ideas and concepts and the truth that can be found within will be seen clearly. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? The Final Conclusion

F.: [Continued from yesterday] Sang Whang explained the vibrations of energy in this way: Ever since the Big Bang, everything in the universe vibrates. All matters, atoms, molecules and all kinds of substances vibrate when energy is applied. We cannot see energy but we can see the effects of energy by observing different kinds of vibrations. [Therefore, persons cannot see the energy, which is what is real; instead, they see the illusions which result from the effects of that energy and then take those illusions to be real.] Through these vibrations, energy is transferred from one substance to another [such as from a plant to a human or an animal.] At absolute zero temperature, all matters cease to vibrate. As temperature increases, they vibrate. [Consider cold water in a pot as opposed to the same water when it reaches the boiling point.] The velocity and frequency of vibration depend on the substance: molecular weight, molecular structure, the size of mechanical structure, etc. [Take “energy” and “life” and “matter” to be “distinct” in terms of “appearance” if you like, but know that energy/life/matter is one in essence.]

Persons have no understanding of the Absolute or of the functioning of the totality, so when they look at what they take to be “each other” or “plants” or “animals” or “birds” etc., they believe that they are seeing many different things. What they are actually seeing are spaces in which conscious-energy has manifested and is vibrating at different rates. It’s all quantities of manifested conscious-energy (which do not differ from any other quantities of manifested conscious-energy); the only seeming “difference” that makes an “apparent variation” to be wrongly mistaken for a true disparity is the vibrational rate. How could a “member” of a race, or a “guru,” or a “worshipper” within a certain religious group, or a “member” of a particular spiritual group, or a “citizen” of a particular nation, or “an animal as opposed to a human” or anything else be considered “better than” when All is One (thing) that just happens to be manifestations of quantities of energy that are vibrating at varying rates? To complete all seven steps to Full Realization eliminates all role-playing and thus the relative-existence misery and suffering that accompany the assumption of false identities. All roles are equally odious as far as their impact on the relative existence is concerned. Would Spiritual Giants be better than Neo-Nazis? Would Religious Fanatics be preferable to Ku Klux Klansmen? All generate equally the misery and suffering that accompany role-playing which always result in beliefs about “separate” and “unequal” and “better than” and “worse than.”

What total ignorance on the part of those assuming the role of “Neo-Nazis” who are in reality saying, “We are so much better than you because we’re vibrating at the ‘right’ rate and you’re vibrating at the ‘wrong’ rate.” That type of mentality does not differ at all from the ignorance of those assuming the role of “godly worshippers”—some of whom have written to this site to complain about pointers which advance “living as naturally as the deer.” They found that pointer to be an insult to humans “who are the only living organisms that can rise above the animals and live in a noble and spiritual (supernatural) fashion.” Their actual meaning is, “Humans (which are just manifested energy) are better than animals (which are the same manifested energy) because the energy manifested in the spaces called ‘humans’ vibrates at a better rate than the energy manifested in spaces called ‘animals’.” It also means, “We who adopt religious or spiritual personas are far superior to other living organisms that are incapable of assuming false identities and generating a sense of separation from all those of lower standards or different vibrational rates.”

Duality, separation, false self-images, and self-deception abound among persons, and the assumption of false roles is always at the root of relative existence misery and suffering. [Some will claim that the roles they have assumed are alleviating their misery and suffering, discounting the misery and suffering they impose on “other persons in the relative existence” who must deal with them.] And those on the so-called “path” who fixate at the religious or spiritual level—the third of seven steps—will be as trapped in those roles as any other persons gripped by their assumed identities. No difference exists in the mindset of a Neo-Nazi and the mindset of a Spiritual Giant: both believe that they are the false roles they have assumed, both believe they are making the world a “better” place via their beliefs and behaviors, both have a sense of superiority over others who are not like them, and both have a false sense of “separate and unequal” that prevents truly knowing the Oneness. So much for any credibility to the dualistic concepts of “better” and “better than” which all of the non-Realized share in common. Those who have not yet completed even half of the “journey” take the dawn for the noon and believe they have “arrived” at the point of full enlightenment. Yet the pointer must be made that nothing about the Original Advaita Understanding deals with “making this world a better place.” It is about understanding that there is no “this world,” that this "world” is a dream and illusion, and that no one lives “in the world.” In every case with the non-Realized, they are not in the world; instead, the world is in them, in their “minds.” There are as many "worlds" as there are persons who are taking their warped perceptions to be real and accurate. The truth will set them free of their delusions, but truth cannot be found until all the non-truths are discarded.

So the consciousness spoke accurately with its original pointers: (1) Forget W.W.J.D. and ask, “What would the deer do?” (2) Natural living (as explicated via the most basic principles of nisarga yoga which proposes living in one’s natural state and with one’s innate disposition) eliminates misery and suffering in the relative existence as opposed to (3) the unnatural and supernatural living that follows the thinking that typifies the spaces called “humans” in which the previously-pure consciousness has been bastardized by conditioning and programming and enculturation. Such corruption of the consciousness generates ego-states, egotism, and a false sense of separation—all of which generate misery and suffering across the planet. One may as well take the Neo-Nazi over the Spiritual Giant and may as well take the Klansman over the Religious Fanatic (whether she/he claims to be Jewish, Christian, Muslim or otherwise), for the impure consciousness is as equally contaminated in all of those cases. All are playing roles and assuming phony identities that support dualistic concepts such as “different from” and “better than” and “separate from and not equal to.”

So much for the results of contaminated consciousness. The pure (or re-purified) consciousness, on the other hand, is that which can know I AM, which can know that it is currently existing, and which can realize that there is no truth involved in any concepts—including “different from” and “better than” and “separate from and not equal to.” It can also know I AM THAT, meaning it can understand that it is conscious-energy that is temporarily manifested but will unmanifest and return to that Absolute field of energy “at-rest” from which it manifested. THAT is the Absolute, and I AM THAT. For all persons, post-Realization, THAT can be understood as well as the fact that, for a limited relative period, I simultaneously AM. During the period of manifestation, then, take the Absolute to be the pure awareness that sheds light on consciousness and its ability to understand the functioning of all without any limitation.

Only those who complete the entire “seven-step journey” to Reality can know the Absolute, can be free of the lies of timelines, can know instead the truth of what cycles and what does not, can understand the functioning of the totality, can be free of all belief in false dualities, can be free of all false identities, can understand that What they Truly Are is beyond both beingness and non-beingness, can be free of the effects of programming and conditioning that preclude making independent choices, and can then function as the Pure Witness as the remaining relative existence happens spontaneously in an AS IF fashion. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? The Conclusion, Part B

F.: Persons (the non-Realized) are incapable of knowing the unicity. They believe in multiplicities and they believe they are seeing actual differences. Post-programming, all persons will believe in such concepts as “us,” “them,” “we,” “they” “right,” “wrong,” “heaven and hell,” “eternal reward or eternal punishment” and all other dualistic sets. The understanding of “not two” is lost and the false beliefs of “separate,” “different,” and “not one” evolve as the consciousness devolves.

The invitation from the Realized poet John Lennon (to “imagine there's no heaven” and “no hell below us”) is impossible to accomplish for persons who take their dualistic imaginings to be the real. Lennon’s invitation to “imagine there's no countries” and “nothing to kill or die for” is equally alien, so in the U.S. and some other locales, persons imagine that (a) people in other nations who are different are a threat and therefore (b) support the maintenance and use of a professional killing force. And the most difficult undertaking of all (for the 6 out of 6.5 billion persons on the planet who have assumed the role of “religious worshippers" or "the godly”) is to imagine “no religion” and “all the people living life in peace.” So, to know the unicity, the Absolute must be understood, and only if the Absolute is understood can one be rid of the false belief in the dualistic concepts of “heaven-hell,” “my country vs. all those other countries,” “my religion vs. all of the other religions,” and all other dualistic beliefs which foster a false sense of “separate and unequal.”

What, therefore, is The Absolute, the “THAT”? Some “attributes” of the Absolute and the Consciousness can be summarized and might help some understand exactly what the I AM is...as well as what the THAT is (which are “not two”):

THE ABSOLUTE
The Absolute is a field of contained, “stored” conscious-energy “at rest” with the potential to move and to manifest—that is, to relocate for a temporary period—into certain spaces.

Unmanifested conscious-energy—at rest in the Absolute field—cannot be conscious of anything but retains the potential to (a) be conscious of, if manifested and to (b) be “caught up” into one of the cyclings of energy and thereby manifest. Even then, the manifestation will happen only for a temporary period, after which it will unmanifest and rejoin the universal, limitless field of energy called (for purposes of discussion only) “the Absolute.”

The field is neither “here” nor “there” but is omnipresent. [Compare it to an ocean with all its components of H2O, some of which may remain “H20 as ocean forever” and some of which may cycle and manifest as evaporation, cloud, and rain which later returns to the ocean. See the Absolute as the ocean and see that some components of conscious-energy might remain in “the ocean of the Absolute” forever. Let all of the H20 aspects represent quantities of conscious-energy. See the H20 which “manifests” in an evaporation-to-cloud-to-rain cycle as comparable to the energy manifesting in a plant, the plant being consumed, the consciousness manifesting in the space that consumed the plant, and then the consciousness eventually being released from the space and returning to the Absolute.]

THE CONSCIOUSNESS
One “property” of conscious-energy is its ability to be aware of, if manifested (including the ability to be aware of itself and to be aware of what it truly is prior to manifestation and what it truly is post-manifestation).

Another “attribute” of conscious-energy is that, when it is manifested in an organism that can be programmed or conditioned, it can become bastardized, contaminated, conditioned, qualified, limited, impure, uncertain, unsure, fragmented, adulterated, and ambiguous.

Manifested conscious-energy is in movement, constantly in motion and constantly vibrating. That is why there is no such thing as “peace of mind.” There is only peace when there is no “mind.” That no-mind state can be reached during the relative existence via Realization; the no-mind state will be reached when the conscious-energy is re-absorbed into the Absolute state where it can be aware of nothing.

Conscious-energy manifests at various vibrational frequencies or rates. That is one factor that contributes to the illusions and delusions which accompany the bastardization of the consciousness: when “things” are supposedly observed by use of one of the five senses (namely, sight), “things” appear to be different. In fact, the steel beam, the dog, the tree, the bear, the bird, and the human are all the one, same, basic thing (THAT) but appear to the eye to be different because That Which they Truly Are is the one same thing (manifested conscious-energy) which just happens to be vibrating at different rates. Ego inspires persons to be attracted to the concept of “unique,” but the only “unique” “attribute” about any given quantity of manifested energy is its rate of vibration. What persons believe they are seeing with the naked eye is really nothing more than the effects of applied energy. Persons are observing nothing more than different manners of vibrations that are responding to the effects of conscious-energy being applied. Would the understanding of that fact eliminate the false belief in "separate and unqual" and also facilitate the understanding of the unicity? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [Tomorrow: The Conclusion, Part C]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? The Conclusion, Part A

F.: An earlier post offered this pointer: “How often fictitious and religious and spiritual terms are used to mislabel the one, truth thing—THAT—which is real.” As evidence of that pointer, here’s part of an exchange over lunch last week with a man whom many call “well-educated” and “very knowledgeable” and “a man who has earned a doctor’s degree”:

The Ph.D.: “I must say I disagree with your Advaita teachings. As a Christian, I live by the words of Christ. I know there’s a God in heaven.”
F.: “The words of Christ are Advaita teachings, and Christ dismissed the concept of “heaven.” [Puzzled look.] He said, “Heaven and earth shall fade away” and “No one shall ever see heaven because it is…where?”
The Ph.D.: “Within.”
F.: “So if Christ was right and there’s no geographic heaven, where’s your God?”
The Ph.D.: “He’s within…within me.”
F.: “You say, ‘He.’ So there’s a ‘He,’ some kind of male, inside you?”
The Ph.D.: “Well, it’s not a male God inside me, per se. It’s more like…energy.”
F.: “OK. So you don’t disagree with the non-duality teachings and you actually disagree with the Christians’ dualistic beliefs about heaven and hell. We’re in agreement that conscious-energy is flowing through the body, so why take something as natural as energy and mislabel it with some supernatural term? Where’s that coming from?”

The Ph.D.: [Shrugs]

Persons internalize other persons and their beliefs when other persons have the power of influence over them...whether that influence involves parenting, money, or fear of abandonment. The doctor’s beliefs are rooted in the latter; others take on the beliefs and “values” of a boss and start mirroring that person out of economic fear. Other persons, even as adults, refuse to question even the most nonsensical of the beliefs that they adopted from their parents. Why? They were programmed from early on not to question those people, and they struggled for most of their existence to have those persons use the “good” label and not the “bad” label to describe them.

The “mind” and ego-states are mesmerized by their own content and knowledge and accumulations, but why use any words that inspire more beliefs in concepts that debilitate instead of using words to eliminate debilitating concepts? (A) Because most will never know what they do not know and will cling to what they think they know…no matter how insane their beliefs might be, and (B) because they are asleep but thinking they are awake; thus, they will verbalize their beliefs year after year after year, disseminating throughout the culture more acceptance of false beliefs. But actually the truth cannot be stated. That which is real has no name. Advaitans use “THAT” as a pointer only and to avoid inspiring a false belief in some “entity” or “thing” or “power” with an eternal form. Nothing that has any apparent form in the relative existence actually has a form, so certainly nothing will ever have any eternal, everlasting form.

Finally, there is no self or Self that is the same as anything else. What is "the same as everything else" is that lowest common denominator that all is: energy. The I AM can refer to the conscious-energy when manifested in a space, but the I AM THAT is also that same conscious-energy, merely not-manifested. Unmanifested, the consciousness is Absolutely pure; once manifested, the consciousness is soon bastardized via programming, conditioning and enculturation. Consciousness manifested is not unlike one physical property of a soybean in that it takes on the flavor of whatever it is placed next to. Thus, the purity of child ignorance is soon lost in most cases since the consciousness of a child will begin to reflect whatever consciousness it is placed next to. As a result, some persons become conscious of skin color and believe that represents a real difference. Some persons become conscious of national boundaries and believe that represents a real difference. Some persons become conscious of something as relative as sexual preferences and believe that constitutes a difference. Some persons become conscious of affiliations with organizations that have been dreamed up by controlling men and think that makes a difference. Some persons become conscious of religious identifications and believe those represent a real difference. Some persons become conscious of beliefs and assume that those held by “others” represent a real difference. And some few persons will realize What They Truly Are and realize that no dualities exist and no differences exist except as imagined because of perverse programming and warped consciousness. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [Tomorrow: The Conclusion, Part B]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Seventeen

[A continuation of responses to questions posed in the post on 20 June 2006, reviewing terms used in the query that imply, or amount to, duality. Yesterday’s post ended with this consideration: Realization does not make a person “better” or “better than.” It eliminates the person completely. Will anyone ever be helped by the discussions of this site? No. There’s no “one” to be helped. Now, to continue:]

“But what about alleviating pain and suffering?” some persons ask. "That would be helpful, right?" That talk is for protégés beginning the earliest steps along the “path.” The pain and suffering which are being addressed by the Advaita teachings, and which can be eliminated when the Original Understanding is grasped, are the result of false identities; therefore, that type of pain and suffering is not even real. Eliminate the false belief in ego-states and the imagined pain and suffering vanish; otherwise, one might as well claim that the pain and suffering of a mirage can and must be addressed and eliminated. If the talk is about the pain and suffering being experienced by an illusory mirage, then the pain and suffering must be illusory. Forget focusing on the pain and suffering of mirages and focus instead on seeing that the mirages are mirages. When the mirage “husband” feels as if it is dying because of the departure of the co-dependent, counterpart “wife” that was required for the false identity of “husband” to be sustained, the “pain and suffering” being experienced ends when the person thinking he is truly “husband” discovers That Which he Truly Is. All such pain and suffering is mental, and since the “mind” is fictional and all of its content is false, then any assumed pain and suffering that are generated by the false “mind” must also be fictional. Only consciousness can register pain, and only the warped consciousness can believe that it is experiencing pain when a false identity is dissolving. “What of physical pain?” a site visitor asked recently. Only the consciousness, not the body, registers pain. Those completely detached from any degree of body identification have experienced limitations of physical pain, but even then, only the totally dissociated could be completely oblivious...hardly a goal to seek. But that is not the Advaita “issue.” Whatever degree of physical pain that persons suffer in their lives is negligible in comparison to the instances of mental-emotional suffering that persons/personas think they are experiencing.

Now, for your final inquiry:
How about animals? Animals are living beings too. So are plants. Do they also have the atman in them? And do they have the capability to realize that their atman is but the same as the Brahman?
As mentioned in an earlier post, animals, plants and humans are all manifested consciousness that is aware of its beingness…that knows it is existing. But do animals or plants or birds know the atman? “Atman” is a concept, and animals and plants know no concepts. Persons, not plants or animals, are driven by their erroneous beliefs and baseless concepts that have been dreamed up over centuries by men. Because plants and animals are not subjected to the bastardization of the manifested consciousness (domesticated animals notwithstanding) whatever they do happens spontaneously and naturally. Programmed and conditioned consciousness (a.k.a., “persons”) does not behave spontaneously but behaves according to programming which effectively removes all choice and prevents natural living. Once the consciousness that is manifested in a “human” space is corrupted, persons behave unnaturally or supernaturally. [How to distinguish? Natural behavior is unlearned and makes sense; unnatural and supernatural conduct is learned, makes no sense, and is therefore learned ignorance. For example. Does any human have to be taught how to masturbate or copulate? No. Are both, therefore, natural functions? Yes. Those who do not masturbate or copulate as a result of learned religious or spiritual beliefs are living unnaturally and supernaturally, neither of which is natural. Those persons have been fooled. Being a fool never results from what is done naturally and known instinctively; it is always a result of what is taught by fools and taken to be the truth by fools.]

So the consciousness which plants are remains pure, and the consciousness called “animals and birds” remains pure unless exposed to conditioning by humans; therefore, plants and unconditioned birds and unconditioned animals behave naturally and know their “selfness” only to the extent that consciousness is aware that it IS, but the pure consciousness knows nothing of concepts such as self or soul or essence or Self or Supreme Self. Only the corrupted consciousness manifested in the space called “persons” can be occupied and pre-occupied with any concepts, including those. And persons who spend their days being occupied with concepts are not likely to be much fun to be around, relatively speaking. Lighten up.

Finally, Advaitan protégés who are following the direct “path” are moving away from knowing more and toward knowing less. The process unfolds through five stages thusly: (I) being programmed to accumulate (II) exerting all effort to accumulate, including "stuff" and concepts (III) seeing that accumulation has not provided peace or happiness and then beginning an inquiry into Who/What You Truly Are (IV) seeing that all roles and concepts and ideas are nonsense, thus inspiring the process of de-accumulating—getting rid of—it all (V) living spontaneously and naturally in an AS IF fashion, free of all concepts. Transition all five stages and then live in an AS IF fashion that is as natural and spontaneous as the existence of the unconditioned consciousness that is manifested in plants and animals that live naturally. Only the consciousness manifested in the space called a “human” (that once programmed takes itself to be a “person”) can become so corrupted that it will try to live unnaturally or supernaturally and attach to false identities including a fictional Self or Supreme Self that will “live” eternally via a body-mind-personality triad. Only the corrupted conscious and the ego-states that follow will become infatuated with focusing on all the concepts and theories and ideas and teachings rather than use them to see the nonsense of it all, discard it all, and then relax and take it easy. Persons write to share what Sankara knew, what Marhashi knew, what Moses knew, what Maharaj knew, what Christ knew, what this guru knew, what that priest knew, what this rabbi said or what that preacher said. Other persons write to explain what they have learned. It’s all nonsense. Hang it all and hang them all. The only question that you need answer in order to be free is, “What do YOU know, already, within, that you have lost touch with of because of programming and conditioning and enculturation and ‘holy’ teachings?” Forget worship and practice and study and gurus and jnanis and glossaries and terms and the accumulation of more and more information. Search within to find the Original Understanding—which predated all words and texts. Find that understanding which can free you of all worship and practice and study and gurus and jnanis and glossaries and terms and accumulation and information so that you can merely BE and live AS IF for the remainder of the manifestation.

Therefore, the pointer is this: abandon all efforts to live like any guru you think you know or like any jnani you think you know or like any wise man of the past that you admire or like any god that you might be modeling. Instead, go to the woods, be silent, be alone, and observe the deer from a distance. Then return to your home and community and workplace and live as naturally as the deer lives. Abandon super-natural and un-natural thinking and live in the deer’s natural fashion for ten years and then e-mail to say “thank you.” (In ten years, the consciousness may no longer be manifested in the space called “floyd,” and even if it is it won’t give a damn about any thanks, but you can use that exercise as final closure in the process of having given up all your objets d’adoration…including religious and spiritual roles, expert-level knowledge of holy and philosophical terminology, and all other roles and concepts as well. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Sixteen

[A continuation of responses to questions posed in the post on 20 June 2006, reviewing terms used that imply, or amount to, duality]

The Supreme Godhead
Contrary to the view held by some who take Advaita to be a religion instead of (or as well as) a philosophy, “the Supreme” and “Godhead” are (a) both concepts and (b) both support duality. Why duality? The terms suggest that a supreme being (a being with personal attributes including “being supreme”) exists simultaneously with other beings, such as “not-supreme beings” or “less than supreme beings.” That Which Is is energy, and there is no “energy that is supreme” as opposed to “energy that is not-supreme.” The only thing that is “one” is universal energy, not some “I” and “He.” [To escape the charge of fostering duality, some persons who assume the identity of “worshipper” claim, “There’s no duality since God and I are one,” but the teaching is not “I AM THAT.” The teaching is “I AM THAT; I AM.” To say, “I Am God” is following the I AM with a label—which always creates a lie and always generates ego-states and egotism. And to say, only I AM THAT and ignore the I AM is to ignore the fact that only the consciousness speaks, and the consciousness can only speak when manifested in a human space. Unmanifested, energy cannot speak, so nothing that is unmanifested and “beyond the planet” or in “another realm” could exist or speak. All body, all mind and all personality fades away when the conscious-energy unmanifests, so no body or mind or person—including a personal god with a body and mind and personal attributes—exists. Man was not created, nor was man created in god's image; instead, all gods have been "created" in man's image...in man's imagination.] The antonym of “supreme” is “worst” or “lower,” and the concepts of “supreme as opposed to worst” or “supreme as opposed to lower” are as false as any other dualistic sets such as “good-bad” and “best-worst.” Egotism and programming block acceptance of the fact that, if I (the Absolute) am beyond beingness and non-beingness, then the Absolute is beyond beingness and non-beingness; therefore, no being (of any kind) exists post-manifestation. That includes a True Self, a Supreme Self, an Infinite Self, a Supreme Being, or any other kind of self/Self/being/beingness. Brahman, too, is nothing more than another concept, merely a name, but That which is real cannot be named. And to talk of a Brahman with “three characteristics” and “five phases” is to move even beyond duality and into multiplicities. (Wherefore a “creator” when neither energy nor matter can be created?) How often fictitious and religious and spiritual terms are used to mislabel the one, homogeneous, actuality which is all that is Real.

More to the point, since That Which You Are and That Which I Am is beyond being and non-being, it is most certainly beyond all concepts, ideas, emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and dogma as well as beyond being, beings, good beings, bad beings, and Supreme Beings. Read the vision at www.floydhenderson.com/article1.htm and see what happens in the crystal cave. Notice that, if abiding in an awareness of the True Self, You can see (from that level of awareness) THAT which All Is: see the light, see the unmanifesting energy as it merges into the Absolute and shifts beyond any state of being and even beyond any state of non-being. Then Your understanding will even transcend identification with the Real Self and You can abide in the full awareness of the Absolute, now. By first understanding What You Truly Are now, then you may come to know what You Are when nothing is. You will understand the functioning of the totality and thereby realize that even when nothing no longer is, You still Are. Now, You Are. Now You Are THAT. And such has been the case for infinity, and such shall be the case for infinity.

any help i can
To clarify, there is no “you” to be helped. WHO would be helped, and by what, and to what end? There is no WHO. You Are the consciousness, and the consciousness is merely energy and therefore cannot be helped. How could conscious-energy benefit from anything when it is forever? That would be tantamount to my saying, “I’m going to help the electricity in that wall plug in the kitchen.” The consciousness can be re-purified if it has been warped by programming and conditioning, but energy needs no help. It is what it is, and any temporary corruption is a tiny blip on the universal screen when compared to the infinite nature of pure, Absolute energy. Contrary to the opinions held by worshippers and practictioners, Realization does not make a person “better” or “better than.” It eliminates the person completely. Will anyone ever be helped by the discussions of this site? No. There’s no “one” to be helped. Might the discussions provide a few moments of relative entertainment? Maybe. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Fifteen

From a site visitor: “As per what i have understood from a few paragraphs on Advaita, the spark of divinity in each one of us (the soul) and the Supreme Godhead (the Brahman) are not two but one. And by practise of yoga and meditation we can go to a unitive state of consciousness (the fourth level) at which we would realize this. At this level of consciousness, the Maya (ie the phenomenon by which a seamless continuity of matter/soul appears as multiple separate entities) is no longer there to confuse us. This got me thinking. How about animals? Animals are living beings too. So are plants. Do they also have the atman in them? And do they have the capability to realize that their atman is but the same as the Brahman? Can you please explain this to me? I would really appreciate any help i can get. Thanks. Regards Sabarish.”

F.: Sabarish, as you know, your e-mail was answered privately. Now some pointers for other site visitors who are trying to understand the Absolute and non-duality can be shared by addressing some of your comments.

First, any concepts that are mentioned on this site, or that will ever be mentioned on this site, are ultimately to be cast aside. A thorn can be used to remove a thorn, but why would any sane person hang on to either of those thorns, once the source of pain and suffering has been removed? All concepts are ultimately thorns, including the concepts offered on this site that can be used to remove the concepts that cause pain and suffering (including the pain and suffering that dissociated persons claim they do not have).

So what are the concepts mentioned in your correspondence?
the spark of divinity
us
the soul
the Supreme Godhead
the Brahman
we
matter/soul
thinking
the atman
atman is but the same as the Brahman
&
any help i can

If the space called “Sabarish” were to cast aside all of those concepts, what would be left? Find that/THAT and you’ll find what is not real, what is Real, and even what is beyond beingness and non-beingness. Only by casting aside all concepts—and thus casting aside all beliefs in the ego-states or false identities that they generate—can Realization happen. What you accurately call appearances as multiple separate entities can only be eliminated when all dualities are discarded. So what dualities are implied?

It is assumed that your use of the lower case “i” indicates that no “I” exists. Accurate enough. [As revealed in the title FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Realization), nothing is farther removed from the Absolute than the “I.”] However, use of “us” and “we” reveal a subconscious assumption of duality and/or false identities. What other concepts are present?

The spark of divinity
The only “spark” that exists in all living things was identified by scientist Szent-Gyorgyi: “What drives life is thus a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.” That is the only “spark” there is. Sparks of “divinity” are imaginary, magical, mythical, and supernatural. That which is natural is sane and real, but there is no such thing as “super”-natural…no such thing as “very sane” or “very real.” If there is something that is “divine,” then there must be that which is not divine, so the concept is based in duality.

soul & atman
“Soul” and “atman” are concepts. If the terms refer to what remains after any given “dust to dust” cycle is completed, and if it is known that what remains is the conscious-energy than can neither be created nor destroyed, accurate enough. That is natural. If the labels refer to some “holy” or “spiritual” thing that is not natural but is "super"-natural, then the Original Understanding has not been grasped. If it refers to some "Self," then it should be realized that the Absolute is beyond beingness and non-beingness and any Self that is being as well.

Only the homogeneous state is Real. Therefore, to suggest that the phenomenon by which a seamless continuity of matter/soul appears as multiple separate entities is no longer there to confuse us only reveals that confusion remains since matter/energy is being mislabeled and mistaken for “matter/soul.” Finally, “atman” originally meant nothing more than “breath” or “vital principle.” Spiritualists distorted the meaning to refer to some “soul” or “universal spirit.” Some might consider the breath to be a vital principle. Some might use the term “vital principle” to refer to the conscious-energy, the “main essence” of manifestation. Either way, the bastardization of the original meaning by persons playing spiritual roles shows how so much nonsense has been generated by such role-players, and the discussion of the bastardized version of the Original Understanding also shows that the focus remains on accumulating spiritual knowledge (learned ignorance) and disseminating spiritual knowledge and analyzing spiritual concepts. Such preoccupation fixes persons at the third level of a seven-step journey and prevents their ever finding the Truth that lies far beyond religious and spiritual movements. Use concepts only for the purpose of finding all the concepts you believe in, eventually be free of all concepts, and then enjoy the simple, natural, AS IF living that follows. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Fourteen

F.: Now, the discussion of the types of energy can be expanded to clarify (a) what consciousness is when energy manifests and to clarify (b) what the Absolute is. Mentioned earlier were kenetic energy (energy "in motion") and potential energy (energy not “in motion”). Add now a third format: energy "contained within a field" (such as electromagnetic waves). The Absolute is a field of energy both “at rest” (potential energy) and “contained” (existing in a field) but with the ability to be moved into motion and to function in the form of kenetic (in motion) energy. Moved into motion, potential awareness manifests as consciousness and consciousness is always in motion. (Therefore, forget all fictional talk about “peace of mind.” Peace, perfect rest, can only happen when no mind exists, as in the Absolute, or among the Realized who have been freed of belief in the lies accumulated in what is called the “mind.”)

In terms of the oneness discussed in yesterday’s post, persons could possibly understand that oneness if they were to realize that the Absolute is a contained field of specialized energy (specialized in that it is energy with the potential to be aware of) and if they were to also realize that the energy does not always remain “contained” but quantities of it can shift from a state of being “stored” or “at rest” to a state of being “in motion.” Again, in motion and manifested in a space, that energy is called "consciousness." “Contained” or “stored” or “at rest” that same energy can be called “awareness at rest” or “consciousness unmanifested and moved back to the field in which it had been contained and is now contained again.” The movement of that energy is not limited to earth or its atmosphere but happens throughout the universe. Understanding that should help persons realize that the omnipresent energy with the ability to be conscious of, or the potential energy with the potential to be conscious of, serves as the unifying force of the universe. All is THAT and nothing else.

So why use the phrase I AM THAT; I AM instead of merely saying I AM THAT and be done? Because the same energy when manifested is marked by traits that differ from the traits of the energy when not manifested. In From the I to the Absolute, certains definitions/traits of “Absolute” were offered:” uncontaminated, unconditional, unqualified, unlimited, pure, certain, sure, entire, whole, unadulterated, and unambiguous. What temporary modifications happen to that energy when it moves from the Absolute and manifests in the spaces called “plants, animals and birds?” Very little. The energy remains fairly pure so plants, animals and birds live in a natural fashion. What temporary modifications happen to that energy when it moves from the Absolute and manifests in the spaces called “humans”? Very significant modifications. After that energy is exposed to programming, conditioning and enculturation, the energy—referred to at that point as “consciousness” and “manifested energy” becomes bastardized, contaminated, conditioned, qualified, limited, impure, uncertain, unsure, fragmented, adulterated, and ambiguous. Then, persons begin living in unnatural or in supernatural fashions. (In the latter case, the consciousness has been so warped that it believes that natural events on the planet are not natural at all but are the result of manipulation and control by beings in other worlds that have magical powers and "have dominion over this world.")

The consciousness manifested—and the potential awareness not manifested—are (at their “core”) nothing more than the vibrating energy that is the oneness…the unicity. That oneness, when manifested, allows for communication at a cellular level (such as archetypal messaging via DNA) and allows for universal communication as consciousness speaks to consciousness without bounds (such as when “mother Elaine” in Louisiana awakened abruptly at 4:30 A.M. CST and became consciousness of the fact that “daughter LeeAnn” in California at 2:30 A.M. PST had been involved in an accident). How that happened is clear to the Realized. Post-Realization, all so-called “mysteries” dissolve and all of the beliefs that natural events are not natural but are the results of the machinations of magical, supernatural powers come to an end. While some credited the awareness of that accident to “God awakening a mother to alert her,” the Realized understand the functioning of the totality. That awareness happened as a result of the unicity, as a result of the unified, vibrational energy that manifested consciousness is (and as a result of the fact that things are not “connected”—that would be duality—but are all ONE, period). Just as whales that are thousands of miles apart can communicate with each other by sending out vibrations (sound energy) that travel throughout that one pool of H2O called the ocean, so the vast pool of universal awareness/consciousness can accommodate communication—and knowingness—as a result of its oneness. That opportunity for knowingness is what allows the I AM to know it is and to know, when Realized, that it is THAT. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Thirteen—A Pause to Review

Question #3. Does I AM THAT; I AM mean- I Am the unmanifested; I Am?

F.: The answer to this question #3, after yesterday’s post, should be clearer, but to reinforce, THAT is THAT whether manifested or not. The only “seeming difference” is that when THAT is not manifested, it does not know it exists…does not know that it IS; manifested, it can know it is.

Realized, the consciousness can know that it is temporarily manifested—being fully aware of the temporary nature of “Is-ness” while also aware of the eternal, immutable, and infinite nature of THAT. It can understand the full import of “not two.” It can understand that energy “in motion” and energy in “storage” is still energy only. It can understand that kinetic energy with the potential to be conscious of is the same energy that, if stored, cannot be conscious of but has the potential to be conscious of if by chance that energy should manifest into some space.

Conscious-energy is conscious-energy. In motion and manifested, it can know It IS (can know I AM); in motion and manifested, it can also know THAT (that which it is when not manifested and not in motion); and it can know while manifested that, in “storage,” in its state of potentiality or as potential energy, it cannot know anything. Non-realized conscious-energy that is in motion and manifested is corrupted with concepts and then believes, in error, that it is many different things and is separate and different from “others.” As ego-states develop, egotism follows and the corrupted consciousness will believe that it is not only “separate and different from” but is also “unique” and “better” and “better than.” [Note how, when ego-states are assumed, egotism follows: the moment a person assumes a role such as “Boss,” egotism immediately elevates the self-concept to “Super Boss.”] A person will also believe that he/she is “better than” as a result of having been taught dualistic concepts like “good vs. bad” which become a basis of judgment and prejudice and further sense of separation. Knowing the Oneness (or attaining the realization of the “at-one-ment”) cannot happen when the consciousness becomes fixed in belief systems. Thus, all ideas and beliefs and attitudes must be cast aside for the “journey” to Realization to continue.

Question # 4. So Before Abraham was, I AM means- I Am the unmanifested, and the unmanifested is always present?

F.: No. I AM can only be stated by the energy that is conscious of itSelf, and that can only happen during manifestation. Does that which is the Absolute exist now, even if not manifested? Yes. Does it also exist when manifested? Yes. To understand the pointer completely, view the quote above with the understanding that the statement was not made by “Christ.” Neither Christ, nor any other Advaitan teacher, has ever said anything.

Only consciousness speaks. Christ did not say that "he"—as a human plant-food body—had been around thousands of years earlier when Abraham was combining all the pagan gods into his concept of one male god. The consciousness called “Christ” was actually saying, “Whenever you speak of me or any space on this planet, speak only of the I AM because that is all that can be accurately stated during the relative existence. Do not follow I AM with anything else. Do not speak of anyone as 'father,' 'mother,' 'sister,' or 'brother.' Do not speak of me or anyone as a role. Do not speak of me as 'Jesus' or as 'Christ, or as 'the son of god.' Speak of me only as the I AM, as the manifested, re-purified consciousness that is Realized and thus knows itSelf. Do not speak of anyone with any labels or names or titles. Speak of them as the consciousness that is manifested and that knows the Am-ness...that knows it exists...that knows itSelf.” His quote does not suggest whether the energy was manifested or not at the time of Abraham. Either way, the energy was and is and shall be. Only the Absolute while manifested and consciousness of itSelf can say, “Even back then, I AM.” The Absolute IS, whether manifested and experiencing the “I-Amness”…or not. And to correct some misconceptions held by some persons, he did not mean that he—a plant-food body—had existed before and recycled. Nor did he mean that he had “been in heaven” at the time. He would say, in fact, that "no one shall ever see heaven because it is within" and that "heaven and earth shall fade away" (when the corrupted consciousness fades away that has been programmed to believe in those two as “geographic places”).

The consciousness was speaking of itSelf; Christ was not speaking of his “self” or “selves” or any plant-food body. Of the three components (the elements, the air and the energy) involved in the space called “Jesus,” all three remained post-crucifixion…but the body-mind-personality did not. The elements recycled to the pool of universal elements, the air joined the universal air, and the conscious-energy was re-absorbed into the universal pool of energy. No “Jesus” remained (or remains) because there was no “Jesus.” There was consciousness which manifested in a space after a human man impregnated a human female. That consciousness was corrupted by being programmed to believe that it was the son of "a god and a virginal mother" and by exposure to the dogma of organized religion (Judaism, in this case). For a time, that consciousness believed what it was told and quoted from Judaism’s “holy” text. That ended after the consciousness was re-purified during “the desert years” where it was exposed to the Advaita Teachings that it would later repeat. So what did that “Christ” model after Realization? If you’re introduced to organized religion for a time, okay, but eventually leave organized religion, get money out of the equation, abandon “holy” buildings and holy texts, understand the Advaita Teachings, don't assume roles or labels or titles, understand that there is no geographic heaven or hell, and when you speak of anyone, speak of them only as I AM, for that is the most that can be accurately claimed regarding the relative existence.

Question #5. From entry 175: "We are That; thus, we Are and always have been, One. Only That is Real, whether manifest or unmanifest. Are You understanding You?" So to sum it up I guess, what is the That which creates the oneness, manifested or unmanifested? How does this link to the understanding as stated above?

F.: First, THAT does not “create” anything, including any oneness. What is…is, and it always has been. [Most people forget what is taught in third grade science, namely that neither energy nor matter can be created nor destroyed.] So no oneness is created. In fact, nothing is created, and nothing has ever been created. That which is the one real thing is energy, energy has always existed, and it is the one thing that is real but that is taken by persons to be many different things. [Religious and spiritual persons imagine their selves—their body-mind-personality—lasting for infinity, but they never consider that infinity before manifestation is as real as infinity afterwards. The closest some come to understanding infinity in “both directions” is when they are told that a god has been in existence forever. They do not want to consider that what has existed for infinity is not a god but is energy instead, and they do not want to believe that their bodies, their “minds,” and their personas will not last for infinity.] What personas have been trained to believe notwithstanding, THAT is THAT, period, so nothing has ever been created; therefore, no creator or creators exist. By way of comparison, return to the H2O example to illustrate.

H2O does not “create” clouds. H2O moves from one place to another and appears to persons to become what it really is not. Both the concept of “creation” and the concept of “destruction” are merely imaginary ideas dreamed up by men. When a mirage “appears” in the desert and is supposedly "seen" by a person, was anything created? No. An illusion appeared to a person who mistook nothing for something, gave it a name, and became convinced that the illusion was real. That’s no different than when a person mistakes himself/herself to be some certain role, accepts a name or label or title as a true identity, and becomes convinced that the illusion is real. And when the sun sets and the mirage “disappears,” was anything destroyed? No. An illusion was perceived by one of the five senses of a person and taken to be real, was taken by an ignorant person to be something that it was not, and then by nightfall was no longer perceived by the person.

So back to your statement: no oneness is created. All is One thing only: energy, either in motion or in “waiting” or “in storage.” All forms of energy display various “properties.” One “property” of the energy that Advaitans discuss is its ability to be aware of if manifested in a given space. A plant can be aware of the sun and can be conscious of its movement and can know where the sun will rise each morning. A bird or an animal can know the Am-ness (can know it is or that it exists) and will flee to preserve its Am-ness if it feels threatened. In contrast, a person can come to know What It Is but can also be programmed and conditioned to think it is something that it is not. The Realized know what cycles and what does not cycle.

Via the Original Understanding, the cycles were understood. Later, Aryans dreamed up linear timelines and the concepts of “beginning, middle, and end.” The “line” replaced the “circle” in the “minds” of persons who were taught that there was a creation of the world/universe and that there will be a destruction of the world/universe. Religious and spiritual leaders began to speak of persons being (a) “created,” (b) “living,” (c) “dying,” (d) “being judged,” and then (e) “spending eternity in either a geographic heaven or a geographic hell” as a body-mind-personality that will be rewarded or punished forever. Self-appointed “authorities” claimed to be God-appointed agents who were to tell others how to live and think and behave. Nonsense became the “rule” rather than the exception among the masses. Spiritual knowledge (“learned ignorance”) became the tool of choice for fooling, and thereby controlling, the masses. Believing they are the “I” they have been programmed to think they are, persons have been fooled and no longer know Who/What They Really Are. Persons behave as actors who identify with their roles and thus lose sight of Who They Truly Are. They can develop the image of being “good,” come to believe they are “good,” and convince others that they are “good.” In the process, they can separate from “others” that they label as “bad.” Such duality is the mainstay of the ego-states that fools reside in and that fools take to be their true nature.

Questions 1-5 having been addressed, the following should now be understood with complete clarity: “Those alone who understand that I, the Absolute, am beyond the states of being and non-being realize my true nature, and all others are fools.” Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Twelve—A Pause to Review

[Continued from yesterday] Question #2. What is the essence of the semicolon in "I Am That; I Am?"
F.: The Original Understanding had no names or concepts attached, but enculturation began to warp the pure conscious-energy and teachers, in response, began to try to convey the Understanding in order to re-purify the consciousness. At that point, certain concepts began to be used, one of which was “I AM THAT; I AM.” (All concepts, even Advaitan concepts, are like thorns used to eliminate thorns. Use the concepts to remove all concepts, and then toss them all.) Thus, the non-duality teachings came to be summarized in the expression “I AM THAT; I AM” in order to allow programmed and conditioned persons to understand the main premise: THAT which is unmanifested and THAT which is manifested may appear to be two but are really “not two.” To know that, to know What You Are, is to be free all false identities (which are the source of all misery.)

The Original Understanding was lost as a result of controlling men coming up with concepts to control persons—to control their bodies and “minds” and behavior. With that emphasis, persons became convinced that they were their bodies and minds and personalities…that they were all the roles and personas assumed and being played. Then as cults and pagan religions evolved into modern religions and spiritual movements, persons became convinced that they were their bodies and minds and personas not only in “this life” but in another life…forever. Insanity—being out of touch with Reality—became the new “norm.” As persons sensed at some level that THAT which They Are cannot be destroyed, that sensation mistakenly gave credibility to the misunderstandings and false teachings. They did not understand that it is energy which cannot be created nor destroyed. Next, persons were told that not only would they “last forever” but that they had been “created,” so they developed more and more a sense of duality: “I am these things now” (all the roles being played) and “later I will be all of those things: an angel, a soul, a god, a worshipper, a cow, a whatever,” ad infinitum.

To restore the Original Understanding and eliminate the lies of duality being assumed to be truth, the early teachers in what would be called “Asia” and “India” used the term “I AM THAT; I AM” thousands of years ago to show that there is no duality. The semicolon made clear that, though teachers and protégés could discuss two “aspects” of one thing, persons should understand that those are “not two.” There is the potential energy THAT. Then there is THAT which—when moved from “storage” and then manifested—can be conscious of itself and know I AM. Yet the energy is the same energy whether “stored” or “in motion.” The perceived “difference” results only from the “condition” of the conscious-energy: pure when unmanifested and when first manifested; corrupted after a period of manifestation. But even that variance is not a true, permanent change in THAT which is. The corrupted consciousness can be re-purified now or will be purified once reabsorbed into the universal pool.

When was the semicolon lost, along with the understanding that conscious-energy (which appears to persons to be many different things) is “not two”? When Moses began plagiarizing stories from pagan cults (as well as concepts from the Far East) to write his fiction called the Torah—his books in what some call the "Old Testament." [Fiction? Yes, complete fiction. There is no historical evidence of an exodus from Egypt. There was during his day a 500-year old pagan story of an underground god with a magic staff who led people from captivity, through a desert, and to a bountiful land before returning to his underground home. In the original pagan tale, that god tapped rocks with his rod along the journey to provide water; he also waved the rod upward to make food fall from the sky. Moses simply rewrote the original story with himself in the god role.] Via the trade routes between the East and the West, Middle East persons were exposed to the Advaita tool of I AM THAT; I AM, orally. Never having seen it written, Moses plagiarized it, put it into the mouth of a burning bush, and misquoted it as “I AM THAT I AM,” setting off millennia of bogus interpretations of the phrase because he left out the semi-colon. His error produced a phrase that distorted the meaning into, “I’m that ‘I AM’” or “That I-Amness is what I am.” His bastardization of the phrase, therefore, resulted in the belief that there is a god that is "the Am-ness"--the Being or beingness--and thereby also attached to that god a trait of "eternal beingness." From that aberration, the members of the three religions of Abraham (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) began to believe that there is a Supreme Being who has been forever. Additionally, the meaning of the phrase that was distorted by Moses took the teaching tool away from persons who were to use it to identify Who/What They Really Are and limited it to the use by a god to identify himself. He missed the whole point of the phrase and from that point forward, so would all Judaeo-Christians. Now, Jews and Christians alike identity their god with various interpretations of the phrase I AM THAT I AM while Christians haven't a clue what was meant when a man named Jesus said "Before Abraham was, I AM" and "When you speak of me, speak of me as I AM."

The original pointer meant, manifested I Am and I know I Am, but that which is manifested and knows it is…is actually THAT. Kinetic energy and potential energy are just energy. If kinetic energy could talk, it could not say accurately that “I am potential energy.” Yet the kinetic energy—prior to moving—was in a state of potentiality. And from a state of potentiality, the energy moved and “became” kinetic. But in truth, it’s all energy, moving or potential, manifested or not.

Now, back to the H2O in yesterday’s post. From the vast pool of H2O that some call “an ocean,” some H2O can be drawn from the ocean and can manifest in a form that some call “a cloud.” However, is the H2O not manifested in a cloud—but “waiting” in “storage” in the ocean—any different once it is drawn from the ocean and manifested in the “form” or “shape” of a cloud? No. It appears to be different to persons, but it’s all the same H2O. Manifested thusly as “a cloud,” is the H2O suddenly no longer “ocean” but suddenly “cloud”? Obviously, it is only what it always was, is, and always shall be: H2O. The same applies to energy. Persons can look at a cloud and not know that it was once in that vast pool called an “ocean.” They can see the cloud moving and think it is different from the calm sea. They do not understand that it did not “come” from the ocean but is the same as the ocean and only appears to be something different. Similarly, the Advaita pointer is that What You Really Are did not "come from" the Absolute but is the Absolute; hence, "I, the Absolute, am beyond the beingness and the non-beingness."

The misunderstanding continues among persons who perceive in error while thinking they perceive “rightly.” As the energy moves and manifests in what appears to be different “forms” or “shapes,” the wise know that all those are illusions made to seem real by persons who have a penchant for naming and labeling and separating and dreaming up the illusion of “different things.” In fact, all those clouds, oceans, etc., are but one thing, mistaken for something else (exactly like the case of the snake and the rope) when appearance is taken for reality. The H2O, if it could talk, would say “I AM THAT which I Am, but I AM seemingly taking the temporary form or shape of something else. What you think I AM right now is not what I really am at all, but even as you mistake me for a cloud, an ocean, etc., I actually AM merely what I AM. And if What I Am should attach to a particle of dust in the cloud, I will take on the shape of a rain drop and fall back into the ocean, completing another cycle. I began a cycle from a vast pool, appeared to take on different forms, and then returned to the pool from which the cycle began. It was true that in the space of a cloud I AM. Too, the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that I AM have always existed. Even though you perceive me as a raindrop or ocean or clouds, I AM what I always was, am, and shall be. I AM THAT—two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom—that spontaneously happened to manifest and then became misidentified by persons who really believe that lakes and streams and snow and snowballs and snow cones are all different things." The masses of persons take appearance to be real; only the Realized know that the perceptions of the masses are in error. The masses of persons take multiplicity to be real; only the Realized know the unicity. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Eleven—A Pause to Review

From a site visitor: [The visitor is reading Volume One of the DAILY MEDITATION GUIDE and makes reference to an entry http://www.floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm ]

“In entry #175, Vol. 1 regarding the "I Am That":

1. Is the That the unmanifested?

2. What is the essence of the semicolon in "I Am That; I Am?"

3. Does this mean- I Am the unmanifested; I Am?

4. So before Abraham was, I AM means- I Am the unmanifested, and the unmanifested is always present?

5. You wrote, "We are That; thus, we Are and always have been, One. Only That is Real, whether manifest or unmanifest. Are You understanding You?" So to sum it up I guess, what is the That which creates the oneness, manifested or unmanifested? How does this link to the understanding as stated above?

The responses:
1. Is the That the unmanifested?
F.: The “THAT” is what can be unmanifested and is often used to refer to the Absolute, a pure, universal (and multi-universal) pool of energy with potentiality. It is the energy that can manifest in a space and—while manifested thusly—can be aware of its own presence. Because it has the potential to manifest as conscious-energy and be aware of both its manifested state and its unmanifested state, the consciousness called “Krishna” was able to say, “I, the Absolute…etc.” From that pointer you can realize that the consciousness which spoke and which identified itself as THAT/the Absolute does not amount to two different things but is actually “not two.” The Realized abide “in” the Absolute (i.e., know the Absolute and know They Are THAT) even while abiding temporarily as the “I-Amness.” What I AM is simply THAT…manifested, so while manifested I AM THAT and I AM as well.

When this particular quantity of I AM-ness called “floyd” is no longer manifested, THAT is what I AM. No "I-Amness" or "Is-ness" or beingness will remain. (THAT merely points to the pure potential energy “at rest”; “I AM” refers to THAT energy when it is manifested, in motion, but still pure; and the “I am this or that” is the statement that evolves from the energy in motion, manifested but corrupted by the belief in assumed identities and belief in the lies of enculturation.) Even if that potential energy does move and manifest, however, it will still eventually unmanifest. It is the energy which cycles. (Energy—not persons—cycle.) Since there is no duality, then there is only THAT, even when it is manifested and knows the I-Amness…knows that it IS. It is the manifested conscious-energy which becomes aware of its presence; unmanifested, there is no “form” by which the energy with the potential to be conscious of can know itself…or anything else; and it is the corrupted consciousness that can become aware of a role, can forget Who/What It Is, can claim "I am this or that," and can be programmed to believe it is what it is not.

Take THAT to be a pool of energy which has the potentiality to manifest and which may manifest or which may not manifest. If it manifests within a space—be that space called a “plant,” an “animal” or a “human”—the conscious-energy can become conscious of itself. (Yes, even a plant is conscious of itself. A plant will change the direction of its leaves by a micro-degree each day before sunrise in order to maximize the amount of light that it can gather during the daylight hours. It knows—is conscious of the fact—that the sun will rise at a slightly different point on the horizon each morning. At night, the energy moves to the lower regions of the plant and is “at rest,” and as the plant “awakens,” the energy moves back up and throughout the plant and makes its pre-sunrise adjustments. Wherefore any "pride" or "acclaim" for "humans" whose existence is no different from that of a mindless plant? Rest, allow the conscious-energy to cause all movement without any thought required, work and gather, and then rest again. Cycle after cycle after cycle.)

THAT is all there is, whether manifested or not. Manifested, it can be aware of its Is-ness or beingness. (A bird, for example, knows that it IS, but it does not know of any roles. Only when humans follow the I AM with some word does it become a lie: “I am…a boss”; “I am…a spouse”; “I am…unhappy”; “I am…happy,” etc.) Everything is that energy which, if manifested, has an ability to know itself and an ability to act spontaneously and automatically. Even an acorn acts spontaneously to perpetuate physical continuity, so it will eventually grow into an oak which will drop more acorns and cover them with leaves, and some of those will cycle into oaks as well. But it all happens spontaneously. The consciousness as the acorn knows what is required to produce a forest, just as humans know what is required to produce a population of people. No thinking or analysis is required. Humans--nor any other breeders--have to be taught how to copulate. Only the functioning of the manifested consciousness is necessary for the unending cycles to continue. It’s all conscious-energy in motion, and it’s all functioning spontaneously. Eventually, the physical elements involved with the trees will decay and return to the elements, and the physical elements involved with humans will do the same.

Even that “matter” called a steel girder is really a swirling mass of energy, and all the particles of energy that are swirling are functioning spontaneously and automatically with an awareness of all the other particles of energy which are the one, same thing. That “sustains” the appearance of the “form” or the “shape” of the beam and prevents it from flying apart. (Contrast that with what happens if a triggering device interrupts the “harmonious” manner in which the atoms are functioning: trigger the process of fission or fusion and the harmonious swirling is interrupted and an explosive amount of energy and radiation are emitted.)

As your electric power company can tell you, they do not create energy. They merely move energy that already exists from one place to another or from one form to another (moving energy from gas or from coal via an electric energy format). That’s all that is happening in the case of the manifestation of THAT in a human space: energy moved from one location to another. The same, simple process of energy moving and manifesting in a space called a “newborn” is in contrast to the misperception held by persons who think they are earthly creators working in conjunction with a non-earthly Creator to “make a baby.” How complex the simple is made when concepts are dreamed up by persons who have been fooled. Energy may seem to take varied “forms” (electrical energy, gas energy, radiant energy, and nuclear energy as well as gravitational, thermal, radiant, chemical, light, heat, sound, motion, etc.) but ultimately, energy is energy.

To help clarify the I AM THAT; I AM, consider two categories that scientists use: kinetic energy and potential energy. Take kinetic energy as energy in motion and potential energy as “stored” energy. Then, imagine energy in motion as it moves from “storage” (seemingly in the Absolute but actually as the Absolute pool of pure energy with the potential to be conscious of) and then manifests as a result of that movement into a plant and then into another space such as an “animal” or a “human.”

Why do so few not understand the simple process? (1) Lack of exposure to scientific facts. (2) Association with persons who despise facts and prefer blind acceptance of fiction as fact. (3) Learned ignorance around "spiritual" topics. (4) Fixation with body identification. (4) The erroneous influence of the “mind” and assumption of roles as identities. (5) Programming, conditioning and enculturation. (6) And even those who transcend those obstacles of body-"mind" identification and shift into religious roles or spiritual roles continue to be separated from reality because they think their newly-assumed identities are real ones. [That is not to disparage those two roles that must be played by those who would move along the “path” to Realization. Consider religious or spiritual roles to be like a door to an exclusive club in L.A. that you’d like to enter. At one point the door bars you from moving on, but at another point it can serve as the portal for actually continuing the “journey” to where you want to go.] (7) The belief by persons that the things they perceive as being different are really different and not the one, same “thing.”

For example, persons walk about and think they see scores of different things involving water throughout the year. Persons think they see puddles, clouds, rainfall, snow, ice, drinking water, colas, waterfalls, rivers, streams, branches, hail, snow cones, snowflakes, ice cubes, Alaskan igloos, crystals, sleet, fog, floods, oceans, condensation, perspiration, reservoirs, groundwater, ponds, swamps, seas, vapor, lakes, glaciers, avalanches, moisture, wells, snowballs, snowmen, slush, slushies, ice caps, steam, waves, ripples, surf, currents, aquifers, tsunamis, and drips. But persons are only seeing one thing that appears to be many different things. They are merely “seeing” two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom functioning together with a consciousness that—under varying temperatures and temporary conditions—know automatically and spontaneously what “form” or “shape” to assume. Since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, the pool of energy which is capable of manifesting and then being conscious of itself is infinite and eternal. Rather than create the kind of confusion that exists such as when H2O is mislabeled as the dozens of things above, the term THAT can be used as a pointer toward THAT which is eternal but have no name. That is why the truth is not—and cannot—be spoken. All names and labels are dreamed up—usually by men—and have nothing to do with the truth which cannot be spoken and cannot be named. Manifested or not, the Absolute is what it is. Those who have been fooled, however, will not see the unicity but will believe that the imagined multiplicity is real. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

WHAT IS THE ABSOLUTE…THE “THAT”? Part Ten

From a site visitor: “So when you wrote, ‘Only if freed of the “post-life” nonsense that was dreamed up by men thousands of years ago (and that is now taken by most men and women to be the truth) can one be sane,’ were you suggesting that everyone who believes in a physical God is insane?”

F. I am suggesting nothing. Considerations are offer so that YOU might find the truth. The pointer offered is this: to be programmed and conditioned in a fashion that encourages (a) belief in fiction and (b) rejection of fact leaves persons with no ability to reason. Unreasonable persons cannot process data and arrive at logical conclusions. VERY unreasonable persons are irrational and imbalanced, a condition that is also known as “being insane” or “being out of touch with reality.”

That having been said, it is known that the nearest galaxy to this solar system is called the “Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.” Now, if people were to tell you that they sense there’s a human-like being residing in the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy which possesses super-human powers, you might ask them how they know that. They might say, “We're a member of a group that has been around for thousands of years and it's always been known by our members. That knowledge has been passed down over the generations." [Note: To suggest their "knowledge" is "learned ignorance" will provoke attack.] But you might ask, "Can you prove that?" to which they might answer, "We don’t have to prove it. Not only have we been told by authority figures in our group about the super-powerful being in Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, but we also sense its presence. Its form is like that of a human male on earth and He determines everything that happens in our Milky Way Galaxy. Also, we read in a book a first-person account written by a man several thousand years ago who described how he talked directly to that super-powerful being in the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy. Also we feel in our hearts that He's real. That’s now our firm conviction, rooted in unshakable faith, and we’re willing to die for our beliefs. All of the above provides overwhelming proof that should not be questioned by anyone. All should unquestioningly believe what we believe and believe that He is there. And someday we'll travel to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy and we'll all see for ourselves. Finally, here's a warning: if you don't believe in His existence before you get there, you're in for an eternal punishment.” You might then inquire: "So you're saying that I'll be punished eternally for not believing what you believe--that some human-like man/superpower lives in the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy?" And the answer will be a resounding, "Yes!" Does the fact that their parents believe it, that they believe it, that someone claims to have dialogued with some being from another part of the universe, and that they’re willing to die for that belief have anything to do with reality? Of course not.

Hear what the consciousness said yesterday:

“Those alone who understand that I, the Absolute, am beyond the states of being and non-being realize my true nature, and all others are fools.”

That which is beyond being and non-being cannot involve being or beings, and that which does not involve beings cannot involve “supreme beings” or “not-supreme beings” or “very good beings” or “fairly average beings” or “very bad beings.”

To understand more clearly the Absolute beyond both being and non-being, imagine this: a fertile man and an ovulating woman are on a date in a restaurant. They may, at some later point in the evening, engage in an act of friction that could result in a sperm cell from his body coming into contact with an egg in her body and fertilizing that egg. Should a full-term pregnancy follow, she could “give birth” to what would be called “a human child” or “a human…being.”

But while they remain in the restaurant, is that which could potentially be a being…is it a being yet? No. And it would be totally illogical and insane to say, “Well, it’s not a being yet, but at this point it is a non-being that can be a being.” An illogical thought like that can inspire the ignorant to use such a nonsensical belief as the basis for a debate about “when life begins.”

So as the couple continues with their meal, no being exists and no non-being exists. What does exist? A potentiality. There is the potential, if our couple should end up coupling, and if the female gives birth to a child nine months later, that conscious-energy could manifest in that space. As they continue with their meal, all of the components are potentially available for beingness to happen…or not.

But what if our couple has an allergic reaction to some tainted shellfish and both are pronounced "dead at the scene" by a coroner? Because the consciousness which had been manifested in them suddenly unmanifested, neither beingness nor non-beingness exists in regards to the hypothetical child in the story. That is always the case when consciousness is not manifested: THAT which You Are is beyond both beingness and non-beingness. The Realized know that; all others have been fooled.

And what of the energy that might have potentially manifested? It still exists. What does not exist—whether in regards to the fertile female, the fertile male, or the hypothetical child they never had—is any being or beingness nor any non-being or non-beingness. Each cycle of the manifestation moving toward the unmanifest state involves dust-to-dust, breath to air, and consciousness to the universal pool of energy. Want to worship that everlasting energy? Worship away. Believe that the eternal energy has the shape of a human male or is some kind of being? You have been fooled. It is as simple as that, and AS IF living is as simple as that, too, once it is understood that any struggle to assure salvation is based in man-made, fictional concepts. Energy need not be "saved" from destruction. It cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed. That Original Understanding allows for total freedom during the manifestation which parallels the total freedom (from body and "mind" and personality) that follows manifestation. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]