From a site visitor: “What is the relationship between perfect happiness and the Absolute? How does understanding the Absolute provide bliss?”
F.: Thanks for writing. Your question is relevant to the intended posting today.
F.: Thanks for writing. Your question is relevant to the intended posting today.
The Absolute is not, as one person said, “as expansive as this universe”; instead, it IS this universe (and all universes). It is that which has endured all fiery expansions and supermassive collapses involving all universes for infinity. It is what always has been, what always is, and what always shall be. It cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed. The Absolute is the Original THAT which was not conditioned, which has no name, and which has no attributes. It is that which, when manifested, has the potential to know itSelf or to be bastardized and conditioned so it cannot remember itSelf. Either way, when the manifested becomes unmanifest, it will still be the Original, will still have no name, and will again have no attributes.
Neither matter nor energy can be created nor destroyed, so for persons with the ability to understand a few basic scientific facts, all questions about nonsensical concepts like “creation” and “creators” end. Any belief in the nonsense of the duality of eternal punishment or eternal reward ends. So why do the dualities of “good vs. bad” and “punishment vs. reward” generate so much effort, work, fear, judgment, arrogance and anxiety among persons? Simply because priests, medicine men, preachers, wise men, spiritualists, et. al. have convinced people that the “I-Amness,” the sense of presence, is eternal. Only if you understand how the conscious-energy with no awareness of itself became manifested in some space and then became aware of itself can you understand where that conscious-energy was, how it came to manifest, and then what will—and certainly will not—happen with it after it is no longer manifested.
How could that which senses its presence as a result of being manifested into a defined, finite space possibly know itself when reabsorbed into that field of pure energy in which only energy exists…in which no defined, finite spaces or forms or shapes exist? How could that which is conscious of its presence only when manifested know anything when unmanifested? Thus, all the nonsense and fear and effort generated by the belief in the lies of “good and bad” and “eternal punishment or reward” disappear with the understanding of what cycles and what does not. [And that understanding of the Absolute is related to the "happiness" that some claim they are experiencing, but more on that later since only persons can experience anything. The consciousness certainly cannot.] In the book “What Happens When I Die?” the following is offered:
Two very distinct answers to your question, "What happens when the body ends?" are before you. One is rooted in logic and fact; the other is rooted in emotional intoxication and fiction. One answer will result in continued darkness and misery, in fear and desire, in valuing or accepting suffering in "this life" in anticipation of a reward in "that life," in rigidity and inflexibility, in arrogance, in a false sense of separation, in "dual-mindedness," in spiritual workaholism, in believing ancient myths and superstitions, and in the remainder of your relative existence being marred by the duality of occasions of happiness while otherwise being heavy and burdensome. The other answer will result in the remainder of your relative existence being marked by an incredible lightness of being.” [ http://www.floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm ]
Many obstacles (in the form of concepts) block persons from realizing the Original Understanding. All widely-held beliefs about “pre-manifestation beingness with form” and all widely-held beliefs about “post-manifestation beingness with form and mind and personality” are rooted in ancient superstitions and pagan myths that were adopted by cults and that evolved into the modern religions and spiritual movements. All of the concepts and dogma taught by those involved with cults and religions and movements only muddy the consciousness and prevent the understanding of the functioning of the totality and the understanding of THAT. Too, the leaders in those groups convince seekers that they have found the answer, so the seeking is halted before persons are even halfway to finding all the lies, discarding all their personas, and thereby finding the truth. As long as the body-mind-personality triad is assumed to be a True Self or a real identity, then the desire for continuity of the body-mind-personality will overshadow any chance for the real understanding to happen.
Now, to your question and the talk of “finding happiness,” “solving the mystery” or “finding the secret.” Here’s the secret: there is no unhappiness. All the talk of happiness and bliss and joy and peace is for the novice, for the wet charcoal that is only beginning the “journey.” Pointers on this site and pointers offered in talks by sages are offered at all three levels, including talk of happiness and bliss. But the secret is only for those at the dry charcoal or the gunpowder stage. Only personas can believe that happiness or unhappiness is being experienced. WHO is unhappy? WHO is happy? Only ego-states. One might as well report that a mirage is unhappy.
Neither matter nor energy can be created nor destroyed, so for persons with the ability to understand a few basic scientific facts, all questions about nonsensical concepts like “creation” and “creators” end. Any belief in the nonsense of the duality of eternal punishment or eternal reward ends. So why do the dualities of “good vs. bad” and “punishment vs. reward” generate so much effort, work, fear, judgment, arrogance and anxiety among persons? Simply because priests, medicine men, preachers, wise men, spiritualists, et. al. have convinced people that the “I-Amness,” the sense of presence, is eternal. Only if you understand how the conscious-energy with no awareness of itself became manifested in some space and then became aware of itself can you understand where that conscious-energy was, how it came to manifest, and then what will—and certainly will not—happen with it after it is no longer manifested.
How could that which senses its presence as a result of being manifested into a defined, finite space possibly know itself when reabsorbed into that field of pure energy in which only energy exists…in which no defined, finite spaces or forms or shapes exist? How could that which is conscious of its presence only when manifested know anything when unmanifested? Thus, all the nonsense and fear and effort generated by the belief in the lies of “good and bad” and “eternal punishment or reward” disappear with the understanding of what cycles and what does not. [And that understanding of the Absolute is related to the "happiness" that some claim they are experiencing, but more on that later since only persons can experience anything. The consciousness certainly cannot.] In the book “What Happens When I Die?” the following is offered:
Two very distinct answers to your question, "What happens when the body ends?" are before you. One is rooted in logic and fact; the other is rooted in emotional intoxication and fiction. One answer will result in continued darkness and misery, in fear and desire, in valuing or accepting suffering in "this life" in anticipation of a reward in "that life," in rigidity and inflexibility, in arrogance, in a false sense of separation, in "dual-mindedness," in spiritual workaholism, in believing ancient myths and superstitions, and in the remainder of your relative existence being marred by the duality of occasions of happiness while otherwise being heavy and burdensome. The other answer will result in the remainder of your relative existence being marked by an incredible lightness of being.” [ http://www.floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm ]
Many obstacles (in the form of concepts) block persons from realizing the Original Understanding. All widely-held beliefs about “pre-manifestation beingness with form” and all widely-held beliefs about “post-manifestation beingness with form and mind and personality” are rooted in ancient superstitions and pagan myths that were adopted by cults and that evolved into the modern religions and spiritual movements. All of the concepts and dogma taught by those involved with cults and religions and movements only muddy the consciousness and prevent the understanding of the functioning of the totality and the understanding of THAT. Too, the leaders in those groups convince seekers that they have found the answer, so the seeking is halted before persons are even halfway to finding all the lies, discarding all their personas, and thereby finding the truth. As long as the body-mind-personality triad is assumed to be a True Self or a real identity, then the desire for continuity of the body-mind-personality will overshadow any chance for the real understanding to happen.
Now, to your question and the talk of “finding happiness,” “solving the mystery” or “finding the secret.” Here’s the secret: there is no unhappiness. All the talk of happiness and bliss and joy and peace is for the novice, for the wet charcoal that is only beginning the “journey.” Pointers on this site and pointers offered in talks by sages are offered at all three levels, including talk of happiness and bliss. But the secret is only for those at the dry charcoal or the gunpowder stage. Only personas can believe that happiness or unhappiness is being experienced. WHO is unhappy? WHO is happy? Only ego-states. One might as well report that a mirage is unhappy.
The man assuming the role of "The Husband" is only happy if the person playing the role of "The Wife" stays with him. If "The Wife" leaves, "The Husband" is no more, feels as if he is dying, and is thus unhappy. If she stays, he might experience fleeting moments of happiness. Yet that which is real does not change, and that which can change is unreal. The unreal (personas) experience these never-ending fluctuations; only with the realized does such chaos cease to happen.
All such talk of happiness and unhappiness reinforces dualistic thinking such as “I am very happy” at certain times as opposed to other times when “I am miserable.” The concept of “happiness” cannot exist in a vacuum. “Unhappiness” would also have to exist as its counterpart. The experience of “happiness” could only be defined in relationship to the experience of “unhappiness,” and relationship is also founded in dualistic thinking. Since persons cannot fixate in a state of happiness (any more than one can fixate in a deep sleep state without being comatose), then persons are constantly seeking. And constant seeking produces more unhappiness. No wonder one Advaita teacher said 2000 years ago, “A dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.” Thus, among persons, the relative is marked by instability, shiftings, disharmony and chaos. Only after transitioning beyond the relative and into the Absolute state will all the instability, shiftings, disharmony and chaos end, but nobody—no body—will be present to know it. As with a human whose brain has slowed to the delta-level cycle during deep sleep, the instability, shiftings, disharmony and chaos stop when the consciousness is reabsorbed into the Absolute state, but no person remains to be aware of that or anything else. So it is when the consciousness unmanifests and is reabsorbed into the pool of Absolute universal energy where it has no consciousness of itself at all.
The consciousness is, and it knows no unhappiness or happiness. The fake identities assumed by personas falsely believe that happiness or unhappiness is being experienced. Seekers are still persons, and what seekers should know is that, if the Original Understanding is grasped, nothing is going to be attained. All is going to be lost. You will dissolve as well. Accumulation is given no quarter on this site, including accumulation of spiritual knowledge (also known as, “learned ignorance"). All pointers point toward complete and total de-accumulation. Only be abiding in the understanding of the Absolute—even while involved in this relative existence—can no-instability, no-shiftings, no-disharmony and no-chaos AS IF living happen. [For more on AS IF living, you may go to the top of this page and search that term on this blog.] Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
The consciousness is, and it knows no unhappiness or happiness. The fake identities assumed by personas falsely believe that happiness or unhappiness is being experienced. Seekers are still persons, and what seekers should know is that, if the Original Understanding is grasped, nothing is going to be attained. All is going to be lost. You will dissolve as well. Accumulation is given no quarter on this site, including accumulation of spiritual knowledge (also known as, “learned ignorance"). All pointers point toward complete and total de-accumulation. Only be abiding in the understanding of the Absolute—even while involved in this relative existence—can no-instability, no-shiftings, no-disharmony and no-chaos AS IF living happen. [For more on AS IF living, you may go to the top of this page and search that term on this blog.] Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
