F.: Advaitans speak of the “snake in a rope” to illustrate how persons perceive incorrectly, but persons also see many "snakes" as "harmless ropes"—failing to see the things in their relative existence that actually account for their misery and suffering.
Today’s continuation of the discussion of the “mind” is geared to the relative existence only. Ultimately, none of this is real and none of it matters, but for the Realized—being At One with all—the misery and suffering of persons on the planet is not ignored. The “not ignoring” just happens after the Atonement (the “At-one-ment,” the “unicity”) is understood. Maharaj was often asked something like, “Do you really care about your protégés?” The answer was usually something like, “More than you are ever likely to know.” For those who care not a wit about the impact of relativistic living on persons, skip today’s reading, but unless persons (the non-Realized, the corrupted consciousness) can see the relative impact, then release from the relative influences will not be sought and abidance as the Absolute will not happen. With that disclosure, the posting follows:
Who trained your parents to raise you? Next, who trained those trainers? And then, who trained those trainers of the trainers? Is it possible, (1) with the lack of training (2) with the accumulated nonsense being passed down from one generation to another and (3) with the influence of enculturation, parents couldn’t be doing a worse job if that were their stated intention, relatively speaking? Despite the small number of persons who will ever Realize fully, to monitor the sales of non-duality books, to see the plethora of Advaitan website springing up from across the globe, to see the number of seekers who are traveling here or there to sit with possibly enlightened jnanis is to see how many millions were raised in a fashion that prevents their even being able to answer the simplest question about “Who Am I, really?” or “What’s this all about?” or “How did I get here and what happens later?” Google “Advaita Vedanta” and you’ll get 406,000 hits. Those at peace search for nothing.
Why were so many persons raised in a style that prevents understanding and sends so many off on a life-long search for answers? What is the effect on children when the Original Understanding has been lost among adults? It produces children who are programmed with the Fake Understanding. Why are so many persons reaching a point where they are seeking something, feeling empty, questioning old beliefs and concepts? And why are far more—the majority, in fact—not seeking but are instead feeling full of themselves and questioning nothing while blindly accepting it all?
Egotistical persons make comments such as, “Well, my parents were ____, but they did a heck of a job raising us.” Why not just shout, “Look how great I turned out, even against all odds!” Arrogance leads persons to think, “If one of my parents is great, I’m 50% great, but if both parents are great, I’m 100% great. So my parents did a heck of a job.” The reality is that there’s no training for parenthood and that the ones being modeled by parents are those persons from a previous generation that had no training. Moreover, that pattern can be traced back for the thousands of years since arrogant, controlling men began introducing concepts that directly contradicted the Original Understanding. “Well, Floyd, my parent did the best they could.” Yes, and so did Hitler. That's just more justification and minimization which further blocks Realization.
The reason that so many will never Realize is that Realization is the process whereby all false personas are abandoned as one comes to know Who/What She or He Truly Is. That requires the abandonment of ego-states (false images, false identities), and the abandonment of ego states requires the abandonment of the use of ego-defense mechanisms that foster egotism and arrogance. And ego and arrogance do not inspire self-Inquiry, much less Self-Inquiry. In many cultures, egomania is reinforced, not challenged. Who that has been trained up to believe egotistically that he is a “Gift from God” could possibly question whether there is a male entity in another world that is micro-managing every major and minor event in this world? To question “the God-ness” would be to question the value of “the Gift-ness” that persons take themselves to be. (For those who wonder why there’s a 62% divorce rate in the U.S., imagine the challenge of living with one who is a “Gift from God” and therefore a “gift that any spouse would be damn lucky to have.” Who could ever be truly deserving of such a gift? The ego of the ego-state known as “The Gift” says “No one, really, can ever be good enough to deserve me.” With such a distorted view of “self,” let the ego-based fighting begin. Then, apply that to national and international conflicts and see how the false “I” is at the core of all personal conflict and why the only chance for peace--which can only be experienced during the manifestation--is via Realization.) Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Today’s continuation of the discussion of the “mind” is geared to the relative existence only. Ultimately, none of this is real and none of it matters, but for the Realized—being At One with all—the misery and suffering of persons on the planet is not ignored. The “not ignoring” just happens after the Atonement (the “At-one-ment,” the “unicity”) is understood. Maharaj was often asked something like, “Do you really care about your protégés?” The answer was usually something like, “More than you are ever likely to know.” For those who care not a wit about the impact of relativistic living on persons, skip today’s reading, but unless persons (the non-Realized, the corrupted consciousness) can see the relative impact, then release from the relative influences will not be sought and abidance as the Absolute will not happen. With that disclosure, the posting follows:
Who trained your parents to raise you? Next, who trained those trainers? And then, who trained those trainers of the trainers? Is it possible, (1) with the lack of training (2) with the accumulated nonsense being passed down from one generation to another and (3) with the influence of enculturation, parents couldn’t be doing a worse job if that were their stated intention, relatively speaking? Despite the small number of persons who will ever Realize fully, to monitor the sales of non-duality books, to see the plethora of Advaitan website springing up from across the globe, to see the number of seekers who are traveling here or there to sit with possibly enlightened jnanis is to see how many millions were raised in a fashion that prevents their even being able to answer the simplest question about “Who Am I, really?” or “What’s this all about?” or “How did I get here and what happens later?” Google “Advaita Vedanta” and you’ll get 406,000 hits. Those at peace search for nothing.
Why were so many persons raised in a style that prevents understanding and sends so many off on a life-long search for answers? What is the effect on children when the Original Understanding has been lost among adults? It produces children who are programmed with the Fake Understanding. Why are so many persons reaching a point where they are seeking something, feeling empty, questioning old beliefs and concepts? And why are far more—the majority, in fact—not seeking but are instead feeling full of themselves and questioning nothing while blindly accepting it all?
Egotistical persons make comments such as, “Well, my parents were ____, but they did a heck of a job raising us.” Why not just shout, “Look how great I turned out, even against all odds!” Arrogance leads persons to think, “If one of my parents is great, I’m 50% great, but if both parents are great, I’m 100% great. So my parents did a heck of a job.” The reality is that there’s no training for parenthood and that the ones being modeled by parents are those persons from a previous generation that had no training. Moreover, that pattern can be traced back for the thousands of years since arrogant, controlling men began introducing concepts that directly contradicted the Original Understanding. “Well, Floyd, my parent did the best they could.” Yes, and so did Hitler. That's just more justification and minimization which further blocks Realization.
The reason that so many will never Realize is that Realization is the process whereby all false personas are abandoned as one comes to know Who/What She or He Truly Is. That requires the abandonment of ego-states (false images, false identities), and the abandonment of ego states requires the abandonment of the use of ego-defense mechanisms that foster egotism and arrogance. And ego and arrogance do not inspire self-Inquiry, much less Self-Inquiry. In many cultures, egomania is reinforced, not challenged. Who that has been trained up to believe egotistically that he is a “Gift from God” could possibly question whether there is a male entity in another world that is micro-managing every major and minor event in this world? To question “the God-ness” would be to question the value of “the Gift-ness” that persons take themselves to be. (For those who wonder why there’s a 62% divorce rate in the U.S., imagine the challenge of living with one who is a “Gift from God” and therefore a “gift that any spouse would be damn lucky to have.” Who could ever be truly deserving of such a gift? The ego of the ego-state known as “The Gift” says “No one, really, can ever be good enough to deserve me.” With such a distorted view of “self,” let the ego-based fighting begin. Then, apply that to national and international conflicts and see how the false “I” is at the core of all personal conflict and why the only chance for peace--which can only be experienced during the manifestation--is via Realization.) Please enter the silence of contemplation.
