Tuesday, October 31, 2006

THE RESULT OF THE DUALITY OF “GOOD VS. BAD”: Inventing Gods in the Image of Man, Part One

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From a site visitor: [Received 22 October ‘06] "You quoted Maharaj today. If he really said what you said he said, he basically said that god is just an illusion made up by man. He’s wrong if you believe him you’re wrong.”

F.: Well, if the fact that “break’s over” after a month in Europe was not clear before, it certainly is now. Those in their ego-states of “The Religious One” or “The Spiritual Giant” have raised their heads again in several e-mails to the site.

The pointer from Maharaj, which was reported accurately and which is valid, offered the following: “Only at word level does one think something good or bad will happen; when one identifies with the space, it is the end of good and bad. First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of bad, you have invented a god. Then, you worship such a god…and you pray to that god for something good to happen to you.”

For total accuracy, he could have added, “And you pray for something good to happen to those you like, you pray for something bad not to happen to you, and you pray for something bad to happen to your perceived enemies.” With that programming and conditioning, such prayers as these are uttered daily:

“Dear God, we’ve been good and faithful servants, so please do not let the hurricane come ashore here. Let its landfall be further to the east or to the west” [implying “Let other people be the ones who get hit by the storm.”] Or, “Merciful God, My daughter is a good girl, so please let her win the election at school today” [implying, “Let everyone else lose.”] Or, “Almightly God, my husband is evil and is threatening my mortal soul so please let him die” [implying that God is available to serve as a Celestial Hitman.] Or “Heavenly Father, we are a nation where the majority of the citizens are good, religious people, so bless this country and bless our troops.” [First, who could define what a “blessing” to an entire country might look like? Second, the implication is, “Let those fighting for our leaders kill those others labeled by our leaders as 'the enemy'.”]

The Original Understanding was based in clarity and reason, but both were lost to humankind when the duality of “good vs. bad” was conceived (followed by the invention of gods to deal with “the bad people” and to reward “the good ones”). The facts shall be reviewed to see why Maharaj was correct and to see how the god of Abraham is an invention that evolved out of the myths of the earlier pagan religions and to invite site visitors to discard belief in all concepts and myths and ideas and then be truly free.

To facilitate your reaching a state of true independence, you are invited to pause and to review your beliefs, to admit that you came up with nothing on your own, and then to answer honestly two questions: “Who told you that?” and “Who told them that?” Tales, myths, dogma, superstitions, and concepts, by definition, are all nothing more than invented stories (with invented heroes and villains and mortals and gods, all involved in struggles between the forces of “good” and the forces of “evil”) that have been passed down by word-of-mouth and that later came to be recorded in "holy" writings after languages were developed. Egotistical people love to study their genealogy and find “important people” in their past, but if you are going to defend your concepts about god, have you taken the time to study the history of religion and to understand the genealogy of your current “god”? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]

Monday, October 30, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY (THE CONCLUSION): “How Personality Always (A) Generates Fear and Desire and (B) Prevents Sustained Happiness"

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F.: All persons (being mentally and emotionally unhealthy as a result of non-Realization) can exhibit traits of any or all of the nine personality types. The prior descriptions of the varied personality types, combined with an understanding that anyone not Realized can exhibit the traits of almost any of the nine types, makes clear why persons suffer from multiple personality disorder and why their relative existence is marked by instability, chaos, and an inability to sustain any degree of true happiness. It has been seen that identification with the body-mind-personality triad will result in persons/personas—always trapped in their dualistic beliefs as a result of personality, programming and conditioning—experiencing the fear of being “corrupt” or “evil” or “defective”; the fear of not being loved; the fear of being worthless; the fear of having no identity; the fear of being overwhelmed by “reality”; the fear associated with the dependence of seeking external support and guidance from others; the fear of being trapped; the fear of being deprived or in pain; the fear of being harmed or violated or controlled by others; the fear of loss and a constant sense of separation; and the fear that their perceived needs will not being met. All of those will be experienced by the non-Realized who are trapped in their identification with personality.

Too, all persons trapped in personality identification will be frustrated by their unfulfilled desires...desires rooted in their wanting to be free of their fears. Trapped as they are in their false identity and duality—and driven by their fears, as all personas are—all persons at one time or another can have the desire to be seen as being “good”; can have a desire to be “loved”; can have a desire to prove how valuable they are; can desire to understand Who/What They Truly Are; can desire to prove that they are competent and knowledgeable; can desire external support and can thereby become dependent on others for guidance and sustenance; can desire a level of freedom that they will never find without Realization; can desire to gain control of others; and will desire freedom from the sense of emptiness and misery that results from (1) desiring continuity of the physical body, (2) desiring “peace of mind” when the “mind” is actually the source of their lack of peace, and (3) desiring that their personality and assumed roles can last eternally.

The reasoning behind the Advaita suggestion that personality identification should be abandoned should now be obvious. The Original Understanding preempted the assumption of personas, roles, labels, concepts, dogma, and—yes—even any rationale for offering teachings. The influence of personality in regards to the manifesting of perceived fears, unmet desires, and forestalled happiness should be clear. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: Addressing the questions in a backlog of e-mail

Sunday, October 29, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Ten

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F.: In March of ’05, the following was offered in response to a site visitor’s question:

The problem [in the relative existence] is always the personality—those ego-states that generate personas and the use of ego-defense mechanisms that they always generate. The Advaita teaching offers an invitation to put an end to ego and arrogance in the relative existence by ending all false beliefs in ego-states.

Identification with personality (which has been seen to include identification not only with the dominant type but with several of the other nine types) always results in the assumption of labels, personas, and ego-states. The phoniness of role-playing eventually mars the entire relative existence and prevents most persons from ever Realizing fully What They Truly Are. To be inspired to become free of the effects of personality, the malfunctionings of personality must first be understood, so today’s discussion will focus on the basic fears and the basic desires of Personality Type Nine—“The Indifferent One/The Mediator/The Peacemaker/The Sloth.” Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Nines:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
Type Nines have a BASIC FEAR of loss and of separation (and of not being taken care of)
Type Nines have a BASIC DESIRE for continuity and for “peace of mind” (and for reaping the benefits of their perceived entitlement and being taken care of)

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
Type Nines are evidence of the fallacy of the concept “Blessed are the peacemakers”—at least as far as personality is concerned. As far as the Absolute is concerned, there are no blessings to be had at some future point since there is no future (and no future “one” to be blessed.) As far as the relative is concerned, nothing is farther removed from the concept of “being blessed” than personas living under the whims and the influences of identification with personality…with their assumed personas. And most certainly that is the case with non-Realized persons who are identifying with their Type Nine personality. Non-Realized Nines have an unstated motto: “Never do today what can be put off until tomorrow or that—better yet—can be avoided forever.” Because they have a desire to...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE NINE INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
The toll on Nines is cumulative. Eventually, they are criticized for their refusal to mobilize by those who do not understand the effects of their personality type. After years of such criticism, Nines become disparaging of themselves, exacerbating the destructive traits of their type, relatively speaking. Their predilection for procrastination leaves them perpetually in a dependent state…often appealing to a god or some external power to intervene and take care of them. To meet basic requirements, Nines can become...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE NINE EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
Realized, Type Nines—just as is the case with all other types that Realize—can stop their avoiding and can become productive enough to meet their own basic requirements for food, clothing, and shelter. Being realistic for a change, Nines can function in the natural way whereby each meets his/her own basic survival needs. The Nine can then abandon the dependency-producing, supernatural, magical thinking that makes him/her believe that either some supernatural power, or something or someone external, is supposed to take care of the Nine. Then, the Nine can Realize, can meet his/her own basic needs, and can then live naturally. Naturally? Yes. The deer, which lives naturally instead of supernaturally, does not expect another deer to do its grazing for it. Post-Realization, an element of practicality begins to mark the relative existence of Type Nines…an element that had never manifested before. Realized, the Nines automatically stop...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: “The Conclusion: How the Influences of Personality Always Generate Fear and Desire and Prevent Any Sustainable Happiness in the Relative Existence"

Saturday, October 28, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Nine

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F.: In an August of 2005 response to a site visitor who wrote about remote tribespeople and how their language reflects a non-duality perspective, the following was offered:

The personal “I” is avoided by the members of that tribe because they consider its use to be a sign of arrogance. Find a person who is arrogant and you’ll have found a person self-absorbed and totally occupied with the “I,” with the “ego” (Latin for “I”). A Jiukiukwe child would not say, “I want water” but would report instead, “There is thirst.” The focus is on the thirst, not on the wants or desires or needs of a personal "I"—of a persona or a "personality."

Today’s discussion will focus on the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Eight—“The Boss/The Challenger/The Asserter,” another of the types that is often driven by arrogance and by the false perception of the wants or desires or needs of a personal "I"—of a persona or a "personality." Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Eights:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
Type Eights have a BASIC FEAR of being harmed, violated or controlled by others
Type Eights have a BASIC DESIRE to protect themselves, to gain control of their lives, and to control all other persons

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
The observation that “The Bully is really a very frightened individual” can apply to Type Eights. They often become “The Boss” or “The Assertive One” in order to be in control. In their fear of being harmed or violated or controlled, they work diligently to place themselves in positions of authority. Once there, they can become insensitive, aggressive, and self-centered. As a result, they (ironically) harm, violate, or try to control others. Peace is never a goal for these fighters. They will take any steps required to appear to be strong and thereby avoid feeling dependent or weak. They can become blunt, impatient, resentful, demanding, defensive, intolerant, and over-reactive.

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE EIGHT INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
Ultimately, these warriors can reach a state of fatigue that is debilitating mentally, emotionally, and physically. To assume the ego-state—the persona—of “Chairman of the Board of the Universe” leads to behavior that becomes very tiring. At least in a boxing match the fighters brawl for three minutes but then sit down and rest for one minute. Type Eights never take a break from engagement and hostility if they feel they are not in total control of all of the people they must deal with, of all places wherever they are, and of all situations. To be embroiled in identification with the personas of “The Boss” and “The Challenger of All That Seems a Threat” and “The One Who is in Charge of Space and Time” will eventually...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE EIGHT EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
While Realization comes as rarely to unhealthy Type Eights as it comes to unhealthy Type Threes and unhealthy Type Sixes, it can happen. If they live long enough and suffer the consequences of their personality enough, Eights may become tired enough to seek another way. Should they follow a “path” to Full Realization, they—just as happens with all personas who abandon personality—can accept the vulnerabilities and limitations of the physical body and stop feeling the constant fear of threat. No longer self-absorbed, they can know...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Nine—“The Peacemaker”

Friday, October 27, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Eight

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F.: “Body,” “mind,” and “personality” are concepts, rooted in ideas dreamed up—typically—by controlling men and passed on today via programming, conditioning, and enculturation. Among the masses on the planet, little progress has been made in eliminating belief in concepts and dogma and myths and magical, supernatural thinking since those early times when an eclipse was perceived to be the result of an action taken by an angry god (the same explanation many modern persons cited as the cause of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent damage and deaths). Any discussions of any concepts—including these on personality—are offered, therefore, in the spirit of thorns being provided for use in removing thorns. To see that archetypes, programming, personality traits and conditioning can drive persons subconsciously and/or unconsciously to think and behave in certain ways is a prerequisite for being free of those subconscious and unconscious influences. Only by being free of those influences can one move into a state of enlightenment and awareness and then live out the remainder of the manifestation in the type of AS IF living that happens after the consciousness has been re-purified.

Today’s discussion will focus on the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Seven—“The Adventurer/Enthusiast.” Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Sevens:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Seven has a BASIC FEAR of being trapped, deprived or in pain (be it mental, emotional, or physical)
The Type Seven has a BASIC DESIRE to be free, to have the “need” for exciting or enjoyable activities fulfilled, and to avoid all pain (be it mental, emotional, or physical)

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
Type Sevens are busy, fun-loving types who enjoy the spontaneous but hate the routine. While they can be free-spirited at some point, they can eventually deteriorate into excessiveness and becomes escapists. In the extreme, they can disintegrate into...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE SEVEN INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
Sevens would rather be excited than happy. They would rather be ecstatic than at peace. They will use activity and “doing” to treat their anxiety and can become “go-ers and do-ers and zoomers” in the style of Type Threes and Sixes and Eights. Their tendency to “anticipate” leaves them discontented with the present, and even when an anticipated activity eventually happens, Sevens are frustrated. Why? When that which was anticipated eventually comes about, it is never as great as what was anticipated. They are constantly “living in the future” and are, therefore, deprived from living in the moment…similar in that way to many Type Fives. Living in the illusion of their “mental future,” NOW becomes anathema and further separation from reality results.

Sevens want to find “that magnificence that IS,” but they are actually in fear that they’ll never find it; therefore, they can become cynical and can turn to...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE SEVEN EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
If Sevens Realize, their basic fear of being trapped disappears. They are able to ask “WHO feels trapped?” and are able to understand that no “one” exists to feel trapped. The fear of being deprived ends as they are able to ask “WHO feels deprived?” and can then understood that no “one” exists to feel deprived. And the fear of mental or physical or—especially—emotional pain ends. Why?...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Eight—“The Boss/Challenger”

Thursday, October 26, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Seven

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F.: Many persons read Enneagram descriptors of personality types and find that they’re unable to “pin down” the one exact category that is their dominant personality. That is understandable. It was pointed out earlier that all personas are driven not only by their own dominant type but also by the two adjacent types/wings and by two other types that they attach to either via integration or via the disintegration that happens when persons become stressed or pious. (Research shows that stress or piety lead to the same result: either will trigger a disintegration into the worst traits of another type.)

It should be seen, therefore, that these discussions of personality types are not the pointers, whether the listings are found in the enneagram or on some astrological chart. The pointer is that any person (that is, any persona, any “one” trapped in personality identification) will be impacted by personality, will suffer throughout their relative existence from behaviors and a thought-life that are driven by personality, and will never know the true happiness of AS IF living. The pointer is not that you will receive any benefit from understanding which type you are or which types influence you. The pointer is to see that identification with personality is insane, that the “you” which can be influenced by personality is not real, that allowing something as nebulous as "personality" to control every facet of an existence will prevent personas from ever being in touch with reality, and that identification with personality will preclude any opportunity for living out the manifestation in a sane manner that is characterized by reason and logic. As with all Advaita teachings, therefore, the point is to see the concepts being discussed as concepts, to use the discussions to free persons of the influence of forces that are unconsciously driving them, to discard all of those influences, and then to be truly free.

That point having been offered, today’s discussion will focus on the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Six—“The Loyalist.” Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Sixes:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Six has a BASIC FEAR of having no support or guidance
The Type Six has a BASIC DESIRE to have support and guidance

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
Because Type Sixes can disintegrate into a Type Three—especially when stressed or pious—they often exhibit many of the traits of an unhealthy Three. [See entry on 23 October 2006 for details on Type Threes.] Because the Type Six personality generates high-stress situations—and because their type automatically listens to anyone who seems to know what he/she is talking about—they often allow persons to control them. They are frequently stressed and frequently pious, so they frequently exhibit the worst traits of Type Threes who have adopted religious or spiritual personas as their identity. Non-Realized Sixes have no ability to discriminate, so they listen to anyone in a position of authority. That leaves them especially vulnerable to...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE SIX INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
Their personality can leave Sixes in a constant state of hyper-vigilance. They can become bad-tempered, paranoid, controlling, rigid, defensive, disparaging, and volatile. Identified with body and personality, they can become obsessed with...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE SIX EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
Realized, the Type Six will no longer be obsessed with a search for support and guidance. The desire for support will dissolve as independence manifests. The search for external guidance ends as contact with the inner resource manifests. Being in touch with reality restores sanity, and being restored to sanity frees Type Sixes—and all other personas as well—of their tendency to accept the nonsensical as sensible. Natural, innate awareness will replace dependency on outer authority figures and external “power sources” that have been dreamed up by men over the ages. Magical, supernatural thinking will end and then the (former) Sixes will live naturally instead. True independence, the prerequisite for true happiness to happen, will manifest. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Seven—“The Adventurer/Enthusiast”

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Six

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F.: In October of 2005, the following consideration was offered on this site:

Who could have cares if free of the fear of death and punishment, if free of the uncertainty of what happens when your body "ends," if free of the desire and hope for eternal reward, and if free of the constant struggle to meet man-made definitions of “good vs. bad,” “right vs. wrong,” and “moral vs. immoral” in order to get rewards both now and later? All of the struggling ends [when Realization happens].

Relatedly, the subject of today’s Personality Type comes to a very early and profound awareness of "death," of the transitory nature of the elemental body, and of wondering about “post-life” events. Today’s discussion will focus on the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Five—“The Investigator.” Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Fives:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Five’s BASIC FEAR is the fear of being overwhelmed by reality
The Type Five’s BASIC DESIRE is to be competent and knowledgeable

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
As a result of their early awareness of death and the transitory nature of the physical body, Type Fives focus on the relative world and its finite aspect and become overwhelmed by (a) knowing all of “this” is relative but without (b) understanding at all that which is “after this.” They can, therefore, become cynical and schizoid at an early age. They can feel as if they don’t belong…not to their family, not to their culture, and not even on the planet. They become acquainted with the duality of a sense of separation even as children. More sense of duality results and can leave Fives feeling...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE FIVE INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
In their quest to be seen as competent and knowledgeable, Fives develop a love of titles that reinforce the image of their being “experts” in one or more fields. That seeking of labels reinforces duality and blocks any effort to seek the “True Self.” They become “self”-contained instead of finding the Real “Self.” Focusing on a fictional, frightful “future” and on the finite nature of a body that has no continuity, how could any sustained happiness possibly happen?

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE FIVE EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
Their independent and challenging nature can allow Fives to question not only what they observe but to question authority as well. That challenging of authority provides an opportunity to Fives—a chance to become free of the programming and conditioning that authorities impose on members of all cultures and that reinforce belief in concepts and ideas and dogma and all else contained in that unlimited pool of nonsense that has been dreamed up by men who would control. Fives' ability to observe with detachment can initiate their movement along a "path" to Realization that results in...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of “Personality Type Six—“The Loyalist”

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Five

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F.: In June 2005, the following pointer was offered on this site regarding personality-driven fears and desires: “…Fear and desire are the sources of anger, and anger is the source of all hostility. Hostility becomes the source of all harm,” relatively speaking, of course. To be free of the anxiety of fears as well as the frustration of unmet desires, one must be free of identification with personality. Today, the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Four—“The Romantic/Individualist”—will be discussed. Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Fours:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Four’s BASIC FEAR is the fear of having no identity
The Type Four’s BASIC DESIRE is to find themselves

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
In their need to understand themselves, Fours developed a related desire to be understood by others. Since most “others” do not understand themselves, how could they ever understand the Fours? They won’t, so the Four's frustrated desire to find “Self” and to be understood leaves him/her feeling depressed...yet stubborn about continuing to try to have those desires met. The result is that, eventually, Fours tend to withdraw and to isolate and to become depressed as they remain misunderstood and as they fail to find the answer to "Who Am I, Really?"

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE FOUR INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
Because of their frustrations, Fours can eventually suffer dark moods, a variety of perceived hurts, the angst of unmet expectations, a constant fear of abandonment as a result of not being understood, and an uncomfortable sensation of longing as a result of knowing that “something is missing” but not having a clue what that is. In Advaita terms, the desire of the pre-Realization Type Four could be described as...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE FOUR EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
Some claim that Fours have an advantage in moving along the “path” to Realization because of their innate drive to search for identity and to uncover what “self” is not and what “Self” is. If they succeed in their quest and attain Full Realization, they can live out an AS IF existence with greater ease than most...the silence, the solitude, and the lack of need being quite comfortable for Fours, relatively speaking. Post-Realization, the earlier drive to find themselves ends, so the basic, unmet desire ends and the basic, illusory fear disappears as they understand...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of “Personality Type Five—The Investigator”

Monday, October 23, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Four

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F.: In July ‘06, the following pointer was offered on this site about personality in response to a question about coming to really know or understand another person: “…You’ll never ‘know’ or ‘understand’ any person [because] you’ll never know ‘which person’ (which persona or which personality type) you’re dealing with on any given day. Have you ever met someone and thought you ‘really knew’ him/her…only to scream later, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’ Millions in ‘relationships’ eventually feel like fools, like they were ‘fooled’ by someone who put up a false front, a false image, only to discover that their mate, friend, lover, spouse, etc. is a fraud. Of course that will happen, because all personas are fraudulent.” Thus, to be free of fear, desire, foolishness, and unhappiness, personality must be transcended. But before such transcendence can happen, personality and its fraudulent nature must be understood. Thus, this series. Of all the personality types, none put up that false front or false image more than the type discussed today.

The basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Three—“The Performer/Achiever”—is today's topic. Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Threes:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Three’s BASIC FEAR is the fear of being worthless
The Type Three’s BASIC DESIRE is to feel valuable

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
Because they fear that "the way they really are" makes them worthless, Threes above all else engage in (1) “image-building” and in (2) seeking an audience to display that image and thereby receive praise or positive feedback. When Type Three Performers/Achievers act or sing or perform or accomplish, they are seeking the applause or praise that their personality desires. Then, in an act of self-delusion, they take the applause or praise as a sign that...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE THREE INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
That desire to be the epitome of what their culture considers “attractive,” “good,” and “valuable” results in a never-ending drive to be more, to be better, to be better than, and to be perceived as “the best.” Such egotistical pursuits place them in a competitive mode and drive Threes to feel they are being challenged or threatened in most situations. They demand the spotlight and resent people and situations that force them to share the spotlight. In their effort to look perfect and to say the perfect thing in each case and to appear to be the best, the result is an inordinate fear of failure and a consequent need to exploit and control or manipulate in their effort to maintain their image and their sense of superiority.
They become charming actors, performers who are always “on stage” or who are in need of finding an audience if an audience is missing. In their effort to stay in the spotlight, they become jealous, vindictive, deceptive, narcissistic, vain, and self-righteous. They become obsessed with...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE THREE EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
Along with Realization comes authenticity as images are seen to be images and nothing more. With Realization, honesty replaces the lie that the relative existence of most Type Threes eventually becomes. The distorted thinking and twisted perspectives that prevented the manifestation of happiness disappear. That said, with the degree of attachment that Threes have to image...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of “Personality Type Four—The Romantic”

Sunday, October 22, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Three

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F.: Today’s discussion focuses on the personality type that desires love but that lives in the fear of not getting it and with the unhappiness of never having enough of it. An earlier entry on the site offered this pointer: “Desires and wants and fears and imagined needs are generated by illusory ego-states. Who could be satisfied if constantly experiencing the sensations of desire, want, fear or need?” Ego-states, in turn, are the result of the personality influences being discussed in this series (which also generate all dualistic beliefs, including: "good vs. bad," "loved vs. not loved," and belief in "a god of evil in opposition to a god of morality.")

Maharaj offered this pointer: “Only at word level does one think something good or bad will happen; when one identifies with the space, it is the end of good and bad. First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of bad, you have invented a god. Then, you worship such a god…and you pray to that god for something good to happen to you.”

Those pointers having been offered, the focus today will be on the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type Two—"The Helper." The consideration for Type Two’s is this: WHO thinks she/he needs love? WHO thinks that he/she is in any position to "help" "others"? WHO is so arrogant as to believe that “others” are obviously far less intelligent, far less capable, and far less gifted than the persona who thinks she/he is most qualified to provide "help" to “others”? WHO is so egotistical that he/she believes that they know so much that they have the answers for everyone else’s relative world problems? WHO believes that she/he knows what "others" need? And WHO believes that he/she is the most competent to provide "help"? Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Twos:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type Two’s BASIC FEAR is the fear of not being loved
The Type Two’s BASIC DESIRE is to be loved

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
A Type Two will try to get the love she/he desires by manipulating others into believing that they need the Type Two, that they need what only that one person can offer, that they need the insight that only that one Type Two has, and that they cannot survive without that Type Two person. That mindset will attract what type persons for Type Twos to deal with on a daily basis?
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com
Twos eventually resent all the demands being made upon them by the needy, exploitative persons that their dependency-fostering persona creates, even though the Twos were aggressively seeking out needy people with an excess...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY PERSONALITY TYPE TWO INTERRUPTS HAPPINESS
Imagine the frustration of needing love, of constantly wanting love, of constantly trying to find love, and of trying—always in vain—to hold onto love in a culture where 62% of those persons who pledge “to love ‘til death do us part” . . . don’t. Yet the transient nature of “love” is not confined to the U.S. Across the globe, the typical pattern of relationships is to move through the following phases: “stranger” to “acquaintance” to “friend” to “lover” to “spouse or partner” to “enemy” to “mortal enemy.” The same intransigence marks not only “love relationships” but friendships and partnerships as well. How, therefore, could a Type Two ever be consistently happy when the desire is...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE TWO EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
With Realization comes (A) the understanding that there is no “one” that has any need. With Realization comes (B) the understanding that no “one” can help any “one.” With Realization comes (C) clarity about what love is not and then (D) an end to wasting energy in the search for anything that is illusory. Lies are stored in the mind; truth can be accessed via the inner resource, contact with which is typically blocked by...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of “Personality Type Three—The Performer”

Saturday, October 21, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part Two

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F.: Why do the Advaita teachings invite persons to discard their identification with personality? (A) The influence of personality results in specific but illusory fears and in specific but unattainable desires. How could happiness possibly happen in a relative existence littered with the anxiety of illusory fears and the frustration of unmet desires? (B) Trapped within the sphere of personality identification, duality manifests. Why? To believe that any of the various personas that evolve from belief in the personality types can define who you are (for example, “The Perfect One” or “The Helper” or “The Boss,” etc.) will prevent your knowing Who/What You Truly Are. Too, since the cataloguing of personality traits always lists “assets” vs. “liabilities,” then belief in duality is fostered. (C) The lie of multiplicity is reinforced by assuming identification with personality. How? When trapped in the sphere of personality, a person does not exhibit traits of only her/his dominant persona type. When “mentally healthy,” one unconsciously integrates the traits of another type. If stressed or pious, one disintegrates into the mode of a third type. Further, personas adopt the traits of their two adjacent types, so a Type Three will exhibit Type Two traits as well as Type Four traits. All personality identification, therefore, will ultimately foster the chaos and disorder of living with “multiple personalities.”
The Advaita teachings can (1) provide release from illusory fears and unmet desires via elimination of the belief in the personality and can (2) free persons of the misery generated by personality identification via Full Realization. The process invites protégés to answer certain key questions: WHO has a fear? WHO has a desire? WHO wants to be perfect? WHO is taking himself/herself to be a persona with a personality? To be free of believing that a mirage is real, one must first understand what a mirage is, so today, the basic fear and the basic desire of Personality Type One—“The Perfectionist”—will be discussed. Russ Hudson pointed out the following about Personality Type Ones:

BASIC FEAR AND BASIC DESIRE
The Type One’s BASIC FEAR is being corrupt or evil or defective
The Type One’s BASIC DESIRE is to be good

THE IMPACT OF THAT PERSONALITY TYPE ON THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE
Consider the effects of trying to live out a relative existence while being trapped in the belief of dualities that tell you that sometimes you are “good” but that more often you are “bad.” Consider the misery of being programmed and conditioned to think that you are really “corrupt” (as opposed to “honest”), “evil” (as opposed to “moral”), or “defective” (as opposed to “perfect”). What a nightmarish existence has to result if one does not Realize...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

WHY HAPPINESS IS INTERRUPTED FOR PERSONALITY TYPE ONES
Note how acceptance of the influence of this personality type will automatically force persons to be stressed and apprehensive and overly-serious; note how the influence of this personality type will drive personas to always be dissatisfied with themselves; see how they will be driven to believe that they can never do anything well enough; see how the influence of their personality will drive these persons to feel burdened and unacknowledged and compulsive. Then, you’ll understand why persons living under the influence of a Type One Personality might claim all day long that they are happy, but with the above factors at work, that belief is...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com


FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY TYPE ONE EFFECTS VIA REALIZATION
To be free of the frustration of living out a relative existence while being trapped in the dualities of “good” vs. “bad,” “corrupt” vs. “honest”, “evil” vs. “moral”, or “defective” vs. “perfect,” then attainment of the non-duality understanding is required. “Good” and “bad” are relative. Being relative, they are lies and cannot be defined with any continuity. What is “good” to one person is “bad” to another. So-called “universal truths” or “moral standards” are just as relativistic. The same person who claims...
The entire discussion of this topic is available in the book, LIBERATION (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization) at www.floydhenderson.com

TOMORROW: The basic fear and the basic desire of “Personality Type Two—The Helper”

Friday, October 20, 2006

THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY: Fears, Desires, and Interrupted Happiness, Part One

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F.: Many questions received from visitors to this site over the last seventeen months originated from that which is as far removed from Full Realization as possible: body, mind, and/or personality identification. Questions or comments about “fear of death,” about “the well-being of the body,” about "religious and spiritual concepts and beliefs," and about their desires for “the eternal continuity of the body and mind” have revealed just how absorbed persons are in their false identities. The “self” is always about body-mind-personality, and the body-mind-personality is always about self…self-absorption, self-centeredness, and self-concern.

One therapist who uses the Enneagram method to teach her clients their personality types has been asked by some why they need that awareness. She explains, “Because if you do not abandon the belief that your personality has anything to do with Who You Truly Are—and 95% never will—then it will be the force that will blindly drive you through life, that will determine what you do and how you feel, and that will cause that misery which brought you to this office to continue.”

In fact, it is the phenomenon of personality that sustains the belief in duality and prevents the Realization of the truth of non-duality. All “personal assets and liabilities,” and all notions about the “good qualities and bad qualities of people,” are actually dealing with nothing more than personality traits which are always dualistic by definition. Thus, the Advaita teachings always include certain pointers about personality (along with an invitation to abandon all belief in personality—and personas—while abandoning body and mind identification as well).

While in Europe recently, much discussion was overheard as people talked about the content of a report released from the United Kingdom that studied “the reasons that women over 40 have sleepless nights.” In the order of importance, the results showed their lack of sleep resulted from the following fears:

1. Children's future - 55 %
2. Health risks - 45%
3. Financial difficulties - 43 %
4. Breast cancer - 36 %
5. Rising crime - 27 %
6. Immigration - 19 %
7. Threat of terrorism - 12 %
8. Menopause - 12 %
9. Losing their partner - 11%

So what do each of those really deal with?

1. Fears about "Children's future" deal with BODY AND MIND AND PERSONALITY IDENTIFICATION: (Reproduction is a BODY function. “The Mother,” which automatically becomes “The Super Mother” once the role is assumed as an identity, cannot exist without children, so MIND and PERSONAS are also involved.)

2. Fears about "Health risks" deal with BODY IDENTIFICATION

3. Fears about "Financial difficulties" deal with PERSONALITY IDENTIFICATION AND MIND IDENTIFICATION

4. Fears about "Breast cancer" deal with BODY IDENTIFICATION

5. Fears about "Rising crime" deal with BODY IDENTIFICATION

6. Fears about "Immigration" deal with BODY AND MIND IDENTIFICATION

7. Fears about the "Threat of terrorism" deal with BODY IDENTIFICATION

8. Concerns about "Menopause" deal with BODY AND MIND IDENTIFICATION

9. Fears about "Losing their partner" deal with PERSONALITY AND MIND IDENTIFICATION

So much for “True Love,” partners. (You can visit the October 2005 archives for more on what "True Love Is Not.") The women surveyed admitted that they are five times more concerned about losing their children than about losing their partners, four times more concerned about losing money than about losing their partners, and three times more concerned about problems with their breasts than about losing their partners. And if men answered honestly the same types of questions in an anonymous survey, the priorities of men would be just as focused on body-mind-personality “issues” and therefore just as “self”-centered as the women interviewed in the study cited above.

Belief in one’s personality/personas results in not knowing Who/What You Truly Are. That, in turn, results in the dualities revealed above…and all duality then results in delusional fears and unmet desires. And of course all fears and desires result in dis-ease. While Realization cannot guarantee that the Realized (living out an AS IF existence) will never witness any relative existence happenings that will provide opportunities to observe feelings as they rise and fall, the absence of Realization will guarantee that persons will be absorbed in the types of emotionally-intoxicating issues that are causing the women surveyed to lose sleep and to have their relative existence dominated by preoccupation with fears and desires. The same applies to men. Worry and fear and desire are merely the toll to be paid when body-mind-personality identification exists.

During that same recent trip to Europe, a travel partner had scheduled a visit with Russ Hudson (of the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Institute http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/). That provided an opportunity to discuss with Russ the role that the nine personality types play in fostering fears and desires in personas (and thereby preventing true happiness from happening among those driven by their various personality types).

Yes, personality typing amounts to nothing more than another set of concepts, but since Advaitans employ thorns to remove thorns—concepts used to eventually remove all concepts—use of the Enneagram methodology can stimulate the Realization process among protégés. Too, it was observed during certain satsanga sessions in the past that the pointers offered to one personality type about her/his basic desires and basic fears were ignored as irrelevant by those present whose personalities were among the other eight types and who had different fears and desires that were driving them. Thus, a new series begins today in which the basic fears and the basic desires of each of the nine personality types will be discussed.

By the end of this series, each site visitor should have discovered the single most basic fear and the single most basic desire that is driving him or her, that is interfering with realization and happiness, and that is supporting the attachment to personality identification. To identify the source of the dis-ease is the first step to eliminating that source and the dis-ease.

By comparison, the colon cancer that had manifested in this space was not addressed and removed until its presence and nature were diagnosed and understood. Freedom from cancer followed understanding the exact nature of the problem…it did not precede that understanding. So it is with personality and the fears and desires that personality identification generate: freedom from the relative effects of fears and desires cannot happen until persons are aware of the illusions surrounding their personality type, are aware of the effects, and are freed of the false beliefs about personality that will otherwise drive all of their relative existence behaviors and “feelings.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.
TOMORROW: The most basic fear and the most basic desire of “Personality Type Ones—The Perfectionists”

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