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
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
