From a site visitor: Dear Floyd, Thanks for the reply. I am going through the website. A few things arose this morning and there was this urge to pose them to you. The worshiping of the "I Am" has just started and its being worshiped with the name of Lord Rama. Now, upon entering in to the witnessing state all of a sudden, it tells me "The worshiper is imaginary, he is not real. Now, who is worshiping who? Who wants continuity and who wants to get the answers? Its no use. GoodBye". In this state, the mind starts to interpret and talk in this way... "They have all been deceiving me since ages. Every temple looks now, like a source of deception where something that's imagined prays to something that's imagined to be powerful.". Then I feel a bit hurt, because I want to believe that its only these prayers that had delivered me to this witnessing state. Now, looking back and thinking them as sources of deception cannot be true. After seeing the "me" as imagined entity, even reverence to the Guru who told me all this, is questioned. This is really hurting. What do I do with the Guru now? With what thought should I view my Guru from now on. What did Nisargadatta Maharaj and Floyd Henderson do to me? Why did they erase me and themselves in the process? Of course, these questions are asked by the "assumed" existence. Mind likes fairy tales and it wants a nice and finishing story that tells the "why" of all this. You may choose to answer me or not. But not showing reverence is not something that's acceptable to a "me" that's still present. Please help me comprehend things in the right perspective. How should the One who told me all this, to be viewed? Vigneshwar
F.: Hello, again, Vigneshwar. Maharaj offered one point repeatedly: “you” and “this world” are both an illusion, and all subsequent fictional, magical (i.e., supernatural) concepts that have been dreamed up by men are merely upgrades or downgrades of that basic illusion. For example, while the U.S. culture does not have a monopoly on buying into image and phoniness, it certainly places a premium on both, so for many women, breast augmentation is a popular upgrade of their basic body illusion. On the other hand, a scar would be considered a downgrade of their basic body illusion. For some men, working out in a gym for six hours per day produces an upgrade (in their body-identified “minds”) while losing an arm in an accident would be considered a downgrade. See how that works? Perchance, as each part of your e-mail is addressed, you will also be able to see a connection between (1) the insanity of upgrading or downgrading illusions and (2) the thoughts that are being generated by your “thinking mind”:
V.: The worshiping of the "I Am" has just started and its being worshiped with the name of Lord Rama. Now, upon entering in to the witnessing state all of a sudden, it tells me "The worshiper is imaginary, he is not real. Now, who is worshiping who? Who wants continuity and who wants to get the answers? Its no use. GoodBye".
F.: Worshipping Lord Rama in the past was an effort to upgrade the illusion of “Vigneshwar,” transforming him from a mere “human being” to some kind of “spiritual being.” Conversely, the re-purifying consciousness that is merely witnessing realizes the manner in which the fully re-purified consciousness would respond to delusions about “worshippers,” “Lords,” “imaginings,” “false WHO’s,” and “body-mind-personality desires for continuity.”
V.: In this state, the mind starts to interpret and talk in this way... "They have all been deceiving me since ages. Every temple looks now, like a source of deception where something that's imagined prays to something that's imagined to be powerful."
F.: First, “the mind” that you mention, which is a conglomeration of lies and the seat of all delusion, cannot “interpret” accurately and cannot “see deception.” It is the re-purifying consciousness that so notes the deception, not “the mind.” Secondly, as for the “temple” that you mention, you know that the use of an electron microscope reveals that steel beams and mortar and bricks are not what they appear to be to the naked eye, so (A) all buildings are illusions. To label buildings with such dualistic terms as “temple” or “church” or “mosque” or “synagogue” is (B) an upgrade of “the basic building” illusion and suggests that some buildings are “more special than others” or “different from other buildings." To separate buildings by suggesting “this one is not holy but that one is” is delusion based in duality. The same applies (as pointed out last week) when persons take the illusion of "days" and upgrade them so that certain days are assigned the status of being "holy."
F.: Hello, again, Vigneshwar. Maharaj offered one point repeatedly: “you” and “this world” are both an illusion, and all subsequent fictional, magical (i.e., supernatural) concepts that have been dreamed up by men are merely upgrades or downgrades of that basic illusion. For example, while the U.S. culture does not have a monopoly on buying into image and phoniness, it certainly places a premium on both, so for many women, breast augmentation is a popular upgrade of their basic body illusion. On the other hand, a scar would be considered a downgrade of their basic body illusion. For some men, working out in a gym for six hours per day produces an upgrade (in their body-identified “minds”) while losing an arm in an accident would be considered a downgrade. See how that works? Perchance, as each part of your e-mail is addressed, you will also be able to see a connection between (1) the insanity of upgrading or downgrading illusions and (2) the thoughts that are being generated by your “thinking mind”:
V.: The worshiping of the "I Am" has just started and its being worshiped with the name of Lord Rama. Now, upon entering in to the witnessing state all of a sudden, it tells me "The worshiper is imaginary, he is not real. Now, who is worshiping who? Who wants continuity and who wants to get the answers? Its no use. GoodBye".
F.: Worshipping Lord Rama in the past was an effort to upgrade the illusion of “Vigneshwar,” transforming him from a mere “human being” to some kind of “spiritual being.” Conversely, the re-purifying consciousness that is merely witnessing realizes the manner in which the fully re-purified consciousness would respond to delusions about “worshippers,” “Lords,” “imaginings,” “false WHO’s,” and “body-mind-personality desires for continuity.”
V.: In this state, the mind starts to interpret and talk in this way... "They have all been deceiving me since ages. Every temple looks now, like a source of deception where something that's imagined prays to something that's imagined to be powerful."
F.: First, “the mind” that you mention, which is a conglomeration of lies and the seat of all delusion, cannot “interpret” accurately and cannot “see deception.” It is the re-purifying consciousness that so notes the deception, not “the mind.” Secondly, as for the “temple” that you mention, you know that the use of an electron microscope reveals that steel beams and mortar and bricks are not what they appear to be to the naked eye, so (A) all buildings are illusions. To label buildings with such dualistic terms as “temple” or “church” or “mosque” or “synagogue” is (B) an upgrade of “the basic building” illusion and suggests that some buildings are “more special than others” or “different from other buildings." To separate buildings by suggesting “this one is not holy but that one is” is delusion based in duality. The same applies (as pointed out last week) when persons take the illusion of "days" and upgrade them so that certain days are assigned the status of being "holy."
The same also applies when persons, as pointed out yesterday, upgrade themselves (their false selves) by suggesting “I am different from you”—actually meaning, “I am better than you.” That’s an upgrade of an illusion, as is saying that “my religion or nationality or race or political party or beliefs or dogma or concepts regarding an afterlife are better than yours.” It’s all nonsense, based in persons accepting the primary illusion of self and then (a) upgrading that image or in (b) judging others and threatening them with punishment (that is, with downgrading) if they don’t accept certain beliefs, religious dogma, spiritual teachings or any of the other nonsensical concepts that persons foolishly accept as truth. What complete folly it would be for persons in Arizona to claim, "Our mirages are better than the mirages that appear in New Mexico," yet that is the same kind of folly that persons engage in constantly. Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
