Monday, December 31, 2007

QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Eight, The Conclusion

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[Continued from yesterday: a follow-up to Raja’s original e-mail]

R.: your explanation of birth … is also a concept given by you. So should I use this knowledge(thorn) to remove my knowledge(thorn) of birth or should I discard both? Please answer in brief.

F.: All concepts used by a teacher to remove a seeker’s concepts are tools (thorns) to be used at certain points along the “path” but are to be tossed at the end.

To clarify the “body/birth” pointers you referenced, understand that body attachment and body identification are to be expected, especially among those only beginning to consider the Advaita Teachings and even more among those exposed to religious dogma.

(Why? Religions focus on upgrading the natural birth process to a "supernatural process," on celebrating human birth, on "saving the body" or "eating body" or "beating the body" or "sacrificing the body" or "pleasuring the body with virgins and/or whores after death," ad infinitum.) Thus, you too are attached to the idea of "being your body...and more" as well as the idea of “your birth” and to all of the supernatural associations that have been assigned to that event as well.

The point was that you are like most seekers who require an understanding of some basic biology lessons before there is any chance that the Advaita teachings can be understood. Biology and science can explain “where” you were prior to conception, how elements come together to form temporary spaces, how energy functions, and how very natural all of the processes are that become very confusing when religious or spiritual persons claim that natural events are supernatural events.

The discarding of identification with body and with “a body born” is the starting point of the Advaita “journey.” You cannot skip that first step and focus on “loftier” issues if Realization is to happen. Realize also that the Nisarga Yoga approach provides an understanding of what is natural and removes false beliefs that all-natural happenings are “supernatural.”

Too, what is “natural,” by definition, is not special (which the ego hates to hear). It is egotism that clings to the belief that something ordinary and natural must surely have some supernatural significance. Those are points that were being addressed:

you are not the body, you were not born, no person is special and unique (all being “the same”), and some understanding of basic science is required to continue beyond step one of the "journey" to Full Realization.

R.: And u said the concept of birth as After death, the elements will rejoin the universal pool of elements; the breath shall rejoin the universal pool of air; and the consciousness shall rejoin the universal pool of unmanifested energy. So many different pools, where is the "ONE" here? Please explain.

F.: As mentioned in the December 28th post:

Whatever you think you are seeing on this planet and taking to be "numerous, different things," and all of these "pools" of elements, air, and energy, and all of the planets and galaxies as well, can be traced to the manifestation of … one, single atom.

As mentioned in the Dec 25th post:

What is taken to be “everything” is really ONE thing, and any differences in appearance are due only to the variances in the rates of vibration of the energy/matter involved.

R.: I have read the blog, "Die" now to live now. In that there's a statement : Don’t wait to “die” to be at peace. It would be useless to wait because once the consciousness unmanifests, you’ll not know that the peace exists. Who is the "you" in the above statement?

F.: The “you” is the “you” (your false identity and all false identities) and the “You” (THAT which You Truly Are). Manifested, the warped consciousness cannot know itSelf but will take its false, assumed selves (false identities) to define “self.” Manifested, the pure consciousness can know itSelf. Post-manifestation, the Absolute is beyond beingness and non-beingness, so there is no “one” and no “thing” to know or be aware of anything.

The point is, allow your belief in the false “you” to “die,” to go away, to end. All ego-states assumed as identities generate egotism and the dualistic belief that “I am special and different.”

Now, it is time to end this dialogue. It is time to cease submitting questions about the teachings that are in no particular order. It is time to follow a “path” in an exact, precise order, if you would be free of all of the misconceptions you have been taught and thereafter Realize.

The current state of the consciousness called “raja” is in no condition to reach the understanding (which is available only by completing all of the seven steps to Realization…in order). Why is that speck of consciousness not ready?

Because you are dominated by a “mind” that is trying to reconcile philosophical, no-concept teachings with an overabundance of the religious, conceptualized teachings which you have accumulated as a result of programming and conditioning and enculturation. This pointer was offered earlier this month:

It has been left to philosophers to point toward THAT, to scientists to explain what THAT is, and to religious and/or spiritual persons to distort the truth regarding what THAT is.

Non-reconcilables cannot be reconciled, and religious teachings—which are all rooted in duality—cannot co-exist with the non-dual understanding. In the non-dual Reality, there cannot be “this truth” and also “that truth.” Religion can be a stepping stone to Full Realization, but it cannot provide the total “path” that leads one to the understanding of the no-concept, non-dual Reality.

The suggestion, if you would continue to seek to understand this philosophy, is to find a Realized teacher you can sit with, or find readings that will explain exactly what must be understood at step one in order to move to step two, what must be understood at step two to move to step three, etc.

The “path” must be traveled in an exact order, which is the reverse order that began when consciousness manifested and was soon corrupted to the point that it came to believe that it is the body (and the mind, and the personality). Regards, f. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

ADVANCED

http://floydhenderson.com/nothingness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/consiousnessawareness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/iamabsolute.htm

INTERMEDIATE

http://floydhenderson.com/theessence.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

BEGINNERS

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

PERSONALITY AND RELATIONSHIPS, ADDICTIONS

http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

ADVENTURE & MYSTERY NOVELS WITH AN ADVAITA MESSAGE

http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

Sunday, December 30, 2007

QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Seven

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[Continued from yesterday: a follow-up to Raja’s original e-mail]

R.: Thanks for your profound insights. Now I understand the Consciousness as that which exists wihtout being conscious of(or aware of), like Light per se with out the source of light. Is my understanding right?

F.: No. Consciousness manifested and then corrupted via programming and conditioning is still conscious of something, even if what it is conscious of is a lie or is misconceived. If re-purified, it can be conscious of lies as lies, conscious of the Truth as Truth and then conscious of itSelf (as opposed to itself, meaning, as opposed to the false self or false selves that the corrupted consciousness takes to be real identities).

If not manifested, consciousness (called at that point “awareness without awareness” by some teachers) is not aware of anything in that state. [Note: that state is more a state of potentiality than "rest." Energy is always in motion.]

R.: If my introduction to advaita version concept was different from your advaita concept,and as you said all concepts have to be wiped out for realization. Do I still need to use thorns to remove thorns and read the books suggested by you or (I don't have any clue about other option )? Hope you have got my problem.Please guide me. Thanks in Advance.

F.: It is time for you to understand the following: this exercise of answering your questions has included a “shotgun-blast of elements” as responses were offered to a variety of queries that came from many levels along "the path." It happened for several purposes.

In addition to serving as entertainment, it might be that various visitors at various points along the “path” might relate to responses offered to questions asked from what amounts to a variety of points along the “path.”

The task for you now—as revealed by so many of your questions that are based in a belief in relative entities and Absolute entities—is to set aside all that you think you know. Set aside all that you have ever been told by religious or spiritual persons.

Then, begin the “journey” with the first step: be rid of your belief that you are the body; be rid of your identification with relative entities; and be rid of your belief that you will have some eternal identification as a supernatural entity with body, mind, and personality. Then, find the answer to where you were during the days prior to conception. That will require that you discard belief in fictional tales that assign supernatural explanations to all-natural happenings.

Then, find out why “You” would still be “You” even if “Raja” lost both arms and both legs and also has a heart transplant as well. Find that “You.” There is the point for starting a new “journey.” How to begin? That will require you to be rid of all that you have been taught and to be rid of all identities that have been assigned or assumed.

R.: Thanks for the reply. Please explain me why we should believe in one-ness or Advaita?

F.: There is no suggestion that “you should believe” in anything. There is much that you do believe in that could be discarded if you would be free of being fooled and would be free of the relative effects of those fictional tales that have been taught as truth.

Further, no Realized Advaitin will ever say, “Here is what you are to believe.” All pointers are offered to free you eventually of all beliefs and all concepts, not to add more beliefs and more concepts. Pointers are offered to guide you to seeing when lies are lies and to allow the truth within to be tapped into via the re-purified consciousness.

R.: What is there for us to realize? (in short) because, the answer is also a concept.

F.: Exactly, so now you might be moving toward an understanding of why thorns are used to remove thorns and are discarded thereafter. Any concepts used as pointers are intended to lead eventually to the no-concept, non-dual Reality.

R.: You said the realization happens when there are zero concepts. then the walls,mountains are without thoughts and concepts, so are they realized. I think this question is childish. Please excuse me and give a brief short answer?

F.: Sorry—the only part of that that makes any sense is the first sentence. Further, considering the fact that you have not yet taken the first of seven steps to Full Realization, it is suggested that you ignore whatever you’re trying to understand in this question and any others.

Instead, you will be invited tomorrow when this series concludes to ignore all of the questions you have raised. The answers have been offered for other visitors actually, since you are not ready for all of these considerations. The assignment for you is to do all that is necessary to be free first and foremost of your birth/body beliefs. If you do not do that, then the teachings that are actually relevant at steps that are farther along the "path" will never be grasped.

The invitation is to reach a condition where the consciousness is no longer corrupted with belief in concepts, if you would be free (meaning free of belief in man-made concepts that are held dear or sacred or supreme or divine by those specks of consciousness called "the non-Realized"). Please enter the silence of contemplation. (Tomorrow: The Conclusion)

For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

http://floydhenderson.com/nothingness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/consiousnessawareness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/iamabsolute.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/theessence.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

Saturday, December 29, 2007

QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Six

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[Continued from yesterday]

R.: If it [Atman] does not unite with Brahman then there's a contradiction of Infinite. Coz there will be two entities then.

F.: Would not the premise of that concept of “something uniting with Brahman” require separate, dual entities if “a” were to unite with “b”? If that which is called “floyd” leaves the living room and enters a bedroom to prepare to sleep, is “floyd” uniting with the bedroom, or is there simply a movement from the “living space” to the “sleep space”?

What happens in that example with the movement of a body parallels what happens with the movement of energy. Is the field of energy one field? Yes. Does the unmanifested energy merge into that field? Yes.

Can a parallel be drawn with ocean water rising, appearing to take the form of clouds, and then dropping rain back into that ocean? Yes. But does the unmanifested energy merge with an individualized, divine entity with attributes (your words having indicated that you take Brahman to be some personal “who” with an identifiable form)? No.

Furthermore, none of your beliefs regarding this subject have anything to do with what is “infinite,” much less with Truth. THAT Which Is and Shall Be is what it is, and its continuation is not dependent upon any "uniting" process. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, so uniting or not uniting has no bearing at all on its continuation. Understand that all talk of Atman uniting with Brahman is what my teacher called "kindergarten level spirituality."

A child might say at the kindergarten level, “Look, the boiling water is turning into steam.” A naïve child can believe that something supernatural or magical happened in regards to the water and steam both eventually “disappearing” if a pan of boiling water were left over the fire for a long enough period.

Only the child with a limited understanding of the science behind what is being discussed would believe that (a) water is “created by some entity and is then sent by that entity from the sky” or that (b) the water that had been in the pan over the fire was “destroyed as a result of excessive boiling” or that (c) the water, however, "can be 'saved' by that which created it in the first place."

At the middle school level, the child might understand that what is happening is that, during the boiling process, “water molecules are gaining energy rapidly and the most energetic molecules are transitioning the liquid phase and entering into the gas phase.”

But at the senior level, that child should finally understand that H2O is H2O, that any supposed “difference” in “water” and “steam” is in appearance only, and that to consider “water” and “steam” as “two” (rather than as “not two”) is a misconception.

Furthermore, it is only those children programmed with religious or spiritual beliefs who could believe a story claiming that water has a soul and that the water will someday come to an end but that its soul will rise upward and re-gain its form and will be united (or re-united) with “The Great Water-Maker in the Sky,” will become the Water-Maker, and will exist for eternity in harmonious unity with all of the other quantities of water that it was with when manifested on earth.

Advaita provides a vehicle that can (1) move you beyond the lower and middle levels of discussions and misunderstanding and that can (2) lead to an understanding of what is really happening in this universe, of what is definitely not happening in this universe, and of how the totality functions overall.

R.: Suppose a child of age less than a year dies(body+mind), then will the child attain realization?

F.: The child will attain nothing, and the question shows how attached you are to body identification. There is no such thing as body-mind-personality continuity, Raja. If a child “dies,” as you say, that child no longer Is. There will be no continuation of that child in any way, shape, or form. (The ego hates to hear that pointer because the ego fears the reality behind that pointer.)

Therefore, once again, the relevant pointers are offered: post-manifestation there is no one that can know anything and pre-manifestation, there was no one who knew anything. Further, there was no one waiting to manifest in order to know something or learn something or realize something or fulfill something or give meaning to something or to achieve something that was a pre-ordained purpose. Finally, there is no “one” now. There is either a speck of pure consciousness that is witnessing accurately or there is a speck of warped or blocked consciousness that is being fooled, that is believing lies, and that is not perceiving accurately.

Elements and air and energy can “come together” as a temporary space, but all that “comes together” in the relative existence will eventually “come apart,” so no child or adult will retain its body and “mind” and personality forever.

The child in your scenario is a space or form of elements-cum-consciousness. How could dust that is molded into the shape of a pot “attain” anything once the pot is smashed, once the dust-as-pot no longer has any form, and once the dust is again in a dust phase instead of in a pot phase? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

http://floydhenderson.com/nothingness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/consiousnessawareness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/iamabsolute.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/theessence.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

Friday, December 28, 2007

QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Five

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[Continued from yesterday]

R.: What is the concept of realization?

F.: Take the term to be nothing more than a teaching tool that points toward a happening, specifically the end of belief in all concepts even as the consciousness remains manifested.

More specifically, what happens is that the contaminated or blocked consciousness becomes re-purified or is no longer blocked. At that instant, the pure consciousness will realize when a lie is a lie, will realize that all religious and spiritual beliefs amounted to nothing more than learned ignorance and are to be discarded, and will then realize the Truth.

R.: Are we born in this world to attain realization or liberation?

F.: No, and no.

R.: What is there for our eternal souls to realize if there's anything to realize?

F.: Since there is no soul, then there is no eternal soul; therefore, there is no soul to realize anything. There is consciousness manifested now, which cannot realize truth if contaminated or blocked. There is consciousness manifested now which can realize truth if re-purified or if beliefs and concepts—which are the blocking agents—are forfeited. Post-manifestation, there is no “one” to be conscious of anything.

As far as this “Raja” should be concerned—all there is, is consciousness...for now. Should the warped consciousness be re-purified, then (1) you will realize all of the ways that “they” fooled you and (2) you will realize the Truth.

R.: If there is so, then suppose a person dies without realization, will he(Atman) unite or remain with Brahman who is One infinite?

F.: It is also required, if you would grasp the no-concept, non-dual Reality, to be free of your confusion around such terms as “Brahman.” Your inquiry above is an adumbration of the Christian dilemma dealing with their concept of salvation and their concept of a god who supposedly "loves unconditionally": “If I die without being ‘saved’—without accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior—will I still go to heaven, or will I go to hell, and if so, why if love is 'unconditional'?”

Is the term “Brahman” used accurately by some Advaitins? Yes, but too often it is used to refer to some “supreme spirit,” which does not exist. (“Supreme” vs. “not supreme” or “supreme” vs. “worst” is itself a duality.)

The term also, as used by many, often carries a connotation of being “Divine,” which is another dualistic term. Some consider it to be the source of a creator god called “Brahmā,” but no such creator god exists. Why?

It’s simple: because all is energy/matter and because neither energy nor matter can be created nor destroyed; therefore, nothing has ever been created or destroyed, so a god of creation and a god of destruction are both fiction.

(The same applies to a god—or gods—of sustenance). The fact that you refer to Brahman as “who” is evidence that you have personalized a field of energy and that you currently perceive the boundless space wherein potential but unmanifested energy moves as being a personal space with form, just like the plant-food-bodies on earth which are the models for all gods-cum-bodies.

When a bug hits the windshield of a vehicle, the released energy does not have to go “there” to be “at rest.” That space is here and is now. The transfer is immediate. Yet the space is neither confined nor restricted, so the movement of energy is potentially limitless.

R.: If he doesn't then where does the Atman go?

F.: There is no Atman to go anywhere, post manifestation. Understand, too, that the “Cosmic Substance” to which all in this universe can be traced was nothing “supreme,” nothing “spiritual,” and nothing “created.” Instead, it was one, single atom that manifested in a vacuum.

Whatever you think you are seeing on this planet and taking to be "numerous, different things," and all of these "pools" of elements, air, and energy, and all of the planets and galaxies as well, can be traced to the manifestation of that one, single atom. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

http://floydhenderson.com/nothingness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/consiousnessawareness.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/iamabsolute.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/theessence.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

Thursday, December 27, 2007

QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Four

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[Continued from yesterday]

R.: I was ok before introduced to Advaita, now after conceptual readings of these topics, my mind is thinking of these and am afraid I am trapped in Whirlwind of thoughts.

F.: If you were ok “before Advaita,” return to that pre-Advaita state, but were you not seeking and searching for something if you found Advaita…if you found this site? If you were completely ok with the beliefs you held—religious or otherwise—why were you seeking anything else?

R.: Where were I before Birth (if I were Born)? and where will I be after death(If I die)?

F.: As mentioned earlier,

  • Click WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
  • R.: Is it like we are in undisturbed deep sleep before we came into this world. Then first of all why we should we born

    F.: Again, review “friction” and “parental pleasures” in a prior post to find why a plant-food-body now called "Raja" was conceived and delivered. Those who do not know how babies are made, and who want to assign some supernatural connotation to the event, will never realize the Truth. Why?

    Because they have been programmed to believe nonsensical concepts regarding “making babies” and “birth.” Most humans on the planet do not know how babies are made, and most could use a lesson in biology before being offered a lesson in Advaita.

    As is, they are obviously trapped in magical (supernatural) thinking that is the result of programming and conditioning and which drives them to assign magical, supernatural aspects to completely natural processes.

    As for “you” in a “deep sleep,” there was no “you” prior to the manifestation of this current speck of consciousness now called “Raja.”

    R.: Is there any thing to acheive here?

    F.: No, yet if “achieving” happens, it happens. Certainly, relative speaking, something must happen if humans are to have food and clothing and shelter, but it can merely happen without assuming any role of doership.

    Several companies in 2007 contracted with “floyd” to serve as a business consultant, sharing Advaita-based teachings with their staff and/or clients. Just because consulting happened does not mean that the activity made Me “a consultant.” Consulting simply happened, without attachment to outcome and without any sense of doership.

    Similarly, “achieving” can merely happen. Egotism manifests only if there is a belief that there is some “one” who achieved something (and therefore deserves love or praise for doing so).

    R.: If so, then according to Advaita, we should only remain witness to our acts and should not invlove, coz our eternal soul(Atman) has nothing to achieve in this material world.

    F.: There is no eternal soul. As for “witnessing without involvement,” certainly so. Farther along the path you will understand that there are two levels of witnessing, one “object witnessing”…the other “Pure Witnessing.”

    You will not be ready for an explanation regarding those two until you are rid of these three: body identification, mind identification, and personality identification. Any talk of “just being the witness” is delusion as long as one or more of those three identities is taken to be real.

    R.: Then what is all these. Who woke me up in deep sleep and gave me birth. If so then why should we bother how we live in this transient world.

    F.: There was no “you” that was asleep and there was no “you” that was awakened, so there was no “one” who awoke you. Now, what can happen is that the manifested consciousness can come to know itself and can come to understand the functioning of the totality. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

    For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

    http://floydhenderson.com/nothingness.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/consiousnessawareness.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/iamabsolute.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/theessence.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/whenidie.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

    Wednesday, December 26, 2007

    QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Three

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    [Continued from yesterday as responses to questions from site visitor Raja are offered]

    R.: I can go kill(body+mind) anybody whom i dislike and say I am not the Doer and Doeth and anyways i return to Brahman. True?

    F.: False. You would have had to have been “with Brahman” in order to “return to Brahman.” Since you are speaking of Brahman only from a body-mind mode, it must be said that you were never “with Brahman.” Were you to speak from an energy/consciousness mode, and were you to understand that Brahman is not an “entity,” then a response involving “Brahman” could be offered.

    The problem in your case is the misuse of the term “Brahman.” As with all persons discussing Brahman, it is taken to be some specific “thing” in your “mind.” (You used the term “entity” to refer to the concept in your first question.)

    But if the seeker is to reach the no-concept state, then at some point the effects of programming and conditioning that inspire referring to an energy field with exalted terms such as “Brahman” (or mislabeling that field with such words as “god” or “heaven”) must end.

    Is the potential energy at a wall outlet "noble," or is it just energy? Was it “with someone” or “with some entity” before arriving at your wall outlet?

    As with most persons exposed to religious teachings, the non-personal, no attribute space is once again distorted into something personal and something that supposedly “has attributes.” The result of the practice is that, while no god created any man in "his own image," men have most certainly created many gods/goddesses in their image.

    Such is the result of fallacies in reasoning, and reasoning fallacies result from programming, conditioning, domestication, and enculturation.

    As for killing people without consequence, all acts in the relative existence generate relative consequences, which is why it can be reported that "the cause of all is all." Relatively speaking, therefore, the consequences of an action never cease. Absolutely speaking, there is no one to experience any action or to do any action.

    As for “killing (body+mind),” in the case of the re-purified consciousness, the act of killing someone because you dislike them cannot happen since “you-them” is duality and since there is no do-er to go about doing disliking.

    If you were familiar with the happenings in the relative existence of “floyd,” you would conclude, “Well surely you must dislike 'person A' who embezzled $25,000 from your company. And how could you not dislike 'person B' who was under the influence of alcohol and drove her car into you and caused your permanent neck injury?

    "And of course you must dislike 'person C' who once took every penny out of your joint accounts and is now spending money, money which you earned, with another man.” Yet there is no disliking going on. There is witnessing that happens if someone raises the topic of “A” or “B” or “C, ” and what is witnessed are three very distorted and bastardized and warped specks of consciousness.

    R.: Why should I bother about Karma yoga,Jnana yoga all these renunciations, non attachments, no -selfishness and all the scrap, if I were sure to return to Brahman.

    F.: Though hypothetical, your question demonstrates the "mindset" that is common among non-Realized persons: “It’s all about me and never about others.” No such thought could arise via a re-purified speck of consciousness since the body-cum-consciousness is not handicapped with a “mind” that generates thoughts, since there is no “me,” and since there is no separation involving “me” and “others.”

    Further, understand the pointer offered earlier: upon the occasion that persons call “death,” nothing more happens other than elements moving to the universal pool of elements, other than breath moving to the universal pool of air, and other than energy moving to the universal pool of energy. If you want to call that pool “Brahman,” do so without assigning personal attributes to the label.

    Next, there is no “I” that will return anywhere. The Absolute is beyond both beingness and non-beingness…beyond self and Self and Self-ness.

    As for “why bother with ‘yoga’?” no Absolute justification exists, only relative reasons. The relative-only reasons are:

    (1) to allow the remainder of the manifestation to happen without relative suffering and relative misery, and

    (2) to allow the relative existence to happen without the dualistic instability of being both happy and unhappy or both orderly and chaotic as a result of believing that the lies you’ve been told are true, and

    (3) to stop being fooled, an act that also has no Absolute relevance to the Realized but that can generate relative suffering and misery among the non-Realized.

    More simply, as mentioned yesterday, most seekers are seeking a relative existence that is “without bother.” The understanding of the Advaita Teachings provides one means to that end, but only relatively speaking. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

    For more information on books that address all of the seven levels of the “journey” offered via the Advaita Teachings or that discuss in detail each of the seven steps, visit:

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    http://floydhenderson.com/liberation.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/peaceofmind.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/spiritualsobriety.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/bullshit.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen1.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen2.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/spiritjourney.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twelvestep.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/castinglight.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/boardofdirectors.htm

    http://floydhenderson.com/twicestolen.htm

    Tuesday, December 25, 2007

    QUESTIONS FROM ONE RECENTLY INTRODUCED TO ADVAITA, Part Two

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    F.: [Continued from yesterday] Maharaj said that someday science would advance far enough to confirm the validity of the philosophical teachings of Advaita. Yesterday, the expression “All there is, is Consciousness” was looked at from a scientific basis; today, it will be discussed from the philosophical.

    Understand, Raja, this implication of the phrase: while persons (the non-Realized) are convinced that what they see is real, what is supposedly being seen is never what it appears to be. That applies to “a mirage,” to “a steel girder,” to “this world,” to “other persons you think you know,” and to “ice,” “rain,” “snow,” “sleet,” “rivers,” “streams,” “steam,” “vapor,” etc.

    Though persons think that they are seeing all sorts of “different” things that are “unique” and “real,” the fact is that none of what is being observed is different at its core; nor is any of it unique; nor is any of it really as perceived. What is taken to be “everything” is really one thing, and any differences in appearance are due only to the variances in the rates of vibration of the energy/matter involved.

    All of those inaccurate perceptions and misconceptions that come about as persons are erroneously convinced that things are exactly as they appear to be are really only a movement of consciousness (a play of consciousness, if you will).

    Shortly after consciousness arises, the “world” arises. When the manifestation of any given speck of contaminated consciousness ends, so too does “the world” perceived by that speck (and so too do all of the “persons” who that contaminated speck thought inhabited that "world"). Furthermore, understand that you are not in the world. "The world" is in you (that is, in your "mind").

    If you understand that the “world” and the “mind” are not separate entities, then you will also understand why some Advaitins invite you to (1) see that nothing among the non-Realized is “as perceived” and to (2) be rid of, once and for all, the fictionalized “mind” that is the seat of inaccurate perceptions.

    R.: And our nature is also the same in fact we are that. If this is true, then why didn't we remained like that?

    F.: Take your pick: (A) The cause of all is all or (B) just “luck,” if you consider the relative existence to be a delight or (C) just “rotten luck” if you don’t.

    R.: Why we were born (per Brahman there is no Birth or Death) in this world?

    F.: The misnomer “born” notwithstanding, the event you refer to happened because a male and a female (whom you would call “my parents”) engaged in an act of pleasure. There was not the slightest thought of “you” in that process. One or both were driven. The friction involved in their act allowed a natural process to begin, involving elements that took the form of a sperm cell and an egg cell. (So much for "special" or "Gift from God," yes?)

    R.: Where were we before Brith?

    F.: Where is the energy in a plant before the energy manifests and is consumed via plant-eating or (especially in the West) via the eating of animals that ate plants?

    R.: What happens when we die physically & mentally?

    F.: There is no death. Whatever comes together will eventually come apart. Elements return to the universal pool of elements; breath returns to the universal pool of air; energy returns to the universal pool of energy.

    R.: Will we return to Brahman after death which is our true nature.

    F.: Brahman is a concept. Direct Path Advaita deals with the no-concept, non-dual Reality. Again, the “return” is to the energy pool. Nisarga Yoga invites you to be rid of belief in (and preoccupation with) all concepts in order to live naturally and to be free.

    R.: Or are we born only for sensual & mental enjoyments (as per ancient Romans)?

    F.: Again, you were “born” because of the sensual and mental and emotional enjoyments of two humans. The pleasure of parents precedes the pain of children.

    R.: If every person whether good or bad, jesus or lucifer,every one returns to absolute reality. Is it true? If so, then why we should bother how we live here.

    F.: There is no “bother” among the Realized. It is that prospect, of living a relative existence without bother, that moves most seekers to complete the steps to Full Realization.

    Furthermore, “Lucifer” is a concept brought forward from mythology, and that which was called “Jesus” was nothing more than a plant-food-body-cum-consciousness, just a speck of consciousness and nothing more. To paraphrase, “All he was, was Consciousness," and there is nothing "special" about that: a pig and a prophet, a thief and a guru, a worm and a hero are also nothing more than a plant-food-body-cum-consciousness.

    As an example of the extent of the inaccurate perceiving mentioned earlier, consider that two billion people today will celebrate a birth that was not a birth and will praise a virgin who was not a virgin. And none of those celebrants will have a clue at all in regards to what their "hero" meant when that speck said, “When you speak of me, speak of me as I AM” and “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

    In addition to “Jesus” and “The Christ,” they will assign additional titles to a speck of consciousness such as “Jesus my Lord” and “Jesus my Savior” without having a clue regarding what that speck was really talking about.

    So it is in “the world” of all of the non-Realized who were fooled…and remain so. Having crossed the path of the Advaita "path," that need not be your fate. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

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