F.: When Advaita or Neo-Advaita discussions reveal just how far the “I am God” belief removes persons from the Reality of zero concepts, the e-mail box begins to fill rapidly; however, a shift has been noticeable over the last two years. More and more seekers are transitioning beyond the third of seven steps in order to be able to live naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally.
More seekers seem to be grasping the fact that, since neither matter nor energy can be created nor destroyed, no “creator” can exist either. More seekers also are understanding how easily persons who have been programmed will attach to the concept of continuity of body-mind-personality. More seekers are seeing how the non-Realized will gladly accept the notion of “infinity after this life” but cannot imagine “infinity prior” (other than using that time/timeless measurement when discussing their concept of a god). Such is the way it is when persons have been programmed to believe in timelines and when few understand exactly what cycles and exactly what does not cycle.
As recently as the 12 August posting, it was asked, “Is there not already an excess of persons walking about the planet who are suffering from the God Complex Personality Disorder? Is there really a need for any more teachings that increase their fold?”
Pointers have been offered by Direct Path Teachers for centuries that the truly Realized follow the expression “I Am” with nothing. Pointers have been offered here since June of 2005 that the truly Realized follow the expression “I Am” with nothing.
Yet the “I Am God” concept is as alive and well as it has been for centuries. Why, if persons claim to be following these teachings which suggest staying with the “I Am” only, would they repeatedly follow “I Am” with “God” or anything else? The answer is clear if the question is given carefully consideration. Usually, they are attempting to travel an unfamiliar "path" without a guide that can lead them past the quagmire of Step Three. It is at that step, for most who are trying to complete their "journey" without a guide, that most will become bogged down in the quicksand of egotism. That is the pit which awaits those who have cast aside their former "bad identities" and have assumed a new "good" identity (such as "The Pious One" or "The Spiritual Giant" or "God").
And the curious part is that persons who are claiming to be (1) whoever they think they are while claiming as well that they are also (2) “the All-Knowing and the All-Powerful God” will also claim to have been "made humble" by their religion or spirituality. That claim is being made by countless numbers of the non-Realized and accepted as truth, once they have wrapped themselves in a cloak of religiosity or spirituality.
And when grandiosity is packaged as religiosity or spirituality, it will seldom be seen for what it is. How common it is on this planet for billions to have reached the religious level; how popular it has become among many persons to claim they have moved beyond religion and are now “spiritual”; but how rare it is for any to transition beyond either of those ego-states and then complete the entire “journey” to Full Realization.
Those fixated in either the religious or spiritual stage have mistaken the dawn for the noon. They have become bogged down by egotism and self-deception at a point that falls short of even the halfway point along the “path” to re-purification of the bastardized consciousness and to being in touch with reality.
“But what of Brahman, My Creator, the Creative Intelligence, God, G-d, Elohim, Jehovah, Lord, the Holy Ghost, Zeus, the Spirit of the Universe, the Universal Mind, Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Allah, my Higher Power, Yahweh, Master, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Prime Cause, or the Power That is greater than myself?”
The response: “And what of “acquaintance” and “friend” and “lover” and “spouse” and “not spouse” and “enemy” and “employee” and “human” and “Christian” and “Muslim” and “Jew” and “Hindu” and “good” and “bad” and any of the thousands of other labels that are employed among the non-Realized? It matters not what you follow the ‘I am’ with. To follow “I am” with any word is to deceive one’s self with a conceptual lie.”
Instead of basking in the glory of being God, the invitation is to add that false identity to the list of all that you are not. Then, complete the entire list and use it to realize all that you are not. The Direct Path Teacher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj suggested that you first “see that you are not what you believe yourself to be.” Only then will you have even the slightest chance of finding That Which You Truly Are.
As long as a person continues to stand on a stage and perform roles, assume false identities, add labels after “I am,” and claim to be able to verbalize the truth that can be known but cannot be stated, then that person will never know the truth, nor the self, nor the Self, nor That which is beyond both the beingness and the non-beingness. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
More seekers seem to be grasping the fact that, since neither matter nor energy can be created nor destroyed, no “creator” can exist either. More seekers also are understanding how easily persons who have been programmed will attach to the concept of continuity of body-mind-personality. More seekers are seeing how the non-Realized will gladly accept the notion of “infinity after this life” but cannot imagine “infinity prior” (other than using that time/timeless measurement when discussing their concept of a god). Such is the way it is when persons have been programmed to believe in timelines and when few understand exactly what cycles and exactly what does not cycle.
As recently as the 12 August posting, it was asked, “Is there not already an excess of persons walking about the planet who are suffering from the God Complex Personality Disorder? Is there really a need for any more teachings that increase their fold?”
Pointers have been offered by Direct Path Teachers for centuries that the truly Realized follow the expression “I Am” with nothing. Pointers have been offered here since June of 2005 that the truly Realized follow the expression “I Am” with nothing.
Yet the “I Am God” concept is as alive and well as it has been for centuries. Why, if persons claim to be following these teachings which suggest staying with the “I Am” only, would they repeatedly follow “I Am” with “God” or anything else? The answer is clear if the question is given carefully consideration. Usually, they are attempting to travel an unfamiliar "path" without a guide that can lead them past the quagmire of Step Three. It is at that step, for most who are trying to complete their "journey" without a guide, that most will become bogged down in the quicksand of egotism. That is the pit which awaits those who have cast aside their former "bad identities" and have assumed a new "good" identity (such as "The Pious One" or "The Spiritual Giant" or "God").
And the curious part is that persons who are claiming to be (1) whoever they think they are while claiming as well that they are also (2) “the All-Knowing and the All-Powerful God” will also claim to have been "made humble" by their religion or spirituality. That claim is being made by countless numbers of the non-Realized and accepted as truth, once they have wrapped themselves in a cloak of religiosity or spirituality.
And when grandiosity is packaged as religiosity or spirituality, it will seldom be seen for what it is. How common it is on this planet for billions to have reached the religious level; how popular it has become among many persons to claim they have moved beyond religion and are now “spiritual”; but how rare it is for any to transition beyond either of those ego-states and then complete the entire “journey” to Full Realization.
Those fixated in either the religious or spiritual stage have mistaken the dawn for the noon. They have become bogged down by egotism and self-deception at a point that falls short of even the halfway point along the “path” to re-purification of the bastardized consciousness and to being in touch with reality.
“But what of Brahman, My Creator, the Creative Intelligence, God, G-d, Elohim, Jehovah, Lord, the Holy Ghost, Zeus, the Spirit of the Universe, the Universal Mind, Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Allah, my Higher Power, Yahweh, Master, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Prime Cause, or the Power That is greater than myself?”
The response: “And what of “acquaintance” and “friend” and “lover” and “spouse” and “not spouse” and “enemy” and “employee” and “human” and “Christian” and “Muslim” and “Jew” and “Hindu” and “good” and “bad” and any of the thousands of other labels that are employed among the non-Realized? It matters not what you follow the ‘I am’ with. To follow “I am” with any word is to deceive one’s self with a conceptual lie.”
Instead of basking in the glory of being God, the invitation is to add that false identity to the list of all that you are not. Then, complete the entire list and use it to realize all that you are not. The Direct Path Teacher Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj suggested that you first “see that you are not what you believe yourself to be.” Only then will you have even the slightest chance of finding That Which You Truly Are.
As long as a person continues to stand on a stage and perform roles, assume false identities, add labels after “I am,” and claim to be able to verbalize the truth that can be known but cannot be stated, then that person will never know the truth, nor the self, nor the Self, nor That which is beyond both the beingness and the non-beingness. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
THE READING RELATED TO TODAY'S TOPIC THAT OUTLINES THE SEVEN STEPS
