F.: This exchange occurred during satsang this week:
Questioner: “I’m being nagged by my roommate over leaving clutter about, but all of those kinds of ‘this world issues’ seem so unimportant to me. My focus is on trying to enter into samadhi and still the mind, so I asked my roommate ‘WHO cares?’ You know, WHO is it—what persona—is caring about having everything perfectly straight? I find it difficult enough to reach the samadhi state without being nagged, and it’s darn near impossible if I’m being hazzled to ‘clean up that mess before you go sit down and meditate’.”
F.: [Pause…waiting] “Do you have a question?”
Q.: “Well…yeah. What would you say to a roommate like that?”
F.: “It would be said, “Thank you for pointing out a behavior that is blocking the way to samadhi and to Realization.”
Q.: [Puzzled look]
F.: “It may well be that there is no WHO and no persona that is 'nagging.' It might well be that there is a speck of re-purified consciousness that is offering relevant pointers, and the pointers are these: the Realized do not tolerate clutter, and the Realized ‘zen out’ their environment to the same degree that they ‘zen out’—that is, become rid of—all clutter...including environmental clutter, home clutter, desk clutter, mind clutter, relationship clutter, emotional clutter, ad infinitum. Your acceptance of clutter indicates how far removed you are from the state which you seek and reveals the way that your habits are blocking you. Were you to Realize, you would not have to be nagged to remove clutter. It would happen automatically and spontaneously after “Stage Five De-Accumulation” is reached.”
Q.: “Stage Five? The witnessing level?”
F.: “No, that is step five of seven on the path to Realization. Some of the early Advaitin teachers also spoke of ‘Five Stages,’ the final one being the de-accumulation stage. The pointer for you is this: you're trapped in a warped thought-word-deed paradigm. Once there, if you are into 'taking action' and being involved in doership, then you must reverse out of the trap via deed-word-thought.”
Q.: [Waved hands in a manner that indicated first confusion and then dismissal]
F.: [Silence]
Q.: [Finally] “OK, please explain.”
F.: “In order for the deed—namely, the act of cluttering—to manifest, you must first have cluttered thoughts that manifest as cluttered words. It is a guarantee that you have cluttered thoughts, and it is guaranteed that your words are cluttered as well. After reaching that condition, nothing other than the deed of cluttering will happen. That assures that you will be trapped in clutter and going in and out of various states-of-“mind” or fluctuating moods. Among the Realized, there is no ‘going into samadhi’ and ‘coming out of samadhi.’ All credibility that was formerly given to the ‘mind’ and its bogus content has been discounted and then cast aside. The re-purified consciousness is stable and fixed, not shifting and fluctuating. Since the programming and conditioning and enculturation that warped the consciousness have now trapped you in the realm of clutter, 'action-takers' like you must back out of the trap by reversing the paradigm. You must take the action to de-clutter, to de-accumulate, and to bring about an orderly environment. Then, you must speak of removing the chaos, as your roommate is doing. Only then might your thoughts begin to be less chaotic and less cluttered. Deed-word-thought can facilitate the shift until the no-thought state materializes permanently. Were you Fully Realized, all of that would happen spontaneously, but since you are not, you may use this reverse plan for now. So look at your home. Is clutter lying about? Is every inch of every wall covered with something? Are your rooms bursting at the seams because they are overfilled with excess furniture and “stuff”? Are you ‘saving’ stuff that might be used in the future? Do you have things in your closet that have not been touched in years? Are you like a neighbor who had two cars worth $100,000 but left them sitting in his driveway because his garage was filled with boxes that have not been unpacked during his last three moves, boxes that contained items which would not fetch $500 in a yard sale if all of the contents were sold? All of that clutter is a reflection of thoughts. Thoughts precede deeds. Chaos in one's words or one's life is always preceded by a chaotic 'mind.' It is known for a fact, therefore, that you cannot possibly reach the samadhi state with the degree of mind-clutter that is being revealed by your actions that tolerate clutter and that drive accumulation. Realization involves the de-accumulation of all clutter. The calm and peace come when less is more attractive than more...when the nothingness is preferred to the something or to the everything.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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Questioner: “I’m being nagged by my roommate over leaving clutter about, but all of those kinds of ‘this world issues’ seem so unimportant to me. My focus is on trying to enter into samadhi and still the mind, so I asked my roommate ‘WHO cares?’ You know, WHO is it—what persona—is caring about having everything perfectly straight? I find it difficult enough to reach the samadhi state without being nagged, and it’s darn near impossible if I’m being hazzled to ‘clean up that mess before you go sit down and meditate’.”
F.: [Pause…waiting] “Do you have a question?”
Q.: “Well…yeah. What would you say to a roommate like that?”
F.: “It would be said, “Thank you for pointing out a behavior that is blocking the way to samadhi and to Realization.”
Q.: [Puzzled look]
F.: “It may well be that there is no WHO and no persona that is 'nagging.' It might well be that there is a speck of re-purified consciousness that is offering relevant pointers, and the pointers are these: the Realized do not tolerate clutter, and the Realized ‘zen out’ their environment to the same degree that they ‘zen out’—that is, become rid of—all clutter...including environmental clutter, home clutter, desk clutter, mind clutter, relationship clutter, emotional clutter, ad infinitum. Your acceptance of clutter indicates how far removed you are from the state which you seek and reveals the way that your habits are blocking you. Were you to Realize, you would not have to be nagged to remove clutter. It would happen automatically and spontaneously after “Stage Five De-Accumulation” is reached.”
Q.: “Stage Five? The witnessing level?”
F.: “No, that is step five of seven on the path to Realization. Some of the early Advaitin teachers also spoke of ‘Five Stages,’ the final one being the de-accumulation stage. The pointer for you is this: you're trapped in a warped thought-word-deed paradigm. Once there, if you are into 'taking action' and being involved in doership, then you must reverse out of the trap via deed-word-thought.”
Q.: [Waved hands in a manner that indicated first confusion and then dismissal]
F.: [Silence]
Q.: [Finally] “OK, please explain.”
F.: “In order for the deed—namely, the act of cluttering—to manifest, you must first have cluttered thoughts that manifest as cluttered words. It is a guarantee that you have cluttered thoughts, and it is guaranteed that your words are cluttered as well. After reaching that condition, nothing other than the deed of cluttering will happen. That assures that you will be trapped in clutter and going in and out of various states-of-“mind” or fluctuating moods. Among the Realized, there is no ‘going into samadhi’ and ‘coming out of samadhi.’ All credibility that was formerly given to the ‘mind’ and its bogus content has been discounted and then cast aside. The re-purified consciousness is stable and fixed, not shifting and fluctuating. Since the programming and conditioning and enculturation that warped the consciousness have now trapped you in the realm of clutter, 'action-takers' like you must back out of the trap by reversing the paradigm. You must take the action to de-clutter, to de-accumulate, and to bring about an orderly environment. Then, you must speak of removing the chaos, as your roommate is doing. Only then might your thoughts begin to be less chaotic and less cluttered. Deed-word-thought can facilitate the shift until the no-thought state materializes permanently. Were you Fully Realized, all of that would happen spontaneously, but since you are not, you may use this reverse plan for now. So look at your home. Is clutter lying about? Is every inch of every wall covered with something? Are your rooms bursting at the seams because they are overfilled with excess furniture and “stuff”? Are you ‘saving’ stuff that might be used in the future? Do you have things in your closet that have not been touched in years? Are you like a neighbor who had two cars worth $100,000 but left them sitting in his driveway because his garage was filled with boxes that have not been unpacked during his last three moves, boxes that contained items which would not fetch $500 in a yard sale if all of the contents were sold? All of that clutter is a reflection of thoughts. Thoughts precede deeds. Chaos in one's words or one's life is always preceded by a chaotic 'mind.' It is known for a fact, therefore, that you cannot possibly reach the samadhi state with the degree of mind-clutter that is being revealed by your actions that tolerate clutter and that drive accumulation. Realization involves the de-accumulation of all clutter. The calm and peace come when less is more attractive than more...when the nothingness is preferred to the something or to the everything.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.
RELATED READINGS TO TODAY’S POST:
