ADVAITA WORDS AND TERMS, Part Seven

[NOTE: Out of town, offering a seminar in the Advaita Teachings. Postings will continue on Friday]

[NOTE: To the writer from Nigeria asking for free books. You report that you have no extra money to pay for books. Same here. Since you want to read more about Advaita, the archives are available without charge.]

[NOTE: To he who wrote, “u r not enlightened.” Exactly. There is no one to be enlightened, but that pointer you do not understand. Here, there is nothing to gain and much to lose, but your ego-states fear loss and believe that much has been gained. What you have gained is merely more self-delusion and egotism—two defenses used by the warped consciousness to try to protect false images. One false identity you have adopted is that of “The Enlightened One” who now has a desire to proclaim his level of enlightenment and then judge others. The self-deception is three-fold: (1) there is no “you” to be enlightened; (2) "The Judge" is as much an ego-state as "The Enlightened One"; and (3) there are no “others.” My teacher often asked those who think they have it all why they would show up at all. Of course, he knew, but they did not.]

FROM A SITE VISITOR: You mention “Realization,” “awakening,” “liberation,” “Full Realization,” “Awareness,” “Enlightenment,” all sorts of terms that I thought meant the same. Do they or not? And what about self knowledge, self realization and self actualization? I’ve seen those too. Thank you. Greg

[Continued from the two prior postings]

F.: The Zen teacher might claim that enlightenment is "that state when no mind is present" or "the point when the ego finally disappears." The Realized Advaitin, however, is constantly fixed in the no-mind state rather than moving into and out of various “levels of consciousness.” Also, the Realized Advaitin knows that there is no ego to “finally disappear,” aware that it was never there to begin with except in the imagination…generated by the corrupted consciousness.

Karl Marx understood that the non-Realized are trapped in a sense of “need” and in the illusions that result from programming and conditioning. He wrote, “The demand to give up the illusions about [humanity’s] condition is the demand to give up a condition that needs illusions.” The understanding of that “condition” happens during the enlightening process.

It is the condition of perceived needs and of dreamed up desires which generates a sense of heaviness. Illusions generate a heavy sense of fear and a nagging sense of longing. It is after the consciousness is purged of the “condition that needs illusions” that the sense of lightness begins to manifest. It is that lightness which provides evidence that the enlightenment process has allowed the consciousness to shift from a warped to a re-purified status.

The condition that needs illusions is also the condition that needs “something” (a bogus concept explicated in detail in earlier posts). When enlightenment happens, the need for something (indeed, for anything) is abandoned. Zero concepts mark the enlightened (re-purified) condition of the manifest consciousness.

Interestingly, it was during the Middle Ages that the Sanskrit term for “zero” found its way to Western Europe. (Displaying the level of ignorance that dogma can engender, one of the popes of that period declared that anyone who believed in “zero” would be declared a heretic.)

Today, some six hundred years after that historical period ended, the few who understand “the nothingness” and “zero concepts” are still generally considered by the dogmatic to be heretics, lunatics, infidels, or “the dissociated.” The highly contaminated consciousness of those trapped in ego-states (and who despise “zero”) will proudly proclaims that “a lot is now known,” yet it cannot and will not report that it knows nothing. Only the re-purified consciousness can be aware of zero…of nothingness.

The reason that “being lightened” (via an Advaita understanding of non-duality) cannot begin until after completion of the third step—whereby religious and/or spiritual roles are transcended—is because all body-mind-personality is dualistic. To suggest that “I am religious” or “I am a Jew/Christian/Muslim” or “I am one who is spiritual and enlightened” is still dualistic. Again, the enlightening/lightening process “removes” rather than “adds”…“deletes” rather than “inserts.”

Yet the re-purification process does not end with "enlightenment" but progresses to a point of abiding as the consciousness (I Am), to a later point of abidance as the Absolute, and ultimately to a point of abidance as that which was prior to consciousness and, yes, even prior to the Absolute. [See From the Absolute to the Nothingness.]

Thus, contrary to popular assumptions, the term "enlightenment" as often as not is employed inaccurately to describe a state that “one” thinks she/he is “in.” Some seek enlightenment to avoid being immoral or to become righteous, whereas the Realized have transitioned belief in either immorality or righteousness.

Rather than seeking enlightenment as an end, then, the “enlightening” process might be seen more accurately as merely a means that facilitates movement along the “path." Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

NEW ADVAITA PACKAGES AVAILABLE AT REDUCED RATES:

The Entire Advaita Collection (all twelve items in all three of the packages below): $187.00 + S&H

“The Advaitin Beginner’s Package”: The Meditation CD, two Meditation Guides, Bullshit, and Spiritual Sobriety $62.00 + S&H

“The Mid-Level Seeker’s Package”: Peace of Mind, Liberation, What Happens When I Die? and The Essence of the Teachings $54.00 + S&H

“The Advanced Advaitin Seeker’s Package”: From the I to the Absolute, Consciousness/Awareness, and From the Absolute to the Nothingness $45.00 + S&H

To order, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm .

YES, WE SHIP INTERNATIONALLY. New rates by the USPS went into effect in May 2007. You may visit http://ircalc.usps.gov/ to calculate rates and view options. (Select your country, then in the “weight” box, estimate 1 pound per each book ordered.) Add $5 to cover package preparation, the assistant's trip to and from the PO, and the time for completion of international shipping forms.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOKS IN THE ADVAITA COLLECTION:

THE MEDITATION GUIDES
These books can be read in either order since each stands alone. The entries each day provide an excerpt from a non-duality book, followed by one or more considerations for that day. Some read the books from beginning to finish while others use them on a daily basis. Either way, they offer hundreds of pointers that are all rooted in the Advaita Teachings.

IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
This book contains a series of “propositionalities” that would be worthless except to the extent that they prepare all seekers to become willing to question the sacred cows of your culture. Ultimately, this all deals more with the relative than the Absolute, but one cannot abide sanely as the Absolute without first seeing the insanity of the relative. If one can question his/her core beliefs that are generally held sacred by the masses, then discarding all of the other nonsense of the culture might become easier. That alone can begin the "journey" toward total freedom and total peace. Few will ever be able to discard the minor cows, much less these six sacred cows, but this book is an invitation to begin questioning what is usually taken for granted after years of programming and enculturation.

SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
This book is for the 6 billion+ persons who have been programmed with the dogma of the planets’ religions, especially the three outgrowths of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is also for those who are playing a spiritual role or who have become spiritually intoxicated (which prevents moving beyond all role-playing and Realizing Fully). It's intent is to allow persons on the "path" to transition beyond the religious and spiritual identities that are assumed at the third step of the "journey." The focus is on those three since their dogma has programmed—and corrupted the consciousness of—most persons on the planet, but the overall message reflects the truth about all religions and all “spiritual” programs or movements as well. The content reveals the 16 tenets common to those religions which evolved from the killing of virgins; exposes the contradictions of those teachings; discusses the glorification of suffering; catalogues and exposes the false promises that are made in order to attract and control the masses; explains the way that their leaders' addiction to power drives them to manipulate their followers; exposes the lies upon which those institutions are based; identifies the results of religious and spiritual intoxication; and uncovers the mental disorders that result from strict adherence to the dogma and ideology. If you have been exposed to any religious or spiritual indoctrination, or if you live in a culture where the leaders have been indoctrinated by religion, this one should be read.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You-re Out of Your Mind)
This book leads to the next level of freedom. The content explores the history of the human brain, including the fact that for millions of years, humans and human-like beings functioned without any mind. The book uncovers the ways that the brain evolved over the ages and developed an ability to store and retrieve memories. It then shows how the original memories were used constructively but how programming and conditioning changed all that and created a "mind" that most often overrules the brain and generates relative-existence harm and "destruction." Similarly, the book shows the way that personality develops during childhood as a means for survival and adaptation but later becomes a liability when those childhood personality traits continued to drive adult thinking and behavior. Ultimately, the book shows why Advaitin sages for centuries have correctly identified the "problems of the planet" as being rooted in body-mind-personality identification and offers suggestions for being free of all of that nonsense via Realization.

LIBERATION
This book helps remove the next barrier to Realization: personality. After being freed from body-mind identification, transitioning into the next step begins the process of being freed from identification with personas and being unconsciously controlled by personality traits. This book studies the nine most basic persona types as identified in the enneagram method and offers the way to be freed of the influences of personality.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
This book offers the opportunity to shift to the next level of understanding, the level at which you come to realize that you cannot die since you were not born. Fears generally begin to fall away after reading this work. The Foreword offers this: “If you find the answer to ‘What happens when I die—what happens after the body ends?’ the result will be that the remainder of your relative existence will be marked by an incredible lightness of being. Persons addicted to chaos will hate that possibility. Those seeking to be restored to sanity will seek the answer until it is found.”

THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
This book is used by many as a primer and companion piece to FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE. “PART ONE” includes answers to frequently-asked questions and provides an overview of terms used during the teachings. “PART TWO” provides information for those who are “close” but haven’t yet “gotten it.” "PART TWO" moves the seeker to a depth of understanding that sets the stage for the final message in FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE.

FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
Most of the so-called “Spiritual Masters” addressed all of the steps that must be taken, in a very exact order, to shift from identifying with the false “I” to abiding as the Absolute. All of the steps (or “stages” to use Maharaj’s term) have been discussed for centuries, but this is the first time that the steps have been offered and explained in simple language in the exact order in which the seven steps must be taken in order to move from “the lie of the I” to Full Realization. Most of the content of this book contains the complete set of transcripts from audio tapings of a series of satsang sessions that guided the participants from step one to Realization. Some have said that by reading the questions from seekers and the immediate responses by floyd (all offered in their original easy, conversational format), they have felt as if they were present in the room, actively engaged in the satsang along with fellow seekers. This one should be read last.

CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)

After following the “path” as outlined in FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality) in order to Realize, the next step is to understand the difference in consciousness and awareness in order to abide as the Absolute for the remainder of the manifestation and then be totally free. "The Final Frontier" of the Advaita Teachings is transitioned when the Nature of Reality is understood and when the Advaita Teachings are "applied" on a daily basis even in the absence of any “Applier.” The Nature of Reality cannot be understood until the differences in Consciousness and Awareness are understood. Understanding the Nature of Consciousness allows for abidance in the I AM, but what of THAT Which Is beyond, and that which is beyond the beyond? To be at perfect peace on a daily basis, abidance as the re-purified Consciousness must be transitioned and abidance as the Absolute Awareness must happen. Only abidance as the Absolute allows for the remainder of the manifestation of Consciousness to happen in Perfect Peace. This book will distinguish between Consciousness and Awareness, will define the exact Nature of Reality, will offer explanations that will allow fixation in the Full Realization to happen, will allow for an understanding of the Functioning of the Totality, and will assist all earnest seekers to find the way to fixate in a state of peace from NOW until the Consciousness Unmanifests.

FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS

This book, the third in the “Advanced Seeker’s Package,” is only for Realized Advaitin seekers. The recommendation is that both FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE and CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS be read (in that order) and that the pointers in both of those books be understood before reading FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS. An understanding of the pointers offered in this book can allow the advanced seeker to shift even beyond SELF-Realization, even beyond an understanding of Consciousness and Awareness, and to an understanding of that which preceded the Absolute. The content of this book can, in fact, allow the advanced seeker to truly comprehend the Reality of “no concept,” of “no duality,” of “no something,” and even of “no nothing.” The Advaita Teachings offer an invitation to be free of all concepts, all beliefs, and all ideas in order to be totally free. Yet how many reach that "state," and how many who reach that "state" are able to fixate in that understanding and truly be free and thereby at peace? This book will offer details of the way that can happen.