WHEN THE EARLIEST DUALITIES PLAGUE THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE OF ADULT-AGED PERSONS, Part Five, The Conclusion

F.: With most parents being focused on making their children “good” and “not bad,” the tendency is to provide far more criticism than affirmation and far more information and spiritual knowledge (learned ignorance) than the modeling of natural living.

[Some of you read earlier postings regarding a Cherokee Grandmother who provided a different model. Her native language had no words for “good,” for “bad,” for “separation,” for “judging,” for “different from,” or for “better than.” Try an experiment: for the next seven days, try avoiding the use of those words—or any other such words, spoken or thought—that are used to reinforce a false sense of separation and judgment and duality. If successful, you’ll sample a taste of Realization and AS IF living.]

Among those parents who prefer intimidation in order to control, the prospect of punishment “now” as well as the prospect of punishment “for eternity” becomes a tool for control. Billions on the planet believe in a literal heaven and hell rather than understanding the “Gehanna analogy” used by Jesus after the Advaita Teachings were introduced to him and after he gained a significant (but not complete) understanding of the I AM and the I AM THAT.

The effect of being programmed as a child to believe in the earliest dualities is a planet-wide population of adults who are controlled by events from their childhood as well as the early teachings in duality. There is an antidote (called “The Advaita Understanding”) that has, in some cases, been effective at reducing the impact of childhood programming and conditioning or, in fewer cases, of eliminating those effects completely.

In other cases, it has been seen to be effective at preventing the role of “The Child” from dominating adult-aged thoughts and words and deeds; at eliminating the belief in nonsensical and irrational and illogical ideas and concepts; and at eliminating the misery and chaos that result from accepting falsehoods as truth.

Simply put, the bane of the relative existence is the assumption of ego-states and the accompanying egotism. Belief in illusions and belief in the ego-driven upgrading of illusions are the root of all human misery and instability and suffering. The illusion “I am a man” becomes upgraded to “I am a great man.”

The illusion that “I am a wife” becomes upgraded by egotism to “I am the perfect wife and deserve nothing less than a perfect husband.” The illusion that “I am an employee” becomes upgraded to “I am the best employee ever,” making the shock all the greater when the employer disagrees and fires a person who is far less valuable and productive than his self-image imagines.

Seeking the childish “I am good” label, and adopting the “I am good and even great” label, become the driving forces in terms of what non-Realized adults think, say, and do.

How significant is childhood programming when combined with the effects of childhood experiences that are traumatizing? The third example in this series is a woman discussed in the book CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS.

Her case is another in which childhood conditioning continues to drive a woman who just passed the chronological age of fifty-five. Like the male discussed in the second installment, this woman was abused as a child by a parent who was incapable of loving unconditionally...or at all. An emotionally-unavailable and intimidated mother stood by as the abuse occurred.

Today, also like the male discussed in the 18 November 2007 post, this woman has a dualistic, love-hate attitude toward members of the opposite sex. Having never confronted the male abuser in her life, she is at war with all males except that one. They are to be used and abused for the benefit of the body-mind-personality triad that she takes herself to be.

She claimed that she “can get any man she wants” and that she “can make any man love her.” (Of course the earliest example to the contrary—of her never being able to make the first male in her life capable of loving her—has been ignored during her decades-long quest to control men to her “benefit” and to make them all love her.)

She admitted in discussions that she manipulates men, but “in a good way.” By punishing men who never abused her, while never addressing the truth about the one who did, her childhood experiences continue to dominate her adult-aged behavior. The result is a life made miserable by the effects of her conditioning (and many other lives made miserable by dealing with her…all relatively speaking).

Even after several discussions, she never saw the relative toll being exacted: a life-long series of broken relationships, of sick relations, of divorce, of adultery, of depriving her child of her family, and of being miserable while claiming she is “very happy.”

It has been asked, “Why should any relative issues be discussed at all? Why waste the breath talking about illusions?” As far as the Advaita teachings are concerned, eliminating the relative consequences of the bastardized consciousness (and eliminating the subsequent human suffering during the manifestation) provides the sole rationale for attaining the understanding.

The pointer is not to develop pure thoughts and words and deeds and beliefs. There are no pure thoughts, pure words, pure actions or pure concepts. There is the pure, or re-purified consciousness…that is all. If anything is be understood, it must be understood NOW since post-manifestation, there will be no possibility for the unmanifested consciousness to be aware of happiness or freedom or joy or anything. It’s now…or never.

Should Realization not happen NOW, then belief in the dualities that are taught to children will guarantee that their adult years will be plagued with the instability and volatility and fluctuations that are generated by the dualistic belief in “good vs. bad” and “reward vs. punishment”; by the things that persons “want vs. what they don’t want”;

by the desire to “gain or to be rewarded vs. the desire to avoid loss or punishment”; by periods of “up’s” as well as periods of “down’s”; by periods of behaving sanely as well as by periods of acting like an immature child; and by periods of happiness as well as periods of misery.

For the remainder of the manifestation to happen without such chaos and instability, abidance as the Absolute must happen. Meaning? Meaning all body and mind and personality identification must be discarded.

Meaning that the relative existence must happen from a platform that is devoid of any attributes. Meaning that the consciousness must be re-purified and restored to its original no-concept, non-dual state of Reality at the time of manifestation. The “path” awaits, and guideposts and pointers are available to illuminate the way. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

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WHEN THE EARLIEST DUALITIES PLAGUE THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE OF ADULT-AGED PERSONS, Part Four

F.: Just under 200 years ago, Thoreau observed that most people were living “lives of quiet desperation.” Now, the desperation has turned noisy. Children love noise, the ego loves noise, and adult-aged persons (trapped as they are in ego with its childhood roots) love noise. All three hate the silence.

Today, therefore, persons (the non-Realized) live noisy, desperate lives, confined as they are in adult-aged bodies that are being driven by childish thoughts, childish words, and childish deeds as a result of being programmed as children to believe in duality.

Chaos and insane-like conduct have been so “normalized” that persons are dissociated from their depression, from their anxiety, and from the effects of their personality disorders: "Everything is fine with me, but you sure have a problem." Nowadays, the non-Realized ignore the proverbial “Elephant in the Kitchen” while viewing mirages and taking them to be real.

While some require a holistic treatment plan for what “ails” them, often including professional therapy and nutritional guidance, Full Realization has addressed some of the dysfunctionalism catalogued above. Most, however, will never even seek—much less ever find—such "treatment."

Yesterday, the pointer was offered that programming and conditioning a child to believe in duality…

…drives persons throughout childhood, and then throughout adulthood, to constantly try to “sell themselves”; to work at creating and maintaining a “positive image”; and to engage in a constant effort to market themselves as one who is not merely good but who is really good. Why?

As soon as an ego-state is assigned or adopted, ego-defense mechanisms elevate that role to “Super Status”: If hired by a school district, “The Teacher” immediately becomes “The Super Teacher” and cannot exist without super students. She or he will rant and rave when non-super students appear to threaten that false ego-state’s existence.

When a man in a robe pronounces a man “Husband,” he immediately become “The Super Husband” and cannot exist without a super wife; and when a woman accepts the cultural assignment of being “The Wife,” she immediately upgrades the illusion to “The Super Wife” and can never be happy unless she has a super husband.

When he appears to be super, she can be content, but when chinks in the armor appear, she will be unhappy. Such is the instability of a relative existence that is being played out on a stage where co-dependent roles are being assumed as identities.

After such widespread distortion of the consciousness, it is no wonder that egotism (and its accompanying misery and suffering) so dominate the planet. When wives inform husbands that “they are leaving,” many husbands cry out, “But I have been a good husband. Why would you want to leave me?” (Again, there is an upgrade of the childhood illusion that "I am a boy," which becomes "I am a good boy" which becomes "I am a man" which becomes "I am a husband" which becomes "I am a good husband" who is shocked if "Wife" does not see it that way.)

Some divorced females have admitted in sessions that their conviction was that “I have been a good wife, a great wife, in fact.” Their belief was, “You have not provided what someone as good as I am deserves.” (Again, there is the upgrading of an illusion: “I am a human” becomes “I am a wife,” and I am a wife” is eventually upgraded to “I am ‘The Super Wife’ who deserves this, this, and that.”)

The belief among all persons, once they have mentally upgraded the illusions they believe about “self,” generates the additional belief that "I deserve the best rewards available." Note next how the earliest dualities drive thought, word, and deed in adult “relationships.” The dualistic beliefs carried forward from childhood into adulthood reveal the following dualistic beliefs:

“In relationships, I am so good that no one can possibly be good enough for me. If you tell me ‘No’ or do not behave as I desire, you will be punished and not rewarded. You better learn what I don’t want and you better provide what I do want.” (Suddenly, “The Parent” role manifests alongside “The Child” persona.)

What egotistical claptrap. What misery is generated when thoughts, words, and deeds among adult-aged persons are all being driven by a construct that is typical of a six-year-old. What suffering comes when programming and conditioning with dualistic nonsense (which generates ego-states and egotism) dominate the relative existence.

Have you witnessed the egotism of your relationship partners? Have you witnessed your own? Have you noted the unhappiness that accompanies ego? Are you ready to be happy? If not independent, you cannot be free, and if not free, you cannot possibly be happy. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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WHEN THE EARLIEST DUALITIES PLAGUE THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE OF ADULT-AGED PERSONS, Part Three

F.: [Continued from yesterday]: From entrapment in ego-states, and the egotism that they generate and the desire to accumulate that they inspire, it is a short leap from, “I love my wife” to “but she’s not enough…does not give me enough.” It is a short leap from “At one point I loved my husband,” to “but he has never honored me enough so now I hate him.”

The additional trap is this: all ego-states are rooted in co-dependency: employee cannot exist without employer; husband cannot exist without spouse; lover cannot exist without a lover; and “The Super Lover” cannot exist with multiple lovers. All co-dependency, in turn, robs one of freedom and thus generates a plethora of fears and desires and misery.

The planet-wide result of being programmed early on to believe in dualities is that billions of adult-aged humans behave as if they were children, trapped in “The Child” role as they are; thinking in their magical ways; believing that their dogma and other supernatural tales which are based in ancient myths are true; and speaking and acting in ways that reveal their disdain for logic and reason.

Yesterday, one example was offered of the way that the dualities of “good vs. bad” and “reward vs. punishment” and “want vs. don’t want,” programmed into children at an early age, can drive the thoughts and words and deeds of persons throughout their adulthood years.

Another example presented itself last week which illustrates the pointer as well. Prior to the last seminar, one employee was not going to be able to attend because it was being offered during his vacation. He had already been excused from attendance, but he was driven by “The Child” persona to write an e-mail to his supervisor.

That letter contained nearly two pages of examples of the good work he has done in the past. The lengthy exposé reminded the supervisor that he is a good employee, one of the best in fact, and deserves reward and certainly should not be punished for missing the seminar.

Rather than functioning as an adult, the content of his letter revealed that he is dominated by “The Child” who wants the “good” label and wants to avoid the “bad” label. His letter included assertions such as…

“I am a good employee. I’m not sure you know how good I am” (an upgrade on the dualistic illusion that I am a good boy). The content really said, “Please like me even if I don’t attend. Please continue to reward me in the future. Show me that you accept me…that you care…that you appreciate me just as I am. Say something that takes away my fears that you might think I’m not good enough.” It continued:

“I usually attend all training sessions and I volunteer for extra work and assignments with this company” (which really affirms again, I want you to see that I am a good boy.) Then, childishly, he suggested the dates be changed, though the timing worked well for several dozen employees and supervisors and had been arranged for weeks.

There was a letter that never needed to be written, his having been told already that he was excused. Realized, he would have enjoyed his time off; trapped in the ego-state of “The Child” (a setup from childhood programming and conditioning) he is instead driven by a fear of being punished; a desire to be seen as good; his wanting to receive rewards; a desire to get what he wants when he wants it; and his not wanting to be punished.

All those thoughts and words are derived from his having been trained to believe in duality, especially with the notions that “I am not enough, I am not good enough, and as a result I will never have enough, so I must accumulate in all areas.”

That setup drives persons throughout childhood, and then throughout adulthood, to try constantly to “sell or promote themselves”; to work at creating and maintaining a “positive image”; and to engage in a constant effort to market themselves as one who is not merely good but who is really good.

What about you? Have you been driven to try to sell or promote yourself? Have you been driven to work at creating and maintaining a “positive image”? Have you been driven to engage in a constant effort to market yourself as one who is not merely good but who is really good? Has your relative existence been marked by one disappointment after another when people did not buy into all that? Have you suffered because you are dependent on what (unawake and unaware) persons think of you? What an exhausting relative existence all that work and effort and engagement produces.

How impossible it becomes to relax and take it easy when being blindly driven by programming and conditioning from childhood. How impossible it is to enjoy any existence that is dominated by dualistic thoughts, dualistic words, and duality-inspired behavior. If you have not already, might You now be ready to take the steps that result is the casting aside of all beliefs and concepts?

Do you see that the continued belief in “their” concepts will guarantee the continuation of fluctuations and instability that produce periods of chaos as well as periods of harmony? Periods of “up’s” as well as periods of “down’s”; periods of behaving sanely as well as periods of acting like an immature child; and periods of happiness as well as periods of misery? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

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WHEN THE EARLIEST DUALITIES PLAGUE THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE OF ADULT-AGED PERSONS, Part Two

F.: Yesterday, this pointer was offered:

By that point, belief in the five earliest dualities is in place. Eventually, those persons who were programmed and conditioned with dualistic teachings as children become obsessive adults, behaving compulsively in their efforts to do all required to always hear “Yes” and to never hear “No”; fanatical in their efforts to have all of their desires met while wanting to avoid all that they fear; and fixated in their efforts to accumulate all that they “want” and to avoid everything that they “don’t want.”

All of that dualistic programming generates a belief in personas as identities, so personality disorders inevitability follow. The billions of (non-Realized) persons on the planet seldom move beyond body identification—which is the most extreme degree of separation from Reality. It is also an identity that will guarantee the perpetuation of “The Child” ego-state (along with misery and suffering as well).

During a session last summer, one such person who was trapped in the body level of identification revealed that he had engaged in over 300 extramarital affairs during his marriage. Most involved pay-for-sex type arrangements but many involved women who thought he cared and that he was available...only to be rejected in short order.

His Addictive Personality Disorder revealed itself through drug use, alcohol abuse, and an addiction to sex and "love," but his most basic identity amounted to “I am my body.” Driving his conduct, however, was also a “mind” and multiple personas.

Therefore, the male sex drive, the effects of his nucleus accumbens, and the archetypal motivation for him to scatter seeds aside, far more was at play with that man’s conduct. Only a few questions were required to reveal "The Child" motives that were at play in his “play.”

He reported the following: after his father disappeared, he was rejected by his mother who gave him to his grandmother; a short time later, his grandmother rejected him and gave him over to the state. His childhood desire was to hear his mother say “Yes” instead of “No”; to hear his grandmother say “Yes” rather than “No”; to alleviate his fear of further rejection; and to get what he “wanted” and to avoid what he did “not want.”

As a child who was wanted by no one, he felt a sense of “loss.” His thought-life was one that said, “You are not good enough; you will never be good enough; therefore, you will never have enough…of anything.” Behind those kinds of beliefs, excess will always be assigned great value.

His desire was to be accepted by two women during his childhood years, but since he was not, he was driven during his adulthood years to hear as many women say “Yes” as possible; to hear as many women as possible say “You are good”; to have women fulfill his self-ish desires; to use women in his effort to negate his fear of being rejected by supposedly being “accepted” time and time again (as if paying someone for something could even remotely mean that they "accept you").

His rationalized claim that “I just really love women” was eventually shown to be nothing more than deception and self-deception. He was shown that he actually hated women and that the repetition compulsion was in full bloom and manifesting through his childish conduct. He was eventually shown that he was doing to as many women as possible what the first two women in his life had done to him: he “had” them, and then he rejected them.

His was a selfish mission of revenge on one hand and a self-centered mission of seeking the acceptance he never had as a child on the other hand. In the process, he had also rejected his wife, yet he was egotistical enough to be angry and delusional enough to think that his wife had rejected him. In his 30’s, his behavior was that of an early teen at best, driven by the dualistic beliefs of a five to seven-year old.

When dominated by the earliest childhood “memories,” childish behavior follows, no matter the age of the person involved. The result is that most persons never reject the “Child” persona and burden their relative existence with an effort to convince “self” and “others” that they are good. The result is a person totally self-absorbed, self-obsessed, and self-centered. Part of the treatment is to begin by rejecting the concepts of “self” and “others.”

Such narcissism as displayed by that male is typical among the non-Realized. Having no clue as to what the True Self is, they are driven by a collection of false selves to accumulate more…and more…and more. Further, that male really thought that he was “happy” and “free,” doing what he wanted and getting what he wanted and enjoying what he got.

He had no clue at all that when co-dependent, as he was, then there can be no independence. In the absence of independence, who that is not free could really be happy? The truly happy are relaxed. Being “relaxed” was the farthest thing from his condition.

So what about you? Are you relaxed, or are you on a mission? If you are not relaxed or if you are on a mission, find WHO is not relaxed. Find WHO is involved is relentless seeking.

Quests are exhausting. To know that You already Are That Which You seek can begin the process of being free of doingness and thereafter relaxing in the lightness of being. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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WHEN THE EARLIEST DUALITIES PLAGUE THE RELATIVE EXISTENCE OF ADULT-AGED PERSONS, Part One

F.: A corporation with an owner who is traveling the path toward Realization has booked a seminar at the end of November and another in mid-December. The seminars will focus on guiding the members of his staff to end all identification with “The Child” ego-state and “The Parent” ego-state in order to allow “adult-level functioning” to manifest in the workplace.

The conditions that exist there—and in almost every business and home on earth—are marked by the continuing belief by adults in the dualities that they were taught as children. Those dualistic beliefs dominate the thoughts and words of adult-aged persons and perpetuate childish behavior among most of the adult-aged persons on the planet.

The first duality that most children hear is the “No!” vs. “Yes” pairing. Very few instances of hearing “No!” are required in order to program and condition a child, especially if the “No” is ignored by the child and if punishment follows.

The second duality soon manifests: children experience “desire” while trying to avoid or process “fear,” leading to the third duality of “wanting vs. not wanting.” They experience a fourth duality, namely, the desire to "gain" or to be "rewarded" vs. the desire to avoid “loss” or “punishment.” Ultimately, they are programmed with the message that all of the above is dependent on their being “good” and not being “bad.”

By that point, a belief in the five earliest dualities is in place, and those five dualistic pairs will dominate and control the entire relative existence of most persons. They will lose all ability to make independent choices while believing that they are choosing what they think and say and do.

Eventually, those persons who were programmed and conditioned with dualistic teachings as children become obsessive adults, behaving compulsively in their efforts to do all required to always hear “Yes” and to never hear “No”; becoming fanatical in their efforts to have all of their desires met while wanting to avoid all that they fear; and being fixated in their efforts to accumulate all that they “want” and to avoid everything that they “don’t want.”

However, since the relative existence is an existence of inevitable change, the stage is set for happiness to happen when “Yes” is heard but for disappointment and/or anger and/or misery to happen when “No” is heard. The stage is set for happiness to happen when desires are met but for disappointment and/or anger and/or misery to happen when that which is feared comes about.

The stage is set for happiness to happen when the message that one is “good” is received but for disappointment and/or anger and/or misery to happen when the message that one is “bad” is received. The stage is set for happiness to happen when a supposed “reward” is gained but for disappointment and/or anger and/or misery to happen when “loss” or “punishment” comes about.

And the stage on which all of that is being played out is a stage in “The Theater of the Lie” where the “The Play of the Personas” is acted out with daily performances that are completely childish, no matter the age of the actors.

On that stage, periods of happiness and misery are inevitable since that play is a play of every-changing mirages and illusions, of believing lies and then seeing a flash of reality, of thinking you knew “the character of someone,” only to find out you didn’t have the slightest clue about what was really behind the mask.

The relative is marked by change and volatility, yet persons erroneously believe that stability and continuity can happen in a relative existence (and in a post-relative existence as well).

When happenings fluctuate between what persons take to be happy events vs. what they consider to be disappointing or anger-inspiring or misery-producing events, the latter events trigger dualistically “negative” memories that date back to the earliest years of childhood.

At that point, “The Child” persona is triggered and, no matter the age of an adult, childish thoughts will manifest, childish words will be employed, and childish conduct will follow.

Thus, another Advaita pointer is affirmed by observable example: that which makes you happy will eventually make you miserable, and that which makes you most happy will eventually make you most miserable. As an exercise that might reveal the impact of such dualities on your existence so far, list all the things that once “made you happy” but that eventually “made you miserable.”

List also the instances when someone has told you “No” and then describe the emotional reactions that followed; the instances when you felt you “lost” something, and the emotional intoxication that followed; the instances when punishments or consequences happened and the emotions that followed; the instances when you got something you wanted and the emotions around that; and, finally, the instances when you did not get what you wanted and the emotional intoxication that followed.

If you are able to touch the degree to which belief in dualities has marred your relative existence, then you might understand why the Advaitin teacher will suggest that all misery and suffering and chaos is rooted in the belief in duality.

If you accept the accuracy of that pointer, then you might be inspired to complete the entire "journey" to Full Realization...a "journey" which (if completed) can strip away your belief in dualities and thereby end the suffering and misery and chaos that are rooted in childish, childhood teachings. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

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HINDU BY “BIRTH,” BUT INVESTIGATING ADVAITA, Part Eleven, The Conclusion

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Please see the 02 November 2007 post for the e-mail which is being responded to today]

F.: (The exchange continues): Once Fully Realized, that which is a seemingly “dual life” is understood to involve no duality at all. The Absolute, the Awareness, the Consciousness, and the Void you mention can all be understood. At that point, all seeking ends.

Short of Full Realization, all persons live out a life of seeking…yet few will ever seek Realization via Self-Inquiry. Most seeking, instead, is external...driven by the imagined fears or shallow desires of ego-states. For 6+ billion on the planet, such seeking happens via religious or spiritual systems that promise access to supernatural power and eternal continuity of body-mind-personality.

Those systems urge persons to look outward to find an outward power that can be used to control events in "this world" as well as in some metaphysical "world beyond." They urge people to live according to the dictates of their “holy” writings. The philosophy of Advaita, conversely, urges seekers to discard all of the nonsense they have been taught, to see all non-truths which they believe to be truth, to look within, and to find the truth that cannot be stated but that can be known.

Then all seeking based in the false belief of "need" and "fear" will end and an AS IF, natural existence will happen for the remainder of the manifestation. Once the “True (no attribute) Identity” is understood, all seeking ends because much of all seeking involves the seeking of an identity. People join gangs to get an identity. Some go to bars where “everyone knows their name” to received reinforcement of their identities.

Some go to churches or temples or synagogues or mosques or cults or sects to obtain new, "better” identities in the process. Some join "self-improvement" groups which assign new, but false, identities. Understand, Vignesh, that anyone or anything that perpetuates your false identities, including your own assumption of religious and spiritual personas, is perpetuating your belief in the false and the not-real.

By contrast, understand that the Advaita Teachings will offer you no conceptualized promises, as do religions and other philosophies and “programs” and “movements”; will offer no doctrines or dogmas or concepts; will end searching and seeking; and can end suffering by cutting it off at the root…the “mind.”

But none of that freedom from falsehoods and suffering can happen to those fixated in religious roles or in spiritual roles. Trapped as those personas are at the third of seven steps, they are far from Full Realization. When the awakening begins, persons (who have been sitting in “The Theater of the Lie” and taking the actors and their play to be real) suddenly begin laughing at the crazy drama unfolding on the stage.

But sanity is not restored by the mere witnessing of insanity; persons often witness it for years—in “others”—but seldom recognize their own personality disorders or their own insane-like behavior. Eventually, one must move beyond the witnessing of insanity being displayed in “The Play of the Personas” and must leave the imaginary theater entirely.

As long as you are occupied with the goings-on inside “The Theater of the Lie,” you might think that you can find the True Self from that location. You may think you can stay there and be happy, but the Advaita Teachings invite you to leave that illusion behind and move towards truth. As with Maharaj’s suggestion for the “journey” (that you must go back in exactly the same way you came) so the journey back from the corrupted “mind” to the freedom of the working, natural brain must be accomplished in the exact reverse of the order that resulted in the formation of that corrupted “mind”:

From the thinking mind, the “journey” to a re-purification of the consciousness via a forfeiture of belief in the content of the “mind” moves back—beyond the imagined needs and desires and fears of ego-states that the “mind” takes to be real; beyond the imagined “world” and beyond the imagined “I” in that “world”; beyond the verbal world;

beyond the concepts that replaced an intuitive awareness of the concrete and real; beyond taught abstractions and taught ideas; beyond languages; beyond symbolic thinking; beyond communication; beyond words; beyond memories; and back to a memory-free, concept-free brain that was originally used as a survival tool to facilitate natural living (as opposed to the "mind" which now generates destructive and self-destructive thoughts, words, and deeds during the relative existence).

Best regards if you continue to investigate Advaita and if you allow the pointers offered to inspire the only investigation that is truly worth undertaking. That investigation is not the investigation of "holy" writings or religious dogma or so-called "spiritual principles." That investigation first involves the uncovering of all of your false selves. Then the investigation, via Self-Inquiry, can lead to an understanding of Self and to an understanding of the functioning of the totality...beyond beingness and non-beingness as well. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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HINDU BY “BIRTH,” BUT INVESTIGATING ADVAITA, Part Ten

[Out-of-town Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to work with the staff members and employees of a business whose CEO has contracted for a series of seminars that will allow staff and workers to see how personas and egotism generate all conflict and how the “Parent” and “Child” ego-states can be set aside so that mature and effective interactions can manifest, relatively speaking. Therefore, the final part of the current series will be posted on Friday. An overview of Advaita books and packages follows today’s post, or the archives are available if readings are sought during the hiatus.]

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Please see the 02 November 2007 post for the e-mail which is being responded to today]

F.: (The exchange continues): It should be seen by now the inaccuracy of considering oneself to be “Hindu by birth,” “Muslim by birth,” “Christian by birth,” “Jew by birth,” “Anglo-Saxon by birth,” “Black by birth,” “Oriental by birth,” “rich by birth,” “poor by birth,” “good-looking by birth,” “ugly by birth,” or anything else. None of those are true.

All labels are man-made fiction. The use of any label can only report a non-truth since all labeling is steeped in duality. That which You Truly Are is colorless, religion-less, spirituality-less, body-less, mind-less, personality-less, appearance-less, form-less, time-less, shape-less, attribute-less and possession-less.

Duality generates a sense of separation and blocks awareness of the unicity. Duality, by generating a sense of division, also inspires fighting, in-fighting, suffering and misery. And it is awareness of the suffering and misery that inspires the re-purified consciousness to speak—to function as a “guide” of sorts—always pointing toward the next step on the “path” that provides the only way out of the miasma of “the mind.”

At the end of the “path” is a state of zero concepts, and only if functioning happens from a position of zero concepts can freedom, happiness, independence and joy manifest. To begin the shift toward zero concepts, Vignesh, return to the initial concepts mentioned in your e-mail: My concept of Brahman(God) has so far been like, It is the Ultimate spaceless-timeless Void which has Consciousness.

The void cannot be spaceless because the space is required for the void of space to apply. Too, the void is not timeless. In the void an atom manifested. This universe was once a void, but its manifestation can be timed to about 14.5 billion years.

What is timeless is that which preceded this universe. You should be able to see now that a void cannot “have” consciousness. You should be able to see that within a space that was once a void, an atom manifested and at a subatomic level, its elements were conscious of the other elements as they moved in a dance.

As for Vignesh, where once there was a void of sorts, consciousness manifested within a space and now Vignesh is involved in a dance. The dance should be an entertaining dance...as if the Self were engaged in a movement with itSelf, understanding the Oneness and therefore understanding the Am-ness and the THAT-ness.

During that dance, the speck of consciousness called “Vignesh” would know that neither the body nor the “mind” nor any personality or persona is experiencing anything. It would be understood, instead, that all which is phenomenal merely appears in that Light Which You Truly Are. Then the dance can last throughout the remainder of the manifestation and will happen with no more concern than that shown by an electron as it dances about in the space of an atom.

In order to participate in the dance, one must un-learn all that she/he has been told. You have been dancing “their” dance…The Dance of the Mirage. Rather than dancing with the True Self, they actually programmed you not to dance lightly but to march about stiffly instead.

They programmed you to march to the beat of their drum which is pounding out an unnatural or supernatural beat. Marching to the beat of their drum will never allow one to enter into the smooth and even flow of the dance of awareness, the dance of freedom, the dance of peace, the dance of joy.

Whereas “they” told you that you are Hindu by birth, You now have an opportunity to awaken to the truth, to know that you are not Vignesh, not Hindu, not born, and not headed to a rebirth or series of rebirths. There is this time only, this moment only. Enjoy it…NOW. Of course, that is just a suggestion. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOKS IN THE ADVAITA COLLECTION:

The books are presented in the recommended ordering for reading. They may be ordered individually, or in one of three sets, or in their entirety. [The Entire Advaita Collection: all twelve books + the CD $187.00 + S&H]

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 intended to allow those in the early stages of seeking to begin consideration of pointers that deal with something other than the body and mind issues that dominate most persons. Reading all of the entries in either or both guides will allow the consciousness to begin processing subject matter that is beyond the phenomenal. That will prepare the consciousness to receive the Advaita pointers at the end of the volumes and that continue in a progressive order throughout the remaining books on the list. To order, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm

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

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

[The four volumes above + a CD are available as “The Advaitin Beginner’s Package”: The Meditation CD, two Meditation Guides, Bullshit, and Spiritual Sobriety $62.00 + S&H]

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, allowing seekers to transition beyond the mind. The content explores the history of the human brain, including the fact that for millions of years, human 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 continue to drive adult thinking and behavior.

Ultimately, the content of 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. To order, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm

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

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.” Eventually, it will be understood that You cannot die since You were never born. To order, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm

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

[The four volumes above are available as “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]

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

Recommended: Use in conjunction with FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE the CD entitled SPIRIT JOURNEY TO YOUR TRUE SELF in order to have an experiential awareness of the seven steps as you read about each. To order, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm

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

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

[The three volumes above are available as “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]

IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP: The latest release, the third book in the “Advanced Seekers Trilogy,” FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS ($16.99+ S&H). To order, go to http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm , complete all of the information, and in the “Special Message” box, type in FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS.

The order in which the books are to be read and how to get them at a package rate:

Consider the Meditation CD, the Meditation Guides, Bullshit, and Spiritual Sobriety to be a “Beginner’s Package,” providing a foundation from which persons can begin to consider realities that are beyond the beliefs which they accept unquestioningly as a result of their enculturation. Used as a group, the works encourage inquiry (which is at the core of the Advaita approach) where questioning has not occurred before.

Consider Peace of Mind, Liberation, What Happens When I Die? and The Essence of the Teachings to be a “Mid-Level Seekers” Package, each guiding seekers beyond the false identification with body and mind and personality and explaining the basic terminology that must be understood before moving to the advanced teachings.

Consider From the I to the Absolute, Consciousness/Awareness, and From the Absolute to the Nothingness to be an “Advanced Seekers” Package. From the I to the Absolute can serve as a guide for earnest and capable seekers, putting the teachings into an orderly context that reveals the exact steps that must be taken in an exact order to move through all of the degrees of separation from belief in the false “I” to Realization. Consciousness/Awareness offers the next level of understanding, explaining that which is beyond the beingness and how happiness can manifest each day via the understanding. Finally, From the Absolute to the Nothingness will allow earnest and capable seekers to understand the state that is even prior to beingness and non-beingness, even prior to the Absolute. The seeker who understands the content of this book will realize how it is that—from a state of non-existence or nothingness—everything in this universe (and all universes) came to be. Packages may be ordered at http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm

HINDU BY “BIRTH,” BUT INVESTIGATING ADVAITA, Part Nine

RECEIVED YESTERDAY FROM SITE VISITOR GINNY: Jnana yoga traditions were an intoxicant for me and I'm far from Hindu by birth so I can imagine Vignesh's surprise at your response to his queries. I assume many are "put off" by the bluntness of Truth. So many years of study must, has to be, worth something? But, no. Today I laughed at length about my irrelevance and enjoyed the freedom that "knowing" this brings. There are no words-of course-but there is the wink of understanding that lifts me out of all this miasma / mind. "I" just don't matter and can get out of my own way. Light dances too! Ginny

THE RESPONSE: During the early stages of this 18-year period of offering pointers, a certain “almost celestial sweetness” seemed to characterize the approach. At the point when doctors began predicting the end of the manifestation, a shift occurred, as with Maharaj. “Time” became “of the essence.” Delay was no longer an over-abundant “commodity.” Now, it is known that persons who are deeply asleep must be shaken if they are to awake. Who that is in deep sleep, though, wants "floyd" or anyone else to come along and shake them and disturb their sleep? Few. Yet that is the direction the re-purified consciousness has taken, and “i” just sit back and witness.

Too, the “bluntness” is in pointing out the lies rather than in pointing out the Truth. Once belief in lies comes to an end, the Truth, as You know, is made clear via the re-purified consciousness. Your observation is factual, though: most are surprised when they first hear that their sacred cows are just generators of so much ca-ca. Offense usually follows, so pointers are ignored. So it is.

The joy and freedom after seeing “irrelevance,” You have clearly explicated. What can also be seen is an evolution in the observations that are flowing from that speck of consciousness called “ginny.” No real surprise, since it happened with that speck called “Maharaj” and with this speck called “floyd.” Enjoy. Peace and Light and (now that it can be understood) Love, f.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Please see the 02 November 2007 post for the e-mail which is being responded to today]

F.: (The exchange continues): Next, the suggestion is to forget what “floyd” knows or what any “guru” knows or what any self-professed religious or spiritual person claims to know or what Vignesh think he knows. Instead, consider the invitation to start anew; to use sane, sound, logical reason this time around; to see all that is false and to reject it. Then the Truth—which cannot be stated—will spring forth via the re-purified consciousness.

To accept that there are some writings that are “holy” and many that are not is dualistic. To accept that some men were “holy” writers and most are not is also dualistic. Anyone can write anything and can claim anything. None of what is claimed or written and labeled as “holy” bears any significance at all.

The understanding is within You, not within “holy” books, and You can access it via the inner resource or inner guru. All that an Advaitin teacher can provide are pointers that invite the removal of the obstructions that prevent accurate seeing. Those obstructions are actually concepts and beliefs which are often printed in books considered “holy” or “different” and that followers are requested (or required) to accept as “truth.”

In the absence of all factual evidence, and quite to the contrary of reason, persons are programmed to accept such concepts and beliefs based on “faith.” To claim that “I believe this based on faith” or “I believe that based on faith” is not to say that you have intuitively accessed your beliefs. (In fact, there are no “your” beliefs. There are only “their” beliefs which you have adopted and then took to be your own.)

Instead, to profess that you believe anything by faith is not to say that you believe what you have always known intuitively but that you have faith in the words of other people who dualistically claim that they are “holy” or “different” and know something that you do not know but that you need to know and believe.

The Advaitin teacher will never invite you to know what she/he knows. The Advaitin teacher will never tell you that there is “so much more that you need to know.” The Advaitin teacher, if Fully Realized, will never tell you that he/she is “spiritual” or “holy” or that his/her words are holy or spiritual words.

Instead, that teacher will suggest that all of your spiritual knowledge is learned ignorance and will invite you to de-accumulate what you have accumulated (including all beliefs and ideas and concepts).

Further, if there were a God or Divine Spirit or anything else that created and arranged this universe and the humans that have populated this planet, then the logical question would have to be:

“If the people of planet earth and their conduct (both historical and current) were observed objectively, could you possibly be impressed with a supposedly all-powerful god that nevertheless allowed the decimation of 150,000,000 people in order for his worshippers to establish a nation in his name?

Who allowed inquisitions and torture and murder in his name? Who allowed a holocaust involving two groups of his worshippers? Who allows such widespread disease and genocide and torture and suffering during an existence that is forced upon persons by no choice of their own? Who tolerates continuing wars among his followers, all of whom are killing in his name?”

In fact, there is no god that allows that, so there is no god that can stop that. Nor is there any teacher or prophet or preacher or priest or rabbi or imam or guru or religion or movement or philosophy that will put an end to all of that either. Freedom and peace come to one seeker at a time, not to one planet at a time.

Therefore, no wholesale change will ever happen that alters the human condition which, when driven by ego and fear and desire, will result in such happenings as those referenced above. The historical pendulum will swing in a way that allows dark ages to occur with intermittent periods of enlightenment, but that pendulum will always continue to swing as long an humans walk the earth.

At best, only a very small fraction of the planet’s population will ever be awakened at the same time. Thus, the invitation is to focus less on any cosmic understandings that might be derived from a study of the Advaita Teachings, to transcend the spiritual and religious stage, to reach a state of Full Realization, and then to enjoy the peace and freedom of the remainder of the manifestation.

Such peace and freedom can only be known during the relative existence, so if it is peace and joy and freedom and happiness that is being sought, find it and enjoy it NOW, for NOW is the only chance that exists for that to happen. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

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 .

HINDU BY “BIRTH,” BUT INVESTIGATING ADVAITA, Part Eight

FROM A SITE VISITOR: [Please see the 02 November 2007 post for the e-mail which is being responded to today]

(The exchange continues):

F.: Now, Vignesh, you are invited to revisit some of your comments about “God” and “religion” and “holy” writings in light of the pointers offered over the last days:

V.: “My concept of Brahman(God) has so far been like…,” and “in every religion there is no parallel existence to God,” and “God does not change,” and” “Even if there is Consciousness, how could God become aware of It's existence…?” and “But that is not in line with the teachings of the Upanishads, right?”

F.: What a waste of energy, yes? What a waste of time that could be spent dancing and enjoying the lightness of being, yes? Why a waste? Why spend time debating with yourself or others about mirages? See that a mirage is a mirage and move on down the road. But that is nearly impossible for those who, from childhood and then throughout adulthood, have been programmed to believe in duality, in god(s), in holy men, and in holy books.

Maharaj said: “First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented God. Then you worship such a God and…you pray to that God for something good to happen to you.”

Note that duality drives the invention of gods, that the invention of gods drives the writing of dualistic (“holy”) books, that dualistic (“holy”) books generate organized religions and spiritual movements, and that religions and spiritual movements generate and support more dualistic concepts: good, bad, right, wrong, reward, punishment, heaven, hell, etc., resulting in a closed loop of learned ignorance.

Why is there no need for holy books and religion and worship and spiritual movements? Because Truth cannot be stated; thus, there is no need for any priest or preacher or prophet or rabbi or imam or medicine man to assume it is his task to tell you what the Truth is. Truth cannot be stated. There is no need for any “holy” man (it is almost always a man, is it not?) to write what he claims are “holy words of God’s Truth” because the Truth cannot be written any more than it can be stated.

However, Truth can be realized by tapping into “the intellect” (actually the pure consciousness) via the inner guru, but many adhere to the view expressed by Loyola who wrote that Catholics “… sacrifice the intellect to God.” (No argument there, but the practice is not limited to any single denomination but is common throughout all religions and sects and “programs” and spiritual movements as well.)

For an objective witness to see how “religious leaders” have required the forfeiture of logic and reason over the ages can lead such a witness to question their invitation to abandon logic and reason; can lead to the objective witness eventually discarding all false beliefs; and can prepare the way for Truth to spring into awareness via the re-purified consciousness.

Yet the forfeiture of logic and reason among persons who are religiously or spiritually programmed, as you have been, is a result of the same programming that inspires many to agree with the belief of Luther who said, “Reason is the Devil’s harlot….”

It is that type of disdain for reason—along with the inflation of the worth of “unquestioning faith”—that has led trillions of people over the millennia to accept that Buddha, Krishna, and Christ were all conceived in some virginal fashion and were all born in manners that (supposedly) did not involve the use of a violated-by-a-male birth canal. So much for holy words in holy books.

If you want to rely on books as your source of truth, then read enough books and treatises and essays to receive a balanced view: Read Freud’s The Future of an Illusion in which he reports, “Where questions of religions are concerned, people are guilty of every possible sort of dishonesty and intellectual misdemeanor.”

Read Heine’s Gedaken: “In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in pitch-black a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind old men as guides.”

But in the end, what good are any of the readings from believers or non-believers? One group shouts “Aye” and the other immediately shouts “Nay.” The task for you is not to find out what all of them think they know but for You to find the answer to this question: “What do You know?" The third step of the "journey" to Realization is a religious or spiritual step. The step must be taken; however, to complete the "journey," the third step must be transitioned.

To find the answer to the question above, you must cast aside all of the beliefs that are “theirs,” then conduct a Self-Inquiry, and thereafter determine what You have always known but do not remember at this moment because of programming and conditioning. That which blocks the realization of that which You have always known is the impure (programmed and conditioned) consciousness.

The obstructions that have blocked "you" from knowing You are the same obstructions that prevent the seeing of Truth because they create a miasma of lies called “the mind.” That miasma includes such obstacles as dogma, ideas, beliefs, and concepts.

For beginners, Vignesh, the suggestion is to stay with the “I Am” only until the last ego-state and concept and belief dissolves. Eventually, even the “I-Amness” can be transcended, and then, abidance as the Absolute can happen. The “you” will disappear, You will stop functioning as if the various "you's" are real, and You will abide as the one and only You for the remainder of the manifestation. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

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 .