A READING FOR BEGINNERS

An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality / nonduality, your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: I want to thank Thomas for saying what I didn’t have the ability to say (or maybe the courage to ask for?) Some of us are new to this philosophy and I read your blog before work every day and before leaving the house on weekends and something about what you say resonates at some level.

But being new, I feel like I need something—some meditation or reading or something—to help prepare me for the day. (I’m using the A-Z but that’s still not what I feel I need at this point). Do you have anything along the line of a morning reading for those who have not gotten to a point that is beyond all need? Thank you, Suzi

F.: Hello Suzi. The real answer for you is to spend some time with a Realized teacher, either in satsang or one-on-one, and enter into a dialogue that can guide you to the needing of nothing. (See the offer below.) However, several have written recently with the same request (“You’re giving the advanced seekers the meat and potatoes, but how about at least tossing a bone to us novices?”) so you might try reading the following before leaving your home each morning. It was provided to a “novice” several years ago and he read it every day before leaving his house (until he shifted to the next “level”):

"My home is a place where I have committed to doing all which is required to eliminate any belief in the lies about others and about myself that I thought in the past to be true. As I step beyond the door, I will be aware that I am entering the Theater of the Lie, the place where ‘all the world's a stage.’ Most are actors, and all of those act as if they’re on stage, playing out their high drama. They now are in the deep delusion that they really are the roles they play, and they want to hook my attention and make me think their acting is real.

They have played their roles so much that they can now act them out in their sleep—in their sleepwalking condition—and they do. Their dramas, and what they do that I perceived in the past to be interfering with me, are just so much illusion (just appearances, just acting) and are not reality. Thus, I can start ignoring any perceived offense that results from the silliness of my judging them, for they know not what they do. If I judge others, it shows I’ve fallen into delusion too, thinking their play is real and has something to do with me. It would show that I am now delusional, thinking I’m a judge of their play-acting, a qualified critic.

I am not "The Judge," I am not "The Qualified Critic," I am not any role, I am not any character in their play. I am not even a person (‘persona’-Lt.= ‘mask’). I Am the essence, manifested currently as the Real Self—as the consciousness that (if not blocked) is capable of functioning merely as the Pure Witness. That has nothing to do with a body or a ‘mind’ or any personality type I might be exhibiting out of my own ignorance and because of my programming.

Today, I will be aware—the witness, the observer—but I will not watch the play and become so engrossed in the actions of the players that I begin to imagine that any part of what I see is real or that it has anything to do with me. It isn't, and it doesn't.”

Regards, Suzi. Peace and Light. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

THE OFFERINGS AVAILABLE:More and more seekers are requesting an understanding of how a personality formed in childhood is still determining and controlling everything that is thought or said or done in adulthood. Others have inquired about an opportunity to speak one-on-one about the seven-step “path” to Realization. Thus, two opportunities are being offered from now until Dec 15^th at 50% off:

PERSONALITY TYPING:

Here’s what is included in the package that is available for the next two months (the service available to international visitors but these price being only for the Continental U.S.):

A copy of the personality test (B) Priority mailing of the test (C) Analysis of the test results (D) A one-hour telephone session to discuss the results (E) the cost of the telephone conference. Cost is US$95.

ONE-ON-ONE SATSANG VIA TELE-CONFERENCE

For the next two months, a tele-conference to discuss any aspects of the Advaita teachings one-on-one will be offered. [Rich from the U.K. completed this package last week and was able to make a low-rate international call from his home in the U.K. to the office here in the U.S. for his conference.] The cost covers the income that cannot be earned as a result of being unavailable for regular retainer contract income during your conference time.] Cost is US$75.

To arrange either package, visit http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm, provide all of the information requested, and in the message box at the bottom, indicate that you want to make arrangements for the PERSONALITY TYPING or for the ONE-ON-ONE ADVAITA SESSION or both.