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F.: A last minute contract was received to conduct a four-day seminar out-of-town, so the series dealing with the e-mail from
If you are “new” to Advaita, please read those postings on “the body” rather than the following information being offered to "advanced seekers" for Monday through Thursday.
To the site visitors who have advanced far along “the path”:
Since
But never has any posting or series generated so much e-mail as the posts offered at the end of the WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY series. Some also wrote to say they finally “got it” after reading those entries; some wrote to explain that I was wrong and that they are this or that or THAT or whatever else they named. But the majority wrote to ask for more explanation of the content of those postings.
The usual reply to “advanced seekers” making such a request is to “read the material again and then enter the silence of contemplation.” Some have reported that they have read the series four and five and six times or more and are “seeing” something for the first time after each reading or seeing something for the first time ever.
Therefore, while out-of-town to conduct the seminar, these postings are being offered today through Thursday for further consideration by those who are still raising questions.
MONDAY
The drop dissolves into the ocean when the Oneness is understood, and it drops into the ocean at the point of unmanifestation. The ocean rushes into the drop when, among other things, the emptiness is replaced by an understanding of Love and a sense of the Fullness (which can only be known during the manifestation). At that point, it is truly realized that One is All and All is One.
In that instant, Love fills the void left after all dualistic beliefs about “love” and "hate" end. Recently, it was explained that “love” is totally relative and totally false, not to be confused with what can be pointed to with the terms True Love or Real Love.
Since “love” is relative and therefore fleeting, it can—and does—quite readily give way to “hate.” Conversely, there is no counterpart to Love; however, even Love can only be understood during the manifestation.
During the “journey,” there are typically many instances where the claim “Now I have it!” is made. One early instance of that occurs when seekers reach the third step and assume their “good and lofty” personas which they believe are replacements for their “bad and base” personas from the past. Another instance occurs when The Pure Witness level is reached.
Another occurs when belief in a past or a future are cast aside and “The now” is touted as the only real time. They will explain that they see that what is called “the past” is nothing more than memories, and since the way things were seen then was distorted, then the memories of those things are distortions.
They will explain that “the future” is merely imagined and therefore conclude that—since neither the past nor the future are real—then “only NOW is real.” Fine for those at a certain point.
Yet in “the end,” seekers that complete the “journey” and reach the final understanding know that that even “Now” is false. Why? By the time the knower of "no past" and "no future" speaks “NOW!” and identifies it as real, “Now” is “then” and is also a memory.
Nothing in consciousness will ever provide a steady-enough target to ever hit the bull’s eye. Still another “Now I have it!” moment occurs when the focus turns from seeing the “Oneness of All” to seeing the Absolute beyond the beingness.
At that point, all sorts of identities will have been discarded, but some remain: “THAT”; “The Infinite Self”; “The No-Name Speck” (which is a name); “The Impersonal, Nameless Self” (which is a name), and that list can go on and on.
With certain elements of non-duality, the teachings of Taoism note that there is “no name” that can apply, either to “the path” or to “the way” or to anything else. Ho Yen reported that non-being (wu-wei) is nameless and is beyond forms and words, yet non-being (wu-wei) is a name.
To report that “Black and white obtain names but Tao has no name” is to have a name, so “Tao” is not real, either. To report that “Truthfully it has no name, but I call it Tao,” is fine, as long as the seeker does not then believe that Tao is real, as many Taoists do.
Similarly, Advaitins uses the word “THAT” as a pointer to refer to what can be understood but cannot be named, so Advaitin seekers believe THAT is real. But when the Final Understanding happens, then the drop and the ocean both dissolve and there is no point, no pointer, and nothing being pointed to except nothing (and even that is a name).
When it is understood that the drop and the ocean dissolve with the Final Understanding, then the reply that was e-mailed to a site visitor can also be understood:
Seeker: “You really can’t be ruffled, can you? I mean, there is no one and there is no thing that can bother you, is there? That is what I want.”
“As long as something is wanted, then there will seem to be a want-er, and as long as there is believed to be a want-er, you will be ruffled. But how could persons possibly bother Me? They do not have even the slightest clue about where I truly live. Only a few on the entire planet called “earth” have a clue. Some might enter what is called ‘floyd’s house’ or ‘floyd’s home,’ but that is not where I live; in fact, ‘where’ I live has nothing to do with a ‘where’ at all. In this regard, there is actually only the ‘how.’ ‘How’ I abide is as the awareness, as the original state, as the natural state which has no boundaries, which has no defining traits, and which does not change. ‘How’ I abide is without conditions or conditioning, without qualifications, and without limitations. I can seem to be ‘here’ one second and ‘there’ the next, but that is about ‘how-ness,’ not any actual ‘here-ness’ or ‘there-ness.’ I am not confined to a space or form; furthermore, I can enter other spaces and forms, and do so regularly (as might happen the instant You read these words). Abiding beyond consciousness and beyond beingness and beyond non-beingness, I can span the globe…I can span the universe…I have spanned all universes. Yet such 'while manifested' spannings seldom happen anymore, requiring far more energy than is worth the effort, and it most assuredly need not happen with You. As for Me, abidance will continue to happen in a whole and unadulterated and unambiguous manner until the consciousness unmanifests. Until that happens, then abidance will happen as Reality is overlaid on the relative without exception. When the consciousness unmanifests, then the drop shall enter the ocean and will span the Absolute; Awareness shall be, but aware of-ness shall not. Later, other universes might be spanned as well, or might not. Yet all of that is stated, so it, too, cannot be the Truth which You know but do not yet know that You know. Tap into the source and know Truth, but even then, do not suppose that You will be able to express Truth. You might invite seekers to tap into the same source as well, but that is all.”
TUESDAY
Why do Advaitins, as a “practical” matter—relatively speaking—suggest elimination of all identification, including body, mind, personality, “something beyond,” or even “something beyond the beyond”?
Because all accumulation, all distortion, all desire, all fear, all sense of separation, all conflict, all chaos, all unnatural behavior, and all emotional intoxication are rooted in identification.
Because of identification, persons believe they are who or what they are not. They eventually accumulate a host of identities or ego-states and distortion takes hold. In an effort to fulfill the desires of their personas, to avoid the fears of their personas, and to sustain their personas when challenged, a sense of separation comes. When a sense of separation comes, conflict follows.
When conflict manifests, chaos follows. When chaos manifests, unnatural behaviors and emotional intoxication follows. Natural (nisarga) living is abandoned and an unnatural or a supernatural “lifestyle” is sought.
Consider this in regards to identities: assumed personas are false, so anything they inspire is therefore false and not natural...is unnatural or "supernatural." With thoughts being driven by assumed personas, then words are false and deeds become unnatural.
That is a direct result of the fact that every ego-state has its own hidden agenda, but more than anything, each wants to last, and to last forever. That is a formula for misery in itself. Are shock waves occurring as a result of these postings? Is there some sense that if all identification is abandoned that there will be some great loss?
I tell you, when “floyd” dissolved, there was no loss at all. There was—following the short, micro-second void—a subsequent rush as the ocean did indeed fill the brief emptiness. Reflecting on the happening and the ensuing effect, nothing has ever been so willingly forfeited.
Yet why do billions not as readily abandon all identity? Again, the discussion must review the role that magicians (priests, ministers, etc.) play in convincing persons that they are special, are “A Child of God,” “A Gift from God.”
Persons buying into their magic will also want to cling to their "positive identities" because the magicians have convinced persons that not only are they “something” rather than “nothing” but also that what they are "can be forever." The ego, with its attachment to the self and the selves and what ego takes to be an Infinite Self, finds the message of the magicians far more appealing then these no-identity talks by an Advaitin.
They have said, "What could this Advaitin possibly know, already admitting that he is not a power and that he has no power and that he wants no power? And who would want ‘no power’?
“There is no comparison between that Advaitin and the ones I listen to, namely those who have the magical powers to make flesh from bread and blood from wine; who can make a cremated or decayed body resurrect and become its former self and have its former body with all its parts and nerve endings that can feel pain or pleasure forever; who can teach me a way to think and talk and behave that will insure that my body and mind and personality shall last forever; that I am blessed and shall be blessed.
“Who would possibly want to buy into his message that promises nothing when my mentors' magic has demonstrated that their power and knowledge have something to give? They promise something...not nothing.”
How have the magicians been able for thousands of years to convince even intelligent people to believe in their magic and to mimic their magical thinking? S.H. Sharp’s words provide insight:
“To be a great magician, one must be able to present an illusion in such a way that people are not only puzzled, but deeply moved.”
To be “deeply moved” is to be emotionally intoxicated, and that is why the Advaita message is diametrically opposite from that which the magicians preach and teach:
where the Advaitin invites persons to employ logic and reason and common sense and to remain non-attached to all that is illusory, the magicians are skilled at “deeply moving” persons…emotionally, illogically, unreasonably, and senselessly. Note, however, that a play or a movie can do the same, yet they are also fiction.
Realization is about de-accumulation, and that is not limited to things and roles and concepts only. At the level of the Final Understanding, de-accumulation (dissolution) is total, including not only concepts and beliefs but also any and all identities.
In the end, the question must be asked, “WHO wants to know a ‘WHO’? WHO is there to know a ‘WHO’? And even if the belief in the “WHO-ness” has dissolved, WHO still wants to know the ‘WHAT-ness’ or the ‘THAT-ness’?” To be done with the personal is to be done with the “WHO-ness” and the “stuff” of the “WHO-ness,” and to be done with the “stuff” of the “WHO-ness” is to be done with…
…beliefs, for by WHOM could they be believed if the believer has dissolved?
…thoughts, for by WHOM could thoughts be thought if the thinker has dissolved?
…the search for the understanding, for by WHOM could the understanding be sought if the seeker has dissolved?
…samadhi, for WHO could go into or come out of anything if “The Spiritual One” has dissolved and if all fluctuating has ended?
…appearances, for by WHOM could anything be seen if the seer has dissolved?
…continuous talk and continuous noise, for WHO could talk and make noise continuously if the talker and noisemaker have dissolved?
…enlightenment, for WHO could be enlightened is all WHO-ness has dissolved?
…and, yes, even Realization, for WHO could Realize if all WHO-ness has dissolved?
WEDNESDAY
Are You seeing how, in the end, there is a transcendence beyond all of the futile efforts to know? Do you see why Krishna said that he is beyond both beingness and non-beingness? Consider that: NON-BEINGNESS.
Are You understanding why You are told that all knowledge is “learned ignorance”? When the drop and the ocean both dissolve—even during this manifestation—then there is nothing known; therefore, there is no knower and no knowledge and no knowing.
Now, here, there is awareness that is not aware of. Post-manifestation, there shall be Awareness that is not aware of ; however, even awareness and Awareness are names. So is it understood why there is nothing that can be said to be real…to be “what you are,” or to be “What You Are?”
A written question was left at the end of the day during one retreat. The question and response follow:
Questioner: “You said that everything in ‘this universe’ originated with the manifestation of one atom in what was previously a vacuum. In that case, then at least it can be said that ‘I’m an atom or atoms or energy,’ right?”
F.: Since Truth cannot be ‘said,’ obviously not. Further, even if Truth could be said, the ‘you-are-an-atom theory’ or the ‘you-are-energy’ identity can be assumed at some point along the ‘path’ in order to facilitate movement to the next step. Yet at the end of the ‘path,’ it is to be understood that before the atom, there was nothing, as far as this universe is concerned. The ‘atom’ identity theory and even the ‘energy’ identity theory are eventually cast aside when it is asked, ‘But what of all universes, and what of all the voids prior to an atom manifesting in what had been called “this void prior to this universe”? What of that void which was before the spontaneous appearance of an atom and energy? And what of the voids before that? You want to trace some ‘eternal lineage.’ You would to know every limb and branch on some ‘cosmic family tree.’ You want to know your ‘celestial ancestry’ and be able as a result to label some ‘infinite heritage’ that you would pass on. Your ego would likely upgrade that to ‘your legacy.’ Along the ‘path,’ this ‘You’ might be pointed to with various names, but before this retreat ends, you and ‘You’ must dissolve, the labeler must dissolve, the labeled must dissolve. There is still some ‘one’ that has come here to try to get something when you were told all along that I have nothing to give but much to take away. The invitation here is to discard, then dissolve.”
To understand that reply is to understand why Truth cannot be spoken and why there is nothing to name. Seekers want peace. What is more peaceful than nothing? What is more Fulfilling than emptiness? The answer:
Nothing is more peaceful than something, and nothing is more peaceful than nothing. The emptiness is more fulfilling than fullness, The Fullness is more Fulfilling than the emptiness, and The Emptiness is the most peaceful of all.
Now, visitors, steel ThySelf, for You are about to be offered a level of understanding (a) that few have ever grasped during the manifestation; (b) that will be a guide for the dissolution;
(c) that will provide what might be Your most thorough understanding yet of what “non-duality” really means; and (d) that has been understood by no more than a fraction of all seekers throughout all of the ages in which the Advaita teachings have been offered.
Thus, the Final Understanding is that—in the “end”—there should not be even a sense of “THAT-ness” in terms of identity. To understand the functioning of the totality requires no labels or names. That which is understood via the inner resource or the inner guru is understood but is not “nameable.”
After reading the two prior postings—which were provided in order to serve as the groundwork for building an understanding of what some seekers have found to be “the more obscure teachings of Maharaj”—it should now be possible to comprehend the “end of the ‘path’” teachings which include this:
Maharaj said, “I am beyond the mind, whatever its state, pure or impure. Awareness is my nature; ultimately I am beyond being and non-being.”
Yet there is something to be understood beyond that pointer which was expressed on another occasion by Maharaj: “When you go beyond awareness, there is a state of non-duality, in which there is no cognition, only pure being, which may be as well called non-being, if by being you mean being something in particular.”
See, you are not anything in particular. Further, You Are not anything in particular. Whether pondering the relative, the Absolute, the beyond, the beingness, or the non-beingness, neither you nor You are anything.
Maharaj said on another occasion, “Just like ice turns to water and water to vapour, and vapour dissolves in air and disappears in space, so does the body dissolve into pure awareness (chidakash), then into pure being (paramakash), which is beyond all existence and non-existence.”
1. Take “paramakash” to point to “the great expanse, the timeless and spaceless Reality”
2. The term’s roots begin with “param”
3. “param” means “highest,” “most distant,” and “greatest”
4. Then “param” is combined with “akash”
4. “akash” means “the void”
THURSDAY
First, return to yesterday’s post and review the pointers about this void and the voids before and the voids before that, all the way back to “the most distant” + “void” (that is, all the way back to “the most distant void”). Do you now understand the point made yesterday about all voids?
Now continue, please. Maharaj later said: “To be a living being is not the ultimate state; there is something beyond, much more wonderful, which is neither being nor non-being, neither living nor not living. It is a state of pure awareness, beyond the limitations of space and time. Once the illusion that the body-mind is oneself is abandoned, death loses its terror. It becomes a part of living.”
Allow the “WHO-ness” to dissolve and play around with the “THAT-ness” for a spell, but eventually see that even contemplating THAT is doingness. To be—without being “this” or “that” or “This” or “THAT” or anything—is the closest You’ll come to Bliss. Dissolve and know that of which My Teacher spoke. Know “something beyond” that is “much more wonderful.” Dissolve.
Next, in regards to such dissolution, Maharaj also said: “Reality is the ultimate destroyer. All separation, every kind of estrangement and alienation is false. All is one—this is the ultimate solution of every conflict.”
He said at another point: “Non-identification, when natural and spontaneous, is liberation. You need not know what you are. Enough to know what you are not. What you are you will never know for every discovery reveals new dimensions to conquer. The unknown has no limits.” Non-identification.
One seeker attending satsang years ago when the term was employed in a talk said, “Non-identification? I’ve read every transcript of every talk your teacher offered—some many times—but that’s the first time the term has really registered.”
Yes, non-identification. Be satisfied and relax into the comfort of those words that invite you to an awareness of what you are not and then take it easy. How much have You discovered on “your “journey”? So much, yes?
Yet at this moment, is not this discovery now revealing “new dimensions” of understanding? Thus, is it not now time to simply relax? If you do so, then the beingness for the remainder of the manifestation can still have Reality overlaid upon it.
After that happens, a Show of Love can happen, and Bliss can happen, and Joy can happen, and fun can happen, and the dance can happen. And it will all happen in a "much more wonderful" manner than ever imagined possible.
Further, is the pointer offered two days ago now understood so that it is seen how I can be “here” and there” and “everywhere”? What did Maharaj offer in that regard? He said, “Non-being…it gives birth to being. It is the immovable background of motion. Once you are there you are at home everywhere.”
It is that “immovable background” that has brought stability to the relative existence of this speck called “floyd.” Abiding as an immovable background, then up’s and down’s disappear; turmoil disappears;
chaos disappears; perceptions about “good vs. bad”—along with all instability that is rooted in such movable dualities—disappear. Mutatio terminus. Stabilitas. Stabilitas bellus.
Furthermore, if you review yesterday’s post in light of the pointers contained in today’s post, you can also understand why there is no “loss.” You will understand what Maharaj meant when he said,“Once you go beyond your self-identification with your past, you are free to create a new world of harmony and beauty. Or you just remain—beyond being and non-being.”
At that point, it becomes your call: generate beauty…or harmony…or both…or neither. That is what was being pointed to when My Cherokee Grandmother modeled “The Great Whatever.” Whatever. Whatever, indeed. Either way, fear not…dread not. Nothing is lost.
Now, for those who still think that Realization must surely involve the loss of something and fear that it will leave them robotic or will rob them of some of their current degrees of pleasure, know that those beliefs could not be farther removed from reality.
A SUGGESTION FROM GINNY: I hear You often in various conversations, and usually hold my tongue for obvious reasons! HA! Your last few posts have offered the best explanation or definition of “as if” living when You speak of the overlay of Reality on relative. Worth expanding on at any opportunity and furthering the “practicality” of the teachings for “every day” life. That is what You do if keeping sane is "important." You know it's all bullshit and act as if it matters. Real Love just Is...with no irritation, not even a ripple, not even a sound. Love, g
The Reply: In the very first posting on this site nearly four years ago (June 1, 2005), the “mission statement” for the site included a line that was moved from the site and used on page five of the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE:
“The version of the Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) message that I offer has been characterized by one protégé as being ‘Applied Advaita.’ I will present the concepts of non-duality, yes, but eventually they are to be applied in everyday situations and used to bring peace and acceptance around the issues of the day. Ultimately, the concepts can be tossed, your everyday situations will be discarded, you will have no mind capable of being disturbed, and you will have no issues-du-jour.”
Perchance, ginny, the mission statement deserves repeating or further discussion on occasion. Thx. Peace, Love, Light, f.
So, to expand the “practicality” as well as the understanding of “the way that AS IF Living happens when Reality is overlaid upon the relative,” understand that Reality brings with it to each and every event the traits that are unique to Reality but which can allow a level of joy not previously known to manifest once identity ends and once the I AM THAT; I AM is understood to be advaita…“not-two”…One.
That means that when the relative becomes swathed in Reality, the consequence is that every happening which was previously strapped with cultural boundaries, with conditions and conditioning, with so many qualifications, with limitations, with a sense of incompleteness, with ambiguities, with adulterations, and with self-consciousness suddenly all happen in a manner that is the “embodiment” (so to speak) of the Absolute.
All relative happenings (once Reality has been overlaid upon them) happen Absolutely without boundaries, Absolutely without conditions, Absolutely without qualification, Absolutely without limitation, Absolutely without any sense of incompleteness, Absolutely without ambiguity, Absolutely without adulteration, and Absolutely without self-consciousness.
When happenings no longer happens in “a relative mode” but happens in “an Absolute fashion"; then, the unblocked, manifested consciousness might be heard to speak of “more colorful colors”; of “something sweeter than the sweetest sounds, namely, the sweet sound of silence”; of “tastier tastes”; of “beholding beauty at levels never before imagined”;
of "lightness"; of “‘Love’ rather than ‘love’”; of ‘Showing Love’ rather than ‘making love’ or having sex; of “feeling feelings rather than emoting”; of “being so attuned to all in nature—to all that is natural—that the You-Nature (that "not-two" paradigm) suddenly spawns delights of a previously-unimagined intensity.”
Such is possible when abidance is happening as the awareness while the pure (or unblocked) consciousness is totally and completely and “unobstructedly” conscious of.
Those intensified elements of color and sound and taste and beauty and lightness and Love and feelings as well as an absolute sense of Oneness with all that is natural (nisarga) result when “living AS IF” and when happenings happen from the platform of Reality rather than from the stage of illusion. There are billions who claim that they are “alive,” but they are so far removed from what that concept implies that they must be counted instead among “the living dead.”
That cannot be said of any speck of unblocked, manifested consciousness that is functioning from the standpoint of total awake-ness, complete awareness, and full conscious of-ness, all manifesting in a totally unlimited manner.
After the Final Understanding manifests, then all of the five-sense-awarenesses as well as all of the sixth-sense awarenesses that are catalogued above will be realized and the relative and the Absolute shall finally and truly be understood as not-two. Such happens when the relative is absolutely subsumed in Reality.
