Thursday, April 30, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Eight

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR:
How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: Earlier, a comparison was drawn between (A) the way that persons—preoccupied with body identification—avoid the physically sick and (b) the way that the Realized spontaneously and naturally move to quiet, healthy environments. [Note an exception: those trapped in the Personality Type Two Helper/Rescuer/Savior roles will actually seek out the sick and will draw the sick or user types to them.]

Interestingly, a flu bug can garner the attention of the billions of non-Realized across the globe and most of those persons will immediately spring into action. Yet flu bugs come and go; conversely, “The Non-Realization Dis-ease” stays, and few will ever take any action at all to be free of its effects.

The movement toward an environment that is peaceful and quiet is being discussed even though some might conclude at first glance that it’s a given—that on some level, all persons must surely want the levels of peace and quiet that marked the first several million years of existence of humans or human-like beings but that have given way to a “need for noise” among the masses.

For those that might assume that the peace and quiet is automatically preferred nowadays, evidence to the contrary will be discussed tomorrow, along with an explanation about why that is the case.

[In fact, yesterday, a "pro-noise" e-mail was received as a counter-argument to the considerations offered recently about the natural tendency to move toward the peace and quiet. Of course, those living unnaturally or supernaturally will be drawn to noise.

Furthermore, understand that nothing which is natural and sane and sound can be assumed to be understood by those marching to the beat—to the very loud beat—of the drum that sounds out the cadence to which the non-Realized masses move about during the relative existence. That will be discussed in more detail tomorrow. For now, the discussion of how it is that the Realized naturally move toward the quiet will continue.]

The words of Maharaj provide another analogy that can be used to understand why the spontaneous shift to "the non-infected zones" mentioned earlier happens and why the Realized move to areas that are free of such contaminants as noise germs, concept bugs, and the especially-pervasive duality infestation.

Maharaj spoke of “kindergarten spirituality,” and the kindergarten analogy is also appropriate here. First, understand this: one’s basic personality is usually formed by the age of five or six, typically in an effort to adjust to a dysfunctional home environment. The basic personality type will determine what every child thinks and says and does, and the development of that childish coping tool makes sense.

What does not make sense is when that tool of a six-year-old is still determining thoughts and words and deeds in a twenty-year-old, in a thirty-year-old, in a forty-year-old, etc. If one is not free of the influence of personality (which billions on the planet are not) then persons will behave as six-year-olds (which billions on the planet do).

[If that seems harsh, study the way that supposed “adults” handle their money, the way that supposed adults behave in their “relationships,” the way that supposed adults practice unsafe sex when deadly diseases can be contracted with one exposure, and the way that supposed adults fight over the most nonsensical issues imaginable. Very childish, yes?]

If it is understood that the thoughts and words and deeds of supposed adults are being determined unconsciously by personality, then it will also be understood why the planet is populated with billions of persons who are thinking and talking and behaving as six-year-olds, no matter their actual chronological age.

Because of personality, planet earth is now one big kindergarten, and that is a major reason that sages for centuries have invited persons to become liberated from the influence and effects of personality/personas.

So, consider kindergartens if you would understand the movement among the Realized toward the silence. Some persons work in kindergartens, either teaching or volunteering. But beyond those, what adult would want to spend all day, every day, in a kindergarten?

Would you not be exposed to excessive noise, to persons that, quite predictably and through no “fault” of their own, have no understanding at all of reality? Would you not be exposed to childishness, to immaturity, to silliness, to infantile and juvenile behavior, to irresponsibility, to pettiness, to quarreling, to fighting, to moodiness, to instability, to absurdity, to inanity, to selfishness and self-absorption, to persons wanting instant gratification, to persons with no concern at all about their impact on others, and to folly—all without interruption?

Yet if you visit a kindergarten, you notice that the kindergarteners for the most part accept all of that as “normal” without questioning it in the least. Wouldn’t you, in fact, be able to witness most of them joining right in and contributing to all of the chaos above? Only rarely might you see a child in the corner, finding all of that nonsense most uncomfortable, not being attracted to it in the least, and not participating in the nonsense at all.

Of course those in charge who have normalized the chaos will try to pull that child back into the activity, feeling he/she must be suffering from some deficiencies in terms of socialization skills. They will advise that the child needs to develop social skills and needs to learn to participate in the chaotic activities with the other kindergarteners, and they will echo the way that non-Realized persons behave when they criticize the Realized for not being absorbed in the chaos of the planet.

If it happened that you visited the kindergarten and witnessed all of that, wouldn’t the levels of chaos be exactly as you expected, knowing what you know about kindergarteners and how they think and talk and behave because of their age and personalities and lack of maturity and lack of understanding?

But would you want to join in and participate in all of that? Now you would not criticize them by saying, “You people are acting just like kindergarteners” as if they have a choice to act any other way, but you might choose not to join in. You would not likely want to be in that environment 24/7, but billions are being driven to live out a relative existence that is exactly like that.

Now, the questions in the e-mails above having been addressed, it is time for those visitors who wrote those comments and questions—as well as other visitors—to consider certain other questions:

First, what is it that you are seeking? Are you seeking the freedom and peace that accompany natural living, or are you seeking out places where the levels of ambient noise are so loud that they might drown out the kindergarten-type screamings inside your head that are the result of a “mind” that cannot be stilled…that cannot be quiet?

As long as a self or selves remain, there will be no seeking of the quiet because the voices of the false selves that emanate from the “mind” are uncomfortably deafening. The ego must speak, must generate sounds, and must seek out sources of noise in order to try to drown out the always-restless, always-uncomfortable "mind." Thus, tomorrow the connection between ego-states and noise-generation will be discussed. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

The “path” from
identification with the false “I”
to
abidance as the Absolute
has seven steps that must be taken in an exact, reverse order from the way the “coming in” happened. The book above is a step-by-step guide to Realization.
Get the Book or eBook

THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the paperback books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

NOTE: Only one full set remaining. The offer will become an eight-book set after the next order.

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards
or with
Paypal.

Or, Option Two:
THE “ADVAITA STUDY GROUP” PACKAGE
Host an Advaita Study Group in your home.
Enough paperback copies remain in stock to provide the following for you and three other seekers:
4 copies-From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
4 copies-Consciousness / Awareness
4 copies-From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Take turns reading passages and then discussing the pointers.
All 12 books for $120.00 (equal to $30 each) + free S&H in the U.S.
To order this set, you must use
the Contact link to make arrangements for payment—VISA or MC only for this package—and to provide the address for free U.S. shipping.
ONLY ONE SET OF THESE TWELVE BOOKS IS LEFT IN THE STORE

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Seven

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: [Continued from yesterday] Just as the deer in the vicinity of noisy people move to a quieter place, and just as people in the vicinity of sick persons move to a healthier location, so the Realized also move to quieter, healthier environments, automatically.

Why would that be cause for criticism? Why would that lead some to conclude that there is an element of “hating” this person or that one…of being “sick of people who aren’t realized”? Does the doctor hate a patient because he is sick? No.

Does he even feel empathy for the ill who come his/her way? Quite possibly. Might the feeling of empathy be so strong that the physician feels at one with patients? Possibly. Does the doctor hate the ill? No. Does the doctor even hate the disease, if not the patient? No. The doctor merely sees the illness as it is, understands it, and offers treatment.

But after the treatment is offered, does the doctor invite the sick to spend the day or a week or a month with her/him as rounds are conducted? No. The doctor offers the treatment and then sends the patient away. The doctor would be insane to want to spend time with the sick…to engage in extended exposure to the sick and to sickness. It is natural to not do so.

What adult has not, at some point along the way, dated someone or married someone, only to find that they are mentally or emotionally sick? If one were to want to stay in that environment, what would it reveal? The sick might be driven to stay with the sick, but the well are not. If the sick become well, they naturally move to an area of wellness.

But it is only the well that can see sickness and that will be moved to zones of wellness rather than staying in places that are revealed to be truly unhealthy…that are really sick. Conversely, even if you are one who claims that you "love" your mate or spouse, can you honestly say you don't want an occasional "break" as opposed to 24/7 exposure?

The Realized Nisargan spontaneously moves to quietness, to well zones, to chaos-free areas, to nonsense-free locales. Programming or re-programming or conditioning can leave one seeming to feel “comfortable” if there is a certain familiarity with insane and nonsensical thinking that can result in a perverted willingness to listen to words of distortion and to expressions of delusions.

But as the shift toward Realization happens, the discomfort that had not previously registered because of dissociation suddenly springs into awareness and a movement toward environments that are marked by sanity and soundness follows, spontaneously. It is natural, so why would the Realized be criticized for moving toward the quiet, toward the beingness, toward areas that are chaos-free and insanity-free?

Only because of the propensity among non-Realized persons to judge what one knows nothing about or to scorn anything that does not align with their distorted thoughts and words and deeds.

Next, it should be asked: is anything shared in this series so far a suggestion that the Realized must “drop out,” “tune out,” “isolate” or “withdraw”? Not at all. Post-Realization, that speck that some called “floyd” continued to work in the same field of employment.

Post-Realization, teaching can happen or firefighting can happen or mail collecting can happen or providing other services or goods can happen. Husbanding can happen, wifing can happen, dating can happen, etc.

However, even as teaching can happen, there is no longer a belief that a “teacher” exists; marriage can happen, but there is no belief that “the spouse” is real; doctoring can happen, but there is no assumption of the false identity of “doctor.” And while some talking must accompany most jobs and engagements and encounters, far more is said by the non-Realized than is ever really necessary.

Furthermore, though “floyd” literally passed twenty-three months in the “forest dweller stage,” it is not a requirement. Few would ever Realize if that were a prerequisite, but You can “go to the forest” without ever leaving home, once movement along the seven-step “path” transitions beyond the third step.

So the point is that even as the peace and quiet happen, a physical retreat from one’s current assignments or assignations is not necessity for the peace and quiet to prevail. Sometimes it’s as simple as the way one site visitor put it yesterday:

“This speck just needs to keep the mouth closed.” The reply: “Well, that is one part. The other part is to stop listening to nonsense as well.” The deer—which provide an example of the way that post-Realization, natural, AS IF living can unfold—(A) makes very little noise and (B) moves away from noise when it happens.

It is only the non-Realized that (1) tolerate noise, chaos, babble, insanity, distortion, delusion, and nonsense; that (2) contribute to the noise, chaos, babble, insanity, distortion, delusion, and nonsense; and that (3) often, in many cases, seek out the noise, chaos, babble, insanity, distortion, delusion, and nonsense.

What of you? Is there a "you" that prefers chaos, or has Realization allowed You to know You, to move toward the stillness, to move toward the peace? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

The “path” from
identification with the false “I”
to
abidance as the Absolute
has seven steps that must be taken in an exact, reverse order from the way the “coming in” happened. The book above is a step-by-step guide to Realization.
Get the Book or eBook

THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

NOTE: Only one full set remaining. The offer will become an eight-book set after the next order is filled.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards

or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Six

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR:
do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: As for “do you blend into society or do you retreat…isolate…whatever?” understand that “blend” suggests duality—“this” blending with “that.” In that regard, the answer would be “No,” but in the sense that you’re using it, understand that what happens happens and what does not happen does not.

That is, nothing is being sought, and nothing is being avoided; however, the nisarga (natural) style of living does spontaneously and automatically move the Realized toward the quiet…toward the silence. [By the way, isolation is a product of an unhealthy psyche—of mindfulness and misery—while solitude is the product of mindlessness.]

When “the seeker” dissolves with Realization, it might appear to the non-Realized that the Realized are choosing to avoid people (as is now happening because of an outbreak of swine flu). Hundreds of thousands, even millions, are choosing to stay away from other persons. Why?

Because of their fear of contracting the flu. Because of their fear of dying. Because of their desire to extend the manifestation. Because of personality. [Fifty percent of all persons on the planet are Personality Type Sixes who are always driven primarily by fear. Add in the other types with degrees of preoccupation with fear and it becomes understandable why the news cycles are presently focused on the flu and little else—a monomania that is merely a reflection of their audiences.]

But all of that is mentioned to make this point: some among the non-Realized will criticize the Realized and charge them with (a) being “deficient” in some way because they do not engage persons as often as the non-Realized will; with (b) being “flawed” for not socializing with persons as much as they might have in the past; and with (c) not “blending” into society as much as non-Realized persons do.

Yet even as they criticize the Realized for “generally engaging less with people,” those offering such criticisms are now also avoiding other people (though not because they would enjoy the peace and quiet but because they would protect the bodies with which they identify).

If it seems perfectly sane and sound to maintain a buffer zone between themselves and sick, infected, and unwell persons in one case, would it not also be perfectly sane and sound to maintain a buffer zone between Self and the sick, infected, and unwell?

The masses are contaminated with a conditioning-and-programming-induced illness. They are mentally sick from exposure to the “programming bug.” They have been emotionally infected by the “conditioning virus.” They are unwell as a result of exposure to the “germs of acculturation.”

They are coughing up nonsense from their contaminated, delusional “minds.” Their entire relative existences are plagued with a feverishness. Who that is sane and sound would seek out the company of persons who are so sick? Medical doctors do not leave their offices and roam the streets in search of the physically ill. Psychiatrists do not leave their offices and roam the streets in search of the mentally and emotionally ill.

If the sick come their way to seek healing, treatment is provided. Do you see why Advaitins recommend not going about and broadcasting these teaching in public? Do you see why the Realized do not engage in proselytizing? And do you see why many are allowed to stay in satsang while some are not? Doctors do not allow persons to stay in their office if they are not really there to receive treatment.

Such is also the case with Advaitins: those ready to receive the teachings are welcomed, but there is no moving about in public and approaching persons and asking them if they might like to hear some teachings that can provide freedom and peace. [What arrogance it is to try to force these teachings on persons not seeking them or to try to impress the persons around you with lofty pronouncements.]

As natural as it is in the relative to avoid exposure to other persons that might be contaminated with swine flu, it is just that natural when the Realized do not choose to be exposed to the insanity, the nonsense, the noise, the chaos, and the distorted thoughts and words and behaviors of the non-Realized who are also contaminated.

Are insane and nonsensical and noisy and chaotic and distorted persons welcomed to come for satsang? Yes, if they are there earnestly to seek and to receive the treatment—the teachings—that can address their contamination. In that case, they are welcome…no matter the degree of their infection with “The Non-Realization Dis-ease.”

Just as the Center for Disease Control is issuing a list of indicators of the presence of swine flu, an Advaitin teacher can provide a similar list of indicators of the presence of blockages that prevent the pure consciousness from seeing itself, from recognizing nonsense when it is heard, and from hearing pointers toward truth when they are stated. That list includes:

***a propensity for noise
***a detestation of the silence
***a need to talk in order to impress
***a need to talk in order to try to get “love”
***an inability to not talk
***a tendency to try to display publicly how godly or religious or spiritual or clever one is
***a tendency to seek “attagirls” or “attaboys” (or both, among the truly confused)
***a belief that “something is wrong with” people when they are quiet
***a belief that one is not miserable though she/he is
***a frequent request from other non-Realized persons, asking “Can you please shutup for just a few minutes?”
***a tendency to have knowledge about everything in the relative, combined with a drive to express it in front of other persons
***a need to insert opinions into discussions and debates at home, at work, at play
***a belief in dualities
***an inability to stop the mind’s chatter and an inability to end the mind once and for all
***an inability to abandon all beliefs about anything being sacred, including one’s “sacred cows,” one’s “holy book,” one’s “holy land,” one’s “holy practices,” one’s “holy building,” and one’s “holy judgments about others”
***a tendency to hear only what “you” want to hear
***a tendency to see only what “you” want to see
***a tendency to believe only what “you” want to believe
***a tendency to refuse to question what “they” told you

Is it clear why the deer naturally and spontaneously move to a quiet area when noisy people or noisy machinery are around? Is it also clear why it is, especially among Nisargans, that they are naturally and spontaneously moved to the quiet?

Nowadays, all across the planet, each person is being invited to calculate his/her environmental footprint. Here, you are also being invited to calculate your noise footprint…your concepts footprint…your duality footprint. What impact, if any, are you having in terms of spreading noise germs, concept bugs, and the especially-pervasive duality infestation? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)


The “path” from
identification with the false “I”
to
abidance as the Absolute
has seven steps that must be taken in an exact, reverse order from the way the “coming in” happened. The book above is a step-by-step guide to Realization.
Get the Book or eBook

THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards

or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Monday, April 27, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Five

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: Is it any wonder that so few Realize, especially in light of how unattractive Realization is thought to be by some among the non-Realized (as revealed in the e-mails above)?

In additional to distorted, anti-Realization sentiments such as those evidenced in past e-mails that complained “I don’t want to end up robotic” and “I want to have fun and enjoy my life,” additional mis-perceptions about the Realized are revealed above:

“Evidently the Realized cannot interact with persons”; “the Realized can be upset by persons who believe in concepts”; “the Realized resent persons who are attached to dogma”; “the Realized are hypocrites who act peaceful but are really angry and judgmental”; “the Realized must surely be capable of hating.” All nonsense. All claptrap.

Full Realization, to the contrary, is marked by a spontaneous and unencumbered means of moving through the relative existence without fear, desire, egotism, resentment, hate, isolation, or a need to talk and impress. Nisargans, living naturally, will function in a totally natural and totally mindless fashion, knowing Real Love and solitude as opposed to being addicted to hate and isolation.

Another question about M. was also received: is true he told some people not read I AM THAT and told others read it? If yes why? why he ran some peoples out of meetings?

For those at what he called “the kindergarten level of spirituality,” the content of I AM THAT is appropriate, but it is not for those that are set to transition to the next level. The content of I AM THAT can move a seeker to the third step, but the book alone will seldom move seekers beyond that level;

therefore, for those at the first or second step of the seven-step "journey" to Realization, M. suggested a reading of I AM THAT. For those set to move to the fourth step and beyond, he recommended not reading the book. Similarly, all of the books offered here are each aimed specifically for seekers at various steps on the "path."

As always, a response that is level-appropriate for one seeker is not appropriate for the next seeker that is at a different “location on the path”; furthermore, no one that reads only I AM THAT will have the slightest clue about the extent to which nisarga-style functioning is to happen since—at the time of the I AM THAT talks—M. was not offering a version of the nisarga approach that would be as direct and succinct as that provided in later talks.

As for asking persons to leave satsang, another visitor had posed the same question to what was thought to be “floyd”: “Have you ever raised your voice (not in years) and run people out of your home or out of satsang?” Yes. One case can be seen in the transcripts included in the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE.

“Have you ever told people not to read I AM THAT?” Also, YES, but only if they really wanted to understand the pure nisarga message that Maharaj offered later after having shed much of the I AM THAT style of talks and later after he focused less on traditional sharings about the “path” and more on the “direct” part of the “Direct Path” method of teaching.

That “latter-day message” of M.’s is the approach here. Next, you are invited to understand that no teacher has ever run any human out of a loft or house or ashram. What is being moved out is a false self...the blocked consciousness. [See yesterday’s post]

That self being moved out is one that is so absorbed in self consciousness and concepts or ideologies and knowledge (learned ignorance) that its presence would interfere with the transmission of the understanding to those seekers that are actually “ready” to receive the message and ready to be free of such self consciousness.

See also that the direction to “get out” was not about the teacher—it was about the teacher guarding the interests of the seekers who did not come to show off or to challenge for the sake of challenging but had come instead for the sake of uncovering and casting out nonsensical beliefs and the effects of conditioning.

As for isolating, Maharaj spent a few hours a day with seekers. Often, after morning sessions, he enjoyed a ride thorough the countryside with friends…quite capable of interacting socially. At times, he visited seekers in other cities in order to share the teachings and on occasion spoke to large assemblies. Yet he also spent considerable time in solitude.

By the late 1970’s, he spent less and less time with persons, especially after the effects of throat cancer were taking their toll, yet he shared with seekers right up until “the end.” What is such solitude about?

Partly, it is about being so free of personality that there is no perceived need for an audience and no perceived need to organize campaigns to change the world…to impress the masses…to get love…to exercise dependencies and co-dependencies with persons or gods…and no need to try to control persons or events.

As for “hating hitler,” whatever is considered to be an emotion—including “hate” and “jealousy” and “anger”—is merely the absence of an understanding of Love which results from not understanding the unicity. Actually, “hate” and “jealousy” and “anger” (and anything else thought to be an emotion but not identified as Love) is actually a form of fear.

The Realized experience neither desire nor fear, so how could fear manifest in the form of “hate”? That which was called “hitler” was no more real than what is called “floyd” or “maharaj” or any other name. In fact, “hitler” and “floyd” and “maharaj” are the same thing…a speck of manifested consciousness.

In some cases, that which blocks the pure consciousness from seeing is removed; most often, it never is. That is the only difference. If the blockages are not removed, I am hitler and you are hitler. If they are removed, freedom from all hitler-like nonsense and insanity happens.

[Disagree? If you are among the non-Realized, review how many people you’ve been so angry with or offended by that those persons could die without your caring an iota. If you wish one dead or—as in the case of hitler—you wish millions dead, what is the difference other than a number? The basic desire you share in common with that blocked speck called "hitler" remains the same.]

What accounts for the differences in thoughts and words and deeds that seem to affirm the false concept of “different from”? Only the presence or absence of that which blocks the Pure Consciousness, the True Self, the Pure Witness, from knowing the Oneness and therefore from functioning as Love rather than as a fear-driven persona.

This talk about the Realized being “different from” or “not aligning with” mis-perceptions about what the Realized “should be like” is all based in duality; thus, the e-mails above that inquire about “resentment” and “hate” are mistaking a speck of manifested consciousness that is abiding as its original nature (Awareness) for something personal.

That mistaken belief reveals that they are mistaking “themselves” for something personal as well. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)



THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards

or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
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Sunday, April 26, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Four

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
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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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: All of the writers of the e-mails above share one particular relative belief which is a marker of the non-Realized: they actually believe that there is some association between appearance and truth. In fact, appearance is always the not-truth.

Consider this example from the relative (which is—with the manifestation of consciousness—the only “place” where appearances can happen): Who that has reached the age of “young adult” or “adult” has not entered into a relationship based on an image of another person that later proved to be the exact opposite of what was initially shown and supposedly seen? ("He seemed like a really honest and wonderful guy" or "She really is a nice person."]

Is it not becoming clear why the Realized do not appear to be Realized? The fact is that everything regarding appearances during the relative existence is 180-degrees the opposite of what is real. Do you know persons who work at “looking spiritual”? Then they are revealing that they are “not spiritual” at all (whatever you take “spiritual” to mean).

Do you know persons who work at “appearing to be religious”? Then they are revealing that they are “not religious” at all (whatever you take “religious” to mean). And the Realized that Realized via the nisarga approach will appear the least Realized of all (again, depending on what persons think “Realized” is supposed to look like).

This speck looked far more spiritual (to the non-Realized) during the days of kneeling and meditating and burning and ringing and humming than now. All of the trappings and accouterments and practices of religious and spiritual persons/personas is the stuff of the third step and usually must happen before movement along the “path” can continue to Full Realization.

However, nothing about looking religious and acting spiritual and appearing to be Realized has anything to do with Reality. This morning, as this posting was happening, a deer walked up to the window and looked in at "floyd" sitting before a monitor, but that deer drew no conclusion about what it was seeing. To it, I did not look either spiritual or non-spiritual. I did not look Realized or not Realized.

Why did that deer draw no conclusions based in appearance? Well, first—of course—because it has no “mind.” Secondly, in the absence of a “mind,” it is far closer to Full Realization that any persons living in this neighborhood who think they know who or what “floyd” is.

So someone might see Me ask a person to leave satsang or an Advaita seminar, as happened last week. Less than five minutes into what was to be a fifty-five-minute-one-on-one session, the session was ended because the person sitting opposite Me went into an anger-based, resentful rant about two co-workers.

As he reported the details regarding the ways that other persons had offended him, the volume of the voice and the physical twisting and shifting increased as the original emotional reaction was re-sent through the body and mind of the man via this re-telling of his tales.

That re-sending of the original effects of the supposed offenses drove him to re-experience and even magnify the original reactions via the re-telling. Consider the way that re-sending supported and renewed “resentment” by understanding the roots of the words involved:

the French sentire = “to feel” and the French resentir = “to feel strongly” and/or “to feel bitter or indignant about.” Resentment was supported and amplified by re-sending the effects throughout a body-mind-personality triad.

The man was interrupted and was informed that the session would have to end. It was explained that, as in the case of oil and water, this speck abides as THAT, so one abiding in his fashion (with such intensity and anger and histrionics that were being used to reinforce his sense of separation and better-than-ness) cannot be engaged in the dance of unicity. [See yesterday’s post: Maharaj taught that “what is Real can never combine with the unreal.”]

The charge was made that “if I really had my s*** together, nothing could bother me.” The response was that no further explanation would be offered. Was there a “floyd” that was upset or “mad”? No. Does water choose not to combine with oil? No. There is no chooser that is deciding to combine or not combine. The not combining is just a natural process which happens spontaneously among the Realized.

Persons who sit in meetings and listen to an hour of nonsense and insanity have been programmed (re-programmed?) to do so. If Realization happens, then sanity and peace do not try to combine with nonsense and a lack of peace, especially when it is not true peace that is being sought by the talkers and when what is really being sought is a venue for re-sending whatever persons "feel strongly about" or "feel bitter and indignant about."

It might appear that the deer in this neighborhood move away from noisy children or noisy machinery, but in fact the deer are moving toward a place of quiet and silence. So, too, the Pure Witness moves to the quiet and the silence. Are the deer offended when persons about them are noisy? No, yet they do, simply and naturally, move toward the quiet and the silence. Unlike mindful persons, neither the deer nor the Realized can develop an addiction to chaos.

In the case of that seminar, this speck of Is-ness which requires food and clothing and shelter during the manifestation left the silence to speak, but there was no "speaker" other than the consciousness. As with Maharaj, some seekers came that were ready and their visit was allowed to continue;

some seekers came that were less ready but were at a point where they could hear certain pointers and staying happened; some came that were not ready but came to generate noise that distracted the other seekers or the teacher and staying did not happen; and some came with their own personal, ego-based agendas and they were “asked out” promptly, so to speak.

No matter the condition of the consciousness that comes or the plethora of blockages that persons bring or the number of persons who stay or the number of persons who leave, there is no "floyd" that is in any position other than a position of neutrality. No Realized speck is happy that “ready seekers” show or is unhappy that “not-ready seekers” show.

It is all witnessed, but that which is Real always sets forth an invitation for that which is unreal to leave. Sometimes the unreal disappears via an awakening. Sometimes, when it is obvious that no awakening is going to occur during any given session, the unreal is invited to leave and to take the body-cum-blocked-consciousness along with it.

The consideration is to understand that all appearances are false; to understand that Reality cannot be seen as long as persons are looking at what they take to be "others that are better than or lesser than" or at what they take to be their own most sacred cows;

and to understand that all cows—sacred or not—will generate BS that prevents seeing clearly…that prevents seeing the substance beyond the form…that prevents seeing the Real beyond the mis-perceived…and that prevents being able to differentiate the true from the false. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)


THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards


or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Saturday, April 25, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Three

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: [Continued from yesterday] So when Maharaj invited persons to leave the loft on Ketwadi Street, he was not “mad,” to use a word from one site visitor. There was no “one” to be mad.

In the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, a combative person who believed he had found all the answers in his twelve-step group visited one satsang session to try to interfere with the transmission of a set of teachings that differed from his own. His comments were addressed briefly and then he was told to leave. Just as with Maharaj, there was no "floyd," no "one," who was “mad.”

First, that man had not completed the steps prior to the third step which was being discussed that day, so the third step teachings would have been meaningless to him even if he had stayed. Next, he was not there to learn/unlearn. He was there to force his beliefs on a group that had not sought him out in order to hear his beliefs.

Finally, the other seekers in attendance had completed the steps prior to the one being discussed and were ready to move along the “path.” It was that phase of their “journey” that was being guarded, not a “teacher’s ego-state” as might appear to be the case to the non-Realized.

Those who believe that they can draw valid conclusions with judgments based in their perceptions certainly “need” the teachings, but they most certainly cannot understand how it is that the Realized might appear not to be Realized at all even though they most assuredly are.

One seeker that visited Maharaj in the 1970’s said, “He was completely normal and human in his behavior. Yet within this appearance of everyday normalcy was the guru who was answering my questions about practice and conditioning with uncanny precision.”

As Maharaj went about the process of removing the effects of conditioning, nothing about that speck appeared to be “special.” While enjoying the entertainment that resulted from the dance, his comments at times might seem to have revealed a “separatist” tone, but at the core it was all nothing more than amusement, even as pointers were being offered that could alter the relative existence for the entirety of the remaining manifestation.

Many worshiped Krishnamurti and his talks even though much of what he shared was “mind stuff.” When asked about him, Maharaj replied, “Krishnamurti is a great thinker.” Most nodded in agreement and took the comment to be a compliment. The few who understood that the content of the mind is useless and that it must be cast aside entirely understood the veiled implication.

Does that mean Maharaj felt “better than” Krishnamurti? Of course not. It was merely a truthful pointer that amounted to nothing more than a part of the dance. Once, when a woman was displaying her knowledge of a Buddhist analogy which involved the use of a boat to cross into nirvana, M. said, “I would put you all on a boat, send you to the other shore, and I would stay here on this shore.”

Was there a “Maharaj” who was “mad” at the woman for bringing up such talk? No. Was he going to allow talk that sent a false message to go unchecked from the loft? No. That is all that was involved with the response: dismissal and redirection…not anger.

Those writing the e-mails above are attached to their relative perceptions, but yesterday, the pointer was offered that…

if one were to view that speck called “Maharaj” via the Pure Witness, there would be no erroneous conclusions drawn about “Maharaj being mad” because there would be no erroneous conclusion drawn about Maharaj being at all.

The consideration for today is this:

Is it possible that what the writers of the e-mails above think they are seeing in a supposedly “three-dimensional world” (including people with their height, width, depth) and “the world” they’ve always experienced only with the five senses (tasting, touching, smelling, seeing, hearing) is a phenomenal realm but that there is something totally liberating that could be understood that is beyond a nonsensical, mis-perceived existence? Is it possible that they could be guided to tap into a fourth dimension using the sixth sense and thereby find a peace that surpasses what they think they understand about a limited, finite “three-dimensional, five-sense world”?

As is the case among all of the Realized, I am neither “of the world” nor “in the world.” Neither was that which was erroneously thought to have been “Maharaj.” A seeker reported that his sessions with Maharaj taught him, among other things, that “what is real can never combine with the unreal.”

Reality can be overlaid upon the Am-ness, but that does not mean that what is observable in the relative is as it appears. That is also why it can appear to some that the Realized are not Realized at all, but again…appearances are never real. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET:
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
Consciousness/Awareness
From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free)
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I
Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II
There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind''
Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost)
The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards

or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Friday, April 24, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part Two

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: How can you claim that maharaj was realized and at peace when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR: Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: As noted, e-mails have been received over a period of weeks that have a common strain, all from persons who are probably less concerned with the modus operandi of any given teacher and more concerned with what their own existence might be like (or what they might “lose”?) if they were to Realize fully.

So what is the approach of the Realized as the consciousness continues to be manifested during a relative existence that is marked by ignorance and nonsense and silliness? First, the Realized—abiding as Awareness—function spontaneously during the manifestation of consciousness but are not a part of the relative.

Consider: if a ship were to spill a thousand barrels of oil during transit, could it be said that the oil is suddenly “a part of the ocean”? The strong bonds that water molecules form with each other prevent the oil from combining with the water.

With “the Realized” and “Awareness,” there is far more than a “strong bond.” There is a Oneness, a unicity, that makes it impossible for the Realized to “merge” with anything relative. The "not two" prevents any possibility that an "a" can merge with a "b."

Could the “location” of the oil in the example above be pointed to in terms of the water? Yes, it can be said that oil has been overlaid on the water. The body-cum-consciousness can be pointed to as a “location,” but that does not mean that form and substance are the same. (The flame is neither the lighter nor the fuel.)

In fact, it can be said…

(1) that neither the Realized nor the non-Realized live “in the relative” or “in the world”;

(2) and that the non-Realized think they live in the world although the world is really in them;

(3) and that the Realized understand that they do not live in the relative or in the world;

(4) and that, just as the oil might be “overlaid” on the water, so too can Reality be overlaid on the relative existence during the manifestation without "anyone" believing falsely that there is "someone" that is "at one with the relative."

I AM THAT; I AM does not imply that THAT Which I Am can also be the same as the relative. The pointer is that THAT Which I Am (the awareness) can temporarily assume the form of manifested consciousness, but that certainly does not suggest that THAT is anything relative.

Thus, how could the Realized possibly be “angry,” “isolated,” “resentful,” or “hateful?” If persons believe that they are seeing any of that being exhibited by the Realized, they are mistaking an appearance for the Real.

I cannot feel pain or misery or suffering, so how could I possibly feel “angry,” “isolated,” “resentful,” or “hateful?” I can witness what is witnessed, but what is witnessed is never mistaken for something that it is not.

Just as I understand totally that a “steel girder” is not a steel girder at all (easily proved by viewing it via an electron microscope), so it is understood that nothing in the relative is as it appears but must be viewed via the Pure Witness if its true nature is to be realized.

If one were to view that speck called “Maharaj” via the Pure Witness, there would be no erroneous conclusions drawn about “Maharaj being mad” because there would be no erroneous conclusion drawn about Maharaj being at all. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
THE FOLLOWING NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE IN THE STORE IN LIMITED SUPPLY AND WILL BE OFFERED AT 50% OFF WHEN BOUGHT AS A PACKAGE:

While quantities last, the following package deal is being offered: Receive all nine (9) of the books listed below for $88 total with free shipping in the U.S. and ½ price shipping internationally.

[Sorry, but the offer does not apply to eBooks; this limited-time offer, however, is even less expensive than eBooks. This applies to the last of the paper books which are now in stock but which will never be available again. As various titles sell out, as happened with one title yesterday, the remaining paper versions will be offered at a pro-rated price of 50% off also.]

NON-DUALITY BOOK SET: From the Absolute to the Nothingness Consciousness/Awareness From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality) It's All Bullshit (and Why Knowing it Sets You Free) Self-Transformation Meditation Guide I Self-Transformation Meditation Guide II There's No Such Thing as ''Peace of Mind'' Spiritual Sobriety (Recovering What Religions Lost) The Essence of the Teachings

To order, click
Non-Duality Book Set
then add the package to the shopping cart and follow the checkout procedure to the secure pay site.

You may pay with any of these major credit cards
or with
Paypal.

Your card information will not be seen by us or anyone other than the card company. The processing company will only provide us your shipping information.

Finally,
most titles are also available as eBooks

Visit
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson

Monday, April 20, 2009

HOW IT CAN APPEAR TO SOME THAT THE REALIZED ARE NOT REALIZED AT ALL, Part One

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks
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.

Announcing the closing of the Non-Duality Bookstore as the focus in the future will be on providing books electronically. See at the end of this post an offer to receive at lower-than-eBook prices the last of the paper books remaining in stock at 50% off with free shipping in the U.S. and half-price shipping internationally.

F.: [The following is a collection of e-mails that have been received over the last several weeks and months, grouped here for a single response because their content had a similar theme]

FROM A SITE VISITOR:
How can you claim that maharaj was realized - and at peace - when he got mad and ran people out of his house?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR:
How much time do you spend with people? I mean do you blend into society are do you retreat…isolate…whatever?

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR:
do you ever feel resentful about people who write you and ask stupid questions or argue with you about their religion or their beliefs? seems like denial if you claim no.

FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR:
Do you think there were some people that maharaj hated even though he said he lived with wisdom and love? For instant, how could you not hate hitler? do you ever get sick of people who aren’t realized.Is there anything you hate?

F.: First, an Advaitin that comes to the understanding via the nisarga yoga approach will always appear to be “far less realized than others” to those speculating about a condition that cannot possibly be seen by the naked eye.

The nisarga yoga is the being yogathe “Being as Awareness” yoga—and when Realized via this yoga, the beingness happens in an all-natural fashion. For all the lip service given to a preference for beingness over doingness, few seekers ever replace all of their doing with being only.

And along the way, prior to Realization via this yoga, that same doingness likely dominated the existence of the pre-Realization Advaitin that might well have sought via many other venues. But it is the absence of all so-called "spiritual doingness" that can make it appear that the nisargan is not Realized at all. They may have looked more Realized (more "spiritual"?) in the past than now, to those who do not understand totally what natural living really looks like.

Seekers that finally Realized via the nisarga approach may have adhered to the trappings of many other yogas or “spiritual disciples” or dogmatic practices or any of the various teachings that involve doingness more than beingess. The seeker may have “tried it all” before finally realizing that it had all been for naught.

Along the way, the pre-Realization seeker may have engaged in all sorts of rituals and practices while mistaking the dawn for the noon, including praying and knelling and bending over and stooping and lying prostrate and reading and visiting and chanting and humming and ringing and burning.

This seeker might formerly have engaged in imploring, studying, pleading, meeting, supplicating, tithing, serving, soliciting, wishing, hoping, proselytizing, begging, forming human circles and holding hands, joining groups, beseeching, giving, reciting words in unison, all of which would have made him/her appear to be "more spiritual back then" than now to those who do not truly understand.

This type seeker might have tried every external thing that a seeker can try in order to supposedly “be more spiritual” (or at least to try to demonstrate how spiritual he/she is,) yet all of that actually blocked the seeker from Realizing Truth. (NOTE: All of the above might be a part of “a journey,” though it certainly need not be).

The fact is that seekers much reach the third step of replacing “old personas” with “new religious and/or spiritual personas” on the way to completing the other four steps that remain beyond the religious-spiritual stage, so nothing disparaging about all that need be said; however, the Realized teacher will invite seekers to move beyond that point that is not even halfway along the entire "path."

But once Full Realization happens via the natural (nisarga) approach, do not look for “appearances” that you think might be signs of Realization…or not. Look not for special garbs, for special haircuts, for special postures when sitting or walking. Look not for special accoutrements.

Look not for a dream catcher hanging from the mirror inside a car. Look not for a special rug to sit on, a special stick to burn, or a special pillow to set a special bowl upon before striking it with a special stick. For those who want to do all of that, rock and roll, but none of that has anything to do with nisarga, natural living.

What do such "spiritual" persons who love their "spiritual instruments" and their "spiritual practices" think happened thousands and millions of years ago—prior to programming, conditioning, and acculturation when humans sensed, via the inner resource, that they are something beyond whatever the “this-ness” appeared to be?

Having no bells to ring or chants to chant or prayers to pray, was their intuitive sense deactivated? Did they have no access to the sixth sense...to an awareness beyond "this"? Of course they did.

No trappings were required because they lived naturally while intuitively sensing "something else" without the use of any "spiritual tools" or "religious rituals" (at least until language allowed a self-proclaimed medicine man or priest to begin talking nonsense about "Super Persons living in other worlds and controlling events in this world").

Because the seekers that Realize via the nisarga approach do not engage in anything that in not natural, they can certainly appear—at least to those who think they are Realized and can judge—not to be Realized at all.

Such “judgers” will conclude, “He/She doesn’t even know all the things that are supposed to be done by the Realized.” They will see, if they follow a nisargan about, that nisargans do not carry themselves in a way that signals to all that they are different or that they know something that most do not know.

Seekers have come here from hundreds and thousands of miles away, but the people living fifty yards away haven't a clue about Advaita or Advaitins or what is being "lived" and "taught" inside this house. Similarly, on the street behind Maharaj's loft where people were freed of body identification, prostitutes being paid for the use of their bodies worked for decades and never walked around the corner to hear the teachings offered by that speck.

With Maharaj, until his health faltered, he offered an AM session and a PM session. The remainder of the day, he did not move about as some think a “spiritual man” should move about. He moved about in a normal, natural way. Here, a half-hour per day is spent with a posting. Later, some e-mailed inquires might be answered.

Sometimes, a book might be packaged for shipment. Occasionally, as will happen today through Thursday, seminars or satsanga will happen. But in total during any given month, a fraction of time is spent with anything that is Advaita-related; instead, natural happenings merely happen.

Thus, nisarga yoga is probably the least favorite of all yogas. Why? Again, it is the being yoga, not the doing yoga, not the behaving yoga, not the meditating yoga, not the thinking yoga, not the spiritual activity yoga. Want to know what AS IF living in this manner is really like?

Use the model often mentioned on this site: follow a deer about for a day and a night. See if there is anything about the deer’s behavior or lifestyle that suggests it is special or knows something no one else can know. See that it does not walk about in a special way and that it does not have to do special things to remain at peace.

You will not see any external evidence that it thinks it is "special" or "different", either from the deer or from the Realized nisargan. Why is the natural approach not more “popular”? Because it is far too simple for those with a complex mind. It is far too simple for those attached to religious and/or spiritual doingness.

For more than four thousand years, religions have taught that you have to do something to gain approval…to gain benefit. On a planet of accumulators, who wants to be involved with that which offers nothing and even suggests forfeiting belief in all? Few.

When seekers arrive after long-term exposure to religion and dogma, it has been noted that they might be willing to seek something beyond their seminal religion, but they are usually reluctant to seek something that is “too far removed” from that which is familiar.

They often reveal the belief that if they are to forfeit the trappings of their former religion or spiritual movement, then they think that whatever they substitute for that should be religion-like or spiritual-like or should involve some ideology or philosophy with a set of its own trappings.

If they have been conditioned to feel “comfortable” with ritual and activity and ceremony or meetings, they might investigate something that is "different," but most will only follow a different set of teachings if rituals and ceremonies and/or meetings are included with the alternative message.

And on a planet where arrogance generates pride in anything and everything, even accumulated knowledge is a source of pride. How many want to be told that their valued knowledge amounts to nothing more than learned ignorance? Few.

Now, while out of town through Thursday, recent site visitors are invited to read the current postings; those that have been visiting the site for a period are invited to visit the archives. The questions above from site visitors will be addressed starting Friday. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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