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.
Also, see details below for starting your own “Advaita Study Home Group”
FROM A SITE VISITOR: Floyd please listen to this tape of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (followed by a link to a site that includes a tape with all of the noise of Ketwadi Street. I pass.) I think where he lived in Bombay may be one of the noisiest chaotic sounding places there is.
I feel its different for each self-realized person, If you know there is no separate self to be in the presence of noise and chaos and there is a natural allowing what is, to be as it is, than to be in the city or in a cave would seem to be according to a persons preferences.
I used to listen to flute music and sitar because I thought it was spiritual, now I listen to heavy metal and there is far more clarity than when I was doing what I thought was proper for a spiritual person to do.
My question, is there really any common traits of the realized?? Or are these traits only applied to a persona? You are realized and like peace and quite, But other realized people I know enjoy a very different atmosphere, they prefer skyscrapers to trees. Regards, W.D.
F.: Why is being in the presence of a Realized teacher—or reading the writings of a Realized teacher or the transcripts of satsang with a Realized teacher—almost always required if Full Realization is to happen? Consider:
How can one understand what one cannot understand because of having been programmed to function unnaturally/abnormally and to think supernaturally/magically? One cannot. How can a twisted “mind” untwist itself? It cannot.
Why sit in satsang with a group of seekers when illogical and irrational comments can be made by some who tout beliefs that are illogical and irrational? Because the teacher can use such illogical and irrational comments to reveal the machinations of the warped “mind” and its twisted thinking and then offer a counter view along with the invitation to be free of the "mind" and its machinations.
Such revelations might not be understood by the illogical, irrational speaker (or writer) but other seekers might well receive certain clarifications that move them to the next step along the “path” to the no-mind, no-concept, non-dual Reality. And that is the opportunity being offered today.
[NOTE: The following questions have been raised over the years: Why not use religious guides? (1) Because they are myth tellers whose teachings have been handed down from the ignorant persons who dreamed them up thousands of years ago. They can only add to the conglomeration of totally fictitious beliefs that are still being presented as unquestionable, universal truths.
(2) Because, instead of guiding You to that which You already know but have been blocked from seeing, they claim that they are stating the truth when the truth cannot be stated.
Why not a spiritual guide chosen from among the millions who are playing that role in their self-help groups? (3) Because they admit that they were insane but claim that they asked a god to restore them to sanity and “He” did it. Since there is no “He,” there has been no restoration. Thus, the prevalent "past insanity" is still the "present insanity" which remains the dominant driving force among the membership.
(4) Further, when you have members of a group who have assumed the role of “the spiritual ones,” anything that is stated thereafter is the talk of their false ego-states which will, by default, have to be false.
(5) In addition, when the members of a group are assuming the roles of psychologist, psychiatrist, physician, lawyer, re-programmer, and a host of other roles for which they have not the least bit of training, then only nonsensical advice will be offered.
To heap nonsense on top of nonsense is not a treatment for nonsense. To depend on a “mind” to purge itself of “mind”-junk is impossible. The garbage in your home cannot—and will not—take itself out, ever.
There is no guide, other than an Advaitin guide, that will offer the pointer that you need to learn nothing more but that you have much to unlearn. The Advaitin guide will not ask you to become a member of a group and will not assign you an entirely new set of false roles to assume and play.]
So, to continue with the response to one who has questioned the teaching that the Realized naturally and automatically and spontaneously move toward the peace and quiet, consider again the words of Maharaj: if “complete inner peace and quiet” do not manifest then “you will have missed the entire thing.” Among the non-Realized, the inner is dominated by the outer, including ambient sounds.
Is there any indication that the writer of the e-mail above is speaking via the pure consciousness that always exhibits logic and reason? Not when he can assert that there is no separate self to be in the presence of noise and chaos while claiming in the very next sentence that there is some WHO that has “more clarity” as a result of being in the presence of loud, chaotic noise.
So the noise is not heard but it is heard. The noise has no effect but it has an effect. Anything else that follows such illogical statements will be given no credibility by the pure or re-purified consciousness.
Now the invitation is for the writer to see the flaws in logic, but if not, there remains the possibility that other site visitors can witness the way in which the conditioned and programmed and warped “mind” functions and can see that they must be rid of it once and for all. Consider this pointer that has been offered in the past:
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The “mind” is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
For millions of years, before the size of the human brain evolved from its long-standing one-cup size to its current three-and-a-half-cups size and before it developed sections for storing and retrieving information, there was no mind. Even without a mind, humankind survived for millions of years, just as still happens with all living things except humans.
The pure consciousness and naturally-operating brain are the "assets" required for natural functioning during the manifestation. The "mind" is an unnecessary "liability," the proof being (a) millions of years of pre-"mind" success at surviving among humans and (b) the present tendency of the mind to generate self-destructive behaviors rather than self-constructive behaviors as was originally intended by nature.
Admittedly, for a time, the mind contributed to the continuation of the species. Now, it is the driving force behind all self-destructive tendencies. This is an invitation to realize that, now, the “mind” is always warped, that the “mind” is always twisted, and that the “mind” is nothing more than a storehouse of lies and nonsense that generate illogical and irrational statements and behaviors when persons (that is, the non-Realized) speak or write or act on their thoughts.
Next, the last thing anyone visiting this site will read are recommendations about what kind of music to listen to or not. What one can read are immediate challenges to any illogical or irrational statements as well as pointers along the “path” to Realization which can lead to freedom and peace.
Listening to sounds that are outside the alpha, theta or delta cycles will guarantee that the brain will not cycle at any of those three rates but will cycle at the rate of the ambient noises being introduced (and which result in a most unnatural environment). In an unnatural environment, clarity does not result. It is prevented.
To the contrary of focusing on either “calm” or “chaotic” music, the pointer is that the Realized automatically become quieter in every regard. At work, there is less non-essential talk; there are fewer opinions interjected into conversations in a lunch area; there is less a tendency to go to meetings where one has a captive audience that must listen to meaningless pontifications that amount to nothing more than efforts to self-aggrandize.
The key pointer about the spontaneous shift to the peace and quiet has nothing to do with music preferences and has everything to do with (1) being free of false identities that motivate persons to talk and talk and talk in an effort to convince self and others that their phony ego-states are real; and with (2) being free of their chattering “minds” than motivate persons to seek out higher and higher levels of ambient noise to drown out the ever-increasing noise level of their “minds.”
As noted, the source of noise being used to drown out the nonsensical chatter of a "mind" can be a stereo sound system or a pot being hammered over the head, but the effect is the same:
the opportunity for clarity to come under those circumstances is impossible, and the belief that chaotic sounds have produced clarity indicates a complete and total absence of clarity. One who holds that belief to be true is invited to see that all of his/her other beliefs should immediately be called into question as well. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
I feel its different for each self-realized person, If you know there is no separate self to be in the presence of noise and chaos and there is a natural allowing what is, to be as it is, than to be in the city or in a cave would seem to be according to a persons preferences.
I used to listen to flute music and sitar because I thought it was spiritual, now I listen to heavy metal and there is far more clarity than when I was doing what I thought was proper for a spiritual person to do.
My question, is there really any common traits of the realized?? Or are these traits only applied to a persona? You are realized and like peace and quite, But other realized people I know enjoy a very different atmosphere, they prefer skyscrapers to trees. Regards, W.D.
F.: Why is being in the presence of a Realized teacher—or reading the writings of a Realized teacher or the transcripts of satsang with a Realized teacher—almost always required if Full Realization is to happen? Consider:
How can one understand what one cannot understand because of having been programmed to function unnaturally/abnormally and to think supernaturally/magically? One cannot. How can a twisted “mind” untwist itself? It cannot.
Why sit in satsang with a group of seekers when illogical and irrational comments can be made by some who tout beliefs that are illogical and irrational? Because the teacher can use such illogical and irrational comments to reveal the machinations of the warped “mind” and its twisted thinking and then offer a counter view along with the invitation to be free of the "mind" and its machinations.
Such revelations might not be understood by the illogical, irrational speaker (or writer) but other seekers might well receive certain clarifications that move them to the next step along the “path” to the no-mind, no-concept, non-dual Reality. And that is the opportunity being offered today.
[NOTE: The following questions have been raised over the years: Why not use religious guides? (1) Because they are myth tellers whose teachings have been handed down from the ignorant persons who dreamed them up thousands of years ago. They can only add to the conglomeration of totally fictitious beliefs that are still being presented as unquestionable, universal truths.
(2) Because, instead of guiding You to that which You already know but have been blocked from seeing, they claim that they are stating the truth when the truth cannot be stated.
Why not a spiritual guide chosen from among the millions who are playing that role in their self-help groups? (3) Because they admit that they were insane but claim that they asked a god to restore them to sanity and “He” did it. Since there is no “He,” there has been no restoration. Thus, the prevalent "past insanity" is still the "present insanity" which remains the dominant driving force among the membership.
(4) Further, when you have members of a group who have assumed the role of “the spiritual ones,” anything that is stated thereafter is the talk of their false ego-states which will, by default, have to be false.
(5) In addition, when the members of a group are assuming the roles of psychologist, psychiatrist, physician, lawyer, re-programmer, and a host of other roles for which they have not the least bit of training, then only nonsensical advice will be offered.
To heap nonsense on top of nonsense is not a treatment for nonsense. To depend on a “mind” to purge itself of “mind”-junk is impossible. The garbage in your home cannot—and will not—take itself out, ever.
There is no guide, other than an Advaitin guide, that will offer the pointer that you need to learn nothing more but that you have much to unlearn. The Advaitin guide will not ask you to become a member of a group and will not assign you an entirely new set of false roles to assume and play.]
So, to continue with the response to one who has questioned the teaching that the Realized naturally and automatically and spontaneously move toward the peace and quiet, consider again the words of Maharaj: if “complete inner peace and quiet” do not manifest then “you will have missed the entire thing.” Among the non-Realized, the inner is dominated by the outer, including ambient sounds.
Is there any indication that the writer of the e-mail above is speaking via the pure consciousness that always exhibits logic and reason? Not when he can assert that there is no separate self to be in the presence of noise and chaos while claiming in the very next sentence that there is some WHO that has “more clarity” as a result of being in the presence of loud, chaotic noise.
So the noise is not heard but it is heard. The noise has no effect but it has an effect. Anything else that follows such illogical statements will be given no credibility by the pure or re-purified consciousness.
Now the invitation is for the writer to see the flaws in logic, but if not, there remains the possibility that other site visitors can witness the way in which the conditioned and programmed and warped “mind” functions and can see that they must be rid of it once and for all. Consider this pointer that has been offered in the past:
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The “mind” is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
For millions of years, before the size of the human brain evolved from its long-standing one-cup size to its current three-and-a-half-cups size and before it developed sections for storing and retrieving information, there was no mind. Even without a mind, humankind survived for millions of years, just as still happens with all living things except humans.
The pure consciousness and naturally-operating brain are the "assets" required for natural functioning during the manifestation. The "mind" is an unnecessary "liability," the proof being (a) millions of years of pre-"mind" success at surviving among humans and (b) the present tendency of the mind to generate self-destructive behaviors rather than self-constructive behaviors as was originally intended by nature.
Admittedly, for a time, the mind contributed to the continuation of the species. Now, it is the driving force behind all self-destructive tendencies. This is an invitation to realize that, now, the “mind” is always warped, that the “mind” is always twisted, and that the “mind” is nothing more than a storehouse of lies and nonsense that generate illogical and irrational statements and behaviors when persons (that is, the non-Realized) speak or write or act on their thoughts.
Next, the last thing anyone visiting this site will read are recommendations about what kind of music to listen to or not. What one can read are immediate challenges to any illogical or irrational statements as well as pointers along the “path” to Realization which can lead to freedom and peace.
Listening to sounds that are outside the alpha, theta or delta cycles will guarantee that the brain will not cycle at any of those three rates but will cycle at the rate of the ambient noises being introduced (and which result in a most unnatural environment). In an unnatural environment, clarity does not result. It is prevented.
To the contrary of focusing on either “calm” or “chaotic” music, the pointer is that the Realized automatically become quieter in every regard. At work, there is less non-essential talk; there are fewer opinions interjected into conversations in a lunch area; there is less a tendency to go to meetings where one has a captive audience that must listen to meaningless pontifications that amount to nothing more than efforts to self-aggrandize.
The key pointer about the spontaneous shift to the peace and quiet has nothing to do with music preferences and has everything to do with (1) being free of false identities that motivate persons to talk and talk and talk in an effort to convince self and others that their phony ego-states are real; and with (2) being free of their chattering “minds” than motivate persons to seek out higher and higher levels of ambient noise to drown out the ever-increasing noise level of their “minds.”
As noted, the source of noise being used to drown out the nonsensical chatter of a "mind" can be a stereo sound system or a pot being hammered over the head, but the effect is the same:
the opportunity for clarity to come under those circumstances is impossible, and the belief that chaotic sounds have produced clarity indicates a complete and total absence of clarity. One who holds that belief to be true is invited to see that all of his/her other beliefs should immediately be called into question as well. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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—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
