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.: To witness the functioning of one speck of unblocked consciousness is to witness all specks of unblocked consciousness. To witness one ego in action is to witness all egos in action. It is the ego and its accompanying egotism that asked, “is [sic] there really any common traits of the realized?? Or are these traits only applied to a persona?”
So, yes there are "traits" that all egos and ego-states share in common and there are common "traits" that mark the Realized. Would one ask, “Do water and snow and ice and sleet really have anything in common, or is any statement about those having something in common really just a falsehood?”
When a Realized teacher hears only a few words, it is immediately clear if Realization has happened or not. Or it is immediately clear exactly where on the seven-step “path” that seeker is. It is also understood immediately which pointers can be offered to allow for the movement to the next step to happen. It is perfectly obvious if "traits" of non-Realization or of Realization or being heard.
When Realization has happened, and it has with many over the years that satsang and retreats have been offered, then the seekers have heard, “You need seek no more. Now, go.” If there is ever a question about whether the teachings should be offered or not, the response is always, “Whatever happens will happen, and it will happen spontaneously.”
While the Realized overlay Reality upon the Is-ness, the non-Realized overlay nonsense upon the Am-ness. That is the driving force of all ego-states and their accompanying egotism: to guard and cherish the most irrational thoughts that will then lead to the expression of illogical words which will subsequently result in illogical, irrational, self-destructive behaviors.
All ego-states and their accompanying egotism will always want others to believe whatever those false identities / ego-states believe. The notion is, “You will truly be better off if you believe what I believe.” The Realized understand that is hogwash since there is no “better off” or “worse of” if abiding as the original state.
It is the Realized Advaitin teacher alone that offers the invitation to believe not what the teacher believes but instead to cast aside all beliefs and ideas and concepts. Never would a Realized teacher suggest “You will truly be better off if you believe what I believe.” That is the stuff of the non-Realized only.
Here’s the way Maharaj explained the process: “…What I am offering you is the operational approach, so current in Western science. When a scientist describes an experiment and its results, usually you accept his statements on trust and repeat his experiment as he describes it. Once you get the same or similar results, you need not trust him any more; you trust your own.”
See the parallel here: the invitation to “please enter the silence of contemplation” has been extended at the end of all 1,272 posts since 1 June 2005. Those have been 1,272 invitations, not 1,272 orders. In nearly four years of postings, not one person has written to say, “How dare you try to tell me what to do, ordering me into the silence to contemplate."
No one misunderstood and wrote about that invitation, but some do have the attitude, "How dare you and Waite tell me what to listen to or not." That is total misunderstanding. The ego cannot take an order, and Advaitin teachers do not give orders. Only the ego finds it acceptable to give orders, but because of its hypersensitivity and distortion, the ego can misconstrue an invitation as an order.
So understand that neither Dennis Waite nor I have ever told anyone what they should read, listen to, do, or not do. What does happen with any Realized teacher is a noting of any illogical or irrational beliefs that are expressed.
Again, neither speck cares a whit about what anyone listens to, but if the appreciation of the silence and the peace that marks Realization is to manifest, then the teacher will not ignore nonsensical remarks about high-decibel sounds inducing clarity.
In light of Maharaj declaring that science will one day support all of these teachings, what is happening is a sharing in this case of scientifically-proven data that can be used to uncover erroneous beliefs. Also, what is being shared is a reporting of what has been observed in a combined 40-45 years of witnessing what happens post-Realization with the seekers that have come and gone.
No one has ever been told, “OK, you have Realized, so go forth and do nothing unnatural or supernatural. Be very quiet, talk less, stop pontificating, stop trying to impress people in order to make them love you, and always remember what Real Love is. Do not disturb the peace—‘yours’ or ‘theirs’.” To the contrary, none of that has been said, but all of that has been witnessed as it has consistently happened.
The non-Realized are welcomed to challenge that, debate that, or reject that, but to challenge, debate and reject that is just one more example of the propensity among the non-Realized to form an opinion about experiences they have never had. What has been witnessed is this:
post-Realization, unnatural and supernatural thinking and talking and behaving simply end, spontaneously and automatically. Post-Realization, noise-making and chaos simply end, spontaneously and automatically. Post-Realization, excessive, needless talking simply ends, spontaneously and automatically.
The writer above realized that a particular type of music cannot make a person spiritual. What he has not realized is that loud and chaotic music—or any similar type of ambient noise—cannot give one “clarity.” (Noise-induced hypersensitivity is not clarity.) Again, it has been witnessed that the Realized—as with all naturally-functioning living things—will gravitate to the peace and quiet…not to the chaotic and loud.
Thus, the motive of seekers can be investigated and will reveal that the earnest seeker is the one that is searching for peace and quiet; for freedom from chaos and disharmony; for freedom from insanity or from the misery generated by personality disorders; and from the suffering that results when persons are being driven by imaginary fears and perceived desires.
The teaching is not "the Realized develop a tolerance for snakes"; nor is the teaching that "if you were truly Realized, you'd be comfortable with snakes"; nor is the teaching that "some of the Realized are comfortable with snakes and some are not, either way." The teaching is, "Abandon all distortions and delusional thinking. See the rope clearly and know that all of your beliefs about the snake in the rope are distortions."
These teaching are about being fully in touch with Reality, not about using delusions or distortions or noise to try to escape the machinations of the “mind.” And distortion is at the heart of any rejection of the teachings that would bring about peace and quiet and is at the heart of any claim (contrary to all scientific evidence) that clarity results at the highest decibel levels.
While the non-Realized will distort "shared facts" into nothing more than "personal opinions," you are invited to understand that it matters not if a distortion is stated about the nothingness, the beginninglessness, the functioning of the totality, the Absolute, the manifestation of consciousness, awareness or any other topic. If there's a distortion that one does not want challenged, then he best share it with those who are also among the non-Realized. 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.: To witness the functioning of one speck of unblocked consciousness is to witness all specks of unblocked consciousness. To witness one ego in action is to witness all egos in action. It is the ego and its accompanying egotism that asked, “is [sic] there really any common traits of the realized?? Or are these traits only applied to a persona?”
So, yes there are "traits" that all egos and ego-states share in common and there are common "traits" that mark the Realized. Would one ask, “Do water and snow and ice and sleet really have anything in common, or is any statement about those having something in common really just a falsehood?”
When a Realized teacher hears only a few words, it is immediately clear if Realization has happened or not. Or it is immediately clear exactly where on the seven-step “path” that seeker is. It is also understood immediately which pointers can be offered to allow for the movement to the next step to happen. It is perfectly obvious if "traits" of non-Realization or of Realization or being heard.
When Realization has happened, and it has with many over the years that satsang and retreats have been offered, then the seekers have heard, “You need seek no more. Now, go.” If there is ever a question about whether the teachings should be offered or not, the response is always, “Whatever happens will happen, and it will happen spontaneously.”
While the Realized overlay Reality upon the Is-ness, the non-Realized overlay nonsense upon the Am-ness. That is the driving force of all ego-states and their accompanying egotism: to guard and cherish the most irrational thoughts that will then lead to the expression of illogical words which will subsequently result in illogical, irrational, self-destructive behaviors.
All ego-states and their accompanying egotism will always want others to believe whatever those false identities / ego-states believe. The notion is, “You will truly be better off if you believe what I believe.” The Realized understand that is hogwash since there is no “better off” or “worse of” if abiding as the original state.
It is the Realized Advaitin teacher alone that offers the invitation to believe not what the teacher believes but instead to cast aside all beliefs and ideas and concepts. Never would a Realized teacher suggest “You will truly be better off if you believe what I believe.” That is the stuff of the non-Realized only.
Here’s the way Maharaj explained the process: “…What I am offering you is the operational approach, so current in Western science. When a scientist describes an experiment and its results, usually you accept his statements on trust and repeat his experiment as he describes it. Once you get the same or similar results, you need not trust him any more; you trust your own.”
See the parallel here: the invitation to “please enter the silence of contemplation” has been extended at the end of all 1,272 posts since 1 June 2005. Those have been 1,272 invitations, not 1,272 orders. In nearly four years of postings, not one person has written to say, “How dare you try to tell me what to do, ordering me into the silence to contemplate."
No one misunderstood and wrote about that invitation, but some do have the attitude, "How dare you and Waite tell me what to listen to or not." That is total misunderstanding. The ego cannot take an order, and Advaitin teachers do not give orders. Only the ego finds it acceptable to give orders, but because of its hypersensitivity and distortion, the ego can misconstrue an invitation as an order.
So understand that neither Dennis Waite nor I have ever told anyone what they should read, listen to, do, or not do. What does happen with any Realized teacher is a noting of any illogical or irrational beliefs that are expressed.
Again, neither speck cares a whit about what anyone listens to, but if the appreciation of the silence and the peace that marks Realization is to manifest, then the teacher will not ignore nonsensical remarks about high-decibel sounds inducing clarity.
In light of Maharaj declaring that science will one day support all of these teachings, what is happening is a sharing in this case of scientifically-proven data that can be used to uncover erroneous beliefs. Also, what is being shared is a reporting of what has been observed in a combined 40-45 years of witnessing what happens post-Realization with the seekers that have come and gone.
No one has ever been told, “OK, you have Realized, so go forth and do nothing unnatural or supernatural. Be very quiet, talk less, stop pontificating, stop trying to impress people in order to make them love you, and always remember what Real Love is. Do not disturb the peace—‘yours’ or ‘theirs’.” To the contrary, none of that has been said, but all of that has been witnessed as it has consistently happened.
The non-Realized are welcomed to challenge that, debate that, or reject that, but to challenge, debate and reject that is just one more example of the propensity among the non-Realized to form an opinion about experiences they have never had. What has been witnessed is this:
post-Realization, unnatural and supernatural thinking and talking and behaving simply end, spontaneously and automatically. Post-Realization, noise-making and chaos simply end, spontaneously and automatically. Post-Realization, excessive, needless talking simply ends, spontaneously and automatically.
The writer above realized that a particular type of music cannot make a person spiritual. What he has not realized is that loud and chaotic music—or any similar type of ambient noise—cannot give one “clarity.” (Noise-induced hypersensitivity is not clarity.) Again, it has been witnessed that the Realized—as with all naturally-functioning living things—will gravitate to the peace and quiet…not to the chaotic and loud.
Thus, the motive of seekers can be investigated and will reveal that the earnest seeker is the one that is searching for peace and quiet; for freedom from chaos and disharmony; for freedom from insanity or from the misery generated by personality disorders; and from the suffering that results when persons are being driven by imaginary fears and perceived desires.
The teaching is not "the Realized develop a tolerance for snakes"; nor is the teaching that "if you were truly Realized, you'd be comfortable with snakes"; nor is the teaching that "some of the Realized are comfortable with snakes and some are not, either way." The teaching is, "Abandon all distortions and delusional thinking. See the rope clearly and know that all of your beliefs about the snake in the rope are distortions."
These teaching are about being fully in touch with Reality, not about using delusions or distortions or noise to try to escape the machinations of the “mind.” And distortion is at the heart of any rejection of the teachings that would bring about peace and quiet and is at the heart of any claim (contrary to all scientific evidence) that clarity results at the highest decibel levels.
While the non-Realized will distort "shared facts" into nothing more than "personal opinions," you are invited to understand that it matters not if a distortion is stated about the nothingness, the beginninglessness, the functioning of the totality, the Absolute, the manifestation of consciousness, awareness or any other topic. If there's a distortion that one does not want challenged, then he best share it with those who are also among the non-Realized. 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 the exact, reverse order from the way the “coming in” happened. One book can serve as 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—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
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—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
