An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation / Realization, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, natural abidance, the nothingness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
[At the end of this posting there are five videos that discuss thirty-three Advaitin topics]
FROM A SITE VISITOR yesterday: Hello, Floyd. Hope this finds you well. I don't know if this is the appropriate venue, i.e., an email, but just wanted you to know how much the last two postings about Maharaj and Mendum Menda were appreciated. As one who was fortunate enough to experience his presence toward the end of his life, the pointers you make about him resonate. He would, I imagine, have some choice words for those misunderstanding what he taught and then going out to teach on their own.
Was in a bookstore last year, and picked up a book by [a famous author / speaker], opened it, and happened upon a passage where he was acknowledging Nisargadatta as being one of his great teachers and influences. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Thank you so much for sharing the unvarnished truth. Peace, m.
F.: Thanks for sharing that, Michael. To continue: after meeting a few that had most certainly Realized fully by reading certain pointers and then tapping into the inner guru, the fact was ignored for a brief period that in almost all other cases, a teacher was required and played a key role for those seekers that Realized Fully.
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR yesterday: How can I study with a teacher in person?
Several options were suggested, but the consideration offered now to all seekers is to put your energy into what has become a most difficult—if not near impossible—task of finding the proper teacher, then the rest will be made simple. Those who come here for retreats find that decades of searching were for nil and that three or four days of guidance led them along the entire length of “the path.”
If you have found a teacher that provided the same, consider that a rarity. For those still seeking, and who are seeking only among the most famous lecturers and authors, then you should be aware of certain other messages not yet discussed that also run contrary to the teachings of Maharaj (in spite of some claiming he was an "inspiration"). Those messages will never lead you to Realization.
Understand that you will never Realize and enjoy the freedom of AS IF living if you believe those who reinforce a desire for power or who tell you that you can attain power via “intentions” (a concept which directly contradicts Maharaj’s invitation to live spontaneously). There is, in fact, no “one” who can “have power.”
Power, as in "a form of energy," is...just as Real Love is, but power is not something that is sought by the Realized. Knowing that the primary addiction of persons is to control and that the secondary addiction is to power in order to control, those appealing to the basest levels of the non-Realized masses will certainly offer advice about “getting power.” (Evidence? Google the word “power” and you’ll find over one billion hits.)
Those trying to appeal to the masses will speak of attaining earthly power and they will speak of utilizing “other-worldly power” or tapping into "the power of the universe," knowing that the non-Realized can never attain enough power and will willingly search in all “places” and will willingly pay for whatever they think will provide them with power.
You are also invited to realize that there is no “you” who can gain power by focusing on “now.” In fact, focusing on “now” is just another mental exercise that reinforces the "mind" and is as much a myth as “the past” and “the future.” It is still a point in the fictionalized, dualistic concept of time, and the moment the word is spoken, it is already “not now.” You are manifested consciousness, and consciousness cannot “have” anything, including power.
Furthermore, if Realized, You would not speak of a “timeless mind” or of “fulfilling dreams.” Maharaj said, “My world is real while yours is made of dreams” and “I am beyond all dreams” and “What I see in dreams, I am not.”
He also said that the guru “sees people suffering in their dreams and he wants them to wake up” and “Your dreams of glory will land you in … trouble.” Any talk about fulfilling dreams, therefore, is a call for trouble.
Again, Maharaj made clear that it is desires (including the things that people dream about attaining or fulfilling) that are the source of all misery and suffering, so why would anyone want to fulfill that which will guarantee misery? Maharaj advised that seekers should seek to be free of their dreams, not seek to have them "fulfilled."
If You would Realize, then You will also avoid writings or talks that encourage you to “alter your bad thoughts.” The word “bad” would reinforce dualistic beliefs and “altering thoughts” would prevent your being free of the effects of the fiction-filled “mind.”
You will turn from teachers / lecturers / authors who prescribe life-long exercises that are to be done on a daily basis or even throughout the day, exercises that can supposedly alter thoughts rather than free you of the fictional thought-life that is at the root of all misery and suffering.
The nisarga yoga invites seekers to live naturally and to abandon recommendations and beliefs and dogma and teachings that inspire effort and that would encourage you to live unnaturally or supernaturally.
The seven steps to Realization are the final steps to be “taken” or “worked.” Realize via those steps and there will be no other steps or exercises or drills or rituals or meetings that have to be completed regularly throughout the day and throughout the days and the week and the weeks and the month and the months and the year and the years and the decades and for the entirety of the manifestation. What an exhausting waste of the only opportunity to know freedom and happiness and the joy of spontaneous living.
As for notions about rising to higher levels and improving self and working at being better and making one’s life meaningful and purposeful and achieving one’s ambitions, Maharaj said, "There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding" and “There is no progress.”
To Realize is also to understand that only an ego-state would seek “meaning” and “ambition.” It is to know that there is no such thing as “a calling,” there being no “Caller” to call. Maharaj said, “No cause is a source” and “From the Absolute no-knowing state, spontaneously, this consciousness ‘I am’ has appeared—there is no reason, no cause.”
Being free of ego-states, You would be free of egotism, so You would most assuredly not believe that either a “you” or a “You” could be “incredible” as some are teaching nowadays. The arrogance and egotism that lead to beliefs about "special-ness” and “uniqueness” dissolve with an understanding of the unicity and the nothingness.
In that regard, if You would Realize Fully, You would set aside notions about an infinite self or Infinite Self and (via Wisdom, Maharaj noted) would know that You Are nothing. "Both experience and experiencer will disappear," he said.
You would care not in the least about learning “how to love” or “the way to love” because You would know that those concepts are steeped in duality and in subject-object ideas about “A” loving “B” and about “what love supposedly is” (which it is not). To the contrary, you would know that Love IS, period. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Was in a bookstore last year, and picked up a book by [a famous author / speaker], opened it, and happened upon a passage where he was acknowledging Nisargadatta as being one of his great teachers and influences. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Thank you so much for sharing the unvarnished truth. Peace, m.
F.: Thanks for sharing that, Michael. To continue: after meeting a few that had most certainly Realized fully by reading certain pointers and then tapping into the inner guru, the fact was ignored for a brief period that in almost all other cases, a teacher was required and played a key role for those seekers that Realized Fully.
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR yesterday: How can I study with a teacher in person?
Several options were suggested, but the consideration offered now to all seekers is to put your energy into what has become a most difficult—if not near impossible—task of finding the proper teacher, then the rest will be made simple. Those who come here for retreats find that decades of searching were for nil and that three or four days of guidance led them along the entire length of “the path.”
If you have found a teacher that provided the same, consider that a rarity. For those still seeking, and who are seeking only among the most famous lecturers and authors, then you should be aware of certain other messages not yet discussed that also run contrary to the teachings of Maharaj (in spite of some claiming he was an "inspiration"). Those messages will never lead you to Realization.
Understand that you will never Realize and enjoy the freedom of AS IF living if you believe those who reinforce a desire for power or who tell you that you can attain power via “intentions” (a concept which directly contradicts Maharaj’s invitation to live spontaneously). There is, in fact, no “one” who can “have power.”
Power, as in "a form of energy," is...just as Real Love is, but power is not something that is sought by the Realized. Knowing that the primary addiction of persons is to control and that the secondary addiction is to power in order to control, those appealing to the basest levels of the non-Realized masses will certainly offer advice about “getting power.” (Evidence? Google the word “power” and you’ll find over one billion hits.)
Those trying to appeal to the masses will speak of attaining earthly power and they will speak of utilizing “other-worldly power” or tapping into "the power of the universe," knowing that the non-Realized can never attain enough power and will willingly search in all “places” and will willingly pay for whatever they think will provide them with power.
You are also invited to realize that there is no “you” who can gain power by focusing on “now.” In fact, focusing on “now” is just another mental exercise that reinforces the "mind" and is as much a myth as “the past” and “the future.” It is still a point in the fictionalized, dualistic concept of time, and the moment the word is spoken, it is already “not now.” You are manifested consciousness, and consciousness cannot “have” anything, including power.
Furthermore, if Realized, You would not speak of a “timeless mind” or of “fulfilling dreams.” Maharaj said, “My world is real while yours is made of dreams” and “I am beyond all dreams” and “What I see in dreams, I am not.”
He also said that the guru “sees people suffering in their dreams and he wants them to wake up” and “Your dreams of glory will land you in … trouble.” Any talk about fulfilling dreams, therefore, is a call for trouble.
Again, Maharaj made clear that it is desires (including the things that people dream about attaining or fulfilling) that are the source of all misery and suffering, so why would anyone want to fulfill that which will guarantee misery? Maharaj advised that seekers should seek to be free of their dreams, not seek to have them "fulfilled."
If You would Realize, then You will also avoid writings or talks that encourage you to “alter your bad thoughts.” The word “bad” would reinforce dualistic beliefs and “altering thoughts” would prevent your being free of the effects of the fiction-filled “mind.”
You will turn from teachers / lecturers / authors who prescribe life-long exercises that are to be done on a daily basis or even throughout the day, exercises that can supposedly alter thoughts rather than free you of the fictional thought-life that is at the root of all misery and suffering.
The nisarga yoga invites seekers to live naturally and to abandon recommendations and beliefs and dogma and teachings that inspire effort and that would encourage you to live unnaturally or supernaturally.
The seven steps to Realization are the final steps to be “taken” or “worked.” Realize via those steps and there will be no other steps or exercises or drills or rituals or meetings that have to be completed regularly throughout the day and throughout the days and the week and the weeks and the month and the months and the year and the years and the decades and for the entirety of the manifestation. What an exhausting waste of the only opportunity to know freedom and happiness and the joy of spontaneous living.
As for notions about rising to higher levels and improving self and working at being better and making one’s life meaningful and purposeful and achieving one’s ambitions, Maharaj said, "There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding" and “There is no progress.”
To Realize is also to understand that only an ego-state would seek “meaning” and “ambition.” It is to know that there is no such thing as “a calling,” there being no “Caller” to call. Maharaj said, “No cause is a source” and “From the Absolute no-knowing state, spontaneously, this consciousness ‘I am’ has appeared—there is no reason, no cause.”
Being free of ego-states, You would be free of egotism, so You would most assuredly not believe that either a “you” or a “You” could be “incredible” as some are teaching nowadays. The arrogance and egotism that lead to beliefs about "special-ness” and “uniqueness” dissolve with an understanding of the unicity and the nothingness.
In that regard, if You would Realize Fully, You would set aside notions about an infinite self or Infinite Self and (via Wisdom, Maharaj noted) would know that You Are nothing. "Both experience and experiencer will disappear," he said.
You would care not in the least about learning “how to love” or “the way to love” because You would know that those concepts are steeped in duality and in subject-object ideas about “A” loving “B” and about “what love supposedly is” (which it is not). To the contrary, you would know that Love IS, period. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Schedule a one-hour satsang session with floyd
by telephone and the call (either international or in the U.S.) will be free.
[Details below]
For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.
TABLE OF CONTENTS BELOW:
1. SATSANG BY TELEPHONE
2. REALIZATION AIDS
3. ARRANGE FOR FLOYD TO SPEAK TO YOUR GROUP
4. SUBMITTING ADVAITA VEDANTA POETRY FOR PUBLICATIONS
5. DONATIONS
6. YOUTUBE VIDEOS DISCUSSING A VARIETY OF ADVAITA TOPICS
1. SATSANG BY TELEPHONE:
A. FREE CALLS INSIDE THE U.S.
B. FREE INTERNATIONAL CALLS ALSO (via Skype)
If you do not already have a Skype account, you need only search “Skype” and, download the free program and take a few minutes to set up your account; then Floyd will call you and you will pay no telephone charges for your session.
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session
2. REALIZATION AIDS
The Advanced Seekers’ Three-eBook Set
From the I to the Absolute
Consciousness / Awareness
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
(ORDER NOW ANY OF THE FOURTEEN NON-DUALITY BOOKS WRITTEN BY FLOYD
and
YOU WILL HAVE THEM AVAILABLE FOR READING IN A FEW MINUTES FROM NOW)
Order the “Advanced Seeker’s Set” or any of the other books by visiting
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson
3. ARRANGE FOR FLOYD TO TRAVEL TO YOUR LOCATION AND SPEAK TO YOUR GROUP
Use the contact link above to arrange a session in your city either in the U.S. or internationally.
4. SUBMITTING ADVAITA VEDANTA POETRY FOR PUBLICATION
Visit
Submitting Advaita Vedanta Poetry for Publication
5. DONATIONS
by telephone and the call (either international or in the U.S.) will be free.
[Details below]
For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.
TABLE OF CONTENTS BELOW:
1. SATSANG BY TELEPHONE
2. REALIZATION AIDS
3. ARRANGE FOR FLOYD TO SPEAK TO YOUR GROUP
4. SUBMITTING ADVAITA VEDANTA POETRY FOR PUBLICATIONS
5. DONATIONS
6. YOUTUBE VIDEOS DISCUSSING A VARIETY OF ADVAITA TOPICS
1. SATSANG BY TELEPHONE:
A. FREE CALLS INSIDE THE U.S.
B. FREE INTERNATIONAL CALLS ALSO (via Skype)
If you do not already have a Skype account, you need only search “Skype” and, download the free program and take a few minutes to set up your account; then Floyd will call you and you will pay no telephone charges for your session.
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session
2. REALIZATION AIDS
The Advanced Seekers’ Three-eBook Set
From the I to the Absolute
Consciousness / Awareness
From the Absolute to the Nothingness
(ORDER NOW ANY OF THE FOURTEEN NON-DUALITY BOOKS WRITTEN BY FLOYD
and
YOU WILL HAVE THEM AVAILABLE FOR READING IN A FEW MINUTES FROM NOW)
Order the “Advanced Seeker’s Set” or any of the other books by visiting
The Official Website of Floyd Henderson
3. ARRANGE FOR FLOYD TO TRAVEL TO YOUR LOCATION AND SPEAK TO YOUR GROUP
Use the contact link above to arrange a session in your city either in the U.S. or internationally.
4. SUBMITTING ADVAITA VEDANTA POETRY FOR PUBLICATION
Visit
Submitting Advaita Vedanta Poetry for Publication
5. DONATIONS
FROM SIM IN KENTUCKY, U.S.A.: How about a donate button? I give monthly to a blog about locations and reviews of a particular type of restaurant we like. I’d sure donate to this blog.
FROM “ANONYMOUS”: Almost every visitor brought Maharaj food or flowers. I’d like to treat you to a meal if you tell me how to do so with my credit card!
FROM LOUISE, SOUTH AFRICA: [Consider the case of an acquaintance who] added a donate button to his site. Regular blog readers were happy to support the site in this way.
F.: Okay—so it’s done, but note that the postings and responses are offered without charge, as is access to the library of 1,350+ Advaitin essays archived on the site.
That said, any donation will be appreciated. Thank you.FROM “ANONYMOUS”: Almost every visitor brought Maharaj food or flowers. I’d like to treat you to a meal if you tell me how to do so with my credit card!
FROM LOUISE, SOUTH AFRICA: [Consider the case of an acquaintance who] added a donate button to his site. Regular blog readers were happy to support the site in this way.
F.: Okay—so it’s done, but note that the postings and responses are offered without charge, as is access to the library of 1,350+ Advaitin essays archived on the site.
6. ADVAITA VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
If you want to share the five Advaita videos on your own site, you are invited to do so without charge. Click on the links above and to the right under “Links and Resources.” You’ll be transferred to the video sites and there you will find the embedding codes that you can copy and paste onto your html pages.
Below are five lists containing thirty-three Advaitin subjects that are discussed on the YouTube videos that follow each of the lists.
(The numeric counter information is provided so that you can move to the exact location in the videos to find any particular discussion that might be of interest)
Advaita Topics 1-9:
1. Defining Advaita Vedanta (Counter 28-55)
2. Methods of Teaching (Counter 55-144)
3. Unicity / Nonduality (Counter 144-239)
4. I AM THAT; I AM (Counter 239-331)
5. Learn vs. Unlearn (Counter 331-413)
6. Unlearn What? (Counter 413-444)
7. Person vs. Realized (444-525)
8. The Triad (Counter 525-745)
9. Before Conception (Counter 745-901)
Click on the arrow below to start Video One and topics 1-9:
Advaita Topics 10-16:
10. No Body Continuity / “ME” (Counter 1-56)
11. Not Born / No Creation / Cannot Die (Counter 56-200)
12. No Peace of “mind” / My “mind” / “Their “mind” (Counter 200-333)
13. Brain vs. “mind” vs. Consciousness (Counter 333-500)
14. Not in the World (Counter 500-603)
15. Inner Guru (Counter 603-715)
16. Personality-Suffering Connection / Upgrading Illusions (Counter 715-840)
Click on the arrow below to start Video Two and topics 10-16:
Advaita Topics 18-24:
18. The Role-Playing + Co-dependency + Suicide Link (Counter 1-205)
19. Upgrading / Downgrading Illusions (Counter 205-300)
20. Emotions vs. Feelings (Counter 300-422)
21. Religion and Spirituality (Counter 422-547)
22. Question All (Counter 547-713)
23. Natural vs. Unnatural vs. Supernatural Living (Counter 713-833)
24. When Trillions Are Wrong (Counter 833-920)
Click on the arrow below to start Video Three and topics 18-24:
Advaita Topics 25-31:
25. Christ the Advaitin (Counter 1-150)
26. Child Ignorance / The Pre-”mind” State (Counter 150-340)
27. Child Ignorance vs. Learned Ignorance (Counter 340-439)
28. Two Levels of Witnessing (Counter 439-554)
29. Desires and Fears (Counter 554-641)
30. Consciousness vs. Awareness (Counter 641-720)
31. Real Love vs. false love (Counter 720-846)
Click on the arrow below to start Video Four and topics 25-31:
Advaita Topics 32-33:
32. Zero Concepts (Counter 1-120)
33. The Nothingness (Counter 120-250)
Click on the arrow below to start Video Five and topics 32-33:
