TOMORROW: A site regular who visited Maharaj in his loft will share certain pointers that he received while there.
[At the end of this posting there are five videos that discuss thirty-three Advaitin topics]
[At the end of this posting there are five videos that discuss thirty-three Advaitin topics]
F.: It matters not if one reads every book by the prominent and well-known circuit speakers, if one attends every seminar by the famous and infamous, or if one never studies the teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj or any other Advaitin.
What does matter to those seeking Realization via Maharaj’s Direct Path Method and the nisarga yoga is that those seekers be aware that some teachers and authors and speakers are referencing Maharaj and/or “non-duality” while directly contradicting his teachings and the teaching of non-duality.
As revealed by the questions that have been arriving for several months, those contradictions are leading to even more confusion about what his non-duality teachings were (and were not) than already exists. It is impossible to reconcile the early approach that Maharaj used with the later approach when he ignored all texts, abandoned the quoting of “spiritual experts,” and made clear that god and gods are man-made concepts.
So, to continue distinguishing between what Maharaj taught and did not teach, and to focus especially on what he taught during his later talks, know that Maharaj would never speak of “fulfilling desires.” To the contrary, he noted that misery and suffering are rooted in fears and desires.
Nor would he have agreed that “only your ‘unexamined thoughts’ cause suffering.” He taught that thoughts—especially those associated with fears and desires—are exactly what lead to misery and suffering. The "mind" is to come to an end, he said, so thoughts are to be discarded, not examined over and over and over again...all day long...all year long...ad infinitum.
If you understand the difference in much of the talk nowadays on the circuit as opposed to what Maharaj shared during the later satsang sessions, you would know that he made clear that it is persons who invented god/gods; therefore, there is no way that he would recommend wasting your energy by paying attention to those who would try to tell you “how to know God.”
Now, to move to what often proves to be the most difficult of all Advaitin discussions…the discussion of “good vs. evil” while continuing to understand that non-duality is Real and that all dualistic concepts are false.
To understand the remainder of today’s discussion, therefore, it must be understood that, post-Realization, Reality is overlaid on the relative but that the relative can obviously continue. By overlaying Reality on the relative and being in touch with Reality, sanity prevails.
Realized, all that is destructive is naturally avoided when possible, as in the style of the naturally-living deer. That said, understand that Maharaj would never agree with the teaching that “what is, is” and that you should accept and love everything that happens to you during the relative existence.
For "'A' to love what 'B' is," is duality. That alone makes the idea nonsense. Real Love IS. To think it is possible to "love this or that" reveals a total lack of understanding of what Real Love is.
(Further, when it is subject-object relative "love" that is being discussed, shifting is guaranteed, so what is loved at one point can be hated at another, even if one is dissociated from the hatred or in denial about the effects being ignored.) That does not lead to peace. It leads to internalization of anger, the ignoring of the effects of trauma, and the consequences that accompany denial and minimization.
So, while “death” is never feared by the Realized, it is not sought out either. A total disregard of the body which houses the consciousness (or of other bodies that house consciousness) does not accompany Realization. To the contrary, Maharaj taught, “Of course, your body [is] vulnerable and needs protection.” He said, “Without vitality little can be done, hence the importance of its protection and increase.”
If everything were considered acceptable to Maharaj, he would not have led a single satsang session. To the contrary, he noted that, relatively speaking, there is “evil.” He said, “Without love all is evil. Life itself without love is evil.” And yes, he identified the source of evil as “the mind.”
Yet the teachings regarding this subject can become highly paradoxical, and he did note at another point that “there is no good and no evil” to the degree that “in every concrete situation there is only the necessary and the unnecessary. The needful is right, the needless is wrong.” Again, that is all relative, parts being non-dual, parts being dual, so the key question here becomes, “What is necessary?”
What is “necessary” to move persons to sanity and to remove the distortions of the relative and thereby allow seekers to be in full touch with Reality, to behave sanely during the remainder of the manifestation by overlaying Reality on the relative, and to make way for Love to be?
Is it necessary to quit one’s employment to put an end to the ego-state of “The Employee?” Is it necessary to divorce in order to put an end to the ego-state of “The Spouse?” If you could not be free of identifying with the role of “The Spouse,” could it be acceptable or necessary to kill the spouse? Would any of the above be a recommended approach by a sane teacher? Would any of that be deemed acceptable or necessary, much less welcomed, in order to end an attachment to a false persona?
Of course not, but such claims have been made. Maharaj’s teachings allowed the belief in all personas to end quietly and peacefully. If that is understood, then you will see how utterly nonsensical it is when someone linked with his teachings and who speaks of “non-duality” suggests that violent means of being free of personas can be acceptable or “necessary” and should be welcomed.
Do not be confused. Maharaj spent decades advocating non-attachment and freedom from personas. He noted that what is called “death” can also free persons of the limited and restricted relative existence. Know, too, that this speck has not the slightest concern regarding the ending of the manifestation, yet what is required for the manifestation at the present does happen.
But Maharaj would never have suggested that everything that happens in the relative should be deemed acceptable and even “loved” or that using violent means to be free of false identities might sometimes be necessary and/or welcomed and even “loved.”
Nor would he have suggested that it was God who was at work when Nazis tossed babies into fires. He said, “Selfishness is the source of all evil,” so evil is not a God-endorsed, God-controlled happening. Nor would he claim that “God is Everything. And God is Good.”
He noted that “God” is as much a mental invention as all other concepts dreamed up by persons. Again, he said, "First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and ... you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
So there is evil, relatively speaking, and Maharaj would neither have endorsed it, welcomed it, nor identified its source as a God.
One of his visitors asked, “Evil and the ending of evil - is it not your own main preoccupation? You may call it ignorance - it comes to the same.” Maharaj did not reject the claim but always saw (relative) evil as being the result of ignorance and selfishness, not the result of a god.
He noted that anger “…is the great destroyer of sanity in life” and that “…the function of the Guru [is] to make us see the madness of our daily living.”
All of that having been noted, therefore, it is suspected that the pure consciousness—be it manifested in a space called Maharaj or anywhere else—would see it as quite insane...quite mad, to teach or to believe that it would be acceptable or necessary for a child to die in order for one to be free of the belief that “I am Mother” and “I am Super Mom.”
Maharaj said, "Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and love.”
Thus it is not likely that he would have suggested that, if one’s child were tossed into a fire by Nazis, then the act happened because (a) God made it happen or that (b) one should love what is.
If You hear a pointer toward Truth, something should resonant within at the level of the inner resource / the inner guru. If the pointer is to a “path” of peace and harmony and Love, then it is pointing to Truth.
And if you hear a pointer that causes a reaction such as “That’s impossible. It can’t be valid!” then question that, study it, inquire further of your teacher, and then take your teacher’s additional pointers into the silence for objective consideration and contemplation.
But if you hear something that results in an inner sense that “Now that is one totally bats**t crazy idea,” have the courage to question it by using your intuitive wisdom and to discard it as complete nonsense. Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
What does matter to those seeking Realization via Maharaj’s Direct Path Method and the nisarga yoga is that those seekers be aware that some teachers and authors and speakers are referencing Maharaj and/or “non-duality” while directly contradicting his teachings and the teaching of non-duality.
As revealed by the questions that have been arriving for several months, those contradictions are leading to even more confusion about what his non-duality teachings were (and were not) than already exists. It is impossible to reconcile the early approach that Maharaj used with the later approach when he ignored all texts, abandoned the quoting of “spiritual experts,” and made clear that god and gods are man-made concepts.
So, to continue distinguishing between what Maharaj taught and did not teach, and to focus especially on what he taught during his later talks, know that Maharaj would never speak of “fulfilling desires.” To the contrary, he noted that misery and suffering are rooted in fears and desires.
Nor would he have agreed that “only your ‘unexamined thoughts’ cause suffering.” He taught that thoughts—especially those associated with fears and desires—are exactly what lead to misery and suffering. The "mind" is to come to an end, he said, so thoughts are to be discarded, not examined over and over and over again...all day long...all year long...ad infinitum.
If you understand the difference in much of the talk nowadays on the circuit as opposed to what Maharaj shared during the later satsang sessions, you would know that he made clear that it is persons who invented god/gods; therefore, there is no way that he would recommend wasting your energy by paying attention to those who would try to tell you “how to know God.”
Now, to move to what often proves to be the most difficult of all Advaitin discussions…the discussion of “good vs. evil” while continuing to understand that non-duality is Real and that all dualistic concepts are false.
To understand the remainder of today’s discussion, therefore, it must be understood that, post-Realization, Reality is overlaid on the relative but that the relative can obviously continue. By overlaying Reality on the relative and being in touch with Reality, sanity prevails.
Realized, all that is destructive is naturally avoided when possible, as in the style of the naturally-living deer. That said, understand that Maharaj would never agree with the teaching that “what is, is” and that you should accept and love everything that happens to you during the relative existence.
For "'A' to love what 'B' is," is duality. That alone makes the idea nonsense. Real Love IS. To think it is possible to "love this or that" reveals a total lack of understanding of what Real Love is.
(Further, when it is subject-object relative "love" that is being discussed, shifting is guaranteed, so what is loved at one point can be hated at another, even if one is dissociated from the hatred or in denial about the effects being ignored.) That does not lead to peace. It leads to internalization of anger, the ignoring of the effects of trauma, and the consequences that accompany denial and minimization.
So, while “death” is never feared by the Realized, it is not sought out either. A total disregard of the body which houses the consciousness (or of other bodies that house consciousness) does not accompany Realization. To the contrary, Maharaj taught, “Of course, your body [is] vulnerable and needs protection.” He said, “Without vitality little can be done, hence the importance of its protection and increase.”
If everything were considered acceptable to Maharaj, he would not have led a single satsang session. To the contrary, he noted that, relatively speaking, there is “evil.” He said, “Without love all is evil. Life itself without love is evil.” And yes, he identified the source of evil as “the mind.”
Yet the teachings regarding this subject can become highly paradoxical, and he did note at another point that “there is no good and no evil” to the degree that “in every concrete situation there is only the necessary and the unnecessary. The needful is right, the needless is wrong.” Again, that is all relative, parts being non-dual, parts being dual, so the key question here becomes, “What is necessary?”
What is “necessary” to move persons to sanity and to remove the distortions of the relative and thereby allow seekers to be in full touch with Reality, to behave sanely during the remainder of the manifestation by overlaying Reality on the relative, and to make way for Love to be?
Is it necessary to quit one’s employment to put an end to the ego-state of “The Employee?” Is it necessary to divorce in order to put an end to the ego-state of “The Spouse?” If you could not be free of identifying with the role of “The Spouse,” could it be acceptable or necessary to kill the spouse? Would any of the above be a recommended approach by a sane teacher? Would any of that be deemed acceptable or necessary, much less welcomed, in order to end an attachment to a false persona?
Of course not, but such claims have been made. Maharaj’s teachings allowed the belief in all personas to end quietly and peacefully. If that is understood, then you will see how utterly nonsensical it is when someone linked with his teachings and who speaks of “non-duality” suggests that violent means of being free of personas can be acceptable or “necessary” and should be welcomed.
Do not be confused. Maharaj spent decades advocating non-attachment and freedom from personas. He noted that what is called “death” can also free persons of the limited and restricted relative existence. Know, too, that this speck has not the slightest concern regarding the ending of the manifestation, yet what is required for the manifestation at the present does happen.
But Maharaj would never have suggested that everything that happens in the relative should be deemed acceptable and even “loved” or that using violent means to be free of false identities might sometimes be necessary and/or welcomed and even “loved.”
Nor would he have suggested that it was God who was at work when Nazis tossed babies into fires. He said, “Selfishness is the source of all evil,” so evil is not a God-endorsed, God-controlled happening. Nor would he claim that “God is Everything. And God is Good.”
He noted that “God” is as much a mental invention as all other concepts dreamed up by persons. Again, he said, "First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and ... you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
So there is evil, relatively speaking, and Maharaj would neither have endorsed it, welcomed it, nor identified its source as a God.
One of his visitors asked, “Evil and the ending of evil - is it not your own main preoccupation? You may call it ignorance - it comes to the same.” Maharaj did not reject the claim but always saw (relative) evil as being the result of ignorance and selfishness, not the result of a god.
He noted that anger “…is the great destroyer of sanity in life” and that “…the function of the Guru [is] to make us see the madness of our daily living.”
All of that having been noted, therefore, it is suspected that the pure consciousness—be it manifested in a space called Maharaj or anywhere else—would see it as quite insane...quite mad, to teach or to believe that it would be acceptable or necessary for a child to die in order for one to be free of the belief that “I am Mother” and “I am Super Mom.”
Maharaj said, "Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and love.”
Thus it is not likely that he would have suggested that, if one’s child were tossed into a fire by Nazis, then the act happened because (a) God made it happen or that (b) one should love what is.
If You hear a pointer toward Truth, something should resonant within at the level of the inner resource / the inner guru. If the pointer is to a “path” of peace and harmony and Love, then it is pointing to Truth.
And if you hear a pointer that causes a reaction such as “That’s impossible. It can’t be valid!” then question that, study it, inquire further of your teacher, and then take your teacher’s additional pointers into the silence for objective consideration and contemplation.
But if you hear something that results in an inner sense that “Now that is one totally bats**t crazy idea,” have the courage to question it by using your intuitive wisdom and to discard it as complete nonsense. Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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:
