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]
F.: So far, as the obstacles to Realization have been noted and as solutions are being offered to avoid those obstacles, it has been noted that...
(1) …no one will ever Realize who seeks via the writings or words of the “big teachers” because those teachers have their own agenda which involves teaching concepts that appeal to the desires (and sometimes the fears) of the masses rather than directing seekers along a specific “path” to Realisation;
(2) …no one will ever Realize who is attached to the concept of “hierarchies” or who is attached to any ego-and-egotism-based-beliefs about “separation” and "different from" and “better than” or “worse than”;
and next…
(3) …no one will ever Realize who reads any set of books that is not explaining the exact steps on the “path” in the order in which they must be taken; or who reads any book that is not an explication of the exact steps on the “path” and that offers the order in which the exact steps must be taken; or who attends a retreat where there are discussions of anything other than the exact steps on the “path” and the exact order in which they must be taken.
As with Maharaj and as on this site, there are seekers at various “places” on the “path” who ask a variety of questions or who make a variety of comments. In the end, the questions or comments are used to determine exactly where on the “path” any given seeker is; then, pointers to the next step on the “path” are offered.
Dennis Waite offered this pointer in that regard: “As ever, in the philosophy of Advaita, the teaching is graded to suit the level of understanding of the student - and it is no use trying to 'jump levels' if we have not yet grasped the lower level principles.”
In the end, therefore, all will be for naught if all of the steps on the “path” are not completed, and all will also be for naught if the steps are not completed in their exact order.
If you survey what it is that earnest seekers are reading (and know they are reading the famous works by the "big teachers" because those teachers/lecturers/authors are being promoted across the globe by a well-oiled marketing machine), you would understand why there is no wonder at all about why even the most earnest of seekers seldom find.
As noted here before, if you take Maharaj’s estimate of the number of persons on the planet who will ever be Realized at any given moment, the total amounts to no more than 1.5% of the entire population.
That percentage may actually be decreasing now that so many seekers are being exposed to the concepts being taught by those persons referred to as “big teachers” by Maharaj. So consider if you will these pointers about the “real journey” and the “real path” and about how it must be completed:
Maharaj: “…You should go back, reverse, to the source.”
Maharaj: “Follow the same path by which you came.”
Dennis Waite: “It is the perennial problem of the teacher to be able to judge where the student currently is in his or her understanding and lead them onwards from there.”
Dennis Waite: “All levels of identification must be transcended and this should be done in a controlled and stepwise manner that has been validated through millennia of teaching. Attractive though it might seem, it is not possible to jump straight to the end.” [Bold added]
As noted before, you can read all the books you like about how delicious a certain food tastes; you can travel across the ocean to find that “big restaurant” and that "big chef" that is the most famous for that particular food; you can gather all of the knowledge you want about that particular food you like and about the famous chef and about the chef's “big restaurant” and about the famous dish the chef serves up in a presentation that is attractive and appealing to the masses;
you can read reviews about how wonderful the restaurant and the chef and the food all are; you can join the masses who are flocking to the chef; and you can pay thousands of dollars to watch others eat the food and then listen to them describe how wonderful the food tastes;
you can find a list of the ingredients that the chef uses and you can become an expert on that chef's concepts about the right type of pan and the right type of stove and the right type of utensils; but if you do not have the step-by-step directions for moving through the process of preparing that dish, then you will never have what you seek and you will never taste what others are tasting.
You can do all of that and you can travel everywhere and you can pay to hear the famous chef talk and you can hear others try unsuccessfully to teach what the famous chef knew. Yet, for what? You will never, in the end, even so much as taste the food. All you will be doing is paying to watch others eat that which you will never eat or to hear someone talk about the dish rather than finding a guide or a teacher that can hand it to you on a platter.
What could possibly come if you do not know the steps by which the food you seek can manifest in its full and proper state? To what end can you be led by all of your reading, by all of your respect for the chef, by all of your trying this process to prepare the dish, and by all of your trying that process to prepare the dish if the chef never reveals the step-by-step process involved? It will all be for naught. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
(1) …no one will ever Realize who seeks via the writings or words of the “big teachers” because those teachers have their own agenda which involves teaching concepts that appeal to the desires (and sometimes the fears) of the masses rather than directing seekers along a specific “path” to Realisation;
(2) …no one will ever Realize who is attached to the concept of “hierarchies” or who is attached to any ego-and-egotism-based-beliefs about “separation” and "different from" and “better than” or “worse than”;
and next…
(3) …no one will ever Realize who reads any set of books that is not explaining the exact steps on the “path” in the order in which they must be taken; or who reads any book that is not an explication of the exact steps on the “path” and that offers the order in which the exact steps must be taken; or who attends a retreat where there are discussions of anything other than the exact steps on the “path” and the exact order in which they must be taken.
As with Maharaj and as on this site, there are seekers at various “places” on the “path” who ask a variety of questions or who make a variety of comments. In the end, the questions or comments are used to determine exactly where on the “path” any given seeker is; then, pointers to the next step on the “path” are offered.
Dennis Waite offered this pointer in that regard: “As ever, in the philosophy of Advaita, the teaching is graded to suit the level of understanding of the student - and it is no use trying to 'jump levels' if we have not yet grasped the lower level principles.”
In the end, therefore, all will be for naught if all of the steps on the “path” are not completed, and all will also be for naught if the steps are not completed in their exact order.
If you survey what it is that earnest seekers are reading (and know they are reading the famous works by the "big teachers" because those teachers/lecturers/authors are being promoted across the globe by a well-oiled marketing machine), you would understand why there is no wonder at all about why even the most earnest of seekers seldom find.
As noted here before, if you take Maharaj’s estimate of the number of persons on the planet who will ever be Realized at any given moment, the total amounts to no more than 1.5% of the entire population.
That percentage may actually be decreasing now that so many seekers are being exposed to the concepts being taught by those persons referred to as “big teachers” by Maharaj. So consider if you will these pointers about the “real journey” and the “real path” and about how it must be completed:
Maharaj: “…You should go back, reverse, to the source.”
Maharaj: “Follow the same path by which you came.”
Dennis Waite: “It is the perennial problem of the teacher to be able to judge where the student currently is in his or her understanding and lead them onwards from there.”
Dennis Waite: “All levels of identification must be transcended and this should be done in a controlled and stepwise manner that has been validated through millennia of teaching. Attractive though it might seem, it is not possible to jump straight to the end.” [Bold added]
As noted before, you can read all the books you like about how delicious a certain food tastes; you can travel across the ocean to find that “big restaurant” and that "big chef" that is the most famous for that particular food; you can gather all of the knowledge you want about that particular food you like and about the famous chef and about the chef's “big restaurant” and about the famous dish the chef serves up in a presentation that is attractive and appealing to the masses;
you can read reviews about how wonderful the restaurant and the chef and the food all are; you can join the masses who are flocking to the chef; and you can pay thousands of dollars to watch others eat the food and then listen to them describe how wonderful the food tastes;
you can find a list of the ingredients that the chef uses and you can become an expert on that chef's concepts about the right type of pan and the right type of stove and the right type of utensils; but if you do not have the step-by-step directions for moving through the process of preparing that dish, then you will never have what you seek and you will never taste what others are tasting.
You can do all of that and you can travel everywhere and you can pay to hear the famous chef talk and you can hear others try unsuccessfully to teach what the famous chef knew. Yet, for what? You will never, in the end, even so much as taste the food. All you will be doing is paying to watch others eat that which you will never eat or to hear someone talk about the dish rather than finding a guide or a teacher that can hand it to you on a platter.
What could possibly come if you do not know the steps by which the food you seek can manifest in its full and proper state? To what end can you be led by all of your reading, by all of your respect for the chef, by all of your trying this process to prepare the dish, and by all of your trying that process to prepare the dish if the chef never reveals the step-by-step process involved? It will all be for naught. Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Coming soon for those who would attend “An Advaitin Retreat / Four-Day Satsang with floyd” but cannot do so for whatever reason:
1. A 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set with an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang shows three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of meetings that will move the viewers from:
Some are already using the earliest version of the retreat via a downloadable computer file and meeting in small groups in homes and watching the satsang sessions, pausing for discussion, etc.
2. For those who prefer not to pay shipping fees or the cost of international shipping for the DVD set which should soon be available, the same retreat can be attained at ½ price and without shipping via an e-mailed link that will allow you to download the retreat in the computer file format mentioned above. [While there is, of course, a difference in the quality of the DVDs as opposed to a downloadable computer file, all of the retreat / satsang content is the same.]
The disk set will be available near the end of September. More details and the means for obtaining either the DVD set or the downloadable version of the retreat will be provided then.
1. A 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set with an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang shows three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of meetings that will move the viewers from:
identification with the I
to
abidance as the Absolute.
to
abidance as the Absolute.
Some are already using the earliest version of the retreat via a downloadable computer file and meeting in small groups in homes and watching the satsang sessions, pausing for discussion, etc.
2. For those who prefer not to pay shipping fees or the cost of international shipping for the DVD set which should soon be available, the same retreat can be attained at ½ price and without shipping via an e-mailed link that will allow you to download the retreat in the computer file format mentioned above. [While there is, of course, a difference in the quality of the DVDs as opposed to a downloadable computer file, all of the retreat / satsang content is the same.]
The disk set will be available near the end of September. More details and the means for obtaining either the DVD set or the downloadable version of the retreat will be provided then.
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:
