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]
Beginning tomorrow, a guest contributor (Louise of South Africa) will assume the task of offering daily postings for the first half of September. A Realized Advaitin and a professional writer, she will share observations and considerations and insights that You will enjoy along with her skill at placing into words the pointers that point toward the Truth that cannot be stated. You will see the way that the relative existence can unfold when Reality is overlaid upon the relative and when beauty and Love are witnessed regularly. You will relish the lightness of her being as well as her post-Realization joy which You will most assuredly sense. What she shares will strike a chord and will resonate within. She understands fully the Wisdom of Noneness and the Real Love of Oneness, so please visit during September to receive pointers that will most assuredly be worth your consideration.
[NOTE: floyd will not be available to respond to e-mails during that period.]
FROM A SITE VISITOR: Didn’t you read some of those books your [sic] warning about? What’s the harm?
F.: If i had not read all of those books, and if they had been anything other than a distraction from the “path” to the Realization and freedom and happiness and peace which was being sought, then any considerations being offered about them now would be based in conjecture only.
Read every books you must, and burn everything you must burn, and ring everything you must ring, and knell or lie prostrate and do all the trappings of doingness that are available, but understand that none of that will provide lasting freedom, lasting peace, or lasting happiness for the remainder of the manifestation.
It will be no more effective than going into and out of samadhi, and it will be no more effective than sitting in the quiet for fifteen minutes in the morning before leaving your home and entering the chaotic traffic on the way to work and shortly thereafter forfeiting once more your peace and freedom and happiness.
The alternative is to fixate in the peace and freedom and happiness that all happen automatically and spontaneously—without effort or work or doingness—post-Realization. So how is that to happen, in light of all of the obstacles? Some suggestions have been offered, but the final pointer will be presented via an analogy:
Many of you have likely heard the name “Sir Edmund Percival Hillary” from New Zealand who reached the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953. But have you heard the name “Tenzing Norgay”? Not likely, but it was Tenzing Norgay who was the sherpa who guided Hillary to the summit.
Many have also likely heard the names of others who have also been lauded for having climbed Mt. Everest on one publicized occasion or another, but have you heard the name “Appa”? While the spotlight is usually cast only upon the famous climbers, Appa has climbed the mountain nineteen times and has led many of those who reached the summit.
(It would take a bit of the luster off the achievement of the noted climbers if—during their post-climb interviews while they were saying “Well, yes, it is a tremendous feat I have accomplished”—Appa were in the background and a friend were holding up a sign with an arrow pointing at Appa that read, “Ha…he’s done the same thing nineteen times.”)
How important is a guide on the “journey”? Before 1990, when experienced guides became readily available, there were 179 fatalities on Everest. Now, the fatality rate has dropped to a fraction of the earlier toll because sherpas / guides are available to show the way.
The same is true for your “journey”: if you are a seeker trying to navigate around the obstacles on “the path” to Full Realization, the key to success is to find an “Advaitin Appa,” so to speak, that is, a guide that has traveled the “path” first herself or himself and then traveled it time and again with other seekers.
Appa knows the exact “path” to follow to the summit. He does not divert the attention of the climbers whom he is guiding in order to inform them about all sorts of unrelated information that is totally irrelevant to the completion of the journey.
He charges for his services as a guide, not for lectures on how the climbers can be a better person or on how they can get power and use it to control and accumulate or on all of the mental and spiritual exercises they must do on a daily basis to negotiate the relative existence.
He is all about showing them how to find the way to the end of the “path” which they must travel if they are to reach the end of the “journey.” Everything he says is said to show them the way, not to distract from the way.
He offers no pointers to other paths but points only to the path that he has followed time and again and which he knows for a fact will lead the seekers to that which they seek.
Those who have succeeded in their effort to reach the summit did so because long before they ever attempted to travel the “path,” they spent the necessary time and energy to find an experienced guide first, a guide who knew the way and knew how to show them the way. So it is with seekers who would follow the “path” to Full Realization. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
F.: If i had not read all of those books, and if they had been anything other than a distraction from the “path” to the Realization and freedom and happiness and peace which was being sought, then any considerations being offered about them now would be based in conjecture only.
Read every books you must, and burn everything you must burn, and ring everything you must ring, and knell or lie prostrate and do all the trappings of doingness that are available, but understand that none of that will provide lasting freedom, lasting peace, or lasting happiness for the remainder of the manifestation.
It will be no more effective than going into and out of samadhi, and it will be no more effective than sitting in the quiet for fifteen minutes in the morning before leaving your home and entering the chaotic traffic on the way to work and shortly thereafter forfeiting once more your peace and freedom and happiness.
The alternative is to fixate in the peace and freedom and happiness that all happen automatically and spontaneously—without effort or work or doingness—post-Realization. So how is that to happen, in light of all of the obstacles? Some suggestions have been offered, but the final pointer will be presented via an analogy:
Many of you have likely heard the name “Sir Edmund Percival Hillary” from New Zealand who reached the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953. But have you heard the name “Tenzing Norgay”? Not likely, but it was Tenzing Norgay who was the sherpa who guided Hillary to the summit.
Many have also likely heard the names of others who have also been lauded for having climbed Mt. Everest on one publicized occasion or another, but have you heard the name “Appa”? While the spotlight is usually cast only upon the famous climbers, Appa has climbed the mountain nineteen times and has led many of those who reached the summit.
(It would take a bit of the luster off the achievement of the noted climbers if—during their post-climb interviews while they were saying “Well, yes, it is a tremendous feat I have accomplished”—Appa were in the background and a friend were holding up a sign with an arrow pointing at Appa that read, “Ha…he’s done the same thing nineteen times.”)
How important is a guide on the “journey”? Before 1990, when experienced guides became readily available, there were 179 fatalities on Everest. Now, the fatality rate has dropped to a fraction of the earlier toll because sherpas / guides are available to show the way.
The same is true for your “journey”: if you are a seeker trying to navigate around the obstacles on “the path” to Full Realization, the key to success is to find an “Advaitin Appa,” so to speak, that is, a guide that has traveled the “path” first herself or himself and then traveled it time and again with other seekers.
Appa knows the exact “path” to follow to the summit. He does not divert the attention of the climbers whom he is guiding in order to inform them about all sorts of unrelated information that is totally irrelevant to the completion of the journey.
He charges for his services as a guide, not for lectures on how the climbers can be a better person or on how they can get power and use it to control and accumulate or on all of the mental and spiritual exercises they must do on a daily basis to negotiate the relative existence.
He is all about showing them how to find the way to the end of the “path” which they must travel if they are to reach the end of the “journey.” Everything he says is said to show them the way, not to distract from the way.
He offers no pointers to other paths but points only to the path that he has followed time and again and which he knows for a fact will lead the seekers to that which they seek.
Those who have succeeded in their effort to reach the summit did so because long before they ever attempted to travel the “path,” they spent the necessary time and energy to find an experienced guide first, a guide who knew the way and knew how to show them the way. So it is with seekers who would follow the “path” to Full Realization. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Coming soon for those who would attend
“An Advaitin Retreat / Four-Day Satsang with floyd”
but cannot do so for whatever reason:
A 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set with an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang that shows three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd and that can allow viewers to also “experience” a step-by-step series of meetings that will move the viewers from
identification with the I
to
abidance as the Absolute
Some are already using the computer file version and meeting in groups in homes and playing the file, pausing it for discussion, etc.
2. For those who prefer not to pay U.S. shipping fees or the cost of international shipping, 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 as a computer file. [While there is, of course, a difference in the quality of a DVD as opposed to a downloadable computer file, all of the retreat / satsang content is the same.]
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. Because of the assistance provided by a generous benefactor that wants the message delivered, the first 25 sets of the DVD ordered or pre-ordered will also include a free copy of the CD
"Floyd Henderson's 'Spirit Journey to Your TRUE SELF': Guided Meditation for Relaxation, Healing and Visualization"
“An Advaitin Retreat / Four-Day Satsang with floyd”
but cannot do so for whatever reason:
A 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set with an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang that shows three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd and that can allow viewers to also “experience” a step-by-step series of meetings that will move the viewers from
identification with the I
to
abidance as the Absolute
Some are already using the computer file version and meeting in groups in homes and playing the file, pausing it for discussion, etc.
2. For those who prefer not to pay U.S. shipping fees or the cost of international shipping, 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 as a computer file. [While there is, of course, a difference in the quality of a DVD as opposed to a downloadable computer file, all of the retreat / satsang content is the same.]
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. Because of the assistance provided by a generous benefactor that wants the message delivered, the first 25 sets of the DVD ordered or pre-ordered will also include a free copy of the CD
"Floyd Henderson's 'Spirit Journey to Your TRUE SELF': Guided Meditation for Relaxation, Healing and Visualization"
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:
