Advaita and the Cheshire Cat’s Smile
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, there is a delightful scene in which the Cheshire Cat, sitting on the toadstool, slowly begins to disappear – until only the smile is left. Walking the Green Belt early this morning, and enjoying this spaciousness of no one– there was just laughter, much like the non-existent Cheshire Cat’s smile.
In this series, the invitation has been made to strip away all traces of self-identity. You have been invited to strip away false identification with the physical body and all mind-based concepts, opinions and beliefs. You have been invited to identify all personas and discard these cloaks of personality e.g. the Mother, the Martyr, the Helper, the Teacher, the Advisor, the Boss, the Victim, the Rescuer, whatever. You have been invited to observe and discard the final persona – the Spiritual Persona and let go of attachments to rituals, practices and other “precious” mind-based spiritual “possessions”. You have been invited to note and discard any attributes that bolster a sense of self-identity via membership of groups or adherence to ideologies. Essentially, You have been invited to strip away EVERYTHING – every trace of identity. In other words, like the Cheshire Cat, the Advaitan Teachings invite You to eliminate all that is personal or that creates a fixed and rigid sense of a bound personal self; to allow the personal to fade away. Why? When You are emptied of EVERYTHING, You are identity-less – there is no longer any experience of separation; no sense of inner and outer; no sense of “me in here” and “world out there”. In the absence of a self, these distinctions disappear, leaving NOTHING -- no separation; non-duality.
Reflect on this pointer by Maharaj on the absence of self-identity:
"To myself, I am neither perceivable nor conceivable; there is nothing I can point out to and say: 'this I am'. You identify yourself with everything so easily; I find it impossible. The feeling 'I am not this or that, nor is anything mine' is so strong in me that as soon as a thing or a thought appears, there comes at once the sense 'this I am not'.
The Advaitan approach is experiential. The Understanding is not grasped by the mind; the approach dissolves the mind. With the removal of this obscuring barrier, the Understanding of Your Real Nature can be directly known. The seeker must walk the “path” – it is not possible to read the Teachings via blog entries like this one and to grasp what is pointed to intellectually.
“So many words you have learnt, so many you have spoken. You know everything, but you do not know yourself. For the self is not known through words, only direct insight will reveal it. Look within, search within.” – Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Advaitan approach involves silent observation of the self. This silent observation does not just occur now and then when the whim arises, or on special holy days or during special meditation sessions. The observation is constant 24/7. It involves the discipline of not engaging the CONTENT of consciousness, but simply observing or witnessing. Any “emotional” charge is usually an indicator of a persona in play or some type of attachment. The pure consciousness is non-attached, charge-less, un-identified. As “floyd” explains, “All happens from a position of neutrality.”
Maharaj offers clear pointers on the action-less, method-less watchfulness that dissolves what is false.
“Do not try to become anything. Do nothing! Without thinking on any of your words, remain quiet. Once a word sprouts it creates a meaning and then you ride on it. You follow the meanings of your words and claim that you are in search of your self. So be wakeful to that state which is prior to the sprouting of words.”
“Don't talk of means, there are no means. What you see as false, dissolves. It is the very nature of illusion to dissolve on investigation. Investigate - that is all. You cannot destroy the false, for you are creating it all the time. Withdraw from it, ignore it, go beyond, and it will cease to be.”
The Advaitan Teachings offer no practices, no rituals, no means, no concepts (except teaching metaphors used temporarily / thorns to remove thorns), no holy books. The invitation is to become Your own teacher, to allow the pointers to Truth to dissolve what is false, to eliminate everything and anything that has been accumulated via a society that reveres accumulation (especially of mental concepts and beliefs). Stripped of the weighty baggage of BS that binds together this false sense of personal identity, You may find Yourself fading away like the Cheshire Cat. You may enjoy the delight of being insignificant; an irrelevancy; as consequential as one grain of sand on the beach. Suffering and confusion are bound up with this false sense of personal identity. Have courage; allow the Teachings to have their effect; dissolve what is untrue … and enjoy the freedom of what is impersonal and uncontaminated; of what is natural and spontaneous. Return to Your Natural State.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
(For extending teaching on transitioning the false sense of personal identity the ebook: From the I to the Absolute and the DVD of the Advaita Retreat - see below)
Now available for those who would attend “The Advaitin Retreat / Four-Day Satsang with floyd” but cannot do so for time or cost considerations:
Andy Gugar attended some 12-14 hours of satsang with Floyd and determined at some point that the Advaita retreat pointers should be accessible to all that might be interested. As a result of that vision and his willingness to defray a large part of the initial equipment and production costs, the entire retreat is now available via DVD or via a downloadable computer file version.
The downloadable file version is available to all and eliminates the expensive international shipping costs and/or the costs associated with the DVD production. Conversely, only 25 sets of the DVD version are available. Also as a result of Andy’s support, the first 25 DVD sets ordered will received a complimentary copy of the “Spirit Journey to Your True Self” CD without charge.
The 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set (or the same retreat available as a downloadable file) provide an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd. Either version can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from
identification with the I
to
abidance as the Absolute
and to
that which is beyond as well.
Some are already using the computer file version and the initial pre-release versions of the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.
To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, you may click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
[Option "A" is for the downloadable file version, Option "B" is for DVD orders to be shipped inside the U.S., and Option “C” for international orders].
Comments / clarifications may be sent to louise.advaita@gmail.com – a temporary email address available for the duration of these guest postings.
The downloadable file version is available to all and eliminates the expensive international shipping costs and/or the costs associated with the DVD production. Conversely, only 25 sets of the DVD version are available. Also as a result of Andy’s support, the first 25 DVD sets ordered will received a complimentary copy of the “Spirit Journey to Your True Self” CD without charge.
The 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set (or the same retreat available as a downloadable file) provide an entire seven-hour retreat / satsang showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by floyd. Either version can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from
identification with the I
to
abidance as the Absolute
and to
that which is beyond as well.
Some are already using the computer file version and the initial pre-release versions of the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.
To find out more or to purchase the DVD set or the downloadable computer file version of the retreat, you may click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
[Option "A" is for the downloadable file version, Option "B" is for DVD orders to be shipped inside the U.S., and Option “C” for international orders].
Comments / clarifications may be sent to louise.advaita@gmail.com – a temporary email address available for the duration of these guest postings.
