An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Noneness, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
F.: You saw yesterday one argument that a man gave at a retreat to explain why he thought he had to think (while driving, in that case). Other arguments that have been raised in e-mails or satsang include:
“How could people possibly do their job and earn a living if they are not thinking about what they are doing at work?”
F.: "Your boss wishes you were thinking about what you are doing at work, but a fraction of your thoughts during the workday have anything to do with your work."
No, you are not spending the workday absorbed in thoughts about your job; instead, you are thinking far more about other subjects—subjects that are related to the wants and desires of your personas and how those desires are being met or not.”
What people are thinking about (at work, at play, in traffic, when trying unsuccessfully to go to sleep, etc.) are all personality-driven thoughts, namely…
…thoughts about slights that are occupying an egotism-supported ego-state
…thoughts about the way in which some persona believes that it has been interfered with or threatened or harmed
…“positive” thoughts generated when an ego-state / persona is thinking about how wonderful it is that its desires have been met
…thoughts, fearful thoughts, generated when some persona feels as if it is coming to an end (such as when the co-dependent role-player of “lover” or “spouse” is preparing to leave...preparing to stop playing the counterpart role that allows a false persona to continue to be assumed to be real)
Talk about duality and the fact that “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways”! So persons are seldom if ever thinking about what they are claiming that are thinking about; nor are they thinking about those things which they claim they must think about.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about a recent complication or a recent turn of events thought to have turned out positively (that is, turned out in the selfish way their personality wants).
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about their worries, most of which will never come to pass.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about something that did come to pass that they never anticipated…never thought about in advance…never saw coming.
If persons are thinking, their thoughts are being generated either by depression over what they think was a “loss” or by elation over what they think was a “gain.”
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about “The Lover” who left—simple as that but as complicated as that—and “The Lover” may have left twenty minutes ago or twenty years ago yet remains insanely in the person's thoughts.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about something they cannot accept, or they are thinking about trying to accept it (though they—their assumed ego-states—cannot do that either).
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about pitying themselves but also about how they are sick of feeling pity. Thoughts are dualistic.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about the thoughtfulness they are receiving from friends or lovers during a “time of loss” but also about how tired they are of all the care and the time required to acknowledge it. Thoughts are dualistic.
If persons are thinking, they cannot sit but they cannot stand; they cannot focus even as they focus on only one happening in a monomaniacal manner; they cannot tolerate the quiet but are made anxious by the noise. Thoughts drive duality.
And always, the “mind” resorts to “A-B-C”-type thinking:
If she hadn’t said “A,” then I’d never have said “B.”
He did “C”, so he damn well deserved “D” and should be grateful that he didn’t get “E,” “F,” and “G” to boot.
If they hadn’t been involved with “H,” then I would not have been compelled to give them a healthy dose of “I.”
How dare that person say “J” to me. I am highly offended, and don’t have to put up with that. That person is lucky to have gotten off with “K” only.
If they had just agreed to “L,” then I would not have been driven to reap “M” and “N” upon them.
You did “O” and you got “P” and “Q” and “R” in return—that’s how I play it; and if you do “O” again, you’ll get “S” and “T” on top of “P” and “Q” and “R.”
When that person came up with “U,” I should have said “V” or “W” or “X” at the least and probably “Y” and “Z” as well.
“But it is impossible to not think!” one exclaimed during satsang.
The reply: “To the contrary, it is impossible to think. You assume that you see a “floyd” that surely has to think. You are totally in error.
“Here is this animated mud, these pieces of elemental dirt and plant, ever-cycling, ever-changing, with a speck of consciousness therein;
"a speck that is nothing more than a chemical relic associated with a temporarily-manifested fleck of life-force, driven by a simple flow of something electrical that was originally involved in a dance with sunbeams;
"a speck so limited in its manifested scope that all it can do is witness…witness only, as if mute…as if paralyzed…as if in a post-serious-stroke state, really.
"What in that combination can possibly think? Reconsider that which you accuse with such conviction to be thinking—implying as well that some “Thinker” exists. Would that which you accuse of thinking be the mud part or the dirt part? The plant part or the chemical part? The part that is an electrical current, set up by the sun and driving the life-force for the time it is manifested?
“Which of those components could possibly be said to be capable of doing this thinking of which you speak when you have already been told that there is no do-er here at all?
“But if it is pondering that you prefer, ponder upon this: consider what an ugly turn of events it was during the millions of years of mutating that resulted in what is now called 'a human' with a 'mind.'
“Think not, egotistically, that the evolution of the form which now exists as 'human' has been some magnificent progression. The original hard, outer shell that once protected the inner, vulnerable parts of the body have been reversed via mutation—warped into a body with a thin and fragile outer skin while the harder, originally-protective part is within.
“Similarly, believe not that the evolution of the brain has been a happy happening. Humans, once mindless, did just fine; then later, as brain size expanded over millions of years, humans became mindful but functioned for a time with a self-constructive mind (which first evolved in order to help perpetuate the species).
"But consider the foul turn that followed the development of language, an event which allowed programming and conditioning to cause that originally human-friendly-mind to devolve into a self-destructive mass of brain tissue that can store misconceptions, that can recall them later, but that cannot grasp the simple understanding that what was stored was all distorted and that what is recalled is, therefore, distorted, too.
"What a nasty turn of events in the evolution of humans and the human brain is that which now allows the endless thinking of 'thoughts' to happen and to rob persons of peace. What a dirty trick has been played on humanity where now persons give such value and honor to what one dictionary defines thusly:
"Thought: an opinion or personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty but is often considered by the person to be a certainty.
"Because every thought amounts to nothing more than “an opinion or personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty,” then all thoughts are nonsense. Wherefore this high valuation of thoughts and thinking? WHO—what ego-state—is defending its need to think?" Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
“How could people possibly do their job and earn a living if they are not thinking about what they are doing at work?”
F.: "Your boss wishes you were thinking about what you are doing at work, but a fraction of your thoughts during the workday have anything to do with your work."
No, you are not spending the workday absorbed in thoughts about your job; instead, you are thinking far more about other subjects—subjects that are related to the wants and desires of your personas and how those desires are being met or not.”
What people are thinking about (at work, at play, in traffic, when trying unsuccessfully to go to sleep, etc.) are all personality-driven thoughts, namely…
…thoughts about slights that are occupying an egotism-supported ego-state
…thoughts about the way in which some persona believes that it has been interfered with or threatened or harmed
…“positive” thoughts generated when an ego-state / persona is thinking about how wonderful it is that its desires have been met
…thoughts, fearful thoughts, generated when some persona feels as if it is coming to an end (such as when the co-dependent role-player of “lover” or “spouse” is preparing to leave...preparing to stop playing the counterpart role that allows a false persona to continue to be assumed to be real)
Talk about duality and the fact that “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways”! So persons are seldom if ever thinking about what they are claiming that are thinking about; nor are they thinking about those things which they claim they must think about.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about a recent complication or a recent turn of events thought to have turned out positively (that is, turned out in the selfish way their personality wants).
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about their worries, most of which will never come to pass.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about something that did come to pass that they never anticipated…never thought about in advance…never saw coming.
If persons are thinking, their thoughts are being generated either by depression over what they think was a “loss” or by elation over what they think was a “gain.”
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about “The Lover” who left—simple as that but as complicated as that—and “The Lover” may have left twenty minutes ago or twenty years ago yet remains insanely in the person's thoughts.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about something they cannot accept, or they are thinking about trying to accept it (though they—their assumed ego-states—cannot do that either).
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about pitying themselves but also about how they are sick of feeling pity. Thoughts are dualistic.
If persons are thinking, they are thinking about the thoughtfulness they are receiving from friends or lovers during a “time of loss” but also about how tired they are of all the care and the time required to acknowledge it. Thoughts are dualistic.
If persons are thinking, they cannot sit but they cannot stand; they cannot focus even as they focus on only one happening in a monomaniacal manner; they cannot tolerate the quiet but are made anxious by the noise. Thoughts drive duality.
And always, the “mind” resorts to “A-B-C”-type thinking:
If she hadn’t said “A,” then I’d never have said “B.”
He did “C”, so he damn well deserved “D” and should be grateful that he didn’t get “E,” “F,” and “G” to boot.
If they hadn’t been involved with “H,” then I would not have been compelled to give them a healthy dose of “I.”
How dare that person say “J” to me. I am highly offended, and don’t have to put up with that. That person is lucky to have gotten off with “K” only.
If they had just agreed to “L,” then I would not have been driven to reap “M” and “N” upon them.
You did “O” and you got “P” and “Q” and “R” in return—that’s how I play it; and if you do “O” again, you’ll get “S” and “T” on top of “P” and “Q” and “R.”
When that person came up with “U,” I should have said “V” or “W” or “X” at the least and probably “Y” and “Z” as well.
“But it is impossible to not think!” one exclaimed during satsang.
The reply: “To the contrary, it is impossible to think. You assume that you see a “floyd” that surely has to think. You are totally in error.
“Here is this animated mud, these pieces of elemental dirt and plant, ever-cycling, ever-changing, with a speck of consciousness therein;
"a speck that is nothing more than a chemical relic associated with a temporarily-manifested fleck of life-force, driven by a simple flow of something electrical that was originally involved in a dance with sunbeams;
"a speck so limited in its manifested scope that all it can do is witness…witness only, as if mute…as if paralyzed…as if in a post-serious-stroke state, really.
"What in that combination can possibly think? Reconsider that which you accuse with such conviction to be thinking—implying as well that some “Thinker” exists. Would that which you accuse of thinking be the mud part or the dirt part? The plant part or the chemical part? The part that is an electrical current, set up by the sun and driving the life-force for the time it is manifested?
“Which of those components could possibly be said to be capable of doing this thinking of which you speak when you have already been told that there is no do-er here at all?
“But if it is pondering that you prefer, ponder upon this: consider what an ugly turn of events it was during the millions of years of mutating that resulted in what is now called 'a human' with a 'mind.'
“Think not, egotistically, that the evolution of the form which now exists as 'human' has been some magnificent progression. The original hard, outer shell that once protected the inner, vulnerable parts of the body have been reversed via mutation—warped into a body with a thin and fragile outer skin while the harder, originally-protective part is within.
“Similarly, believe not that the evolution of the brain has been a happy happening. Humans, once mindless, did just fine; then later, as brain size expanded over millions of years, humans became mindful but functioned for a time with a self-constructive mind (which first evolved in order to help perpetuate the species).
"But consider the foul turn that followed the development of language, an event which allowed programming and conditioning to cause that originally human-friendly-mind to devolve into a self-destructive mass of brain tissue that can store misconceptions, that can recall them later, but that cannot grasp the simple understanding that what was stored was all distorted and that what is recalled is, therefore, distorted, too.
"What a nasty turn of events in the evolution of humans and the human brain is that which now allows the endless thinking of 'thoughts' to happen and to rob persons of peace. What a dirty trick has been played on humanity where now persons give such value and honor to what one dictionary defines thusly:
"Thought: an opinion or personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty but is often considered by the person to be a certainty.
"Because every thought amounts to nothing more than “an opinion or personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty,” then all thoughts are nonsense. Wherefore this high valuation of thoughts and thinking? WHO—what ego-state—is defending its need to think?" Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Upcoming Series:
** SITE CO-HOST LOUISE STERLING WILL BE POSTING FROM NOVEMBER 17-20. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE WRITTEN TO PRAISE THE RELEVANCE OF WHAT THAT SPECK OF CONSCIOUSNESS SHARES AND TO ASK WHEN SHE’LL POST NEXT, THOSE ARE THE DATES.
** THE ULTIMATE REALIZATION THAT CAN FREE YOU TO LIVE IN THE NISARGA WAY WITHOUT FLUCTUATION
SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:
1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and 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 then to abidance as That Which Is beyond
Some seekers are already using the computer file version and 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, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.
For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.
[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]
2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)
** SITE CO-HOST LOUISE STERLING WILL BE POSTING FROM NOVEMBER 17-20. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE WRITTEN TO PRAISE THE RELEVANCE OF WHAT THAT SPECK OF CONSCIOUSNESS SHARES AND TO ASK WHEN SHE’LL POST NEXT, THOSE ARE THE DATES.
** THE ULTIMATE REALIZATION THAT CAN FREE YOU TO LIVE IN THE NISARGA WAY WITHOUT FLUCTUATION
SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:
1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and 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 then to abidance as That Which Is beyond
Some seekers are already using the computer file version and 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, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.
For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.
[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]
2. BY READING these books in this exact order:
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]
THE MEDITATION GUIDES
[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]
LIBERATION
[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
[Directs the seeker along the “path”]
CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)
[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]
Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.
SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:
(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)
You may visit The Official Website of Floyd Henderson for information on each book.
3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course
4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.
5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session
6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.
3. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes
For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet
To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course
4. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat for satsang with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.
5. BY ARRANGING satsang by telephone in the U.S. or by Skype internationally:
Use the Contact link for details or for information on making arrangements for a session
6. BY ARRANGING for floyd to travel to your location and meet with you or your group. Use the contact link above to discuss details.
