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.: Yesterday’s post offered this pointer:
“How disgusting it must sound to those who are trapped in their “I am god” grandiosity to read, ‘You are nothing, and knowing that is wisdom’.” The opposite of wisdom is ignorance, so to believe that you are “something” instead of knowing that You Are nothing is ignorance.
Certain Eastern cultures have historically “set the curve” on understanding the wisdom of de-accumulation, yet even supposed adherents to the teachings of de-accumulation nevertheless accumulate. They accumulate new, “good” personas such as “The Religious One” or “The Spiritual Giant”;
they accumulate new identities, such as “The One at One With God”; and some accumulate the new, sanctified role of “a God” or “God.”
To believe that an assumed divine role is real is to set the stage for fluctuation and for interrupted harmony because other persons will never consistently provide the level of respect and adoration that the one assuming a divine role expects. (That is why narcissists and sociopaths can never be consistently happy.)
Furthermore, if you believe (A) that you are “at one with” god or if you believe that you are "a god" yourself, and if you now understand that (B) personality trumps god, then where do you think you will rank in the personal opinion of the masses? The desires of their personalities will always trump your newly-assumed identity of God.
What are the odds of your receiving the kind of respect you will think you deserve for being a super-spiritual person or a godlike person or a godly person or a god-person when the masses cannot even rank the will of the god they already believe in above the will of their own personalities?
And consider one relative impact: notice what happens, for example, when a marriage that had been moving along swimmingly sees one person assume the role of "The Godly Person" or "The God-person." Often, the assumption of the new persona will bring about disharmony or even an end to the marriage because the other partner will never be good enough for one who has self-elevated his / her status to that of "deity."
Such God-persons will always be “brought back down to earth” as others do not treat them in the manner that someone who is assuming the identity of “God” expects to be treated. Then, those assuming the role of God-person will be forever involved in trying to convince themselves and others, over and over, that they really are gods and are thereby entitled to all of the rights and privileges thereof.
Some might agree to believe whatever the supposed God-person claims (as happens often in modern cults) but others will not, so the cycles of fluctuation and instability will continue thusly unless Full Realization happens.
Only if the original no-identity state is reached can all delusion and self-delusion end, but for thousands of years, persons have found far more appealing the teachings and beliefs that suggest they can be “at one with” god or even a god themselves.
In fact, the two concepts of apotheosis and deification have been humankind’s longest-running and most-widely popular ideas among "the religious" and "the spiritual" because both play right into man’s propensity for dreaming up the most grandiose of self-concepts and self-identifications (or even Self-identification).
THE ARROGANCE OF APOTHEOSIS AND DEIFICATION
Those trapped at the third of seven steps on the “path” to Realization are fixated at what Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj called “the level of kindergarten spirituality.” Here, You have been invited since the summer of 2005 to focus less on “something” and more on “nothing.”
You have been invited to enter into the lightness of satisfaction…to be satisfied with less by abandoning the quest for more; to seek more to understand who you are not rather than trying to lock down some new, better-than-ever identity; and to give less value to “something” and to be satisfied with…nothing.
If you have been invited to the lightness of being by having been encouraged to abandon all of “the small stuff,” imagine how much more freeing it could be—how much lighter your relative existence could be—if you would now abandon the “big stuff.”
And what “bigger stuff” is to be abandoned in the quest for lightness than the heaviness and grandiosity and pomposity and weightiness of believing in the concepts of “apotheosis” and “deification”?
The literal meaning of apotheosis is “man becoming god.” Deification involves either being treated like a god or being elevated to the status of god or becoming god.
The earliest cults and pagan religions incorporated the deification of man into their dogma, and since all modern religions are nothing more than modern versions of the ancient cults and pagan religions which have undergone sometimes-slight-modification and sometimes-slightly-more-mutation, then the notions of deification and apotheosis are still being taught by many religions and spiritual groups and philosophies.
[For example, Mormons teach that their men will eventually become gods and that their women cannot enter into heaven until each of their husbands becomes a god and then pulls the wife-floating-in-space through “the veil,” an act that is incorporated into the marriage ceremony as a “test run.” During the ceremony, a veil with a slit is set between the two, and the male whispers the secret name he has assigned to her (the name she will listen for as she floats along the length of the veil with many other women some day) and he pulls her through to "the other side." In their theology, there is not one god or a few gods but there are millions and billions of gods—all formerly human, Mormon men. And yes, that is also evidence of the fact that the billions of persons who presently report that they are among the membership of one of the three sky cults of Abraham—Judaism, Christianity, or Islam—or members among their offspring, are members of the most chauvinistic institutions on the planet, but that is an ignorance-based situation better suited for discussion in another series.]
As noted, many seekers today are on a quest to become at one with God and claim that they are accomplishing their goal by sacrificing the individual ego; others today, and historically, have sought to be elevated to the status of God or to be God.
In either case, any assertions regarding humbleness or meekness are mere lip service to humility because both of the scenarios above, in the end, involve the attempted enlargement of the individual, personal ego.
Of all of the forms-cum-consciousness on the planet, only one deals with the individual, personal ego, so it is only persons that are constantly in a state of flux...shifting into and out of peace, into and out of egotism, and into and out of mental, emotional and spiritual stability. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
“How disgusting it must sound to those who are trapped in their “I am god” grandiosity to read, ‘You are nothing, and knowing that is wisdom’.” The opposite of wisdom is ignorance, so to believe that you are “something” instead of knowing that You Are nothing is ignorance.
Certain Eastern cultures have historically “set the curve” on understanding the wisdom of de-accumulation, yet even supposed adherents to the teachings of de-accumulation nevertheless accumulate. They accumulate new, “good” personas such as “The Religious One” or “The Spiritual Giant”;
they accumulate new identities, such as “The One at One With God”; and some accumulate the new, sanctified role of “a God” or “God.”
To believe that an assumed divine role is real is to set the stage for fluctuation and for interrupted harmony because other persons will never consistently provide the level of respect and adoration that the one assuming a divine role expects. (That is why narcissists and sociopaths can never be consistently happy.)
Furthermore, if you believe (A) that you are “at one with” god or if you believe that you are "a god" yourself, and if you now understand that (B) personality trumps god, then where do you think you will rank in the personal opinion of the masses? The desires of their personalities will always trump your newly-assumed identity of God.
What are the odds of your receiving the kind of respect you will think you deserve for being a super-spiritual person or a godlike person or a godly person or a god-person when the masses cannot even rank the will of the god they already believe in above the will of their own personalities?
And consider one relative impact: notice what happens, for example, when a marriage that had been moving along swimmingly sees one person assume the role of "The Godly Person" or "The God-person." Often, the assumption of the new persona will bring about disharmony or even an end to the marriage because the other partner will never be good enough for one who has self-elevated his / her status to that of "deity."
Such God-persons will always be “brought back down to earth” as others do not treat them in the manner that someone who is assuming the identity of “God” expects to be treated. Then, those assuming the role of God-person will be forever involved in trying to convince themselves and others, over and over, that they really are gods and are thereby entitled to all of the rights and privileges thereof.
Some might agree to believe whatever the supposed God-person claims (as happens often in modern cults) but others will not, so the cycles of fluctuation and instability will continue thusly unless Full Realization happens.
Only if the original no-identity state is reached can all delusion and self-delusion end, but for thousands of years, persons have found far more appealing the teachings and beliefs that suggest they can be “at one with” god or even a god themselves.
In fact, the two concepts of apotheosis and deification have been humankind’s longest-running and most-widely popular ideas among "the religious" and "the spiritual" because both play right into man’s propensity for dreaming up the most grandiose of self-concepts and self-identifications (or even Self-identification).
THE ARROGANCE OF APOTHEOSIS AND DEIFICATION
Those trapped at the third of seven steps on the “path” to Realization are fixated at what Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj called “the level of kindergarten spirituality.” Here, You have been invited since the summer of 2005 to focus less on “something” and more on “nothing.”
You have been invited to enter into the lightness of satisfaction…to be satisfied with less by abandoning the quest for more; to seek more to understand who you are not rather than trying to lock down some new, better-than-ever identity; and to give less value to “something” and to be satisfied with…nothing.
If you have been invited to the lightness of being by having been encouraged to abandon all of “the small stuff,” imagine how much more freeing it could be—how much lighter your relative existence could be—if you would now abandon the “big stuff.”
And what “bigger stuff” is to be abandoned in the quest for lightness than the heaviness and grandiosity and pomposity and weightiness of believing in the concepts of “apotheosis” and “deification”?
The literal meaning of apotheosis is “man becoming god.” Deification involves either being treated like a god or being elevated to the status of god or becoming god.
The earliest cults and pagan religions incorporated the deification of man into their dogma, and since all modern religions are nothing more than modern versions of the ancient cults and pagan religions which have undergone sometimes-slight-modification and sometimes-slightly-more-mutation, then the notions of deification and apotheosis are still being taught by many religions and spiritual groups and philosophies.
[For example, Mormons teach that their men will eventually become gods and that their women cannot enter into heaven until each of their husbands becomes a god and then pulls the wife-floating-in-space through “the veil,” an act that is incorporated into the marriage ceremony as a “test run.” During the ceremony, a veil with a slit is set between the two, and the male whispers the secret name he has assigned to her (the name she will listen for as she floats along the length of the veil with many other women some day) and he pulls her through to "the other side." In their theology, there is not one god or a few gods but there are millions and billions of gods—all formerly human, Mormon men. And yes, that is also evidence of the fact that the billions of persons who presently report that they are among the membership of one of the three sky cults of Abraham—Judaism, Christianity, or Islam—or members among their offspring, are members of the most chauvinistic institutions on the planet, but that is an ignorance-based situation better suited for discussion in another series.]
As noted, many seekers today are on a quest to become at one with God and claim that they are accomplishing their goal by sacrificing the individual ego; others today, and historically, have sought to be elevated to the status of God or to be God.
In either case, any assertions regarding humbleness or meekness are mere lip service to humility because both of the scenarios above, in the end, involve the attempted enlargement of the individual, personal ego.
Of all of the forms-cum-consciousness on the planet, only one deals with the individual, personal ego, so it is only persons that are constantly in a state of flux...shifting into and out of peace, into and out of egotism, and into and out of mental, emotional and spiritual stability. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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.)
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.
