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.
Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.
F.: Yesterday’s post included these pointers:
**What persons have lost touch with are the nisarga (natural) longings, including the natural longing to return to the formlessness, and the upcoming posts will focus on the “de-” and not on the “ad-”; and
**the invitation is, therefore, to shift to a state of de-specialization, to de-accumulation, to de-personalization, to de-identification, to de-conceptualization, to decrease, to deflation, to deletion, and to detachment.
DE-Specialization
Consider, therefore, the pointers offered in regards to “de-specializing.” In terms of the Advaitin teachings, the invitation of "de-" is to move away from belief in any notion that “you are special.”
You are not special by parentage, by heritage, by nationality, by race, by party, by affiliations, by intelligence, by financial standing, by association, by accumulation, by religiosity, by spirituality, by anything.
The invitation of de-" is also to move away from the arrogance of belief in differentiation and special-ness to an understanding that (a) not only are you not special but that (b) “you” are not at all.
Recently an e-mail was received with this: “What is it about persons that make them believe that they are so special?” The short answer was “programming, conditioning, acculturation and domestication along with excessively heavy doses of ego and egotism.”
As explained many times on this site, and to adumbrate the pointer from Maharaj that was shared yesterday, “After the information given to you by the mother, that you are a boy or girl, all your further acquisitions are but hearsay.”
What are those “further acquisitions?” The phrase used here yesterday to point toward those acquisitions was “the inflation of ego and egotism.” What is acquired after the information given by the mother is one false role after another which are all soon inflated and upgraded in the “mind” of the one assuming such roles.
Call those acquisitions “false identities” or “personas” or “stage characters” or “personalities” or “false self / selves” or “individuals” or “roles” or “ego-states,” it matters not. Inflation and upgrading will happen. “Lover” will always elevate itself to “Super Lover” status; “Spouse” will always elevate itself to “Super Spouse”;
“Boss” will be elevated to “Super Boss,” ad infinitum. Then the misery begins because “The Lover” only requires a co-dependent “lover” to exist, but “The Super Lover” must have “A Super Lover” to maintain its illusion of self-ness and special-ness; yet no one will be able to meet the criteria set forth by the false identity that upgrades its false self.
Therefore, no super spouse counterpart will ever be good enough for “The Super Spouse” and no super employee counterpart will ever be good enough for “The Super Boss.” When the “further acquisitions” reach scores in number, the sources of misery will also reach scores in number.
Acquire four-score false identities over the period of a decade or two, upgrade the selves to some "super special" status, and ten to twenty years of frustration and / or misery will be guaranteed to follow.
In the end, what is key to understanding the delusion of belief in being special is understanding the fact that when an ego-state is acquired, then ego-defense mechanisms trigger in order to support and defend and maintain that false image…that totally bogus identity.
The more acquisitions there are, the more rationalization will be used, the more projection will be used, the more victimization and blame will be used, and the more egotism will manifest.
Eventually, once immersed in an ocean of ostentatiousness, full-blown waves of grandiosity and pomposity and arrogance will be whipped up by the tempest of pretentiousness;
then the “minds” of persons immersed thusly in their sense of being “special” and “better than” will be flooded with a tsunami of beliefs about “separation” and “hierarchies” and “differentiation.”
“Won’t spirituality address the issue and return one to a state of humility and a sense of at-one-ment?” it has been asked. The reply is always:
“Note how far removed ‘The Really Special Spiritual Giants’ on the mountaintop are from what they perceive to be the lowly, non-special masses who are walking about in the darkness of the shadows of the valleys below;
“note how ‘Super Spiritual Personas’ believe that the masses could join them on the mountaintop if only the masses would but learn what the spiritual ones have learned; note how the ones on the mountaintop want others to think as they think, talk as they talk, and do as they do. Then answer your own question.”
The acquisition of any persona—be it one thought to be “good” or one thought to be “bad”—will…
(A) always trigger a sense of status and a sense of special-ness, and will…
(B) always trigger a resulting sense of better-than-ness and—therefore—a false sense of separation and belief in duality.
So blinded are persons by the egotism that always accompanies the assumption of ego-states that they will believe that the ocean differs from the sea, that some swells are better than others, and that floating along on a wave of self-absorption is the grandest way of all to move about.
What, other than a belief in duality, could possibly result from such notions about being special and being different and being unique? The invitation is to de-specialize, that is, to cast aside any and all notions about being “special” and “different.” You are not. Nothing is.
Days are not “special” or “different from” or “holier” than other days, and no books are “special” or “different from” or “holier” than other books; weather is neither “good” nor “bad,” so there are no “especially nice days” or “really bad days.”
There are no nations that are “special” or “different from,” and there are no persons who are “special” or “different from.” To believe the opposite is to be trapped in the ignorance of duality. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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
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.)
For more information or to order, click:
DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat
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.
