An Advaita forum focusing on Realisation, enlightenment, non-duality, Real Love, peace, freedom, Your original nature, abiding naturally, the Oneness, the Nothingness, 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.
From a site visitor: Does Louise teach the online classes?
F.: Yes. Details will be provided at the end of today's post.
From a site visitor: What the heck does prior to body and mind and personality and consciousness really mean? And what about non-beingness? Makes no sense.
F.: Some might suggest that it would make no sense to say a pot is not a pot, but it does. Some might suggest that Dennis Waite makes no sense when he says there is no such thing a wooden table and that there is only tably wood, but it does.
And some might suggest that it makes no sense to tell you that you are neither the body nor the mind nor the personality / personalities adopted nor even consciousness, in the end, but it does.
Attached to the beingness, some will suggest it makes no sense to suggest that the beingness comes from the no-beingness state, but it does.
First, to the elemental body which You are not. If a clay pot could talk, it would say, "I know not of what you speak. What is this 'pot' you talk about? I am clay...merely elements that have taken a temporary shape, that form a space. If you are going to call me a pot, then you might as well also call me a bowl, a vase, a ceramic doll, a brick, a drinking vessel, an ancient tablet, a water pipe, or a smoking pipe. Talk about making no sense! I am clay, period."
Similarly, That Which You Are is not an elemental body. The clay can take the form of a pot, a bowl, a vase, a ceramic doll, a brick, a drinking vessel, an ancient tablet, a water pipe, or a smoking pipe, and any one of those on the list can appear to be different from all of the other items named on the list. Yet all of them are really the same...all just elemental clay...all merely elemental substance that has temporarily taken different forms.
The same applies to bodies, and the same applies to "minds." All of the "minds" in any given culture often appear to be the same, and for the most part they are, post-programming, post-domestication, post-conditioning, and post-acculturation.
Similarly, personas can appear to be the same as they adumbrate the cultural "norms" for any given persona and then think and talk and behave in the way that the masses in that culture think and talk and behave.
The variances only come among (a) the 1/2 of 1% that are predisposed to challenge authority and to question the teachings of their culture or among (b) the minorities in any given culture who are consigned to the "bottom levels" of the fictional hierarchies that cultures use to try to create and reinforce and enforce "separation."
Occasionally, cultural battles among the personas might manifest as those at the top of the ego-based hierarchies work and fight to protect the status quo while those at the bottom work or fight for change.
If you have always thought that you are merely a body and mind and personality but reach a point where you would investigate and afterwards reach a point where you might seek the answer to "Who am I?" or (more specifically) "What am I?", then the summative statement "I AM THAT; I AM" must be addressed.
The pot referenced above is actually clay that has taken a temporary form. The elements have been assigned many traits that all have to do with "pot-ness" and nothing to do with the actual elements. What the elemental clay is taken to be by the masses is "a pot." "A pot" is what its "Am-ness" might be called, but its THAT-ness is actually the clay.
Similarly, the space or form that the non-Realized take to be "you" is really a set of elements that have been assigned "personal" traits that have to do with the "beingness" or the "Am-ness" but that have nothing to do with the THAT-ness.
Krishna spoke of THAT which is beyond the beingness and the non-beingness. Here is what Maharaj had to say that might clarify for you:
"Out of that no-being state comes the beingness. It comes as quietly as twilight, with just a feel of 'I Am" and then suddenly the space is there. In the space, movement starts with the air, the fire, the water, the earth. All these five elements are you alone."
[Note: The "you alone" refers to the elemental, plant food body. As for the element he left off the list, the fifth element varies from one philosophy to the next. Some label the fifth element as wood, some as metal, some as the void, some as the consciousness. Maharaj sometimes spoke of "aether" / "ether" as being the fifth element.]
He continued: "Out of your consciousness all this has happened." (F.: Compare with "You are not in the world - the world is in you," meaning, "it's all in your 'mind'.")
He said, "There is no individual. There is only You, the total functioning is You, the consciousness is You."
Yet that was a level-appropriate response. To seekers that were farther along the path, he said,
"Is it not important to you to know whether you are a mere body, or something else? Or, maybe nothing at all?"
He said, "Don’t you see that all your problems are your body’s problems - food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, name, fame, security, survival - all these lose their meaning the moment you realise that you may not be a mere body."
He taught: "My stand I take where nothing is"
and
"I am nothing"
and this:
Questioner: "When somebody dies what exactly happens?"
Maharaj: "Nothing happens. Something becomes nothing. Nothing was, nothing remains."
and
"Your true home is in nothingness."
You are invited to be quiet and, instead of considering everything, for a change consider...nothing...the nothingness...the possibility of not being "something" but of being nothing...identity-less, concept-less, belief-less, duality-less, being-less, non-being-less.
F.: Some might suggest that it would make no sense to say a pot is not a pot, but it does. Some might suggest that Dennis Waite makes no sense when he says there is no such thing a wooden table and that there is only tably wood, but it does.
And some might suggest that it makes no sense to tell you that you are neither the body nor the mind nor the personality / personalities adopted nor even consciousness, in the end, but it does.
Attached to the beingness, some will suggest it makes no sense to suggest that the beingness comes from the no-beingness state, but it does.
First, to the elemental body which You are not. If a clay pot could talk, it would say, "I know not of what you speak. What is this 'pot' you talk about? I am clay...merely elements that have taken a temporary shape, that form a space. If you are going to call me a pot, then you might as well also call me a bowl, a vase, a ceramic doll, a brick, a drinking vessel, an ancient tablet, a water pipe, or a smoking pipe. Talk about making no sense! I am clay, period."
Similarly, That Which You Are is not an elemental body. The clay can take the form of a pot, a bowl, a vase, a ceramic doll, a brick, a drinking vessel, an ancient tablet, a water pipe, or a smoking pipe, and any one of those on the list can appear to be different from all of the other items named on the list. Yet all of them are really the same...all just elemental clay...all merely elemental substance that has temporarily taken different forms.
The same applies to bodies, and the same applies to "minds." All of the "minds" in any given culture often appear to be the same, and for the most part they are, post-programming, post-domestication, post-conditioning, and post-acculturation.
Similarly, personas can appear to be the same as they adumbrate the cultural "norms" for any given persona and then think and talk and behave in the way that the masses in that culture think and talk and behave.
The variances only come among (a) the 1/2 of 1% that are predisposed to challenge authority and to question the teachings of their culture or among (b) the minorities in any given culture who are consigned to the "bottom levels" of the fictional hierarchies that cultures use to try to create and reinforce and enforce "separation."
Occasionally, cultural battles among the personas might manifest as those at the top of the ego-based hierarchies work and fight to protect the status quo while those at the bottom work or fight for change.
If you have always thought that you are merely a body and mind and personality but reach a point where you would investigate and afterwards reach a point where you might seek the answer to "Who am I?" or (more specifically) "What am I?", then the summative statement "I AM THAT; I AM" must be addressed.
The pot referenced above is actually clay that has taken a temporary form. The elements have been assigned many traits that all have to do with "pot-ness" and nothing to do with the actual elements. What the elemental clay is taken to be by the masses is "a pot." "A pot" is what its "Am-ness" might be called, but its THAT-ness is actually the clay.
Similarly, the space or form that the non-Realized take to be "you" is really a set of elements that have been assigned "personal" traits that have to do with the "beingness" or the "Am-ness" but that have nothing to do with the THAT-ness.
Krishna spoke of THAT which is beyond the beingness and the non-beingness. Here is what Maharaj had to say that might clarify for you:
"Out of that no-being state comes the beingness. It comes as quietly as twilight, with just a feel of 'I Am" and then suddenly the space is there. In the space, movement starts with the air, the fire, the water, the earth. All these five elements are you alone."
[Note: The "you alone" refers to the elemental, plant food body. As for the element he left off the list, the fifth element varies from one philosophy to the next. Some label the fifth element as wood, some as metal, some as the void, some as the consciousness. Maharaj sometimes spoke of "aether" / "ether" as being the fifth element.]
He continued: "Out of your consciousness all this has happened." (F.: Compare with "You are not in the world - the world is in you," meaning, "it's all in your 'mind'.")
He said, "There is no individual. There is only You, the total functioning is You, the consciousness is You."
Yet that was a level-appropriate response. To seekers that were farther along the path, he said,
"Is it not important to you to know whether you are a mere body, or something else? Or, maybe nothing at all?"
He said, "Don’t you see that all your problems are your body’s problems - food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, name, fame, security, survival - all these lose their meaning the moment you realise that you may not be a mere body."
He taught: "My stand I take where nothing is"
and
"I am nothing"
and this:
Questioner: "When somebody dies what exactly happens?"
Maharaj: "Nothing happens. Something becomes nothing. Nothing was, nothing remains."
and
"Your true home is in nothingness."
You are invited to be quiet and, instead of considering everything, for a change consider...nothing...the nothingness...the possibility of not being "something" but of being nothing...identity-less, concept-less, belief-less, duality-less, being-less, non-being-less.
Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Much of what Louise has shared has resonated with many site visitors. to that end, some have inquired recently if Louise offers the online Advaita Internet Course. The answer is, "Yes."
Whether taking the course with Louise or Floyd, the price of the course includes all 11 of the Advaita eBooks, questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.
With either teacher, you will be guided through all seven of the steps, in order, that lead from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond). For more specific information and details about the course, you may click on the link to the right.
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Louise
by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:
Whether taking the course with Louise or Floyd, the price of the course includes all 11 of the Advaita eBooks, questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.
With either teacher, you will be guided through all seven of the steps, in order, that lead from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond). For more specific information and details about the course, you may click on the link to the right.
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Louise
by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd
by
Clicking the Buy Now Button below:
[THE YOUTUBE ADVAITA VEDANTA VIDEOS ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGER FORMATS BELOW WHICH MIGHT PROVIDE MORE COMFORTABLE VIEWING FOR SOME SITE VISITORS]
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.
TRANSLATED ADVAITA EBOOKS AVAILABLE
Beginning today, the 11 Advaita eBooks listed at the end of this post are available in twenty-two non-English languages. If you are interested in purchasing an eBook in another language, click Contact Floyd to see if the language you prefer is available. Again, the quality of the translation cannot be guaranteed but it might make some pointers available to seekers that might not otherwise receive them. If you want to send a translated eBook to someone as a gift, that can also be arranged via the contact link above.
(Charges will include the regular price of the eBook + a US$10.00 translating fee.)
TO PAY FOR A TRANSLATION - US$10.00 - CLICK THE BUY BUTTON BELOW
(Contact Floyd before paying to be certain the language you prefer is available)
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.
TRANSLATED ADVAITA EBOOKS AVAILABLE
Beginning today, the 11 Advaita eBooks listed at the end of this post are available in twenty-two non-English languages. If you are interested in purchasing an eBook in another language, click Contact Floyd to see if the language you prefer is available. Again, the quality of the translation cannot be guaranteed but it might make some pointers available to seekers that might not otherwise receive them. If you want to send a translated eBook to someone as a gift, that can also be arranged via the contact link above.
(Charges will include the regular price of the eBook + a US$10.00 translating fee.)
TO PAY FOR A TRANSLATION - US$10.00 - CLICK THE BUY BUTTON BELOW
(Contact Floyd before paying to be certain the language you prefer is available)
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.
YOUTUBE ADVAITA VEDANTA YOGA VIDEOS
Click on the arrow below to start Video One:
Click on the arrow below to start Video Two:
Click on the arrow below to start Video Three:
Click on the arrow below to start Video Four:
Click on the arrow below to start Video Five:
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
