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.
[Incidentally, Louise will be offering some postings next week.]
F.: [Continued from yesterday] Most persons do not want to be free. Ninety-seven percent seek not in a loft such as Maharaj provided but in venues that encourage dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies rather than liberation and total independence.
The masses walk into such venues in the same way that some walk into one of those specialty coffee shops near here, shops that offer refills at a discount if you buy one of their official cups. The same happens in most of the venues where people seek (or where they are now certain they have found).
It is as if they are saying, "Okay, here's my mind. I present it to you, and I have such a thirst for something that I'll buy into whatever you are wanting to pour into it. Fill it up and I'll drink it up."
What did Maharaj teach regarding those venues: "Accept no guidance but from within...." Of course, that advice is not relevant for one that is not far enough along the "path" to understand that there are obstacles that are blocking access to the pure consciousness.
That one will continue to take the content of the "mind" to be the proper source of "guidance from within" and will, therefore, continue to be driven by ignorance and by insane or insane-like thoughts and beliefs and concepts and ideas.
Why will most stay trapped in such ignorance? Again, the most popular venues commonly endorse dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies, not independence.
So, how free do you want to be, really? To be free is to be independent, and as with a pregnancy, there are no degrees. Either one is pregnant or not; similarly, either one is totally free or one is not free at all.
It is at the third of seven steps to Realization where persons who have entered into such venues as mentioned above accept "guidance from without" rather than "guidance from within." There, they hear and believe religious and / or spiritual messages which endorse and encourage dependency and co-dependency and even substitute dependencies.
What most seekers walking the "path" never grasp is that the third step of the seven-step "journey" to Reality is one that requires stepping into quicksand. That is the irony of the third step that so many miss: the step must be taken, but it must be transitioned as well...and the sooner, the better.
Sinking into the sand, some initially enjoy the warm feeling; some like the sense of being enveloped, as if tucked into the covers of a warm bed; some like the sense of feeling they have arrived and need journey no further. But being stuck in the sand, they will never complete the movement along the "path" to its end.
Next, consider how blatantly those venues admit that it is dependency that they encourage. The words of one so-called "U.S. religious scholar" reveal exactly how enthusiastically his religion endorses dependency:
"The...fundamental experience out of which religion grows is the consciousness of dependence."
He wrote that...
...religion "advocates complete dependence" and that
..."the experience of dependence is religious in character" and that
..."the way of faith is the way of confident dependence upon a power deemed worthy of trust" and
..."the assertion of absolute independence and self-sufficiency is the essence of irreligion."
So, deer and fish and birds that are absolutely independent and self-sufficient are irreligious? Yes they are, and so are Fully Realized Nisargans that live just as naturally as those other forms.
The same religious scholar also wrote that...
...to be religious means "the individual acknowledges his dependence upon the group" and
...he "substitutes group self-sufficiency for individual independence."
[Group self-sufficiency? How asleep must one be, how incapable of spotting a self-contradiction must one be, to write a statement that is so absurd...to equate group dependency with self-sufficiency? And how asleep must persons be to hear that and accept it as a possibility, much less as truth?
So self-sufficiency is acceptable as long as there is also dependency (on a group)? Independence is okay when it runs concurrently with dependency? Is it clear why the pointer is offered here time and again that reason and logic and sanity cannot co-exist alongside philosophical or religious or ideological or spiritual ideas (or any other kinds of beliefs and concepts and ideas)?
The non-dual reality is a no-concept reality. As Maharaj taught, reach the state of "zero concepts." Only the Absolute is absolute. All else is relative and, therefore, self-contradictory.]
Spirituality-based groups are no different. The co-founder of the 12-step movement with a global membership reportedly in the millions put into writing his program's tenets from early on:
** "If [a member] wished, he could place his own dependence upon his own...group."
He also put into writing another foundational belief:
** "The group is certainly a 'Higher Power'."
Another piece of advice included this:
** "Re-channel your dependencies."
Do not be free of all dependencies, but just "re-channel" your dependencies instead? Seriously? And do not find total freedom from the effects of the Dependent Personality Disorder? In other words, dualistically develop good dependencies to replace bad ones?
So the treatment plan is this: "You're suffering from OCD, driven by the obsessions of your mind, but do not be free of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. Just replace your old, bad obsessions with new, good obsessions"? Really? And that is exactly what is witnessed therein.
So 97% of the planet's population claims membership in religious institutions that encourage dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies, and millions more claim membership in spiritual groups that endorse dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies. Why is there any wonder about the fact that Maharaj suggested that the number that are Realized at any given time on this planet can be counted not in the billions nor in the millions but only in the thousands?
Maharaj said: "To me dependence on anything for happiness is utter misery. Pleasure and pain have causes, while my state is my own, totally uncaused, independent, unassailable." Have you heard that pointer in any of the venues above? No, and you never will.
So if the doctor had said...
"Floyd, your life is crazy with the effects of your disease - these cancerous polyps I've pointed out that you have. We'll need to get rid of those, but you will need to add some new cancerous cells of another type simultaneously"...
then I could be said to have been restored to sanity if that makes sense to me?
Many years ago, the heart in this body was found to have a murmur. If the doctor said...
"We now have a treatment available that can stop that murmur, but after we end the heart murmur, we recommend that you walk about murmuring out loud - you don't want to be totally murmur-free, do you?"...
then I could be said to have been restored to sanity if that makes sense to me?
So one question is, "How soon are you going to be willing to look objectively at all of the nonsense that you have heard and that you believe, and then reject it?" The other question is, "How free do you want to be? Really."
Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
The masses walk into such venues in the same way that some walk into one of those specialty coffee shops near here, shops that offer refills at a discount if you buy one of their official cups. The same happens in most of the venues where people seek (or where they are now certain they have found).
It is as if they are saying, "Okay, here's my mind. I present it to you, and I have such a thirst for something that I'll buy into whatever you are wanting to pour into it. Fill it up and I'll drink it up."
What did Maharaj teach regarding those venues: "Accept no guidance but from within...." Of course, that advice is not relevant for one that is not far enough along the "path" to understand that there are obstacles that are blocking access to the pure consciousness.
That one will continue to take the content of the "mind" to be the proper source of "guidance from within" and will, therefore, continue to be driven by ignorance and by insane or insane-like thoughts and beliefs and concepts and ideas.
Why will most stay trapped in such ignorance? Again, the most popular venues commonly endorse dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies, not independence.
So, how free do you want to be, really? To be free is to be independent, and as with a pregnancy, there are no degrees. Either one is pregnant or not; similarly, either one is totally free or one is not free at all.
It is at the third of seven steps to Realization where persons who have entered into such venues as mentioned above accept "guidance from without" rather than "guidance from within." There, they hear and believe religious and / or spiritual messages which endorse and encourage dependency and co-dependency and even substitute dependencies.
What most seekers walking the "path" never grasp is that the third step of the seven-step "journey" to Reality is one that requires stepping into quicksand. That is the irony of the third step that so many miss: the step must be taken, but it must be transitioned as well...and the sooner, the better.
Sinking into the sand, some initially enjoy the warm feeling; some like the sense of being enveloped, as if tucked into the covers of a warm bed; some like the sense of feeling they have arrived and need journey no further. But being stuck in the sand, they will never complete the movement along the "path" to its end.
Next, consider how blatantly those venues admit that it is dependency that they encourage. The words of one so-called "U.S. religious scholar" reveal exactly how enthusiastically his religion endorses dependency:
"The...fundamental experience out of which religion grows is the consciousness of dependence."
He wrote that...
...religion "advocates complete dependence" and that
..."the experience of dependence is religious in character" and that
..."the way of faith is the way of confident dependence upon a power deemed worthy of trust" and
..."the assertion of absolute independence and self-sufficiency is the essence of irreligion."
So, deer and fish and birds that are absolutely independent and self-sufficient are irreligious? Yes they are, and so are Fully Realized Nisargans that live just as naturally as those other forms.
The same religious scholar also wrote that...
...to be religious means "the individual acknowledges his dependence upon the group" and
...he "substitutes group self-sufficiency for individual independence."
[Group self-sufficiency? How asleep must one be, how incapable of spotting a self-contradiction must one be, to write a statement that is so absurd...to equate group dependency with self-sufficiency? And how asleep must persons be to hear that and accept it as a possibility, much less as truth?
So self-sufficiency is acceptable as long as there is also dependency (on a group)? Independence is okay when it runs concurrently with dependency? Is it clear why the pointer is offered here time and again that reason and logic and sanity cannot co-exist alongside philosophical or religious or ideological or spiritual ideas (or any other kinds of beliefs and concepts and ideas)?
The non-dual reality is a no-concept reality. As Maharaj taught, reach the state of "zero concepts." Only the Absolute is absolute. All else is relative and, therefore, self-contradictory.]
Spirituality-based groups are no different. The co-founder of the 12-step movement with a global membership reportedly in the millions put into writing his program's tenets from early on:
** "If [a member] wished, he could place his own dependence upon his own...group."
He also put into writing another foundational belief:
** "The group is certainly a 'Higher Power'."
Another piece of advice included this:
** "Re-channel your dependencies."
Do not be free of all dependencies, but just "re-channel" your dependencies instead? Seriously? And do not find total freedom from the effects of the Dependent Personality Disorder? In other words, dualistically develop good dependencies to replace bad ones?
So the treatment plan is this: "You're suffering from OCD, driven by the obsessions of your mind, but do not be free of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. Just replace your old, bad obsessions with new, good obsessions"? Really? And that is exactly what is witnessed therein.
So 97% of the planet's population claims membership in religious institutions that encourage dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies, and millions more claim membership in spiritual groups that endorse dependency and co-dependency and substitute dependencies. Why is there any wonder about the fact that Maharaj suggested that the number that are Realized at any given time on this planet can be counted not in the billions nor in the millions but only in the thousands?
Maharaj said: "To me dependence on anything for happiness is utter misery. Pleasure and pain have causes, while my state is my own, totally uncaused, independent, unassailable." Have you heard that pointer in any of the venues above? No, and you never will.
So if the doctor had said...
"Floyd, your life is crazy with the effects of your disease - these cancerous polyps I've pointed out that you have. We'll need to get rid of those, but you will need to add some new cancerous cells of another type simultaneously"...
then I could be said to have been restored to sanity if that makes sense to me?
Many years ago, the heart in this body was found to have a murmur. If the doctor said...
"We now have a treatment available that can stop that murmur, but after we end the heart murmur, we recommend that you walk about murmuring out loud - you don't want to be totally murmur-free, do you?"...
then I could be said to have been restored to sanity if that makes sense to me?
So one question is, "How soon are you going to be willing to look objectively at all of the nonsense that you have heard and that you believe, and then reject it?" The other question is, "How free do you want to be? Really."
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:
Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd
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.
