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.
HOW THEY BEHAVE: VIOLENCE IN "INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS"
Again, Louise: Non-violence is only truly present in the absence of desire and fear. Its only when self-centredness falls away that violence ends; when the self (ego-sense) is present, everything is violent...."
F.: There is no difference in problems that are labeled "personal relationship problems," "ideological and religious problems" and "international problems" except "geographic": one happens in the home, the second began in societies and spread globally, and the third has always involved region vs. region or nation vs. nation.
Yet at the root of all three are personality-driven fears, personality-driven desires, and such high levels of "self-centredness" and egotism that persons believe they should be able to control (1) people in relationships, whether in the home or in traffic or at work or in the store;
believe they should be able to control (2) all people on the planet and should be able to force them to accept their religious or spiritual beliefs and thus control what everyone believes and how they think and what they say and how they behave; and
believe they should be able to control (3) people around the globe to adopt their nation's economic system, their nation's political system, and their nation's "values."
Thus, the roots of the relative problems that occur in all three cases also includes a false sense of separation which inspires (a) the establishment of imaginary hierarchies so that one can dominate others in personal relations and so that those of one race or economic strata can dominate or enslave others; and
which inspires (b) the establishment of ideological hierarchies so that members of one religious or spiritual or ideological group can place themselves at the top of the hierarchy and then try to force all others to bend to the will of their dogma or teachings; and
which inspires (c) the establishment of global hierarchies as some nations label others "third world," thereby implying the labeler-nations must be "first world."
Thus, those in the U.S. who talk of their hatred for "those evil Muslim theocracies" nevertheless want the U.S. to be a theocracy...to return to the days when the U.S. had its failed experiment with theocracy that resulted in the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
[One of those involved in last year's presidential campaign received national news coverage just last week when she announced that non-Christians in the U.S. "should understand that the Judeo-Christian belief was the basis for American law and should continue to be used as a guiding force for creating future legislation." Separation and better-than-ment and a desire to control, all rooted in "self-centredness."]
It matters not if a relative problem is local or global, there will always be the same sense of separation, of better-than-ment, of desire to control, of "self-centredness," of belief in conceptualized hierarchies where ego-states (via self-upgrading) place themselves at the top.
While some write to the site and assert their belief that "global peace can manifest if you just have the right mindset," Maharaj made clear that violence is not eliminated by "the mind" but is rooted in "the mind." He taught that violence comes when a false self is willing to fight for its totally fictional identity;
that violence comes with the very manifestation itself; and that violence will always eventually come if persons are not functioning spontaneously in the nisarga fashion. Rather than trying to change the world, heed the advice offered in the expression, "Physician, heal thyself."
In fact, though, there is no way to heal a false self, so the call is to set aside efforts to change a mate, to change a member of a different religion, to change one you deem to be less spiritual than you, to change the people in other nations, and instead to heed the words of Maharaj:
"Meet your own Self. Be with Your own Self. Listen to it, obey it, cherish it.... You need no other guide. As long as Your urge for truth affects Your daily life, all is well with You."
[On this site, that Truth and "daily life" association is referred to as "that state when, post-Realization, Reality is overlaid upon the relative." After that, sanity manifests alongside a sense of Oneness, and when sanity happens alongside a sense of Oneness, violence cannot occur.]
Maharaj continued: "Live your life without hurting anybody. Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and Love. The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless."
He did not say that peace and harmony and happiness come when everyone behaves as you demand in relationships; when everyone on the planet accepts your religious and ideological beliefs as the one source of truth; or when all the people of all nations think and talk and behave as you would have them think and talk and behave.
What arrogance and ignorance to believe such is possible. Ignorance knows no bounds in the relative existence. Of that Maharaj said: "Ignorance has no beginning, but can have an end. Enquire: who is ignorant and ignorance will dissolve like a dream. The world is full of contradictions, hence your search for harmony and peace. These you cannot find in the world, for the world is the child of chaos. To find order you must search within."
His point: "Such change cannot be imposed; it must come from within. Those who abhor war must get war out of their system. As long as people are as they are, the world must be as it is. I am doing my part in trying to help people to know themselves as the only cause of their own misery. What I am in myself, what is my normal state, cannot be expressed in terms of 'social consciousness' and 'usefulness'."
Since you are not in the world, and since the world is in you - in your mind only - then how could any person change the world? What an amazing level of arrogance, yet it is witnessed daily.
Consider which personalities of the nine basic types are driving the thoughts and words and deeds of those who would prefer to change others rather than follow the "path" to Realization that can purge the personas within and remove the false identification with "The Reformer" or "The Helper-Savior" or "The Idealist" or "The Controller" or "The Peacemaker."
Maharaj offered another option for those who desire to purge the world of evil and violence rather than purge the false self / selves within: "You are always seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, always after happiness and peace. Don't you see that it is your very search for happiness that makes you feel miserable? Try the other way: indifferent to pain and pleasure, neither asking, nor refusing, give all your attention to the level on which 'I am' is timelessly present"
and
"You want peace and harmony in the world, but refuse to have them in yourself."
It has been noted that along with "The Religious One" and "The Spiritual One," one of the final false identities to go is "The Seeker." Seeking itself is caused by discontentment and is a producer of discontentment, a cyclical trap...a prison cell without a door.
The Advaitin teacher comes to smash the walls of your prison, which is your "mind" and its identification with so many false selves, and to free you from the effects of assuming any personas, even when you believe they are "good" ones.
To be free of violence and concerns over the inevitable violence which marks the relative existence, be free of the sources of violence within; be free of the sources of concern within.
Focus on "the world without" and you will see only the false. Focus on the false within and you will eventually see all that you are not, paving the way for you to eventually see That Which You Truly Are, to see the Reality within, to be the Love within, to be at peace within. That will be enough. You will not need or desire more.
You will de-accumulate rather than continue with accumulation, and Your walk through the remainder of the relative existence will be far, far lighter.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
F.: There is no difference in problems that are labeled "personal relationship problems," "ideological and religious problems" and "international problems" except "geographic": one happens in the home, the second began in societies and spread globally, and the third has always involved region vs. region or nation vs. nation.
Yet at the root of all three are personality-driven fears, personality-driven desires, and such high levels of "self-centredness" and egotism that persons believe they should be able to control (1) people in relationships, whether in the home or in traffic or at work or in the store;
believe they should be able to control (2) all people on the planet and should be able to force them to accept their religious or spiritual beliefs and thus control what everyone believes and how they think and what they say and how they behave; and
believe they should be able to control (3) people around the globe to adopt their nation's economic system, their nation's political system, and their nation's "values."
Thus, the roots of the relative problems that occur in all three cases also includes a false sense of separation which inspires (a) the establishment of imaginary hierarchies so that one can dominate others in personal relations and so that those of one race or economic strata can dominate or enslave others; and
which inspires (b) the establishment of ideological hierarchies so that members of one religious or spiritual or ideological group can place themselves at the top of the hierarchy and then try to force all others to bend to the will of their dogma or teachings; and
which inspires (c) the establishment of global hierarchies as some nations label others "third world," thereby implying the labeler-nations must be "first world."
Thus, those in the U.S. who talk of their hatred for "those evil Muslim theocracies" nevertheless want the U.S. to be a theocracy...to return to the days when the U.S. had its failed experiment with theocracy that resulted in the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
[One of those involved in last year's presidential campaign received national news coverage just last week when she announced that non-Christians in the U.S. "should understand that the Judeo-Christian belief was the basis for American law and should continue to be used as a guiding force for creating future legislation." Separation and better-than-ment and a desire to control, all rooted in "self-centredness."]
It matters not if a relative problem is local or global, there will always be the same sense of separation, of better-than-ment, of desire to control, of "self-centredness," of belief in conceptualized hierarchies where ego-states (via self-upgrading) place themselves at the top.
While some write to the site and assert their belief that "global peace can manifest if you just have the right mindset," Maharaj made clear that violence is not eliminated by "the mind" but is rooted in "the mind." He taught that violence comes when a false self is willing to fight for its totally fictional identity;
that violence comes with the very manifestation itself; and that violence will always eventually come if persons are not functioning spontaneously in the nisarga fashion. Rather than trying to change the world, heed the advice offered in the expression, "Physician, heal thyself."
In fact, though, there is no way to heal a false self, so the call is to set aside efforts to change a mate, to change a member of a different religion, to change one you deem to be less spiritual than you, to change the people in other nations, and instead to heed the words of Maharaj:
"Meet your own Self. Be with Your own Self. Listen to it, obey it, cherish it.... You need no other guide. As long as Your urge for truth affects Your daily life, all is well with You."
[On this site, that Truth and "daily life" association is referred to as "that state when, post-Realization, Reality is overlaid upon the relative." After that, sanity manifests alongside a sense of Oneness, and when sanity happens alongside a sense of Oneness, violence cannot occur.]
Maharaj continued: "Live your life without hurting anybody. Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and Love. The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless."
He did not say that peace and harmony and happiness come when everyone behaves as you demand in relationships; when everyone on the planet accepts your religious and ideological beliefs as the one source of truth; or when all the people of all nations think and talk and behave as you would have them think and talk and behave.
What arrogance and ignorance to believe such is possible. Ignorance knows no bounds in the relative existence. Of that Maharaj said: "Ignorance has no beginning, but can have an end. Enquire: who is ignorant and ignorance will dissolve like a dream. The world is full of contradictions, hence your search for harmony and peace. These you cannot find in the world, for the world is the child of chaos. To find order you must search within."
His point: "Such change cannot be imposed; it must come from within. Those who abhor war must get war out of their system. As long as people are as they are, the world must be as it is. I am doing my part in trying to help people to know themselves as the only cause of their own misery. What I am in myself, what is my normal state, cannot be expressed in terms of 'social consciousness' and 'usefulness'."
Since you are not in the world, and since the world is in you - in your mind only - then how could any person change the world? What an amazing level of arrogance, yet it is witnessed daily.
Consider which personalities of the nine basic types are driving the thoughts and words and deeds of those who would prefer to change others rather than follow the "path" to Realization that can purge the personas within and remove the false identification with "The Reformer" or "The Helper-Savior" or "The Idealist" or "The Controller" or "The Peacemaker."
Maharaj offered another option for those who desire to purge the world of evil and violence rather than purge the false self / selves within: "You are always seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, always after happiness and peace. Don't you see that it is your very search for happiness that makes you feel miserable? Try the other way: indifferent to pain and pleasure, neither asking, nor refusing, give all your attention to the level on which 'I am' is timelessly present"
and
"You want peace and harmony in the world, but refuse to have them in yourself."
It has been noted that along with "The Religious One" and "The Spiritual One," one of the final false identities to go is "The Seeker." Seeking itself is caused by discontentment and is a producer of discontentment, a cyclical trap...a prison cell without a door.
The Advaitin teacher comes to smash the walls of your prison, which is your "mind" and its identification with so many false selves, and to free you from the effects of assuming any personas, even when you believe they are "good" ones.
To be free of violence and concerns over the inevitable violence which marks the relative existence, be free of the sources of violence within; be free of the sources of concern within.
Focus on "the world without" and you will see only the false. Focus on the false within and you will eventually see all that you are not, paving the way for you to eventually see That Which You Truly Are, to see the Reality within, to be the Love within, to be at peace within. That will be enough. You will not need or desire more.
You will de-accumulate rather than continue with accumulation, and Your walk through the remainder of the relative existence will be far, far lighter.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[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.
