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 VIEWER OF THE RETREAT DVD'S: I bought the DVD set of one of your retreats and there were so many things you said that I disagreed with--but watching them later..many times..that changed. But one thing you say on occasion is still nagging me. I was raised in a church home and was told to find the reason God put me on earth and that I could never be happy unless I found "His plan for me" and then spent my life doing whatever that was. I bought into that "raison d'etre" theory, tried to let that be the driving force in my life for years, came across your website, and started getting free of all of that. I thought I was, but whenever you talk about what some of the "big names' write about--you know meaning and purpose and all--I flash back and then the nagging starts again and I hear someone say A LIFE WITHOUT MEANING IS WORTHLESS. Will I ever be able to let go of that? How can anyone be free of the ideas of meaning and purpose and still feel fulfilled?
F.: Yesterday, the first part of the answer to the e-mail above noted that several obstacles prevent one from understanding that "living itself is as close to any 'meaning of life' that can be found." The egotism-based beliefs about "meaning" and "purpose" will reinforce the concept mentioned above that "a life without meaning is worthless."
Two of the obstacles discussed yesterday included "participation in a quest or quests" and "being driven by the desires of personality." Consider the message contained in a recent e-mail from one who has been on such a quest and knows first-hand the misery-generating consequences:
My total immersion in "feminism" years ago was definitely based on questioning and getting to the root of my misery. I can see that "feminism" was my jumping out point. The beginning of the end of this ego, I hope. I did get my mind more filled up with ideas there, but those have been easier to let go of than the really entrenched ones. I have had so much misery in my life, I mean my mind, I am ready for reality.
She may well be ready to move along the seven-step "path" and be free, once and for all, of the remaining "entrenched" ideas. Today, the third obstacle shall be discussed:
HOW THE LIGHTNESS OF BEING IS BLOCKED WHEN YOU CARRY ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMMERS ON YOUR BACK
My father was raised on a farm in East Texas where the crops they grew were used to feed a very large family while any surplus was sold to buy other essentials. Dad earned extra money for the family in July and August by picking cotton by hand.
Even to stand in a field in East Texas during those two months (when heat indexes often reach 110°F) can seem debilitating. Imagine working in such temperatures.
The breeze-less mornings were still tolerable since the body had rested overnight, since the temperature at 6 A.M. was generally around 80°F, and since the burlap sack being dragged along - soon to be stuffed full of cotton balls - was empty at that point. (Pre-teens used a smaller "toe sack," some average-sized teens used a "three-footer" or a "five-footer." A few used a "nine-footer."
Dad, being large for his age and especially strong, followed the example of the hardest-working hands - usually African-Americans or Hispanics trucked north from the Mexico border - and used two "eight-footers" sewn together.)
Whereas the younger children picked one row at a time, dad joined the African-Americans and Hispanics who picked three rows at a time, straddling the center row, picking it as well the rows to either side.
From early in the morning until late at night, one was bent at the waist. To take too long a break by standing erect and leaning backwards and trying to coax the muscles into relaxing would draw the wrath of the field foreman.
The assignment was to bend over at the waist; pull cotton balls from the plants; ignore the fact that your hands were bleeding all day long because the plant's sharp prongs on the hull around each cotton ball cut like razors;
stuff the cotton into the sack; and pull along behind you a sack that by day's end could weigh up to 700 pounds; tolerate the pain of carrying all of the weight along as it put more and more pressure on your back; and then start the entire process over again the next morning after a few hours of sleep.
Imagine how miserable the persons must have felt who toiled in 95°F to 100°F temperatures in a shadeless field while losing blood and using shoulder and back muscles to drag along a weight that increased throughout the day.
Then understand what an exact parallel is involved nowadays when persons carry on their backs the weight of their programmers. Consider the message in the following exchange that took place a few days ago that addresses the issue:
G.: I was going over one of the readings in the meditation guides about the "five stages." You mentioned that the 1st was (birth-20) that I am programmed to accumulate. At (20-40) I am trying to accumulate or "get things." I'm a bit confused here, because I feel like they have worked hand n hand since earliest memories on. Say, 5 years old I would see others kids with certain things that looked like it made them happy so I would fight beg and plead (sometimes violently) to get get get. Always trying to get - to gain a sense of self and for the world to see me as a success. I feel these two worked hand in hand. Is that possible, or am I not seeing the difference? Yes, the tastes and look of things have changed over the years now being 30 but it just seems like it has been a constant mix of being programmed to get and actually following out what I was taught to get from the start. Any feedback on this one to help me get clear? Peace! Gerard
F.: Yes, it starts early on, but it is around 20 when most leave home and the intensive programming ends and what begins is this: persons are driven, usually for the remainder of the relative existence, by that which is supposedly "left behind" but never is.
The point is, though persons might leave behind the key centers of programming, it is as if they actually have a burden on their backs and shoulders: it is as if they are carrying mom around and she's whispering in one ear;
dad is also on your back, whispering in the other ear; one carries around the grandparents and they are telling you what to do without your even knowing it; teachers are there, along with friends and relatives; soon people have the burden of hundreds of people on their back - entire cultures, in fact - telling them what to do, and it's all BS advice.
Is it any wonder that persons are often as exhausted at the end of a day as a 1933 cotton-picker who worked 14 hours a day in a sweltering East Texas field? Is it any wonder that persons are so frustrated and confused, answering not to one field foreman but to a crowd of foremen and forewomen whom they are dragging through life, a crowd always on their backs?
Imagine that everything you do, you do while dragging along a sack with 700 pounds of rocks in it. Each of those rocks is a concept, a belief, or an idea that you are carrying, and they are not even your rocks. The rocks are "theirs."
They put them in your sack (a.k.a., "mind") and you have bought into the notion that they are your ideas. In the process of mind-fornication, you are barren...you are seedless. You have not given birth to even one single, solitary, original idea or belief or concept.
All of the child-rocks you now carry are adopted. There is no such thing as "your mind" - there is only "their mind." Newton came up with gravity; Copernicus changed the beliefs about humankind's place in the universe; Galileo gave birth to modern science; but neither you nor I have come up with a single, original "thought" or idea or concept or belief.
Why do you give such value to "their" beliefs? Why do you delusionally claim that you have given birth to something that was actually borne by others and passed down by one generation after another?
Why are you settling for ignorance-based hand-me-downs and walking about with such pride, showing off what you think are "your children" (that is, your ideas, your beliefs, your concepts) when the fact is that you are actually barren? Wherefore this pride in those "children" when they are all the product of generations of learned ignorance?
The question was asked above, "How can anyone be free of the ideas of meaning and purpose and still feel fulfilled?" The question asked here is, "How can anyone be free and enjoy the lightness of being as long as they are dragging along an overloaded burlap-sack-of-a-mind that is filled with the weight of faulty programming and obtuse conditioning and distorted acculturation and the truly perverted beliefs that were imposed during the domestication process?"
"How can the lightness of merely being ever manifest when you add to the weight of your already-too cumbersome load of mind-stuff the added weight of the quest for purpose and meaning, especially when the closest that you can ever come to finding any meaning or purpose in "this life" is just the "living" itself?
F.: Yesterday, the first part of the answer to the e-mail above noted that several obstacles prevent one from understanding that "living itself is as close to any 'meaning of life' that can be found." The egotism-based beliefs about "meaning" and "purpose" will reinforce the concept mentioned above that "a life without meaning is worthless."
Two of the obstacles discussed yesterday included "participation in a quest or quests" and "being driven by the desires of personality." Consider the message contained in a recent e-mail from one who has been on such a quest and knows first-hand the misery-generating consequences:
My total immersion in "feminism" years ago was definitely based on questioning and getting to the root of my misery. I can see that "feminism" was my jumping out point. The beginning of the end of this ego, I hope. I did get my mind more filled up with ideas there, but those have been easier to let go of than the really entrenched ones. I have had so much misery in my life, I mean my mind, I am ready for reality.
She may well be ready to move along the seven-step "path" and be free, once and for all, of the remaining "entrenched" ideas. Today, the third obstacle shall be discussed:
HOW THE LIGHTNESS OF BEING IS BLOCKED WHEN YOU CARRY ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMMERS ON YOUR BACK
My father was raised on a farm in East Texas where the crops they grew were used to feed a very large family while any surplus was sold to buy other essentials. Dad earned extra money for the family in July and August by picking cotton by hand.
Even to stand in a field in East Texas during those two months (when heat indexes often reach 110°F) can seem debilitating. Imagine working in such temperatures.
The breeze-less mornings were still tolerable since the body had rested overnight, since the temperature at 6 A.M. was generally around 80°F, and since the burlap sack being dragged along - soon to be stuffed full of cotton balls - was empty at that point. (Pre-teens used a smaller "toe sack," some average-sized teens used a "three-footer" or a "five-footer." A few used a "nine-footer."
Dad, being large for his age and especially strong, followed the example of the hardest-working hands - usually African-Americans or Hispanics trucked north from the Mexico border - and used two "eight-footers" sewn together.)
Whereas the younger children picked one row at a time, dad joined the African-Americans and Hispanics who picked three rows at a time, straddling the center row, picking it as well the rows to either side.
From early in the morning until late at night, one was bent at the waist. To take too long a break by standing erect and leaning backwards and trying to coax the muscles into relaxing would draw the wrath of the field foreman.
The assignment was to bend over at the waist; pull cotton balls from the plants; ignore the fact that your hands were bleeding all day long because the plant's sharp prongs on the hull around each cotton ball cut like razors;
stuff the cotton into the sack; and pull along behind you a sack that by day's end could weigh up to 700 pounds; tolerate the pain of carrying all of the weight along as it put more and more pressure on your back; and then start the entire process over again the next morning after a few hours of sleep.
Imagine how miserable the persons must have felt who toiled in 95°F to 100°F temperatures in a shadeless field while losing blood and using shoulder and back muscles to drag along a weight that increased throughout the day.
Then understand what an exact parallel is involved nowadays when persons carry on their backs the weight of their programmers. Consider the message in the following exchange that took place a few days ago that addresses the issue:
G.: I was going over one of the readings in the meditation guides about the "five stages." You mentioned that the 1st was (birth-20) that I am programmed to accumulate. At (20-40) I am trying to accumulate or "get things." I'm a bit confused here, because I feel like they have worked hand n hand since earliest memories on. Say, 5 years old I would see others kids with certain things that looked like it made them happy so I would fight beg and plead (sometimes violently) to get get get. Always trying to get - to gain a sense of self and for the world to see me as a success. I feel these two worked hand in hand. Is that possible, or am I not seeing the difference? Yes, the tastes and look of things have changed over the years now being 30 but it just seems like it has been a constant mix of being programmed to get and actually following out what I was taught to get from the start. Any feedback on this one to help me get clear? Peace! Gerard
F.: Yes, it starts early on, but it is around 20 when most leave home and the intensive programming ends and what begins is this: persons are driven, usually for the remainder of the relative existence, by that which is supposedly "left behind" but never is.
The point is, though persons might leave behind the key centers of programming, it is as if they actually have a burden on their backs and shoulders: it is as if they are carrying mom around and she's whispering in one ear;
dad is also on your back, whispering in the other ear; one carries around the grandparents and they are telling you what to do without your even knowing it; teachers are there, along with friends and relatives; soon people have the burden of hundreds of people on their back - entire cultures, in fact - telling them what to do, and it's all BS advice.
Is it any wonder that persons are often as exhausted at the end of a day as a 1933 cotton-picker who worked 14 hours a day in a sweltering East Texas field? Is it any wonder that persons are so frustrated and confused, answering not to one field foreman but to a crowd of foremen and forewomen whom they are dragging through life, a crowd always on their backs?
Imagine that everything you do, you do while dragging along a sack with 700 pounds of rocks in it. Each of those rocks is a concept, a belief, or an idea that you are carrying, and they are not even your rocks. The rocks are "theirs."
They put them in your sack (a.k.a., "mind") and you have bought into the notion that they are your ideas. In the process of mind-fornication, you are barren...you are seedless. You have not given birth to even one single, solitary, original idea or belief or concept.
All of the child-rocks you now carry are adopted. There is no such thing as "your mind" - there is only "their mind." Newton came up with gravity; Copernicus changed the beliefs about humankind's place in the universe; Galileo gave birth to modern science; but neither you nor I have come up with a single, original "thought" or idea or concept or belief.
Why do you give such value to "their" beliefs? Why do you delusionally claim that you have given birth to something that was actually borne by others and passed down by one generation after another?
Why are you settling for ignorance-based hand-me-downs and walking about with such pride, showing off what you think are "your children" (that is, your ideas, your beliefs, your concepts) when the fact is that you are actually barren? Wherefore this pride in those "children" when they are all the product of generations of learned ignorance?
The question was asked above, "How can anyone be free of the ideas of meaning and purpose and still feel fulfilled?" The question asked here is, "How can anyone be free and enjoy the lightness of being as long as they are dragging along an overloaded burlap-sack-of-a-mind that is filled with the weight of faulty programming and obtuse conditioning and distorted acculturation and the truly perverted beliefs that were imposed during the domestication process?"
"How can the lightness of merely being ever manifest when you add to the weight of your already-too cumbersome load of mind-stuff the added weight of the quest for purpose and meaning, especially when the closest that you can ever come to finding any meaning or purpose in "this life" is just the "living" itself?
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:
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.
The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders offers the non-duality message by way of a mystery-adventure novel, discussing the movement from pain to healing to awakening to peace.
From Dr. R.F. Maley, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Houston: "Floyd Henderson's book, The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, is a fun read and an interesting mystery, but perhaps more importantly it serves as a vehicle for blending Eastern Philosophy and Native American Spirituality to make an intellectually challenging novel. The book's insights into both relationships and authoritarian conditioning of people in our society make it a must read, tracing the roots of narcissistic, sociopathic and psychopathic behaviors to the very core of the culture. This truly witty and politically-incorrect study of the aggressive nature of 'the American character' offers not only a diagnosis but also a treatment plan, making the book an excellent supplemental reading in courses such as psychology, anthropology, philosophy, sociology and counseling."
You may purchase your copy of the ebook version of THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS then start reading within minutes:
The Sequel to The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders:
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS
For a paperback or eBook version of the book, click:
[THE YOUTUBE ADVAITA VEDANTA VIDEOS ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGER FORMATS BELOW WHICH MIGHT PROVIDE MORE COMFORTABLE VIEWING FOR SOME SITE VISITORS]
[RE: The "Subscribe To" feature: In some cases, all of the month's postings might be sent the first time after subscribing; after that, you should receive only one day's posting at a time.]
YOUTUBE ADVAITA VEDANTA YOGA VIDEOS
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Please enter the silence of contemplation.
