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: You quoted Maharaj as saying in reality I only look. Will you explain that in more detail? Thanx.
F.: This is all so simple. Recall the pointer from a recent post, a point offered here frequently: what persons take themselves to be is not that at all. There is nothing more than a temporary gathering together of ever-cycling elements that form an ever-changing space that is merely a body-cum-consciousness that is circulating air. There is no "do-er" involved.
Doership should be seen as the hoax it is, a hoax based in the failure to understand the elements-air-consciousness triad above and based instead in misperception. If it is understood that all there really is to "you" is that triad, then you can understand the quote you mention:
Can earth elements be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No. Can the air be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No. So the only thing left is the consciousness. Can the consciousness be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No.
So the only thing that is happening with that triad is...the looking...the witnessing. Note the rest of that quotation:
Maharaj: "Whatever is done, is done on the stage. Joy and sorrow, life and death, they all are real to the man in bondage; to me they are all in the show, as unreal as the show itself."
There is only witnessing, so there are no do-ers and there is no doingness and there is no "world" that is as persons imagine it to be in which such imagined doingness is happening.
I am not doing anything. Typing at this very second is happening, but it is happening in the absence of a do-er. As the consciousness is spontaneously determining what keys are to be struck in what order, I am looking. I (the consciousness) am not doing. I cannot do. I can but look.
Next, to clarify further: some are taking comments such as Maharaj's above - comments about the "unreal" - and distorting those comments and teaching, "There is nothing that is real." I have invited those persons (who are teaching that concept to trusting and unsuspecting seekers who should be more wary) to...
..."please find what you take to be a not-real wall, stand back twenty feet, lower your not-real head, begin to run toward the not-real wall as quickly as you can, and smash your not-real head into it with all the force you can muster. Then, when the subsequent spell of unconscious is lifted, look into the camera and say, 'Okay, let's amend the lesson - there is nothing that is real except an occasional wall and my head and the pain that I am now feeling'."
Such teachers have taken a valid pointer and distorted it into something that the original message never intended. The actual pointer is this: When you are told that neither you nor the world nor anything you are witnessing is real, the pointer actually means:
1. there are two levels of witnessing, namely, subject-object witnessing and pure witnessing; and
2. nothing witnessed in a subject-object manner is really what it appears to be.
That includes personal identities, that includes walls, that includes anything observable in the relative existence. If one were to use an electron microscope to view the materials from which a wall is made, one would see that there is a mass of energy with electrons etc. swirling away at a subatomic level.
The energy is real; the wall is simply not as it is perceived to be by persons. What is unreal is the perception of the wall-as-wall when viewed in a subject-object-fashion at its surface level. So it is when anything is viewed in a subject-object fashion vs. the way that the Realized look at all in a pure-consciousness-fashion.
Via the former, there will always be two involved: the subject that is looking and the object which is being seen, but never seen as it really is. Via the latter, there is only advaita-type looking (which "sees" / "looks" at / understands the "not two" and, in turn, sees what is real vs. what is misperceived). Of subject-object witnessing, this has been shared in previous writings:
Subject-object witnessing, or objective witnessing, still involves duality. I, the consciousness which was once obstructed but am no longer, can be aware of the fact that I am not that which you think you are seeing when you look at me and that I am not that which the culture would label me;
yet from your S-O manner of viewing, what is seen is never as is. Later, on the "path," one begin to distinguish unreal from real, such as, "I see the mirage and I know it is not real" or "I cannot live with myself/this self anymore." Those observations still involve perceived dualities, even if a modicum of understanding is beginning to emerge.
Not until the next step of Pure Witnessing does subject-object witnessing end and the witnessing of the unicity finally happen. At that point, when the consciousness is totally unobstructed, all that was thought to be either "subject" or "object" is witnessed to be One, to have always been One, and to forever be One.
In other words, to shift from the first witnessing step to the second, it must be seen that (as the understanding of non-duality becomes clearer) the talk of "subject" and "object" will have to give way to "subject only," that is, to knowing "that everlasting, timeless, imperishable Subject."
Of Pure Witnessing, this was shared:
There are seven steps on the “journey” to Realization. The witnessing stages are two of the final “degrees of separation from reality” that must be transitioned, and both the witness and the Pure Witness must be “experienced”;
however, it is necessary to transition each of “the seven degrees of separation” for Full Realization to happen. Most on any "path" stop at the third stage (the "religious persona stage" or the "spiritual persona stage") and never complete the journey to the full understanding.
Shifting beyond object witnessing sets the stage for understanding the nothingness. Then, the True Self can come to know the "everything"...the Oneness of it all...the Truth. The actual unicity beyond the imagined multiplicity is understood.
The Pure Witness—the True Self—can then know the Oneness that comes with the awareness that a tiny "building-block" of energy-consciousness is all there is, and all supposed differences are merely appearances that result from energy vibrating at a variety of frequencies.
From the platform of the Pure Witness, the beingness and the non-beingness can be understood and the "state" of Absolute rest and peace can be seen. Then, the remainder of the relative existence can be passed in the "I Am," in the "Is-ness," in the Pure Witness "mode," in the AS IF style, and—finally—by abiding as the Absolute.
F.: This is all so simple. Recall the pointer from a recent post, a point offered here frequently: what persons take themselves to be is not that at all. There is nothing more than a temporary gathering together of ever-cycling elements that form an ever-changing space that is merely a body-cum-consciousness that is circulating air. There is no "do-er" involved.
Doership should be seen as the hoax it is, a hoax based in the failure to understand the elements-air-consciousness triad above and based instead in misperception. If it is understood that all there really is to "you" is that triad, then you can understand the quote you mention:
Can earth elements be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No. Can the air be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No. So the only thing left is the consciousness. Can the consciousness be given credit for anything that humans claim they are doing? No.
So the only thing that is happening with that triad is...the looking...the witnessing. Note the rest of that quotation:
Maharaj: "Whatever is done, is done on the stage. Joy and sorrow, life and death, they all are real to the man in bondage; to me they are all in the show, as unreal as the show itself."
There is only witnessing, so there are no do-ers and there is no doingness and there is no "world" that is as persons imagine it to be in which such imagined doingness is happening.
I am not doing anything. Typing at this very second is happening, but it is happening in the absence of a do-er. As the consciousness is spontaneously determining what keys are to be struck in what order, I am looking. I (the consciousness) am not doing. I cannot do. I can but look.
Next, to clarify further: some are taking comments such as Maharaj's above - comments about the "unreal" - and distorting those comments and teaching, "There is nothing that is real." I have invited those persons (who are teaching that concept to trusting and unsuspecting seekers who should be more wary) to...
..."please find what you take to be a not-real wall, stand back twenty feet, lower your not-real head, begin to run toward the not-real wall as quickly as you can, and smash your not-real head into it with all the force you can muster. Then, when the subsequent spell of unconscious is lifted, look into the camera and say, 'Okay, let's amend the lesson - there is nothing that is real except an occasional wall and my head and the pain that I am now feeling'."
Such teachers have taken a valid pointer and distorted it into something that the original message never intended. The actual pointer is this: When you are told that neither you nor the world nor anything you are witnessing is real, the pointer actually means:
1. there are two levels of witnessing, namely, subject-object witnessing and pure witnessing; and
2. nothing witnessed in a subject-object manner is really what it appears to be.
That includes personal identities, that includes walls, that includes anything observable in the relative existence. If one were to use an electron microscope to view the materials from which a wall is made, one would see that there is a mass of energy with electrons etc. swirling away at a subatomic level.
The energy is real; the wall is simply not as it is perceived to be by persons. What is unreal is the perception of the wall-as-wall when viewed in a subject-object-fashion at its surface level. So it is when anything is viewed in a subject-object fashion vs. the way that the Realized look at all in a pure-consciousness-fashion.
Via the former, there will always be two involved: the subject that is looking and the object which is being seen, but never seen as it really is. Via the latter, there is only advaita-type looking (which "sees" / "looks" at / understands the "not two" and, in turn, sees what is real vs. what is misperceived). Of subject-object witnessing, this has been shared in previous writings:
Subject-object witnessing, or objective witnessing, still involves duality. I, the consciousness which was once obstructed but am no longer, can be aware of the fact that I am not that which you think you are seeing when you look at me and that I am not that which the culture would label me;
yet from your S-O manner of viewing, what is seen is never as is. Later, on the "path," one begin to distinguish unreal from real, such as, "I see the mirage and I know it is not real" or "I cannot live with myself/this self anymore." Those observations still involve perceived dualities, even if a modicum of understanding is beginning to emerge.
Not until the next step of Pure Witnessing does subject-object witnessing end and the witnessing of the unicity finally happen. At that point, when the consciousness is totally unobstructed, all that was thought to be either "subject" or "object" is witnessed to be One, to have always been One, and to forever be One.
In other words, to shift from the first witnessing step to the second, it must be seen that (as the understanding of non-duality becomes clearer) the talk of "subject" and "object" will have to give way to "subject only," that is, to knowing "that everlasting, timeless, imperishable Subject."
Of Pure Witnessing, this was shared:
There are seven steps on the “journey” to Realization. The witnessing stages are two of the final “degrees of separation from reality” that must be transitioned, and both the witness and the Pure Witness must be “experienced”;
however, it is necessary to transition each of “the seven degrees of separation” for Full Realization to happen. Most on any "path" stop at the third stage (the "religious persona stage" or the "spiritual persona stage") and never complete the journey to the full understanding.
Shifting beyond object witnessing sets the stage for understanding the nothingness. Then, the True Self can come to know the "everything"...the Oneness of it all...the Truth. The actual unicity beyond the imagined multiplicity is understood.
The Pure Witness—the True Self—can then know the Oneness that comes with the awareness that a tiny "building-block" of energy-consciousness is all there is, and all supposed differences are merely appearances that result from energy vibrating at a variety of frequencies.
From the platform of the Pure Witness, the beingness and the non-beingness can be understood and the "state" of Absolute rest and peace can be seen. Then, the remainder of the relative existence can be passed in the "I Am," in the "Is-ness," in the Pure Witness "mode," in the AS IF style, and—finally—by abiding as the Absolute.
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
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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
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Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Floyd
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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:
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Please enter the silence of contemplation.
