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.
(Please note: The Annual Fall Book Sale is now under way. Most Non-Duality eBooks at floydhenderson.com are on sale at 30-50% off regular price.)
Any words expressed by the pure consciousness as it speaks can be described as a pointer to Reality. The transcriptions of the dialogues with Maharaj are collections of pointers. Essentially the pointer points away from the false and directs towards what is true. See for example, the pointer below:
Reincarnation implies a reincarnating self. There is no such thing. The bundle of memories and hopes, called the "I", imagines itself existing everlastingly and creates time to accommodate its false eternity. To be, I need no past or future. All experience is born of imagination; I do not imagine, so no birth or death happens to me. Only those who think themselves born can think themselves re-born. All exists in awareness, and awareness neither dies nor is re-born. It is the changeless reality itself.
For the seeker who has let go of identification with the body and body continuity, this is an example of a pointer that may eradicate some remaining religious or spiritual concepts associated with body identification but hidden from view. However, for a seeker still bound by body identification, this pointer will likely not be understood, or will be rejected in favor of clinging instead to cherished concepts.
This example lends itself to an explanation of the readiness of the seeker. All pointers are like blazing sparks or torches. Like fire, they simultaneously illuminate and destroy. They destroy all that is false and unreal, and they illuminate the Real. That is their function.
The readiness of the seeker is often described using three metaphors:
Wet charcoal stage: The seeker is so lost in attachment to the false and the fiction-filled mind, that no spark can “ignite” the seeker’s recognition of his true nature.
Dry charcoal stage: The seeker may have obscuring clouds of confusion, but there is some potential for a spark to “ignite”, so that some false understandings can be destroyed and the Real illuminated.
Gunpowder stage: The mind of the seeker is ripe for understanding – a spark will instantly burst into flame allowing eradication of any false ideas and Reality to shine unobstructed.
Now – examine the pointer by Maharaj offered above. Can you see what would be the effect of this pointer on the mind of the seeker in each of these stages of readiness?
The seeker at the wet charcoal stage would not be able to metabolize the pointer, would place his own concepts or learned ignorance up against it, and quite possibly in reaction (if a spiritual ego persona is triggered) may reject the Teachings.
The seeker at the dry charcoal stage may take the pointer into silent consideration, and after long reflection in silence, if sufficient of the surrounding identifications have been removed, the pointer may have the effect of eradicating false concepts around reincarnation and illuminate the flavor of one’s true nature.
The seeker at the gunpowder stage may simply read the pointer and the truth will instantly explode into awareness, burning up any false concepts in an instant.
In essence then, the pointer itself is simply the expression of truth – the pure consciousness speaking. However, the effect on the mind of the seeker is entirely dependent on the readiness of the seeker.
Part of this readiness is coming to a resolute understanding that the Advaitin Teachings point to the Final Reality. For a seeker at the wet charcoal stage, there is unlikely to be this firm, unshakeable view. Instead, the pointers of teachings will be “evaluated” by the fiction-filled mind and weighed up against erroneous concepts and beliefs, and methods and practices from other spiritual paths. In other words, like in a messy room, the clutter of the false will be so overwhelming, that a pointer will simply be lost in the mess and the dust.
In this blog, “Floyd” has described the function of the “inner guru” in developing this unshakeable, resolute sense of the accuracy of the Teachings. (See: The Inner Guru and Awareness: Part 1 and Part Two)
The inner guru is that inner resource, that spark of innate intuitive understanding that resonates with the pointers as they are heard or taken into silent consideration. With sufficient elimination of the false through backing away from untruth and residing simply in the sense of self without attributes, the room of the mind is usually sufficiently de-cluttered for this innate knowing to be discerned and understood. Without any effort, the pointers to truth are simply recognized and metabolized, like two magnets with an irrepressible attraction.
For “louise” this inner recognition expressed physically with a type of inner spiraling when the words of truth were heard, and once recognized, this provided the unshakeable trust in the Advaitin Teachings (and in this case the pointers offered by “maharaj” and “floyd” since it was in the presence of the Teachings offered by these teachers that the inner recognition was most insistent and powerful.)
When the preparation of the soil of the mind is complete, and the inner guru is activated, there is really nothing to be done except to take the pointers into silent contemplation to have their effect.
Let’s end with some questions and a final pointer by Maharaj:
Has the unshakeable certainty in the Advaitin Teachings arisen or are you pushed and pulled by other concepts, paths and teachers? Remember – this unshakeable resolute conviction is necessary for the pointers to have their effect?
Have you decluttered the room of the mind? Remember, the pointers of staying with the sense “I Am”, and the backing away from the false “Neti Neti” is how the false is eradicated.
Are you in touch with the inner guru? Are there the signs of recognition when in the presence of Truth?
These questions point to the stabilization of the mind, a pre-requisite for the Advaitin pointers to be understood.
All change affects the mind only. To be what you are, you must go beyond the mind, into your own being. It is immaterial what is the mind that you leave behind, provided you leave it behind for good. This again is not possible without self-realization. Self-realization definitely comes first. The mind cannot go beyond itself by itself. It must explode. The explosive power comes from the real. But you are well advised to have your mind ready for it. – Nisargadatta Maharaj
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
For extending teaching on the Advaitan Understanding – and the removal of the false that obscures Your Real Nature, see the links on the right hand side of this blog.
Comments / clarifications may be sent to louise.advaita@gmail.com
