Advaita Vedanta: THE LIGHT MUST PRECEDE THE LIGHTNESS, Part Four

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.

Furthermore, for those who have developed a preference for any non-nisargan yoga or who prefer Traditional Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita: here you will only find the use of the Direct Path Method of teaching along with the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga.

Also, you will find here very few of the teachings offered by Maharaj in his earlier talks and far more of the message that he offered in his ultimate talks. Why? During his last years, he said of I AM THAT: "That book and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today" and am "emphasizing different aspects." His final understanding, which was completely different from what he offered early on, is the basis of pointers here. Maharaj made clear at the end that the pointers in I AM THAT will take you to the midpoint of "the race"; only the pointers in his final talks point the way to "the finish line."

F.: Consider the analysis offered yesterday by Maharaj of what can happen when freedom from emotional intoxication is interrupted by emotions that lead to motion (actions) that lead to misery as shared in a conversation earlier today:

What you have seen is why the Advaitin uses the word "selfish" (that is "self-ish") to describe the ego-states that toss a huge stone into the previously-still pond and care not about the effects of the waves on those sharing your pond.

[Maharaj: "When it comes to thoughts and feelings [and] desires and fears, you become acutely self-conscious."]

Focused on the self's relative needs or desires or fears, the self takes over and causes the tossing-without-caring to happen. Yet therein lies the reason that the Advaitin does not judge: it is the self that did that, not the Real Self that is Love and loved.

Such creation of chaos in the formerly peaceful pond begins with a divorce, and the divorce involves Self and self. To divorce the Self is to divorce all, and the divorce will have an effect on all in your pond. Does that call for shame and guilt over tossing the pebble and causing waves to strike others who care? No, it calls for reconciliation ... reconciliation with Self ... which is actually not an "A" reconciling with a "b" but is merely once more becoming awake enough to see what has pushed one's self into the foreground of motion.

In reconciling with Self, then there will be a reconciliation with all. In touch with the Self that abides in the background of motion, all of the destructive or harmful motion (i.e., relative actions, relative behaviors) will stop. The "Blowing of the Still" has been heard and acknowledged. Stillness returns.

What drives one away from the stillness and into motion? That will always prove to be some emotion, and that emotion will have been rooted in the fears and desires of one or more personalities. Consciousness will drive motion; abidance as THAT - even as the AM-ness continues to happen - will allow the shift to the background of motion where Witnessing only is happening.

That is the way it is in the true state which Maharaj spoke of: "My true state, which is whole, undifferentiated, is beyond birth and death. I am never bound by my body and mind. I am limitless."

If not bound by body and mind and personality, we will be "bound" to that still, undifferentiated whole. Then we will be free of personality and personality-driven motions (actions, behaviors) that cause divorce ... that cause a sense of separation.

If caught up in the turmoil of emotions, we arrive in that state discussed yesterday when Maharaj explained the situation that can rob one of the stability that had come previously with the understanding. To understand what leads to such an unhappy circumstance, consider:

1. At some point, the seeker grasps - if even only for a fleeting moment - the awareness of the Oneness that cannot be segmented, that will not succumb to divorce.

2. The stability comes after touching the stillness of the awareness that is not aware of. At that point, You enter the background of motion; You witness - as opposed to being driven into motion / action / reaction - by personality-based emotions.

3. Then, if pulled back into the foreground of motion which is generated by consciousness, body, mind, personalities, and personalities' emotions, one will divorce one Self.

4. That which is "lost" is not the understanding. It was always there; it remains there but has become temporarily blocked ... not in reach for the time being. No, what seems to have been "lost" at that point is the sense of wholeness that comes with being stabilized in the unicity and the peace of Your original nature and merely being Love.

That sense of wholeness is only visible and knowable from the platform of the stillness. If being driven by the Class VI rapids of a river, everything that appears to be racing by along the sides is a blur. Nothing is clear. If sitting in a quiet eddy to the side, the chaos of the water can be witnessed, but all remains clear when witnessed from the area of stillness.

Having been crashed on the rocks and the rapids, there will eventually be a sense of splintering, of splitting off from, of fragmentation. The divorce and all of its ramifications have come. What triggers the motion, the movement away from the understanding and being pulled back?

Maharaj: “You are so used to the support of concepts that when your concepts leave you, although it is your true state, you get frightened and try to cling to them again.”

The concepts, of course, are the food that feeds the ego, the false self; the false self or selves are the food that feeds the emotions; and the emotions drive the motions, the always-destructive actions that personality will generate.

Next, understand this: The "journey" to THAT is not the end. As discussed with a friend this morning, you take your car to the shop for an oil change, to have fresh oil added into the engine block so that the contaminants of small metal shavings that can destroy the engine are removed and fresh oil is added to make everything function smoothly.

Once you have that oil, do you spend the rest of your life at the auto shop? Of course not. You went there only to receive the oil; after that, you went on your way, never having to concern yourself with the shop, never thinking about the oil, never believing that the only peace in life that can found is at the shop. No, you move on.

You focus on what is happening now. You do not focus on the shop or abide in the shop. You're out and about, enjoying what you enjoy or processing what is to be processed in the relative existence. This is "Applied Advaita."

Those who want to claim that they are so spiritual or so special that they are THAT only and have no association whatsoever with the AM-ness are fooling themselves or trying to fool others.

The summative statement is "I AM THAT; I AM," not "I AM THAT." To complete the "journey" to THAT is to acquire the oil which can be used to lubricate the relative machinery ... to acquire the oil which can be used to allow the remainder of the manifestation to pass in a smooth and easily-flowing fashion.

Maharaj: "My world is just like yours. I see, I hear, I feel, I think, I speak and act in a world I perceive, just like you. But with you it is all; with me it is nothing"

and

"With the realised man the experience: 'I am the world, the world is mine' is supremely valid - he thinks, feels and acts integrally and in unity with all that lives. He may not even know the theory and practice of self-realisation, and be born and bred free of religious and metaphysical notions. But there will not be the least flaw in his understanding and compassion."

Nothing in either of those pointers suggests that Maharaj was not a part of a world that allowed seeing and hearing and feeling etc. to happen. He completed the "journey" to THAT, acquired the oil required, overlaid the oil on the relative machinery, and then went along his way, enjoying the place where the machinery took him, enjoying the company of those along for the ride, but totally in touch with the trip now going on "here" in a smooth fashion as result of having acquired the stabilizing oil from "there."

Yet some are driven by emotions to ride the roughest rivers with the most violent motion. Only a few will ever Realize and be content in the calm, motionless waters. Some will have to fall over the waterfall more times than others;

but if they survive the falls, they might see that joy can only happen when they do not ride the rough waves of the river all to the way to the falls but move instead over to the still eddy and stay in the background of motion.

Maharaj: "What is wrong with seeking the pleasant and shirking the unpleasant? Between the banks of pain and pleasure the river of life flows. It is only when the mind refuses to flow with life, and gets stuck at the banks, that it becomes a problem. By flowing with life I mean acceptance - letting come what comes and go what goes. Desire not, fear not, observe the actual, as and when it happens, for you are not what happens, you are to whom it happens. Ultimately even the observer you are not. You are the ultimate potentiality of which the all-embracing consciousness is the manifestation and expression."

So what class of water are in?

There was a time when the boredom of an unfulfilling relative existence drove "floyd" to seek the excitement and adrenaline-releasing chaos of the rapids. Consider how the classifications describe so accurately the various ways that persons traverse the relative existence:

Class A: Lake water; still; no perceptible movement.

Class I. Easy, smooth water; light ripples; clear passages; gentle curves.

Class II. Moderate; medium-quick water; rapids with regular waves; clear and open passages between rocks and ledges; maneuvering required.

Class III. Moderately difficult; numerous high and irregular waves; many rocks.

Class IV. Difficult; long and powerful rapids and standing waves; advanced preparations for possible rescue work important.

Class V. Extremely difficult; long and violent rapids that follow each other almost without interruption; river filled with obstructions; big drops and violent currents; rescue preparations mandatory.

Class VI. Extraordinarily difficult; constant threat of death because of extreme danger; every safety precaution must be taken.

Someone who has survived the Class V and VI rapids and is once again flowing smoothly with the river of life expressed beautifully what it is like when the return to the understanding pushes one out of the motion of the rapids and to the stillness of no motion ... of no action-taking instead:

"I woke this morning with what feels like an elixir of calm, stable love flowing through the veins. How is it possible to live without this stability? I am enjoying this spaciousness."

It is the foreground of emotion / motion that drives people to jump into the Class VI rapids that block the calmness and stability and, yes, even Love; it is the background of motion that allows one to relax in the stability of a Class I river where the existence is easy and smooth and light and clear and gentle.

Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

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THE "ADVANCED SEEKERS' SET"

FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

CONSCIOUSNESS / AWARENESS

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THE FINAL UNDERSTANDING

THE SEVEN STEPS TO REALIZATION ESSAY SERIES

A Series of Essays Discussing THE FIRST STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

A Series of Essays Discussing THE SECOND STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

A Series of Essays Discussing THE THIRD STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

A Series of Essays Discussing THE FOURTH STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

A Series of Essays Discussing THE FIFTH STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

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A Series of Essays Discussing THE SEVENTH STEP on the Seven-Step Path to Realization

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

The Myth Of Death

THE "BLISSFUL ABIDANCE" BOOKS

The Ultimate Sickness, The Ultimate Medicine

I AM THAT (vs. "This Is Who I Think I Am")

Freedom From Shifting Between States of Happiness and Unhappiness

LIBERATION

Why You Must Be Empty If You Would Be Full

What BLISS Is and What BLISS Is Not

When Reality Is Overlaid Upon the Relative

There Is Nothing That Is Personal (Including You and Including God)

Overcoming the Fear of Being Totally Independent

The Essence of the Teachings

SELF-Transformation Meditation Guide, Volume One

SELF-Transformation Meditation Guide, Volume Two

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Casting Light on the Dark Side of Relationships

Finding REAL LOVE in an Unreal World

The Path to Freedom vs. The Path to Misery

THE "FREEDOM FROM DELUSION" SERIES

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace If You're Out of Your Mind)

THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS PERSONAL (Including You and Including God)

SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ and HIS EVOLUTION

IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)

SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)

Jesus Christ the Advaitin

William Shakespeare the Advaitin

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LIVING WITHIN YOUR MEANS

Ending Financial Problems by Understanding Your Personality

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The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders [E-BOOK]

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IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)
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THE MEDITATION GUIDES
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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?
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THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)
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LIBERATION
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THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
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FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
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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
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Received 19 August 2010 from one that just completed the entire course:

I would like to extend deepest appreciation towards you for these teachings that you have offered. It has been most valuable towards what may not have been revealed throughout this manifestation labeled "anthony." Understanding Truth and finding words for gratitude are one as is all. Thank you again for pointing "me" to THAT and the understanding that came as well. Hopeful for future "contact"! Sincerely, Anthony M. W.

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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."

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The Sequel to The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders:
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS

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The Board of Directors of Wars

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