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.
As for Maharaj, you will find here some of his early pointers for beginners but some of his later pointers that are for seekers father along the "path." 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." What he offered later differed considerably from his earlier talks, making clear that the pointers in I AM THAT will take you to the midpoint of "the race" but that his final talks point the way to "the finish line."
F.: The printer called with a revised delivery date of June 8-9 for this four-book paperback anthology:
You may pre-order now and the book will ship within 48 hours of receipt from the printer. (You may click the picture for more details.) In anticipation of the release of this multi-book anthology, certain excerpts from the four books in the paperback collection are being offered.
The following is from the third book which is included in the anthology, FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS. The reader is invited to take into contemplation and consideration the following pointers from that book:
Regarding one character in a Michael Connelly novel: "He was long past believing in God—the horrors he had seen documented had little by little sapped his stores of faith.... And in those seemingly final days, as his own heart withered and tapped out its final cadences, he did not grasp desperately for his lost faith as a shield or a means of easing the fear of the unknown. Instead, he was accepting of the end, of his own nothingness. He was ready. It was easy to do."
The character found it "easy" to accept "his own nothingness" only after:
** no longer believing in God; after
** he had given up blind faith as a result of the fact that the horrors he had seen provided clear and indisputable evidence of the fact that no benevolent "Power" could possibly be in charge of a world where such horrors occur on a daily basis; and after
** there was no fear of the unknown because he knew the only thing to be known was ... nothing.
If all unnatural modes of living are abandoned, and if all supernatural (religious / spiritual / magical) modes of living are abandoned, then the only mode by which the relative existence can unfold is the nisarga (natural) mode.
The content of this book is not for the beginner. Beginners cannot move from some point that is even before step one of a seven-step “journey” to Realization (that Realization coming at the seventh step) without understanding the many paradoxes that are presented at each of the steps in between.
They will first see what they think they see; they must next understand that everything that they have ever thought they were seeing was not that at all; afterwards, they must see all of the false in order to prepare for seeing the Real; and then only can they finally fixate firmly in the no-concept, non-dual Reality.
Thereafter, they can be truly free while abiding as the Absolute; can abide as Awareness that is not even aware of any self or Selfness; and can thereby live in a natural, AS IF fashion … at peace for the remainder of the manifestation. The exhaustion of living unnaturally ends, as does the toil of trying to live in a supernatural fashion.
Only if abiding as the Awareness that is not aware of anything other than awareness can natural, nisarga, unencumbered living happen, spontaneously. Disciplines and considerations end. Toiling and working and searching and seeking end.
Ultimately, to try to support any “identity” alongside “the no-concept, non-dual Reality” is itself contradictory. At the “highest level” of understanding, any identity is also seen to be conceptual. Preoccupation with identifying "what the generic THAT is" becomes another concern that can continue to disturb even those who have transitioned kindergarten spirituality, who have understood the I AM, and who know the True Self but are not functioning as the Awareness witnessing Awareness.
Is it not happiness or even bliss that is being sought? If so, then understand that "bliss" is merely an undisturbed, unconcerned vibration. Preoccupations and concerns activate a disturbance when the natural vibrational pattern of anything is forced to shift. Apply what is happening to the phenomenal planet to grasp what can happen to the phenomenal body-“mind” under those conditions:
because ice caps are melting as a result of global warming, a slight tilt is happening along the axis of the globe. That is triggering not only all of the physically-observable results on the planet but is also generating mental and emotional effects on life forms as well.
When vibrational patterns shift from natural to unnatural (or supernatural) movements, phenomenal effects result because of the disturbance of that which is natural. Only the natural vibrational pattern of Awareness will allow “bliss” to happen (again, “bliss” being nothing more than that undisturbed, unconcerned, calm, and restive vibration mentioned earlier).
At the “highest level,” having understood the no-concept, non-dual Reality completely, WHO / WHAT remains to be concerned with any “identity” or to be disturbed by not being able to apply another man-made label to the man-made pointer called “THAT”?
Persons are so sure of all they believe. After being challenged to question it all and not being so sure, they nevertheless return to that state of "being certain" at the third step on the “path” when they assume religious or spiritual roles. Many at that point think that they have found the “Advaita Understanding.” They have not.
They have merely substituted one egotism-generating persona for others and have substituted one egotism-generating belief system for another. They are mistaking the dawn for high noon, arrogantly and erroneously believing that they are much farther along the "path" than they actually are.
The ultimate Advaita understanding is that there need not be any understanding, there being no "one" to understand at all. (Again, that pointer is not for the beginner.) Yet AS IF living (based in the no concept, non-dual Reality) is seldom modeled among “humans”; thus, one need not look there to find examples of such “living.” Look to nature instead.
True AS IF living is a mode of natural living, modeled in nature by animals such as the deer, primarily docile and at peace … living a minimalist existence … accumulating nothing … believing nothing … never fighting for any “belief” ... functioning quite splendidly without any “identity” even though sensing presence … and either enjoying all aspects of the manifestation or tolerating all aspects of the manifestation in a no-attachment-mode without any concern or disturbance at all.
How closely does your relative existence reflect that mode of nisarga, natural living? Is it possible that You might also function quite splendidly, even without an “identity”?
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
The following is from the third book which is included in the anthology, FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS. The reader is invited to take into contemplation and consideration the following pointers from that book:
Regarding one character in a Michael Connelly novel: "He was long past believing in God—the horrors he had seen documented had little by little sapped his stores of faith.... And in those seemingly final days, as his own heart withered and tapped out its final cadences, he did not grasp desperately for his lost faith as a shield or a means of easing the fear of the unknown. Instead, he was accepting of the end, of his own nothingness. He was ready. It was easy to do."
The character found it "easy" to accept "his own nothingness" only after:
** no longer believing in God; after
** he had given up blind faith as a result of the fact that the horrors he had seen provided clear and indisputable evidence of the fact that no benevolent "Power" could possibly be in charge of a world where such horrors occur on a daily basis; and after
** there was no fear of the unknown because he knew the only thing to be known was ... nothing.
If all unnatural modes of living are abandoned, and if all supernatural (religious / spiritual / magical) modes of living are abandoned, then the only mode by which the relative existence can unfold is the nisarga (natural) mode.
The content of this book is not for the beginner. Beginners cannot move from some point that is even before step one of a seven-step “journey” to Realization (that Realization coming at the seventh step) without understanding the many paradoxes that are presented at each of the steps in between.
They will first see what they think they see; they must next understand that everything that they have ever thought they were seeing was not that at all; afterwards, they must see all of the false in order to prepare for seeing the Real; and then only can they finally fixate firmly in the no-concept, non-dual Reality.
Thereafter, they can be truly free while abiding as the Absolute; can abide as Awareness that is not even aware of any self or Selfness; and can thereby live in a natural, AS IF fashion … at peace for the remainder of the manifestation. The exhaustion of living unnaturally ends, as does the toil of trying to live in a supernatural fashion.
Only if abiding as the Awareness that is not aware of anything other than awareness can natural, nisarga, unencumbered living happen, spontaneously. Disciplines and considerations end. Toiling and working and searching and seeking end.
Ultimately, to try to support any “identity” alongside “the no-concept, non-dual Reality” is itself contradictory. At the “highest level” of understanding, any identity is also seen to be conceptual. Preoccupation with identifying "what the generic THAT is" becomes another concern that can continue to disturb even those who have transitioned kindergarten spirituality, who have understood the I AM, and who know the True Self but are not functioning as the Awareness witnessing Awareness.
Is it not happiness or even bliss that is being sought? If so, then understand that "bliss" is merely an undisturbed, unconcerned vibration. Preoccupations and concerns activate a disturbance when the natural vibrational pattern of anything is forced to shift. Apply what is happening to the phenomenal planet to grasp what can happen to the phenomenal body-“mind” under those conditions:
because ice caps are melting as a result of global warming, a slight tilt is happening along the axis of the globe. That is triggering not only all of the physically-observable results on the planet but is also generating mental and emotional effects on life forms as well.
When vibrational patterns shift from natural to unnatural (or supernatural) movements, phenomenal effects result because of the disturbance of that which is natural. Only the natural vibrational pattern of Awareness will allow “bliss” to happen (again, “bliss” being nothing more than that undisturbed, unconcerned, calm, and restive vibration mentioned earlier).
At the “highest level,” having understood the no-concept, non-dual Reality completely, WHO / WHAT remains to be concerned with any “identity” or to be disturbed by not being able to apply another man-made label to the man-made pointer called “THAT”?
Persons are so sure of all they believe. After being challenged to question it all and not being so sure, they nevertheless return to that state of "being certain" at the third step on the “path” when they assume religious or spiritual roles. Many at that point think that they have found the “Advaita Understanding.” They have not.
They have merely substituted one egotism-generating persona for others and have substituted one egotism-generating belief system for another. They are mistaking the dawn for high noon, arrogantly and erroneously believing that they are much farther along the "path" than they actually are.
The ultimate Advaita understanding is that there need not be any understanding, there being no "one" to understand at all. (Again, that pointer is not for the beginner.) Yet AS IF living (based in the no concept, non-dual Reality) is seldom modeled among “humans”; thus, one need not look there to find examples of such “living.” Look to nature instead.
True AS IF living is a mode of natural living, modeled in nature by animals such as the deer, primarily docile and at peace … living a minimalist existence … accumulating nothing … believing nothing … never fighting for any “belief” ... functioning quite splendidly without any “identity” even though sensing presence … and either enjoying all aspects of the manifestation or tolerating all aspects of the manifestation in a no-attachment-mode without any concern or disturbance at all.
How closely does your relative existence reflect that mode of nisarga, natural living? Is it possible that You might also function quite splendidly, even without an “identity”?
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
