Advaita Vedanta: There Is No God Who Is In the Business of Messing Up "Minds" or Repairing "Minds," Part One

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

F.: Please indulge this opportunity to share some background information on one of the best-selling books of all times. There was a man in New York who was planning to write a how-to book on treating and recovering from alcoholism. His plan was to write a 500-600 page work in which he would use the first 150-175 pages to introduce to the readers a summary of what was, at the time, the current medical opinions on alcoholism;

a summary of his own riches-to-rags downfall as a result of abusing alcohol; a recounting of how he eventually recovered; and then a detailed analysis of the method that he and certain non-professional associates used to guide others to recovery from alcoholism.

He intended to include elements of certain Far Eastern philosophies that he had been attracted to over the years and which he felt could broaden the perspective of persons and inspire some to visualize things on a grander scale and to see "The Big Picture" (and thereby provide some additional understanding of the way the universe functions while shifting persons away from focusing solely on the silliness and pettiness of the relative existence).

After that, he intended to include around 400 pages of "personal stories" and "personal testimonies" that would give credibility to the efficacy of the method he was touting.

Then, the bigger plan was to open a network of hospitals around the globe, each with a professional staff of medical doctors and psychologists who would address the mental and emotional root causes of addiction - including the untreated effects of trauma that were common to most sufferers - and then reverse the insane, self-destructive behavior that manifested alongside alcoholism.

He arranged for the funds to publish the first edition of the book and began writing, not really intending to collaborate with the people in Ohio where he first sobered up. He was not intending to seek any input from them except for the 400 pages of stories he needed to flesh out the book and to give credibility and standing to his message.

He was surprised when they began playing "hardball" by demanding to see chapter-by-chapter previews of the manuscript before they were sent to the publisher.

He was further surprised when the first major argument broke out over his statement that "the main problem centers in the mind." Being a group of people who had bought heavily into the religious roots of the plan they had used to sober up (which was not this author's plan but was the plan that he was copying and modeling his method on) they objected to that line. They believed that moral shortcomings were the root cause of alcoholism, so the original program called for moral rearmament.

The author stood fast, saying something to the effect that all of the professionals in the field agreed that the roots of the illness were mental and emotional - along with a physical quirk or allergy that was also recognized. At that point, a form of blackmail began when the Ohio group said, basically:

"You can only include the line about 'the problem centering in the mind' if you add another line that says if alcoholics become religious (which they agreed to call "spiritual" to make the process more palatable to rebellious drunks) then those alcoholics would heal both mentally and physically."

He tried to stand fast again, saying that "being spiritual" had nothing to do with addressing the mental and emotional issues that the doctors had identified as what had to be treated to be free of the effects of alcoholism.

Their reply was something along these lines: "Refuse to make the point that spirituality is the end cure for alcoholism and we will refuse to submit our stories, which are going to be about 75% of the book you plan to write. No spiritual cure, no stories; no stories, no book."

He caved. The result: millions upon millions of people over the last 75+ years have studied the most widely-read book ever on the subject of alcoholism's cause and treatment, and millions upon millions have been convinced that they do not need professional treatment for the trauma and mental and emotional issues that drive their illness but that they instead only need to be super spiritual.

(The author did get the final word in, but only via an appendix, so few every reach that point in their reading because it is the 569th page of 575 pages in the third edition. Therein, he inserted a line that went back to the original point that he and the professionals intended to make all along regarding the root problem with the alcoholic. So he wrote a major point at the end of the book, as if an afterthought and in a small font that the Midwest crowd accepted, and he included another of the Far Eastern-based pointers (regarding the inner guru or the "inner resource" as opposed to an outer resource such as "a God in another realm"). He wrote:

"With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unexpected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves" (that is, greater than their false selves). So "the Power" is an inner resource, not an outer resource, he said (which is a purely Eastern teaching shared by a few in that region).

The author then differentiated between their religious and non-religious members, using the term "awareness" to refer to that which came to the non-religious members and then saying of the other group-within-the-group: "Our more religious members call it God-consciousness."

"God-consciousness" for one group; "awareness" for the others.

So much for those who brag that they are in a "spiritual program, not a religious program" but then mention God and God-consciousness. In that very act, according to the co-founder of their program, they are by definition "religious" if they talk about "God" instead of an awareness of that which comes via the inner resource.

So what has been the end result for the millions of persons who use that book and focus on a "spiritual" cure for what is actually a physical and mental illness? A $20,000,000 worldwide study of the current effectiveness of their plan reveals a 1.5%-3.5% average "success rate," and "success rate" was defined in the study as maintaining at least five years of sobriety.

The message for non-dualists is the same message that was intended originally by that author: the main problem on this planet nowadays centers in the mind and is rooted in what Maharaj called "stupidity verging on insanity." While insanity can most assuredly have a physiological component (chemical imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, etc.) insanity is primarily a mental issue, so the problem of the "mind" must be addressed.

Thus, Maharaj shared these pointers:

“I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”

"First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and ... you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."

“Whatever you have tried to understand during your spiritual search will prove false.”

"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud."

“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”

"Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end."

"There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding."

"There is no progress."

"Go to zero concepts."

The points of the day:

1. If you are suffering from cancer and go to a doctor who tells you to take two aspirin for what ails you, his advice is only going to guarantee more suffering and pain ... and possibly a hastened demise.

2. If you are (a) suffering from cancer and go to a doctor who tells you that you are suffering from an operable cancer but that (b) his or her recommendation is that (c) instead of undergoing surgery to remove the cancer within that you (d) try to pray away the tumor as an alternative, then only one of you is suffering from "stupidity verging on insanity." Only if you agree with her or his recommendation to pray away the tumor, then only are you both suffering from "stupidity verging on insanity."

Yet it is quite typical among those suffering to take the word of the one presenting himself or herself as the expert, is it not? Ah, now there's the rub.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

A Non-Duality Online Course is currently available at a reduced rate. See above for details. [Received from Mac, 10/17/12]: "Glad to see the online teaching offered at a discount. Hopefully, more who are ready will be able to take the course. For me, the course was the beginning of the unlearning that led to the trip to the lake for a retreat and the understanding."

SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM THAT WHICH DOES NOT WORK TO THAT WHICH DOES, Part One

A "movement" or "shift" happened here that added another parallel to the many parallels in terms of the phenomenal "experiences" and the noumenal revelations that "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" and "Floyd" share in common. (Many visitors over the years have said that they also shared the same parallels with "Maharaj" and "Floyd" as well.) In the case of "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" and "Floyd";;

1. both grew up in very poor families 2. both moved to populated areas to seek employment opportunities 3. both exhibited business skills that led to their opening and operating many businesses and to their having a large number of employees working for them 4. both succeeded financially 5. both became attached to accumulating;

6. both married and had a family 7. both were initially religious 8. both moved away from organized religion and became interested in "spiritual" matters, finding and following the teachings of a big name teacher (or, in "Floyd's" case, many big name teachers) 9. both had highly religious wives who were quite displeased with the shift away from religion and toward "spirituality" 10. both began to feel empty in spite of all of their "spiritual seeking" and in spite of all of their accumulated "spiritual knowledge";

11. both began to de-accumulate after both saw that they could survive quite well on a fraction of the income they had been making 12. both had wives who were unhappy when the de-accumulation stage was entered and both had wives who became unhappy about their husbands' focus on non-duality and who blamed their unhappiness on no longer having a religious husband (The facts be known, in both cases the unhappiness involved the fact that their husbands were no longer interested in - or willing - to work 80+ hours per week and that their husbands were no longer interested in accumulating wealth and possessions and providing the rich lifestyle to which their wives had grown accustomed) 13. both eventually came to see that the religious and spiritual states were also ego-states, and both saw that there are far more steps on the "path" to complete after reaching the religious and spiritual steps and after playing those roles which are the third of seven steps on the entire "path" 14. both "lost" their wives (one via "death," the other through divorce) 15. both accelerated their seeking;

16. both entered into the "forest dweller stage" 17. both Realized 18. both began to de-accumulate even more 19. both began sharing the teachings 20. for years, both answered questions in whatever order those questions were received, though both said that the movement from identification with the false "I" / "I's" involved an exact, step-wise manner of moving along a "path" that involved "going back" in the same (but reverse order) of the way they "came in" - that is, the way that the manifestation happened and the way that the consciousness was blocked through seven stages that resulted in their becoming identified solely with their false personas, with the content of the "mind," and eventually, with the body. But the most significant awareness that finally came to both after years of offering satsang and after having answered thousands and thousands of questions was this: After years of "Maharaj" offering satsang in his loft, and after years of "Floyd" offering satsang in meeting halls and in his home and via what one site visitor called "Floyd's electronic loft," this fact became obvious to both: "Maharaj" came to see in the 1970's and into 1980 and 1981 that his approach was not working and "Floyd" finally came to see the same.

21. Both saw that many who heard the teachings are not going to understand (Maharaj reporting that "only 1 in 100,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 22. both soon saw that even more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj modifying his "guesstimate" and reporting that "only 1 in 1,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 23. eventually both saw that even far more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj eventually concluding that "only 1 in 10,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding). And the failings were not the fault of seekers. A "one -in-ten-million" estimate is proof that satsang was not working for most seekers, and the evidence here lately is proof of the same.

Both "Maharaj" and "Floyd" invited seekers to focus on the exact, step-wise "path." Yes, during satsang, "Maharaj" sometimes alluded to the steps while discussing them in no particular order - but he never once laid out the steps in the exact order in which they had to be completed. That was not his teachings style or approach.

Therefore, another movement or shift is happening here spontaneously after reflecting on the more than two decades since the teachings were first offered here and looking at the results of Maharaj sharing pointers in his loft and looking at the results of "Floyd" sharing pointers in this electronic loft: Looking objectively at his results, Maharaj's satsang method of sharing - in the end and by his own admission (only "one out of 10,000,000") - did not produce the intended outcome.

Looking objectively at the results here when using an "electronic loft" satsang method of sharing has not produced the intended outcome nearly as often as any of the three "face-to-face" methods used with seekers by which they have been led through the seven steps in order. Here, the body is growing older, of course. Mahasamadhi could be taken today, or it could be taken in twenty years.

Obviously, that cannot be known. But the decision here has been made that whatever amount of the relative existence remains shall be spent in sharing the teachings in the ways that have been seen over the last 20+ years to be the most effective methods.

Looking back over the list of those that have truly received the understanding, it is seen that Robert R. read all of the books, then took the online Advaita course and then completed some face-to-face Skype sessions to receive the final clarifications required. It was seen that Mac read all of the books, completed the online course, and then attended a retreat where he was guided through the seven steps. Mac said that the online course work inspired him to attend the retreat in order to be able to receive the final "pieces." It was seen that Andy Gugar, Jr. read all of the books, then came here for a retreat and was taken through the seven steps in order, and then returned once more for the final clarifications required. After reviewing the shifts that happened with him after attending two retreats, he reaffirmed this past week his commitment to helping spread the non-duality, nisarga understanding as presented here. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what had not "worked" as well - changes will be made.

SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM THAT WHICH DOES NOT WORK TO THAT WHICH DOES, Part Two

In "Part One," examples were given of seekers that were led to Realization not by satsang but by following the various protocols outlined farther down this page which provide the understanding in the step-wise, orderly, required fashion which moves seekers along a "path" that is as prescribed by Maharaj ... "going back" in the "reverse order" by which the consciousness manifested and became blocked.

However, conversations with some that just read the majority of the books have revealed that they certainly seem to have grasped the understanding and Realized as well. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what has "not worked" as well - changes are being made. There are seven specific steps that happen when awareness-energy is "pulled" into a cycle of manifestation. When that energy manifests as conscious-energy, that formerly pure and unadulterated energy becomes "corrupted" (or "blocked" from seeing clearly) via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, and brainwashing. Soon, there is a belief in the not-Real as a result of seven degrees of separation from an understanding of the Real. Using the method that was also employed by his contemporaries - a method which focused on offering non-duality pointers via satsang - Maharaj addressed questions in the order in which they were received. He might receive a question from a seeker at the third step and his reply would include what amounted to an invitation to move to the fourth step. The next question might come from a seeker at the first step, and the reply would include an invitation to move to the second step. The information offered to the second seeker would seemingly contradict what was offered to the first seeker, so visitors who have come here for decades have asked questions which showed how confused they were by the fact that Maharaj's statements to each visitor in his loft were "level-appropriate" yet were provided in no precise order, resulting in what seemed to be an inconsistent message. So the process overall was confusing in that seekers were told to follow the "path back" in the same way that they "came in," except in reverse order, but pointers were not given in a specific, step-wise order at all. Maharaj did recognize the seven steps that are taught here, but by offering the teachings in an order that was dictated by the order in which questions were received from seekers who were at different steps on the "path," the result was this: a pointer about moving beyond the fourth step might be followed by a pointer about moving beyond the first step, and that pointer might be followed by a pointer about how to move beyond the sixth step. The same was done on this site for seven years. The result is a collection of 1,800 or so essays discussing almost every non-duality topic that can be discussed, and the search button on the top right side of this page will now allow seekers with a question about a specific topic to find an explanation. That method, however, will never provide the manner in which the seven steps on the "path" must be transmitted and received in order to Realize Fully. An objective study of the history here of more than twenty years of offering non-duality pointers reveals this: seekers that were given pointers in the exact order in which they needed to receive them were the ones that Realized.

They read the books, then they completed the online course and / or completed seven Skype or telephone sessions or came here for a retreat (or watched the downloadable DVD version of an actual retreat, available below).

Some found that which they were seeking by reading the author's book that deal with non-duality subject matter. Via all of those venues, the steps are taught in their proper order. The essays available on this site will remain for those interested in searching for a discussion of a particular non-duality topic without charge, but the focus here until mahasamadhi is taken is going to be on offering the teachings in the step-wise fashion that has been seen to work.

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(Four by Floyd Henderson and two by Dennis Waite. Click the picture for more information or to order)

* * * * * * *

All EBOOK AND PAPERBACK VERSION OF HENDERSON'S NON-DUALITY BOOKS and RECOVERY LITERATURE and FINANCIAL BOOKS are available at

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Within minutes of purchase you can be reading any of the eBooks below on your mobile devices, including an iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, Android phone, laptop, home computer or on a Kindle reader. For Apple and Android, either download the eBook directly onto your device or email the eBook file to your mobile device and open the file from your email. For Kindles or other similar devices, use your USB cable to transfer the eBook to your reader. FOR THOSE SEEKING FURTHER EXPLANATION OF THE NON-DUALITY UNDERSTANDING, AS NOTED ABOVE, SOME SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED BY USING THE METHODS BELOW, OR A COMBINATION OF THE METHODS:

WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:
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Click the button to pay and you will be contacted to arrange a date and time for the call.

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FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE: A Seven-Step Journey to the Absolute