Advaita Vedanta: CAUSATION and RELATIVE EVENTS AND BEHAVIORS: "Evil?" Or Ignorance, Stupidity, and Insanity? Part Fifteen in the Series

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

F.: It was noted yesterday that, without a single exception, every one of the fundamental, ideological types who have heard the invitation to consider insanity (rather than "evil people" or "a god of evil") as the possible motivator of all that they call "evil" have all rejected that invitation outright. Some time back, an Ultra-Christian woman became very upset when her Bible-based belief in the duality of "good vs. evil" was questioned. She was quite sure that "Satan is at work in the world."

She became convinced that the intent here was to deceive her when it was explained that in the original Hebrew, "satan" was a verb, not a noun to be used to name "an evil entity." The verb merely meant, "to oppose" or "to obstruct."

It was not until the mid-300's A.D. at Nicea that the men who rewrote what was originally deemed to be the "infallible Holy Scriptures" changed the verb "satan" to a noun, capitalized it, and used that noun as a personal identifier of "The Adversary of God." (The same crowd took the name of the pagan "Lord of the Flies" or "The God of Insects" - specifically, "Beelzebub" - and made that synonymous with "Satan" as well.)

Maharaj explained that the concept of "God" was dreamed up by men, and it should be clear from the above that the concept of Satan was also dreamed up by men, yet billions upon billions have believed from that time to this that there is "evil in the world" and it is inspired by Satan; therefore, when persons are looking for "the cause" of this or that "evil" event or "the cause" of this or that "evil" behavior, if those persons are supernatural, magical thinkers, they will turn to Satan-generated "evil" as the cause.

(First, it should be understood that Maharaj made clear that the cause of all is ... all. There is no single cause for anything, and there is no Prime Causer either because, again, men just made up that concept, too.)

Relatively speaking, though, as one goes back to the more recent roots of any given person or event that is taken to be "wicked," the question can be asked: Is this event, or is a certain behavior, rooted in "evil," or is it possible that it is rooted in insanity? Consider this recent event that happened a short drive from the office where this blog is being typed:

"HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Lone Star College Cy-Fair campus is back open while investigators are working to figure out why a student slashed 14 people there on Tuesday [9 April 2013]. Investigators are piecing together a motive behind the attack at the school on Barker Cypress, and there are new clues that the suspect may be mentally unstable.

"Investigators say stabbing suspect Dylan Quick fantasized for years about this attack. They say he first started thinking about it when he was just eight years old.

"The attacks happened just after 11am Tuesday inside both the first and second floor of the school's Health Sciences building. Deputies confirm witness accounts that Quick used a razor utility knife of some kind and that he was in possession of spare blades.

"The defendant gave a videotaped confession, admitting he stabbed complainants multiple times with an exacto knife because of his fantasy to kill people," read a judge in probable cause court overnight.

"Students were held inside classrooms as the campus went into lockdown. One student told KTRK that students held a prayer circle in the classroom. One parent said his son called from inside after the event and said that there was no need to worry because 'the Lord was protecting him'." How special, yes? Protected one, but not the other fourteen? Indeed, that Power does seem, as they say, to "work in mysterious ways," if that Power were to truly exist.

So, again ... "evil"? Or insane?

Time to revisit a point offered earlier in this series: the message being spread by those who believe in "The Good News" or in some "program's" message is that a god or gods and goddesses are the only answer to humanity's problems and that people all just need to be religious and / or spiritual. If that happens, so their story goes, then people will be healed both physically and mentally.

A by-product of such healing is that evil will be eliminated and peace and harmony will come to the planet. They claim that anyone who becomes religious or spiritual will be happy and joyous and free. White magic, yes?

But if that were going to happen, if turning to a god (or gods) or if being spiritual is the plan, then all is fruitless. Why?

Because humans have spent 25,000 years or more being spiritual and godly, yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed. Far Easterners for 5000 years have gathered to worship their gods and goddesses - with the risk of being killed during one of the human stampedes that occur regularly at their religious festivals - yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed.

The ancient Romans and Greeks had a host of gods and goddesses that they turned to for thousands of years, yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed. The Jews have had a god for about 4000 years that they turn to, yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed.

Christians have has a god for about 2000 years that they turn to, yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed. And Muslims have had a god for 1300 years or more that they turn to, yet neither ignorance nor insanity nor "evil" has been eliminated or even curtailed.

In fact, quite to the contrary, all of their beliefs and efforts and their assuming religious and spiritual identities have actually expanded ignorance and insanity.

The question for all of them is, "So, how's that working?" After they offer whatever answer they have been programmed and conditioned to offer to that question, then the next question is, "No, really, how's that working?" Then, it might be asked, "Looking at the results throughout the history of the planet since persons began assuming religious and spiritual roles and then playing those out with gusto, overall, how's that been working? Are you really impressed?"

Yet their programming and conditioning kick in and persons behave as two persons did this week. One male said, "My dad used a belt to beat me, and thank goodness he was willing to do that. I needed it." A young woman, now in her 20's as well, said that her dad "spanked me regularly with a wooden paddle so severely that sometimes I had water blisters form on my butt."

Then, like the male, she minimized her parent's actions and dismissed the possibility of any resulting traumatic effects and said, "I've never been bothered by what he did because I knew I deserved it." Yet both that male and that female are in counseling, the male trying to understand why he is so abusive to the women he dates and the female trying to figure out why she keeps "choosing" abusive males and staying with them even as their abusive behaviors escalate.

They are in total denial concerning the actual results of their fathers' actions so they both heap praise on their abusive parents whose methods were a total fiasco. In the case of persons playing their spiritual or religious roles, they too deny the facts. A god or gods or goddesses have supposedly had forever to get things right but have not done so.

Yet those "followers" are in total denial concerning the actual results of their "Heavenly Father's" actions and, therefore, heap praise on their Higher Power or God whose methods have also been nothing less than a total fiasco (were that Power to actually exist and were that Power to actually have any methods that are being used).

Any so-called "believer" that could develop even the slightest shred of objectivity would have to finally admit, "Wait a minute. The method I've been supporting and endorsing has been tried for thousands of years and nothing has changed as far as eradicating what I call 'the evil in the world.' And the god I've been worshipping and counting on to eradicate 'evil' has had thousands (or millions?) of years to eradicate 'the evil in the world' but has not done so. We're screwed!" Maybe, or maybe not ... at least not totally. How come?

Well, what if all dualities are false, making the "good vs. evil" duality false? And what if all of "The Judges" are in error as they decide what is "good" and what is "evil" and what "the source of evil" is? What if all that they call "evil" is not about "evil" at all, and what if all that they call "evil" is not caused by "Satan" or "Beelzebub"?

That might help clarify such questions as, "Who is really more powerful ... your God, or the God of Evil?" and "If your God is all-powerful, why doesn't He / She / They just use that power to destroy 'The Adversary of God' or 'The Lord of the Flies' (a.k.a., 'The God of Insects' or 'Beelzebub') and be done with evil once and for all?"

Consider the two options:

a. either there is (1) a god who is obviously unwilling to end evil and (2) there is indisputable historical evidence to show that after trillions of persons have been religious and spiritual, all of their efforts failed to end "evil" or the human problems that have repeated themselves over and over;

b. or what is deemed "evil" has nothing to do with an inefficient god or Satan but has everything to do with ignorance and stupidity and insanity.

Relatively speaking, if those are the options, then one should hope that there is no "god or gods and goddesses of good" and that that there is no "god of evil" and that "b" is the actual case. Why?

If the cause of all events and persons who are deemed to be "wicked" is merely "evil" and you're believing that a god or gods or goddesses are "the answer," that single solution based in a belief in a single cause has already been shown to be a total failure. You really are screwed. All is hopeless, relatively speaking.

But consider: if there is a cause (or a chain of causation) rooted in something other than "evil," then there are some actual, concrete, tangible, specific steps that can be taken - relatively speaking - that can sometimes address the issues resulting from some of the contributing factors involved with causation of things deemed "evil," namely, ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

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