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

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

[Continued from yesterday]

Yes, male deer during the breeding season do fight in their attempt to establish "dominance" in the herd. If a fight ensues between two bucks that are both seeking the right to breed with the most preferred doe in the herd, both deer rise to their hind feet and maneuver for position. After a few slashes with their forelegs, the fight is over.

No fighting to the death over a female. No personality / persona-based ego and egotism is at play. There is no notion of rising to the top of a hierarchy and holding that position year round; there is no competition to "make one's mark on the world"; there is no fighting or killing to compensate for a personal sense of inadequacy; and there are no unnatural, supernatural or insane beliefs that are motivating the struggle.

So, although male deer are known to fight during the breeding season, they are neither good nor evil nor insane. When they fight, they are merely doing what they are driven to do by their natural, innate sex drive. Unlike insane humans, the deer are not being driven by any mental disorders and they are not being driven by the agendas of any assumed personas. They are not CHOOSING to fight for the right to breed with the healthiest doe. They are not THINKING. They are just doing what they are driven to do, naturally and spontaneously, again as a result of their all-natural, instinctive drives.

Persons abiding under the influence of personality also do what they are driven to do and to say what they are driven to say. They are not choosing. But the insanity of that is that they are driven by false identities, by mirages, and the result is insane thoughts and insane words and insane actions.

What might be "the answer"? What is "the cure"? Could it rest with one of the following five possibilities?

1. Might the answer rest with nationally or globally published authors who are the very ones that Maharaj called "Big Name Teachers" and warned his visitors to avoid? No. They are blending dualistic concepts into their writings to create popular appeal.

2. Might the answer rest with nationally or globally famous lecturers who are the very ones that Maharaj called "Big Name Teachers" and warned his visitors to avoid? No. They are blending dualistic concepts into their talks to create popular appeal.

3. Might the answer rest with an internationally-operating spiritual program that is run by non-professionals who have no training whatsoever at addressing its membership's severe mental and emotional issues but who claim instead that "being spiritual" cures mental illness? That possibility has already been addressed and dismissed, having been shown to have failed miserably by their actual results.

4. Might the answer rest with the organized religions that are operating around the globe with 97% of the planet's population reporting an affiliation with one of those organizations? With billions involved in those religions, but with billions nevertheless ignorant or "stupid" or "insane" (to use Maharaj's categories), it should be obvious that organized religions are not providing the cure for global insanity.

[Consider: in November of 2012, a series discussed "The Top Ten Sources of The Ultimate Sickness," and it was shown that #1 on the list was "religion."]

5. Or might the answer rest with an entity that could potentially have the ability to address insanity when it manifests on a colossal, nationwide basis (as is the case in most nations nowadays), an entity with national resources, such as a national government?

Are governments taking on the task? Obviously not. Why? Calloused dictatorships notwithstanding, are the so-called "democracies" addressing the issue? Obviously not. Why? For one thing, insane people elect insane officials to represent them, and then decisions affecting millions are made by persons who are also suffering from the insanity that marks the Ultimate Sickness.

Now, note the linkage with #4 and #5: What does religion have to do with government? Consider: what, obviously, is going to result when the most religious persons in a nation are also the persons elected to governmental positions, setting the stage for their religious beliefs to define government policy? The governmental leaders who are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness will form a government that also suffers from the Ultimate Sickness. All of that government's actions will be totally insane as well.

And does the Ultimate Sickness want to eliminate itself, whether on an individual level or on a group level or on a federal government level? Never. That is why non-dual teachers have long recommended that individualized seeking be the preferred method of seeking as far as the non-dual understanding is concerned. Maharaj clearly stated that the non-dual message is not for the masses and should not be presented on a public stage. (Again, so much for the practices of the ones Maharaj called "The Big Name Teachers.")

So note the failure of # 5 - government - to address the spread of insanity. In what some call "developed countries" with well-organized health care systems, in the nations that were studied, 44% to 70% of patients with depression, schizophrenia, alcohol-use disorders and child and adolescent mental illnesses do not receive treatment. In what some call "developing countries," the treatment gap is likely to be closer to 90% for those disorders.

In theocracies where religion controls the national government (and that includes the United States nowadays) the national government subsidizes religion. In the U.S., the national government gives seventy-one billion dollars to organized religion every year via tax breaks. How much does that same government contribute toward the treatment of mental health issues annually? Six billion dollars.

That means that, annually, the government in the U.S. spends eleven times more on religion than on addressing mental health issues.

And that means that in the U.S., every citizen is contributing to the costs of religion because tax breaks are given to persons who make financial contributions to religious organizations, yet the entire citizenry must carry the tax burden for religious organizations while the entire citizenry could benefit far more if their tax dollars were being used to address insanity.

Moreover, it means that the federal government is spending eleven times more on religious organizations that perpetuate some of the most insane beliefs ever than it is spending via mental healthcare organizations that offer treatment for insanity.

The point? Seekers cannot count on any entity to address ignorance and insanity, verified by looking at the record of famous authors, famous lecturers, spiritual programs, religious organizations, or governments. None of those are addressing the issue, so Maharaj's final "guesstimate" was that - even among seekers - only 1 in 10,000,000 would ever Realize Fully and be free of "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity."

Yet if persons were never to understand "That Which They Are," consider how very different the relative existence would be if persons were at least sane enough to understand everything that they are not.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

Questions?
Submit them to:

Comments?
Just hang on to those please.

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