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

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

"Evil" is not at the root of the planet's widespread instances of fighting and divorcing and regional rivalries and shootings and stabbings and bombings and civil wars and international wars and mass murder and genocide; what is at the root is a dualistic belief that involves this mentality: "me vs. him or her" and "me vs. them" and "us vs. them."

Once false identities are adopted, then the battle lines will already have been drawn; then the battle begins after (1) an assumed ego-state upgrades itself; and after that ego-state (2) downgrades any other persona or persons whom it thinks represents a threat to the agenda of that assumed ego-state (or after an ego-state identifies another - an "other" - that can be used to sustain one or more assumed ego-states or create another).

In the U.S. recently, the hidden agendas of certain ego-states led to the belief that some persons needed to use "others" as pawns in order to develop and maintain a new ego-state. Their "pawns" in one case were elementary-age children; in another instance, runners and onlookers at a marathon were the pawns.

To assign "evil" as the cause of those deeds ends the search for understanding the actual elements in the chain of causation. To understand some of the elements in the chain of causation, one must understand the ways that persons are driven by the agendas of their assumed ego-states which are then driven to extreme actions after the ego-defense mechanism of egotism is triggered.

When egotism is triggered, one is always believed to be better than "others"; what one wants is always more important than what "others" want; and whatever one's cause or causes are will always be thought to be more important that the causes of "others."

When an ego-state is assumed and upgraded and then supported by egotism, persons automatically believe that they and their causes and desires are "good" and the causes and desires of "others" are "evil." Consider: the news media reported that, after the recent bombings during the Boston Marathon, an entertainer wrote a message on his Facebook page to the people he referred to as "the evildoers" of the world:

"The good outnumber you, and we always will." The key word: "we." Those who use the word "evil" to label others have already counted themselves among the "we" who are "the good people" and who "always will" outnumber the "the evil people."

The question that only a few will raise is, "Why are you using your Facebook page to send out a message to evildoers, telling them that 'the good outnumber you'? Is it your belief that evildoers are regularly visiting that page and will read your message to them, or was that just so much pontificating for an already-sympathetic audience? And what is the value of offering the point that the good outnumber the evil? Are those numbers actually working to any advantage for the so-called 'good'?"

On September 11, 2001 it only took nineteen persons to kill nearly 3,000 and to injure nearly 6,300. On April 15, 2012, it only took two persons to kill 3 and to injure over 180. Even if this were about "the good" vs. "the evil" whom "the good outnumber," the fact that "we" outnumber "them" has proved to be immaterial, has it not?

But what has really set the stage for those numbers to be so abhorrent in the U.S.? The U.S. is a nation where most deem themselves to be "good Judaeo-Christian people." When persons value an Old Testament "eye-for-an-eye" dogma, ratios of 19 to 9300 and 2 to 183 will turn one's entire "world" upside down. Something is wrong in that picture when the number killed in retaliation should at least equal the number killed initially. (Of course, the Iraq War was an effort - among other things - to right the ratios, and, indeed, the numbers were eventually turned around as far as 9-11 goes.)

Looking at those numbers, Iraq notwithstanding, it can also be asked, "If there were 'good people' ready to stand up again 'evil people,' do the facts suggest that there is any advantage at all, typically, to 'the good' outnumbering 'the evil' as you wrote on Facebook?"

Note that there is so much duality-based rhetoric, causing an endless swelling of the size of the planet's compost pile of nonsense.

Note, too, the inconsistency of the "good" as they declare what the fate of the evil ones should be. One relative called a couple of days ago to say that she "hoped that the law enforcement officials end up killing both of the suspects in the Boston bomb incident." The question asked in response, "So remind me again why you want them killed?" And the answer was, "What, are you crazy? Because they killed three Americans and wounded hundreds more."

See how the so-called logic of "the good" people works? "It is evil to kill, so we are going to ... kill." Are you seeing how the "good vs. evil" debate is really about self and self-aggrandizement and self-righteousness? As noted here regularly, once an ego-state is assumed, then the ego-defense mechanism of "egotism" will activate.

Then, one will upgrade self - along with "persons like self" - and one will downgrade persons who are "not like self" ... who are perceived, in a dualistic fashion, to be different from and therefore less than.

Xenophobia by definition might deal with excessive (and unfounded) nationalistic pride that results in a distrust or hatred of people from other countries, but its results differ not at all from the results of self pride, group pride, tribal pride, racial pride, ethnic pride, economic-status pride, cultural pride, religious pride, and spiritual pride.

The insanity of xenophobia's duality-based "us vs. them" mentality is this: "There is nothing worse than when they kill us, requiring that we kill them. As for 'us killing us,' no problem." In the U.S., with the most heavily-armed population on the planet, 30,000 Americans kill 30,000 other Americans annually; 300,000 Americans kill themselves annually via the use of tobacco products that are made by Americans.

When 30,000 or 300,000 are killed annually, not only is there no uproar comparable to that which has been seen over 3 killed or 3000 killed; the fact is, there is no uproar at all over those far higher numbers.

Maharaj: "This is [their] stupidity, verging on insanity."

So, it is not "evil" that downgrades "others" to the point that they are irrelevant, relatively speaking; it is ego and ego-state assumption and egotism that does that. When the agendas of one's personalities / personas are believed to be overwhelmingly significant while the agendas of "others" are simultaneously seen to be totally irrelevant, then "others" can as readily be squashed as might happen with a tiny insect that crosses one's path.

Will that perspective get scores of children shot? You bet. Will that perspective get some killed and hundreds more injured at a public event in Boston? You bet. But can it get millions killed? Also, you bet.

In the U.S., the call by many is to "kick out the foreigners and then build a fence to keep them out." There are some who are rather amazed at that attitude, especially among the few remaining survivors of the invasion of what is called "the Americas" by Europeans who used the concept of "Manifest Destiny" to justify the killing of 150,000,000 of the indigenous peoples on the continent in order to establish "a godly, Christian nation" that could be "a shining city on a hill, a country that can serve as a beacon of light for the rest of the world."

What caused the battle lines to be drawn and led to the beginning of that invasion? As always, the assumption of ego-states, the upgrading of those ego-states, and the downgrading of any "others" that might be perceived to be interfering with the agendas of those upgraded ego-states.

So there were in Europe "The Good Christians"; there were in the Americans those whom "The Good People" considered to be "The Evil Heathens." (Once the "good" lay out such ground rules as an example of what is "okay" vs. what is "not okay," wherefore any surprise that "The Attackers" feel justified to attack those they perceive as "The Ones Who Have Always Been Attackers in the First Place"?)

And there is the insanity: those assuming any roles that they believe define who they are will upgrade those roles, will upgrade their self-concept, and will participate in self-aggrandizement. Then, those will believe that they are justified to do whatever is called for as they claim that "we are fighting for our country and its freedom" and we feel quite justified in downgrading "others" - in downgrading "them" - and then attacking them. The rub? Sometimes, the "them" becomes "us."

Every ego-state, like that assumed by the Facebook writer mentioned above, places itself in the "good" category and all "others" that might be perceived as threatening that ego-state will be relegated to the status of "The Superfluous Others" or downgraded to the status of "The Evil Ones" or "The Evildoers."

And nothing precipitates the downgrading of "others" more than the number one source of dualistic beliefs. On a planet where 97% claim to be affiliated with one organized religion or another, 97% are automatically trapped in the duality and dualistic beliefs that mark all dogma, and Maharaj made clear that what he called "ignorance and stupidity and insanity" always manifest in partnership with a belief in duality.

The result is that 97% are set up to believe any and all words spoken by the uninformed and ignorant when they speak of "evil and evil persons." They readily believe in conceptualized, dreamed up dualistic pairings such as "good vs. evil" and "God vs. Satan." And how do they spot "evil"?

It is whatever they think is unlike them, because the non-Realized masses always believe that "they and theirs are good" while the "others" - who are not like "them and theirs" - are "evil."

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

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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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WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

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