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

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

F.: This was offered yesterday:

Maharaj knew - as did the author of the book discussed in the first part of this series - that the main problem of humanity centers in the mind, along with all of the subsequent problems of the planet as well.

He also knew that religion and spirituality could not address the problems generated by the "mind" and that the proper approach, ultimately, is to be rid of the mind entirely and to reach a no-beliefs, no-concepts, and, therefore, no-mind state.

A cancer cannot be "healed" - it must be removed. Same with "the mind," which is nothing more than a storehouse for false beliefs, illusions, delusions, misperceptions, and false conceptualizations. To remove the mind, merely purge that part of the brain of its content. That is, purge all belief in - and attachment to - the false and insane content stored therein.

Maharaj was a surgeon of sorts, removing the cancers of body and mind and personality; removing the cancers of programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination; removing the cancer of persona-generated fears and desires;

removing the cancer of ideas, notions, concepts, misperceptions, conceptualizations, distortions, illusions, delusions (a.k.a., "beliefs"), including societal / xenophobic beliefs, religious beliefs, and spiritual beliefs; and removing all of the cancers that contribute to the Ultimate Sickness.

Below is a description which was offered earlier on this blog after it was received from a seeker named Michael who had visited the skilled surgeon in his loft; it is repeated here because it provides visitors to this site with a first-hand account of the Realized physician at work, using his razor-sharp scalpel of reason and logic as he attempted to excise from Michael the firmly-rooted spiritual persona that was driving him throughout the relative existence.

Maharaj recognized that Michael's spiritual giant persona was causing him to go and do and zoom, preventing him from being able to relax and take it easy. Maharaj also recognized that spiritual giantism was depriving Michael of the ability to move beyond the third of seven steps on "the path" to Full Realization; and Maharaj recognized that Michael's spiritual workaholism was making a job of merely living.

As you read Michael's account of his visit to the loft, you may well feel that you are looking over the master surgeon's shoulder as he tries to remove all of the contaminants and obstructions that were blocking a speck of consciousness called "Michael" from taking advantage of Maharaj's invitation to abandon all that is unnatural (religious) and all that is supernatural (spiritual) and then abide naturally and simply "rest in the cool blue shade."

Here is some of what Michael shared:

"The intensity of seeking caused me to take a leave of absence from law school in 1976, in part to take a training course to become a teacher of meditation. Plans were made, goodbyes were said to family and friends, tickets were bought, yet when i arrived in France, i was told that the rules had changed and i couldn’t participate in the teacher’s course.

"Phone calls, pleading, praying, meditating, eating crepes from street vendors, i finally got the word that i could participate, but because of a change of schedule, i would have to wait for over a month.

"My student budget being what it was, i decided to travel on the cheap through Europe. By chance, i met a fellow who told me of Nisargadatta Maharaj and he wanted to go visit him. One week later, we arrived in Bombay / Mumbai.

"Having grown up in New York City, i thought i would be prepared me for what i heard was the crowded nature of Bombay and the hustle bustle. Wrong. Squalor, people strewn all over the streets, smell of fires, cooking, and who knows what else overwhelmed the senses. That week was a blur.

"We found a hotel close by that we could afford (it was less than $5 a night in '76) and planned to go see Maharaj. My friend knew someone who had been visiting Maharaj, and they made sure it was OK. We knew to bring offerings of fruit and flowers.

"When we made our way through this very impoverished neighborhood and stood in front of Maharaj’s place, then climbed up impossibly small steps to this loft, i knew very clearly that this could not be a teacher of any value. Wrong again.

"He had pictures of Indian teachers and sages all over; i thought i recognized one or two, but i was a babe in these spiritual woods at the time. At first, i did not even know that Maharaj was Maharaj. He looked so, well, ordinary!

"But his eyes gave him away! He stared at us and at one point fixed his eyes on mine. I couldn’t breathe! He began (so i thought) shouting. Actually he was asking my friend where we had come from, where we were staying, very mundane questions.

"Then he gave a talk, in his native language; i had no, and i mean NO, idea what he was talking about, even when translated. At one point, he gestured toward us and started talking very animatedly. The translator said Maharaj was saying that he did not want a lot of followers, that those who were attracted by wealthy teachers deserved what they got.

"i thought that was a bit harsh, since my teacher at the time was very big on positive talk! i was impressed by the fact that, though my friend had not offered that we were followers of a 'big' teacher, somehow Maharaj knew anyway.

"He asked us if we had any questions, and i asked what was the quickest way to stabilize the experience of pure consciousness experienced in meditation.

"The paradigm i was taught was that if you meditated enough, the fleeting experience of pure consciousness would be stabilized and there all the time. Bliss and all good things would ensue as a result.
"He asked me who was having the experience of pure consciousness. i told him, quite innocently, i was (had no idea of Self-inquiry, direct path, any of that.)

He told me i had wasted my time coming there, and as long as i thought i would get something out of what i was doing, i would continue to travel far and wide from teacher to teacher and never understand. Again, no idea what he was talking about AND he was yelling at me. Freaked out beyond words.

"He asked me why i wanted to waste my time and his. [Gulp.] Told him i wanted to be enlightened. Wish i could remember more of the torrent of words that he responded with. Knew before it was translated that it wasn’t good. Something about before consciousness, something about no one who would benefit, something about never even being born.

"Between not 'supposed' to be there in the first place, getting singled out while trying to remain incognito, having my nice little spiritual worldview challenged, seeing a number of nodding heads and smiles as Maharaj was speaking (again, i thought shouting), i wanted to disappear."

And that is what happens when a seeker hears the consciousness speak when the words are coming via a speck that is abiding as its Original Nature of Pure Awareness: the seeker will just "want to disappear."

Indeed, if the non-dual, Nisargan message is understood: you - all of the false you's ... all of the not-You's - will "just want to fade away."

Then, all sense of self-ness and Self-ness can dissolve and fade away, along with every persona ever adopted, including the ones assumed, dualistically, to be "the really good ones" such as "The Super Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," and "The Super Seeker."

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