Advaita Vedanta: "WHY THE MASSES ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEIR BELIEF IN THE CONCEPT OF EVIL," Part Thirty-Seven in the Series

Today's "DAILY CONSIDERATION" for You

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

Comparing the number of seekers who visited the ashrams belonging to Maharaj's contemporaries with the number that visited his loft, the numbers in the loft were miniscule.

Additionally, few ever hear about the persons who disrupted a session and - before leaving the loft and going down the stairs in a rage - "told Maharaj off to his face" and attacked him verbally and called him a fraud and a pagan and a non-believer and a heretic and a deserter of the Hindu faith and a sinner and a heathen.

As is the case here, few "spiritual seekers" care to hear the message that "there is no you that is special and there is no I that is special" or "there is no Supreme You or Superlative Selfness" or who care to hear the invitation to "stop abiding unnaturally in your quest to be supernatural and super religious and super spiritual and abide naturally instead" and "there is no person who is virtuous and noble and there is no person who is evil and sinful for the person itself is a mirage."

Thus, many seekers who stopped by the loft did not want to hear that "Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end." The same applies to many who stop by this electronic loft.

How comforting it is to the masses to believe that one's "sin has come to an end" (or has been forgiven thousands of times and will be forgiven a thousand times more, a major draw of organized religion). Yet how the ego abhors the notion that one's "virtue has come to an end." How objectionable ... how detestable ... how repugnant ... to even consider the possibility.

Those trapped at the third of seven steps on the "path" to Realization (where religious and / or spiritual identities are assumed and played) absolutely love "their new and improved self" ... or even better yet, "Self." At that third step, what happens shortly after the assumption of a religious and / or a spiritual identity is what happens shortly after any ego-state is assumed:

the new self or Self is upgraded to a Super self or Self which demands that all "others" who are not a mirror image of that same "Super Self" will be downgraded. In the process of such upgrading, an entirely new set of assumed personality traits manifest, including,

being good; then being more than good; then being virtuous; being righteous; being worthy; being honorable; being moral; being upright; and, yes, being different from by virtue of being better than.

With that mindset, is it not obvious why "The Super Religious One" or "The Spiritual Giant" hates to hear the message offered via the Nisarga (Natural") Yoga? Is it not obvious why the masses absolutely love their belief in the concept of "evil"? Is it not obvious why so many objected to Maharaj's pointer, "Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end"?

"'Sin'? Yes, of course, most assuredly. 'Sin AND virtue'? I don't think so."

Some may recall the earlier sharing of the words of the comedian who, after the Boston Marathon bombings, took to Facebook to shake his verbal fist in the air at all terrorists by sending a message to the "evil" ones in the world. ("Wait a minute. He went to his Facebook page to address the terrorists, not to Helmand Province?" Right, just to his Facebook page.)

There, his comments included the following: “The good outnumber you, and we always will.” Yes, "we" - we who are "the good" - outnumber you evil people and "we always will." That is the way the self - the false self - upgrades itself (classifying its self as "the good"), and that is the way that the self - the false self - downgrades "others" (by classifying them as "the evil.")

How popular that message was among the masses, and how popular it shall always be among the non-Realized hoards. Conversely, how unpopular a "no virtue and no evil" message will always be with the masses. Pandering draws crowds; Truth disperses crowds.

You see, if there is no "evil," and if there are no "evil people," then there can be no "good people" either.

Again, how the ego abhors the notion that one's "virtue has come to an end." How objectionable ... how detestable ... how repugnant ... to even consider the possibility, for if that is the case, then what also comes to an end is the upgraded self-image that one is righteous; worthy; honorable; moral; upright; and different from by virtue of being better than.

No ego-state (persona, personality, false identity, role, stage character, facade, etc.) can exist in a vacuum. All ego-states are co-dependent and dependent. All are dependent on another person also willing to assume a false identity and to play the co-dependent counterpart for any imaginary, assumed identity to be sustained in the mind:

"The Wife" cannot "be" without "The Husband" and vice-versa, while "The Super Wife" cannot "be" without "The Super Husband" and vice-versa; "The Employer" cannot "be" without "The Employee" and vice-versa, while "The Super Employer" cannot "be" without "The Super Employee" and vice-versa;

"The Teacher" cannot "be" without "The Pupil" and vice-versa, while "The Super Teacher" cannot "be" without "The Super Pupil" and vice-versa; "The Sponsor" cannot "be" without "The Protégé" and vice-versa while "The Super Sponsor" cannot "be" without "The Super Protégé" and vice-versa;

and "The Seeker" cannot "be" without "The Teacher" and vice-versa; and "The Super Seeker" cannot "be" without what Maharaj called "The Big Name Teacher" and vice-versa.

In the realm of genetically-transferred archetypal images, there can be no "up" without the counterpart called "down"; there can be no "light" without the counterpart called "darkness"; and there can be no "good" without the counterpart called "evil."

Similarly, in the realm of the duality-dominated masses, there can also be no "good" without the counterpart called "evil"; there can be no "morality" without the counterpart called "immorality"; there can be no "virtue" without the counterpart called "sin";

there can be no "righteous person" without the counterpart of "a wicked person"; there can be no "worthy person" without the counterpart of "an unworthy person"; there can be no "honorable person" without the counterpart of "a dishonorable person";

there can be no "upright person" without the counterpart of "a corrupt person"; there can be no "honorable person" without the counterpart of "a dishonorable person"; and there can be no "virtue" without the counterpart of "sin."

Moreover, the arrogance-and-delusion-and-duality-based self-love, which is the prime infatuation among the masses (self-love that is reinforced by the illusion of being virtuous and righteous and worthy and honorable and moral and upright and different from and better than), will guarantee that non-Realized persons will also absolutely love their belief in the concept of evil and will, therefore, come up with arrogance-and-delusion-and-duality-based comments such as “the good outnumber you [evil people], and WE always will.”

The fact: you are not "good" and they are not "evil." Why? Because "you" are not, and "they" are not. What IS is ignorance and stupidity and insanity, and it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivate the bombing of citizens on the streets of Baghdad or on the streets of Boston;

it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates the slaughter of children in an elementary school as happened in the U.S. and in Afghanistan and in Russia; it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates persons to believe that those in their economic bracket are better than those in a lower bracket;

it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates persons to believe that they are better because of their lighter skin color than "others" who have a darker skin color; it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates persons to abide under the influence of xenophobia and believe as a result that those who are citizens of the nation they live in are better than all "others" living in other nations;

it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates one to believe that her or his dogma is right while the dogma of all others is wrong; and it is ignorance and stupidity and insanity that motivates persons to believe that they are "better than" because they are spiritual rather than religious.

Mostly, though, it ignorance and stupidity and insanity that set the stage for the kind of judging and anger and hatred that are all rooted in a duality-inspired "us vs. them" mentality which, in turn, drives all fighting and bombing and killing and war.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

Questions? Submit 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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* * * * * * *

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WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

I. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk, Seven-Hour Video (DVD) Set of an advaita retreat, or the downloadable file version. To find out more or to purchase the DVD or downloadable computer file version of the retreat, DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

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