A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Two recurring themes in Maharaj's talks were these:
1. From early on to the end, he advised visitors to be rid of personal identification, of the influence of personality; and
2. to some degree early on, and more so later on, he advised visitors to abandon spirituality and spiritual seeking and spiritual exercises and to follow their "normal inclinations." (That is, stop all of the unnatural and supernatural thinking and doing and going and zooming and then just abide naturally.)
Assumed and / or assigned religious and spiritual roles can take many forms, depending on the religion or denomination or sect that persons buy into or depending on the spiritual programming or conditioning or indoctrination or domestication or acculturation or "program" that persons buy into; moreover, the ways those roles are played will also vary depending on the primary personality type of the indoctrinated persons.
There are nine basic personality types, and the way they drive persons' behavior around religion or spirituality will vary because all nine have different hidden agendas, different basic desires, and different basic fears.
Type Ones who are religious and / or spiritual: will be obsessive-compulsive as they seek "perfection" and "absolute purity"; they will be critical; judgmental; anal; and rigid; they will be reformists who want everyone to believe what they believe; and they will dare anyone to suggest that anything other than their beliefs are "the right ones";
Type Twos who are religious and / or spiritual: will present as helpers and saviors and rescuers, proselytizing in the name of helping all people whose paths they cross but actually offering to help in order to try to get in return the love they did not get from their fathers in childhood; they will be narcissistic about their faith and will be intolerant of differing views;
Type Threes who are religious and / or spiritual: will make a show of their "faith"; they will pray in public so all can see how religious or spiritual they are; they will make a performance out of their religion or spirituality, forever seeking an audience to see just how really religious or spiritual they are;
Type Fours who are religious and / or spiritual: will use their religion or spiritual to escape "the realities" of the relative existence;
Type Fives who are religious and / or spiritual: will work to accumulate religious and spiritual knowledge that is beyond compare; they will show others how much they know and how intelligent they are about all things religious or spiritual;
Type Sixes who are religious and / or spiritual: will use their religion or spirituality to address their insecurities and fears and anxieties and to try to develop a "relationship" with "An Other World Caretaker and Provider";
1. From early on to the end, he advised visitors to be rid of personal identification, of the influence of personality; and
2. to some degree early on, and more so later on, he advised visitors to abandon spirituality and spiritual seeking and spiritual exercises and to follow their "normal inclinations." (That is, stop all of the unnatural and supernatural thinking and doing and going and zooming and then just abide naturally.)
Assumed and / or assigned religious and spiritual roles can take many forms, depending on the religion or denomination or sect that persons buy into or depending on the spiritual programming or conditioning or indoctrination or domestication or acculturation or "program" that persons buy into; moreover, the ways those roles are played will also vary depending on the primary personality type of the indoctrinated persons.
There are nine basic personality types, and the way they drive persons' behavior around religion or spirituality will vary because all nine have different hidden agendas, different basic desires, and different basic fears.
Type Ones who are religious and / or spiritual: will be obsessive-compulsive as they seek "perfection" and "absolute purity"; they will be critical; judgmental; anal; and rigid; they will be reformists who want everyone to believe what they believe; and they will dare anyone to suggest that anything other than their beliefs are "the right ones";
Type Twos who are religious and / or spiritual: will present as helpers and saviors and rescuers, proselytizing in the name of helping all people whose paths they cross but actually offering to help in order to try to get in return the love they did not get from their fathers in childhood; they will be narcissistic about their faith and will be intolerant of differing views;
Type Threes who are religious and / or spiritual: will make a show of their "faith"; they will pray in public so all can see how religious or spiritual they are; they will make a performance out of their religion or spirituality, forever seeking an audience to see just how really religious or spiritual they are;
Type Fours who are religious and / or spiritual: will use their religion or spiritual to escape "the realities" of the relative existence;
Type Fives who are religious and / or spiritual: will work to accumulate religious and spiritual knowledge that is beyond compare; they will show others how much they know and how intelligent they are about all things religious or spiritual;
Type Sixes who are religious and / or spiritual: will use their religion or spirituality to address their insecurities and fears and anxieties and to try to develop a "relationship" with "An Other World Caretaker and Provider";
Type Sevens who are religious and / or spiritual: will be emotionally-intoxicated around their dogma or their spirituality;
Type Eights who are religious and / or spiritual: will be the ones who will try to force their beliefs on you and will be glad to kill you (that is, destroy you and / or punish you, either literally or figuratively) if you do not accept their beliefs; they are the ones who will use religion or spirituality to give them the power that they want to be able to control all things;
Type Nines who are religious and / or spiritual: will use their religion and spirituality to try to maintain their peace and also (like the 2 and 3 and 6) will also want to have a Provider and Caretaker (who, in the case of the Nine) will want a Power to help them avoid all things in the relative existence that require them to work on or confront their issues.
So which one of those would you like to spend your relative existence with? Which one of those do you think it would be fun to live with? If restored to sanity, the answer is: "None of those types."
Moreover, three key questions for you are: "If you are playing religious or spiritual roles, which one of those are you like"? "Do you think anyone would really like to spend an entire relative existence with you, being that way?" "Do you think you would be fun to live with if you are like any one of those?"
Have you ever considered trying Maharaj's suggestion, to just abandon spirituality and to allow the non-dual understanding to become "applied" to your relative existence and to live naturally and to turn to your "normal inclinations" and to relax and take it easy?
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Previous Post
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Again, “Applied Advaita,” or the application of the non-dual understanding over the relative existence, happens in the absence of any “personal applier” or “Personal Applier / God / Goddess.” It is applied – spontaneously and automatically – as a result of a process:
the process of completing the seven steps on the “path” and the process of completing three legs of the “journey.” Complete the process and the application just happens naturally.
Rather than abiding naturally, however, billions of humans are living unnaturally while trying to live supernaturally (that is religiously and / or spiritually, living under the influence of magical thinking).
[What is magical thinking? George Carlin provided an illustration that addressed that type of thinking:
So I've been praying to Joe (Pesci) for about a year now. And I noticed something. I noticed that all the prayers I used to offer to God, and all the prayers I now offer to Joe Pesci, are being answered at about the same 50% rate. Half the time I get what I want, half the time I don't. Same as God, 50-50. Same as the four-leaf clover and the horseshoe, the wishing well and the rabbit's foot, same as the Mojo Man. It's all the same: 50-50. So just pick your superstition, sit back, make a wish, and enjoy yourself.]
Yesterday’s discussion of those types who are abiding magically / unnaturally / supernaturally / included (1) the super-spiritualized “Go-er’s, Do-ers, Zoomers” who are trapped in their spiritual workaholism; (2) the 97% who claim a religious affiliation; and (3) the dissociated who now “live in a kind of Foo-Foo-Land,” having rejected the I AM part of the message contained in the summative state of non-duality, “I AM THAT; I AM.”
Next, there are (type 4) those abiding in unnatural ways that are "challenging" to say the least (and downright fatal at the extreme).
They are the ones hearing constant demands from leaders to
“give us more of your money”;
“be pure and sacrifice natural delights now in order to have the reward of eternal bliss later”;
“be pure and sacrifice satisfaction and contentment and totally natural gratifications now in order to have the reward of eternal satisfaction and contentment and supernatural gratifications later”;
“adhere to our food laws – eat only the foods that are on our “religiously-acceptable foods list” or our “spiritually-acceptable foods list”;
“give us more of your time and energy”;
“put on this suicide vest and blow up yourself and as many others as possible among those do not believe what we believe”;
“fly planes into buildings and kill yourself and as many others as possible among those who do not believe what we believe.”
And those in group “4” who practice blind faith and who unquestioningly do anything they are told and who buy wholeheartedly into all of that exhibit this kind of ignorance and stupidity and insanity:
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Here are my possessions; and I’ll be willing to forfeit all natural delights; and I’ll be pure (though unsatisfied and frustrated and irritated and disturbed and malcontent); and I’ll let you control every aspect of my life, right down to telling me what I can and cannot eat; and I’ll kill myself and others. Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
Therein is evidenced some of the astounding levels of the Ultimate Sickness that prevail among the non-Realized masses, the symptoms of which Maharaj condensed into the three words above: “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
Or consider those in group “5” who try to abide in supernatural ways that are only thought to be relaxing when those ways are also laborious and make a second job out of mere living:
Those type persons are the ones . . .
. . . who pay a Big Name Teacher $5,410.00 for a ten-day spiritual program or $20,000.00 for the full 28-day spiritual program;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to India to try to find what they are seeking (which is actually already within);
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to “The Holy Land”;
. . . who go to religious festivals in a land where they will be exposing themselves to the possibility of being trampled to death during the human stampedes that happen frequently during such events;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Mecca or to the Vatican in Rome or to the Wailing Wall in Israel;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to some of the “different” and “special” places on the planet like Sedona, Arizona where they believe they can be exposed to “vortexes” (supposedly powerful centers of kinetic energy that can heal and increase one’s level of spirituality);
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Salt Lake City and see the huge temple there or who go to the Temple of Confucius or to a shrine in Japan or who pay a small fortune to tour the Bahà’i shrine or other Jewish “holy” places; to visit Hindu “holy” cities or Islamic “holy” places or Hindu “holy” places or Christian “holy” places; to participate in Buddhist pilgrimages; or to go to supposedly significant places in Mormonism or special Sikh places, ad infinitum;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Australia to see the sacred rocks in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park; or to go to ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico; or to visit the Mahabodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya in India; or to go to Mount Kailas in Tibet or Mount Sinai in Egypt or Mount Carmel in Israel or Mount Parnassus in Greece; or to go Machu Picchu in Peru; etc., etc., etc.;
. . . or who pay a small fortune to go to Santa Fe to seek Truth from a Cherokee wise man (yep, been there, done that).
How could a “Spiritual Giant” or “Super Religious One” not look back and be totally exhausted, ultimately tired, completely worn out, and finally ready to give it up?
The explanation is simply: lost in the dreams of any ego-state, and feeling upgraded by the egotism-inspired delusions that manifest to support and enhance such phony roles, a dissociation happens, allowing a sense of elation and euphoria and ecstasy and rapture-like exhilaration to blind out reality and then perpetuate the kind of false identity or identities that drive the type of going and doing and zooming outlined above.
Such happens when one is absorbed in spiritual workaholism and religious and spiritual role-playing, all in an effort to reinforce a false (but supposedly “good”) identity or identities; when one is driven by magical thinking; and when one would be “The Super Seeker.”
The result: a second job is made out of mere living.
If you are like that and alone, are you in the solitude, or are you merely avoiding and isolating?
If you are like that and with someone or around other persons, how much fun are you to be with, really?
The suggestion? To give an alternative a chance. Why not, maybe even for a while “just give up spirituality” and follow your “normal inclinations” (rather than the abnormal, unnatural, religious and / or spiritual types of inclinations catalogued above)?
How many steps have been taken to try to “get it,” to try to “find it”? Here, only seven steps are required. How many “journeys” have been taken in the search? Here, there are only three legs to the “journey.”
Why not, for a short spell, just take a break and try relaxing and taking it easy? Can you even come close to taking a break and relaxing and taking it easy? If you cannot, then what is the real result of all of your religious efforts or spiritual work, honestly?
Are the results real, or are they part of (A) an internal as well as (B) an external, public image that is being fostered, maybe even fostered subconsciously most of the time?
Why not, for a short spell, just try following what Maharaj called your "normal inclinations" rather than someone else's abnormal or unnatural or supernatural inclinations?
Or have you sold out completely, playing a religious or spiritual role in order to try to impress someone you want to love you; or to get what you want from a potential lover; or to try to keep a partner happy; or to please parents or relatives; or to satisfy a religious or spiritual boss; or to get votes from a fundamentalist, right-wing electorate and win a political race?
Or is there merely blind acceptance of the programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication that resulted after such roles were assigned by your family and / or culture and then assumed by you to be real?
If religious or spiritual role-playing is happening, what are the actual motives behind that game?
Examples 1-5 in the post yesterday and today apply to the billions of persons who are living unnaturally and who are trying to live supernaturally rather than abiding naturally - as do all of the billions upon billions of other (non-human) life-forms on the planet.
Humans, abiding in their most unnatural and supposedly supernatural ways, are the only exception among all life-forms that are all abiding naturally and simply and spontaneously and instinctively.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
26 February 2014
the process of completing the seven steps on the “path” and the process of completing three legs of the “journey.” Complete the process and the application just happens naturally.
Rather than abiding naturally, however, billions of humans are living unnaturally while trying to live supernaturally (that is religiously and / or spiritually, living under the influence of magical thinking).
[What is magical thinking? George Carlin provided an illustration that addressed that type of thinking:
So I've been praying to Joe (Pesci) for about a year now. And I noticed something. I noticed that all the prayers I used to offer to God, and all the prayers I now offer to Joe Pesci, are being answered at about the same 50% rate. Half the time I get what I want, half the time I don't. Same as God, 50-50. Same as the four-leaf clover and the horseshoe, the wishing well and the rabbit's foot, same as the Mojo Man. It's all the same: 50-50. So just pick your superstition, sit back, make a wish, and enjoy yourself.]
Yesterday’s discussion of those types who are abiding magically / unnaturally / supernaturally / included (1) the super-spiritualized “Go-er’s, Do-ers, Zoomers” who are trapped in their spiritual workaholism; (2) the 97% who claim a religious affiliation; and (3) the dissociated who now “live in a kind of Foo-Foo-Land,” having rejected the I AM part of the message contained in the summative state of non-duality, “I AM THAT; I AM.”
Next, there are (type 4) those abiding in unnatural ways that are "challenging" to say the least (and downright fatal at the extreme).
They are the ones hearing constant demands from leaders to
“give us more of your money”;
“be pure and sacrifice natural delights now in order to have the reward of eternal bliss later”;
“be pure and sacrifice satisfaction and contentment and totally natural gratifications now in order to have the reward of eternal satisfaction and contentment and supernatural gratifications later”;
“adhere to our food laws – eat only the foods that are on our “religiously-acceptable foods list” or our “spiritually-acceptable foods list”;
“give us more of your time and energy”;
“put on this suicide vest and blow up yourself and as many others as possible among those do not believe what we believe”;
“fly planes into buildings and kill yourself and as many others as possible among those who do not believe what we believe.”
And those in group “4” who practice blind faith and who unquestioningly do anything they are told and who buy wholeheartedly into all of that exhibit this kind of ignorance and stupidity and insanity:
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Here are my possessions; and I’ll be willing to forfeit all natural delights; and I’ll be pure (though unsatisfied and frustrated and irritated and disturbed and malcontent); and I’ll let you control every aspect of my life, right down to telling me what I can and cannot eat; and I’ll kill myself and others. Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
Therein is evidenced some of the astounding levels of the Ultimate Sickness that prevail among the non-Realized masses, the symptoms of which Maharaj condensed into the three words above: “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
Or consider those in group “5” who try to abide in supernatural ways that are only thought to be relaxing when those ways are also laborious and make a second job out of mere living:
Those type persons are the ones . . .
. . . who pay a Big Name Teacher $5,410.00 for a ten-day spiritual program or $20,000.00 for the full 28-day spiritual program;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to India to try to find what they are seeking (which is actually already within);
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to “The Holy Land”;
. . . who go to religious festivals in a land where they will be exposing themselves to the possibility of being trampled to death during the human stampedes that happen frequently during such events;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Mecca or to the Vatican in Rome or to the Wailing Wall in Israel;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to some of the “different” and “special” places on the planet like Sedona, Arizona where they believe they can be exposed to “vortexes” (supposedly powerful centers of kinetic energy that can heal and increase one’s level of spirituality);
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Salt Lake City and see the huge temple there or who go to the Temple of Confucius or to a shrine in Japan or who pay a small fortune to tour the Bahà’i shrine or other Jewish “holy” places; to visit Hindu “holy” cities or Islamic “holy” places or Hindu “holy” places or Christian “holy” places; to participate in Buddhist pilgrimages; or to go to supposedly significant places in Mormonism or special Sikh places, ad infinitum;
. . . who pay a small fortune to go to Australia to see the sacred rocks in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park; or to go to ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico; or to visit the Mahabodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya in India; or to go to Mount Kailas in Tibet or Mount Sinai in Egypt or Mount Carmel in Israel or Mount Parnassus in Greece; or to go Machu Picchu in Peru; etc., etc., etc.;
. . . or who pay a small fortune to go to Santa Fe to seek Truth from a Cherokee wise man (yep, been there, done that).
How could a “Spiritual Giant” or “Super Religious One” not look back and be totally exhausted, ultimately tired, completely worn out, and finally ready to give it up?
The explanation is simply: lost in the dreams of any ego-state, and feeling upgraded by the egotism-inspired delusions that manifest to support and enhance such phony roles, a dissociation happens, allowing a sense of elation and euphoria and ecstasy and rapture-like exhilaration to blind out reality and then perpetuate the kind of false identity or identities that drive the type of going and doing and zooming outlined above.
Such happens when one is absorbed in spiritual workaholism and religious and spiritual role-playing, all in an effort to reinforce a false (but supposedly “good”) identity or identities; when one is driven by magical thinking; and when one would be “The Super Seeker.”
The result: a second job is made out of mere living.
If you are like that and alone, are you in the solitude, or are you merely avoiding and isolating?
If you are like that and with someone or around other persons, how much fun are you to be with, really?
The suggestion? To give an alternative a chance. Why not, maybe even for a while “just give up spirituality” and follow your “normal inclinations” (rather than the abnormal, unnatural, religious and / or spiritual types of inclinations catalogued above)?
How many steps have been taken to try to “get it,” to try to “find it”? Here, only seven steps are required. How many “journeys” have been taken in the search? Here, there are only three legs to the “journey.”
Why not, for a short spell, just take a break and try relaxing and taking it easy? Can you even come close to taking a break and relaxing and taking it easy? If you cannot, then what is the real result of all of your religious efforts or spiritual work, honestly?
Are the results real, or are they part of (A) an internal as well as (B) an external, public image that is being fostered, maybe even fostered subconsciously most of the time?
Why not, for a short spell, just try following what Maharaj called your "normal inclinations" rather than someone else's abnormal or unnatural or supernatural inclinations?
Or have you sold out completely, playing a religious or spiritual role in order to try to impress someone you want to love you; or to get what you want from a potential lover; or to try to keep a partner happy; or to please parents or relatives; or to satisfy a religious or spiritual boss; or to get votes from a fundamentalist, right-wing electorate and win a political race?
Or is there merely blind acceptance of the programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication that resulted after such roles were assigned by your family and / or culture and then assumed by you to be real?
If religious or spiritual role-playing is happening, what are the actual motives behind that game?
Examples 1-5 in the post yesterday and today apply to the billions of persons who are living unnaturally and who are trying to live supernaturally rather than abiding naturally - as do all of the billions upon billions of other (non-human) life-forms on the planet.
Humans, abiding in their most unnatural and supposedly supernatural ways, are the only exception among all life-forms that are all abiding naturally and simply and spontaneously and instinctively.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
26 February 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: A point was offered yesterday about the irony of the insane and unnatural manner of the typical relative existence of persons because there are billions of different ways that billions of them are trying to live.
Most are guided by religious beliefs and dogma, that is, by the teachings of their particular sky-cult, all of which are nothing more than ancient pagan religions that have evolved into the present-day forms of religion.
Many others claim – and claim with great pride – that they are “spiritual, not religious.”
Others are being driven through the relative existence by the dictates of a philosophy, an ideology, or a cult.
Some are attached to the teachings of one or more of a variety of leaders or writers or lecturers or gurus; ad infinitum.
The irony of the fact that billions upon billions of persons are trying to live according to a way that they have been exposed to (from among the thousands of different ways that are out there) is rooted in the fact that (a) none of those dreamed-up thousands of ways involve the slightest bit of truth or logic or reason and in the more salient fact that (b) there are not thousands of ways that persons can live because there are really only two ways that the non-Realized masses actually live:
either (1) supernaturally / unnaturally or (2) naturally.
The thousands of ways that people have dreamed up about how people should live are all unnatural and supernatural, that is, involving magical thinking; thought to be miraculous, supposedly; believed to have a hint of the paranormal vs. the normal;
thought to be non-secular though they are actually fairy-tale like; assumed to be holy and sacred, supposedly; believed to be devout and divine, supposedly; thought to be otherworldly and mystical; and are all, therefore, totally unnatural.
Thus, the “road taken” by some seekers amounts to an arduous journey of spiritual workaholism conducted throughout the entire the relative existence (as illustrated yesterday in passages from the non-dual novel THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS which showed “Kirk’s” super-spiritualized form of going-and-doing-and-zooming).
If trapped in the role of “The Seeker” – soon upgraded to “The Super Seeker” - then such seekers, such would-be knowers, such accumulators of knowledge and “experiences,” will subconsciously take all necessary action to assure that the quest to find will never be successful - that it will never end. Why?
To find is to end seeking, and to end seeking would be to end the identity of “The Super Seeker,” and that simply would not do for the would-be knowers and accumulators of knowledge who are actually bored stiff with their existence and are thus involved in an excess of seeking-type activities that are the means which they are using to try to escape the monotony and dominating sense of ennui that characterizes their tedious lives.
As for those whose “road” has led to a demanding and time-consuming and egotism-generating existence, they include the 97% of persons on the planet who claim a religious affiliation (though fewer than 40% of those claimants actually participate regularly in the religion that they claim to be members of).
Moreover, a far smaller percentage follows the dictate of the religion that they will nevertheless fight to defend. (Catholics, for example, may remain theologically opposed to the use of birth control – and therefore advise church members in Africa who are being exposed to AIDS at an alarming rate – that they are, nevertheless, forbidden to use condoms for protection . . . at the risk of eternal damnation and punishment if they do so. Yet 98% of Catholics have used one form or another of birth control.) Quite demanding, yes? On top of that, billions are told that they are to donate 10% of all of their income to the church. Quite demanding indeed, yes?
And time-consuming? Yes, if one follows their religious leaders’ orders, they must show up at the temple or mosque or church weekly in some cases; two times a week in some religions; daily in others; and even five times per day in others.
Egotism-generating? Yes. Egotism – an ego-defense mechanism - is triggered as soon as an assumed or assigned ego-state takes root. No single institution has inspired more assigning of roles and more assumption of roles than religion.
Then there are those whose seeking has led to mental illness, inspiring some to dissociate and to “live in a kind of Foo-Foo-Land” that has nothing to do with Reality or reality: “I no longer abide in the relative world. I abide in the Absolute realm as THAT Which I Truly Am.”
For them, the I AM part of the message contained in the summative state of non-duality, “I AM THAT; I AM,” has been rejected; now they think they are living beyond this relative existence as opposed to abiding as the Truly Realized do, living out the remainder of the relative existence, that is
(A) living out the remainder of the manifestation / the ISness / the AMness with Reality having been overlaid upon it and
(B) living out the remainder of the relative existence under the auspices of "Applied Advaita" . . . under the auspices of the non-dual understanding "applied" to the relative existence."
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
25 February 2014
Most are guided by religious beliefs and dogma, that is, by the teachings of their particular sky-cult, all of which are nothing more than ancient pagan religions that have evolved into the present-day forms of religion.
Many others claim – and claim with great pride – that they are “spiritual, not religious.”
Others are being driven through the relative existence by the dictates of a philosophy, an ideology, or a cult.
Some are attached to the teachings of one or more of a variety of leaders or writers or lecturers or gurus; ad infinitum.
The irony of the fact that billions upon billions of persons are trying to live according to a way that they have been exposed to (from among the thousands of different ways that are out there) is rooted in the fact that (a) none of those dreamed-up thousands of ways involve the slightest bit of truth or logic or reason and in the more salient fact that (b) there are not thousands of ways that persons can live because there are really only two ways that the non-Realized masses actually live:
either (1) supernaturally / unnaturally or (2) naturally.
The thousands of ways that people have dreamed up about how people should live are all unnatural and supernatural, that is, involving magical thinking; thought to be miraculous, supposedly; believed to have a hint of the paranormal vs. the normal;
thought to be non-secular though they are actually fairy-tale like; assumed to be holy and sacred, supposedly; believed to be devout and divine, supposedly; thought to be otherworldly and mystical; and are all, therefore, totally unnatural.
Thus, the “road taken” by some seekers amounts to an arduous journey of spiritual workaholism conducted throughout the entire the relative existence (as illustrated yesterday in passages from the non-dual novel THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS which showed “Kirk’s” super-spiritualized form of going-and-doing-and-zooming).
If trapped in the role of “The Seeker” – soon upgraded to “The Super Seeker” - then such seekers, such would-be knowers, such accumulators of knowledge and “experiences,” will subconsciously take all necessary action to assure that the quest to find will never be successful - that it will never end. Why?
To find is to end seeking, and to end seeking would be to end the identity of “The Super Seeker,” and that simply would not do for the would-be knowers and accumulators of knowledge who are actually bored stiff with their existence and are thus involved in an excess of seeking-type activities that are the means which they are using to try to escape the monotony and dominating sense of ennui that characterizes their tedious lives.
As for those whose “road” has led to a demanding and time-consuming and egotism-generating existence, they include the 97% of persons on the planet who claim a religious affiliation (though fewer than 40% of those claimants actually participate regularly in the religion that they claim to be members of).
Moreover, a far smaller percentage follows the dictate of the religion that they will nevertheless fight to defend. (Catholics, for example, may remain theologically opposed to the use of birth control – and therefore advise church members in Africa who are being exposed to AIDS at an alarming rate – that they are, nevertheless, forbidden to use condoms for protection . . . at the risk of eternal damnation and punishment if they do so. Yet 98% of Catholics have used one form or another of birth control.) Quite demanding, yes? On top of that, billions are told that they are to donate 10% of all of their income to the church. Quite demanding indeed, yes?
And time-consuming? Yes, if one follows their religious leaders’ orders, they must show up at the temple or mosque or church weekly in some cases; two times a week in some religions; daily in others; and even five times per day in others.
Egotism-generating? Yes. Egotism – an ego-defense mechanism - is triggered as soon as an assumed or assigned ego-state takes root. No single institution has inspired more assigning of roles and more assumption of roles than religion.
Then there are those whose seeking has led to mental illness, inspiring some to dissociate and to “live in a kind of Foo-Foo-Land” that has nothing to do with Reality or reality: “I no longer abide in the relative world. I abide in the Absolute realm as THAT Which I Truly Am.”
For them, the I AM part of the message contained in the summative state of non-duality, “I AM THAT; I AM,” has been rejected; now they think they are living beyond this relative existence as opposed to abiding as the Truly Realized do, living out the remainder of the relative existence, that is
(A) living out the remainder of the manifestation / the ISness / the AMness with Reality having been overlaid upon it and
(B) living out the remainder of the relative existence under the auspices of "Applied Advaita" . . . under the auspices of the non-dual understanding "applied" to the relative existence."
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
25 February 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: So why does the “road taken” by most amount to either (1) an arduous journey through the relative existence; or to (2) a demanding and time-consuming and egotism-generating existence; or to (3) a form of seeking that leads to mental illness whereby persons dissociate and “live in a kind of Foo-Foo-Land” that has nothing to do with Reality or reality;
or to (4) abide in unnatural ways that are challenging; or to (5) try to abide in supernatural ways that are only thought to be relaxing when those ways are also laborious and make a second job out of mere living rather than (6) living the way that the billions upon billions of other life-forms on the planet live (with humans being the only exception among all of the other life-forms which abide naturally and simply and spontaneously and instinctively)?
Ironic, is it not, that humans are trying to live in thousands of different ways, all prescribed by the dogma of one of thousands of different religions; or trying to live by the constraints of one of tens of thousands of different sects or denominations and sub-sects;
or trying to live by the dictates of one philosophy or another; or trying to live by the conditions set forth by one ideology or another; or trying to live by the precepts of one or more “spiritual programs” or “spiritual movements”; or trying to adhere to a lifestyle prescribed by one or more charismatic teachers or gurus;
or by spending small fortunes traveling the globe, seeking that which – also ironically – was always within; or by reading hundreds of self-help books; or by reading hundreds of self-improvement books; or by spending $5000.00 or more for extended “retreats” which are hardly a treat at all but are a debilitating, mind-reinforcing, mind-distorting exposure to the insane teaching of a cruel sociopath wearing the cloak of a knower and presenting as a "non-dualist";
or by attaching oneself to the false words of what Maharaj called the “Big Name Teachers”; or by accepting the mythical nonsense set forth in what are claimed to be holy or special books that much be studied for the entire manifestation in order to find out how to live (including those praised by Western and Eastern and Middle Eastern teachers alike)?
Again, of the billions upon billions of life-forms on the planet, only humans exert such effort and energy and time trying “to learn how to live.”
Yet it is confessed that all of that is understood now after looking back through the prism of what was taken at time to be a chain of “personal experiences” which amounted to a multi-decade “journey” that was likely as arduous and time-consuming and energy-consuming and money-consuming as many and maybe far more so than most.
This is the way that one example alone on that arduous "journey" was described in the non-duality based novel entitled THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS with “Kirk” being “seeker floyd’s” nom de plume:
Yet the dogma, because of his many years of conditioning, had drawn Kirk in as fully as anyone had ever been drawn in, so he had stopped judging her for blindly believing the contradictory teachings. Eventually, the scars of all that “You’re-born-in-sin-so-you’re-bad-so-there’s-a-god-that’s-gonna-get-you” crap had left him in a position to where he could have opened his own chapter of Recovering Baptists. He could hear it now:
“Hi, my name’s Kirk, and I’m a Recovering Baptist.”
“HI, KIRK! WELCOME!”
In his energy-consuming search for salvation, he’d been dipped, dunked, sprayed, spayed, sprinkled, and neutered; in the quest for truth, he’d been blessed, cursed, cussed, lectured, scolded, and praised; in his pursuit of Life’s Meaning, he’d been communion’d, Om’d, grape-juiced, wined, ahsram’d, accepted, rejected, Mu’d, and yoga’d;
in his chase for service-work-opportunities, he’d been pulverized, martinized, and frappéd; and in the endeavor to attain Life Eternal, he’d been baptized, Buddha’d, New Aged, powwow’d, Far Eastern Indianized, incense’d, sage’d, Tao’d, Peru’d, Tibet’d, washed in the blood, dunked in the waters, and purportedly purified.
Then in the end, each of the religious or spiritual leaders had always charged him 10% of his total income for the whole sorry treatment, plus a building-fund-tax and a foreign-missions-surcharge to boot—all in spite of the complete ineffectiveness of their claims to “redeem and save.”
A request even came in the mail to contribute to the cost of adding an additional wing to an ashram. Kirk had to laugh at these outgrowths of the ancient quests for immortality: originally, relatives placed riches in the tomb or pyramid or sarcophagus of the deceased in order to provide the necessary wealth required to buy eternal life upon arrival “there”; now, the church’s new plan calls for making installment payments prior to death. The new message: “You need only be good, do some suffering in this life, and also make your monthly 10%-of-income-payments in advance for services that are assured to be rendered after your demise.” In the end, to Kirk anyway, the popular religions sounded too much like grocery-shopping, coupon-style: “We’ll redeem. We’ll save you.”
Yeah, but will you triple my value on Wednesdays?!
Now some might say, “Ah, I see what’s missing. Here’s your problem. You’ve never been to the mountaintop and talked to The Wise Man you’ll meet there.” But Kirk would say, “Oh, but I have, O Sayer of the False.”
Yes, Kirk had even been to the mountaintop, or darn close to it, when he traveled from his home to the airport in Houston and into Albuquerque; from there, he rented a car, drove from that city into Santa Fe, New Mexico, and climbed—via his rented auto—up the side of the white-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all for the promise of getting the chance to spend one hour with a full-blooded Cherokee Man of Wisdom, a Real, modern-day Soothsayer.
Once there, The Wise Man asked of Kirk, “Tell me what you have done so far on your search.” In his anal way at that time, Kirk took forty minutes to provide for the chief a detailed cataloguing of all of his spiritual work to date, as delightful a dose of divine workaholism as ever heard. Then the chief inquired, “OK. Now tell me all that you have not yet done on your search that you are planning to do.” That took Kirk another twenty minutes, enumerating the elements in his game plan for gaining greater godliness and even more spirituality in the future.
At the end of his one-hour session, which had come at the conclusion of a very long journey, Kirk finally fell quiet and looked at the chief. The chief gazed directly at Kirk, but not into Kirk’s eyes. The stare from the chief pierced to a depth much deeper than the eyes, not unlike an arrow shot with such force that it not only reached its target but breached its way through the objective as well.
The look altered into one of those soul-penetrating stares, coming at Kirk from the now-narrowed eyes of a Wise Man, like a hawk’s glare fixed on a soon-to-be slain mouse. Several times, Kirk had to look down to sever this discomforting link, but each time he glanced up, the chief stared him down again.
Finally, the Cherokee rose, using the two canes now required for moving about on his ancient legs. Tottering over Kirk, he fixed his eyes again on this seeker, and Kirk became convinced that the Words of Wisdom he had come so far to hear would emerge within seconds. The words, Kirk trusted, would provide the penultimate key. That penultimate key would then be used in the ultimate act required for the opening of his mind to a new and definitive level of freedom and independence. He waited with bated breath; his pulse quickened; his mind seemed already to be opening more than ever before. Finally, just about to come his way—he felt assured—would be the Secret Knowledge that unravels all mysteries, the key that would allow Full and Final Knowingness to manifest.
Instead, the chief proclaimed in a way-too-matter-of-fact manner, “Well, then. You’re going to be a very busy boy.” And with that, the old man hobbled away, in a way that told Kirk without the least doubt at all that he would hear nothing more, ever, from the chief.
Kirk’s breath was not now bated; his pulse quickened even more; his mind snapped shut like a spring-loaded trap. Kirk flashed back over all required to arrive in Santa Fe and to sit in the presence of the chief, all the time, all the money, all the effort, only to hear … that?
Kirk’s pseudo-spirituality dissolved, replaced with fury. He thought suddenly that those two canes might better be used to serve up a brutal pummeling across the back and neck and head of this clearly Not-Wise-Man. Only later would the tremendous value of the chief’s ten words become clear. And later, that wisdom, along with the connection Kirk had with his grandmother, would inspire Kirk to once again seek insight from a different Cherokee chief.
Talk about “not getting it”; talk about not seeing what is right in front of one’s face; talk about seeking and seeking and seeking; talk about “just to make a short story long”; talk about the insanity of leaving your house to go in search of your house; talk about taking the simple and easy and effortless and minimal and convoluting it into something complex and complicated and drawn-out and thorny.
[So the questions at this point are: Can you relate to a past like that? Or, more noteworthy, can you relate to a present like that?]
The additional irony is this: of the billions of ways that billions of humans are trying to live, there are, in fact, only two ways to live.
The ways are either (A) supernaturally / unnaturally or (B) naturally.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
24 February 2014
or to (4) abide in unnatural ways that are challenging; or to (5) try to abide in supernatural ways that are only thought to be relaxing when those ways are also laborious and make a second job out of mere living rather than (6) living the way that the billions upon billions of other life-forms on the planet live (with humans being the only exception among all of the other life-forms which abide naturally and simply and spontaneously and instinctively)?
Ironic, is it not, that humans are trying to live in thousands of different ways, all prescribed by the dogma of one of thousands of different religions; or trying to live by the constraints of one of tens of thousands of different sects or denominations and sub-sects;
or trying to live by the dictates of one philosophy or another; or trying to live by the conditions set forth by one ideology or another; or trying to live by the precepts of one or more “spiritual programs” or “spiritual movements”; or trying to adhere to a lifestyle prescribed by one or more charismatic teachers or gurus;
or by spending small fortunes traveling the globe, seeking that which – also ironically – was always within; or by reading hundreds of self-help books; or by reading hundreds of self-improvement books; or by spending $5000.00 or more for extended “retreats” which are hardly a treat at all but are a debilitating, mind-reinforcing, mind-distorting exposure to the insane teaching of a cruel sociopath wearing the cloak of a knower and presenting as a "non-dualist";
or by attaching oneself to the false words of what Maharaj called the “Big Name Teachers”; or by accepting the mythical nonsense set forth in what are claimed to be holy or special books that much be studied for the entire manifestation in order to find out how to live (including those praised by Western and Eastern and Middle Eastern teachers alike)?
Again, of the billions upon billions of life-forms on the planet, only humans exert such effort and energy and time trying “to learn how to live.”
Yet it is confessed that all of that is understood now after looking back through the prism of what was taken at time to be a chain of “personal experiences” which amounted to a multi-decade “journey” that was likely as arduous and time-consuming and energy-consuming and money-consuming as many and maybe far more so than most.
This is the way that one example alone on that arduous "journey" was described in the non-duality based novel entitled THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS with “Kirk” being “seeker floyd’s” nom de plume:
Yet the dogma, because of his many years of conditioning, had drawn Kirk in as fully as anyone had ever been drawn in, so he had stopped judging her for blindly believing the contradictory teachings. Eventually, the scars of all that “You’re-born-in-sin-so-you’re-bad-so-there’s-a-god-that’s-gonna-get-you” crap had left him in a position to where he could have opened his own chapter of Recovering Baptists. He could hear it now:
“Hi, my name’s Kirk, and I’m a Recovering Baptist.”
“HI, KIRK! WELCOME!”
In his energy-consuming search for salvation, he’d been dipped, dunked, sprayed, spayed, sprinkled, and neutered; in the quest for truth, he’d been blessed, cursed, cussed, lectured, scolded, and praised; in his pursuit of Life’s Meaning, he’d been communion’d, Om’d, grape-juiced, wined, ahsram’d, accepted, rejected, Mu’d, and yoga’d;
in his chase for service-work-opportunities, he’d been pulverized, martinized, and frappéd; and in the endeavor to attain Life Eternal, he’d been baptized, Buddha’d, New Aged, powwow’d, Far Eastern Indianized, incense’d, sage’d, Tao’d, Peru’d, Tibet’d, washed in the blood, dunked in the waters, and purportedly purified.
Then in the end, each of the religious or spiritual leaders had always charged him 10% of his total income for the whole sorry treatment, plus a building-fund-tax and a foreign-missions-surcharge to boot—all in spite of the complete ineffectiveness of their claims to “redeem and save.”
A request even came in the mail to contribute to the cost of adding an additional wing to an ashram. Kirk had to laugh at these outgrowths of the ancient quests for immortality: originally, relatives placed riches in the tomb or pyramid or sarcophagus of the deceased in order to provide the necessary wealth required to buy eternal life upon arrival “there”; now, the church’s new plan calls for making installment payments prior to death. The new message: “You need only be good, do some suffering in this life, and also make your monthly 10%-of-income-payments in advance for services that are assured to be rendered after your demise.” In the end, to Kirk anyway, the popular religions sounded too much like grocery-shopping, coupon-style: “We’ll redeem. We’ll save you.”
Yeah, but will you triple my value on Wednesdays?!
Now some might say, “Ah, I see what’s missing. Here’s your problem. You’ve never been to the mountaintop and talked to The Wise Man you’ll meet there.” But Kirk would say, “Oh, but I have, O Sayer of the False.”
Yes, Kirk had even been to the mountaintop, or darn close to it, when he traveled from his home to the airport in Houston and into Albuquerque; from there, he rented a car, drove from that city into Santa Fe, New Mexico, and climbed—via his rented auto—up the side of the white-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all for the promise of getting the chance to spend one hour with a full-blooded Cherokee Man of Wisdom, a Real, modern-day Soothsayer.
Once there, The Wise Man asked of Kirk, “Tell me what you have done so far on your search.” In his anal way at that time, Kirk took forty minutes to provide for the chief a detailed cataloguing of all of his spiritual work to date, as delightful a dose of divine workaholism as ever heard. Then the chief inquired, “OK. Now tell me all that you have not yet done on your search that you are planning to do.” That took Kirk another twenty minutes, enumerating the elements in his game plan for gaining greater godliness and even more spirituality in the future.
At the end of his one-hour session, which had come at the conclusion of a very long journey, Kirk finally fell quiet and looked at the chief. The chief gazed directly at Kirk, but not into Kirk’s eyes. The stare from the chief pierced to a depth much deeper than the eyes, not unlike an arrow shot with such force that it not only reached its target but breached its way through the objective as well.
The look altered into one of those soul-penetrating stares, coming at Kirk from the now-narrowed eyes of a Wise Man, like a hawk’s glare fixed on a soon-to-be slain mouse. Several times, Kirk had to look down to sever this discomforting link, but each time he glanced up, the chief stared him down again.
Finally, the Cherokee rose, using the two canes now required for moving about on his ancient legs. Tottering over Kirk, he fixed his eyes again on this seeker, and Kirk became convinced that the Words of Wisdom he had come so far to hear would emerge within seconds. The words, Kirk trusted, would provide the penultimate key. That penultimate key would then be used in the ultimate act required for the opening of his mind to a new and definitive level of freedom and independence. He waited with bated breath; his pulse quickened; his mind seemed already to be opening more than ever before. Finally, just about to come his way—he felt assured—would be the Secret Knowledge that unravels all mysteries, the key that would allow Full and Final Knowingness to manifest.
Instead, the chief proclaimed in a way-too-matter-of-fact manner, “Well, then. You’re going to be a very busy boy.” And with that, the old man hobbled away, in a way that told Kirk without the least doubt at all that he would hear nothing more, ever, from the chief.
Kirk’s breath was not now bated; his pulse quickened even more; his mind snapped shut like a spring-loaded trap. Kirk flashed back over all required to arrive in Santa Fe and to sit in the presence of the chief, all the time, all the money, all the effort, only to hear … that?
Kirk’s pseudo-spirituality dissolved, replaced with fury. He thought suddenly that those two canes might better be used to serve up a brutal pummeling across the back and neck and head of this clearly Not-Wise-Man. Only later would the tremendous value of the chief’s ten words become clear. And later, that wisdom, along with the connection Kirk had with his grandmother, would inspire Kirk to once again seek insight from a different Cherokee chief.
Talk about “not getting it”; talk about not seeing what is right in front of one’s face; talk about seeking and seeking and seeking; talk about “just to make a short story long”; talk about the insanity of leaving your house to go in search of your house; talk about taking the simple and easy and effortless and minimal and convoluting it into something complex and complicated and drawn-out and thorny.
[So the questions at this point are: Can you relate to a past like that? Or, more noteworthy, can you relate to a present like that?]
The additional irony is this: of the billions of ways that billions of humans are trying to live, there are, in fact, only two ways to live.
The ways are either (A) supernaturally / unnaturally or (B) naturally.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
24 February 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: The irony among the masses (who would enjoy a relative existence that is free of the doubts and the fears and the sturm und drang and uncertainties and insecurities and chaos and the total lack of freedom and independence that comes when absorbed in the agendas of personal identifications) is this:
To be free of all of that which comes when they believe in their assumed personalities - and in all things personal – they turn to persons playing roles to guide them away from false personas and they turn to a Personal God or Personal Gods and Goddesses, for relief from their doubts and the fears and uncertainties and insecurities and from their chaos and dependencies.
While medical researchers have proved that a small dose of a contagion can trigger the body’s immune system to protect the body if later exposed to a full-blown dose of a contagion, that does not apply to Realization. One lie cannot free you of the mass of lies that persons are led to believe.
That is, the “cure” for the curse of things personal is not more personal things. The cure for the Ultimate Sickness is neither personal nor Personal. What is called for is the abandonment of belief in all things personal and Personal, and that abandonment happens spontaneously when the entire “path” has been traversed and when the entire “journey” has been completed.
In the eBook below entitled "There is Nothing That Is Personal (Including You and Including God)," the point is made that lies about a personal identity and lies about a Personal God or Personal Gods and Goddesses cannot free anyone from the instability that results from believing the lies about things personal or Personal.
Yes, only a guide that has traveled the entire “path” and that has completed the entire “journey” can point you to both, but the guide that can do that has not one single belief in anything personal or Personal.
Yet billions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims not only believe that they are personas but also belief that they are made in the image of Someone Personal.
And therein is presented the operative phrase: “in the image of.” An image of an image is still . . . just an image.
So when can it happen and how can it happen – this manner of abiding as spontaneously and sanely and logically and reasonably as all things on the planet (except for humans)?
WHEN
It happens when a seeker completes all seven steps on “the path” (instead of just three) and when a seeker completes all three legs of the “journey” (instead of just two).
HOW
And how does it happen? It happens spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
First, “the path”:
Ninety-seven percent of the persons on the planet claim a religious affiliation; two+ percent proudly claim to be “spiritual, not religious.”
Only one-half-of-one-percent (the number of Personality Type Fours on the planet, such as Maharaj, for example) have a head start on finding “the Authentic Self”; on understanding that “the True Self” actually has nothing at all to do with either self-ness or Self-ness; and on understanding that the terms “Authentic Self” and “True Self” are merely pointers toward the Pure Witnessing that “You” are when manifest.
On the “path” to Full Realization, there are seven steps, but most hear only of three. It is at that third of seven steps where persons (almost always) have to assume some religious or spiritual identity and play that role for a time. It “shifts” the focus away from “relative-things-only.”
The real rub is this: ninety-nine+ percent are “placed” at the third step soon after manifestation happens, told by parents or by members of their community: “You are a Jew” or “You are a Christian” or “You are a Muslim” or “You are a Hindu,” etc.; thus, they will never seek, certain that they already have all of the answers (while earnest seekers - and questioners of the BS that they have been told - know they do not).
Next, to the “journey”:
Here, three “legs” of the entire “journey” are discussed. The first leg is the “coming in stage” when the conscious-energy manifests in a human-body-cum-consciousness and when the consciousness is soon blocked off from Reality via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing. The masses will almost all remain in that blocked-off condition for the entirety of the manifestation.
The second leg happens with some seekers. It involves what Maharaj described as going back, reversing along the same path by which you came. The second leg involves the seven steps which are the means by which the effects of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing are un-taught, un-learned, undone.
The third leg is “the coming back again” stage, but this time, the movement is from Realizing the Truth Fully, engaging the relative existence fully, and abiding for the remainder of the manifestation without the effects of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
When that third leg is completed, that is when Reality is overlaid on reality – on the relative existence – without any “Overlayer” at play. It is then that the non-dual understanding is “applied” in the absence of any “applier.” In truth and more accurately, all merely happens spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
It is exactly like when persons chock on something, have their air passage blocked off, lose consciousness, receive CPR, and then suddenly begins to breathe again. That breathing again happens how? Spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
See, for a time, there might be “a clearer” required. That is all that “A Realized Teacher” is: an “unblocker,” a mere “clearer,” just “one that takes out the garbage.”
Here, persons arrive and they have lost consciousness . . . have lost conscious contact with Reality. It is as if they are chocking and suffocating on the content of their toxic existence that is a result of their toxic beliefs. They need to take in something pure and they need to exhale the impurities within so that they can then function at maximum effectiveness.
If the seeker is willing to follow the directions offered by a truly “Realized Guru,” what can happen is that the “guide” merely clears away the obstructions so that the pure (clear-seeing, unblocked) “Inner Guru” can once again be accessed and so that the impurities within (within the “mind,” in this case) can be cleared out and so that which is within (the pure, unblocked consciousness / the "Inner Guru" / the "Inner Resource") can function at maximum effectiveness.
In short,
1. the seeker walks the “path” that the teacher points to;
2. that walking of the “path” allows for completion of the second leg of the “journey”;
3. then the seeker either
a. idolizes the THATness and thinks that he or she has left the relative realm and is abiding solely in “that other realm” (which amounts to dissociation and “living in Foo-Foo-Land”), or the seeker
b. completes the third leg; comes back in on the same path she or he went out on the second leg, only in reverse); allows Reality to be overlaid on reality . . . over the relative; and abides spontaneously and sanely and logically and soundly and reasonably for the remainder of the manifestation.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
23 February 2014
To be free of all of that which comes when they believe in their assumed personalities - and in all things personal – they turn to persons playing roles to guide them away from false personas and they turn to a Personal God or Personal Gods and Goddesses, for relief from their doubts and the fears and uncertainties and insecurities and from their chaos and dependencies.
While medical researchers have proved that a small dose of a contagion can trigger the body’s immune system to protect the body if later exposed to a full-blown dose of a contagion, that does not apply to Realization. One lie cannot free you of the mass of lies that persons are led to believe.
That is, the “cure” for the curse of things personal is not more personal things. The cure for the Ultimate Sickness is neither personal nor Personal. What is called for is the abandonment of belief in all things personal and Personal, and that abandonment happens spontaneously when the entire “path” has been traversed and when the entire “journey” has been completed.
In the eBook below entitled "There is Nothing That Is Personal (Including You and Including God)," the point is made that lies about a personal identity and lies about a Personal God or Personal Gods and Goddesses cannot free anyone from the instability that results from believing the lies about things personal or Personal.
Yes, only a guide that has traveled the entire “path” and that has completed the entire “journey” can point you to both, but the guide that can do that has not one single belief in anything personal or Personal.
Yet billions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims not only believe that they are personas but also belief that they are made in the image of Someone Personal.
And therein is presented the operative phrase: “in the image of.” An image of an image is still . . . just an image.
So when can it happen and how can it happen – this manner of abiding as spontaneously and sanely and logically and reasonably as all things on the planet (except for humans)?
WHEN
It happens when a seeker completes all seven steps on “the path” (instead of just three) and when a seeker completes all three legs of the “journey” (instead of just two).
HOW
And how does it happen? It happens spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
First, “the path”:
Ninety-seven percent of the persons on the planet claim a religious affiliation; two+ percent proudly claim to be “spiritual, not religious.”
Only one-half-of-one-percent (the number of Personality Type Fours on the planet, such as Maharaj, for example) have a head start on finding “the Authentic Self”; on understanding that “the True Self” actually has nothing at all to do with either self-ness or Self-ness; and on understanding that the terms “Authentic Self” and “True Self” are merely pointers toward the Pure Witnessing that “You” are when manifest.
On the “path” to Full Realization, there are seven steps, but most hear only of three. It is at that third of seven steps where persons (almost always) have to assume some religious or spiritual identity and play that role for a time. It “shifts” the focus away from “relative-things-only.”
The real rub is this: ninety-nine+ percent are “placed” at the third step soon after manifestation happens, told by parents or by members of their community: “You are a Jew” or “You are a Christian” or “You are a Muslim” or “You are a Hindu,” etc.; thus, they will never seek, certain that they already have all of the answers (while earnest seekers - and questioners of the BS that they have been told - know they do not).
Next, to the “journey”:
Here, three “legs” of the entire “journey” are discussed. The first leg is the “coming in stage” when the conscious-energy manifests in a human-body-cum-consciousness and when the consciousness is soon blocked off from Reality via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing. The masses will almost all remain in that blocked-off condition for the entirety of the manifestation.
The second leg happens with some seekers. It involves what Maharaj described as going back, reversing along the same path by which you came. The second leg involves the seven steps which are the means by which the effects of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing are un-taught, un-learned, undone.
The third leg is “the coming back again” stage, but this time, the movement is from Realizing the Truth Fully, engaging the relative existence fully, and abiding for the remainder of the manifestation without the effects of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
When that third leg is completed, that is when Reality is overlaid on reality – on the relative existence – without any “Overlayer” at play. It is then that the non-dual understanding is “applied” in the absence of any “applier.” In truth and more accurately, all merely happens spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
It is exactly like when persons chock on something, have their air passage blocked off, lose consciousness, receive CPR, and then suddenly begins to breathe again. That breathing again happens how? Spontaneously, automatically, instinctively, unthinkingly, mindlessly, and thoughtlessly.
See, for a time, there might be “a clearer” required. That is all that “A Realized Teacher” is: an “unblocker,” a mere “clearer,” just “one that takes out the garbage.”
Here, persons arrive and they have lost consciousness . . . have lost conscious contact with Reality. It is as if they are chocking and suffocating on the content of their toxic existence that is a result of their toxic beliefs. They need to take in something pure and they need to exhale the impurities within so that they can then function at maximum effectiveness.
If the seeker is willing to follow the directions offered by a truly “Realized Guru,” what can happen is that the “guide” merely clears away the obstructions so that the pure (clear-seeing, unblocked) “Inner Guru” can once again be accessed and so that the impurities within (within the “mind,” in this case) can be cleared out and so that which is within (the pure, unblocked consciousness / the "Inner Guru" / the "Inner Resource") can function at maximum effectiveness.
In short,
1. the seeker walks the “path” that the teacher points to;
2. that walking of the “path” allows for completion of the second leg of the “journey”;
3. then the seeker either
a. idolizes the THATness and thinks that he or she has left the relative realm and is abiding solely in “that other realm” (which amounts to dissociation and “living in Foo-Foo-Land”), or the seeker
b. completes the third leg; comes back in on the same path she or he went out on the second leg, only in reverse); allows Reality to be overlaid on reality . . . over the relative; and abides spontaneously and sanely and logically and soundly and reasonably for the remainder of the manifestation.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
23 February 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Yesterday, this was offered: To understand what the Ultimate Sickness really is is to understand what the “journey” is NOT about and what it IS about.
The “journey” is not about some “phenomenal vs. Noumenal” contest where one is better than the other … where the THATness is superior to the AMness; it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “this world vs. an even better world”;
it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world now in order to earn a reward later … in order to earn a spot in an even better world”; and it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world in order to avoid punishment later in a really bad world.”
Moreover, it is not about the THATness nearly as much as it is about the ISness … this present AMness. (Maharaj made clear that it is enough to know what you are not. Imagine how different the relative existence could be for those that had no clue about the THATness but nevertheless became totally aware of the fact that their assumed and assigned ego-states / their multiple personality-identifications are not real.)
Nothing about the “prior-to-manifestation condition” differs from “the post-manifestation condition.” There was the awareness which was not aware of itself and which was merely being . . . merely existing, and there was the conscious-energy which was not conscious-of anything and which was merely being . . . merely existing.
That was the Original Nature, and that shall be the post-manifestation nature.
1. That is the way it has always been.
2. That is the way it is now except for
a. the conscious-energy that is either temporarily-manifested and has been blocked from Reality because of programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing and indoctrination or
b. the conscious-energy that is temporarily-manifested and that has been unblocked and is now seeing Reality (and seeing realistically) as a result of the completion of all seven steps on “the path,” (not just three) and the completion of all three legs of the “journey” (not just two).
3. And that is the way it shall forever be.
Why? Because the case with conscious-energy is the same as it is for all forms of energy: it cannot be created nor destroyed. It has always been, and it is, and it shall forever be. In the cases where it has manifested temporarily and resulted in a human-body-cum-consciousness, it has been blocked off from being conscious of truth and conscious of awareness, and in only a few cases has it been unblocked and conscious of that which differentiates the true from the false and conscious of awareness and aware of its Original Nature.
Note that the pointer applies to “cases where it has manifested and resulted in a human-body-cum-consciousness.” It has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a plant-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a rock-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a tree-cum-consciousness;
it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a fish-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a deer-cum-consciousness; and it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a bird-body-cum-consciousness.
Thus, no plant or rock or tree or fish or deer or bird has ever needed to “Realize” because no plant or rock or tree or fish or deer or bird has ever had the consciousness within blocked and, as a result, perceived reality in a distorted fashion or needed to see Reality in order to be freed from the “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” that plagues the relative existence of humans only and that now calls for restoration to sanity.
What has not ever appeared on any internet website, and what shall never appear on any internet website, is this:
“Greetings to all plants and rocks and trees and fish and deer and birds! Have you reached a point where your life seems totally chaotic, totally insane? Can you look back on the things you’ve done in your lifetime and wondered, ‘Why in the hell did I do those things that were so destructive, so senseless, so mindless, so ignorant and so unbelievably stupid?’ Are you tired of being unstable in all ways and wondered, ‘Is there a way out? What can help me have a more stable and enjoyable life?’
“Have you tried reading self-help books; spending hours a day in meditation; going to a church or temple or mosque or monastery or shrine or religious or spiritual retreat; or have you gone to the mountaintop? Have you tried Native American spirituality on for size or tried out the various philosophies of both ancient and modern times?
“Have you tried joining a cult or one of the modern-day sky-cult religions (most of which are all versions of the fabrications and theories set forth by Abraham and which are merely modern evolutions of ancient pagan religions that were based in ignorance and myth and superstitions)? Have you tried mind-expanding drugs, or a cocktail of drugs to try to escape the insanity and chaos of your life?
“If so, and if all of these efforts have failed (as they are most assuredly guaranteed to do) then we have another alternative! You are invited to take advantage of our offer to introduce you to the non-duality teachings. You may contact us through the website link below or by telephoning us at the number provided.
“Then we will help free you of the ignorance and stupidity and insanity that plagues the life of all plants and rocks and trees and fish and deer and birds as a result of the way that those in your family of origin and those throughout your culture have programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, brainwashed and indoctrinated you. You can be free! You can enjoy a different experience! Change can come!! Call now!!”
That has never been seen or heard and shall never be seen or heard because there is not one case where the manifested consciousness among the billions upon billions of life-forms on planet earth has ever been blocked off in such a way that the false is believed to be the truth and the truth is assumed to be false.
If that is understood, then it is clearer what the movement along “a path” is about and what completion of the entire “journey” is about.
Again, The “journey” is not about some “phenomenal vs. Noumenal” contest where one is better than the other … where the THATness is superior to the AMness; it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “this world vs. an even better world”;
it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world now in order to earn a reward later … in order to earn a spot in an even better world”; and it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world in order to avoid punishment later in a really bad world.”
Next: More on completing all seven steps on “the path,” not just three, and about completing all three legs of the “journey,” not just two.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
22 February 2013
The “journey” is not about some “phenomenal vs. Noumenal” contest where one is better than the other … where the THATness is superior to the AMness; it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “this world vs. an even better world”;
it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world now in order to earn a reward later … in order to earn a spot in an even better world”; and it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world in order to avoid punishment later in a really bad world.”
Moreover, it is not about the THATness nearly as much as it is about the ISness … this present AMness. (Maharaj made clear that it is enough to know what you are not. Imagine how different the relative existence could be for those that had no clue about the THATness but nevertheless became totally aware of the fact that their assumed and assigned ego-states / their multiple personality-identifications are not real.)
Nothing about the “prior-to-manifestation condition” differs from “the post-manifestation condition.” There was the awareness which was not aware of itself and which was merely being . . . merely existing, and there was the conscious-energy which was not conscious-of anything and which was merely being . . . merely existing.
That was the Original Nature, and that shall be the post-manifestation nature.
1. That is the way it has always been.
2. That is the way it is now except for
a. the conscious-energy that is either temporarily-manifested and has been blocked from Reality because of programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing and indoctrination or
b. the conscious-energy that is temporarily-manifested and that has been unblocked and is now seeing Reality (and seeing realistically) as a result of the completion of all seven steps on “the path,” (not just three) and the completion of all three legs of the “journey” (not just two).
3. And that is the way it shall forever be.
Why? Because the case with conscious-energy is the same as it is for all forms of energy: it cannot be created nor destroyed. It has always been, and it is, and it shall forever be. In the cases where it has manifested temporarily and resulted in a human-body-cum-consciousness, it has been blocked off from being conscious of truth and conscious of awareness, and in only a few cases has it been unblocked and conscious of that which differentiates the true from the false and conscious of awareness and aware of its Original Nature.
Note that the pointer applies to “cases where it has manifested and resulted in a human-body-cum-consciousness.” It has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a plant-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a rock-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a tree-cum-consciousness;
it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a fish-cum-consciousness; it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a deer-cum-consciousness; and it has nothing to do with cases that have resulted in a bird-body-cum-consciousness.
Thus, no plant or rock or tree or fish or deer or bird has ever needed to “Realize” because no plant or rock or tree or fish or deer or bird has ever had the consciousness within blocked and, as a result, perceived reality in a distorted fashion or needed to see Reality in order to be freed from the “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” that plagues the relative existence of humans only and that now calls for restoration to sanity.
What has not ever appeared on any internet website, and what shall never appear on any internet website, is this:
“Greetings to all plants and rocks and trees and fish and deer and birds! Have you reached a point where your life seems totally chaotic, totally insane? Can you look back on the things you’ve done in your lifetime and wondered, ‘Why in the hell did I do those things that were so destructive, so senseless, so mindless, so ignorant and so unbelievably stupid?’ Are you tired of being unstable in all ways and wondered, ‘Is there a way out? What can help me have a more stable and enjoyable life?’
“Have you tried reading self-help books; spending hours a day in meditation; going to a church or temple or mosque or monastery or shrine or religious or spiritual retreat; or have you gone to the mountaintop? Have you tried Native American spirituality on for size or tried out the various philosophies of both ancient and modern times?
“Have you tried joining a cult or one of the modern-day sky-cult religions (most of which are all versions of the fabrications and theories set forth by Abraham and which are merely modern evolutions of ancient pagan religions that were based in ignorance and myth and superstitions)? Have you tried mind-expanding drugs, or a cocktail of drugs to try to escape the insanity and chaos of your life?
“If so, and if all of these efforts have failed (as they are most assuredly guaranteed to do) then we have another alternative! You are invited to take advantage of our offer to introduce you to the non-duality teachings. You may contact us through the website link below or by telephoning us at the number provided.
“Then we will help free you of the ignorance and stupidity and insanity that plagues the life of all plants and rocks and trees and fish and deer and birds as a result of the way that those in your family of origin and those throughout your culture have programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, brainwashed and indoctrinated you. You can be free! You can enjoy a different experience! Change can come!! Call now!!”
That has never been seen or heard and shall never be seen or heard because there is not one case where the manifested consciousness among the billions upon billions of life-forms on planet earth has ever been blocked off in such a way that the false is believed to be the truth and the truth is assumed to be false.
If that is understood, then it is clearer what the movement along “a path” is about and what completion of the entire “journey” is about.
Again, The “journey” is not about some “phenomenal vs. Noumenal” contest where one is better than the other … where the THATness is superior to the AMness; it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “this world vs. an even better world”;
it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world now in order to earn a reward later … in order to earn a spot in an even better world”; and it is not about the dualistic (and therefore bogus) notion of “being good in this world in order to avoid punishment later in a really bad world.”
Next: More on completing all seven steps on “the path,” not just three, and about completing all three legs of the “journey,” not just two.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
22 February 2013
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: The Ultimate Sickness is not a spiritual malady; nor does it involve a dogma deficiency; nor does it involve any malnourishment of beliefs; nor does it involve too little of anything else. In fact, the Ultimate Sickness involves an excess . . .
specifically, an excess of incoherent and contradictory ideas, silly notions, counterfeit identifications, jumbled thoughts, false concepts, distorted perceptions, twisted thoughts, skewed impressions, bogus theories, faulty hypotheses, perverted values, and warped views. In other words, the Ultimate Sickness involves an excess of . . . beliefs.
And where is the storehouse for all ideas, notions, identities, concepts, perceptions, thoughts, impressions, theories, values, hypotheses, and views (a.k.a., "beliefs")? In the mind, so the Ultimate Sickness centers in the mind; therefore, rather than being a spiritual sickness, the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, an illness of the mind – of the always-tainted-and-distorted mind – deformed and bent and twisted as a result of perverted programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
Thus, the Ultimate Medicine does not involve “leaving this phenomenal world” and “abiding out there” in some "Noumenal world." Both are imaginary. There is no “this world” vs. “another world / other worlds”; there is no duality involving “this horrible, corrupt, sinful world” as opposed to some “pure and honorable and moral and upright world.”
Thus, the main problem which centers in the mind is the main problem facing the non-Realized masses (who have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the notion of “dual worlds”), yet like those with what some call “walking pneumonia” who are not even aware of their sickness, the masses are not aware of their mental sickness.
Thus, they are not aware of the fact that they need the medicine which, often, could free them from the ill effects of a relative existence that is being controlled by the distorted content of their sick minds.
However, on occasion, when some become sick enough, they feel a dis-ease that inspires them to seek; yet even those do not really know what ails them, so they do not know what treatment is needed.
This is the relevant fact regarding proper diagnosis and treatment at this point of the discussion: self-diagnosis is the most ineffective diagnostic method of all. Ignorance either cannot recognize ignorance or it can actually take pride in itself; stupidity cannot recognize stupidity; and insanity might be able to see “others’” insanity, but it most assuredly cannot spot itself.
Now, more on those who might begin to seek: as they search, they cross many paths, but those whose paths they cross – with rare exceptions – are clueless about what the real issue is; therefore, they are also either clueless about what the proper treatment is or they are con artists who know they do not have a cure but offer to sell what is supposedly the cure anyway. (And in the widespread cultures of excess, most advisors and gurus and teachers and guides and ministers and rabbis and ayatollahs and lecturers and “experts,” etc. will heap on more excess and, thereby, only complicate matters).
So dogmatic types will advise more religion: “Yeah, yeah, more dogma and more religious knowledge, that’s the ticket!”
Those in recovery groups will advise the one who has “slipped” to be more spiritual: “Yeah, yeah, more prayer and faith, that’s the ticket!”
Some nutritionists and some religious fanatics will both suggest that you become a vegan or vegetarian: “Yeah, yeah, the right food, that’s the ticket!”
Those adhering to many of the non-duality teaching methods (other than the Direct Path Method used in conjunction with the Nisarga Yoga) will also usually prescribe all sorts of spiritual exercises or encourage the accumulation of more spiritual knowledge: “Yeah, yeah, more spirituality, that’s the ticket!”
The charlatan will tell you that you need to give all of your money to him or her and then move into the compound with the rest of the followers living there; or will advise you to drink the Kool-Aid; or will suggest that the men castrate themselves and then join all of the membership of the cult in killing themselves in order to rendezvous with the Hale-Bopp comet. “Yeah, yeah, riding the comet, that’s the ticket!”
Fanatical activists will tell you to accept the philosophy of their political party and abandon the beliefs of the other parties; or to pull your children out of public schools; and then to home school them, using the Judaeo-Christian-oriented materials that are written and distributed by Christian Reconstructionists who would destroy the national government and replace the Constitution with Old Testament laws or by those who would impose Sharia law on all the people of the planet, to name only a few examples from the agendas of fanatics. “Yeah, yeah, adopting our political beliefs, home schooling, learning our religious beliefs, and adhering to our religious laws, that’s the ticket!”
Or those Maharaj warned about, those he called “Big Name Teachers,” will tell you to pay them a small fortune to teach you to “Love What Is” or why you merely need to “Change Your Thoughts” or how to “Become Ambitious / Powerful / Successful” or what “Your Ultimate Calling” is or what the “Secrets to Success” are or how to gain power by using your “Intentions” or
how to “Advance Your Spirit” or how to find “Your Life’s Purpose” or how to find “Your Infinite Self” or how to have “Power Now” or how to have an “Ageless Body” and “Timeless Mind” or how to attain “Spontaneous Fulfillment of Your Desires” or what “The Spiritual Laws of Success” are or “How to Know God,” ad infinitum.
And all of that is nothing more than snake oil medicine that is presented as if it were a part of the Ultimate Medicine that you need. "Yeah, yeah, loving your rapist or those who kill your children; getting new thoughts in place of old thoughts; being ambitious and powerful and successful; finding meaning and purpose; having a better body and a better mind; always having your desires fulfilled; knowing spiritual laws; and knowing god or many gods. That's the ticket!"
In such cultures of accumulation and excess, what no one is ever likely to hear is that “you do not need more – you need less” or “You do not need to learn more – you need to un-learn it all” or “you do not need someone to teach you more – you need a guide that will un-teach it all.”
See, the Ultimate Sickness is “an inside job” alright, but it is still a contagion that is transferred from without, from every programmer, conditioner, domesticator, acculturator, indoctrinator, and brainwasher that you have ever been exposed to.
Here, there is no suggestion that you need “the program” or different programming or re-programming. It is made clear that you need de-programming. Here, there is no suggestion that you need a new and different kind of conditioning or domesticating or acculturating or indoctrinating or brainwashing. The effects of all of that must go in order for the Ultimate Sickness to end.
Like the food addict who has quadrupled his or her body weight during adulthood, almost all persons have added over the years the weighty burden of learned ignorance that has resulted in an excess of ideas, notions, identifications, concepts, perceptions, thoughts, impressions, values, theories, hypotheses, and views.
To understand what the Ultimate Sickness really is is to understand what the “journey” is NOT about and what it IS about:
It is not about leaving “this world” mentally or emotionally or literally or spiritually and going to “another world” mentally or emotionally or literally or spiritually; it is about being restored to sanity after addressing the three most serious symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
It is about being free of those and then being sane and sound and logical and reasonable; it is about no longer being fooled.
Consider the insanity of upgrading and downgrading this world and thus dreaming up “other worlds” post manifestation:
Maharaj: “Everyone creates a world for himself and lives in it, imprisoned by one’s ignorance. All we have to do is to deny reality to our prison. You have projected onto yourself a world of your own imagination, based on memories, on desires and fears, and you have imprisoned yourself in it. Break the spell and be free. This world is painted by you on the screen of consciousness, and is entirely your own private world. Only your sense ‘I AM’, though in the world, is not of the world. Once you realize that the world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free yourself of a world that does not exist, except in your own imagination! Realize that there is nobody to force the world on you - that it is due to the habit of taking the imaginary to be real.”
It was asked, “So how does that ‘application’ or ‘overlaying’ of non-duality and sanity happen, if there is no ‘Applier’?”
The same way whatever happens in the case of Your Original Nature, in the case of the unmanifested consciousness, and in the case of awareness that in not aware of: spontaneously, automatically, routinely, naturally, and (most definitely) unthinkingly.
So “Applied Advaita” is the non-dual understanding that, when “applied” during the relative existence or overlaid on the relative existence, ends any and all previous misperceptions; ends all attachment to all ideas and notions and concepts (a.k.a., “beliefs”); ends all learned “ignorance, all stupidity and all insanity”; ends the assumption of any role as an identity; ends all efforts to abide supernaturally; and ends all unnatural living.
And what “applies” that in the absence of “An Applier”? Natural tendencies and normal inclinations.
Maharaj said, "Forget spirituality" and Follow your "normal inclinations."
He said: “I accept myself as I am without an attachment to fixing, changing, or controlling my natural inclinations and attributes”
and
“Everything happens out of our own Self. This consciousness is spontaneously felt in the Self only”
and
“When individuality is lost, whatever happens is then seen as total functioning. There is no question of ‘I’ or ‘you’ understanding something. It is understanding”
and
“There is no enjoyer of this manifest world and universe; all is happening spontaneously. All perceptible and tangible movements in the universe and world just happen, without any specific reason; that is, there is functioning, rotating, vibrating, humming, without a purpose.”
He said: “I am like a cinema screen . . . clear and empty. The pictures pass over it and disappear, leaving it as clear and empty as before. In no way is the screen affected by the pictures, nor are the pictures affected by the screen”
and
“Whatever spiritual and worldly activities are happening through you are merely entertainments for passing time.”
F.: See? Nothing is significant or meaningful. It’s all "much ado about nothing." Both “spiritual activities” and “worldy activities” are based as much in illusion as the false identities that those activities support. And the only chance for an entertaining “time” - and the only opportunity for joy while merely “passing time” - is NOW. There is no "later." There is no "other world that awaits."
So the Realized Nisargan enjoys the “entertainment” NOW. Realized Nisargans do not seek some illusory, conceptualized “power” of NOW nor any “meaning NOW” nor any “self-improvement-producing-activities” NOW.
If it is some “reward” that is being sought by one’s religious and / or spiritual activities, then that dream is a delusion, a total deception. The only “reward” is an entertaining NOW, an enjoyable NOW, a NOW that allows the AMness to happen without the frustration of the hidden agendas of ego-states that lead to unmet desires or to the anxiety that comes with the hidden, fear-generating agendas of ego-states.
So WHEN does “the application” of non-duality happen, if at all? After the third leg of a “three-leg journey” is completed and after all seven steps on a seven-step “path” are completed. That in the next post.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
21 February 2014
specifically, an excess of incoherent and contradictory ideas, silly notions, counterfeit identifications, jumbled thoughts, false concepts, distorted perceptions, twisted thoughts, skewed impressions, bogus theories, faulty hypotheses, perverted values, and warped views. In other words, the Ultimate Sickness involves an excess of . . . beliefs.
And where is the storehouse for all ideas, notions, identities, concepts, perceptions, thoughts, impressions, theories, values, hypotheses, and views (a.k.a., "beliefs")? In the mind, so the Ultimate Sickness centers in the mind; therefore, rather than being a spiritual sickness, the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, an illness of the mind – of the always-tainted-and-distorted mind – deformed and bent and twisted as a result of perverted programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination, and brainwashing.
Thus, the Ultimate Medicine does not involve “leaving this phenomenal world” and “abiding out there” in some "Noumenal world." Both are imaginary. There is no “this world” vs. “another world / other worlds”; there is no duality involving “this horrible, corrupt, sinful world” as opposed to some “pure and honorable and moral and upright world.”
Thus, the main problem which centers in the mind is the main problem facing the non-Realized masses (who have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the notion of “dual worlds”), yet like those with what some call “walking pneumonia” who are not even aware of their sickness, the masses are not aware of their mental sickness.
Thus, they are not aware of the fact that they need the medicine which, often, could free them from the ill effects of a relative existence that is being controlled by the distorted content of their sick minds.
However, on occasion, when some become sick enough, they feel a dis-ease that inspires them to seek; yet even those do not really know what ails them, so they do not know what treatment is needed.
This is the relevant fact regarding proper diagnosis and treatment at this point of the discussion: self-diagnosis is the most ineffective diagnostic method of all. Ignorance either cannot recognize ignorance or it can actually take pride in itself; stupidity cannot recognize stupidity; and insanity might be able to see “others’” insanity, but it most assuredly cannot spot itself.
Now, more on those who might begin to seek: as they search, they cross many paths, but those whose paths they cross – with rare exceptions – are clueless about what the real issue is; therefore, they are also either clueless about what the proper treatment is or they are con artists who know they do not have a cure but offer to sell what is supposedly the cure anyway. (And in the widespread cultures of excess, most advisors and gurus and teachers and guides and ministers and rabbis and ayatollahs and lecturers and “experts,” etc. will heap on more excess and, thereby, only complicate matters).
So dogmatic types will advise more religion: “Yeah, yeah, more dogma and more religious knowledge, that’s the ticket!”
Those in recovery groups will advise the one who has “slipped” to be more spiritual: “Yeah, yeah, more prayer and faith, that’s the ticket!”
Some nutritionists and some religious fanatics will both suggest that you become a vegan or vegetarian: “Yeah, yeah, the right food, that’s the ticket!”
Those adhering to many of the non-duality teaching methods (other than the Direct Path Method used in conjunction with the Nisarga Yoga) will also usually prescribe all sorts of spiritual exercises or encourage the accumulation of more spiritual knowledge: “Yeah, yeah, more spirituality, that’s the ticket!”
The charlatan will tell you that you need to give all of your money to him or her and then move into the compound with the rest of the followers living there; or will advise you to drink the Kool-Aid; or will suggest that the men castrate themselves and then join all of the membership of the cult in killing themselves in order to rendezvous with the Hale-Bopp comet. “Yeah, yeah, riding the comet, that’s the ticket!”
Fanatical activists will tell you to accept the philosophy of their political party and abandon the beliefs of the other parties; or to pull your children out of public schools; and then to home school them, using the Judaeo-Christian-oriented materials that are written and distributed by Christian Reconstructionists who would destroy the national government and replace the Constitution with Old Testament laws or by those who would impose Sharia law on all the people of the planet, to name only a few examples from the agendas of fanatics. “Yeah, yeah, adopting our political beliefs, home schooling, learning our religious beliefs, and adhering to our religious laws, that’s the ticket!”
Or those Maharaj warned about, those he called “Big Name Teachers,” will tell you to pay them a small fortune to teach you to “Love What Is” or why you merely need to “Change Your Thoughts” or how to “Become Ambitious / Powerful / Successful” or what “Your Ultimate Calling” is or what the “Secrets to Success” are or how to gain power by using your “Intentions” or
how to “Advance Your Spirit” or how to find “Your Life’s Purpose” or how to find “Your Infinite Self” or how to have “Power Now” or how to have an “Ageless Body” and “Timeless Mind” or how to attain “Spontaneous Fulfillment of Your Desires” or what “The Spiritual Laws of Success” are or “How to Know God,” ad infinitum.
And all of that is nothing more than snake oil medicine that is presented as if it were a part of the Ultimate Medicine that you need. "Yeah, yeah, loving your rapist or those who kill your children; getting new thoughts in place of old thoughts; being ambitious and powerful and successful; finding meaning and purpose; having a better body and a better mind; always having your desires fulfilled; knowing spiritual laws; and knowing god or many gods. That's the ticket!"
In such cultures of accumulation and excess, what no one is ever likely to hear is that “you do not need more – you need less” or “You do not need to learn more – you need to un-learn it all” or “you do not need someone to teach you more – you need a guide that will un-teach it all.”
See, the Ultimate Sickness is “an inside job” alright, but it is still a contagion that is transferred from without, from every programmer, conditioner, domesticator, acculturator, indoctrinator, and brainwasher that you have ever been exposed to.
Here, there is no suggestion that you need “the program” or different programming or re-programming. It is made clear that you need de-programming. Here, there is no suggestion that you need a new and different kind of conditioning or domesticating or acculturating or indoctrinating or brainwashing. The effects of all of that must go in order for the Ultimate Sickness to end.
Like the food addict who has quadrupled his or her body weight during adulthood, almost all persons have added over the years the weighty burden of learned ignorance that has resulted in an excess of ideas, notions, identifications, concepts, perceptions, thoughts, impressions, values, theories, hypotheses, and views.
To understand what the Ultimate Sickness really is is to understand what the “journey” is NOT about and what it IS about:
It is not about leaving “this world” mentally or emotionally or literally or spiritually and going to “another world” mentally or emotionally or literally or spiritually; it is about being restored to sanity after addressing the three most serious symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
It is about being free of those and then being sane and sound and logical and reasonable; it is about no longer being fooled.
Consider the insanity of upgrading and downgrading this world and thus dreaming up “other worlds” post manifestation:
Maharaj: “Everyone creates a world for himself and lives in it, imprisoned by one’s ignorance. All we have to do is to deny reality to our prison. You have projected onto yourself a world of your own imagination, based on memories, on desires and fears, and you have imprisoned yourself in it. Break the spell and be free. This world is painted by you on the screen of consciousness, and is entirely your own private world. Only your sense ‘I AM’, though in the world, is not of the world. Once you realize that the world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free yourself of a world that does not exist, except in your own imagination! Realize that there is nobody to force the world on you - that it is due to the habit of taking the imaginary to be real.”
It was asked, “So how does that ‘application’ or ‘overlaying’ of non-duality and sanity happen, if there is no ‘Applier’?”
The same way whatever happens in the case of Your Original Nature, in the case of the unmanifested consciousness, and in the case of awareness that in not aware of: spontaneously, automatically, routinely, naturally, and (most definitely) unthinkingly.
So “Applied Advaita” is the non-dual understanding that, when “applied” during the relative existence or overlaid on the relative existence, ends any and all previous misperceptions; ends all attachment to all ideas and notions and concepts (a.k.a., “beliefs”); ends all learned “ignorance, all stupidity and all insanity”; ends the assumption of any role as an identity; ends all efforts to abide supernaturally; and ends all unnatural living.
And what “applies” that in the absence of “An Applier”? Natural tendencies and normal inclinations.
Maharaj said, "Forget spirituality" and Follow your "normal inclinations."
He said: “I accept myself as I am without an attachment to fixing, changing, or controlling my natural inclinations and attributes”
and
“Everything happens out of our own Self. This consciousness is spontaneously felt in the Self only”
and
“When individuality is lost, whatever happens is then seen as total functioning. There is no question of ‘I’ or ‘you’ understanding something. It is understanding”
and
“There is no enjoyer of this manifest world and universe; all is happening spontaneously. All perceptible and tangible movements in the universe and world just happen, without any specific reason; that is, there is functioning, rotating, vibrating, humming, without a purpose.”
He said: “I am like a cinema screen . . . clear and empty. The pictures pass over it and disappear, leaving it as clear and empty as before. In no way is the screen affected by the pictures, nor are the pictures affected by the screen”
and
“Whatever spiritual and worldly activities are happening through you are merely entertainments for passing time.”
F.: See? Nothing is significant or meaningful. It’s all "much ado about nothing." Both “spiritual activities” and “worldy activities” are based as much in illusion as the false identities that those activities support. And the only chance for an entertaining “time” - and the only opportunity for joy while merely “passing time” - is NOW. There is no "later." There is no "other world that awaits."
So the Realized Nisargan enjoys the “entertainment” NOW. Realized Nisargans do not seek some illusory, conceptualized “power” of NOW nor any “meaning NOW” nor any “self-improvement-producing-activities” NOW.
If it is some “reward” that is being sought by one’s religious and / or spiritual activities, then that dream is a delusion, a total deception. The only “reward” is an entertaining NOW, an enjoyable NOW, a NOW that allows the AMness to happen without the frustration of the hidden agendas of ego-states that lead to unmet desires or to the anxiety that comes with the hidden, fear-generating agendas of ego-states.
So WHEN does “the application” of non-duality happen, if at all? After the third leg of a “three-leg journey” is completed and after all seven steps on a seven-step “path” are completed. That in the next post.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
21 February 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: So what is “Applied Advaita” (a.k.a., “Applied Not Two” or “Applied Non-Duality”)? Certainly there is no “Applier,” so what is applied?
What is applied, post-Realization, is sanity and logic and reason. Applied to what? To the relative existence. Realization is meaningless – a total waste of energy and effort – unless the results of being fully awake and aware and conscious and sane are overlaid onto the relative existence.
As far as the relative existence is concerned, having something overlaid upon is nothing new. Presently, most among the global population of planet earth overlay delusions and misperceptions on their relative existence. (Yes, technically, they did not overlay anything – all was overlaid on their relative existence via programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing, and indoctrination. It was "an outside job" that is now "an inside job.")
As Maharaj made clear, the relative existence of the masses is overlaid with “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” Again, he did not say that there are “ignorant persons, stupid persons, and insane persons,” knowing full well there are no persons at all. (Personas might be assumed as identities, but they are images, as unreal as a mirage and as unreal as a ghostly apparition rising from a steaming miasma.)
All of that is based in duality, in believing in concepts and identities and then either upgrading those concepts and identities or downgrading concepts and identities. And constant upgrading and downgrading are exactly what happens when the relative existence is overlaid with distortions, delusions, illusions, fantasies, fallacies, and myth-and-superstition-and-xenophobia-based beliefs.
“This world” is upgraded to “heaven,” “Paradise,” “Nirvana,” etc. or downgraded to “hell,” “eternal punishment,” “Hades,” etc. Similar to upgrading and downgrading “the world,” persons upgrade themselves and downgrade others. That is why spouses become upgraded from “The Wife” or “The Husband” to “The Super Wife” or “The Super Husband” and why they will later be downgraded to “A Lousy Excuse For a Husband” or “A Really Rotten Wife.”
Too, countries become upgraded to “The Greatest Nation on Earth” (one of the U.S.A.’s favorite delusions). And that upgrading and downgrading happens ever second, 24-7, all around the globe. It’s all nonsense, overlaid on the relative existence and erroneously taken to be the Truth, and it is a process that is based in a failure to be aware of (and a failure to understand fully) the summative statement of non-duality, namely, “I AM THAT; I AM.”
To understand the paradoxical nature of that statement - and the non-dual nature of the understanding of the message itself - is to know that the statement does not have two parts. The statement’s message is “not two”; is it “one,” making clear that there is no separation and no duality. Yet that is understood only if Realized.
So much for better or worse versions of "this world" that supposedly await "the good people" and "the bad people." There does not await any reward or any punishment; there does not await a “good” world where angels float about and sign praises to what would have to be a mightily-egotistical God who would want that; and there are no celestial bedrooms filled with hundreds of wives, hundreds of concubines, and seventy-two virgins that await religious martyrs.
(That would be perfect proof of the adage that “One person’s heaven is another person’s hell.” Consider the level of control that comes from religious programming and brainwashing when ignorant men subject the women in their culture to a current existence that is a living hell, when the women are promised that they are going to spend eternity being sex objects for those same men, and when those women nevertheless cling to their religion anyway.)
So, there is either the AMness with reality overlaid upon it . . . or not. If Reality is overlaid upon the relative, then the relative unfolds with all of the ease and peace of THAT. The Reality which marks the Original Nature and the unadulterated, present reality of the post-Realization relative existence are understood.
Thus, it can be seen that overlaying something on the relative existence is nothing new and is not unique; it will have something overlaid upon it. That might as well be Reality. That might as well be distortion-free witnessing. That might as well be sanity and logic and reason.
So how does that “application” or “overlaying” happen, if there is no “Applier”? That in the next post.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
What is applied, post-Realization, is sanity and logic and reason. Applied to what? To the relative existence. Realization is meaningless – a total waste of energy and effort – unless the results of being fully awake and aware and conscious and sane are overlaid onto the relative existence.
As far as the relative existence is concerned, having something overlaid upon is nothing new. Presently, most among the global population of planet earth overlay delusions and misperceptions on their relative existence. (Yes, technically, they did not overlay anything – all was overlaid on their relative existence via programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing, and indoctrination. It was "an outside job" that is now "an inside job.")
As Maharaj made clear, the relative existence of the masses is overlaid with “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” Again, he did not say that there are “ignorant persons, stupid persons, and insane persons,” knowing full well there are no persons at all. (Personas might be assumed as identities, but they are images, as unreal as a mirage and as unreal as a ghostly apparition rising from a steaming miasma.)
All of that is based in duality, in believing in concepts and identities and then either upgrading those concepts and identities or downgrading concepts and identities. And constant upgrading and downgrading are exactly what happens when the relative existence is overlaid with distortions, delusions, illusions, fantasies, fallacies, and myth-and-superstition-and-xenophobia-based beliefs.
“This world” is upgraded to “heaven,” “Paradise,” “Nirvana,” etc. or downgraded to “hell,” “eternal punishment,” “Hades,” etc. Similar to upgrading and downgrading “the world,” persons upgrade themselves and downgrade others. That is why spouses become upgraded from “The Wife” or “The Husband” to “The Super Wife” or “The Super Husband” and why they will later be downgraded to “A Lousy Excuse For a Husband” or “A Really Rotten Wife.”
Too, countries become upgraded to “The Greatest Nation on Earth” (one of the U.S.A.’s favorite delusions). And that upgrading and downgrading happens ever second, 24-7, all around the globe. It’s all nonsense, overlaid on the relative existence and erroneously taken to be the Truth, and it is a process that is based in a failure to be aware of (and a failure to understand fully) the summative statement of non-duality, namely, “I AM THAT; I AM.”
To understand the paradoxical nature of that statement - and the non-dual nature of the understanding of the message itself - is to know that the statement does not have two parts. The statement’s message is “not two”; is it “one,” making clear that there is no separation and no duality. Yet that is understood only if Realized.
So much for better or worse versions of "this world" that supposedly await "the good people" and "the bad people." There does not await any reward or any punishment; there does not await a “good” world where angels float about and sign praises to what would have to be a mightily-egotistical God who would want that; and there are no celestial bedrooms filled with hundreds of wives, hundreds of concubines, and seventy-two virgins that await religious martyrs.
(That would be perfect proof of the adage that “One person’s heaven is another person’s hell.” Consider the level of control that comes from religious programming and brainwashing when ignorant men subject the women in their culture to a current existence that is a living hell, when the women are promised that they are going to spend eternity being sex objects for those same men, and when those women nevertheless cling to their religion anyway.)
So, there is either the AMness with reality overlaid upon it . . . or not. If Reality is overlaid upon the relative, then the relative unfolds with all of the ease and peace of THAT. The Reality which marks the Original Nature and the unadulterated, present reality of the post-Realization relative existence are understood.
Thus, it can be seen that overlaying something on the relative existence is nothing new and is not unique; it will have something overlaid upon it. That might as well be Reality. That might as well be distortion-free witnessing. That might as well be sanity and logic and reason.
So how does that “application” or “overlaying” happen, if there is no “Applier”? That in the next post.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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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.
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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";
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.
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
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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FOR THOSE SEEKING FURTHER EXPLANATION OF THE NON-DUALITY UNDERSTANDING, AS NOTED ABOVE, SOME SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED BY USING THE METHODS BELOW, OR A COMBINATION OF THE METHODS:
FOR THOSE SEEKING FURTHER EXPLANATION OF THE NON-DUALITY UNDERSTANDING, AS NOTED ABOVE, SOME SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED BY USING THE METHODS BELOW, OR A COMBINATION OF THE METHODS:
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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
International buyers: note the separate option for those outside the continental U.S.
II. BY READING the explanations offered in the collection of non-duality books that are available on this site and at www.floydhenderson.com.
III. BY ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course
IV. BY ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat with floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.
V. BY ARRANGING a one-hour session via Skype or telephone with Floyd. (Skype is a free service.)
Click the button to pay and you will be contacted to arrange a date and time for the call.
VI. ALL OF THE FOLLOWING BOOKS are available at
Floyd Henderson's Website
FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE: A Seven-Step Journey to Reality
CONSCIOUSNESS / AWARENESS
FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS
THE FINAL UNDERSTANDING
THE ADVANCED SEEKERS' SERIES
Anthology of four books
THE BLISSFUL ABIDANCE SERIES
Anthology of six books
SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ AND HIS EVOLUTION
THE FINAL FIFTEEN TOPICS DISCUSSED BY SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
A TWELVE-STEP JOURNEY TO SELF-TRANSFORMATION
For more information on this book, or to purchase a copy now, click:
A GUIDE FOR WORKING THE STEPS (IN THE MANNER USED BY THE FOUNDERS)
THE TWELVE STEPS AND ADVAITA / NON-DUALITY: A 21-DAY PLAN FOR A PSYCHIC CHANGE
SELF-TRANSFORMATION MEDITATION GUIDE (VOLUME ONE)
SELF-TRANSFORMATION MEDITATION GUIDE (VOLUME TWO)
WHY NISARGA YOGA IN ADDITION TO THE ADVAITA TEACHINGS?
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE via the Non-Duality Teachings and the Nisarga Yoga
YOUR ORIGINAL NATURE
GOING CRAZY / GOING SANE
INSTABILITY / INSANITY: WHAT THE ADVAITA TEACHINGS CAN (AND CANNOT) ADDRESS
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (THERE IS ONLY PEACE IF YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND)
FREEDOM FROM SHIFTING BETWEEN STATES OF HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS
THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS / THE ULTIMATE MEDICINE
PROGRAMMING, CONDITIONING, DOMESTICATION, AND ACCULTURATION (THE SOURCES OF THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS & THE NON-DUALITY TREATMENT)
"WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?"
THE MYTH OF "DEATH"
THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS: THE SIMPLICITY OF REALIZATION
FINDING REAL LOVE IN AN UNREAL WORLD
CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS
OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF BEING TOTALLY INDEPENDENT
THE NON-DUALITY POINTERS OFFERED BY YESHU'A ("JESUS THE CHRIST")
NOW ACCEPTING REQUESTS FOR FREE COPIES OF THE FOLLOWING EBOOKS:
A free copy of the 278-page eBook entitled
"GOOD vs. EVIL?" or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY?"
and / or
A free copy of the 267-page eBook entitled
"THE VISION"
is available to be sent to you and anyone else you choose.
[Please note: When the Direct Path Teaching Method is offered in conjunction with the Nisarga Yoga, something unique results when compared to what happens via the approach used by religions, spiritual movements, philosophies, ideologies, etc.:
rather than inviting seekers to learn more, the invitation here is to unlearn all; rather than offerings teachings, what is offered are unteachings; rather than offering to provide seekers more of anything, seekers will find that the process will take away everything. And via that process, the bliss of Your Original Nature will manifest and remain until mahasamadhi is taken.
To that end, the content of this book will seem radical to the seekers of more, but for those truly ready to be totally free and totally independent - and for those who are truly ready to abandon efforts to accumulate and to de-accumulate instead - the pointers in this book might be relevant.]
To receive your free copy, or to have us send a free copy to your friends or relatives, send your email address (or their addresses) to the following:
(Sorry, but for security reasons, we no longer have a clickable link. You will have to type in our gmail address above. By the way, your email addresses will never be used to contact you or your friends or relatives and email addresses will never be shared with anyone else.)
Simply state in your email that you want the book sent as a gift to you (or as a gift from you to as many people as you like. Copies are now ready to be sent.)
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE ADVAITIN
WHEN ONLY THREE HOURS OF MANIFESTATION REMAIN (THE "FINAL" TALKS OF FLOYD HENDERSON)
I AM THAT (vs. "This Is Who I Think I Am")
QUOTATIONS AND POINTERS DEALING WITH NON-DUALITY, ADVAITA, NISARGA YOGA, AND MORE
DANCING LIGHTLY
THE PATH TO FREEDOM VS. THE PATH TO MISERY
THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS PERSONAL (INCLUDING YOU AND INCLUDING GOD)
LIBERATION (ATTAINING FREEDOM FROM PERSONALITY VIA REALIZATION)
WHY YOU MUST BE EMPTY IF YOU WOULD BE FULL
FREEDOM FROM BELIEFS (Believers, Non-Believers, and "No-Belief-ers")
WHEN REALITY IS OVERLAID ON THE RELATIVE
THE RELATIVE RESULTS OF RETURNING TO "THE CHILD IGNORANCE STAGE" OR "THE CHILD NO-KNOWING STATE"
WHAT BLISS IS AND WHAT BLISS IS NOT
THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS
LESSONS IN NON-DUALITY FROM TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE FIRST STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE SECOND STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE THIRD STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE FOURTH STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE FIFTH STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE SIXTH STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
A SERIES OF ESSAYS DISCUSSING THE SEVENTH STEP ON THE SEVEN-STEP PATH TO REALIZATION
SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (RECOVERING WHAT RELIGIONS LOST)
IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (AND WHY KNOWING IT SETS YOU FREE)
