Sunday, August 31, 2014

THE LABORATORIES OF SAPOLSKY AND MAHARAJ

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A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU


THE CONCLUSION OF “PART TWO” 

F.: In the scientific laboratory operated by Robert Sapolsky on a savannah in Kenya, his research work with baboons provided insights that were also quite relevant to humans as well: 

1. He found that one of the most significant contributors to humankind’s mental, emotional, and physical problems was directly related to their tendency to form rigid hierarchies which are controlled by those at the top who use their positions to preserve the status quo, to protect their position at the top, and to lock everyone else into their lower positions. All lip service to the contrary – which includes talk about “upward mobility,” “opportunity for all,” “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps,” and “we care about everyone” – is just that: lip service. 


2. He found that escape from the peace-robbing and stress-generating results of a hierarchy can seemingly only be accelerated by drastic action or drastic events. Recall: 


“The Keekorok troop took to foraging for food in the garbage dump of a popular tourist lodge. It was a fatal move. The trash included meat tainted with tuberculosis. The result was that over half the males in the troop died.” 


Because those at the top of the troop's hierarchy were more sociopathic and took food from those below them, then the ones that died from eating the contaminated meat were the more sociopathic, trouble-starting, fighter-and-controlling-types. A major aspects of their personality type (which is especially comparable to Personality Type Eight in some humans who are also abusive control freaks and who are also greedy) ironically and inadvertently protected those below them by “hogging” the food supply (or, among humans, “hogging the assets of a community, a workforce, a state, a nation, and / or other countries as well. Look for examples to those who have believed throughout history that that they who are at the top of their hierarchies have the right to “colonize” other countries and force their “values” on others and then exploit the resources and possessions and property of others.) 


What was the result on the Keekorok troop from the loss of “every alpha male”? The Keekorok troop was “transformed.” [Recall that this was then asked earlier: "Could that not be an intended result of the non-dual teachings and the understanding that can come with it? The 'transformation' of groups, societies, cultures or at least "individuals" / persons / those trapped in personality identification? Of course the "transformation" involves discarding one's erroneous perspectives and bogus beliefs and then seeing clearly.


Sapolsky: “What was left was twice as many females as males, and the males who were remaining were, just to use non-scientific jargon, they were 'good guys.' They were not aggressive jerks. They were nice to the females. They were very socially-affiliative. It completely transformed the atmosphere in the troop.” 


Note that the Keekorok culture was not transformed by European or U.S. missionaries who moved in among them and taught the baboons the dogma valued by religious persons around the globe. 


Nor was the troop transformed by Spiritual Giants who showed up and told the baboons “Your bodies and minds can be healed if you will just be spiritual, and then you will have constant peace if you stay in conscious contact with God.” 

No, their biggest problem was solved when they were no longer hanging out with the sociopaths and the brutal psychos whom they had been hanging out with earlier. 

[Are you being as selective about the company you keep? You will be, if you are not addicted to chaos because of being bored and if you truly want the kind of peace and freedom that came to the Keekorok troop after they were no longer spending time with aggressive, controlling, and - as Sapolsky characterized them - "scheming, back-stabbing, Machiavellian bastards."

[For example, wives: are you married to man who is beating you? He’s not likely to change, so he’s not likely to stop. He’s more likely to escalate. Get the hell away from him while you can, then look at your own “broken picker” and see what insane and subconscious personality agenda blindly drove you to associate with him in the first place. Do that before you even consider getting involved with anyone else. Of course, that's just a suggestion.] 

Sapolsky also learned something else – something beyond the “negative” relative effects of hierarchies and the “positive” effects of eliminating hierarchies - something which is relevant to humans who would find freedom and peace: 


3. Persons are trapped in “psychological states” and 


4. they can be stressed for years by the "psychological tumult invented by their own species."


See? The problem really does center in the mind. Humankind’s greatest problem is mental; it's psychological. It has nothing to do with having acquired too-little-dogma and actually often has a lot to do with having acquired too much dogma; it has nothing to do with too few persons engaging in "spiritual exercises" but often has a lot to do with the magical thinking generated by those playing the role of Spiritual Giants. 


Maharaj learned the same in his laboratories. He began by running a “religious laboratory” which he eventually shut down (but only after more Westerners than Indian Hindus began to visit) and he replaced that with a “spiritual laboratory.” 


After seeing that humanity’s misery and suffering that come with the Ultimate Sickness were not being eradicated by his spiritual message, he came to see that the problems shared by all of his visitors was not a result of having "too-little-spirituality." He saw that their common problem involved their psychological problems which were centered in their minds; thus, he eventually closed the spiritual lab and replaced it with a “psychology laboratory.” 

5. The observations of both Maharaj and Sapolsky eventually revealed to both of them that persons – the non-Realized – are trapped in “psychological states” / personalities / ego-states / false personas / false roles / stage characters / guises / masks / facades / fronts, etc.


6. Both came to understand that persons can be stressed for years by “psychological tumult.” 


7. Both came to understand that psychological states / personalities are invented by their own species and are not real at all, yet their consequences - relatively speaking - are quite palatable.


8. Both came to see that there can be no peace and no freedom as long as persons believe in the dualistic concepts of "different-from-ment" and "better-than-ment" which inspire the formation of hierarchies and which foster the continuation of hierarchies. 


9. And both came to see that there can be no peace and no freedom among humans unless they are first freed from the influence and hidden agendas of their personalities and their warped, psychological states.


May you find the freedom from those in order to find peace and freedom, period. 


Peace, Unity, Light, Love. 


Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 


Previous post 



A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU


F.: So Sapolsky began early on by operating a scientific laboratory on a savannah in Kenya. Maharaj began by running a “religious laboratory” in a Bombay loft. As noted yesterday, later, that “religious laboratory” would be shut down and replaced with a “spiritual laboratory,” and eventually that laboratory would be closed and replaced with a “psychology laboratory.” 

Maharaj foretold the shift which was to come, moving the focus of his talks away from religious and spiritual subject matter to his eventual focus on the psychological roots of the Ultimate Sickness. He said: "Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end." 


The virtue vs. sin pairing is just one of the thousands of dualistic pairs that have been generated by so-called “religious” or “spiritual” persons / personas. His talks would eventually deal with the dysfunctional aspects of the mind, and part of what his teachings would address was humankind’s (A) inherent influence from early “savannah experiences” and the conditioning that began there and in part (B) the psychological issues that come about from current conditioning, programming, etc. along with body and mind and personality identification.


Yes, the experiences of early humans on the savannah still influence human behavior to this day, and those influences are generating thoughts and words and actions and reactions which are totally subconscious and which cause the same type of reactions that were experienced there as a result of physiological threats even though nowadays the threats are more often perceived – not real – psychological threats that are being experienced by "psychological states" (Sapolsky) or ego—states / personalities (Maharaj). 


The challenge for societies is see the detrimental effects (relatively speaking) of savannah-type hierarchies and savannah-type brutality among many humans whose places are fixed in hierarchies (be they at the top or the bottom) and who are, therefore, behaving in the cruel and brutal ways that are observable in some of the members of various species on the savannah, members that are also at the top of a hierarchy. So why focus on humanity’s early savannah experiences? Because their effects continue even today among every human on the planet. 


Also, yesterday: The “human family's so-called “birth” can be traced to the African Continent, and because that seemingly hostile and seemingly cruel environment on the savannahs was humankind’s “first home,” it was in that “home” that humankind’s earliest conditioning took place. 


Now, that original, ancient conditioning has been transmitted for millions of years by way of archetypal images which are embedded in the genetic structure of every human and which are rooted in those original savannah experiences and which have been passed down to humans today. And as a result of the savannah experiences and conditioning, and because of genetic factors as well, far too often nowadays humans are behaving in a very savannah-style mode that models some of the most aggressive and brutal behavior exhibited there by alpha-male-types that are totally sociopath, described by Sapolsky as “scheming, back-stabbing Machiavellian bastards.” 


And the rub for addressing that same problem among humans deals with the fact that almost all persons are now functioning under the auspices of their personality / personalities which are driving them subconsciously to think and talk and behave in certain ways that are most insane. So now, "laboratories" are operating in every place on the planet: 


Schools can be societal laboratories as well as educational laboratories which should have the goal – but seldom do – of eliminating the influence of hierarchies and developing “level playing fields” and providing all with an opportunity to have some chance at mobility within their society and being provided with some level of understanding about the fact that any sense of “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” are concepts that cannot possibly have any constructive effects (again relatively speaking) on any society. 


Yet how can humanity’s attachment to hierarchies be reduced in schools where all are graded and ranked; where many are still separated by race; where contests are held for “the best looking” and “the most beautiful”; where a few are elected to “a homecoming court” or where a few win the annual “beauty contest” and where a few are “athletic heroes” who are often treated like the privileged members of royal families? 


There are “workplace laboratories” (where hierarchies allow either egotism or frustration to thrive) and there are thousands of hierarchies set up by police forces, by the military, by governments, etc., and they all contribute to the infestation and spread of the Ultimate Sickness. 


It is the intent of the truly Realized non-dual teacher not to gain followers and millions and billions of dollars. It is the intent to offer pointers that address the real, mental causes of the Ultimate Sickness rather than to become popular by spouting popular religious dogma and / or spirituality-based remarks and comments. 


The results of the finding that have come out of Maharaj’s religious and spiritual and psychology labs and Sapolsky’s scientific labs reveal that the problems of humanity are all rooted in psychological issues that are marked by ignorance and personality defects and neuroses and psychoses and insanity. 


Aspirin cannot heal a cancerous polyp or tumor, and religious and spiritual talk cannot heal mental issues. They will only aggravate the mental issues that already exist. 


Those who criticize Maharaj for eventually abandoning all talk about religious and spiritual concepts and turning instead to discussing the psychological issues (which are really behind the perpetuation and spread of the Ultimate Sickness) do not have the understanding that he gained.

By first trying to use religion and spirituality to treat the Illness (but failing), he came to understand that only by addressing the psychological issues that plague humanity can the Sickness be effectively treated.

To be continued 


Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 


29 August 2014 



A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU


F.: There’s been offered recently a discussion of Robert Sapolsky’s “scientific laboratory” on the African savannah and a discussion of what his research offers to humans who would understand the root sources of humanity’s (body) pain and the key cause of (mental and emotional) suffering and misery

As far as contributing to humanity’s understanding of the roots and causes of their problems as well as the potential solutions, the African savannah provides the perfect place for the research and experiments which he conducts in that scientific laboratory because every human’s genetic and archetypical lineage can be traced to the savannah. 


The effects of one’s home are discussed here often, for it is the home where those sometimes-intimidating-and-larger-than-you persons passed down to you their belief systems that were rooted in their own warped programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination, passed down in order to turn you into a mirror version of them. That is the way their egotism-supported-egos worked: “I know what is best for you, and what is best for you is to be just like me / us.” 


Children take that message and as adults pass it on. Why? Because of their legacy, which is ego and egotism. Children and children-as-adults believe that their parents must have been wonderful because of the children-as-adult’s belief that, “My parents had to be great – look at me. Look how well I turned out.” Yes, indeed, look at you, meaning, "Why don't you look at you - honestly and objectively - and see the lies that your ego-states would have you believe."


The human family's so-called “birth” can be traced to the African Continent, and because the seemingly hostile and seemingly cruel environment of the savannah was humankind’s “first home,” it was in that “home” that humankind’s earliest conditioning took place. 


The conditioning resulted in certain archetypical messages being stored and passed along genetically. Those image-style messages were intended to allow the species to survive in the often-hostile environment of a veldt; thus, each human carries within the subconscious such messages as: 


“The dark is dangerous and bad; the light is safer and good”; 


“‘Up,’ where one can escape many threatening things on the ground or can escape high rising waters, is far better than ‘down’”; 


and eventually, when language and concepts developed and programming and acculturation and indoctrination and domestication and brainwashing followed, the belief came that . . .

“Being good is better than being bad. You will certainly please the rain god if you’re good and make sacrifices to him and commune with him by eating blood and body (be it the blood and body of a sacrificed virgin rather than the god’s own blood and body”). Duality was "born," right there on the savannah, and became partly inherent and partly taught and learned.


It is said that humankind was “born” on the savannah, but nonsense was the most significant "birth" that ever happened there as far as humanity is concerned. There began the early festerings of the dualistic beliefs which would develop into the widespread Sickness that spread around the globe and which now contaminates the mind and consciousness of almost every person on the planet. 


Out of Sapolsky’s laboratory came an opportunity to differentiate between true and false, between "the real, physiological threats" of the type that a zebra experiences when being chased by something that would eat it vs. the unreal, imaginary "psychological threats" that drive humans’ thoughts and words and behaviors after they enter into “psychological states” / ego-states and imagine that they are being threatened when nothing except a false identity is emoting and thus feeling threatened. 


Years earlier, in Maharaj’s laboratory in a loft in Bombay / Mumbai, he came to that conclusion even sooner, understanding that indeed it is the acceptance of an ego-state as an identity which sets the stage for persons to imagine that they are being threatened when nothing except a false identity is emoting and thus feeling threatened. 


Yet Maharaj’s laboratory was a bit different in that it evolved in its orientation and what it focused on. In fact, he would eventually have three laboratories: he first ran "a Religion Laboratory," then later “a Spirituality Laboratory” and eventually “a Psychology Laboratory.” 


Maharaj understood that the Ultimate Sickness was a problem that needed a cure, so he sought the proper form of the Ultimate Medicine with the vigor and determination of a Pasteur seeking to understand the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization; 


with the vigor and determination of a Salk seeking a prevention method for polio; with the vigor and determination of a Curie who pioneered research on radiology; and with the vigor and determination of the early psychologists who pioneered research on the functioning (and dysfunctionalism of) the human mind. 


That psychological work included researchers such as Ivan Pavlov (and his groundbreaking work on conditioning); Kurt Lewin (who pioneered theories arguing that behavior is caused by both personal characteristics and the environment); and Carl Jung (who advanced the understanding of the functioning of archetypes and what he called “the collective unconscious” which is the set of shared concepts, ideas, moral attitudes, etc. - which all form a set of beliefs – and which operate as a unifying force within society which also, ironically, becomes the greatest source of duality and duality’s subsequent disharmony and lack of unity. 


So how did Maharaj’s "laboratory" evolve? He worked as all wise scientists and psychologists do, moving from . . . 


hypothesis (a tentative statement about the natural world leading to deductions that can be tested)


to 


research and experimentation and observation 


to 


theory (an explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can be tested with further research and experimentation and observation) 


to 


fact (which, in science, is an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as “true”). 


However, truth in science is not always necessarily final, and what is accepted as “a fact” today may be modified or even discarded later. Such was the case with Maharaj (and admittedly with “floyd” as well) as Maharaj tested his hypotheses and theories and “facts” about what the Ultimate Medicine might be that could treat the Ultimate Sickness. 


The fact that he (and “I”) tried religious methods and that he (and “I”) tried spiritual methods continued until the research and experimentation and observation proved that neither of those methods provided an effective treatment, long-term. 


It has been noted here that the third of seven steps (which is the step that includes the playing of religious or spiritual roles on a “path” which involves the going back out leg of a “journey” or the going back out except in the reverse manner or the going back out the same way you came in manner) must be taken, not skipped. 

During the manifestation process, the religious and or spiritual roles were assigned after the 7th, the 6th, the 5th and the 4th steps were completed during the “coming in” steps on the “path” (resulting in 97% of the people on the planet now claiming a religious affiliation while another 2% to 2-1/2% are claiming to be “spiritual”). Those roles were assigned coming in, so they must be played – but eventually discarded – on “the way back out.” 


The fact that Maharaj (and “I”) played those roles and tried to use religious and spiritual concepts as the Ultimate Medicine was right in line with what almost always has to be done (as ineffective as they are).


Therefore, because of conditioning and acculturation, Maharaj’s first laboratory was a “religious laboratory.” He did bhajans five times a day simply because his guru told him to. Even after his “BS” detector went off, he continued, saying, “I continue to obey his instructions, even though I know these bhajans are pointless.” 


Later, he would evolve beyond guru-bhakti, so eventually that practice ended; yet in the beginning, the only people among his early audiences were Indians / Hindus, so he followed the advice of his guru which amounted to this: “Draw them in and hook ‘em with religion and then sneak in the non-dual message at the end.” 

Thus, his early sessions included singing, some dancing about, and some narration, all of it only a bit less foolish than the emotionally-intoxicated worship-style of Pentecostals who raise their hands in the air and wave their arms about, who roll about on the floor uncontrollably, who dance wildly, who sing and chant, and who supposedly “speak in unknown tongues.” 


Later, Maharaj's “religious laboratory” would be shut down and replaced with a “spiritual laboratory,” and eventually that laboratory would be closed and replaced with a “psychology laboratory.” 


Only then did Maharaj have his full and final “Eureka!” moment. Only then did he find the actual treatment for the Ultimate Sickness. Only then did the Ultimate Medicine contain exactly what is required to eradicate the Ultimate Sickness, not on a global basis but by treating sick personas (“persons”) one at a time. 

To be continued.


Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 


Previous post 



A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU


F.: Maharaj often offered pointers that seemed contradictory but which were actually only (A) “level appropriate” - offering an applicable pointer to a seeker at one point on the “path” but a totally different pointer to a seeker at a different point on the “path” - or (B) paradoxical, which many non-dual pointers are. 

What he did not offer – which is happening among Big Name Teachers nowadays - was a blending of “non-dual-like” pointers along with relative concepts that give their messages a popular appeal. “Popular” pays, but truth does not, and would-be-rich snake oil salesmen have always known that. 


Therefore, who among the non-Realized masses wants to hear, “Power, of the type that you desire and to which the masses are addicted, is a false, dreamed up concept and is not real at all” as opposed to “I know the way that you can have unlimited power, NOW, and then always have it available to use to your benefit”? 


What person among the non-Realized masses wants to hear that “your concern with elevating your status and your concern with image and your self-absorption are the scourge of humanity and the relative existence” instead of “I can show you how to be a great success and how to attain the financial prosperity that you desire and deserve”? 


Who among the non-Realized masses wants to hear, “All of your beliefs about ‘self’ and ‘Self” are illusions” as opposed to “You are a ‘Very Special Variety of Self’”? 


Who among the non-Realized masses wants to hear that “Your relative desires will prove to be a relative curse on your relative existence” as opposed to “I will help you fulfill your every desire and achieve everything you wish to achieve”? 


See, the point is that a message which attracts non-Realized persons like moths to flames, and which is “popular” among non-Realized persons, should make it immediately clear that something is inherently and fundamentally wrong with that message. It would have been like getting to know Adolf Hitler in the 1940’s and his saying, “You know, now that I’ve gotten to know you, I like the way you think and talk and behave, and I have really come to admire you more than anyone I know.” 


The point is, if an ass were to say, “You are really an ass,” then that would be a sure sign that you’re “on the right track.” If an ass were to say, “I really think you’re spot on and a wonderful person,” it would be time for you to reevaluate the ways that you are thinking and talking and behaving. That should be a major red flag. Something is definitely way out of whack. It's just like in algebra: "a negative" x "a negative" = "a positive."


And for someone high up a fictional, imaginary hierarchy to invite you to climb to the top and join him or her should be clear evidence to one seeking via a non-dual method that the seeker should turn and run like the wind from one offering so hypocritical and fraudulent a message. 


Maharaj never sought notoriety or to be “popular.” Quite the opposite, and when the focus of his later talks shifted, he became – and remains in some quarters – the most unpopular carrier of the non-dual message. 


Whatever “popularity” he may have had early on dissolved in many cases as he shifted his perspective of the Ultimate Medicine from being “A Religious Medicine” or “A Spiritual Medicine”; as he advised seekers to stop reading the transcripts collected in "I AM THAT" and ignore all of his early talks that were peppered with religious and spiritual elements; and as he taught that it is “A Psychological Medicine” that is needed by the masses to treat the widespread Ultimate Sickness. 


Moreover, Maharaj’s “telling it like it is” approach and teaching style – the same one used here, some say – assured that his methods would trigger the recalling of an old adage, “The Truth may set you free, but it is going to piss you off first.” 


His approach was in direct opposition to the style of the Big Name Teachers nowadays who incorporate a blending of (a) some “non-dual-like” pointers with (2) far more talk involving relative topics which reinforce and cater to the non-Realized masses’ relative desires to move farther up hierarchies themselves and to join at the top those who have already ascended on the hierarchies of supposed power and control; 


to join with those who would rise on a status-and-enhanced-image hierarchy; to join with those who prefer a hierarchy made up of Spiritual Giants and a hierarchy currently occupied by “The Top Ten Most Spiritual People on the Planet”; or who desire to join those on a financial hierarchy of millionaires and billionaires and multi-billionaires of the type “occupied” by so many of the Big Name Teachers


What an absurd irony, is it not, that so many of the Big Name Teachers (whom Maharaj warned seekers to avoid) are formulating hierarchies; are relishing their supposedly-higher place on hierarchies; and are inviting their audiences and readers to join them at the higher end of all sorts of hierarchies. 


So what would be Maharaj’s take on such concepts as those listed yesterday that are offered by the Big Name Teachers who link their names with non-duality? Again, all of Maharaj’s pointers were “level appropriate.” 


He might offer a seeker at the third of seven steps one pointer but a totally different pointer to someone at the fifth of seven steps; so, he might mention “power” to one early on, but to one farther along the “path,” he made clear that “power” is a product of ego-assumption and egotism and deception. Overall, though, the one familiar with the content of all of his talks - but especially with the later ones - would know his take on the following: 


Regarding “Power,” “Attaining Power,” “The Power of Now,” “The Power of Intention,” and “The Power of Words”: 


[“Power” is a concept, man-made and dreamed up, totally useless in the long haul. Maharaj: “To imagine that some little thing - food, sex, power, fame - will make you happy is to deceive oneself” and "If you expect any benefits from your search - material, mental or spiritual - you have missed the point. Truth gives no advantage. It gives no higher status, no power over others; all you get is truth and freedom from the false."


Regarding “10 Secrets for Success,” “Getting What You Want,” “The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire,” “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams": 


[“Success? Really? Fulfilling dreams? Really? Maharaj: “Success” only involves “the steady resistance against the unnecessary,” (not seeking and attaining the unnecessary) and “All ambitions are for the sake of the ‘I am’” and, again: "If you expect any benefits from your search - material, mental or spiritual - you have missed the point” and “Stay without ambition, without the least desire.” As for one’s “dreams” about success and then fulfillment of dreams, even “the very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory,” much less staying in the dream; and “As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave.”


More on “desire”: “Desires are just waves in the mind. You know a wave when you see one. A desire is just a thing among many. I feel no urge to satisfy it, no action needs be taken on it. Freedom from desire means this: the compulsion to satisfy is absent” and “All desires must be given up, because by desiring you take the shape of your desires. When no desires remain, you revert to your natural state” and “Desire is merely the fixation of the mind on an idea” and “Desirelessness is the highest bliss,” and if you “pursue any desire, it will always give you trouble.” 


Regarding “Assuring Eternal Life”: 


[Maharaj: “You can do nothing. What time has brought about, time will take away” and “You are unborn” and you cannot be born again because you were not even born once. Maharaj made clear that energy and matter – not life – are the eternals.] 


As for someone having an “Ageless Body” and “Timeless Mind”: 


[“I am neither the body, nor the mind, nor the mental faculties. I am beyond all these” and “You are neither the body nor in the body — there is no such thing as body” and “Self-identification with the body may be good for an infant, but true growing up depends on getting the body out of the way. Normally, one should outgrow body-based desires early in life” and “When you know that you are neither body nor mind, you will not be swayed by them” and “Whatever is conceived by the mind must be false . . . .” and “Desire for embodied existence is the root cause of trouble” and “The body will survive as long as it is needed. It is not important that it should live long. A full life is better than a long life.”


On “Advancing Your Spirit”: 


[Maharaj: “Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud” and “There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding” and “Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end” and “There is no progress” and “Whatever you have tried to understand during your spiritual search will prove false.”]


and 


On “The Infinite Self” 


[Maharaj: “I take my stand in the original state where I was not aware that I am.”]


Thus, his message on this subject: You take yourself to be a spiritual giant. I am a spiritual pygmy and “avoid Big Name Teachers” and “In this 'spiritual hierarchy,' from the grossest to the subtlest, you are the subtlest.” 


The invitation is to put any teacher to the test before you decide to follow. Ask objectively: “Is this person advocating hierarchies?” If so, that is the very antithesis – the exact opposite - of the non-dual message. Move on. Move away.


Best regards as you move away from hierarchies and detach from those who dream them up and try to maintain them.

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 


26 August 2014


[Access previous posts in this series by using the "older posts" option] at the bottom of this page] 

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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"; 
 

11. both began to de-accumulate after both saw that they could survive quite well on a fraction of the income they had been making 12. both had wives who were unhappy when the de-accumulation stage was entered and both had wives who became unhappy about their husbands' focus on non-duality and who blamed their unhappiness on no longer having a religious husband (The facts be known, in both cases the unhappiness involved the fact that their husbands were no longer interested in - or willing - to work 80+ hours per week and that their husbands were no longer interested in accumulating wealth and possessions and providing the rich lifestyle to which their wives had grown accustomed) 

13. both eventually came to see that the religious and spiritual states were also ego-states, and both saw that there are far more steps on the "path" to complete after reaching the religious and spiritual steps and after playing those roles which are the third of seven steps on the entire "path" 14. both "lost" their wives (one via "death," the other through divorce); 15. both accelerated their seeking; 16. both entered into the "forest dweller stage" 17. both Realized 18. both began to de-accumulate even more 

19. both began sharing the teachings 20. for years, both answered questions in whatever order those questions were received, though both said that the movement from identification with the false "I" / "I's" involved an exact, step-wise manner of moving along a "path" that involved "going back" in the same (but reverse order) of the way they "came in" - that is, the way that the manifestation happened and the way that the consciousness was blocked through seven stages that resulted in their becoming identified solely with their false personas, with the content of the "mind," and eventually, with the body. But the most significant awareness that finally came to both after years of offering satsang and after having answered thousands and thousands of questions was this: After years of "Maharaj" offering satsang in his loft, and after years of "Floyd" offering satsang in meeting halls and in his home and via what one site visitor called "Floyd's electronic loft," this fact became obvious to both: "Maharaj" came to see in the 1970's and into 1980 and 1981 that his approach was not working and "Floyd" finally came to see the same.


21. Both saw that many who heard the teachings are not going to understand (Maharaj reporting that "only 1 in 100,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 22. both soon saw that even more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj modifying his "guesstimate" and reporting that "only 1 in 1,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding) 23. eventually both saw that even far more than expected of those who heard the teachings were not going to understand (Maharaj eventually concluding that "only 1 in 10,000,000 are going to 'get' this" understanding). And the failings were not the fault of seekers. A "one -in-ten-million" estimate is proof that satsang was not working for most seekers, and the evidence here lately is proof of the same.


Both "Maharaj" and "Floyd" invited seekers to focus on the exact, step-wise "path." Yes, during satsang, "Maharaj" sometimes alluded to the steps while discussing them in no particular order - but he never once laid out the steps in the exact order in which they had to be completed. That was not his teachings style or approach.

Therefore, another movement or shift is happening here spontaneously after reflecting on the more than two decades since the teachings were first offered here and looking at the results of Maharaj sharing pointers in his loft and looking at the results of "Floyd" sharing pointers in this electronic loft: Looking objectively at his results, Maharaj's satsang method of sharing - in the end and by his own admission (only "one out of 10,000,000") - did not produce the intended outcome.


Looking objectively at the results here when using an "electronic loft" satsang method of sharing has not produced the intended outcome nearly as often as any of the three "face-to-face" methods used with seekers by which they have been led through the seven steps in order. Here, the body is growing older, of course. Mahasamadhi could be taken today, or it could be taken in twenty years.


Obviously, that cannot be known. But the decision here has been made that whatever amount of the relative existence remains shall be spent in sharing the teachings in the ways that have been seen over the last 20+ years to be the most effective methods.

Looking back over the list of those that have truly received the understanding, it is seen that Robert R. read all of the books, then took the online Advaita course and then completed some face-to-face Skype sessions to receive the final clarifications required. It was seen that Mac read all of the books, completed the online course, and then attended a retreat where he was guided through the seven steps. Mac said that the online course work inspired him to attend the retreat in order to be able to receive the final "pieces." It was seen that Andy Gugar, Jr. read all of the books, then came here for a retreat and was taken through the seven steps in order, and then returned once more for the final clarifications required. After reviewing the shifts that happened with him after attending two retreats, he reaffirmed this past week his commitment to helping spread the non-duality, nisarga understanding as presented here. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what had not "worked" as well - changes will be made. 


SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM THAT WHICH DOES NOT WORK TO THAT WHICH DOES, Part Two


In "Part One," examples were given of seekers that were led to Realization not by satsang but by following the various protocols outlined farther down this page which provide the understanding in the step-wise, orderly, required fashion which moves seekers along a "path" that is as prescribed by Maharaj ... "going back" in the "reverse order" by which the consciousness manifested and became blocked.

However, conversations with some that just read the majority of the books have revealed that they certainly seem to have grasped the understanding and Realized as well. As a result of seeing what has "worked" during the last 20+ years of sharing the non-duality understanding - and seeing what has "not worked" as well - changes are being made. There are seven specific steps that happen when awareness-energy is "pulled" into a cycle of manifestation. When that energy manifests as conscious-energy, that formerly pure and unadulterated energy becomes "corrupted" (or "blocked" from seeing clearly) via programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, and brainwashing. Soon, there is a belief in the not-Real as a result of seven degrees of separation from an understanding of the Real. Using the method that was also employed by his contemporaries - a method which focused on offering non-duality pointers via satsang - Maharaj addressed questions in the order in which they were received. He might receive a question from a seeker at the third step and his reply would include what amounted to an invitation to move to the fourth step. The next question might come from a seeker at the first step, and the reply would include an invitation to move to the second step. The information offered to the second seeker would seemingly contradict what was offered to the first seeker, so visitors who have come here for decades have asked questions which showed how confused they were by the fact that Maharaj's statements to each visitor in his loft were "level-appropriate" yet were provided in no precise order, resulting in what seemed to be an inconsistent message. So the process overall was confusing in that seekers were told to follow the "path back" in the same way that they "came in," except in reverse order, but pointers were not given in a specific, step-wise order at all. Maharaj did recognize the seven steps that are taught here, but by offering the teachings in an order that was dictated by the order in which questions were received from seekers who were at different steps on the "path," the result was this: a pointer about moving beyond the fourth step might be followed by a pointer about moving beyond the first step, and that pointer might be followed by a pointer about how to move beyond the sixth step. The same was done on this site for seven years. The result is a collection of 1,800 or so essays discussing almost every non-duality topic that can be discussed, and the search button on the top right side of this page will now allow seekers with a question about a specific topic to find an explanation. That method, however, will never provide the manner in which the seven steps on the "path" must be transmitted and received in order to Realize Fully. An objective study of the history here of more than twenty years of offering non-duality pointers reveals this: seekers that were given pointers in the exact order in which they needed to receive them were the ones that Realized.

They read the books, then they completed the online course and / or completed seven Skype or telephone sessions or came here for a retreat (or watched the downloadable DVD version of an actual retreat, available below).

Some found that which they were seeking by reading the author's book that deal with non-duality subject matter. Via all of those venues, the steps are taught in their proper order. The essays available on this site will remain for those interested in searching for a discussion of a particular non-duality topic without charge, but the focus here until mahasamadhi is taken is going to be on offering the teachings in the step-wise fashion that has been seen to work.


THESE PAPERBACK BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON.COM
(Four by Floyd Henderson and two by Dennis Waite. Click the picture for more information or to order)



* * * * * * *

ALL EBOOK AND PAPERBACK VERSION OF HENDERSON'S NON-DUALITY BOOKS and RECOVERY LITERATURE and FINANCIAL BOOKS
are available at www.floydhenderson.com

Within minutes of purchase you can be reading any of the eBooks below on your mobile devices, including an iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, Android phone, laptop, home computer or on a Kindle reader. For Apple and Android, either download the eBook directly onto your device or email the eBook file to your mobile device and open the file from your email. For Kindles or other similar devices, use your USB cable to transfer the eBook to your reader. 

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:


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




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"




 and / or

 A free copy of  eBook entitled


"SAPOLSKY, MAHARAJ AND THE NON-DUAL TEACHINGS"



 

is available to be sent to you and anyone else you choose.

The book will be emailed to you as a PFD attachment upon request.
Gift copies can also be sent to your friends and relatives. The eBook can be read on any computer (using Adobe, for example) or can be transferred to any electronic reader or tablet or phone for reading. Open the attachment via the email on your iPad or Android tablet or phone and begin reading. 

[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 the request (or their addresses) to the following gmail name: 

 

nondualfloyd


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 choose.)


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)
 

Recent Posts and Archives

Tools Used by Other Seekers of Realization

WATCHING an Advaita Vedanta Retreat: Watch a Downloadable computer file version of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat (Downloadable on PC only, not Apple.)

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

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.

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.

Five Free eBooks

Compliments of Andy Gugar, Jr.,
the following eBooks are available without charge for you or for friends:

I.
"GOOD vs. EVIL?" or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY?"

The content of this eBook deals with one of the most common but erroneous beliefs that the non-Realized masses cling to and which they will fight about (and even kill over), namely, that there is a planet-wide duel going on between “the forces of good and evil” in the universe.

Either (1) the ancient view is spot on: that the "ills of the planet" are rooted in evil people, in people not being religious enough or spiritual enough, and are caused solely by bad morality; or, (2) the "ills of the planet" are rooted in ignorance, stupidity and insanity and "being good" or "being moral" does not put an end to ignorance, does not eliminate stupidity, and does not treat insanity in any way.

II.
"THE VISION"

Comments regarding the free eBook entitled “THE VISION”:

“My thanks to you and Andy.” – Andrew “Mac” McMaster

“Thanks so much for the book! And, by the way, it is brilliant and the most effective pointing that you have done. It has served to help clear the remaining blockages.” – Stan Cross

“Greatly appreciate having “THE VISION” added to my Henderson resource library that is situated on the right side of my bed for easy access! Eternally grateful for what was received and what was given.” – Robert Rigby

“‘THE VISION’ is such a well-written, condensed version of the Nisarga Yoga approach to understanding and enjoying Reality that I feel it can serve as a must-read ‘meditation guide’ for all earnest seekers.” – Andy Gugar, Jr.

III.
"Sapolsky, Maharaj, and the Non-Dual Teachings"

Dr. Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinologist; a professor of biology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery at Stanford University; a researcher; an author; and a Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya.

There is much that a non-dualist or Advaitin or Nisargan can relate to by comparing and contrasting what Sapolsky reveals about the way certain troops of baboons live in Africa with the way that humans abide all around the globe.

This 152-page eBook catalogues the common, non-dual message shared by Sapolsky and Maharaj and reveals the ways that Sapolsky’s scientific research supports the non-dual pointers offered by Maharaj.

IV.
Seeking

In “PART ONE” it will be seen that most persons on the planet are not seeking, and most will never seek, but for those who are seeking, most will face several obstacles:

In “PART TWO” of this book, it will be seen why many criticized Maharaj for “changing his message in his later talks.” It will be seen that the changes were not about changing the message per se as much as about changing his methodology as he experimented with one version of the Ultimate Medicine after another in order to try to find an effective means for addressing the Ultimate Sickness.

He tried a religious version of the Medicine, a Spiritual version of the Medicine, and finally settled on a version which addressed to Sickness at its core . . . at the mental and emotional level.

V.
"THE MOST DANGEROUS BELIEF OF ALL"

“Dangerous” is a term that can only apply during the relative existence, but of those who do commit suicide, for example, how many shoot themselves in the foot over and over until they “bleed out”? None. They shoot themselves in the head. Why? In order to try to stop the noise - to try to stop the chatter of a thousand monkeys – to stop the noisy mind which is the area that stores the ideas, notions, concepts, mind-stuff, etc. which drives them into the depths of insanity.

And what are those ideas, notions, concepts, etc. called, collectively? "Their beliefs." The irony? They are not their beliefs at all. They are the beliefs of “others” that were set in place via programming, conditioning, etc. and which persons then think are their own.

And what are those beliefs rooted in, and what reinforces those beliefs and convinces persons that they are sacred and worth fighting over and even sometimes worth dying for? Blind faith.

This 337-page eBook discusses those issues in detail.

To read any or all of the free eBooks, please double-click the "FREEBIES" link at the top of this page