A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: [Continued from the prior post when this was shared: there will be a discussion of the efficacy of the non-dual, Ultimate Medicine which Sapolsky’s latest research supports, not by name but by facts.]
I became aware at the age of five or six that something was “different” about my Cherokee grandmother - especially different from the way she was in comparison to her son (my father) and different in the way that she perceived “things” and “people” and “life” and “death” and truth and . . . everything.
I never knew her to be anything but calm or anything other than relaxed, exhibiting none of the stress of her many children who had moved to nearby cities to find employment and to begin playing the “accumulate-a-lot-and-then-do-all-possible-at-all-costs-to-hang-onto-your-accumulations” game.
The simple cabin in which she lived and in which she would eventually take mahasamadhi had no central heat, never had air conditioning, had no running water, and had only a wood-burning stove / oven.
There were only about fifteen years from the time I really became aware of her (and aware of the ways that she was different from everyone else I knew) until the day that she took mahasamadhi in her 90’s. Yet one of the most different things about her was the fact that she never thought she was different – from anyone or anything. She truly abided in an “At One” manner.
The Cherokee language which she originally heard had no words for “different from” or “better than” or “hierarchy” and no words for such concepts as “own,” “accumulate,” “gain,” “lose,” or "being attached to"; of course, therefore, there was no word for “stress.”
The introductory scene of the Sapolsky film mentioned in the last post - "STRESS: PORTRAIT OF A KILLER" – notes the preponderance of stress in the lives of most people on the planet today and shows how daily stress affects humankind. In the opening scene, a man is tossing and turning in his bed at night, unable to sleep. He asks the typical kinds of questions that many stressed-out persons ask:
“What am I thinking about? Mortgage, debt, money pouring out? I felt a lump. I know cancer when I feel it. Where is she? What is she up to? Never calling, never saying a word.”
The narrator explains. “Stress . . . it is everyone's inferno, bedeviling our minds, igniting our nights, and upending our equilibrium, but it hasn't always been so. Once, its purpose was to save us.”
The scene shifts to the African veldt and the point is made that, “If you're a normal mammal, what stress is about is three minutes of screaming terror on the savanna, after which it's either over with or you're over with. But everything changed. What once helped us survive has now become the scourge of our lives.”
The scene shifts to a man who is describing what his relative existence was like when working in a stress-filled environment in which he was “at the low end of the totem pole,” that is, at the bottom of a strict, rigid, hierarchical culture in the U.K. (the same one which they would eventually spread around the globe as they conquered one country after another and imposed on one "colony" after another their strict, rigid, hierarchical lifestyle and culture on others, just like that of their Germanic ancestors and just like the one that the Romans had earlier imposed on the British).
The man said, “I just burst into tears and wept and wept” as he described what his existence was like working for a strict, rigid boss in a strict, rigid hierarchical culture.
The narrator explains, “Today, scientific discoveries in the field and in the lab prove that stress is not just a state of mind but is something also measurable and dangerous.” One acquainted with the toll then says, “This is not an abstract concept. It's not something that maybe someday you should do something about. You need to attend to it today.”
Then the audience is told by several being interviewed:
“In some of the most unexpected, places scientists are revealing just how lethal stress can be”
and
“chronic stress could do something as unsubtle and grotesque as kill some of your brain cells”
and
“the impact of stress can be found deep within us, shrinking our brains, adding fat to our bellies, even unraveling our chromosomes”
and
“This is real. This is not just somebody whining.”
Then the message at the core of the film is shared: “Stress: savior, tyrant, plague . . . its portrait revealed.”
From there, the documentary reports that the original purpose of stress was to protect; that it has now become the "scourge" of almost all humans; and reveals that stress can harm us in many ways, according to scientific studies. It is shown how stress kills brain tissue, how it adds fat to our bodies, how it hardens arteries; and how stress can even be lethal.
The non-dual connections to the problem: (a) hierarchies (the film revealing how frequently stress is generated in both baboons and in people at the lower end of hierarchies as they are suppressed and abused by those at the top); the way that hierarchies support the dualistic concepts of (b) “different-from-ment” and (c) “better-than-ment”; (d) the mental and emotional toll that takes on those among the non-Realized masses; the toll of the dualistic concept of (e) "attachment to"; and (f) the way that hierarchies infect persons all around the globe with the debilitating and often lethal symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (including the misery and suffering of near-endless stress).
Next, it is explained that
1. "the impact of stress can be found deep within us, shrinking our brains, adding fat to our bellies, even unraveling our chromosomes";
and
2. “this is real”; and
3. “all of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it operates within us or understand how the onslaught of the modern world can stress us to the point of death. Fewer still know what we can do about it.”
[And a "personal" relationship it is indeed.]
Yet the roots of stress nowadays are not as often based in reality or in Reality but they are based in the dualistic and monomaniacal mind, an anomaly that is a prerequisite for feeling a version of stress which is (A) far from the type that is “normal” among most life-forms and which (B) comes in short bursts and leaves as quickly.
The audience is told, “But over the last three decades, Stanford University neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky has been advancing our understanding of stress - how it impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible.”
A few weeks of each year, Sapolsky has shifted his lab to the plains of the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya. Over thirty years ago, he went there suspecting that he could find out more about humans, stress, and disease by looking at non-humans, specifically, a group of non-humans that are often quite human-like (or vice-versa), namely, baboons.
He says, “You live in a place like this, you're a baboon, and you only have to spend about three hours a day getting your calories. And if you only have to work three hours a day, you've got nine hours of free time every day to devote to making somebody else just miserable.”
Indeed.
Then he notes, as the audience is shown one baboon abusing another one (the abused one being farther down than its abuser in the hierarchical chain of the troop being studied), “They're not being stressed by lions chasing them all the time . . . they're being stressed by each other. They're being stressed by social and psychological tumult invented by their own species.”
And it is that which makes them “a perfect model for westernized stress-related disease.” It is explained, “To determine just what toll stress was taking on their bodies, Sapolsky wanted to look inside these wild baboons - at the cellular level for the very first time, so “from each baboon blood sample, Robert measured levels of hormones central to the stress response.”
Sapolsky: “To make sense of what's happening in your body, you've got these two hormones that are the work horses of the whole stress response. One of them we all know, adrenaline (American version, epinephrine). The other is a less known hormone called ‘glucocorticoids’ which come out of the adrenal gland along with adrenaline, and these are the two backbones of the stress response.”
To understand the origin of the stress response in life-forms, Sapolsky goes back to its earliest development, involved with the fight-or-flight response that is driven by the desire of the consciousness for continuity . . . for continuation of its manifestation; thus, Sapolsky notes, “What stress is about is somebody is very intent on eating you or you are very intent on eating somebody, so there's an immediate crisis going on.”
Consider examples of the stress response being triggered when a zebra is chased down and attacked and eaten by a lion or when a migrating wildebeest is attacked by a crocodile as the wildebeest tries to cross a river.
Then, see how those origins have been distorted via the assumption of false personal identifications (which, when they erroneously feel threatened) trigger in humans a stress response such as when an imagined ego-state like “The Employee” is chastised by “The Employer”; then, see how the early origins of stress responses are now reflected in the colloquialisms used by humans when their ego-states mistakenly perceive "threats to a false identity" as an "actual threat," such as when a worker describes to co-workers an encounter with his unhappy employer:
“He chewed my ass out!”
“Boy, did he tear me a new a-hole!”
“Man, he ate me up and spit me out!”
“He ripped me up good!”
(All descriptions straight from the savannah that could have been heard if a "targeted victim" had been able to describe an attack by a would-be predator.)
Or in relationships, sentiments that can also be traced right back to the African veldt:
“Stop attacking me!”
“She tore out my heart!”
“You’re killing me!”
“He broke my heart!”
“She destroyed me!”
“He devastated me!”
See, the actual dangers and threats of the savannah have been brought forth into the minds of humans (who can no longer differentiate between 1. actual, physical threats, and 2. the false threats to personas that are perceived erroneously via the delusion-plagued minds of the masses to be real).
Sapolsky: “When you run for your life, basics are all that matter: lungs work overtime to pump mammoth quantities of oxygen into the bloodstream; the heart races to pump that oxygen throughout the body so muscles respond instantly;
"you need your blood pressure up to deliver that energy; you need to turn off anything that's not essential; you know / believe that you're running for your life; this is no time to ovulate, to repair tissue, etc. The message is, ‘Do it later, if there is a later’.”
The irony of humanity’s perspective when abiding under the influence of personality and false, personal identifications and those identifications' agendas is that the earlier legitimate response of life-forms being attacked now seems as real to false ego-states when they erroneously perceive that they are being attacked.
The difference nowadays between humans trapped in personal identification and other life-forms is described by Sapolsky as follows:
“If the zebra escapes, its stress response shuts down, but human beings can't seem to find their ‘off’ switch. We turn on the exact same stress response for purely psychological states.”
And that’s where the non-dual understanding comes in. It provides those who come to understand who / what they are not with an ability to separate a false identity’s agenda and fears and desires by being able to differentiate fact from fiction;
by differentiating false identities from one’s actual reality and Reality; and by being able to establish a perspective of non-attachment to all that has – prior to the point of Realization – guaranteed that either a fight or flight (or freeze) response will almost constantly be at play.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
5 August 2014
I became aware at the age of five or six that something was “different” about my Cherokee grandmother - especially different from the way she was in comparison to her son (my father) and different in the way that she perceived “things” and “people” and “life” and “death” and truth and . . . everything.
I never knew her to be anything but calm or anything other than relaxed, exhibiting none of the stress of her many children who had moved to nearby cities to find employment and to begin playing the “accumulate-a-lot-and-then-do-all-possible-at-all-costs-to-hang-onto-your-accumulations” game.
The simple cabin in which she lived and in which she would eventually take mahasamadhi had no central heat, never had air conditioning, had no running water, and had only a wood-burning stove / oven.
There were only about fifteen years from the time I really became aware of her (and aware of the ways that she was different from everyone else I knew) until the day that she took mahasamadhi in her 90’s. Yet one of the most different things about her was the fact that she never thought she was different – from anyone or anything. She truly abided in an “At One” manner.
The Cherokee language which she originally heard had no words for “different from” or “better than” or “hierarchy” and no words for such concepts as “own,” “accumulate,” “gain,” “lose,” or "being attached to"; of course, therefore, there was no word for “stress.”
The introductory scene of the Sapolsky film mentioned in the last post - "STRESS: PORTRAIT OF A KILLER" – notes the preponderance of stress in the lives of most people on the planet today and shows how daily stress affects humankind. In the opening scene, a man is tossing and turning in his bed at night, unable to sleep. He asks the typical kinds of questions that many stressed-out persons ask:
“What am I thinking about? Mortgage, debt, money pouring out? I felt a lump. I know cancer when I feel it. Where is she? What is she up to? Never calling, never saying a word.”
The narrator explains. “Stress . . . it is everyone's inferno, bedeviling our minds, igniting our nights, and upending our equilibrium, but it hasn't always been so. Once, its purpose was to save us.”
The scene shifts to the African veldt and the point is made that, “If you're a normal mammal, what stress is about is three minutes of screaming terror on the savanna, after which it's either over with or you're over with. But everything changed. What once helped us survive has now become the scourge of our lives.”
The scene shifts to a man who is describing what his relative existence was like when working in a stress-filled environment in which he was “at the low end of the totem pole,” that is, at the bottom of a strict, rigid, hierarchical culture in the U.K. (the same one which they would eventually spread around the globe as they conquered one country after another and imposed on one "colony" after another their strict, rigid, hierarchical lifestyle and culture on others, just like that of their Germanic ancestors and just like the one that the Romans had earlier imposed on the British).
The man said, “I just burst into tears and wept and wept” as he described what his existence was like working for a strict, rigid boss in a strict, rigid hierarchical culture.
The narrator explains, “Today, scientific discoveries in the field and in the lab prove that stress is not just a state of mind but is something also measurable and dangerous.” One acquainted with the toll then says, “This is not an abstract concept. It's not something that maybe someday you should do something about. You need to attend to it today.”
Then the audience is told by several being interviewed:
“In some of the most unexpected, places scientists are revealing just how lethal stress can be”
and
“chronic stress could do something as unsubtle and grotesque as kill some of your brain cells”
and
“the impact of stress can be found deep within us, shrinking our brains, adding fat to our bellies, even unraveling our chromosomes”
and
“This is real. This is not just somebody whining.”
Then the message at the core of the film is shared: “Stress: savior, tyrant, plague . . . its portrait revealed.”
From there, the documentary reports that the original purpose of stress was to protect; that it has now become the "scourge" of almost all humans; and reveals that stress can harm us in many ways, according to scientific studies. It is shown how stress kills brain tissue, how it adds fat to our bodies, how it hardens arteries; and how stress can even be lethal.
The non-dual connections to the problem: (a) hierarchies (the film revealing how frequently stress is generated in both baboons and in people at the lower end of hierarchies as they are suppressed and abused by those at the top); the way that hierarchies support the dualistic concepts of (b) “different-from-ment” and (c) “better-than-ment”; (d) the mental and emotional toll that takes on those among the non-Realized masses; the toll of the dualistic concept of (e) "attachment to"; and (f) the way that hierarchies infect persons all around the globe with the debilitating and often lethal symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (including the misery and suffering of near-endless stress).
Next, it is explained that
1. "the impact of stress can be found deep within us, shrinking our brains, adding fat to our bellies, even unraveling our chromosomes";
and
2. “this is real”; and
3. “all of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it operates within us or understand how the onslaught of the modern world can stress us to the point of death. Fewer still know what we can do about it.”
[And a "personal" relationship it is indeed.]
Yet the roots of stress nowadays are not as often based in reality or in Reality but they are based in the dualistic and monomaniacal mind, an anomaly that is a prerequisite for feeling a version of stress which is (A) far from the type that is “normal” among most life-forms and which (B) comes in short bursts and leaves as quickly.
The audience is told, “But over the last three decades, Stanford University neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky has been advancing our understanding of stress - how it impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible.”
A few weeks of each year, Sapolsky has shifted his lab to the plains of the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya. Over thirty years ago, he went there suspecting that he could find out more about humans, stress, and disease by looking at non-humans, specifically, a group of non-humans that are often quite human-like (or vice-versa), namely, baboons.
He says, “You live in a place like this, you're a baboon, and you only have to spend about three hours a day getting your calories. And if you only have to work three hours a day, you've got nine hours of free time every day to devote to making somebody else just miserable.”
Indeed.
Then he notes, as the audience is shown one baboon abusing another one (the abused one being farther down than its abuser in the hierarchical chain of the troop being studied), “They're not being stressed by lions chasing them all the time . . . they're being stressed by each other. They're being stressed by social and psychological tumult invented by their own species.”
And it is that which makes them “a perfect model for westernized stress-related disease.” It is explained, “To determine just what toll stress was taking on their bodies, Sapolsky wanted to look inside these wild baboons - at the cellular level for the very first time, so “from each baboon blood sample, Robert measured levels of hormones central to the stress response.”
Sapolsky: “To make sense of what's happening in your body, you've got these two hormones that are the work horses of the whole stress response. One of them we all know, adrenaline (American version, epinephrine). The other is a less known hormone called ‘glucocorticoids’ which come out of the adrenal gland along with adrenaline, and these are the two backbones of the stress response.”
To understand the origin of the stress response in life-forms, Sapolsky goes back to its earliest development, involved with the fight-or-flight response that is driven by the desire of the consciousness for continuity . . . for continuation of its manifestation; thus, Sapolsky notes, “What stress is about is somebody is very intent on eating you or you are very intent on eating somebody, so there's an immediate crisis going on.”
Consider examples of the stress response being triggered when a zebra is chased down and attacked and eaten by a lion or when a migrating wildebeest is attacked by a crocodile as the wildebeest tries to cross a river.
Then, see how those origins have been distorted via the assumption of false personal identifications (which, when they erroneously feel threatened) trigger in humans a stress response such as when an imagined ego-state like “The Employee” is chastised by “The Employer”; then, see how the early origins of stress responses are now reflected in the colloquialisms used by humans when their ego-states mistakenly perceive "threats to a false identity" as an "actual threat," such as when a worker describes to co-workers an encounter with his unhappy employer:
“He chewed my ass out!”
“Boy, did he tear me a new a-hole!”
“Man, he ate me up and spit me out!”
“He ripped me up good!”
(All descriptions straight from the savannah that could have been heard if a "targeted victim" had been able to describe an attack by a would-be predator.)
Or in relationships, sentiments that can also be traced right back to the African veldt:
“Stop attacking me!”
“She tore out my heart!”
“You’re killing me!”
“He broke my heart!”
“She destroyed me!”
“He devastated me!”
See, the actual dangers and threats of the savannah have been brought forth into the minds of humans (who can no longer differentiate between 1. actual, physical threats, and 2. the false threats to personas that are perceived erroneously via the delusion-plagued minds of the masses to be real).
Sapolsky: “When you run for your life, basics are all that matter: lungs work overtime to pump mammoth quantities of oxygen into the bloodstream; the heart races to pump that oxygen throughout the body so muscles respond instantly;
"you need your blood pressure up to deliver that energy; you need to turn off anything that's not essential; you know / believe that you're running for your life; this is no time to ovulate, to repair tissue, etc. The message is, ‘Do it later, if there is a later’.”
The irony of humanity’s perspective when abiding under the influence of personality and false, personal identifications and those identifications' agendas is that the earlier legitimate response of life-forms being attacked now seems as real to false ego-states when they erroneously perceive that they are being attacked.
The difference nowadays between humans trapped in personal identification and other life-forms is described by Sapolsky as follows:
“If the zebra escapes, its stress response shuts down, but human beings can't seem to find their ‘off’ switch. We turn on the exact same stress response for purely psychological states.”
And that’s where the non-dual understanding comes in. It provides those who come to understand who / what they are not with an ability to separate a false identity’s agenda and fears and desires by being able to differentiate fact from fiction;
by differentiating false identities from one’s actual reality and Reality; and by being able to establish a perspective of non-attachment to all that has – prior to the point of Realization – guaranteed that either a fight or flight (or freeze) response will almost constantly be at play.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
5 August 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Before moving to the discussion of what is generated by the widespread promotion and acceptance of hierarchies and belief in the concepts of “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment,” please review some of the key points from yesterday:
If you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for that problem.
The most prevalent illness on the planet – the Ultimate Sickness – is passed down initially from parents or guardians and then by others in one's society. It is not an illness based in too-little-exposure to dogma or in persons being “spiritually-unfit.” It is a mental illness.
Therefore, the Ultimate Sickness is transmitted via minds. One mind can be infected, then it can be transmitted to the minds of dozens or scores or hundreds, and the persons with those infected minds can eventually transmit the Sickness to millions and billions. Over the ages, it has been spread to trillions.
Yet most are seeking a solution by way of religion or spirituality. 75% of the people on the planet report an affiliation with one of the four largest religions, claiming that they are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. Another 22% report that they are affiliated with one of the other organized religions. Thus, 97% claim to be "religious." Over 2% more report proudly, “I am not religious . . . I am spiritual.”
Thus, over 99% of all persons on the planet report that they are either “religious” or “spiritual.” Moreover, they believe that their dogma or spiritual beliefs are the cure for what ails “the world” and they believe that their religious faith or their “spiritual exercises” make them “better” as a result.
Maharaj’s final estimate of how many are ever likely to Realize was 1 in 10,000,000, meaning that more than 99.9% of the population would continue to suffer the Ultimate Sickness and would continue to exhibit the Sickness’s symptoms of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.”
But that was a guesstimate, so set that aside for a moment. The consideration then involves the fact that Maharaj said he depended on his “own experience only,” so the question regarding how widespread the Ultimate Sickness really is becomes this: “Are you willing to try that approach with this subject and look objectively at the way that people all over the planet are behaving and then answer the two following questions honestly?”
1. Does the preponderance of evidence support Maharaj's estimate that most are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness’s symptoms of ignorance and insanity?
2. Or, does the preponderance of the observable evidence in your view support the belief that most people all over the globe are exhibiting . . .
wisdom and understanding and astuteness and prudence and intelligence and clear perspectives
as well as
sanity and lucidity and rationality and reason and logic?
Would not any objective observation of what is going on all around the planet at this very moment have to lead to the conclusion that ignorance and insanity are prevalent, even dominant, all around the globe?
So what is the answer? What is the cure? There are two options to consider, though the masses will only consider one:
(A) Can the religion or the spirituality that the masses are trying to use to address what they call "the ills of ‘the world’" be the answer?
Or,
(B) might the cure be provided in many cases by way of what non-dualists call “the Ultimate Medicine”?
If the proper Medicine to try to use to address the Ultimate Sickness were the religion and spirituality that the masses are currently using to try to address what they call “the ills of ‘the world’,” then
(a) 99.9% would already be just fine mental and emotionally and
(b) only less than 1% of the people on the planet would be suffering from ignorance and / or insanity. But do you really believe that is the case?
Over 99% of the people on the planet claim that their religion or their spirituality makes them “better,” but “better” than what, exactly? If both my pants legs are on fire and someone tosses water on one leg and extinguishes those flames, that’s "better," but are things really “fine” for me at that point?
Maharaj’s assessment certainly seems to have proved accurate: the Ultimate Sickness is manifested around the globe and only a fraction of 1% will ever Realize and be free of its symptoms. If dogma or spirituality were the Ultimate Medicine, then over 99% of the people on the planet would not be racked with ignorance or insanity. Almost all of humankind would be mentally well. Again, do you really believe that is the case?
There is no one on the planet who has never engaged in body-mind-personality identification, so there is no one on the planet who had not thought that he or she was something or someone that she or he is not. That alone would qualify them as suffering from ignorance and / or insanity to one degree or another.
One analyst suggested that 100% of the people on the planet suffer from the Addictive Personality Disorder, addicted to one degree or another to alcohol; illegal drugs; legal drugs; money; work; sex; porn; shopping; video games; watching television; extreme politics; exercise; throwing up to reduce weight; nicotine; food; and even to chaos, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum.
The evidence seems to be that the efficacy and efficiency and effectiveness of religion or spirituality to address the mental problems of the globe’s population is nothing to brag about, though brag the masses do about their particular religion or their particular spiritual state and how they have been made "better."
It should be clear that what 99%+ of all people are doing to address the Ultimate Sickness is obviously not working, and that should show just as clearly that whatever the Ultimate Medicine does involve, it most certainly does not involve dogma or spiritual exercises.
So what must be addressed? Not only dualistic thinking but also single-minded, obsessive thinking, both of which are based in false but highly-valued beliefs. And since thinking is dependent on the beliefs that are stored in the mind, then to reach the no-mind, zero-concept state as recommended by Maharaj, then all beliefs must be rejected.
Next, this was offered yesterday:
Of all of the beliefs that are passed down to children, none generate more chaos and angst and disharmony than beliefs about “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” and hierarchies, all based in duality and all at the root of the problems now plaguing the relative existence of persons all around the globe.
Couples establish hierarchies. Families establish hierarchies. Towns establish hierarchies. States establish hierarchies. Nations establish hierarchies. Students establish hierarchies. Teachers establish hierarchies. “Recovery” and “self-help groups” and “spiritual” groups establish hierarchies. Religions establish hierarchies. Fire department and police departments establish hierarchies. Navies and armies and marines and air forces establish hierarchies. And troops of baboons establish hierarchies. What they can reveal to Advaitins and Nisargans.
While in South Africa in 2011, I was introduced to A Primate’s Memoir (2002) by Dr. Robert Maurice Sapolsky. 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.
A Primate’s Memoir (which documents Sapolsky’s years in Africa while studying baboons), was recommended because 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. The book also portrays an unconventional way of studying neurophysiology to determine the effects of stress on life expectancy. (And the reduction or elimination of stress among humans is one of the aims of the non-dual understanding.)
Regulars to this site know Louise Sterling who lives in Cape Town, S.A. and who has contributed postings to this site. (Her "Love Whisperings" series was the most read of all of the thousands of posts available here.)
Louise has long followed the work of Sapolsky and recently shared that the content of a new documentary film entitled “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” provides the latest evidence of – among other things –
(1) the way that the Ultimate Sickness can infect communities of baboons just the way it infects communities of humans and
(2) the way that the roots of the Ultimate Sickness can be understood and then addressed via science (just as Maharaj predicted).
[NOTE: The 56-minute film is available on Youtube in many countries.]
Louise wrote:
“I found it fascinating at many levels – especially as I am involved in working on two manuals for NGOs here on reducing gender based violence through working with men and boys."
Louise shared these insights into what the film revealed:
“SHIFT IN THE TROOP SOCIAL RELATIONS
(Especially loved how he was clearly devastated by the impact that irresponsible humans had in these senseless deaths; I was in tears reading the account; yet like a great scientist, he returned with curiosity and an open mind to find the troop in a more harmonious groove.)
“I was fascinated by how the newly constituted troop showed zero tolerance towards aggressive behaviour shown by newcomers; the troop actually fiercely protected the loving, caring, mutually safe and peaceful environment. Would be interesting to track this over generations. Really gave me hope for how troubled communities can transform. After receiving the Understanding?
“Also interesting that the aggressive baboons all died – as obviously they demanded first access to the game lodge contaminated spoils. A cautionary tale.
"NEUROBIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF HIERARCHY AND SOCIAL DOMINANCE
This really is an under-explored area in terms of causes of stress and disease (including the obesity epidemic, heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, etc.) Simply the fact of being born into a subordinate position (working class, rural, women, disabled, etc.) creates the context for one’s neurobiology to release hormones that cause havoc. Of course the dominant baboons in theory would also carry stress from their position, but apparently they release it instantly by heading off and beating up, bullying or dumping. Also, how a limited number of stressful / abusive encounters can be handled with some equilibrium, but after that point, the body seems to develop neural pathways that precipitate stress, anxiety, depression."
(Sapolsky’s baboon research reveals the extreme relative damage that trying to function within a hierarchy can also exert on humans, including pressures that result in terms of relative clout (or lack thereof); in terms of authority (or lack thereof); in terms of the overall mental and emotional and physical toll on the baboons as well as on the human masses (a toll which is aggravated nowadays as a result of the extremely unequal distribution of wealth around the globe and the rigid hierarchies that accompany that disparity); and in terms of generating falsehoods that are taken to be truth in terms of hierarchies and in terms of the common beliefs about being “different-from” and “better-than.”)
Louise noted that there is a connection between Sapolsky’s latest research and how the Ultimate Medicine can be used effectively to address the Ultimate Sickness among humans:
“Perhaps this research will feed into a refusal amongst the oppressed to put up with exploitation, abuse, narcissistic capitalism, the One Percent, the lies, and the BS. Because it is LITERALLY killing them.
“Really love his work – insightful, deep, well researched, advocating a humane value system and presented with humour and intelligence.”
So in the next post, there will be a discussion of the efficacy of the non-dual, Ultimate Medicine which Sapolsky’s latest research supports, if not by name then at least - and even more significantly - by fact.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
2 August 2014
If you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for that problem.
The most prevalent illness on the planet – the Ultimate Sickness – is passed down initially from parents or guardians and then by others in one's society. It is not an illness based in too-little-exposure to dogma or in persons being “spiritually-unfit.” It is a mental illness.
Therefore, the Ultimate Sickness is transmitted via minds. One mind can be infected, then it can be transmitted to the minds of dozens or scores or hundreds, and the persons with those infected minds can eventually transmit the Sickness to millions and billions. Over the ages, it has been spread to trillions.
Yet most are seeking a solution by way of religion or spirituality. 75% of the people on the planet report an affiliation with one of the four largest religions, claiming that they are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. Another 22% report that they are affiliated with one of the other organized religions. Thus, 97% claim to be "religious." Over 2% more report proudly, “I am not religious . . . I am spiritual.”
Thus, over 99% of all persons on the planet report that they are either “religious” or “spiritual.” Moreover, they believe that their dogma or spiritual beliefs are the cure for what ails “the world” and they believe that their religious faith or their “spiritual exercises” make them “better” as a result.
Maharaj’s final estimate of how many are ever likely to Realize was 1 in 10,000,000, meaning that more than 99.9% of the population would continue to suffer the Ultimate Sickness and would continue to exhibit the Sickness’s symptoms of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.”
But that was a guesstimate, so set that aside for a moment. The consideration then involves the fact that Maharaj said he depended on his “own experience only,” so the question regarding how widespread the Ultimate Sickness really is becomes this: “Are you willing to try that approach with this subject and look objectively at the way that people all over the planet are behaving and then answer the two following questions honestly?”
1. Does the preponderance of evidence support Maharaj's estimate that most are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness’s symptoms of ignorance and insanity?
2. Or, does the preponderance of the observable evidence in your view support the belief that most people all over the globe are exhibiting . . .
wisdom and understanding and astuteness and prudence and intelligence and clear perspectives
as well as
sanity and lucidity and rationality and reason and logic?
Would not any objective observation of what is going on all around the planet at this very moment have to lead to the conclusion that ignorance and insanity are prevalent, even dominant, all around the globe?
So what is the answer? What is the cure? There are two options to consider, though the masses will only consider one:
(A) Can the religion or the spirituality that the masses are trying to use to address what they call "the ills of ‘the world’" be the answer?
Or,
(B) might the cure be provided in many cases by way of what non-dualists call “the Ultimate Medicine”?
If the proper Medicine to try to use to address the Ultimate Sickness were the religion and spirituality that the masses are currently using to try to address what they call “the ills of ‘the world’,” then
(a) 99.9% would already be just fine mental and emotionally and
(b) only less than 1% of the people on the planet would be suffering from ignorance and / or insanity. But do you really believe that is the case?
Over 99% of the people on the planet claim that their religion or their spirituality makes them “better,” but “better” than what, exactly? If both my pants legs are on fire and someone tosses water on one leg and extinguishes those flames, that’s "better," but are things really “fine” for me at that point?
Maharaj’s assessment certainly seems to have proved accurate: the Ultimate Sickness is manifested around the globe and only a fraction of 1% will ever Realize and be free of its symptoms. If dogma or spirituality were the Ultimate Medicine, then over 99% of the people on the planet would not be racked with ignorance or insanity. Almost all of humankind would be mentally well. Again, do you really believe that is the case?
There is no one on the planet who has never engaged in body-mind-personality identification, so there is no one on the planet who had not thought that he or she was something or someone that she or he is not. That alone would qualify them as suffering from ignorance and / or insanity to one degree or another.
One analyst suggested that 100% of the people on the planet suffer from the Addictive Personality Disorder, addicted to one degree or another to alcohol; illegal drugs; legal drugs; money; work; sex; porn; shopping; video games; watching television; extreme politics; exercise; throwing up to reduce weight; nicotine; food; and even to chaos, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum.
The evidence seems to be that the efficacy and efficiency and effectiveness of religion or spirituality to address the mental problems of the globe’s population is nothing to brag about, though brag the masses do about their particular religion or their particular spiritual state and how they have been made "better."
It should be clear that what 99%+ of all people are doing to address the Ultimate Sickness is obviously not working, and that should show just as clearly that whatever the Ultimate Medicine does involve, it most certainly does not involve dogma or spiritual exercises.
So what must be addressed? Not only dualistic thinking but also single-minded, obsessive thinking, both of which are based in false but highly-valued beliefs. And since thinking is dependent on the beliefs that are stored in the mind, then to reach the no-mind, zero-concept state as recommended by Maharaj, then all beliefs must be rejected.
Next, this was offered yesterday:
Of all of the beliefs that are passed down to children, none generate more chaos and angst and disharmony than beliefs about “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” and hierarchies, all based in duality and all at the root of the problems now plaguing the relative existence of persons all around the globe.
Couples establish hierarchies. Families establish hierarchies. Towns establish hierarchies. States establish hierarchies. Nations establish hierarchies. Students establish hierarchies. Teachers establish hierarchies. “Recovery” and “self-help groups” and “spiritual” groups establish hierarchies. Religions establish hierarchies. Fire department and police departments establish hierarchies. Navies and armies and marines and air forces establish hierarchies. And troops of baboons establish hierarchies. What they can reveal to Advaitins and Nisargans.
While in South Africa in 2011, I was introduced to A Primate’s Memoir (2002) by Dr. Robert Maurice Sapolsky. 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.
A Primate’s Memoir (which documents Sapolsky’s years in Africa while studying baboons), was recommended because 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. The book also portrays an unconventional way of studying neurophysiology to determine the effects of stress on life expectancy. (And the reduction or elimination of stress among humans is one of the aims of the non-dual understanding.)
Regulars to this site know Louise Sterling who lives in Cape Town, S.A. and who has contributed postings to this site. (Her "Love Whisperings" series was the most read of all of the thousands of posts available here.)
Louise has long followed the work of Sapolsky and recently shared that the content of a new documentary film entitled “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” provides the latest evidence of – among other things –
(1) the way that the Ultimate Sickness can infect communities of baboons just the way it infects communities of humans and
(2) the way that the roots of the Ultimate Sickness can be understood and then addressed via science (just as Maharaj predicted).
[NOTE: The 56-minute film is available on Youtube in many countries.]
Louise wrote:
“I found it fascinating at many levels – especially as I am involved in working on two manuals for NGOs here on reducing gender based violence through working with men and boys."
Louise shared these insights into what the film revealed:
“SHIFT IN THE TROOP SOCIAL RELATIONS
(Especially loved how he was clearly devastated by the impact that irresponsible humans had in these senseless deaths; I was in tears reading the account; yet like a great scientist, he returned with curiosity and an open mind to find the troop in a more harmonious groove.)
“I was fascinated by how the newly constituted troop showed zero tolerance towards aggressive behaviour shown by newcomers; the troop actually fiercely protected the loving, caring, mutually safe and peaceful environment. Would be interesting to track this over generations. Really gave me hope for how troubled communities can transform. After receiving the Understanding?
“Also interesting that the aggressive baboons all died – as obviously they demanded first access to the game lodge contaminated spoils. A cautionary tale.
"NEUROBIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF HIERARCHY AND SOCIAL DOMINANCE
This really is an under-explored area in terms of causes of stress and disease (including the obesity epidemic, heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, etc.) Simply the fact of being born into a subordinate position (working class, rural, women, disabled, etc.) creates the context for one’s neurobiology to release hormones that cause havoc. Of course the dominant baboons in theory would also carry stress from their position, but apparently they release it instantly by heading off and beating up, bullying or dumping. Also, how a limited number of stressful / abusive encounters can be handled with some equilibrium, but after that point, the body seems to develop neural pathways that precipitate stress, anxiety, depression."
(Sapolsky’s baboon research reveals the extreme relative damage that trying to function within a hierarchy can also exert on humans, including pressures that result in terms of relative clout (or lack thereof); in terms of authority (or lack thereof); in terms of the overall mental and emotional and physical toll on the baboons as well as on the human masses (a toll which is aggravated nowadays as a result of the extremely unequal distribution of wealth around the globe and the rigid hierarchies that accompany that disparity); and in terms of generating falsehoods that are taken to be truth in terms of hierarchies and in terms of the common beliefs about being “different-from” and “better-than.”)
Louise noted that there is a connection between Sapolsky’s latest research and how the Ultimate Medicine can be used effectively to address the Ultimate Sickness among humans:
“Perhaps this research will feed into a refusal amongst the oppressed to put up with exploitation, abuse, narcissistic capitalism, the One Percent, the lies, and the BS. Because it is LITERALLY killing them.
“Really love his work – insightful, deep, well researched, advocating a humane value system and presented with humour and intelligence.”
So in the next post, there will be a discussion of the efficacy of the non-dual, Ultimate Medicine which Sapolsky’s latest research supports, if not by name then at least - and even more significantly - by fact.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
2 August 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: If you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for your problem.
Consider: some illnesses you contract from people you do not even know. For example if you have a cold, you contracted it from someone else you probably do not even know; if you have the influenza, you contracted it from someone else whom you likely do not know. Typically, no one can prove unequivocally who passed on a virus or infection to her or him.
Then there are diseases that are transmitted to someone by someone they do know. Approximately 4,500 diseases are due to single-gene disorders alone, single-gene disorders being diseases which are a result of "a mistake" made in one gene. In addition to the single-gene disorders, there are the genetically-transmitted diseases which are a result of mistakes caused by several genes.
Most do not know who passed on an illness or disease, but with diseases that are based in genetics, one can know exactly who passed the disease down to them: one or another parent. The genetic diseases that people are suffering from all around the globe and which were passed down to them by one parent or another include Down syndrome; cystic fibrosis; chronic granulomatous diseases in which the immune system is affected and compromised;
mucopolysaccaridosis diseases are genetically-transmitted diseases that affect the functions and abilities of the enzymes to break down sugars; Turner's syndrome is a series of genetically-transmitted diseases that affect the chromosomes; celiac disease; sickle-cell anemia; birth defects; hemophilia; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; and hundreds and thousands of others. While gene therapy is being tested as a possible treatment for some genetic diseases, genetic disorders rarely have effective treatments.
So there are airborne illnesses that are passed from one human to another; there are genetic diseases that are passed down from parents; and then there is the most prevalent illness on the planet – the Ultimate Sickness.
While most have never heard of that Sickness, most who do hear of it do not want to admit that their parents are the ones who initially passed it down to them or that other sources later on also contributed, including: relatives; then the parents of friends; then friends; then neighbors; then religious leaders who are in charge of the sky cults all around the globe and the billions whom they influence;
then teachers; then mates and lovers and spouses; then local politicians; then national and international political leaders; then cult leaders or spiritual leaders or cult-group leaders or cult-group members; then a plethora of speakers and authors and sponsors and gurus; then employers; then co-workers; ad infinitum.
While some illnesses are airborne and some other are transmitted genetically, the Ultimate Sickness is transmitted via minds. One mind can be infected, then it can be transmitted to the minds of dozens or scores or hundreds, and the persons with those infected minds can eventually transmit their Sickness to millions and billions and trillions over the ages.
Some will recall that a woman who once said that her real problem was rooted in the fact that she was not “spiritually-fit” and that being spiritual and maintaining conscious contact with God was going to treat her physical and mental and emotional issues.
When “BS” was called on that belief, she said, “Floyd, There is a God, and that God will take care of every problem we have if we just ask for His help with faith. I know that’s true because millions of people cannot be wrong.”
The reply: “I agree wholeheartedly. Millions of people are not wrong. Billions are wrong, and trillions have been wrong. But rock and roll. Give their plan a shot and check back with me in a few years and we'll see if their plan has truly restored you to sanity.”
When the Ultimate Sickness is passed down from one’s parents and culture, then one will be plagued – as Maharaj said – by “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” He did not say "people" are ignorant and stupid and insane.
There is no "person" to be those things. There is a composite unity that forms a space with a brain; there is also a section within that brain (called the “mind”) that can store and retrieve information, whether it is true or false; and there is also conscious-energy that cycles through that space via eating plant food or eating something that ate plant food.
That conscious-energy is originally pure (unblocked) and the mind is pretty much a “blank tablet” before a person is programmed, conditioned, domesticated (the part of the Sickness that is contracted inside the home), acculturated (the part of the Sickness that is contracted outside the home) as well as brainwashed and indoctrinated, those coming from all directions.
And what are the resulting carriers that are passed on from one mind to another as a result of all of dysfunctional nonsense that children are exposed to - both in the home and outside the home - which leads to the development of a full-blown case of the Ultimate Sickness?
The carriers are the personalities that persons are assigned or that they will assume. The primary personality type is usually in place by the age of six, and other multiple personalities are in place and feeding the Sickness by the age of 10 or 12 or 14.
The longer persons walk about the planet and listen to and believe what they are told without questioning any of it, the more psychically unhealthy they become. Eventually, their multiple personalities generate multiple disorders that can then lead to multiple neuroses and psychoses. What hand does a God or gods and goddesses have in that? No hand at all. So what hand can a God or gods and goddesses have in treating a human's mental illness? None.
There are varying levels of psychic health ranging from “healthy,” to “average” to “unhealthy.” Few are in the top range nowadays. So what disorders can accompany the various basic personality types that persons assume? Here is a partial list of the potential disorders that often eventually manifest with each of the nine types in those who have little psychic health:
Type 1: OCD, Depressive P.D., Narcissistic P.D.
Type 2: Histrionic PD (Emotional Intoxication), the Factitious P.D., Narcissistic P.D., Somatization P.D., Dependent / Co-Dependent P.D.
Type 3: Narcissistic P.D., Histrionic P.D.
Type 4: Avoidant P.D., Depressive P.D., Narcissistic P. D., Histrionic P.D., Borderline P.D. (if combined with a high 6), Masochistic P.D.
Type 5: Schizoid-Avoidance P.D., Schizotypal P.D.
Type 6: Passive-Aggressive P.D., Paranoid P.D., Dependent / Co-Dependent P.D., some Avoidance P.D., Borderline P.D. (if combined with a high 4); Insecure Attachment Disorder (if combined with a high 8)
Type 7: Addictive P.D., Bipolar P.D., Histrionic P.D., Narcissistic P.D., Dependent P.D., Avoidant P.D.
Type 8: Antisocial / Sociopathic P. D., Pathological P.D., Sadistic P.D., Malignant Narcissism; Insecure Attachment Disorder (if combined with a high 6)
Type 9: Dissociative P.D., Schizoid P.D., Dependent P.D., Passive-Aggressive P.D., Avoidant P.D.
What keeps person from seeking treatment for their mental / emotional Sickness? “Ignorance”? Yes. “Insanity”? Yes. But more than anything else: arrogance. And what drives that arrogance? Personality, that is, the assumption of ego-states as identities.
Sugar feeds cancer in the body. What feeds the cancer of the mind and the belief that the personalities stored therein are real? Ego-defense mechanisms, especially, denial, projection, idealization, repression, displacement, defensiveness, dissociation, and rationalization (spinning).
After working with thousands of persons and trying to address the issues that are at the root of the Ultimate Sickness, what is the most prevalent instance when those ego-defense mechanisms are used?
Here is what has been seen time and again: the use of the mechanisms is most often triggered when information is offered to persons that their problems go all the way back to their childhood and to the adults who raised them and who were the first to program them, condition them, domesticate them, brainwash them, and indoctrinate them; when that is offered for consideration, arrogance-based anger and defensiveness usually manifest.
Why? If an egotism-driven person were to admit that one parent might have been “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills, then that might suggest the person might also be at least “half-flawed.” If one were to admit that both parents were “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills, then one might have to conclude that she or he is “totally flawed.” And no ego-state can have that, can it?
The ego’s antidote to prevent admitting the truth about the possibility of both parents being “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills? Idealization: “My childhood was great. My spouse’s? Not so good. You can see how messed up he / she is as a result of his / her childhood. As for me on the other hand? Quite fine, Floyd. Thank you very much, and go to hell if you’re about to suggest otherwise.”
Again, if you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for that problem.
Does that mean that one must resent or hate the ones who passed on the Ultimate Sickness? Once more, no. Does a child with sickle-cell anemia hate its parents for a genetic defect that resulted in consequences? Of course not. Does understanding that the parents did not consciously pass along a disease help remove the symptoms and consequences and effects? No. Does getting a proper diagnosis provide the opportunity to finally get some relief from the pain? Yes.
Does knowing the roots of any problem or illness or sickness or Sickness set the stage for addressing it? Yes.
So the point from yesterday: Only egotism-supported ego-states will idealize the ones who prevented the consciousness from seeing clearly and from seeing truth and from seeing who programmed you, conditioned you, domesticated you, acculturated you, brainwashed you, and indoctrinated you in a most warped way.
There is no need for resentment or hatred of them because what they did was also a result of “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity,” yet there is a need – if you would be well - to see exactly what they did, to see what the resulting effects of what they did have been, and to admit that what they passed on to you has not served you well, relatively speaking.
The conundrum with seeking Realization? No one can ever be “well” and free if belief in personality-identification is not cast aside; however, it is the sly and cunning and calculating aptitude of personality-identifications which allows them to fool oneself and to sustain those false identities' imaginary existence. Each assigned or assumed self has a skill-set that allows it to maximize the use of ego-defense mechanisms to perpetuate the myth of each ego-states “real-ness,” and all personalities function at a subconscious level.
Quite the challenge, then, yes? Yet it can be met if one has the capacity to differentiate the true from the false; unfortunately, most do not and never will. Such is the way that the relative existence unfolds for most in the realm of the Ultimate Sickness that is initially passed down to all.
TOMORROW: Of all of the beliefs that are passed down to children, none generate more chaos and angst and disharmony than beliefs about “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” and the legitimacy of hierarchies, all based in duality and all at the root of the problems now plaguing the relative existence of persons all around the globe.
Couples establish hierarchies. Families establish hierarchies. Towns establish hierarchies. States establish hierarchies. Nations establish hierarchies. Students establish hierarchies. Teachers establish hierarchies. “Recovery” and “self-help groups” and “spiritual” groups establish hierarchies. Religions establish hierarchies. Fire departments and police departments establish hierarchies. Navies and armies and marines and air forces establish hierarchies. And troops of baboons establish hierarchies. What they can reveal to Advaitins and Nisargans tomorrow.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
1 August 2014
Consider: some illnesses you contract from people you do not even know. For example if you have a cold, you contracted it from someone else you probably do not even know; if you have the influenza, you contracted it from someone else whom you likely do not know. Typically, no one can prove unequivocally who passed on a virus or infection to her or him.
Then there are diseases that are transmitted to someone by someone they do know. Approximately 4,500 diseases are due to single-gene disorders alone, single-gene disorders being diseases which are a result of "a mistake" made in one gene. In addition to the single-gene disorders, there are the genetically-transmitted diseases which are a result of mistakes caused by several genes.
Most do not know who passed on an illness or disease, but with diseases that are based in genetics, one can know exactly who passed the disease down to them: one or another parent. The genetic diseases that people are suffering from all around the globe and which were passed down to them by one parent or another include Down syndrome; cystic fibrosis; chronic granulomatous diseases in which the immune system is affected and compromised;
mucopolysaccaridosis diseases are genetically-transmitted diseases that affect the functions and abilities of the enzymes to break down sugars; Turner's syndrome is a series of genetically-transmitted diseases that affect the chromosomes; celiac disease; sickle-cell anemia; birth defects; hemophilia; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; and hundreds and thousands of others. While gene therapy is being tested as a possible treatment for some genetic diseases, genetic disorders rarely have effective treatments.
So there are airborne illnesses that are passed from one human to another; there are genetic diseases that are passed down from parents; and then there is the most prevalent illness on the planet – the Ultimate Sickness.
While most have never heard of that Sickness, most who do hear of it do not want to admit that their parents are the ones who initially passed it down to them or that other sources later on also contributed, including: relatives; then the parents of friends; then friends; then neighbors; then religious leaders who are in charge of the sky cults all around the globe and the billions whom they influence;
then teachers; then mates and lovers and spouses; then local politicians; then national and international political leaders; then cult leaders or spiritual leaders or cult-group leaders or cult-group members; then a plethora of speakers and authors and sponsors and gurus; then employers; then co-workers; ad infinitum.
While some illnesses are airborne and some other are transmitted genetically, the Ultimate Sickness is transmitted via minds. One mind can be infected, then it can be transmitted to the minds of dozens or scores or hundreds, and the persons with those infected minds can eventually transmit their Sickness to millions and billions and trillions over the ages.
Some will recall that a woman who once said that her real problem was rooted in the fact that she was not “spiritually-fit” and that being spiritual and maintaining conscious contact with God was going to treat her physical and mental and emotional issues.
When “BS” was called on that belief, she said, “Floyd, There is a God, and that God will take care of every problem we have if we just ask for His help with faith. I know that’s true because millions of people cannot be wrong.”
The reply: “I agree wholeheartedly. Millions of people are not wrong. Billions are wrong, and trillions have been wrong. But rock and roll. Give their plan a shot and check back with me in a few years and we'll see if their plan has truly restored you to sanity.”
When the Ultimate Sickness is passed down from one’s parents and culture, then one will be plagued – as Maharaj said – by “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” He did not say "people" are ignorant and stupid and insane.
There is no "person" to be those things. There is a composite unity that forms a space with a brain; there is also a section within that brain (called the “mind”) that can store and retrieve information, whether it is true or false; and there is also conscious-energy that cycles through that space via eating plant food or eating something that ate plant food.
That conscious-energy is originally pure (unblocked) and the mind is pretty much a “blank tablet” before a person is programmed, conditioned, domesticated (the part of the Sickness that is contracted inside the home), acculturated (the part of the Sickness that is contracted outside the home) as well as brainwashed and indoctrinated, those coming from all directions.
And what are the resulting carriers that are passed on from one mind to another as a result of all of dysfunctional nonsense that children are exposed to - both in the home and outside the home - which leads to the development of a full-blown case of the Ultimate Sickness?
The carriers are the personalities that persons are assigned or that they will assume. The primary personality type is usually in place by the age of six, and other multiple personalities are in place and feeding the Sickness by the age of 10 or 12 or 14.
The longer persons walk about the planet and listen to and believe what they are told without questioning any of it, the more psychically unhealthy they become. Eventually, their multiple personalities generate multiple disorders that can then lead to multiple neuroses and psychoses. What hand does a God or gods and goddesses have in that? No hand at all. So what hand can a God or gods and goddesses have in treating a human's mental illness? None.
There are varying levels of psychic health ranging from “healthy,” to “average” to “unhealthy.” Few are in the top range nowadays. So what disorders can accompany the various basic personality types that persons assume? Here is a partial list of the potential disorders that often eventually manifest with each of the nine types in those who have little psychic health:
Type 1: OCD, Depressive P.D., Narcissistic P.D.
Type 2: Histrionic PD (Emotional Intoxication), the Factitious P.D., Narcissistic P.D., Somatization P.D., Dependent / Co-Dependent P.D.
Type 3: Narcissistic P.D., Histrionic P.D.
Type 4: Avoidant P.D., Depressive P.D., Narcissistic P. D., Histrionic P.D., Borderline P.D. (if combined with a high 6), Masochistic P.D.
Type 5: Schizoid-Avoidance P.D., Schizotypal P.D.
Type 6: Passive-Aggressive P.D., Paranoid P.D., Dependent / Co-Dependent P.D., some Avoidance P.D., Borderline P.D. (if combined with a high 4); Insecure Attachment Disorder (if combined with a high 8)
Type 7: Addictive P.D., Bipolar P.D., Histrionic P.D., Narcissistic P.D., Dependent P.D., Avoidant P.D.
Type 8: Antisocial / Sociopathic P. D., Pathological P.D., Sadistic P.D., Malignant Narcissism; Insecure Attachment Disorder (if combined with a high 6)
Type 9: Dissociative P.D., Schizoid P.D., Dependent P.D., Passive-Aggressive P.D., Avoidant P.D.
What keeps person from seeking treatment for their mental / emotional Sickness? “Ignorance”? Yes. “Insanity”? Yes. But more than anything else: arrogance. And what drives that arrogance? Personality, that is, the assumption of ego-states as identities.
Sugar feeds cancer in the body. What feeds the cancer of the mind and the belief that the personalities stored therein are real? Ego-defense mechanisms, especially, denial, projection, idealization, repression, displacement, defensiveness, dissociation, and rationalization (spinning).
After working with thousands of persons and trying to address the issues that are at the root of the Ultimate Sickness, what is the most prevalent instance when those ego-defense mechanisms are used?
Here is what has been seen time and again: the use of the mechanisms is most often triggered when information is offered to persons that their problems go all the way back to their childhood and to the adults who raised them and who were the first to program them, condition them, domesticate them, brainwash them, and indoctrinate them; when that is offered for consideration, arrogance-based anger and defensiveness usually manifest.
Why? If an egotism-driven person were to admit that one parent might have been “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills, then that might suggest the person might also be at least “half-flawed.” If one were to admit that both parents were “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills, then one might have to conclude that she or he is “totally flawed.” And no ego-state can have that, can it?
The ego’s antidote to prevent admitting the truth about the possibility of both parents being “flawed” or “deficient” in child-rearing skills? Idealization: “My childhood was great. My spouse’s? Not so good. You can see how messed up he / she is as a result of his / her childhood. As for me on the other hand? Quite fine, Floyd. Thank you very much, and go to hell if you’re about to suggest otherwise.”
Again, if you do not find the actual cause of a sickness, then you will not find the actual cure. If you do not find out what your real problem is, you will not find the real solution for that problem.
Does that mean that one must resent or hate the ones who passed on the Ultimate Sickness? Once more, no. Does a child with sickle-cell anemia hate its parents for a genetic defect that resulted in consequences? Of course not. Does understanding that the parents did not consciously pass along a disease help remove the symptoms and consequences and effects? No. Does getting a proper diagnosis provide the opportunity to finally get some relief from the pain? Yes.
Does knowing the roots of any problem or illness or sickness or Sickness set the stage for addressing it? Yes.
So the point from yesterday: Only egotism-supported ego-states will idealize the ones who prevented the consciousness from seeing clearly and from seeing truth and from seeing who programmed you, conditioned you, domesticated you, acculturated you, brainwashed you, and indoctrinated you in a most warped way.
There is no need for resentment or hatred of them because what they did was also a result of “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity,” yet there is a need – if you would be well - to see exactly what they did, to see what the resulting effects of what they did have been, and to admit that what they passed on to you has not served you well, relatively speaking.
The conundrum with seeking Realization? No one can ever be “well” and free if belief in personality-identification is not cast aside; however, it is the sly and cunning and calculating aptitude of personality-identifications which allows them to fool oneself and to sustain those false identities' imaginary existence. Each assigned or assumed self has a skill-set that allows it to maximize the use of ego-defense mechanisms to perpetuate the myth of each ego-states “real-ness,” and all personalities function at a subconscious level.
Quite the challenge, then, yes? Yet it can be met if one has the capacity to differentiate the true from the false; unfortunately, most do not and never will. Such is the way that the relative existence unfolds for most in the realm of the Ultimate Sickness that is initially passed down to all.
TOMORROW: Of all of the beliefs that are passed down to children, none generate more chaos and angst and disharmony than beliefs about “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” and the legitimacy of hierarchies, all based in duality and all at the root of the problems now plaguing the relative existence of persons all around the globe.
Couples establish hierarchies. Families establish hierarchies. Towns establish hierarchies. States establish hierarchies. Nations establish hierarchies. Students establish hierarchies. Teachers establish hierarchies. “Recovery” and “self-help groups” and “spiritual” groups establish hierarchies. Religions establish hierarchies. Fire departments and police departments establish hierarchies. Navies and armies and marines and air forces establish hierarchies. And troops of baboons establish hierarchies. What they can reveal to Advaitins and Nisargans tomorrow.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
1 August 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Now, more from “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” this is offered.
Living in the Nisarga Fashion
The Nisarga Yoga, in conjunction with the Direct Path Teaching Method that can lead to Full Realization, offers a direct but very specific route to an understanding that results in a natural way of "AS IF living" (that is, to a natural way of functioning, living as if any of "this" is real but knowing that it not). That leads to living / functioning spontaneously for the remainder of the manifestation while
(1) knowing that the “world” is illusory
but
(2) living as if any of “all this” matters.
(Thus, employment can happen even without the assumption of an "employee" persona.)
To better understand the Nisarga Yoga, consider what the Advaita poet William Shakespeare wrote:
“The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place. Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office, and custom, in all line of order.”
Natural living recognizes that the laws of nature have the right of "insisture," meaning either
(a) life is lived naturally according to the “customs” of the universe
or
(b) persons violating the natural “order” will collapse and self-destruct.
The Realized move through the relative existence in a manner that is fixed by nature even though they appear to be moving as they please. Rather than trying to exert any force, they accept that happenings happen.
Among the Realized, nature has “priority” over efforts to control or manipulate. The Realized abide within the framework of the natural laws that have “insisture,” understanding that all is to happen per the natural order and also understanding that all is to happen in “proportion.” Persons (the non-Realized), on the other hand, seek to control and manipulate so they will not have to accept “proportion.” They will succumb to personality-based fears and desires which will trigger an insatiable quest for excess.
They will work to accumulate and to have more and to appear to be greater than what is proportional. They will imagine that they have an actual need for more than is proportional or necessary. By contrast, the Realized move along lines that are “customary” rather than along paths that are unnatural or supernatural.
To think supernaturally is to think magically, and magical thinking is delusional. A non-dualist said, “ . . . There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Understand the implications of that pointer via syllogistic reasoning:
Talk of dualities such as “good vs. bad” can only happen via thinking. If there are no beliefs, there can be no is no thinking. Thinking is of the “mind.” The presence and use of “the mind” leads to thinking which, in turn, allows dualistic beliefs and thoughts to generate dualistic talking which leads to one's behaviors being determined and controlled by dualistic nonsense.
If the intent is to end belief in duality, then thinking must end. If thinking is to end, then “the mind” must end. To put to an end "the mind"—that is, to belief in the false content that has been stored in a portion of the brain—does not end the brain; nor must the brain's functioning end.
To put an end to "the mind" does not mean that the consciousness must un-manifest. The understanding in this regard is this: Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The "mind" is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods (a.k.a., "beliefs").
As noted yesterday, if the mind is put to an end once and for all (which happens by the simple act of forfeiting all beliefs) then not only does dualistic thinking and talking and behaving end but the single-mindedness-driven "ignorance and insanity" of monomaniacs could come to an end.
Again, the problems generated by the Ultimate Sickness are mental problems. They are not so-called “spiritual” problems and they are not problems resulting from being exposed to too little dogma. (In that regard, the problem once again involves learning more and more dogma, accumulating rather than de-accumulating, and gathering together “too much” as opposed to “too little.)
Moreover, the problems generated by the Ultimate Sickness are not just rooted in duality. Persons driven by single-mindedness and by obsessions and by focusing excessively on any one thing will lead to the same key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness that Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
The Ultimate Sickness, and the problems of humankind, are rooted in the mind, period. To be free of the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness, seek not more dogma; seek not more spirituality; seek not more conscious contact with imaginary powers that do not exist;
instead, seek only to dismantle the blockages that are preventing the consciousness from seeing clearly and from seeing truth (blockages which were set in place by those who programmed you, conditioned you, domesticated you, acculturated you, brainwashed you, and indoctrinated you.)
Only egotism-supported ego-states will idealize the ones who did that. There is no need for resentment or hatred of them because what they did was also a result of “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity,” yet there is a need – if you would be well - to see exactly what they did, to see exactly what the effects of what they did have been, and to admit that what they did has not served you well, relatively speaking.
It is insane to idolize anyone who passes on a sickness (or The Sickness) to you and to, therefore, deny what they did and what the effects have been. So first, see. Then consider the total invitation:
"See. Dismantle. Discard. Be free. Enjoy."
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
31 July 2014
Living in the Nisarga Fashion
The Nisarga Yoga, in conjunction with the Direct Path Teaching Method that can lead to Full Realization, offers a direct but very specific route to an understanding that results in a natural way of "AS IF living" (that is, to a natural way of functioning, living as if any of "this" is real but knowing that it not). That leads to living / functioning spontaneously for the remainder of the manifestation while
(1) knowing that the “world” is illusory
but
(2) living as if any of “all this” matters.
(Thus, employment can happen even without the assumption of an "employee" persona.)
To better understand the Nisarga Yoga, consider what the Advaita poet William Shakespeare wrote:
“The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place. Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office, and custom, in all line of order.”
Natural living recognizes that the laws of nature have the right of "insisture," meaning either
(a) life is lived naturally according to the “customs” of the universe
or
(b) persons violating the natural “order” will collapse and self-destruct.
The Realized move through the relative existence in a manner that is fixed by nature even though they appear to be moving as they please. Rather than trying to exert any force, they accept that happenings happen.
Among the Realized, nature has “priority” over efforts to control or manipulate. The Realized abide within the framework of the natural laws that have “insisture,” understanding that all is to happen per the natural order and also understanding that all is to happen in “proportion.” Persons (the non-Realized), on the other hand, seek to control and manipulate so they will not have to accept “proportion.” They will succumb to personality-based fears and desires which will trigger an insatiable quest for excess.
They will work to accumulate and to have more and to appear to be greater than what is proportional. They will imagine that they have an actual need for more than is proportional or necessary. By contrast, the Realized move along lines that are “customary” rather than along paths that are unnatural or supernatural.
To think supernaturally is to think magically, and magical thinking is delusional. A non-dualist said, “ . . . There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Understand the implications of that pointer via syllogistic reasoning:
Talk of dualities such as “good vs. bad” can only happen via thinking. If there are no beliefs, there can be no is no thinking. Thinking is of the “mind.” The presence and use of “the mind” leads to thinking which, in turn, allows dualistic beliefs and thoughts to generate dualistic talking which leads to one's behaviors being determined and controlled by dualistic nonsense.
If the intent is to end belief in duality, then thinking must end. If thinking is to end, then “the mind” must end. To put to an end "the mind"—that is, to belief in the false content that has been stored in a portion of the brain—does not end the brain; nor must the brain's functioning end.
To put an end to "the mind" does not mean that the consciousness must un-manifest. The understanding in this regard is this: Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. The "mind" is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods (a.k.a., "beliefs").
As noted yesterday, if the mind is put to an end once and for all (which happens by the simple act of forfeiting all beliefs) then not only does dualistic thinking and talking and behaving end but the single-mindedness-driven "ignorance and insanity" of monomaniacs could come to an end.
Again, the problems generated by the Ultimate Sickness are mental problems. They are not so-called “spiritual” problems and they are not problems resulting from being exposed to too little dogma. (In that regard, the problem once again involves learning more and more dogma, accumulating rather than de-accumulating, and gathering together “too much” as opposed to “too little.)
Moreover, the problems generated by the Ultimate Sickness are not just rooted in duality. Persons driven by single-mindedness and by obsessions and by focusing excessively on any one thing will lead to the same key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness that Maharaj identified as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.”
The Ultimate Sickness, and the problems of humankind, are rooted in the mind, period. To be free of the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness, seek not more dogma; seek not more spirituality; seek not more conscious contact with imaginary powers that do not exist;
instead, seek only to dismantle the blockages that are preventing the consciousness from seeing clearly and from seeing truth (blockages which were set in place by those who programmed you, conditioned you, domesticated you, acculturated you, brainwashed you, and indoctrinated you.)
Only egotism-supported ego-states will idealize the ones who did that. There is no need for resentment or hatred of them because what they did was also a result of “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity,” yet there is a need – if you would be well - to see exactly what they did, to see exactly what the effects of what they did have been, and to admit that what they did has not served you well, relatively speaking.
It is insane to idolize anyone who passes on a sickness (or The Sickness) to you and to, therefore, deny what they did and what the effects have been. So first, see. Then consider the total invitation:
"See. Dismantle. Discard. Be free. Enjoy."
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
31 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Now, more from “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” this is offered.
The Ultimate Sickness, Mental Disorders, and Personality Disorders Have Spread Around the Globe
Few will ever find Full Realization, much less the Nisarga Yoga and an ability to abide naturally; therefore, such mental sickness as discussed earlier now dominates persons (i.e., non-Realized humans) all around the globe.
The most nonsensical concepts imaginable have been dreamed up by controlling men and women and have been shared as “The Truth” or “The Secret” or “The Purpose” or “The Way” or “The Will of the Universe” or "The Sacred Contract" or "The Holy This or That" or as “God’s Infallible Word.”
The result is that natural abidance—which is shared in common by all life-forms except “humans”—now happens infrequently among the vast majority of persons. The now-common mental sickness among persons is spread via the viruses of ignorance and insanity. The Nisarga Yoga is the vessel that carries the Ultimate Medicine which provides the final dosage required for the total treatment of the sickness.
It is the yoga that can guide seekers along a “path” to being restored to reason and logic and wisdom as a result of being free of belief in false concepts, ideologies, myths, and superstitions. It is the yoga that can result in an understanding of the functioning of the totality;
it is a yoga that can make clear the difference in humanity’s quest for what is “false love” and can guide seekers to an understanding of the Oneness (and, thus, what True Love is); it is the yoga that can eliminate the “supernaturally-inspired” efforts of many to live in an unnatural manner; it is a yoga that can return persons (all of whom have been programmed and conditioned and acculturated and domesticated) to a condition of abidance that is in the style of their original nature;
it is a yoga that can guide seekers to a manner of functioning by which all that happens will happens naturally and spontaneously; and it is a yoga that can result in a fashion of abidance which allows the seekers who complete all seven steps on the “path” to Realization to be, once again, in touch with their innate and inherent and instinctive disposition.
TOMORROW: “Living in the Nisarga Fashion”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
30 July 2014
The Ultimate Sickness, Mental Disorders, and Personality Disorders Have Spread Around the Globe
Few will ever find Full Realization, much less the Nisarga Yoga and an ability to abide naturally; therefore, such mental sickness as discussed earlier now dominates persons (i.e., non-Realized humans) all around the globe.
The most nonsensical concepts imaginable have been dreamed up by controlling men and women and have been shared as “The Truth” or “The Secret” or “The Purpose” or “The Way” or “The Will of the Universe” or "The Sacred Contract" or "The Holy This or That" or as “God’s Infallible Word.”
The result is that natural abidance—which is shared in common by all life-forms except “humans”—now happens infrequently among the vast majority of persons. The now-common mental sickness among persons is spread via the viruses of ignorance and insanity. The Nisarga Yoga is the vessel that carries the Ultimate Medicine which provides the final dosage required for the total treatment of the sickness.
It is the yoga that can guide seekers along a “path” to being restored to reason and logic and wisdom as a result of being free of belief in false concepts, ideologies, myths, and superstitions. It is the yoga that can result in an understanding of the functioning of the totality;
it is a yoga that can make clear the difference in humanity’s quest for what is “false love” and can guide seekers to an understanding of the Oneness (and, thus, what True Love is); it is the yoga that can eliminate the “supernaturally-inspired” efforts of many to live in an unnatural manner; it is a yoga that can return persons (all of whom have been programmed and conditioned and acculturated and domesticated) to a condition of abidance that is in the style of their original nature;
it is a yoga that can guide seekers to a manner of functioning by which all that happens will happens naturally and spontaneously; and it is a yoga that can result in a fashion of abidance which allows the seekers who complete all seven steps on the “path” to Realization to be, once again, in touch with their innate and inherent and instinctive disposition.
TOMORROW: “Living in the Nisarga Fashion”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
30 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: There is no separating the mind from the belief therein that assigned and / or assumed personalities and false identifications are real; there is no separating personality assignment and / or assumption from the subconscious drive of each persona to avoid what it fears and to attain what it desires . . . at all costs;
There is no separating the belief that one really is her / his false identities and that those ego-states must be protected and defended and sustained at all costs; there is no separating false identities (and the mind in which the belief in them is housed) from the constant false-identity-inspired thinking that so often revolves around the fear and desire agendas of personalities;
therefore, there is no separating false identities and stress because false identities are forever thinking that they are vulnerable, under attack, being challenged, being threatened, having their agendas interfered with, and being disturbed or hurt or hindered or obstructed or impeded or hampered.
Because personality does not show up in a singular mode but always eventually manifests in clusters, the result is that all non-Realized persons live under the influence of the Multiple Personality Disorder (which, in turn, contributes to the numerous other personality disorders which humans all suffer, disorders that can develop into neuroses or full-blown psychoses).
Non-duality has long invited seekers to find what they are not in order to find freedom and peace. Supposedly, two thousand years ago, a man named “Yeshu’a (today called “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ” or “Jesus the Christ”) came to understand a portion of the non-dual teachings.
There is some evidence that he traveled with an uncle who operated a caravan between the Middle East and the Far East and that the uncle took his nephew along on at least one trip. That might explain how Yeshu’a was exposed to the non-dual teachings, some of which he purportedly shared during the last years of his manifestation, including the non-duality pointer that “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.”
However, Maharaj moved beyond focusing solely on duality and the dualistic mind which generates duality-based thinking and which generates duality-based talking and which generates duality-based, insane acts.
In his later talks, Maharaj defined the ultimate objective as being this: coming to a point where one can abide as naturally as everything else on the planet does except for humans. That does not just require being free of dual-mindedness. It requires being free of living under the influence of any of the bogus content of the mind, period.
Nothing else on the planet has a mind except humans, so humans alone face the challenge of understanding what the “Original Nature” was like in order to use that as a model for the way that the abidance should unfold now in the relative. (For the full explanation, see “Your Original Nature” below.)
What was eventually understood here - after “The Vision” came and after all of its implications were finally understood - was this:
Single-mindedness can generate the same traits of the Ultimate Sickness that Maharaj identified (“ignorance, stupid, and insanity”) but which are generally assumed to be generated only by duality;
thus, Maharaj explained that total independence and total freedom (and, therefore, total peace) only come after reaching the “zero-concept, no-mind” state which existed prior to manifestation when only the “Original Nature” was at play.
Here, much space on the blog has been devoted for nine years to an effort to pass on the understanding that “single-mindedness” is as handicapping and debilitating as “dual-mindedness.”
Single-mindedness - as is the case with dual-mindedness - is also driven by personality, manifesting as another personality disorder related to the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder which (for those familiar with the enneagram) is most often associated with Personality Type One Perfectionists.
However, Nines have a One wing; Two’s have a One wing; Type Threes – with their narcissistic sense of being perfect – often present with a high One score; and Type Fours can shift to the One. In other words, OCD drives a large percentage of persons on the planet, and OCD can result in extreme single-mindedness.
Many will recall the woman discussed here on occasion who is in her late 50’s but has been told by several physicians that her organs are more like those of a person in her late 70’s or early 80’s. Why?
Her body type is the one (among the three different body types that exist) which requires a “combination” food plan which includes both the veggies she eats and the protein that she does not eat because she is driven by her “Spiritual OCD.” That version of OCD drives her to follow a food plan prescribed by a group of women from the Far East who are supposedly guiding her through her “final stages” in preparation for breaking free of the supposed cycles of birth-life-death-rebirth that she believes she has been trapped in for centuries.
Believing that she has finally reached a state of absolute purity, she is driven by her OCD and her single-mindedness to avoid all natural ways of living and to avoid all joy and pleasure, ready to leave what she thinks will be her final cycling while being driven by a subconscious “death wish” to take mahasamadhi ASAP before something or someone comes along and tempts her to experience something enjoyable that will spoil her purity and cast her back into another rebirth and another life cycle (an imaginary possibility which she nevertheless dreads not with “all her heart” but with “all her ignorance-and-insanity-filled mind”).
Consider another example:
There is a woman who is called “The Super Catholic of Louisiana.” She, too, has suffered since childhood from monomania (as well as many other disorders which have now developed into various forms of neuroses and psychoses). Her religious fanaticism has driven her to see “all of the evil in the world” through the lens of religion and then label the persons involved as “bad . . . really bad.”
She has taken it upon herself to proselytize constantly in an effort to convert as many people as possible to what she claims is “the only religion that can assure eternal salvation and a heavenly reward, specifically, Catholicism.”
She is as much single-minded as dual-minded, focused solely throughout all of her waking hours with sending out e-mails loaded with Catholic dogma; with calling people to explain why they need to convert to Catholicism or need to re-dedicated themselves to Catholic principles; and with writing weekly editorials to the local, right-wing newspaper that has for decades provided her with a forum for her religious, anti-secular rantings.
Yet those who know her well know that everything she does contradicts what she says as well as what she says others should do. Indeed, the payoff for her has been the same payoff that religion is currently providing to billions: do whatever you want no matter the relative harm to others, ask forgiveness, and then move on with doing whatever you want again; then, follow that same pattern throughout an entire relative existence.
Quite the plan, yes? Quite the payoff, too. In this case, there is again that notion of supposedly remaining pure (but with a few breaks here and there under this supposedly God-approved arrangement).
[A passage read recently, written by Giacomo Giammatteo, contained the thoughts of an Italian mob boss who was recounting his early days in a Catholic school after he has just been forgiven for his already-substantial accumulation of “sins” :
“I smiled as I sat in the pew, saying the rosary. Sister Mary Thomas had just made my day brighter. It was almost summer, and now I had a clean soul. That left a lot of room for fun. I got to thinking about religion and how it worked. Decided the Catholics had it right. The Jewish kid on Third Street didn’t get his sins forgiven like this. If he did something wrong he has to live with it, or go talk to the person, or settle it all up when he died. I wasn’t sure how it worked for him, but it wasn’t like this. Nah, the Catholics have it down pat. Do something bad, tell God about it, then start all over. I liked that.”]
Indeed.
In addition to religion-and-spirituality-based fanaticism, there is the single-mindedness of right-wing and left-wing political activists; the single-mindedness of addicts; the single-mindedness of addicts supposedly “in recovery”; the single-mindedness of sports fans; the single-mindedness of workaholics; the single-mindedness of stage moms; the single-mindedness of performers seeking applause;
the single-mindedness of those who would control people and “the entire world”; the single-mindedness of OCD-driven perfectionists; the single-mindedness of avoiders and escapists; the single-mindedness of those seeking caretakers to become dependent on and co-dependent with; the single-mindedness of conspiracy-theorists;
the single-mindedness of those who claim to be in possession of evidence of visits to earth by “aliens from outer space”; the single-mindedness of those addicted to body image and, therefore, also addicted to excessive exercise; the single-mindedness of those who are constantly seeking sources of money but who never seek work to earn money; ad infinitum.
Consider the prevalence of single-mindedness around the globe, see the massive evidence of dual-mindedness, and then it should become clear that the issue is not as much about “duality vs. non-duality” but is about "mindedness," period. The main problem of humanity centers in the mind, and the content of the mind then drives the subconscious agendas of assumed personalities that are concerned with “self” and “self” only.
Think you are an unselfish giver? Believe you can point to many instances where someone did something for someone other than “self”? The motive is still almost always driven by the desires of “self.” As noted, even the Type Two “Helper” who is forever rescuing and saving and assisting “others” is doing so as a result of the Type Two’s hidden, subconscious, selfish agenda: to get love.
Giving to get is not love at all and is not a self-less act at all. It is as selfish as any other personality-driven act.
The solution? Understand that the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness – symptoms which Maharaj identified as “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” - are rooted in dual-mindedness but can then generate all sorts of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” which, in turn, results in fanatical levels of single-mindedness.
The Ultimate Medicine / the ultimate solution? Being free of mind, period, whether that mind is generating dual-minded thoughts and words and deeds or single-minded thoughts and words and deeds. Such thoughts and words will always result in unnatural acts and / or in supposedly supernatural acts, so the solution also involves abiding naturally, free of all mind-driven, personality-driven nonsense.
To that end, more excerpts from “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” will be offered.
Meanwhile, a final consideration for today: the slogan of the United Negro College Fund in the U.S. is this: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” More accurate would be a slogan which reports, “A mind is a terrible thing . . . a waste.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
29 July 2014
There is no separating the belief that one really is her / his false identities and that those ego-states must be protected and defended and sustained at all costs; there is no separating false identities (and the mind in which the belief in them is housed) from the constant false-identity-inspired thinking that so often revolves around the fear and desire agendas of personalities;
therefore, there is no separating false identities and stress because false identities are forever thinking that they are vulnerable, under attack, being challenged, being threatened, having their agendas interfered with, and being disturbed or hurt or hindered or obstructed or impeded or hampered.
Because personality does not show up in a singular mode but always eventually manifests in clusters, the result is that all non-Realized persons live under the influence of the Multiple Personality Disorder (which, in turn, contributes to the numerous other personality disorders which humans all suffer, disorders that can develop into neuroses or full-blown psychoses).
Non-duality has long invited seekers to find what they are not in order to find freedom and peace. Supposedly, two thousand years ago, a man named “Yeshu’a (today called “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ” or “Jesus the Christ”) came to understand a portion of the non-dual teachings.
There is some evidence that he traveled with an uncle who operated a caravan between the Middle East and the Far East and that the uncle took his nephew along on at least one trip. That might explain how Yeshu’a was exposed to the non-dual teachings, some of which he purportedly shared during the last years of his manifestation, including the non-duality pointer that “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.”
However, Maharaj moved beyond focusing solely on duality and the dualistic mind which generates duality-based thinking and which generates duality-based talking and which generates duality-based, insane acts.
In his later talks, Maharaj defined the ultimate objective as being this: coming to a point where one can abide as naturally as everything else on the planet does except for humans. That does not just require being free of dual-mindedness. It requires being free of living under the influence of any of the bogus content of the mind, period.
Nothing else on the planet has a mind except humans, so humans alone face the challenge of understanding what the “Original Nature” was like in order to use that as a model for the way that the abidance should unfold now in the relative. (For the full explanation, see “Your Original Nature” below.)
What was eventually understood here - after “The Vision” came and after all of its implications were finally understood - was this:
Single-mindedness can generate the same traits of the Ultimate Sickness that Maharaj identified (“ignorance, stupid, and insanity”) but which are generally assumed to be generated only by duality;
thus, Maharaj explained that total independence and total freedom (and, therefore, total peace) only come after reaching the “zero-concept, no-mind” state which existed prior to manifestation when only the “Original Nature” was at play.
Here, much space on the blog has been devoted for nine years to an effort to pass on the understanding that “single-mindedness” is as handicapping and debilitating as “dual-mindedness.”
Single-mindedness - as is the case with dual-mindedness - is also driven by personality, manifesting as another personality disorder related to the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder which (for those familiar with the enneagram) is most often associated with Personality Type One Perfectionists.
However, Nines have a One wing; Two’s have a One wing; Type Threes – with their narcissistic sense of being perfect – often present with a high One score; and Type Fours can shift to the One. In other words, OCD drives a large percentage of persons on the planet, and OCD can result in extreme single-mindedness.
Many will recall the woman discussed here on occasion who is in her late 50’s but has been told by several physicians that her organs are more like those of a person in her late 70’s or early 80’s. Why?
Her body type is the one (among the three different body types that exist) which requires a “combination” food plan which includes both the veggies she eats and the protein that she does not eat because she is driven by her “Spiritual OCD.” That version of OCD drives her to follow a food plan prescribed by a group of women from the Far East who are supposedly guiding her through her “final stages” in preparation for breaking free of the supposed cycles of birth-life-death-rebirth that she believes she has been trapped in for centuries.
Believing that she has finally reached a state of absolute purity, she is driven by her OCD and her single-mindedness to avoid all natural ways of living and to avoid all joy and pleasure, ready to leave what she thinks will be her final cycling while being driven by a subconscious “death wish” to take mahasamadhi ASAP before something or someone comes along and tempts her to experience something enjoyable that will spoil her purity and cast her back into another rebirth and another life cycle (an imaginary possibility which she nevertheless dreads not with “all her heart” but with “all her ignorance-and-insanity-filled mind”).
Consider another example:
There is a woman who is called “The Super Catholic of Louisiana.” She, too, has suffered since childhood from monomania (as well as many other disorders which have now developed into various forms of neuroses and psychoses). Her religious fanaticism has driven her to see “all of the evil in the world” through the lens of religion and then label the persons involved as “bad . . . really bad.”
She has taken it upon herself to proselytize constantly in an effort to convert as many people as possible to what she claims is “the only religion that can assure eternal salvation and a heavenly reward, specifically, Catholicism.”
She is as much single-minded as dual-minded, focused solely throughout all of her waking hours with sending out e-mails loaded with Catholic dogma; with calling people to explain why they need to convert to Catholicism or need to re-dedicated themselves to Catholic principles; and with writing weekly editorials to the local, right-wing newspaper that has for decades provided her with a forum for her religious, anti-secular rantings.
Yet those who know her well know that everything she does contradicts what she says as well as what she says others should do. Indeed, the payoff for her has been the same payoff that religion is currently providing to billions: do whatever you want no matter the relative harm to others, ask forgiveness, and then move on with doing whatever you want again; then, follow that same pattern throughout an entire relative existence.
Quite the plan, yes? Quite the payoff, too. In this case, there is again that notion of supposedly remaining pure (but with a few breaks here and there under this supposedly God-approved arrangement).
[A passage read recently, written by Giacomo Giammatteo, contained the thoughts of an Italian mob boss who was recounting his early days in a Catholic school after he has just been forgiven for his already-substantial accumulation of “sins” :
“I smiled as I sat in the pew, saying the rosary. Sister Mary Thomas had just made my day brighter. It was almost summer, and now I had a clean soul. That left a lot of room for fun. I got to thinking about religion and how it worked. Decided the Catholics had it right. The Jewish kid on Third Street didn’t get his sins forgiven like this. If he did something wrong he has to live with it, or go talk to the person, or settle it all up when he died. I wasn’t sure how it worked for him, but it wasn’t like this. Nah, the Catholics have it down pat. Do something bad, tell God about it, then start all over. I liked that.”]
Indeed.
In addition to religion-and-spirituality-based fanaticism, there is the single-mindedness of right-wing and left-wing political activists; the single-mindedness of addicts; the single-mindedness of addicts supposedly “in recovery”; the single-mindedness of sports fans; the single-mindedness of workaholics; the single-mindedness of stage moms; the single-mindedness of performers seeking applause;
the single-mindedness of those who would control people and “the entire world”; the single-mindedness of OCD-driven perfectionists; the single-mindedness of avoiders and escapists; the single-mindedness of those seeking caretakers to become dependent on and co-dependent with; the single-mindedness of conspiracy-theorists;
the single-mindedness of those who claim to be in possession of evidence of visits to earth by “aliens from outer space”; the single-mindedness of those addicted to body image and, therefore, also addicted to excessive exercise; the single-mindedness of those who are constantly seeking sources of money but who never seek work to earn money; ad infinitum.
Consider the prevalence of single-mindedness around the globe, see the massive evidence of dual-mindedness, and then it should become clear that the issue is not as much about “duality vs. non-duality” but is about "mindedness," period. The main problem of humanity centers in the mind, and the content of the mind then drives the subconscious agendas of assumed personalities that are concerned with “self” and “self” only.
Think you are an unselfish giver? Believe you can point to many instances where someone did something for someone other than “self”? The motive is still almost always driven by the desires of “self.” As noted, even the Type Two “Helper” who is forever rescuing and saving and assisting “others” is doing so as a result of the Type Two’s hidden, subconscious, selfish agenda: to get love.
Giving to get is not love at all and is not a self-less act at all. It is as selfish as any other personality-driven act.
The solution? Understand that the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness – symptoms which Maharaj identified as “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” - are rooted in dual-mindedness but can then generate all sorts of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” which, in turn, results in fanatical levels of single-mindedness.
The Ultimate Medicine / the ultimate solution? Being free of mind, period, whether that mind is generating dual-minded thoughts and words and deeds or single-minded thoughts and words and deeds. Such thoughts and words will always result in unnatural acts and / or in supposedly supernatural acts, so the solution also involves abiding naturally, free of all mind-driven, personality-driven nonsense.
To that end, more excerpts from “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” will be offered.
Meanwhile, a final consideration for today: the slogan of the United Negro College Fund in the U.S. is this: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” More accurate would be a slogan which reports, “A mind is a terrible thing . . . a waste.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
29 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: More from “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” in which this is offered:
If one reads the book "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution," it becomes clear that his early emphasis was not solely on “the ultimate objective" of abiding naturally. The "totally unadulterated version of a purely nisarga message" came years later.
In order to understand exactly what the Nisarga Yoga offers, therefore, it must be defined in terms of Maharaj’s later messages, not by the content of his earlier talks:
Defining Nisarga Yoga
At the simplest level, one may take “nisarga” to mean “natural.” As used most frequently, the term "Nisarga Yoga" refers to the yoga that is best explicated in the later talks by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in which he advocated for “natural living” or for abidance as “the natural state” or “your original state” as opposed to abiding unnaturally or trying to live supernaturally.
The Natural Disposition
Every form or space on the planet has an innate disposition. That natural, inherent, instinctive disposition is simple and uncomplicated, allowing for a relative existence that is undemanding, plain, minimalistic, unadorned, bare and fairly effortless at its core as a result of being non-attached.
Be the reference to a rock or a flower or a bird or a tree or a fish or a deer, everything that happens among those forms / life-forms happens spontaneously without thought. That is the result of a simple, no-mind, no-concept, no-belief, natural manner of functioning; too, that happens planet-wide without any exceptions, except for one.
When the Natural Disposition Became Skewed
The exception: the space or form or composite unity called “humans.” As the human brain increased in mass over the millennia from (1) a size that would fill one coffee cup to (2) a size that would fill three-and-a-half coffee cups, a “mind” evolved; that is, the ability to store and retrieve data developed.
What actually came about was the development of a section of the brain which was capable of storing information and capable of retrieving information, a process that happened spontaneously and naturally in order to perpetuate the species—such longing for perpetuation being natural once consciousness manifests.
(You do not have to train a bird to fly away from a human walking noisily through a forest. The consciousness automatically and spontaneously drives that behavior, and there is no mind—and thus no thought—involved in the movement of the bird. It is natural. The bird is aware of the I AM, even in the absence of language which allows the thought “I AM” to happen.)
How Language-Borne Lies Began Spreading the Ultimate Sickness Across the Globe
If one would address the most prevalent sickness around the globe, focus not on “pandemics.” They affect few, comparatively speaking. If seekers would be well and free, they are invited via the Nisarga Yoga to focus on the Ultimate Sickness that is infecting and affecting 99% or more of the persons on the planet. It is a sickness which prevents a seeing of the unicity and which drives misperceived thoughts about separation and division and disharmony and better-than-ment, eliminating any chance for the "peace on earth" wish that some persons call for annually.
What is not understood by those trapped in the ignorance which is generated by the Ultimate Sickness is this: everything in this universe evolved from one, single atom. There really is a unity beyond the multiplicity; however, once language developed, humans began perpetuating dualistic beliefs that reinforced a false sense of separation.
They dreamed up the false concept of “time” and divided what is a continuous stream of happenings into groups and subgroups: millennia, centuries, decades, years, months, days, minutes, seconds, etc. Then they began telling lies that they thought to be truth.
The result is this: what had been a simple, uncomplicated, undemanding, plain, minimalistic, unadorned, bare and fairly effortless natural existence became - among persons - quite complex, complicated, demanding, elaborate, conspicuous, adorned, embellished, strenuous, unnatural and / or supernatural existence.
How the Desire To Be Supernatural and To Live Supernaturally Has Almost Eliminated Natural Living Altogether
Few persons on the planet now live naturally. Unnatural and supernatural living have become the abnormal norm. While a relative existence that is marked by that which is complex, complicated, demanding, elaborate, conspicuous, adorned, embellished, and strenuous is unnatural, it is nevertheless sought by the masses. Why?
Because of thinking. Warped, distorted thinking. Magical, superstition-and-myth-based, mind-inspired, egocentric thinking has generated concepts about a god or gods and goddesses, resulting in complicated efforts among most humans to try to live supernaturally rather than naturally. More and more, it is lies (rooted in ignorance and misunderstanding) that have become widely-accepted as truth, such as this belief that humans once held on a near-global basis:
“There are powerful beings in other worlds that cause thunder” and “those powers use thunder for 'good' and 'bad' and to send specific messages to humans, depending on the day of the week that the thunder is heard":
“If there is thunder on Sunday, wise men will die; if there is thunder on a Monday, it signals the death of many women; if there is thunder on Tuesday, it is a sign that there will be plenty of grain; if it thunders on Wednesday, then many prostitutes will die; “if there is thunder on a Thursday, it is a sign that there will be plenty of sheep and corn; if it thunders on Friday, some great man or noble leader will die and that will trigger additional murders; if it thunders on a Saturday; it is a warning that a plague is coming and it will cause widespread death.”
An extreme example? No more extreme than believing that if you die killing Christians, you’ll be blessed with multiple virgins, prostitutes and wives in a paradise; no more extreme than believing that if you kill Muslims in foreign lands, you are a patriot; no more extreme than believing that all Jews should be exterminated; and no more extreme than Jews in Israel behaving in cruel and severe ways that some other races have been highly criticized for in the past;
no more extreme than believing that a household can benefit from some magical power if blood is spread above a doorway; believing that it is "good" to beat yourself about the head and back with spikes and to walk through the streets in "a holy parade" of blood; no more extreme than believing you can inspire a god to make it rain if you have sex with a virgin, cut out her heart while she is still alive, and pass it through the crowd where all can eat her body and drink her blood and thereby be in communion with the rain god and please him by participating in that ceremony;
no more extreme than believing that you can have conscious contact with a supreme power in another world if you drink blood and eat body in weekly or monthly services conducted in supposedly "holy" buildings; and no more extreme than believing that you should kill all persons who do not believe in the concepts set forth in your dogma.
All of that is most unnatural, but all of that has been believed in by billions upon billions of people on the planet. The Nisarga Yoga invites persons to abide in the same natural manner that all other "non-human forms / spaces" on the planet abide in rather than in the supposedly supernatural fashion illustrated above. The Nisargan invitation is to be free of belief in all unnatural and supernatural concepts which all drive ignorant and insane behavior.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
28 July 2014
If one reads the book "Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution," it becomes clear that his early emphasis was not solely on “the ultimate objective" of abiding naturally. The "totally unadulterated version of a purely nisarga message" came years later.
In order to understand exactly what the Nisarga Yoga offers, therefore, it must be defined in terms of Maharaj’s later messages, not by the content of his earlier talks:
Defining Nisarga Yoga
At the simplest level, one may take “nisarga” to mean “natural.” As used most frequently, the term "Nisarga Yoga" refers to the yoga that is best explicated in the later talks by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj in which he advocated for “natural living” or for abidance as “the natural state” or “your original state” as opposed to abiding unnaturally or trying to live supernaturally.
The Natural Disposition
Every form or space on the planet has an innate disposition. That natural, inherent, instinctive disposition is simple and uncomplicated, allowing for a relative existence that is undemanding, plain, minimalistic, unadorned, bare and fairly effortless at its core as a result of being non-attached.
Be the reference to a rock or a flower or a bird or a tree or a fish or a deer, everything that happens among those forms / life-forms happens spontaneously without thought. That is the result of a simple, no-mind, no-concept, no-belief, natural manner of functioning; too, that happens planet-wide without any exceptions, except for one.
When the Natural Disposition Became Skewed
The exception: the space or form or composite unity called “humans.” As the human brain increased in mass over the millennia from (1) a size that would fill one coffee cup to (2) a size that would fill three-and-a-half coffee cups, a “mind” evolved; that is, the ability to store and retrieve data developed.
What actually came about was the development of a section of the brain which was capable of storing information and capable of retrieving information, a process that happened spontaneously and naturally in order to perpetuate the species—such longing for perpetuation being natural once consciousness manifests.
(You do not have to train a bird to fly away from a human walking noisily through a forest. The consciousness automatically and spontaneously drives that behavior, and there is no mind—and thus no thought—involved in the movement of the bird. It is natural. The bird is aware of the I AM, even in the absence of language which allows the thought “I AM” to happen.)
How Language-Borne Lies Began Spreading the Ultimate Sickness Across the Globe
If one would address the most prevalent sickness around the globe, focus not on “pandemics.” They affect few, comparatively speaking. If seekers would be well and free, they are invited via the Nisarga Yoga to focus on the Ultimate Sickness that is infecting and affecting 99% or more of the persons on the planet. It is a sickness which prevents a seeing of the unicity and which drives misperceived thoughts about separation and division and disharmony and better-than-ment, eliminating any chance for the "peace on earth" wish that some persons call for annually.
What is not understood by those trapped in the ignorance which is generated by the Ultimate Sickness is this: everything in this universe evolved from one, single atom. There really is a unity beyond the multiplicity; however, once language developed, humans began perpetuating dualistic beliefs that reinforced a false sense of separation.
They dreamed up the false concept of “time” and divided what is a continuous stream of happenings into groups and subgroups: millennia, centuries, decades, years, months, days, minutes, seconds, etc. Then they began telling lies that they thought to be truth.
The result is this: what had been a simple, uncomplicated, undemanding, plain, minimalistic, unadorned, bare and fairly effortless natural existence became - among persons - quite complex, complicated, demanding, elaborate, conspicuous, adorned, embellished, strenuous, unnatural and / or supernatural existence.
How the Desire To Be Supernatural and To Live Supernaturally Has Almost Eliminated Natural Living Altogether
Few persons on the planet now live naturally. Unnatural and supernatural living have become the abnormal norm. While a relative existence that is marked by that which is complex, complicated, demanding, elaborate, conspicuous, adorned, embellished, and strenuous is unnatural, it is nevertheless sought by the masses. Why?
Because of thinking. Warped, distorted thinking. Magical, superstition-and-myth-based, mind-inspired, egocentric thinking has generated concepts about a god or gods and goddesses, resulting in complicated efforts among most humans to try to live supernaturally rather than naturally. More and more, it is lies (rooted in ignorance and misunderstanding) that have become widely-accepted as truth, such as this belief that humans once held on a near-global basis:
“There are powerful beings in other worlds that cause thunder” and “those powers use thunder for 'good' and 'bad' and to send specific messages to humans, depending on the day of the week that the thunder is heard":
“If there is thunder on Sunday, wise men will die; if there is thunder on a Monday, it signals the death of many women; if there is thunder on Tuesday, it is a sign that there will be plenty of grain; if it thunders on Wednesday, then many prostitutes will die; “if there is thunder on a Thursday, it is a sign that there will be plenty of sheep and corn; if it thunders on Friday, some great man or noble leader will die and that will trigger additional murders; if it thunders on a Saturday; it is a warning that a plague is coming and it will cause widespread death.”
An extreme example? No more extreme than believing that if you die killing Christians, you’ll be blessed with multiple virgins, prostitutes and wives in a paradise; no more extreme than believing that if you kill Muslims in foreign lands, you are a patriot; no more extreme than believing that all Jews should be exterminated; and no more extreme than Jews in Israel behaving in cruel and severe ways that some other races have been highly criticized for in the past;
no more extreme than believing that a household can benefit from some magical power if blood is spread above a doorway; believing that it is "good" to beat yourself about the head and back with spikes and to walk through the streets in "a holy parade" of blood; no more extreme than believing you can inspire a god to make it rain if you have sex with a virgin, cut out her heart while she is still alive, and pass it through the crowd where all can eat her body and drink her blood and thereby be in communion with the rain god and please him by participating in that ceremony;
no more extreme than believing that you can have conscious contact with a supreme power in another world if you drink blood and eat body in weekly or monthly services conducted in supposedly "holy" buildings; and no more extreme than believing that you should kill all persons who do not believe in the concepts set forth in your dogma.
All of that is most unnatural, but all of that has been believed in by billions upon billions of people on the planet. The Nisarga Yoga invites persons to abide in the same natural manner that all other "non-human forms / spaces" on the planet abide in rather than in the supposedly supernatural fashion illustrated above. The Nisargan invitation is to be free of belief in all unnatural and supernatural concepts which all drive ignorant and insane behavior.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
28 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: [From yesterday]
In the book entitled, “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” this is offered:
“What the relative existence will be like while abiding in a nisarga / natural manner will appear to be very strange to those who are trying to follow a knowledge path, a worship path, an action path, or a service path. So it is. Those paths are available for discussion elsewhere.”
Here, the “end game” is abiding naturally and sanely and reasonably and logically and spontaneously, not unnaturally and not supernaturally. More on that tomorrow.
Over the years when the non-Realized who think they are Realized made the erroneous charge that “You don’t have a clue what non-duality is about!” their claim could have been closer to being an accurate statement had they said this instead:
“The version of non-duality that I’ve come across did not combine the Direct Path Teaching Method with Nisarga Yoga; instead, it was a version of one of the other four methods of teachings (Traditional, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita) and it used no accompanying yoga or it used a different yoga from the dozens available;
therefore, the ego-state that I’ve assumed as "A Non-Dual Expert" (an "expert" being nothing more than a "former spurt") really has no clue at all about the fact that there are thousands of persons who are presenting one of the thousands of permutations and combinations or versions of non-duality that are floating around out there which I know nothing about at all. Really, if you want to know how blind I am while arrogantly believing that I can see all, you could compare me to one of the men in the story of 'The Blind Men and the Elephant'.”
[In that tale, a group of blind men (or “men in the dark”) use their hands to touch an elephant in an effort to determine what it is like. Each one feels a different part (but only one part) such as the side or a tusk or a leg or the tail. They then compare their opinions and learn that they are in complete disagreement. In some versions, they stop talking, start listening and collaborate to "see" the full elephant. When a sighted man walks by and sees the entire elephant all at once, they also learn that they are blind. The point: while one's subjective experience is true, it will not provide the totality of truth if one does not know all of the facts involved but instead draws uninformed but steadfast and stubborn conclusions that are not based in fact or truth at all.]
Thus, some seekers try to use the understanding to escape reality by using their so-called “understanding of Reality” in order to move into a castle in the air or into Foo-Foo Land or into La-La Land where they are actually totally unconscious while believing they are fully conscious.
To be in touch with Reality but out of touch with reality is not Realization at all. It is insanity. The version of non-duality offered by Maharaj in the end – after he advised seekers to stop reading “I AM THAT” and to pay attention to the pointers in his latest talks – was all about abiding naturally.
[Of the early sharings and the content of the book "I AM THAT," Maharaj would say in his later days: "That book and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today," adding that in his later days he was "emphasizing different aspects," meaning non-religious and non-“spiritual” aspects.]
So revisit the message that he received from a fellow seeker whose path Maharaj crossed when going through his “Forest Dweller” stage, basically being told: “You do not have to go anywhere to Realize. Be restored to sanity via Realization, then get on with life . . . with the relative existence. Go home, tend to your business, tend to your family, take care of your basic relative needs that are required during the relative existence, and stop all this other nonsense that has you wandering about (which is only more evidence that you have not yet found that which you seek).”
There is enough craziness on the planet without the non-Realized who think they are Realized adding to the insanity.
Only a human trapped in arrogance and ignorance could look at the natural way that every living thing on the planet abides except for humans but still conclude that humans are right to abide unnaturally and / or supernaturally.
Only a human trapped in arrogance and ignorance could look at the natural way that every living thing on the planet abides except for humans but still conclude that supernatural living (being driven by religious thinking, spiritual thinking, or magical thinking) is the way to go through the relative existence.
Here, the Direct Path Method is used in combination with the Nisarga Yoga to allow persons to (a) first Realize but then (b) abide naturally thereafter, which is the only sane and logical and rational manner of abidance that exists.
From “WHY NISARGA YOGA”:
“Often using present experiences as data or examples, the Direct Path Method deconstructs the existing body of presumptions, the belief systems, and the psychological structures—all of which make persons feel separate, vulnerable, and cut off from reality.
“[NOTE: What persons call 'problems' all arise via the warped consciousness, the bogus 'mind,' the ego-states assumed as identities by persons, and the personality disorders that result; therefore, the teacher that uses the Direct Path Method must have some advanced understanding of the principles of psychology. Recall, the point has been offered that – in the end - Maharaj was a 'Master of Psychology' after having rejected the earlier roles of being a 'Religious Master' and a 'Spiritual Master.']”
Also from “WHY NISARGA YOGA”:
“When the illogical, unreasonable, and irrational nature of psychological structures are held up to the light of awareness for a seeker that is capable of being logical and reasonable and rational, the psychological structures peacefully dissolve.
“An awakening happens that is marked by sweetness, by an immediacy, and by a gapless clarity which is awareness itself. And quite often, laughter accompanies 'the peripetia' - that seeing of the truth that others have seen but that the seeker only now sees.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
27 July 2014
In the book entitled, “WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?” this is offered:
“What the relative existence will be like while abiding in a nisarga / natural manner will appear to be very strange to those who are trying to follow a knowledge path, a worship path, an action path, or a service path. So it is. Those paths are available for discussion elsewhere.”
Here, the “end game” is abiding naturally and sanely and reasonably and logically and spontaneously, not unnaturally and not supernaturally. More on that tomorrow.
Over the years when the non-Realized who think they are Realized made the erroneous charge that “You don’t have a clue what non-duality is about!” their claim could have been closer to being an accurate statement had they said this instead:
“The version of non-duality that I’ve come across did not combine the Direct Path Teaching Method with Nisarga Yoga; instead, it was a version of one of the other four methods of teachings (Traditional, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita) and it used no accompanying yoga or it used a different yoga from the dozens available;
therefore, the ego-state that I’ve assumed as "A Non-Dual Expert" (an "expert" being nothing more than a "former spurt") really has no clue at all about the fact that there are thousands of persons who are presenting one of the thousands of permutations and combinations or versions of non-duality that are floating around out there which I know nothing about at all. Really, if you want to know how blind I am while arrogantly believing that I can see all, you could compare me to one of the men in the story of 'The Blind Men and the Elephant'.”
[In that tale, a group of blind men (or “men in the dark”) use their hands to touch an elephant in an effort to determine what it is like. Each one feels a different part (but only one part) such as the side or a tusk or a leg or the tail. They then compare their opinions and learn that they are in complete disagreement. In some versions, they stop talking, start listening and collaborate to "see" the full elephant. When a sighted man walks by and sees the entire elephant all at once, they also learn that they are blind. The point: while one's subjective experience is true, it will not provide the totality of truth if one does not know all of the facts involved but instead draws uninformed but steadfast and stubborn conclusions that are not based in fact or truth at all.]
Thus, some seekers try to use the understanding to escape reality by using their so-called “understanding of Reality” in order to move into a castle in the air or into Foo-Foo Land or into La-La Land where they are actually totally unconscious while believing they are fully conscious.
To be in touch with Reality but out of touch with reality is not Realization at all. It is insanity. The version of non-duality offered by Maharaj in the end – after he advised seekers to stop reading “I AM THAT” and to pay attention to the pointers in his latest talks – was all about abiding naturally.
[Of the early sharings and the content of the book "I AM THAT," Maharaj would say in his later days: "That book and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today," adding that in his later days he was "emphasizing different aspects," meaning non-religious and non-“spiritual” aspects.]
So revisit the message that he received from a fellow seeker whose path Maharaj crossed when going through his “Forest Dweller” stage, basically being told: “You do not have to go anywhere to Realize. Be restored to sanity via Realization, then get on with life . . . with the relative existence. Go home, tend to your business, tend to your family, take care of your basic relative needs that are required during the relative existence, and stop all this other nonsense that has you wandering about (which is only more evidence that you have not yet found that which you seek).”
There is enough craziness on the planet without the non-Realized who think they are Realized adding to the insanity.
Only a human trapped in arrogance and ignorance could look at the natural way that every living thing on the planet abides except for humans but still conclude that humans are right to abide unnaturally and / or supernaturally.
Only a human trapped in arrogance and ignorance could look at the natural way that every living thing on the planet abides except for humans but still conclude that supernatural living (being driven by religious thinking, spiritual thinking, or magical thinking) is the way to go through the relative existence.
Here, the Direct Path Method is used in combination with the Nisarga Yoga to allow persons to (a) first Realize but then (b) abide naturally thereafter, which is the only sane and logical and rational manner of abidance that exists.
From “WHY NISARGA YOGA”:
“Often using present experiences as data or examples, the Direct Path Method deconstructs the existing body of presumptions, the belief systems, and the psychological structures—all of which make persons feel separate, vulnerable, and cut off from reality.
“[NOTE: What persons call 'problems' all arise via the warped consciousness, the bogus 'mind,' the ego-states assumed as identities by persons, and the personality disorders that result; therefore, the teacher that uses the Direct Path Method must have some advanced understanding of the principles of psychology. Recall, the point has been offered that – in the end - Maharaj was a 'Master of Psychology' after having rejected the earlier roles of being a 'Religious Master' and a 'Spiritual Master.']”
Also from “WHY NISARGA YOGA”:
“When the illogical, unreasonable, and irrational nature of psychological structures are held up to the light of awareness for a seeker that is capable of being logical and reasonable and rational, the psychological structures peacefully dissolve.
“An awakening happens that is marked by sweetness, by an immediacy, and by a gapless clarity which is awareness itself. And quite often, laughter accompanies 'the peripetia' - that seeing of the truth that others have seen but that the seeker only now sees.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
27 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: If a seeker would be happy and free, then it is the way that the relative existence happens that must change, not "the eternal." That which is permanent never changes. Change can only happen during the relative, and happiness and freedom can only manifest NOW.
If happiness and freedom are to manifest NOW, then all which is rooted in dualistic beliefs must “go,” and – according to Maharaj – all of the dynamics of one perceived source of happiness (which often actually devolves into something that is far from a source of happiness) must be understood.
That supposed source? “Relationships.” To speak of “dreamed-up needs which are personality-generated” has required this current series to look at “relationships” as well. Non-dualists know full well that all is one and that to speak of a separate “A” doing something with a separate “B” is impossible.
However, in the “relative” (with that term being rooted in the word “relate” – as in an “A” relating to a “B” - and with both of those words being involved with the concept of “relationships”), there is nothing that occupies more of the time and energy and thoughts and actions among humans than relations. And many believe that marriage is one of the greatest sources of happiness and that it is one of the customs that most people are simply expected to do and that they are going to do.
[By the way, “love” or "being happily in love together" are both far down the list when married persons are asked why they married. The book "CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS" offers the results of statistical studies which show that on the list of “The Reasons Given for Having Married,” “love” was a remote motivation.]
In the 1960’s in the U.S., 85% of all adults were married, and that was typical around much of the globe. Today, that number is just under 50% and still declining, though 72% of adults report that they were married at some point.
As the heterosexual rate of divorce is increasing and as their rate of marriage is declining, homosexuals are now fighting for their right to marry. Thus, duality is alive and well among humans and will remain so, most at some point or another wanting to form a partnership or marriage with someone and then assume a new identity assigned by their culture.
[As mentioned, persons have pointed out that there is “relationship” or “partnership” here with a woman. Whatever. Call it what they will, the non-Realized have no clue at all about the actual dynamic of Oneness involved with what happens here. And most have no clue about what “Love” involves vs. what “love” supposedly involves. Bottom line: there are no identities here at play as is always the case with what non-Realized persons label “relationships” or “partnerships," and that is precisely why there is no BS involved, either. There are no personalities with their subconscious agendas at play, so there is no possibility of arguing, fighting, debating, or any other activities that interrupt the peace.]
Moreover, there is no one here who cares which hetero marries which hetero, so there is also most certainly no one here that cares which gay marries which gay.
The fact is, though, that humans are driven by desires to couple; to reproduce; to write or listen to more music dealing with "love" and "relationships" than about any other subject; and to come together while ignoring the fact that most will come apart sooner rather than later.
Still, many believe going into them that their relationships – involving marriage or not – are going to be a source of happiness or a solution for any of the scores of other problems or issues that they are facing. Some later claim that marriage became their greatest source of misery.
Maharaj: That which gives you pleasure will eventually give you pain, and that which gives you the greatest pleasure will eventually give you the greatest pain.
The divorce rate is still high in the U.S. at 53% and has surged to 60% at times. But Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and Hungary report divorce rates that are higher than 60%. Belgium has the highest rate of divorce in some studies, currently at 70%. And all those rates are on the rise.
While Maharaj used the word “pain” to provide the pointers above, he usually made the distinction offered here: pain is of the body; misery and suffering are of the mind.
All suffering is rooted in the mind because only personalities / ego-states – that is, conceptualized identifications that are also a product of the mind – can believe that they are miserable and suffering. Only a persona can believe that it is being interfered with and that it is being threatened; while the Realized can feel, there is no emoting going on. That, too, is limited to ego-states, to false identities. And all of the above is nothing more than "mind stuff."
This was offered yesterday:
"TOMORROW: No matter which of the five teaching methods you might be using to seek Realization, only the nisarga yoga (and the natural manner of abiding that comes with the Nisargan understanding) can set you totally free even as Reality is overlaid on the relative (allowing sane and wise decisions and choice to finally be made)."
Maharaj identified the relationship continuum that is rooted in “dreamed-up needs which are personality-generated” and that inspires a plethora of assumed identities (and, hence, distortion, delusion, misery and suffering). To paraphrase, he spoke of the movement from . . .
strangers to acquaintances to friends to dating partners to lovers to fiancés / fiancées to spouses to haters to divorcés / divorcees to enemies to mortal enemies.
How to avoid the trap. As noted, “husbanding” and “wifing” can happen without assuming the roles of “The Husband” or “The Wife” (who soon self-upgrade to “The Super Husband” and “the Super Wife”); moreover, “husbanding” and “wifing” can happen without being driven by the subconscious, hidden, selfish agendas of “The Super Husband” and “the Super Wife”.
That could be a natural way to abide. Birds pair up (though research has shown that the far right’s claim that “birds are monogamous for life so humans should be, too” has been disproved by researchers whose filming in the forest has shown that it takes less than ten seconds for a bird left alone in the nest to fly over to another bird, have sex, and fly back to the nest). Fish also pair up. The deer in this neighborhood pair up as well.
It happens, naturally, across the wide range of species. (Many pair up with same-sex partners and many pair up with opposite sex partners, as is presently the case with eleven homosexual penguin couples at a New York City zoo. By the way, none of the heterosexual penguin couples care. In fact, should it not be asked of interfering, controlling humans, “WHO does care about who is pairing with whom?” and "WHO wants to control who can pair with whom?")
Whatever way the pairings come down, it is natural for pairings to happen. What is not natural are the ways that humans pair up, assuming and assigning the labels Maharaj referred to above and at each stage of the continuum claiming more and more of a sense of ownership.
A "stranger" perspective can be quite liberal: “We met and had a one-night stand. Really cool. She went out with three other guys over the next three nights, but I had fun that night we were together.”
But a “fiancé / fiancée” perspective is quite different: “No fiancé / fiancée of mine is going to behave that way!”
The grip tightens even more whenever a culture has assigned another label: “No husband / wife of mine is going to behave that way!”
As each stage of the continuum is entered into, there is a greater and greater sense of “ownership” - a word that is not even in the language that my Cherokee Grandmother originally spoke before she learned English. Other words not in that language that humans might well avoid (if they would also avoid conflict in “relationships”) include “mine,” “claim,” “control,” and “own.”
Most unnatural, the effects of assuming the identities Maharaj listed along that continuum (along with suddenly accepting the belief that another person can become “yours” and that you should be able to “control” that person after your culture's institutions apply certain new labels and identifications to both of you).
Do males fight over females in the wild? Sure, but that is more biological and far less learned behavior than is the case among humans.
All living forms on the planet abide in a no-concept, no-identity, non-dual manner except for humans. That is natural. It is, for the most part, fairly harmonious though not always "easy." Walk around this neighborhood in the afternoon and you will see something Maharaj spoke of, namely, deer resting, lying in the cool, blue shade. It’s natural.
Yet one can walk for days and months and years and never see humans that relaxed. And that’s unnatural; additionally, the go-do-zoom mentality of humanity that was once more prevalent in Western societies has now spread to the East as well.
To Realize is not enough. One must Realize + understand how to abide naturally in order to be totally free . . . totally free of chaos, freed from constant disharmony, free of fighting, and freed from trying to control and reform and perfect “the world” and everyone in it.
To receive the entire “package” that the non-dual understanding offers, one must take the additional steps to allow for natural abidance. While every life-form on this planet except humans abides naturally, most humans abide quite unnaturally while many also try to live supernaturally (thinking “religiously” or “spiritually” or “magically”).
The #1 cause of divorce has been identified in studies as “money issues,” followed by “in-law troubles” and “sex problems” in third place. (Pay money to a sister-in-law for sex and you’ll likely win “The Divorce Trifecta.”)
Nothing except humans (with their personal identities and the phony needs that are dreamed up by personalities) suffer the angst of “money issues,” “in-law troubles” and “sex problems.” Everything that has anything to do with personality is unnatural and will generate problems and trouble.
Abiding naturally is cheap. Far fewer "money issues" arise if abiding naturally. Living unnaturally under the influence of ego-states can become very expensive – and thus economically troubling - when one has to have the best-looking mate (who often proves to come with a very high "maintenance cost") and when one has to have the best car and the largest house and the biggest lake house and the best holidays, etc.
Trying to abide supernaturally can also be very expensive and economically troubling as persons are driven to wear expensive special clothes / robes; as they are driven to travel to what they think are “special, holy, different places” on the planet in order to have a “special, holy, different experience”;
as they are driven to give 10% of their annual earning to one sky cult or another; and as they are driven to spend, spend, spend to support their religious or spiritual or special image.
In the book entitled, "WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?" this is offered:
“What the relative existence will be like while abiding in a nisarga / natural manner will appear to be very strange to those who are trying to follow a knowledge path, a worship path, an action path, or a service path. So it is. Those paths are available for discussion elsewhere, not here.”
Here, the “end game” is abiding naturally and sanely and reasonably and logically and spontaneously, not unnaturally and not supernaturally. More on that tomorrow.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
26 July 2014
If happiness and freedom are to manifest NOW, then all which is rooted in dualistic beliefs must “go,” and – according to Maharaj – all of the dynamics of one perceived source of happiness (which often actually devolves into something that is far from a source of happiness) must be understood.
That supposed source? “Relationships.” To speak of “dreamed-up needs which are personality-generated” has required this current series to look at “relationships” as well. Non-dualists know full well that all is one and that to speak of a separate “A” doing something with a separate “B” is impossible.
However, in the “relative” (with that term being rooted in the word “relate” – as in an “A” relating to a “B” - and with both of those words being involved with the concept of “relationships”), there is nothing that occupies more of the time and energy and thoughts and actions among humans than relations. And many believe that marriage is one of the greatest sources of happiness and that it is one of the customs that most people are simply expected to do and that they are going to do.
[By the way, “love” or "being happily in love together" are both far down the list when married persons are asked why they married. The book "CASTING LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF RELATIONSHIPS" offers the results of statistical studies which show that on the list of “The Reasons Given for Having Married,” “love” was a remote motivation.]
In the 1960’s in the U.S., 85% of all adults were married, and that was typical around much of the globe. Today, that number is just under 50% and still declining, though 72% of adults report that they were married at some point.
As the heterosexual rate of divorce is increasing and as their rate of marriage is declining, homosexuals are now fighting for their right to marry. Thus, duality is alive and well among humans and will remain so, most at some point or another wanting to form a partnership or marriage with someone and then assume a new identity assigned by their culture.
[As mentioned, persons have pointed out that there is “relationship” or “partnership” here with a woman. Whatever. Call it what they will, the non-Realized have no clue at all about the actual dynamic of Oneness involved with what happens here. And most have no clue about what “Love” involves vs. what “love” supposedly involves. Bottom line: there are no identities here at play as is always the case with what non-Realized persons label “relationships” or “partnerships," and that is precisely why there is no BS involved, either. There are no personalities with their subconscious agendas at play, so there is no possibility of arguing, fighting, debating, or any other activities that interrupt the peace.]
Moreover, there is no one here who cares which hetero marries which hetero, so there is also most certainly no one here that cares which gay marries which gay.
The fact is, though, that humans are driven by desires to couple; to reproduce; to write or listen to more music dealing with "love" and "relationships" than about any other subject; and to come together while ignoring the fact that most will come apart sooner rather than later.
Still, many believe going into them that their relationships – involving marriage or not – are going to be a source of happiness or a solution for any of the scores of other problems or issues that they are facing. Some later claim that marriage became their greatest source of misery.
Maharaj: That which gives you pleasure will eventually give you pain, and that which gives you the greatest pleasure will eventually give you the greatest pain.
The divorce rate is still high in the U.S. at 53% and has surged to 60% at times. But Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and Hungary report divorce rates that are higher than 60%. Belgium has the highest rate of divorce in some studies, currently at 70%. And all those rates are on the rise.
While Maharaj used the word “pain” to provide the pointers above, he usually made the distinction offered here: pain is of the body; misery and suffering are of the mind.
All suffering is rooted in the mind because only personalities / ego-states – that is, conceptualized identifications that are also a product of the mind – can believe that they are miserable and suffering. Only a persona can believe that it is being interfered with and that it is being threatened; while the Realized can feel, there is no emoting going on. That, too, is limited to ego-states, to false identities. And all of the above is nothing more than "mind stuff."
This was offered yesterday:
"TOMORROW: No matter which of the five teaching methods you might be using to seek Realization, only the nisarga yoga (and the natural manner of abiding that comes with the Nisargan understanding) can set you totally free even as Reality is overlaid on the relative (allowing sane and wise decisions and choice to finally be made)."
Maharaj identified the relationship continuum that is rooted in “dreamed-up needs which are personality-generated” and that inspires a plethora of assumed identities (and, hence, distortion, delusion, misery and suffering). To paraphrase, he spoke of the movement from . . .
strangers to acquaintances to friends to dating partners to lovers to fiancés / fiancées to spouses to haters to divorcés / divorcees to enemies to mortal enemies.
How to avoid the trap. As noted, “husbanding” and “wifing” can happen without assuming the roles of “The Husband” or “The Wife” (who soon self-upgrade to “The Super Husband” and “the Super Wife”); moreover, “husbanding” and “wifing” can happen without being driven by the subconscious, hidden, selfish agendas of “The Super Husband” and “the Super Wife”.
That could be a natural way to abide. Birds pair up (though research has shown that the far right’s claim that “birds are monogamous for life so humans should be, too” has been disproved by researchers whose filming in the forest has shown that it takes less than ten seconds for a bird left alone in the nest to fly over to another bird, have sex, and fly back to the nest). Fish also pair up. The deer in this neighborhood pair up as well.
It happens, naturally, across the wide range of species. (Many pair up with same-sex partners and many pair up with opposite sex partners, as is presently the case with eleven homosexual penguin couples at a New York City zoo. By the way, none of the heterosexual penguin couples care. In fact, should it not be asked of interfering, controlling humans, “WHO does care about who is pairing with whom?” and "WHO wants to control who can pair with whom?")
Whatever way the pairings come down, it is natural for pairings to happen. What is not natural are the ways that humans pair up, assuming and assigning the labels Maharaj referred to above and at each stage of the continuum claiming more and more of a sense of ownership.
A "stranger" perspective can be quite liberal: “We met and had a one-night stand. Really cool. She went out with three other guys over the next three nights, but I had fun that night we were together.”
But a “fiancé / fiancée” perspective is quite different: “No fiancé / fiancée of mine is going to behave that way!”
The grip tightens even more whenever a culture has assigned another label: “No husband / wife of mine is going to behave that way!”
As each stage of the continuum is entered into, there is a greater and greater sense of “ownership” - a word that is not even in the language that my Cherokee Grandmother originally spoke before she learned English. Other words not in that language that humans might well avoid (if they would also avoid conflict in “relationships”) include “mine,” “claim,” “control,” and “own.”
Most unnatural, the effects of assuming the identities Maharaj listed along that continuum (along with suddenly accepting the belief that another person can become “yours” and that you should be able to “control” that person after your culture's institutions apply certain new labels and identifications to both of you).
Do males fight over females in the wild? Sure, but that is more biological and far less learned behavior than is the case among humans.
All living forms on the planet abide in a no-concept, no-identity, non-dual manner except for humans. That is natural. It is, for the most part, fairly harmonious though not always "easy." Walk around this neighborhood in the afternoon and you will see something Maharaj spoke of, namely, deer resting, lying in the cool, blue shade. It’s natural.
Yet one can walk for days and months and years and never see humans that relaxed. And that’s unnatural; additionally, the go-do-zoom mentality of humanity that was once more prevalent in Western societies has now spread to the East as well.
To Realize is not enough. One must Realize + understand how to abide naturally in order to be totally free . . . totally free of chaos, freed from constant disharmony, free of fighting, and freed from trying to control and reform and perfect “the world” and everyone in it.
To receive the entire “package” that the non-dual understanding offers, one must take the additional steps to allow for natural abidance. While every life-form on this planet except humans abides naturally, most humans abide quite unnaturally while many also try to live supernaturally (thinking “religiously” or “spiritually” or “magically”).
The #1 cause of divorce has been identified in studies as “money issues,” followed by “in-law troubles” and “sex problems” in third place. (Pay money to a sister-in-law for sex and you’ll likely win “The Divorce Trifecta.”)
Nothing except humans (with their personal identities and the phony needs that are dreamed up by personalities) suffer the angst of “money issues,” “in-law troubles” and “sex problems.” Everything that has anything to do with personality is unnatural and will generate problems and trouble.
Abiding naturally is cheap. Far fewer "money issues" arise if abiding naturally. Living unnaturally under the influence of ego-states can become very expensive – and thus economically troubling - when one has to have the best-looking mate (who often proves to come with a very high "maintenance cost") and when one has to have the best car and the largest house and the biggest lake house and the best holidays, etc.
Trying to abide supernaturally can also be very expensive and economically troubling as persons are driven to wear expensive special clothes / robes; as they are driven to travel to what they think are “special, holy, different places” on the planet in order to have a “special, holy, different experience”;
as they are driven to give 10% of their annual earning to one sky cult or another; and as they are driven to spend, spend, spend to support their religious or spiritual or special image.
In the book entitled, "WHY NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings?" this is offered:
“What the relative existence will be like while abiding in a nisarga / natural manner will appear to be very strange to those who are trying to follow a knowledge path, a worship path, an action path, or a service path. So it is. Those paths are available for discussion elsewhere, not here.”
Here, the “end game” is abiding naturally and sanely and reasonably and logically and spontaneously, not unnaturally and not supernaturally. More on that tomorrow.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
26 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
An example used to assist seekers in understanding that pointer involves riding in a car. If you are in a car and are being driven, there are three places in the vehicle where you can be and one place in the vehicle where you cannot be.
Remember the movie “Driving Miss Daisy”? Where was Miss Daisy in the car always? And where was Morgan Freeman in the car always?
If one is being driven, the three places in the car where that person can be are in the passenger seat, in the back seat, or locked away in the trunk / the boot. The one place where a person who is being driven cannot be is . . . behind the steering wheel. You're being driven, not driving, when abiding under the influence of personality.
So, if driven, you cannot be in the driver’s seat. You cannot be the one deciding where you go, when you go, or how you go. You cannot keep the car on the road rather than it being run into the ditch if the driver decides that’s where the car needs to go.
Assume all the power and all the ability to make decisions that you want, but if a personality is driving you, then you have no choice and you have no ability to decide anything consciously. Unconscious desires and fears and motives will be driving your every thought and word and action. And for one to think she or he is in the driver’s seat when he or she is actually being driven is a result of either ignorance or insanity.
If the non-duality understanding leads to Realization, then that will put You in the driver’s seat. You will no longer be driven by the subconscious motives and aims and agendas and fears and desires of false identifications.
If no longer driven, there will be no one who thinks he or she is living supernaturally (a.k.a., "other-worldly," “spiritually,” “religiously,” or “magically”); there will be no one abiding unnaturally (wearing special clothes, chanting, humming, or mucking up one’s environment with noisy bells and noisy leaders and noisy speakers and noisy, incessant talkers);
Instead, the relative existence will unfold naturally and spontaneously. The non-dualist Thoreau said of the twenty-five months that he spent in retreat at Walden Pond, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Look up “deliberately” in a dictionary and you will see that it means “consciously.” Understand everything that comes forth from the motives of personality and you will understand all that is "non-essential" and differentiate that from the basic "essential facts of life." There will no longer be any belief in the phony, dreamed up "needs" of false personas.
Maharaj, by abandoning the role of “The Forest Dweller,” modeled to all that one need not move to the woods in order to be able to live consciously; however, one does have to abandon all personality assumption if one would live consciously. Why?
Only is abiding in a nisarga (natural) fashion – as does every living thing on this planet except humans – can one be free of the silly whims and the senseless impulses and the abject craziness and the debilitating chaos that comes when personality is in the driver’s seat of the vehicle moving you through this relative existence.
TOMORROW: No matter which of the five teaching methods you might be using to seek Realization, only the nisarga yoga (and the natural manner of abiding that comes with the Nisargan understanding) can set you totally free even as Reality is overlaid on the relative (allowing sane and wise decisions and choices to finally be made and allowing a spontaneous and deliberate and free manner of living to manifest).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
25 July 2014
F.: Those referred to as “The Sages” were / are actually just pure specks of consciousness by which wisdom speaks rather than by which persons / personas with accumulated “knowledge” (a.k.a., “learned ignorance”) speak.
Wisely, those sages - those specks - have long warned humanity about the relative ramifications of personality and have long invited humanity to follow the “path” by which persons can be freed from being driven by the subconscious, hidden agendas of personality (specifically, “their personalities,” as in “their Multiple Personality Disorders”).
What is the difference in the manner in which the relative existence unfolds if personalities are driving persons as opposed to the way it unfolds if there is no “one” who is being driven? Consider:
Freedom only comes in one variety: “Freedom without personality.” There is no such thing as "freedom with personality." How could a person possibly be “free” if that person is a captive of – is being driven unconsciously by - the hidden agendas of multiple personalities? A person cannot.
Wisely, those sages - those specks - have long warned humanity about the relative ramifications of personality and have long invited humanity to follow the “path” by which persons can be freed from being driven by the subconscious, hidden agendas of personality (specifically, “their personalities,” as in “their Multiple Personality Disorders”).
What is the difference in the manner in which the relative existence unfolds if personalities are driving persons as opposed to the way it unfolds if there is no “one” who is being driven? Consider:
Freedom only comes in one variety: “Freedom without personality.” There is no such thing as "freedom with personality." How could a person possibly be “free” if that person is a captive of – is being driven unconsciously by - the hidden agendas of multiple personalities? A person cannot.
An example used to assist seekers in understanding that pointer involves riding in a car. If you are in a car and are being driven, there are three places in the vehicle where you can be and one place in the vehicle where you cannot be.
Remember the movie “Driving Miss Daisy”? Where was Miss Daisy in the car always? And where was Morgan Freeman in the car always?
If one is being driven, the three places in the car where that person can be are in the passenger seat, in the back seat, or locked away in the trunk / the boot. The one place where a person who is being driven cannot be is . . . behind the steering wheel. You're being driven, not driving, when abiding under the influence of personality.
So, if driven, you cannot be in the driver’s seat. You cannot be the one deciding where you go, when you go, or how you go. You cannot keep the car on the road rather than it being run into the ditch if the driver decides that’s where the car needs to go.
(And if you look at any life that's been a total wreck, you can now understand why that was the case. They weren't driving. They were being driven.)
Assume all the power and all the ability to make decisions that you want, but if a personality is driving you, then you have no choice and you have no ability to decide anything consciously. Unconscious desires and fears and motives will be driving your every thought and word and action. And for one to think she or he is in the driver’s seat when he or she is actually being driven is a result of either ignorance or insanity.
If the non-duality understanding leads to Realization, then that will put You in the driver’s seat. You will no longer be driven by the subconscious motives and aims and agendas and fears and desires of false identifications.
If no longer driven, there will be no one who thinks he or she is living supernaturally (a.k.a., "other-worldly," “spiritually,” “religiously,” or “magically”); there will be no one abiding unnaturally (wearing special clothes, chanting, humming, or mucking up one’s environment with noisy bells and noisy leaders and noisy speakers and noisy, incessant talkers);
Instead, the relative existence will unfold naturally and spontaneously. The non-dualist Thoreau said of the twenty-five months that he spent in retreat at Walden Pond, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Look up “deliberately” in a dictionary and you will see that it means “consciously.” Understand everything that comes forth from the motives of personality and you will understand all that is "non-essential" and differentiate that from the basic "essential facts of life." There will no longer be any belief in the phony, dreamed up "needs" of false personas.
Maharaj, by abandoning the role of “The Forest Dweller,” modeled to all that one need not move to the woods in order to be able to live consciously; however, one does have to abandon all personality assumption if one would live consciously. Why?
Because personalities drive persons unconsciously. All thoughts and words and actions are controlled by subconscious means. Assuming personality identifications and abiding consciously cannot co-exist.
Only is abiding in a nisarga (natural) fashion – as does every living thing on this planet except humans – can one be free of the silly whims and the senseless impulses and the abject craziness and the debilitating chaos that comes when personality is in the driver’s seat of the vehicle moving you through this relative existence.
TOMORROW: No matter which of the five teaching methods you might be using to seek Realization, only the nisarga yoga (and the natural manner of abiding that comes with the Nisargan understanding) can set you totally free even as Reality is overlaid on the relative (allowing sane and wise decisions and choices to finally be made and allowing a spontaneous and deliberate and free manner of living to manifest).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
25 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: In order to
(1) be free of body and mind and personality identification
and
(2) to know what one is not
can be facilitated by an understanding of
(3) what humans (and birds and animals, etc.) can be said to actually BE
as opposed to
(4) what humans trapped in false identifications believe themselves to be.
That requires an understanding of what can be called “a composite unity” for the sake of discussing the present AM-ness. The composite unity is a triad of matter / energy that has come together temporary and that is continuously involved in cyclings throughout the entire manifestation.
The “matter-part” involves elements and air as an elemental plant food body forms and as the elements cycle (with the outer skin being entirely replaced every 28 days, with the stomach lining being replaced every few days, etc.) The “matter-part” also involves air / oxygen which cycles into and out of the space formed by a conglomerate of plant food elements that come together temporarily but are forever coming apart as well.
[Ever had “a temp” hired to work in your office because a full-time employee is going to be away for awhile? Here, there is not a single identity remaining, but for the sake of discussion it can be said that “we” – a group of composite unities – are all “temps.”]
The “energy-part” of the triad involves many types of energy which regularly cycle through the form / body / space and which are always coming and going, and one of those types of energy is called "conscious-energy." That is all there is to what IS. No identity at all really, see?
All is one and the same. The bird is the same as the human is the same as the deer. All the same thing: composite unities, constantly cycling elements and air and energy while temporarily manifested.
"But wait. The consciousness cycles too?" Of course. Only false samskaras / memories generate a false sense of "consciousness continuity." If the conscious-energy were not cycling but remained in one fixed, uninterrupted quantity from the beginning to the end of the manifestation, then nothing and no one would ever have to eat in order to "maintain consciousness" . . . that is, in order to allow the manifestation to continue as is.
Because neither the elements nor the air nor the conscious-energy were created but have always been, then it follows that they cannot be destroyed, either. They all merely cycle, and they – not anything with an identity – are what shall be forever. The elements and air and consciousness are eternal, but the form – the space – in which they are presently uniting is temporary.
Nothing that is temporary - that is constantly changing with all of its parts coming and going and never being the same thing from one moment to the next – could possibly be said to be “this” or “that.” To try to label an ever-changing composite unity as one thing or another would be like trying to hit a fast-moving target.
By the time you name something that is forever changing, it is no longer "that." The invitation is to see what “lasts” and what does not:
“The body?” No. It is always changing, elements constantly coming and going, the shed and replaced (cycled) skin itself needing to be dusted off the furniture every month.
“The mind?” No. (Talk about something that persons are always changing!)
“The personality / personalities? No. They never last, either.
The majority of the time, the identities called “The Husband” and “The Wife” change to “No Longer The Husband” and “No Longer The Wife.”
The majority of the time, the identity called “The Lover” changes to “Not The Lover Right Now.”
If relative circumstances do not bring an end to a false identity, the taking of mahasamadhi will.
Of the composite unity, nothing identifiable as a "self" or "Self" will remain. All that remains of what "you" presently are are elements and air and conscious-energy.
Can the consciousness remain in a space for a time, even if it is “dormant”? Yes. This is a newer but interesting element of the understanding, once again provide by the science which Maharaj said would confirm with factual, scientific evidence someday the truth of the teachings. So consider:
The Romans conquered Judaea and introduced date palms to the region. Eventually, all those forests and their dates were thought to have been “destroyed” (as if anything could destroy elements or energy).
However, in the 1960’s at an archaeological site near Masada, dates seeds were excavated. Carbon-dated testing revealed that the date seeds were 2,000 years old. In a scientific experiment, three of those seeds were planted and they have “taken.” Dormant for 2000 years, they regenerated. How did they “know” to do what they did, even after 2,000 year of dormancy? Consciousness. Just as the conscious-energy within an acorn guides it through the process of forming an oak and eventually a forest, so too did the consciousness within the form / space of the date seeds guide the seeds to grow into date trees.
Additionally, there is not a specific time limit in which a seed may hibernate; some seeds found in the arctic grew after an estimated 10,000 years. They can remain in “hibernation” when there is an absence of the things essential for their development (water, sunlight, nutrients, etc.) or even when in harsh conditions (extreme cold, extreme heat, hard ground, etc.).
Some seeds have a hard coating that must be broken down by contact with rough rock or soil before they begin to grow. Until the shell is broken and water reaches the seed, the seed remains dormant.
When released, some seeds (especially those in a desert environment) must wait for rain before the seed is triggered out of hibernation and begins to grow.
The same happen when the seeds of consciousness are pulled into a cycle and as consciousness is transferred via plant consumption into what will be called "parents" and passed along to what will be called “their child.”
To know what is eternal and what is not should facilitate the process of discarding all of the false identities that are assigned by parents and cultures as well as the ones that are later assumed by individuals.
The main pointer: there is no “you” that will be eternally. You’re a temp, so to speak. I’m a temp, so to speak. If you want to enjoy anything, you best enjoy that “temp-ness” - the temporary manifestation - NOW because there will be nothing left to enjoy anything post-manifestation. For “you,” it’s now or never.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
24 July 2014
(1) be free of body and mind and personality identification
and
(2) to know what one is not
can be facilitated by an understanding of
(3) what humans (and birds and animals, etc.) can be said to actually BE
as opposed to
(4) what humans trapped in false identifications believe themselves to be.
That requires an understanding of what can be called “a composite unity” for the sake of discussing the present AM-ness. The composite unity is a triad of matter / energy that has come together temporary and that is continuously involved in cyclings throughout the entire manifestation.
The “matter-part” involves elements and air as an elemental plant food body forms and as the elements cycle (with the outer skin being entirely replaced every 28 days, with the stomach lining being replaced every few days, etc.) The “matter-part” also involves air / oxygen which cycles into and out of the space formed by a conglomerate of plant food elements that come together temporarily but are forever coming apart as well.
[Ever had “a temp” hired to work in your office because a full-time employee is going to be away for awhile? Here, there is not a single identity remaining, but for the sake of discussion it can be said that “we” – a group of composite unities – are all “temps.”]
The “energy-part” of the triad involves many types of energy which regularly cycle through the form / body / space and which are always coming and going, and one of those types of energy is called "conscious-energy." That is all there is to what IS. No identity at all really, see?
All is one and the same. The bird is the same as the human is the same as the deer. All the same thing: composite unities, constantly cycling elements and air and energy while temporarily manifested.
"But wait. The consciousness cycles too?" Of course. Only false samskaras / memories generate a false sense of "consciousness continuity." If the conscious-energy were not cycling but remained in one fixed, uninterrupted quantity from the beginning to the end of the manifestation, then nothing and no one would ever have to eat in order to "maintain consciousness" . . . that is, in order to allow the manifestation to continue as is.
Because neither the elements nor the air nor the conscious-energy were created but have always been, then it follows that they cannot be destroyed, either. They all merely cycle, and they – not anything with an identity – are what shall be forever. The elements and air and consciousness are eternal, but the form – the space – in which they are presently uniting is temporary.
Nothing that is temporary - that is constantly changing with all of its parts coming and going and never being the same thing from one moment to the next – could possibly be said to be “this” or “that.” To try to label an ever-changing composite unity as one thing or another would be like trying to hit a fast-moving target.
By the time you name something that is forever changing, it is no longer "that." The invitation is to see what “lasts” and what does not:
“The body?” No. It is always changing, elements constantly coming and going, the shed and replaced (cycled) skin itself needing to be dusted off the furniture every month.
“The mind?” No. (Talk about something that persons are always changing!)
“The personality / personalities? No. They never last, either.
The majority of the time, the identities called “The Husband” and “The Wife” change to “No Longer The Husband” and “No Longer The Wife.”
The majority of the time, the identity called “The Lover” changes to “Not The Lover Right Now.”
If relative circumstances do not bring an end to a false identity, the taking of mahasamadhi will.
Of the composite unity, nothing identifiable as a "self" or "Self" will remain. All that remains of what "you" presently are are elements and air and conscious-energy.
Can the consciousness remain in a space for a time, even if it is “dormant”? Yes. This is a newer but interesting element of the understanding, once again provide by the science which Maharaj said would confirm with factual, scientific evidence someday the truth of the teachings. So consider:
The Romans conquered Judaea and introduced date palms to the region. Eventually, all those forests and their dates were thought to have been “destroyed” (as if anything could destroy elements or energy).
However, in the 1960’s at an archaeological site near Masada, dates seeds were excavated. Carbon-dated testing revealed that the date seeds were 2,000 years old. In a scientific experiment, three of those seeds were planted and they have “taken.” Dormant for 2000 years, they regenerated. How did they “know” to do what they did, even after 2,000 year of dormancy? Consciousness. Just as the conscious-energy within an acorn guides it through the process of forming an oak and eventually a forest, so too did the consciousness within the form / space of the date seeds guide the seeds to grow into date trees.
Additionally, there is not a specific time limit in which a seed may hibernate; some seeds found in the arctic grew after an estimated 10,000 years. They can remain in “hibernation” when there is an absence of the things essential for their development (water, sunlight, nutrients, etc.) or even when in harsh conditions (extreme cold, extreme heat, hard ground, etc.).
Some seeds have a hard coating that must be broken down by contact with rough rock or soil before they begin to grow. Until the shell is broken and water reaches the seed, the seed remains dormant.
When released, some seeds (especially those in a desert environment) must wait for rain before the seed is triggered out of hibernation and begins to grow.
The same happen when the seeds of consciousness are pulled into a cycle and as consciousness is transferred via plant consumption into what will be called "parents" and passed along to what will be called “their child.”
To know what is eternal and what is not should facilitate the process of discarding all of the false identities that are assigned by parents and cultures as well as the ones that are later assumed by individuals.
The main pointer: there is no “you” that will be eternally. You’re a temp, so to speak. I’m a temp, so to speak. If you want to enjoy anything, you best enjoy that “temp-ness” - the temporary manifestation - NOW because there will be nothing left to enjoy anything post-manifestation. For “you,” it’s now or never.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
24 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: The following information is shared in the reports that are provided to couples who request a “Compatibility / Conflict Study” based on what is revealed about their personality test results. The information shows how personality introduces the Ultimate Sickness and ignorance and insanity into "relationships":
Persons usually believe that their relationship problems have something to do with what their partner is doing or not doing: “If only she would clean up the house” or “If only he would help with cooking and doing the dishes” or "If only she were as sexy as she was when we were dating" or "If only he hadn't doubled his weight since we married" or "If only she / he weren't such a total .... " well, you can fill in that blank.
With the main focus almost always centered on what another person is doing or not doing – and too often on judging and critiquing another person - then seldom is the opportunity taken to focus attention on one’s own self and what one’s self is doing or not doing.
That means that even less attention is ever placed on WHY one is doing what she or he is doing (which is always rooted in the hidden agenda of one or more personalities). That almost guarantees that one of the key problems in relationships – namely, “the blind spot” of each partner - will continue.
When driving, there is always a blind spot, that area slightly behind and to one side or the other of one’s car. Each year, blind spots cause hundreds of thousands of wrecks and harm and injury and even deaths. Blind spots in relationships do the same.
While the term “blind spot” in driving refers to an area around a car, truck, etc. that the driver cannot see, the term “blind spot” in a relationship refers to a tendency to ignore something especially because it is difficult or unpleasant. It refers to an area in which one fails to exercise seeing clearly one’s own faults and personality liabilities while being able to spot faults and personality liabilities readily in a partner.
Depending on which of the nine basic personality types are driving each person’s thoughts and words and actions – something that happens subconsciously – there are some couples that are less affected by blind spots than others; however, the basic human tendency is to allow ego-defense mechanisms to protect one’s self image and the image that persons have of their family and friends. The result?
While one might be able to spot the faults and personality liabilities of others – and that happens far too often with many - personality-based blind spots prevent persons from seeing their own reality … their own relative truths.
The result of that? Most persons have very distorted views about themselves and their family. They are easily offended if the suggestion is made that – in order to attain growth and development and peace and harmony – they might need to make an honest appraisal of not only the assets which were handed down to them but also to find the liabilities which were handed down and which – if addressed – could make life simpler and more pleasant for them and the people around them.
The typical notion is, “My parents did a great job. I had a happy childhood and a great family and wonderful, loving parents. It was all ideal. Really perfect.”
The hidden message: “They had to be perfect, because look how I turned out: perfect!”
Along with that comes the subconscious drawing of a conclusion that is based in totally flawed logic:
“I would never admit that one of my parents was flawed. I am a product of their loins. If one of them was not perfect, then I might be half flawed myself. If both of them were flawed, I would be totally messed up. Nope. They were great” (implying subconsciously, “Therefore, so am I”).
Those are all the “stuff” of blind spots, and it is personality that generates blind spots. And personality-driven blind spots keep persons not only forever out of touch with Reality but also forever out of touch with reality.
As far as non-duality is concerned? It is blind spots that block persons from being out of touch with Reality and with reality as well.
It was because of a personality-inspired blind spot that – even after having been exposed to the non-dual teachings for so long - “maharaj” fell back under the spell of the teachings of a Hindu sky cult for a spell and was driven to leave his family and businesses and to assume the role of “The Forest Dweller.”
It was because of a personality-inspired blind spot that – even after having been exposed to the non-dual teachings– “floyd” fell back under the spell of the teachings of a different religious sky cult for a spell and was driven to assume the role of “The Dutiful Husband Who Would Abandon His Own Understanding and Join Her in the Sky Cult of Her Choice (That Is, Her 'No Choice').”
Maharaj spoke from “personal / persona experience” when he said (explaining why persons seem to grasp the understanding and then seemingly “lose” it): “You are so used to the support of concepts that when your concepts leave you, although it is your true state, you get frightened and try to cling to them again.”
Of course, in addition to fears, there are many other personality-based desires that can also drive one backwards for a spell.
So many ways arise that make for an unnecessarily long and arduous “journey,” moving from Reality back to things relative; or from Reality to being separated from reality; or from not knowing the meaning of "I AM THAT" in the summative statement "I AM THAT; I AM" to identifying with "THAT" only and then mentally abandoning the "I AM" completely (that is, becoming psychotic as a result of assuming religious or spiritual roles and then mentally and emotionally moving to “FooFoo Land”).
Thus, it may well be asked and considered:
What is the "benefit" of being in touch with Reality if out of touch with reality?
Back to "relationships": Men and women each have a primary delusion that they carry into a marriage:
a. she believes that she will be able to change him later so she's willing to go ahead and marry him in spite of all of the obvious faults that she sees in him; and
b. while she believes that he will change (under her tutelage), he believes that she will never change: “Yep, she’s going to forever be as kind and hot and sexy as she has been the whole time we been dating.”
Good luck to both, carrying those distortions and delusional beliefs into their new “relationship” status.
Long after Christ had been exposed to the non-dual teachings and had left organized religion (that example of leaving organized religion on his part now totally ignored by "His Followers"), he was criticized for hanging out with prostitutes and other such "immoral" types. Gee, wonder why?
Have you had the misfortune to marry one who is a somewhat-naughty, playful blast to be with, only to have that person reach the third-step on the seven-step “path” to Realization and then fixate there after assuming the role of "The Super Religious One" or "The Spiritual Giant"? When “The Saint” shows up, playful blasts end.
Maharaj: "Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end."
See, one can play "dress up" even without wearing special garb literally. The need but put on the cloak of the saint, which is not made literally of material but is still quite effective when trying to impress others with the image that is shown off in public.
So of course the post-Realization Christ welcomed the company of prostitutes and other such "immoral" types, seeing that they were at least more authentic than “The Moneychangers” and “The Pillars Of The Temple.”
If you keep track, by the end of the manifestation you may be able to look back and see that the toll of dealing with "Saints" was far greater relative speaking than dealing with those deemed to be "reprobates."
Around what societies call “reprobates,” one is usually far more awake, aware and conscious. Around persons playing the role of “The Saint,” the types who are more prone to being fooled or more likely to join cults or cult-groups or sky cults will idolize them; will believe that the high moral standards which they put on display are “really authentic and are really the way they are”; and will believe that the speeches that their idols offer from behind a podium on the weekends are those speakers' actual reality Monday through Friday. Such a total fraud.
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."
When the claim “I am a super religious person” or “I am a spiritual giant” is made, that is a total fraud - like every other false identity - so how could whatever follows be anything other than mere smoke and mirrors?
And that is why the sages for ages have encouraged the abandonment of all “personal / persona identification.” It is a fraud, and all that gushes forth from a fraud can only be . . . fraudulent.
Such is the way it is in the realm of assumed identities.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
23 July 2014
Persons usually believe that their relationship problems have something to do with what their partner is doing or not doing: “If only she would clean up the house” or “If only he would help with cooking and doing the dishes” or "If only she were as sexy as she was when we were dating" or "If only he hadn't doubled his weight since we married" or "If only she / he weren't such a total .... " well, you can fill in that blank.
With the main focus almost always centered on what another person is doing or not doing – and too often on judging and critiquing another person - then seldom is the opportunity taken to focus attention on one’s own self and what one’s self is doing or not doing.
That means that even less attention is ever placed on WHY one is doing what she or he is doing (which is always rooted in the hidden agenda of one or more personalities). That almost guarantees that one of the key problems in relationships – namely, “the blind spot” of each partner - will continue.
When driving, there is always a blind spot, that area slightly behind and to one side or the other of one’s car. Each year, blind spots cause hundreds of thousands of wrecks and harm and injury and even deaths. Blind spots in relationships do the same.
While the term “blind spot” in driving refers to an area around a car, truck, etc. that the driver cannot see, the term “blind spot” in a relationship refers to a tendency to ignore something especially because it is difficult or unpleasant. It refers to an area in which one fails to exercise seeing clearly one’s own faults and personality liabilities while being able to spot faults and personality liabilities readily in a partner.
Depending on which of the nine basic personality types are driving each person’s thoughts and words and actions – something that happens subconsciously – there are some couples that are less affected by blind spots than others; however, the basic human tendency is to allow ego-defense mechanisms to protect one’s self image and the image that persons have of their family and friends. The result?
While one might be able to spot the faults and personality liabilities of others – and that happens far too often with many - personality-based blind spots prevent persons from seeing their own reality … their own relative truths.
The result of that? Most persons have very distorted views about themselves and their family. They are easily offended if the suggestion is made that – in order to attain growth and development and peace and harmony – they might need to make an honest appraisal of not only the assets which were handed down to them but also to find the liabilities which were handed down and which – if addressed – could make life simpler and more pleasant for them and the people around them.
The typical notion is, “My parents did a great job. I had a happy childhood and a great family and wonderful, loving parents. It was all ideal. Really perfect.”
The hidden message: “They had to be perfect, because look how I turned out: perfect!”
Along with that comes the subconscious drawing of a conclusion that is based in totally flawed logic:
“I would never admit that one of my parents was flawed. I am a product of their loins. If one of them was not perfect, then I might be half flawed myself. If both of them were flawed, I would be totally messed up. Nope. They were great” (implying subconsciously, “Therefore, so am I”).
Those are all the “stuff” of blind spots, and it is personality that generates blind spots. And personality-driven blind spots keep persons not only forever out of touch with Reality but also forever out of touch with reality.
As far as non-duality is concerned? It is blind spots that block persons from being out of touch with Reality and with reality as well.
It was because of a personality-inspired blind spot that – even after having been exposed to the non-dual teachings for so long - “maharaj” fell back under the spell of the teachings of a Hindu sky cult for a spell and was driven to leave his family and businesses and to assume the role of “The Forest Dweller.”
It was because of a personality-inspired blind spot that – even after having been exposed to the non-dual teachings– “floyd” fell back under the spell of the teachings of a different religious sky cult for a spell and was driven to assume the role of “The Dutiful Husband Who Would Abandon His Own Understanding and Join Her in the Sky Cult of Her Choice (That Is, Her 'No Choice').”
Maharaj spoke from “personal / persona experience” when he said (explaining why persons seem to grasp the understanding and then seemingly “lose” it): “You are so used to the support of concepts that when your concepts leave you, although it is your true state, you get frightened and try to cling to them again.”
Of course, in addition to fears, there are many other personality-based desires that can also drive one backwards for a spell.
So many ways arise that make for an unnecessarily long and arduous “journey,” moving from Reality back to things relative; or from Reality to being separated from reality; or from not knowing the meaning of "I AM THAT" in the summative statement "I AM THAT; I AM" to identifying with "THAT" only and then mentally abandoning the "I AM" completely (that is, becoming psychotic as a result of assuming religious or spiritual roles and then mentally and emotionally moving to “FooFoo Land”).
Thus, it may well be asked and considered:
What is the "benefit" of being in touch with Reality if out of touch with reality?
Back to "relationships": Men and women each have a primary delusion that they carry into a marriage:
a. she believes that she will be able to change him later so she's willing to go ahead and marry him in spite of all of the obvious faults that she sees in him; and
b. while she believes that he will change (under her tutelage), he believes that she will never change: “Yep, she’s going to forever be as kind and hot and sexy as she has been the whole time we been dating.”
Good luck to both, carrying those distortions and delusional beliefs into their new “relationship” status.
Long after Christ had been exposed to the non-dual teachings and had left organized religion (that example of leaving organized religion on his part now totally ignored by "His Followers"), he was criticized for hanging out with prostitutes and other such "immoral" types. Gee, wonder why?
Have you had the misfortune to marry one who is a somewhat-naughty, playful blast to be with, only to have that person reach the third-step on the seven-step “path” to Realization and then fixate there after assuming the role of "The Super Religious One" or "The Spiritual Giant"? When “The Saint” shows up, playful blasts end.
Maharaj: "Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end."
See, one can play "dress up" even without wearing special garb literally. The need but put on the cloak of the saint, which is not made literally of material but is still quite effective when trying to impress others with the image that is shown off in public.
So of course the post-Realization Christ welcomed the company of prostitutes and other such "immoral" types, seeing that they were at least more authentic than “The Moneychangers” and “The Pillars Of The Temple.”
If you keep track, by the end of the manifestation you may be able to look back and see that the toll of dealing with "Saints" was far greater relative speaking than dealing with those deemed to be "reprobates."
Around what societies call “reprobates,” one is usually far more awake, aware and conscious. Around persons playing the role of “The Saint,” the types who are more prone to being fooled or more likely to join cults or cult-groups or sky cults will idolize them; will believe that the high moral standards which they put on display are “really authentic and are really the way they are”; and will believe that the speeches that their idols offer from behind a podium on the weekends are those speakers' actual reality Monday through Friday. Such a total fraud.
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."
When the claim “I am a super religious person” or “I am a spiritual giant” is made, that is a total fraud - like every other false identity - so how could whatever follows be anything other than mere smoke and mirrors?
And that is why the sages for ages have encouraged the abandonment of all “personal / persona identification.” It is a fraud, and all that gushes forth from a fraud can only be . . . fraudulent.
Such is the way it is in the realm of assumed identities.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
23 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: [Continued from yesterday]
Let it be clear: the man mentioned yesterday who is staying in a cult-group in spite of his admission that the cult-group members are driven by fanatical levels of insanity is not being criticized or shamed. His cult-group provides enough of that. There is no guilt on his part. He is absorbed in a helter-skelter search. The same happened here. The same happened with Maharaj.
Is the man evidencing some level of insanity when he stays in a cult-group while knowing full well that his cult-group is not providing what it promises it can provide, is not providing what it swears it is providing, and is blaming its members when they don’t get what it promises it can give? Of course. He is searching, but so far his search has proved futile.
Yet at least he is searching, and Maharaj’s search was also marked by many futile attempts to find truth and the freedom it brings. The same happened here.
Maharaj and I were both raised in sky cults, his a Hindu sky cult, mine a Baptist sky cult. Even after leaving that type of sky cult for decades, the desire for a particular woman drove me to be enticed back into a sky cult, living a lie that took a heavy toll. Even after Maharaj focused on non-duality, he still included Hindu-based elements in what he offered in the early days in his loft.
(Some regular visitors to this site know that when it was suggested that I had to return my focus to the non-duality understanding and that even Christ taught non-duality at the end of his ministry, of course "The Wife" at the time had to seek out a divorce lawyer to assist her in getting as far away as possible from "The New Age Agent of Satan" that I had become. Maharaj’s Hindu wife held a similar view of him as he left Hinduism behind and focused solely on non-duality. So it is. Here, there had forever been an aversion to turning my back on authenticity and living a lie, and the desires of an ego-state’s penchant for inauthenticity that got me into that mess of a “relationship” finally had to give way to authenticity and truth and freedom. Years after Maharaj’s wife died, there were many women who came Maharaj’s way who were interested in marrying him. He was eventually asked why he refused to remarry and he answered, “I am married. I’m married to freedom.” For some, marriage post-Realization can “work.” For others, it cannot. So that is, too.)
There are some professionals who work to extricate people from the cults they have been sucked into by removing them from the cult environment and de-programming them. Part of what many of those “Deprogramming and Exit-Counseling Services” include as a facet of their treatment plan involves working with their clients to address the “character flaws” (personality traits) that set persons up to be susceptible to joining a cult and staying in spite of the evidence of their leaders’ insanity.
Recall those traits from yesterday: excessive dependency (and co-dependency); the desire to belong; a lack of self-confidence; an inability to question what one is told and an inability to express doubt; gullibility; an impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, and believes; a need for absolute answers; a dissatisfaction with the status quo; naive idealism; a desire for spiritual meaning; and ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Again, there is no criticism or shaming of persons who are trapped in all sorts of insane behavior when it is seen that personality was unconsciously driving them. There is but an effort to point out the insanity and then offer something that can truly restore sanity in some cases, that can truly provide freedom, and that can be something that can be turned to in order to be able to turn away from being influenced by insanity-driven cults and insanity-driven leaders and insanity-driven people.
No criticism or shame? No. Again, Maharaj did the same for a time. The same was done here for a time, returning to a sky cult for a selfish reason, messing around with a cult-group along the way, etc. As for Maharaj, some of the professionals who provide “Deprogramming and Exit-Counseling Services” have said that Maharaj’s lineage can be traced back to a movement that met many of the requirements for being deeded a “cult.” They point to the early “Navnath Sampradaya” influence he fell under.
(That lineage denotes a succession of teachers and disciples who were members of a traditional Vedic culture which was influenced by a conglomeration of Hinduism and Sikhism and Jainism and Buddhism and other so-called “sources of authority.”)
Were Maharaj and I driven by ignorance and insanity for a time? Of course. My evidence is above. Like the man whose case was studied yesterday, I knew that sky cults were cesspools of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.” As a six-year-old, I questioned the teachings in the church and rebelled against them. I felt the sting of a belt for doing so, and even that did not stop me from calling “BS!” on BS.
Yet the selfish, sleepwalking agendas of several personas were allowed to motivate a return to something that was already recognized – by way of actual experience – to be a cesspool of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.” Of course insanity can be spotted here! Of course Maharaj could spot insanity in the loft and all around the planet.
As for Maharaj, even after studying non-duality intensely, he fell for another religious / cultural concept, regressed for a spell as happened here, and for a time assumed the role of “The Forest Dweller.”
Man # 1: “You must go wander in the forest in order to Realize.”
Maharaj: “Okay.”
Man # 2: (Who studied with Maharaj’s guru and ran across Maharaj after he had left his family to wander in the forest. To paraphrase): “What the heck are you doing out here?”
Maharaj: “Looking for my Self. Seeking Realization.”
Man # 2: “You don’t have to walk in the forest to find Your Self or to Realize. Get your silly butt back to your job and your family.”
Maharaj: “Okay.”
“Go to the forest.” “Okay.” “Leave the forest.” “Okay.” Not a lot of evidence of stability there, true? Not a lot of evidence there of “having found the way.”
See? Insane. Boomerang here. Bounce there. Ricochet off this. Go join that. Over and over and over, seeking by way of a long and arduous “path” and seeking for that which is already within but which cannot be seen because of the effects of programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing, and indoctrination.
Freedom comes with freedom from those influencers, and one is not freed from those influencers by joining a cult, a sky-cult, or a cult-group; by wandering about; by kneeling; by humming; by praying; by ringing bells; by smelling smoke; by wearing special clothes, special hairdos, no hair at all, or fancy, expensive robes; by reading supposedly “holy” books, etc., etc., etc.
Freedom comes when one is freed from being influenced and even driven by the content of the mind which sets persons up to buy into all of the nonsense being offered by cults, sky-cults, and cult-groups.
Along the way toward being freed from all of the nonsense and “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” that persons fall under the influence of – and even while they are still being driven by the mind and the “ignorant, stupid, insane” thoughts that are generated by the mind - there comes a time when persons seek the opposite thought:
Thought: "I think I’m going into work on Monday and I'm gonna tell the boss to shove this job where the sun don’t shine.”
Opposite thought: “I have bills to pay and other financial obligations. It would be ‘ignorant, stupid, and insane’ to quit my job before I find another. I’m going to find another and then quit the one I have.”
The process, then, is this: Until a belief-free, zero-concept, no-mind state is reached, seek the opposite thought; later, there will be no beliefs / concepts stored in a mind, so there will be no thoughts. Abidance will happen spontaneously. That is what it looks like when total freedom comes.
Here, there is no mind; therefore, there is not even one, single belief, either. If there were a belief in karma – which, again, there is not – then the comment shared yesterday by a young man (that “my family deserves better than a neurotic, addict control freak”) would have elicited this response:
“No they don't. Per karmic law, they most assuredly do deserve a neurotic, addict, control freak son. They planted sour beets and what grew was a big helping of sour beets. You think that families can plant sour beets and that those sour beets will grow up to become at harvest time the sweetest, tastiest, yellow-white hybrid corn imaginable? Of course not. In both the garden and in the garden of child-rearing, what one reaps cannot differ from what one sows." That would be nonsense too, as all concepts based in a belief in karma are. It's just an example of the way the opposite thought should be sought.
Again, that does not suggest that one needs to be forever angry about – or forever resentful of – family and of the faulty programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination that filled a mind with such nonsense and so many “ignorant and stupid and insane” beliefs that one has lost touch with the natural sense that even a tiny-brained bird has.
Yet it does mean (for the one that would escape the bondage of insane belief systems that are rooted in insane programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination) that the programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination that results in the suffering that comes with the Ultimate Sickness that those six factors always foster must be seen for what they are in order for one to be willing to overcome egotism’s defense of one’s abusers and their inadequate and dysfunctional ways that led one to develop the Sickness in the first place.
Moreover, avoiding endless anger and resentment does not suggest that one should practice denial and that one should be trapped forever in the effects of “the Stockholm Syndrome” either, justifying and idolizing those who helped develop a mind that has been bent on destruction and self-destruction throughout an entire relative existence.
Mainly, though, the question that must be asked of the young man quoted yesterday is this: “How can people or institutions that are (to use your own words) ‘totally f***ed’ – possibly help anyone who is ‘totally f***ed’?”
Consider once more the words Maharaj used to describe some of the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness: “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” Then the questions that must be asked are:
How can stupidity possibly address stupidity? It cannot.
How can ignorance replace ignorance? It cannot.
How can insanity possibly alleviate insanity? It cannot.
How can crazy help crazy? It cannot.
How can denial and justification and rationalization ever lead to change, to escape from insane mental influencers, and, finally, to total freedom? They cannot.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
22 July 2014
Let it be clear: the man mentioned yesterday who is staying in a cult-group in spite of his admission that the cult-group members are driven by fanatical levels of insanity is not being criticized or shamed. His cult-group provides enough of that. There is no guilt on his part. He is absorbed in a helter-skelter search. The same happened here. The same happened with Maharaj.
Is the man evidencing some level of insanity when he stays in a cult-group while knowing full well that his cult-group is not providing what it promises it can provide, is not providing what it swears it is providing, and is blaming its members when they don’t get what it promises it can give? Of course. He is searching, but so far his search has proved futile.
Yet at least he is searching, and Maharaj’s search was also marked by many futile attempts to find truth and the freedom it brings. The same happened here.
Maharaj and I were both raised in sky cults, his a Hindu sky cult, mine a Baptist sky cult. Even after leaving that type of sky cult for decades, the desire for a particular woman drove me to be enticed back into a sky cult, living a lie that took a heavy toll. Even after Maharaj focused on non-duality, he still included Hindu-based elements in what he offered in the early days in his loft.
(Some regular visitors to this site know that when it was suggested that I had to return my focus to the non-duality understanding and that even Christ taught non-duality at the end of his ministry, of course "The Wife" at the time had to seek out a divorce lawyer to assist her in getting as far away as possible from "The New Age Agent of Satan" that I had become. Maharaj’s Hindu wife held a similar view of him as he left Hinduism behind and focused solely on non-duality. So it is. Here, there had forever been an aversion to turning my back on authenticity and living a lie, and the desires of an ego-state’s penchant for inauthenticity that got me into that mess of a “relationship” finally had to give way to authenticity and truth and freedom. Years after Maharaj’s wife died, there were many women who came Maharaj’s way who were interested in marrying him. He was eventually asked why he refused to remarry and he answered, “I am married. I’m married to freedom.” For some, marriage post-Realization can “work.” For others, it cannot. So that is, too.)
There are some professionals who work to extricate people from the cults they have been sucked into by removing them from the cult environment and de-programming them. Part of what many of those “Deprogramming and Exit-Counseling Services” include as a facet of their treatment plan involves working with their clients to address the “character flaws” (personality traits) that set persons up to be susceptible to joining a cult and staying in spite of the evidence of their leaders’ insanity.
Recall those traits from yesterday: excessive dependency (and co-dependency); the desire to belong; a lack of self-confidence; an inability to question what one is told and an inability to express doubt; gullibility; an impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, and believes; a need for absolute answers; a dissatisfaction with the status quo; naive idealism; a desire for spiritual meaning; and ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Again, there is no criticism or shaming of persons who are trapped in all sorts of insane behavior when it is seen that personality was unconsciously driving them. There is but an effort to point out the insanity and then offer something that can truly restore sanity in some cases, that can truly provide freedom, and that can be something that can be turned to in order to be able to turn away from being influenced by insanity-driven cults and insanity-driven leaders and insanity-driven people.
No criticism or shame? No. Again, Maharaj did the same for a time. The same was done here for a time, returning to a sky cult for a selfish reason, messing around with a cult-group along the way, etc. As for Maharaj, some of the professionals who provide “Deprogramming and Exit-Counseling Services” have said that Maharaj’s lineage can be traced back to a movement that met many of the requirements for being deeded a “cult.” They point to the early “Navnath Sampradaya” influence he fell under.
(That lineage denotes a succession of teachers and disciples who were members of a traditional Vedic culture which was influenced by a conglomeration of Hinduism and Sikhism and Jainism and Buddhism and other so-called “sources of authority.”)
Were Maharaj and I driven by ignorance and insanity for a time? Of course. My evidence is above. Like the man whose case was studied yesterday, I knew that sky cults were cesspools of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.” As a six-year-old, I questioned the teachings in the church and rebelled against them. I felt the sting of a belt for doing so, and even that did not stop me from calling “BS!” on BS.
Yet the selfish, sleepwalking agendas of several personas were allowed to motivate a return to something that was already recognized – by way of actual experience – to be a cesspool of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity.” Of course insanity can be spotted here! Of course Maharaj could spot insanity in the loft and all around the planet.
As for Maharaj, even after studying non-duality intensely, he fell for another religious / cultural concept, regressed for a spell as happened here, and for a time assumed the role of “The Forest Dweller.”
Man # 1: “You must go wander in the forest in order to Realize.”
Maharaj: “Okay.”
Man # 2: (Who studied with Maharaj’s guru and ran across Maharaj after he had left his family to wander in the forest. To paraphrase): “What the heck are you doing out here?”
Maharaj: “Looking for my Self. Seeking Realization.”
Man # 2: “You don’t have to walk in the forest to find Your Self or to Realize. Get your silly butt back to your job and your family.”
Maharaj: “Okay.”
“Go to the forest.” “Okay.” “Leave the forest.” “Okay.” Not a lot of evidence of stability there, true? Not a lot of evidence there of “having found the way.”
See? Insane. Boomerang here. Bounce there. Ricochet off this. Go join that. Over and over and over, seeking by way of a long and arduous “path” and seeking for that which is already within but which cannot be seen because of the effects of programming, conditioning, acculturation, domestication, brainwashing, and indoctrination.
Freedom comes with freedom from those influencers, and one is not freed from those influencers by joining a cult, a sky-cult, or a cult-group; by wandering about; by kneeling; by humming; by praying; by ringing bells; by smelling smoke; by wearing special clothes, special hairdos, no hair at all, or fancy, expensive robes; by reading supposedly “holy” books, etc., etc., etc.
Freedom comes when one is freed from being influenced and even driven by the content of the mind which sets persons up to buy into all of the nonsense being offered by cults, sky-cults, and cult-groups.
Along the way toward being freed from all of the nonsense and “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” that persons fall under the influence of – and even while they are still being driven by the mind and the “ignorant, stupid, insane” thoughts that are generated by the mind - there comes a time when persons seek the opposite thought:
Thought: "I think I’m going into work on Monday and I'm gonna tell the boss to shove this job where the sun don’t shine.”
Opposite thought: “I have bills to pay and other financial obligations. It would be ‘ignorant, stupid, and insane’ to quit my job before I find another. I’m going to find another and then quit the one I have.”
The process, then, is this: Until a belief-free, zero-concept, no-mind state is reached, seek the opposite thought; later, there will be no beliefs / concepts stored in a mind, so there will be no thoughts. Abidance will happen spontaneously. That is what it looks like when total freedom comes.
Here, there is no mind; therefore, there is not even one, single belief, either. If there were a belief in karma – which, again, there is not – then the comment shared yesterday by a young man (that “my family deserves better than a neurotic, addict control freak”) would have elicited this response:
“No they don't. Per karmic law, they most assuredly do deserve a neurotic, addict, control freak son. They planted sour beets and what grew was a big helping of sour beets. You think that families can plant sour beets and that those sour beets will grow up to become at harvest time the sweetest, tastiest, yellow-white hybrid corn imaginable? Of course not. In both the garden and in the garden of child-rearing, what one reaps cannot differ from what one sows." That would be nonsense too, as all concepts based in a belief in karma are. It's just an example of the way the opposite thought should be sought.
Again, that does not suggest that one needs to be forever angry about – or forever resentful of – family and of the faulty programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination that filled a mind with such nonsense and so many “ignorant and stupid and insane” beliefs that one has lost touch with the natural sense that even a tiny-brained bird has.
Yet it does mean (for the one that would escape the bondage of insane belief systems that are rooted in insane programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination) that the programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing, and indoctrination that results in the suffering that comes with the Ultimate Sickness that those six factors always foster must be seen for what they are in order for one to be willing to overcome egotism’s defense of one’s abusers and their inadequate and dysfunctional ways that led one to develop the Sickness in the first place.
Moreover, avoiding endless anger and resentment does not suggest that one should practice denial and that one should be trapped forever in the effects of “the Stockholm Syndrome” either, justifying and idolizing those who helped develop a mind that has been bent on destruction and self-destruction throughout an entire relative existence.
Mainly, though, the question that must be asked of the young man quoted yesterday is this: “How can people or institutions that are (to use your own words) ‘totally f***ed’ – possibly help anyone who is ‘totally f***ed’?”
Consider once more the words Maharaj used to describe some of the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness: “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity.” Then the questions that must be asked are:
How can stupidity possibly address stupidity? It cannot.
How can ignorance replace ignorance? It cannot.
How can insanity possibly alleviate insanity? It cannot.
How can crazy help crazy? It cannot.
How can denial and justification and rationalization ever lead to change, to escape from insane mental influencers, and, finally, to total freedom? They cannot.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
22 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Maharaj would ask one specific question of one who was expressing a concern; or who was angry over some issue; or who was expressing some opinion about the political or social or economic or religious or spiritual condition of “the world”; or who was touting the progress that he or she has achieved; or who was pontificating about what others need to do; or about what needed to change in his or her family or workplace or city or state or nation.
The question, “WHO cares?”
The specific question “WHO cares?” was intended to guide the listener to realizing which specific ego-states / personality / false identity had an agenda that was driving thoughts and words and actions.
The fact is that those among the non-Realized masses do nothing without a “payoff” of one kind or another. There is always a motive – though it is often a subconscious one, which is the level at which personas operate - behind every word spoken and every action taken (or not taken).
Consider some of the items referenced in the previous post and ask:
“WHO wants to be seen walking about in fancy robes?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen while walking about in fancy robes?”
“WHO wants to be seen setting a bowl on a pillow and striking it with a stick?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen as the one who sets a bowl on a pillow and strikes it with a stick?”
“WHO wants to be seen praying in a public restaurant before a meal?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen while praying in a public restaurant before a meal?”
“WHO wants to be seen thanking God in public for winning an election before moving on to the runoff election?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff of thanking God in public after winning an election before moving on to the runoff election?”
In addition to so many who are using their beliefs and attire and public displays of their faith and their religiosity and / or their spirituality in order to try to enhance their public image, what of those who are doing all of that out of an actual belief? And when that is the case, what is that rooted in? When did that begin?
As Maharaj predicted, science will reach a point one day where it can confirm all of the non-dual teachings. A recent, scientific study is helping to answer the questions above by way of the findings in that study (with the details reported under this headline):
Children Exposed To Religion Have Difficulty
Distinguishing Fact From Fiction, Study Finds
The findings:
“Young children who are exposed to religion have a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction, according to a new study published in the July issue of ‘Cognitive Science.’
“The study (entitled ‘Judgments About Fact and Fiction by Children From Religious and Nonreligious Backgrounds’) found that children who went to church or were enrolled in a parochial school (or home schooling) were significantly less able than secular children to identify supernatural elements as fictional."
So another salient question in the effort to expose the roots of nonsensical beliefs and the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (identified by Maharaj as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity”) is this:
“WHO believes?”
“WHO has been stripped of any and all ability to question what they are told by those who are supposedly ‘authorities’?”
“WHO has been robbed of the ability to differentiate true from false?”
“WHO has been robbed of the ability to apply logic and reason and WHO has been trained to perceive the totally illogical and the totally unreasonable as ‘the truth’?”
Usually, those in one of three groups:
1. Those who, from an early age, have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, brainwashed, and indoctrinated in a way that has resulted in their having “a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction”; or
2. those who has reached such a desperate place in life (as a result of unfortunate circumstances during their relative existence that have stripped them of hope, as a result of extreme alcohol or drug abuse, etc.) that they are willing to turn to any group, institution, cult, sky cult, sect, fad, craze, or trend, that dangles a carrot of hope in front of them; or
3. those who have been identified in another scientific study as the types who are most susceptible to joining a cult or a cult-like group, including those who were raised in a way that has left them susceptible to being influenced and driven by “factors that may render some persons susceptible to cultic influence,” including:
• dependency (the desire to belong; lack of self-confidence);
• unassertiveness (inability to say no or express criticism or doubt);
• gullibility (impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, etc.);
• low tolerance for ambiguity (need for absolute answers, impatience to obtain answers);
• cultural disillusionment (alienation, dissatisfaction with status quo);
• naive idealism;
• desire for spiritual meaning;
• susceptibility to trance-like states (in some cases, perhaps, because of prior hallucinogenic drug experiences); and
• ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Recently, a man admitted that the cult-group he has been a member of for years has not addressed his problems and is - in fact - in his exact words, “f***ed”; however, he said that he was going to stay in that cult-group anyway because “his family deserves better than a neurotic, addict, control freak.”
Maybe, yet it must be asked: "What role did your family play in your becoming what you have labeled a 'neurotic, addict, control freak'?" The requirement for being free is not to foster a resentment of the roots of the Sickness that is binding you, but it certainly does involve seeing and understanding those roots in order to be free of the Sickness that has sprung from them.
Moreover, if the cult-group has not addressed his problems by now, then how neurotic or insane is it to continue to search within a failed system and to continue to idealize some "leaders" who have presented themselves in the best light rather than in the truest light?
Additionally, if the cult-group has not addressed his problems by now, then how neurotic or insane is it to continue to search within a failed system rather than shifting the search to find someone or something that is offering a true solution; or, how neurotic or insane is it to search outside that failed system but to continue to search at the same time within the failed system?
Moreover, consider the factors listed above that are evidenced by cultists (and which are the traits of millions around the globe who are presently members of cults or who are presently involved with cult-like groups), factors which he is showing:
you can see in his statements concrete evidence of dependency; the desire to belong; a lack of self-confidence; an inability to express criticism or doubt; gullibility; an impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, and believes; a need for absolute answers; a dissatisfaction with status quo; naive idealism; a desire for spiritual meaning; and ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Through no fault of his own, and through no choice of his own, he has been left in a state not unlike those persons in the study referenced above, functioning now like a “young child exposed to religion (or spirituality) who now has a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction.”
Yet ego and its supporting egotism love to make the claim that “I am making progress, Floyd” or “I am so much better than I was.” Really? Or are those conclusions that are actually more evidence of one’s inability to differentiate true from false?
Moreover, if one studies the basic personality types, it will be seen that each of those factors is rooted in personality (which forms early on as a response to being raised in a dysfunctional family . . . that is, in an environment controlled by adults who are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness and who all pass the Sickness on to all of their children).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Previous post
The question, “WHO cares?”
The specific question “WHO cares?” was intended to guide the listener to realizing which specific ego-states / personality / false identity had an agenda that was driving thoughts and words and actions.
The fact is that those among the non-Realized masses do nothing without a “payoff” of one kind or another. There is always a motive – though it is often a subconscious one, which is the level at which personas operate - behind every word spoken and every action taken (or not taken).
Consider some of the items referenced in the previous post and ask:
“WHO wants to be seen walking about in fancy robes?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen while walking about in fancy robes?”
“WHO wants to be seen setting a bowl on a pillow and striking it with a stick?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen as the one who sets a bowl on a pillow and strikes it with a stick?”
“WHO wants to be seen praying in a public restaurant before a meal?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff from being seen while praying in a public restaurant before a meal?”
“WHO wants to be seen thanking God in public for winning an election before moving on to the runoff election?”
and
“What is the perceived payoff of thanking God in public after winning an election before moving on to the runoff election?”
In addition to so many who are using their beliefs and attire and public displays of their faith and their religiosity and / or their spirituality in order to try to enhance their public image, what of those who are doing all of that out of an actual belief? And when that is the case, what is that rooted in? When did that begin?
As Maharaj predicted, science will reach a point one day where it can confirm all of the non-dual teachings. A recent, scientific study is helping to answer the questions above by way of the findings in that study (with the details reported under this headline):
Children Exposed To Religion Have Difficulty
Distinguishing Fact From Fiction, Study Finds
The findings:
“Young children who are exposed to religion have a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction, according to a new study published in the July issue of ‘Cognitive Science.’
“The study (entitled ‘Judgments About Fact and Fiction by Children From Religious and Nonreligious Backgrounds’) found that children who went to church or were enrolled in a parochial school (or home schooling) were significantly less able than secular children to identify supernatural elements as fictional."
So another salient question in the effort to expose the roots of nonsensical beliefs and the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (identified by Maharaj as “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity”) is this:
“WHO believes?”
“WHO has been stripped of any and all ability to question what they are told by those who are supposedly ‘authorities’?”
“WHO has been robbed of the ability to differentiate true from false?”
“WHO has been robbed of the ability to apply logic and reason and WHO has been trained to perceive the totally illogical and the totally unreasonable as ‘the truth’?”
Usually, those in one of three groups:
1. Those who, from an early age, have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, brainwashed, and indoctrinated in a way that has resulted in their having “a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction”; or
2. those who has reached such a desperate place in life (as a result of unfortunate circumstances during their relative existence that have stripped them of hope, as a result of extreme alcohol or drug abuse, etc.) that they are willing to turn to any group, institution, cult, sky cult, sect, fad, craze, or trend, that dangles a carrot of hope in front of them; or
3. those who have been identified in another scientific study as the types who are most susceptible to joining a cult or a cult-like group, including those who were raised in a way that has left them susceptible to being influenced and driven by “factors that may render some persons susceptible to cultic influence,” including:
• dependency (the desire to belong; lack of self-confidence);
• unassertiveness (inability to say no or express criticism or doubt);
• gullibility (impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, etc.);
• low tolerance for ambiguity (need for absolute answers, impatience to obtain answers);
• cultural disillusionment (alienation, dissatisfaction with status quo);
• naive idealism;
• desire for spiritual meaning;
• susceptibility to trance-like states (in some cases, perhaps, because of prior hallucinogenic drug experiences); and
• ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Recently, a man admitted that the cult-group he has been a member of for years has not addressed his problems and is - in fact - in his exact words, “f***ed”; however, he said that he was going to stay in that cult-group anyway because “his family deserves better than a neurotic, addict, control freak.”
Maybe, yet it must be asked: "What role did your family play in your becoming what you have labeled a 'neurotic, addict, control freak'?" The requirement for being free is not to foster a resentment of the roots of the Sickness that is binding you, but it certainly does involve seeing and understanding those roots in order to be free of the Sickness that has sprung from them.
Moreover, if the cult-group has not addressed his problems by now, then how neurotic or insane is it to continue to search within a failed system and to continue to idealize some "leaders" who have presented themselves in the best light rather than in the truest light?
Additionally, if the cult-group has not addressed his problems by now, then how neurotic or insane is it to continue to search within a failed system rather than shifting the search to find someone or something that is offering a true solution; or, how neurotic or insane is it to search outside that failed system but to continue to search at the same time within the failed system?
Moreover, consider the factors listed above that are evidenced by cultists (and which are the traits of millions around the globe who are presently members of cults or who are presently involved with cult-like groups), factors which he is showing:
you can see in his statements concrete evidence of dependency; the desire to belong; a lack of self-confidence; an inability to express criticism or doubt; gullibility; an impaired capacity to question critically what one is told, observes, thinks, and believes; a need for absolute answers; a dissatisfaction with status quo; naive idealism; a desire for spiritual meaning; and ignorance of the ways in which groups can manipulate individuals.
Through no fault of his own, and through no choice of his own, he has been left in a state not unlike those persons in the study referenced above, functioning now like a “young child exposed to religion (or spirituality) who now has a hard time differentiating between fact and fiction.”
Yet ego and its supporting egotism love to make the claim that “I am making progress, Floyd” or “I am so much better than I was.” Really? Or are those conclusions that are actually more evidence of one’s inability to differentiate true from false?
Moreover, if one studies the basic personality types, it will be seen that each of those factors is rooted in personality (which forms early on as a response to being raised in a dysfunctional family . . . that is, in an environment controlled by adults who are suffering from the Ultimate Sickness and who all pass the Sickness on to all of their children).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
Previous post
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: To continue with certain pointers from the two prior posts:
SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION VS. PSYCHOLOGY
In the end, Maharaj was neither “A Spiritual Master” nor “A Religious Master.” He was actually no kind of master, accepting no false identities at all, including that of “A Master.” What that speck of purified consciousness called “Maharaj” ultimately mastered was an understanding of psychology and an understanding of the workings – especially the distorted workings – of the human mind after persons are programmed, conditioned, domesticated, acculturated, indoctrinated and brainwashed.
Those six - programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination and brainwashing - are cancers that must be removed, not “treated.” When cancerous polyps were discovered inside my body, the surgeon did not say, "I’m going to give you something that will make your polyps better." They did not need to be better. They were doing what polyps do quite well on their own.
Nor did they need to be enhanced, improved, strengthened, changed, modified, or even made superior. They did not need to be exposed to special rituals or special exercises and practices. They did not need to be prayed over or chanted over.
They did not need water from an aspergillum sprinkled on them and they did not need to be surrounded by smoke that was being scattered about by the waving of a thurible suspended from a chain. They needed nothing magical or supernatural. They needed to be removed, period.
From earlier: “the cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.” While most on the planet believe the theory that the cure for all of “the ills of world” is more spirituality or more religion, consider what is playing out in reality, not in theory:
Muslims are killing people because they are not Muslims.
Muslims are killing people even though they are Muslims because they are not Muslims of the “right sect.”
Christian soldiers from the U.S. are killing Muslims with rifles that have Biblical inscriptions etched into the metal on those rifles.
Jews are killing Muslims and Muslims are killing Jews.
Is more dogma going to address that issue, or does the issue exist because of excessive dogma? The cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
The cause of the Ultimate Sickness is mental. The mind has beliefs about a god or gods and goddesses; about causes that are not actual causes at all; about who is supposedly different from whom; about who is supposedly better than whom; and about a near-infinite number of ideas and concepts that are all dualistic in their nature; that, in turn, results in persons being “dual-minded” and, therefore, “unstable in all ways.”
Abiding under the subconsciously-driven auspices of personality is tantamount to being led into a toxic-gas-filled coal mine, and the only “canary” available to indicate the imminent danger is the one that has Realized and is willing to guide persons away from the mine entrance.
One toxic coal mine that Muslims are heading into is the jihad coal mine.
One toxic coal mine that Christians are forever heading into is the war coal mine. (Since the 19th century, the song “Onward Christian Soldiers” has been continuously sung in many Christian worship services.)
One toxic coal mine that Jews are heading into is the slaughter-mercilessly-the-enemies-of-our-state coal mine.
Near the entrance to those caves, a non-dualist or a Nisargan awaits and says to those approaching: “I have been in that toxic mine in the past and barely survived. I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, but it’s entirely your call.”
Yet with Muslims killing non-Muslims; with Muslims killing Muslims; with Christian killing Muslims; with Jews killing Muslims; and Muslims killing Jews, all of the members of those three religions believe that what “the world” needs is more spirituality or more religion (as long is it is their version of spirituality or their religion).
Since when would more cancerous polyps cure cancerous polyps? Since when would more blood clots cure blood clots? Since when would more clogged arteries cure blocked arteries? Since when would more insanity cure insanity? Since when would more ignorance cure ignorance?
Since . . . never.
NORMALIZATION
The tendency of personality is to normalize the abnormal.
Humanity’s main problem centers not is some innocuous “spirit” or “soul” but in the mind. That is why the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
So powerful and politically-influential are the religious in the U.S., and in many other countries as well, that no matter how crazy a belief might be that persons express in public, or on the floor of governing bodies, or in newspapers and books and on television, they cannot be questioned. They have a free pass.
So all of the problems of the planet are indeed, in their opinion and in their minds, a result of a spirituality-deficiency or a dogma-deficiency.
Now, consider this: when the doctor referenced earlier told me that I had colon cancer, the treatment plan was to remove the polyps. He did not say, “You know, the problem is, you don’t have enough polyps. We need more polyps.”
But the prescribed treatment for the mental illness called "the Ultimate Sickness," which is plaguing almost everyone on the planet is, “You don’t have enough spirituality or religion. We need more of those.” The response: Any of the key causes of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
DEFICIENCY vs. EXCESS
Again, the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
With the Ultimate Sickness, in fact, there is no deficiency at all; there is - to the contrary - an extreme excess. That is why here, over the years, this point has been shared occasionally:
Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.
It is why it is said, in regards to what is offered here, that the term “the Direct Path Teaching Method” in combination with the Nisarga Yoga is a bit of a misnomer because there is no intent that anything be taught at all or learned at all; instead, the aim is to un-teach all and to un-learn all.
Indeed, the “aim” is not for site visitors to learn more but to un-learn all that they have been taught. Why? Because, as Maharaj explained, all knowledge is merely “learned ignorance.”
There will never be a suggestion here that more knowledge must be learned. (That’s a different yoga, and those who are into “jnana” - "knowledge" - are welcome to their view. Maharaj also hung out with that yoga for a spell.)
What there is here is an ongoing invitation to un-learn everything that has been accumulated and stored in “the mind” in order to reach a “zero-concept, no-mind state” (which is the state in which every living thing on the planet abides except for one single – and very costly – exception: humans.)
More knowledge is not required for Realization. Far less knowledge is the requirement. “Intelligence” can be said to be a requirement, but only to the degree that it refers to “the capacity to understand.”
When that pointer was offered at a retreat years ago, a woman said, “I feel so sorry for people with brain damage or Down’s Syndrome or anything that prevents them from ever being able to Realize.”
The reply” “Why would you feel sorry for them? They are already in the very state that you are still seeking?”
"The capacity to understand" refers to what specifically?
To understand what you are not, in spite of the fact that “they” told you that you are “this” or “that” and in spite of the fact that you have believed “them” all your life.
The capacity to understand the functioning of the totality.
The capacity to understand both reality and Reality.
The capacity to understand that you have a problem which has been minimized and perversely normalized and which, as a result, is not seen as a problem at all. The general attitude: “I’m fine, thank you very much. In fact, I’m damn good, so to heck with you and your claim that I have a problem.”
The capacity to understand what the problem is and what the problem is not, including the fact that the main problem of the masses on this planet is a mental / emotional problem that they did not cause but that they are presently burdened by nevertheless.
The capacity to understand that there is a planet-wide epidemic of the Ultimate Sickness, to understand that it is a mental sickness, and to understand that neither religion nor spirituality nor amateurish, non-professional, armchair psychologists in your group can cure mental illnesses nor cure you of the Ultimate Sickness. (Specifically, “blah-blah-blah” is not an effective treatment plan for any illness.)
The capacity to understand that the Ultimate Medicine - the real cure - has never been (and never shall be) explicated from a pulpit; within a cult; from a podium; from an elevated area in a temple or mosque; by anyone deemed to be a “leader of people”; in a sweat lodge; under a pyramid; next to special crystals;
in a place where chanting or humming happens; in a place where special bells are rung; in a place where special little bowls are placed on special little pillows and are struck with special little sticks; in a place where water is sprinkled or thrown or dribbled on heads; in a place where persons are dunked in water;
in a place where loud bells are rung or where chants are chanted or where prayers are prayed; in a place where the intuitive sense is deactivated; in a place where questioning is disallowed; in a place where access to the sixth sense is blocked; in a place where special trappings are used; in a place where the use of "spiritual tools" or "religious rituals" are recommended;
in a place that requires the use of special rugs; in a place with special candles; in a place where one must burn and smell incense; in a place where special saffron robes are worn; in a place where only select foods can be eaten;
in a place that requires one leader who is special; in a place that uses a supposedly holy book (or books); in a place deemed to be a “special land”; in a place deemed to be a “special building”; in a place with gold-plated accessories; in a place with a list of special rules and regulations; in a place with special songs or creeds to memorize and with special oaths to repeat regularly;
in a place that collects money weekly; in a place with “special water”; in a place with directors and boards and officers and councils; in a place where people would micro-manage all of the events of “this world”; or in a place where prayers and petitions are raised.
“Face-to-face” meetings with an Advaitin teacher take a matter of days, not a lifetime. Yet less, rather than more, has little appeal after the enculturation process results in personality-driven persons who desire more and fear a great deal. So it is, but so it need not be.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
16 July 2014
SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION VS. PSYCHOLOGY
In the end, Maharaj was neither “A Spiritual Master” nor “A Religious Master.” He was actually no kind of master, accepting no false identities at all, including that of “A Master.” What that speck of purified consciousness called “Maharaj” ultimately mastered was an understanding of psychology and an understanding of the workings – especially the distorted workings – of the human mind after persons are programmed, conditioned, domesticated, acculturated, indoctrinated and brainwashed.
Those six - programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination and brainwashing - are cancers that must be removed, not “treated.” When cancerous polyps were discovered inside my body, the surgeon did not say, "I’m going to give you something that will make your polyps better." They did not need to be better. They were doing what polyps do quite well on their own.
Nor did they need to be enhanced, improved, strengthened, changed, modified, or even made superior. They did not need to be exposed to special rituals or special exercises and practices. They did not need to be prayed over or chanted over.
They did not need water from an aspergillum sprinkled on them and they did not need to be surrounded by smoke that was being scattered about by the waving of a thurible suspended from a chain. They needed nothing magical or supernatural. They needed to be removed, period.
From earlier: “the cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.” While most on the planet believe the theory that the cure for all of “the ills of world” is more spirituality or more religion, consider what is playing out in reality, not in theory:
Muslims are killing people because they are not Muslims.
Muslims are killing people even though they are Muslims because they are not Muslims of the “right sect.”
Christian soldiers from the U.S. are killing Muslims with rifles that have Biblical inscriptions etched into the metal on those rifles.
Jews are killing Muslims and Muslims are killing Jews.
Is more dogma going to address that issue, or does the issue exist because of excessive dogma? The cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
The cause of the Ultimate Sickness is mental. The mind has beliefs about a god or gods and goddesses; about causes that are not actual causes at all; about who is supposedly different from whom; about who is supposedly better than whom; and about a near-infinite number of ideas and concepts that are all dualistic in their nature; that, in turn, results in persons being “dual-minded” and, therefore, “unstable in all ways.”
Abiding under the subconsciously-driven auspices of personality is tantamount to being led into a toxic-gas-filled coal mine, and the only “canary” available to indicate the imminent danger is the one that has Realized and is willing to guide persons away from the mine entrance.
One toxic coal mine that Muslims are heading into is the jihad coal mine.
One toxic coal mine that Christians are forever heading into is the war coal mine. (Since the 19th century, the song “Onward Christian Soldiers” has been continuously sung in many Christian worship services.)
One toxic coal mine that Jews are heading into is the slaughter-mercilessly-the-enemies-of-our-state coal mine.
Near the entrance to those caves, a non-dualist or a Nisargan awaits and says to those approaching: “I have been in that toxic mine in the past and barely survived. I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, but it’s entirely your call.”
Yet with Muslims killing non-Muslims; with Muslims killing Muslims; with Christian killing Muslims; with Jews killing Muslims; and Muslims killing Jews, all of the members of those three religions believe that what “the world” needs is more spirituality or more religion (as long is it is their version of spirituality or their religion).
Since when would more cancerous polyps cure cancerous polyps? Since when would more blood clots cure blood clots? Since when would more clogged arteries cure blocked arteries? Since when would more insanity cure insanity? Since when would more ignorance cure ignorance?
Since . . . never.
NORMALIZATION
The tendency of personality is to normalize the abnormal.
Humanity’s main problem centers not is some innocuous “spirit” or “soul” but in the mind. That is why the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
So powerful and politically-influential are the religious in the U.S., and in many other countries as well, that no matter how crazy a belief might be that persons express in public, or on the floor of governing bodies, or in newspapers and books and on television, they cannot be questioned. They have a free pass.
So all of the problems of the planet are indeed, in their opinion and in their minds, a result of a spirituality-deficiency or a dogma-deficiency.
Now, consider this: when the doctor referenced earlier told me that I had colon cancer, the treatment plan was to remove the polyps. He did not say, “You know, the problem is, you don’t have enough polyps. We need more polyps.”
But the prescribed treatment for the mental illness called "the Ultimate Sickness," which is plaguing almost everyone on the planet is, “You don’t have enough spirituality or religion. We need more of those.” The response: Any of the key causes of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
DEFICIENCY vs. EXCESS
Again, the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
With the Ultimate Sickness, in fact, there is no deficiency at all; there is - to the contrary - an extreme excess. That is why here, over the years, this point has been shared occasionally:
Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.
It is why it is said, in regards to what is offered here, that the term “the Direct Path Teaching Method” in combination with the Nisarga Yoga is a bit of a misnomer because there is no intent that anything be taught at all or learned at all; instead, the aim is to un-teach all and to un-learn all.
Indeed, the “aim” is not for site visitors to learn more but to un-learn all that they have been taught. Why? Because, as Maharaj explained, all knowledge is merely “learned ignorance.”
There will never be a suggestion here that more knowledge must be learned. (That’s a different yoga, and those who are into “jnana” - "knowledge" - are welcome to their view. Maharaj also hung out with that yoga for a spell.)
What there is here is an ongoing invitation to un-learn everything that has been accumulated and stored in “the mind” in order to reach a “zero-concept, no-mind state” (which is the state in which every living thing on the planet abides except for one single – and very costly – exception: humans.)
More knowledge is not required for Realization. Far less knowledge is the requirement. “Intelligence” can be said to be a requirement, but only to the degree that it refers to “the capacity to understand.”
When that pointer was offered at a retreat years ago, a woman said, “I feel so sorry for people with brain damage or Down’s Syndrome or anything that prevents them from ever being able to Realize.”
The reply” “Why would you feel sorry for them? They are already in the very state that you are still seeking?”
"The capacity to understand" refers to what specifically?
To understand what you are not, in spite of the fact that “they” told you that you are “this” or “that” and in spite of the fact that you have believed “them” all your life.
The capacity to understand the functioning of the totality.
The capacity to understand both reality and Reality.
The capacity to understand that you have a problem which has been minimized and perversely normalized and which, as a result, is not seen as a problem at all. The general attitude: “I’m fine, thank you very much. In fact, I’m damn good, so to heck with you and your claim that I have a problem.”
The capacity to understand what the problem is and what the problem is not, including the fact that the main problem of the masses on this planet is a mental / emotional problem that they did not cause but that they are presently burdened by nevertheless.
The capacity to understand that there is a planet-wide epidemic of the Ultimate Sickness, to understand that it is a mental sickness, and to understand that neither religion nor spirituality nor amateurish, non-professional, armchair psychologists in your group can cure mental illnesses nor cure you of the Ultimate Sickness. (Specifically, “blah-blah-blah” is not an effective treatment plan for any illness.)
The capacity to understand that the Ultimate Medicine - the real cure - has never been (and never shall be) explicated from a pulpit; within a cult; from a podium; from an elevated area in a temple or mosque; by anyone deemed to be a “leader of people”; in a sweat lodge; under a pyramid; next to special crystals;
in a place where chanting or humming happens; in a place where special bells are rung; in a place where special little bowls are placed on special little pillows and are struck with special little sticks; in a place where water is sprinkled or thrown or dribbled on heads; in a place where persons are dunked in water;
in a place where loud bells are rung or where chants are chanted or where prayers are prayed; in a place where the intuitive sense is deactivated; in a place where questioning is disallowed; in a place where access to the sixth sense is blocked; in a place where special trappings are used; in a place where the use of "spiritual tools" or "religious rituals" are recommended;
in a place that requires the use of special rugs; in a place with special candles; in a place where one must burn and smell incense; in a place where special saffron robes are worn; in a place where only select foods can be eaten;
in a place that requires one leader who is special; in a place that uses a supposedly holy book (or books); in a place deemed to be a “special land”; in a place deemed to be a “special building”; in a place with gold-plated accessories; in a place with a list of special rules and regulations; in a place with special songs or creeds to memorize and with special oaths to repeat regularly;
in a place that collects money weekly; in a place with “special water”; in a place with directors and boards and officers and councils; in a place where people would micro-manage all of the events of “this world”; or in a place where prayers and petitions are raised.
“Face-to-face” meetings with an Advaitin teacher take a matter of days, not a lifetime. Yet less, rather than more, has little appeal after the enculturation process results in personality-driven persons who desire more and fear a great deal. So it is, but so it need not be.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
16 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
“The mind is its own place,
and in itself
can make a heaven of hell,
a hell of heaven.”
– John Milton
F.: Maharaj said, “You are not in the world. The world is in you.” Meaning? Meaning that the world is imagined by you so it is “in you” . . . that is, "in your mind"; therefore, any misery or suffering being experienced in what is taken to be “this world” is a mental construct to one degree or another.
When the effects of misery and suffering that are rooted in a warped psyche manifest and further warp the psyche, then belief in “this world” advances to the level of a mental illness.
Moreover, that is why the Ultimate Medicine is a medicine which is based in the understanding of psychology which Maharaj mastered and which addresses the main problem of humanity which centers not is some innocuous “spirit” or “soul” but in the mind. That is why the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
The British poet Richard Lovelace offered this pointer: “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.” What did he identify as that which does make a prison? The mind. The mind has become the prison in which the masses are trapped, and all ideas, concepts, thoughts, inspirations, brainstorms, opinions, views, inklings, impressions, notions, and perspectives (a.k.a., “beliefs”) that are stored within a mind will each become one of the iron bars of their cage.
Understanding all of that is why, in the end, Maharaj made clear that he was not “A Spiritual Master.” (He had already much earlier made clear that he was not “A Religious Master.”) It is also why he advised seekers to stop reading the transcripts from satsang sessions that had been collected in the book “I AM THAT” and to read his later talks instead, those talks being the ones offered after he came to understand the actual, mental / emotional nature of the Ultimate Sickness and after he came to understand that neither spirituality nor religion can address mental illnesses (and after having seen that, more often than not, they actually generate and exacerbate mental problems).
What Maharaj ultimately mastered was an understanding of psychology and an understanding of the workings – especially of the distorted workings – of the human mind after persons are programmed, conditioned, domesticated, acculturated, indoctrinated and brainwashed. That understanding of psychology allowed him ultimately to understand exactly what the Ultimate Medicine was not and what the Ultimate Medicine had to include if it were to successfully address the actual causes of the Ultimate Sickness.
He came to understand what the two greatest suppliers of dualistic beliefs are as well as what the two greatest suppliers of dual-mindedness are; furthermore, he came to understand what the two greatest sources of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination and brainwashing really are, and he was wise enough to understand that the cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
It was those understandings – combined with an amazing level of wisdom – that led him to advise persons to abandon their religious and spiritual activities and to just abide naturally and normally after taking the steps necessary to be free of their “knowledge” (a.k.a., “learned ignorance”); free from being driven by the hidden, subconscious agendas of multiple personalities; and free of the effects of the insanity which not only their parents’ teachings and beliefs had implanted but also which their culture had fostered.
[Multiple personalities? Yes. Personalities are like blackbirds, starlings, grackles, crows and vultures: they flock together, they show up in droves, and they contaminate everything around them with a nasty coat of . . . well, you get it.
Unlike a heron, they never show up alone. They form huge roosts in urban areas, and their presence is often problematic because of potential health, economic and nuisance problems. The same applies to personalities.
Yes, there are nine basic types, and yes, there is a primary type; but after working with thousands of people and after seeing thousands of sets of scores on the enneagram personality test, there has never been even one instance where anyone scored a “0” in one of the types. All show some evidence of all of the types, but most show excessively high scores in three to five types. Moreover, all persons are assigned or will assume another eighty or more false identities throughout the relative existence.
As noted here on occasion, therefore, all persons among the non-Realized masses suffer from the Multiple Personality Disorder, along with many other mental and emotional disorders as well.]
Maharaj also understood that there is no heaven and that there is no hell. He understood that personas upgrade themselves and downgrade others, and he understood that the same happens with persons who erroneously believe in “this world” and who erroneously believe in “another world” that they will supposedly go to post-manifestation. He understood that the concept of “heaven” is simply their ungraded version of “this world” (what with “pearly gates” and “streets paved with gold”) and that the concept of “hell” is simply their downgraded version of “this world.”
Additionally, he also understood that the programmed and conditioned mind will believe the dualistic concepts regarding “eternal life” and the existence of “another ‘good’ world” and the existence of “another ‘bad’ world.” He also understood that a programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, indoctrinated, and brainwashed mind can even make “heaven and hell on earth” seem real to a person right now.
It is because of their warped mind that persons speak of having been in “hell on earth” or in “a heavenly relationship” (which might, later on, be deemed to have been “hell” rather than “heavenly”); thus, the English poet John Milton noted accurately that “the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Instability, instability, instability. Duality, duality, duality. All totally fraudulent, all seated in the mind.
That is why Maharaj noted that what gives you pleasure can eventually give you pain and what can give you the greatest pleasure can eventually give you the greatest pain. It’s all in the mind, and all which is stored in the mind is fiction and nonsense; thus, those who are dual-minded “will be unstable in all ways.” There can be no consistency and stability and freedom from chaos when a duality-driven mind is at play.
Consider the constant fluctuating that the mind will guarantee: at a certain point, the mind can convince one that he or she is eagle high; at another moment, the mind can convince the same person that she or he is whale caca low (said caca being found at the lowest point on the planet).
Such is how dizzying the relative existence can be when abiding under the auspices of the mind, reaching staggering heights one moment and immeasurable lows the next.
Like your mind? Like its content? Think it defines you? Assign great value to its content? Love your beliefs? Willing to fight for them? Willing to die for some of them? Then prepare for your next role, which will be "The Steel Ball" in a pinball machine, being tossed about, slammed about, thrown about, and knocked about throughout the unstable, erratic, ever-changing, alternating, sporadic, relative existence.
And all of that is guaranteed for all role-players, for all who are trapped in their false, personality identifications. As noted yesterday, persona-assumption can be deadly, as it is for the 59% of all women murdered in the U.S. annually because the assumed personas of the men whom those women were trying to leave felt as if they - the men - were the ones under attack.
In the topsy-turvy realm of personality, a man killing his wife is operating under the assumption that he (rather than his false identity) is being assaulted. In the topsy-turvy realm of personality, a man killing his wife thinks, on a subconscious level, that his actions are defensive - not offensive - in their nature. His persona is merely trying to defend itself from attack, and that is how insane personality assumption can be.
Abiding under the subconsciously-driven auspices of personality is tantamount to being led into a toxic-gas-filled coal mine, and the only canary available to indicate the imminent danger is the one that has Realized and is willing to guide persons away from the mine entrance. That one is the only one willing and capable of providing an advance warning before personality drives one to destructive or self-destructive actions (relatively speaking).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
15 July 2014
“The mind is its own place,
and in itself
can make a heaven of hell,
a hell of heaven.”
– John Milton
F.: Maharaj said, “You are not in the world. The world is in you.” Meaning? Meaning that the world is imagined by you so it is “in you” . . . that is, "in your mind"; therefore, any misery or suffering being experienced in what is taken to be “this world” is a mental construct to one degree or another.
When the effects of misery and suffering that are rooted in a warped psyche manifest and further warp the psyche, then belief in “this world” advances to the level of a mental illness.
Moreover, that is why the Ultimate Medicine is a medicine which is based in the understanding of psychology which Maharaj mastered and which addresses the main problem of humanity which centers not is some innocuous “spirit” or “soul” but in the mind. That is why the Ultimate Sickness is a mental illness, not an illness that results from a spirituality-deficiency or from a dogma-deficiency.
The British poet Richard Lovelace offered this pointer: “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.” What did he identify as that which does make a prison? The mind. The mind has become the prison in which the masses are trapped, and all ideas, concepts, thoughts, inspirations, brainstorms, opinions, views, inklings, impressions, notions, and perspectives (a.k.a., “beliefs”) that are stored within a mind will each become one of the iron bars of their cage.
Understanding all of that is why, in the end, Maharaj made clear that he was not “A Spiritual Master.” (He had already much earlier made clear that he was not “A Religious Master.”) It is also why he advised seekers to stop reading the transcripts from satsang sessions that had been collected in the book “I AM THAT” and to read his later talks instead, those talks being the ones offered after he came to understand the actual, mental / emotional nature of the Ultimate Sickness and after he came to understand that neither spirituality nor religion can address mental illnesses (and after having seen that, more often than not, they actually generate and exacerbate mental problems).
What Maharaj ultimately mastered was an understanding of psychology and an understanding of the workings – especially of the distorted workings – of the human mind after persons are programmed, conditioned, domesticated, acculturated, indoctrinated and brainwashed. That understanding of psychology allowed him ultimately to understand exactly what the Ultimate Medicine was not and what the Ultimate Medicine had to include if it were to successfully address the actual causes of the Ultimate Sickness.
He came to understand what the two greatest suppliers of dualistic beliefs are as well as what the two greatest suppliers of dual-mindedness are; furthermore, he came to understand what the two greatest sources of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, indoctrination and brainwashing really are, and he was wise enough to understand that the cause of an illness cannot be the cure for that illness.
It was those understandings – combined with an amazing level of wisdom – that led him to advise persons to abandon their religious and spiritual activities and to just abide naturally and normally after taking the steps necessary to be free of their “knowledge” (a.k.a., “learned ignorance”); free from being driven by the hidden, subconscious agendas of multiple personalities; and free of the effects of the insanity which not only their parents’ teachings and beliefs had implanted but also which their culture had fostered.
[Multiple personalities? Yes. Personalities are like blackbirds, starlings, grackles, crows and vultures: they flock together, they show up in droves, and they contaminate everything around them with a nasty coat of . . . well, you get it.
Unlike a heron, they never show up alone. They form huge roosts in urban areas, and their presence is often problematic because of potential health, economic and nuisance problems. The same applies to personalities.
Yes, there are nine basic types, and yes, there is a primary type; but after working with thousands of people and after seeing thousands of sets of scores on the enneagram personality test, there has never been even one instance where anyone scored a “0” in one of the types. All show some evidence of all of the types, but most show excessively high scores in three to five types. Moreover, all persons are assigned or will assume another eighty or more false identities throughout the relative existence.
As noted here on occasion, therefore, all persons among the non-Realized masses suffer from the Multiple Personality Disorder, along with many other mental and emotional disorders as well.]
Maharaj also understood that there is no heaven and that there is no hell. He understood that personas upgrade themselves and downgrade others, and he understood that the same happens with persons who erroneously believe in “this world” and who erroneously believe in “another world” that they will supposedly go to post-manifestation. He understood that the concept of “heaven” is simply their ungraded version of “this world” (what with “pearly gates” and “streets paved with gold”) and that the concept of “hell” is simply their downgraded version of “this world.”
Additionally, he also understood that the programmed and conditioned mind will believe the dualistic concepts regarding “eternal life” and the existence of “another ‘good’ world” and the existence of “another ‘bad’ world.” He also understood that a programmed, conditioned, acculturated, domesticated, indoctrinated, and brainwashed mind can even make “heaven and hell on earth” seem real to a person right now.
It is because of their warped mind that persons speak of having been in “hell on earth” or in “a heavenly relationship” (which might, later on, be deemed to have been “hell” rather than “heavenly”); thus, the English poet John Milton noted accurately that “the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Instability, instability, instability. Duality, duality, duality. All totally fraudulent, all seated in the mind.
That is why Maharaj noted that what gives you pleasure can eventually give you pain and what can give you the greatest pleasure can eventually give you the greatest pain. It’s all in the mind, and all which is stored in the mind is fiction and nonsense; thus, those who are dual-minded “will be unstable in all ways.” There can be no consistency and stability and freedom from chaos when a duality-driven mind is at play.
Consider the constant fluctuating that the mind will guarantee: at a certain point, the mind can convince one that he or she is eagle high; at another moment, the mind can convince the same person that she or he is whale caca low (said caca being found at the lowest point on the planet).
Such is how dizzying the relative existence can be when abiding under the auspices of the mind, reaching staggering heights one moment and immeasurable lows the next.
Like your mind? Like its content? Think it defines you? Assign great value to its content? Love your beliefs? Willing to fight for them? Willing to die for some of them? Then prepare for your next role, which will be "The Steel Ball" in a pinball machine, being tossed about, slammed about, thrown about, and knocked about throughout the unstable, erratic, ever-changing, alternating, sporadic, relative existence.
And all of that is guaranteed for all role-players, for all who are trapped in their false, personality identifications. As noted yesterday, persona-assumption can be deadly, as it is for the 59% of all women murdered in the U.S. annually because the assumed personas of the men whom those women were trying to leave felt as if they - the men - were the ones under attack.
In the topsy-turvy realm of personality, a man killing his wife is operating under the assumption that he (rather than his false identity) is being assaulted. In the topsy-turvy realm of personality, a man killing his wife thinks, on a subconscious level, that his actions are defensive - not offensive - in their nature. His persona is merely trying to defend itself from attack, and that is how insane personality assumption can be.
Abiding under the subconsciously-driven auspices of personality is tantamount to being led into a toxic-gas-filled coal mine, and the only canary available to indicate the imminent danger is the one that has Realized and is willing to guide persons away from the mine entrance. That one is the only one willing and capable of providing an advance warning before personality drives one to destructive or self-destructive actions (relatively speaking).
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
15 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
Because persons take their "selves" seriously, they end up taking themselves way too seriously.
F.: There is another aspect of personality that the non-Realized masses are not aware of. It has been made clear that personalities / ego-states subconsciously use a variety of ego-defense mechanisms to defend themselves, including egotism, projection, justification, denial, regression, repression, displacement, compensation, grandiosity or assertiveness, blame, excuse-making, prevarication, rationalization, and many others.
Yet there are two other tools used by personalities which could be included in the list above but that are seldom discussed in terms of personality: personality assumption also generates significant distortions as well by use of normalization and minimization.
The tendency of personality is to normalize the abnormal and to minimize the extent of the harm and damage (relatively speaking) that personality generates in the relative existence.
The result is that the non-Realized masses no longer have a clue about what is natural vs. what is unnatural; about what is normal vs. what is abnormal; or about what is true vs. what is false.
While part of the inability to differentiate between true and false can be physical (caused by an under-functioning hypothalamus) much of that inability is rooted in personality and its subconscious willingness to lie and distort in order to defend self.
The desire of the consciousness for continuity brings with it an innate, instinctive drive to protect oneself, but assumed and assigned personalities also come with a desire to protect and extend themselves even though they are total illusions.
Consider Maharaj’s take on the bogus concept of continuity:
“Memory creates the illusion of continuity”
and
“Images arise and disappear and only memory gives them [a false sense of] continuity.”
(Most persons, if asked if they believe that a mirage could protect itself, would conclude that the one asking the question must be crazy, yet those same persons throughout any given day use words and actions to try to protect dozens of mirages – dozens of false personas – which they think actually help identify who they are.)
Consider the abject terror that can be felt when the one playing the role of “The Employee” makes a mistake in the workplace and is then confronted by “The Boss.” Consider the abject terror that can be felt by some who are playing - in a docile manner - the role of “The Spouse” when confronted angrily by the one playing the co-dependent counterpart spouse.
As with the manifest consciousness, the primary desire of all assigned or assumed personalities is continuity. “The Husband” wants to be “The Husband” forever, at all costs. If “The Husband” feels as if he is being threatened by a wife who is talking about leaving or if that role feels interfered with by another man making a pass at his wife, then that can inspire a shift into an attack mode to defend the false identity of “The Husband.” Men kill men at an alarming rate because of their woman-dependent roles, and in the U.S., 59% of all women murdered annually are killed by a partner during a breakup.
When it comes to the distorted perspectives that ego-states hold dear, something is always supposedly threatening them, something is always supposedly happening to them that must be addressed, and something supposed is always generating defensive and offensive postures.
Maharaj, by contrast, said, “To Me, nothing ever happens.” So it is here. So it can be with You.
Aggravating the instability that manifests when the unstable masses enter into “relationships” is the use of minimization. Reference was made in a past post about a husband who was in a counseling session with his wife who found out that, over a period of several months, he had left work during his lunch break and had taken four different women to hotels for sexual liaisons.
Sometimes an ego-state, rather than feeling abject fear, will respond with abject distortion that is driven by the use of ego-defense mechanisms such as grandiosity and assertiveness. When she confronted him in front of the counselor, he replied that none of those were “affairs” because he had only received oral sex.
“Besides,” he said, “all men at one point or another hook up with women other than their wives.” There, too, is an example of the minimization mentioned earlier (“it was only oral sex”) and the normalization mentioned earlier (“everyone does it so it’s no big deal when I do it”).
The use of minimization among non-Realized persons inspires them to hold the view that the difference between big problems and little problems is this: “Problems that are mine are the big ones; problems that are yours are the little ones.”
As far as a persona goes, nothing is more relevant than itself and the belief systems that are used to support it and the psychological tools that are used to try to guarantee its continuity.
Because persons take their "selves" seriously, they end up taking themselves way too seriously.
Consider those who define themselves by their political party or by their religious affiliation. Have you ever seen such ranting and raving and extreme behavior? Of such types, Maharaj said: "Anyone who thinks he knows what's good for another is dangerous."
Calm down. Get off your “high horse.” Quit taking your "selves" seriously. Mirages cannot be serious, so what a distortion it is to believe that they can be.
To that end, consider the relevance of the content of this exchange:
Questioner: “I have definite spiritual ambitions. Must I not work for their fulfillment?”
Maharaj: “No ambition is spiritual. All ambitions are for the sake of the ‘I Am’. If you want to make real progress, you must give up all idea of personal attainment. In the lust for an everlasting personal bliss, the mind is a cheat. The more pious it seems, the worse the betrayal.”
Relatedly, he also said: “Even after enlightenment the body is allowed to continue a few of its habits and to me it is not a big deal. Wake up, look through apparent appearances, examine your own righteousness and judgment, and separate the wheat from the chaff. If you can’t see beyond surface appearance and get caught up in your superficial judgments, then you have no business being here with me.”
And all of the nonsense shared in the above examples is based in the assumption of false identities and in not understanding all that one is not. In fact, you cannot truthfully be said to be "this." You cannot truthfully be said to be "that."
Maharaj: “To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge.”
Maharaj’s antidote for personality-generated distortion and ego-state-based desires and fears that drive persons to the most insane acts imaginable?
Learn to look without imagination, to listen without distortion. That is all. Stop attributing names and shapes to the essentially nameless and formless, realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear.
As for fighting to preserve false identities, he said: “Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own.”
See, it’s all about reaching a state in which one's perspective is valid and balanced. Some know that one very hot summer around 1953 or so, I was seated on the front porch of my Cherokee grandmother’s cabin which was situated in a pine forest in East Texas. Usually, my cousins were more affected by the summer heat in East Texas than I because they had air conditioning in their homes and I did not, but the temperature that particular day was so high that I was definitely uncomfortable.
Around noon, Grandmother and I had enjoyed lunching on the cream peas I had picked and shelled that morning from her garden, served with the cornbread which she had cooked in her wood-burning stove and which she had coated with the home-made butter that she had churned by hand.
After lunch we were sitting in rockers on the front porch of her cabin and the heat had been particularly sweltering that day. I mentioned how hot it was, but Grandmother remained silent. Suddenly, a realization dawned on me at that point. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I said something to the effect of, “Grandmother, it just hit me that in the winter you never complain about it being too cold and in the summer you never complain about it being too hot. How is that?”
Her answer convinced me that she had finally and completely lost her senses. She said, “That’s because when it’s hot it's hot and when it’s cold it’s cold.” Looking straight ahead toward the forest in front of the cabin (but seeing the confused expression on my face in her peripheral vision), she smiled a little smile.
Later, I got it, and when I saw the following words from Maharaj, they made perfect sense in light of what Grandmother had taught me with her answer:
Maharaj: “You are all drenched for it is raining hard. In my world it is always fine weather. There is no night or day, no heat or cold. No worries beset me there, nor regrets. My mind is free of thoughts for there are no desires to slave for.”
Any personality that has been assigned to you or that you have assumed will enslave you. You will be beset by the worries of mirages, of your false identities. You will have regrets. You will have a mind, and that mind will forever block you from being free.
Yet how persons fight to preserve the very source of such misery and suffering, namely, the mirages that they take to be real and that result in their taking themselves way too seriously. Now that is what the insanity of mindedness and dual-mindedness looks like.
The invitation: Be free. Stop taking yourself / your false selves so seriously. Finally, do not take them seriously at all. They are merely mirages. If you see a mirage when driving through a hot, barren area, does the mirage generate in you a sense of abject fear? Of course not.
Likewise, see your assumed or assigned personas for what they are: merely mirages that have no ability at all to inspire desire or fear were it not for your fiction-filled, imagining mind. Be done once and for all with the mind-based Ultimate Sickness - and with its ignorance and insanity - which inspire persons to take mirages seriously; then only can you be done with taking yourself / your selves so seriously.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
14 July 2014
The most commonly-used trap in the history of humankind is the trap that persons set in order to try to control other persons. Once in the snare, most never escape. As a result, some might speak about “the taste of the most special nectar” and about “the essence,” but they actually never taste the nectar and they never really enjoy the essence of the relative existence.
Traps usually have two parts. One part is the trigger. When set off, it activates the second part of the trap that actually does the confining or snaring or trapping.
In terms of the message here, the two-part trap employs one lie and one belief. The lie is the triggering device. The belief – as is the case with all beliefs – is the part that traps persons, that confines them, that restricts them, and that limits them.
The triggering part of the trap is this lie: “There is life after this life.” The confining part of the trap is engaged when a one person’s lie becomes another person’s belief, and that confining, restricting, limiting belief is this: “I will live after this life.”
The consciousness innately desires continuity, so setting the trap and ensnaring the masses has proved to be a very easy task.
At least two hundred generations of persons have now been exposed to the lie since the first self-appointed religious leader began talking about “multiple lives.” The lie has been modified by others who teach that “there are not multiple lives . . . there is just this life and the afterlife.”
Each time one hears that lie and believes it and accepts it as an unquestionable fact based in the blind, no-challenging version of faith that is supposedly required in order to assure that one receives a reward after this life, then the lie triggers the trap and ensnarement is assured as a result of a belief.
The result of multi-generational exposure to the lie is this: not millions and not billions but actually trillions have believed the lie. The result of that? Trillions have been ensnared, and billions are currently ensnared at this very moment all around the globe. They have been trapped, and like anything caught in a trap, the potential for an enjoyable relative existence comes to an abrupt end.
Regular visitors to this site have read about the woman who - in her "mind" - is certain that she has lived multiple lives and who is now assured - in her "mind" - that she has now lived a life of total purity that is, in turn, going to end all of the birth-life-death-rebirth cycles that she thinks she has gone though over the past several hundred years.
Why is she finally – in her beliefs and in her “mind” – pure enough to finally reach her final goal (which is to escape the cycling, to take mahasamadhi, and then to finally enter into a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering nor desire nor a sense of self)? Why does she think that she is finally pure enough to be “released from the effects of karma and the cycles of death and life and rebirth over and over again”?
Because she stopped eating meat or any protein (which her particular body type requires, the absence of which - her doctors have shown her – has resulted in the disabling of her organs which are no longer functioning properly). Because she stopped enjoying the act of sex (though she admits that she still desires it at times). Because she observes all of the ancient Eastern food laws (as well as all of the ancient Jewish food laws).
Because she daily eats all her veggies (as "a good girl" does) and annually eats a Seder meal during which she consumes a plate with three matzos dipped into a bowl of salt water, accompanied by a side dish of bitter herbs and four cups of (in her case) non-alcoholic wine.
(Yummm, huh? So much for tasting the sweet nectar. So much for tasting the essence of enjoyable foods that are available for consumption during the relative existence. Belief in the ancient concept that “it is best to suffer now so you can receive an eternal reward later” is alive and well. Where? In her "mind." The trap has been set for millennia, trillions have been ensnared in the trap via their beliefs, and now billions around the globe are also trapped as well.)
Why else? Because according to her beliefs, her body is now as pure internally as is her “mind” and “spirit.” As with billions of persons all around the globe who have been totally fooled, the storehouse of lies (the mind) and a dreamed up, bogus concept (the “spirit”) results in persons never tasting the nectar and never enjoying the essence of the relative existence.
Were she to grasp the non-dual, Nisargan understanding, then she would understand that the state in which there is neither suffering nor desire nor a sense of self can be reached now, during the manifestation. She would also understand that there will be no one – post-manifestation – to be aware of anything, including being aware of freedom from suffering and desire and a sense of self. She would understand that suffering and desire and a sense of self are the province of ego-states only and that one can be free of all three NOW.
As another example, Protestants and Catholics have all believed the lie. They are both “Christians” but they define differently the way to attain and maintain the “purity” that is required to enjoy the afterlife and to supposedly be rewarded eternally.
The irony? Though all claim to be members of the same religion, the Protestants claim they do not drink alcohol; the Catholics do and use alcohol in their worship services. The Protestants claim they do not gamble but the Catholics have weekly bingo games at their church with monetary payoffs. (Seems Christ once showed his opinion about the moneychangers in the temple, but that is evidently ignored.) The Protestants claim they do not dance, but the Catholics organize dances regularly.
All contradictory nonsense set forth by persons who are all defining themselves as Christians. What is shared in common? The belief that suffering now results in a reward later, and the result of that is that they will insanely normalize suffering now, they will never taste the nectar, and they will never enjoy fully the essence of the relative existence; moreover, they will never received a reward or anything else eternally because there will be no one and nothing personal that survives the taking of mahasamadhi.
Additionally, for 5,000 years the thousands of organized religions and cults and denominations and sects that have come and gone or stayed have told the ensnaring lie and have fostered the beliefs that have prevented trillions of persons from abiding naturally, from behaving normally, and from tasting the nectar and enjoying the essence of the relative existence.
Non-duality and the Nisarga yoga come along and say, “You are invited to be free NOW. You are invited to taste the nectar and enjoy the essence of the relative existence NOW. You need not wait. You need not allows others to tell you what you should and should not eat when there are three different body types which all require three different dietary food plans if the internal organs are to function properly.
“You need not de-accumulate or reject or discard anything natural. Don’t want to enjoy sexual experiences for whatever reason? Fine. Want sex but deny yourself because of some belief about purity and belief in the lies about birth-life-death-rebirth cycles? Fine? No. Insane? Yes.
“There is no personal self, there is no personal Self, and there is no Supreme Self. (How is it that the narcissism that gives a person a sense of being 'supreme' is deemed unacceptable but the sense that one can be a 'Supreme Self' is not only acceptable but is also a near-divine objective?) There is nothing personal that will survive. There is nothing personal that 'made you' or 'created' you."
The Nisarga Yoga invites all to abide naturally rather than unnaturally and rather than trying to live supernaturally (that is, religiously or spiritually or from within a new abode set up in Foo-Foo-Land). Every living thing on the planet does exactly that – abides naturally - except for humans.
You can do that too if you understand that you were not born and that you cannot die. Yes, there are cycles, but what cycles and what does not? Persons do not. Dreamed up "spirits" or "souls" do not.
What does cycle? Elements come together and form a temporarily-manifested composite unity. At the end of the manifestation, the elements will return to the universal pool of elements; the circulating air will return to the universal pool of air; and the circulating conscious-energy will return to the universal pool of conscious-energy. End of story.
[For more on the fact that you were not born and cannot die, you may view the video above to the right that discusses the subject in more detail.]
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
12 July 2014
Because persons take their "selves" seriously, they end up taking themselves way too seriously.
F.: There is another aspect of personality that the non-Realized masses are not aware of. It has been made clear that personalities / ego-states subconsciously use a variety of ego-defense mechanisms to defend themselves, including egotism, projection, justification, denial, regression, repression, displacement, compensation, grandiosity or assertiveness, blame, excuse-making, prevarication, rationalization, and many others.
Yet there are two other tools used by personalities which could be included in the list above but that are seldom discussed in terms of personality: personality assumption also generates significant distortions as well by use of normalization and minimization.
The tendency of personality is to normalize the abnormal and to minimize the extent of the harm and damage (relatively speaking) that personality generates in the relative existence.
The result is that the non-Realized masses no longer have a clue about what is natural vs. what is unnatural; about what is normal vs. what is abnormal; or about what is true vs. what is false.
While part of the inability to differentiate between true and false can be physical (caused by an under-functioning hypothalamus) much of that inability is rooted in personality and its subconscious willingness to lie and distort in order to defend self.
The desire of the consciousness for continuity brings with it an innate, instinctive drive to protect oneself, but assumed and assigned personalities also come with a desire to protect and extend themselves even though they are total illusions.
Consider Maharaj’s take on the bogus concept of continuity:
“Memory creates the illusion of continuity”
and
“Images arise and disappear and only memory gives them [a false sense of] continuity.”
(Most persons, if asked if they believe that a mirage could protect itself, would conclude that the one asking the question must be crazy, yet those same persons throughout any given day use words and actions to try to protect dozens of mirages – dozens of false personas – which they think actually help identify who they are.)
Consider the abject terror that can be felt when the one playing the role of “The Employee” makes a mistake in the workplace and is then confronted by “The Boss.” Consider the abject terror that can be felt by some who are playing - in a docile manner - the role of “The Spouse” when confronted angrily by the one playing the co-dependent counterpart spouse.
As with the manifest consciousness, the primary desire of all assigned or assumed personalities is continuity. “The Husband” wants to be “The Husband” forever, at all costs. If “The Husband” feels as if he is being threatened by a wife who is talking about leaving or if that role feels interfered with by another man making a pass at his wife, then that can inspire a shift into an attack mode to defend the false identity of “The Husband.” Men kill men at an alarming rate because of their woman-dependent roles, and in the U.S., 59% of all women murdered annually are killed by a partner during a breakup.
When it comes to the distorted perspectives that ego-states hold dear, something is always supposedly threatening them, something is always supposedly happening to them that must be addressed, and something supposed is always generating defensive and offensive postures.
Maharaj, by contrast, said, “To Me, nothing ever happens.” So it is here. So it can be with You.
Aggravating the instability that manifests when the unstable masses enter into “relationships” is the use of minimization. Reference was made in a past post about a husband who was in a counseling session with his wife who found out that, over a period of several months, he had left work during his lunch break and had taken four different women to hotels for sexual liaisons.
Sometimes an ego-state, rather than feeling abject fear, will respond with abject distortion that is driven by the use of ego-defense mechanisms such as grandiosity and assertiveness. When she confronted him in front of the counselor, he replied that none of those were “affairs” because he had only received oral sex.
“Besides,” he said, “all men at one point or another hook up with women other than their wives.” There, too, is an example of the minimization mentioned earlier (“it was only oral sex”) and the normalization mentioned earlier (“everyone does it so it’s no big deal when I do it”).
The use of minimization among non-Realized persons inspires them to hold the view that the difference between big problems and little problems is this: “Problems that are mine are the big ones; problems that are yours are the little ones.”
As far as a persona goes, nothing is more relevant than itself and the belief systems that are used to support it and the psychological tools that are used to try to guarantee its continuity.
Because persons take their "selves" seriously, they end up taking themselves way too seriously.
Consider those who define themselves by their political party or by their religious affiliation. Have you ever seen such ranting and raving and extreme behavior? Of such types, Maharaj said: "Anyone who thinks he knows what's good for another is dangerous."
Calm down. Get off your “high horse.” Quit taking your "selves" seriously. Mirages cannot be serious, so what a distortion it is to believe that they can be.
To that end, consider the relevance of the content of this exchange:
Questioner: “I have definite spiritual ambitions. Must I not work for their fulfillment?”
Maharaj: “No ambition is spiritual. All ambitions are for the sake of the ‘I Am’. If you want to make real progress, you must give up all idea of personal attainment. In the lust for an everlasting personal bliss, the mind is a cheat. The more pious it seems, the worse the betrayal.”
Relatedly, he also said: “Even after enlightenment the body is allowed to continue a few of its habits and to me it is not a big deal. Wake up, look through apparent appearances, examine your own righteousness and judgment, and separate the wheat from the chaff. If you can’t see beyond surface appearance and get caught up in your superficial judgments, then you have no business being here with me.”
And all of the nonsense shared in the above examples is based in the assumption of false identities and in not understanding all that one is not. In fact, you cannot truthfully be said to be "this." You cannot truthfully be said to be "that."
Maharaj: “To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge.”
Maharaj’s antidote for personality-generated distortion and ego-state-based desires and fears that drive persons to the most insane acts imaginable?
Learn to look without imagination, to listen without distortion. That is all. Stop attributing names and shapes to the essentially nameless and formless, realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear.
As for fighting to preserve false identities, he said: “Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own.”
See, it’s all about reaching a state in which one's perspective is valid and balanced. Some know that one very hot summer around 1953 or so, I was seated on the front porch of my Cherokee grandmother’s cabin which was situated in a pine forest in East Texas. Usually, my cousins were more affected by the summer heat in East Texas than I because they had air conditioning in their homes and I did not, but the temperature that particular day was so high that I was definitely uncomfortable.
Around noon, Grandmother and I had enjoyed lunching on the cream peas I had picked and shelled that morning from her garden, served with the cornbread which she had cooked in her wood-burning stove and which she had coated with the home-made butter that she had churned by hand.
After lunch we were sitting in rockers on the front porch of her cabin and the heat had been particularly sweltering that day. I mentioned how hot it was, but Grandmother remained silent. Suddenly, a realization dawned on me at that point. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I said something to the effect of, “Grandmother, it just hit me that in the winter you never complain about it being too cold and in the summer you never complain about it being too hot. How is that?”
Her answer convinced me that she had finally and completely lost her senses. She said, “That’s because when it’s hot it's hot and when it’s cold it’s cold.” Looking straight ahead toward the forest in front of the cabin (but seeing the confused expression on my face in her peripheral vision), she smiled a little smile.
Later, I got it, and when I saw the following words from Maharaj, they made perfect sense in light of what Grandmother had taught me with her answer:
Maharaj: “You are all drenched for it is raining hard. In my world it is always fine weather. There is no night or day, no heat or cold. No worries beset me there, nor regrets. My mind is free of thoughts for there are no desires to slave for.”
Any personality that has been assigned to you or that you have assumed will enslave you. You will be beset by the worries of mirages, of your false identities. You will have regrets. You will have a mind, and that mind will forever block you from being free.
Yet how persons fight to preserve the very source of such misery and suffering, namely, the mirages that they take to be real and that result in their taking themselves way too seriously. Now that is what the insanity of mindedness and dual-mindedness looks like.
The invitation: Be free. Stop taking yourself / your false selves so seriously. Finally, do not take them seriously at all. They are merely mirages. If you see a mirage when driving through a hot, barren area, does the mirage generate in you a sense of abject fear? Of course not.
Likewise, see your assumed or assigned personas for what they are: merely mirages that have no ability at all to inspire desire or fear were it not for your fiction-filled, imagining mind. Be done once and for all with the mind-based Ultimate Sickness - and with its ignorance and insanity - which inspire persons to take mirages seriously; then only can you be done with taking yourself / your selves so seriously.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
14 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
“It is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality.”
F.: Out of the three hundred or so people that visited this site yesterday, a few submitted queries that asked about the above pointer also from yesterday, so, to clarify:
The summative statement of non-duality is “I AM THAT; I AM.” Just as the composite unity that is typing this post is making use of two arms, those arms are not “separate from” the composite unity as a whole. Were that the case, they would not be available for use during the typing process that is happening.
“Advaita” means “not two,” and such is the case with the summative statement. It might appear to some that “I AM THAT” and “I AM” refer to two separate things, but they do not. They are joined by a semicolon which indicates that whatever appears to the left of the semicolon in a sentence correlates to whatever is to the right of it in a sentence; thus, “I AM THAT; I AM” offers a single expression of the non-dual teachings, not two separate expressions.
(Moses plagiarized almost every word in the Torah / “Old Testament” which he supposedly wrote. In one case, he stole one of the Far Eastern teachings that had found its way to the Middle East via the caravans that was used along the trade route linking the two areas.
He placed into the mouth of a supposed God - who was supposedly appearing as a “burning bush” - the plagiarized and misquoted words I AM THAT I AM, reported to be that “God's” answer to the question, “Who are you?” The omission of the semicolon shows that Moses did not have a clue about the real meaning of the phrase and merely wrote what he had heard without any understanding of what the original “I AM THAT; I AM” referred to; nevertheless, it has sounded good ever since to billions upon billions of Jews and Christians and Muslims whose religions are, ironically, all three rooted in the same teachings of Abraham but who now share little in common except among those who have assumed the dualistic persona of "Judaeo-Christians.")
So in the pointer above - “it is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality” – it could have been phrased just as easily as “It is useless to be in touch with THAT if it results in your being out of touch with the AM-ness” or as “To be in touch with Reality only is to tout the “That”-ness while ignoring or minimizing the “AM-ness” which is given equal billing in the summative statement and which, therefore, misses the point of “advaita” and the non-dual understanding completely.
To be in touch with reality only is to tout the “AM”-ness while ignoring the “THAT”-ness. To be in touch with Reality only is to tout the “THAT”-ness while ignoring the “AM-ness.” That involves a sense of separation, a sense of separation results in dual-mindedness, and “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.”
Therefore, both scenarios above assure insanity, whether the case is that one is out of touch with reality or the case is that one is out of touch with Reality.
Here, the “journey” is discussed metaphorically as a three-part or three-leg journey. Maharaj said, “. . . You should go back, reverse to the source” and “Follow the same path by which you came.”
The first leg involved the seven-step movement from the source to the manifestation of the conscious-energy in the frame or space or construct that is called “a composite unity” for the sake of discussion. (Maharaj: “In order to manifest itself, the consciousness needs a frame, a particular construct in which it can appear.”)
The second leg involves going back - reversing to the source - by following the seven-step “path” by which the consciousness originally manifested.
The third leg is the part of the overall “journey” whereby there is a “moving back” to the relative state after having Realized by following the same path by which you came originally (except the return “trip” happens without any blocking of the pure consciousness because there is none of the programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination that the consciousness was subjected to by sleepwalkers and sleeptalkers during the first leg along which the conscious-energy first came).
At that point, Reality is overlaid on reality. The removal via Realization of
(1) the blockages and the removal of
(2) the accumulation of "knowledge" (which is really nothing more than learned ignorance) and the removal of
(3) the accumulation of insane and erroneous beliefs that were stored away in a "mind"
allows the remainder of the manifestation to happen without the burdensome handicaps that were accumulated during the original "coming in" when the first leg of the "journey" happened.
[The fourth leg discussed here is the part of the “journey” that happens after mahasamadhi is taken, allowing the three parts of the composite unity that had "come together" to finally "come apart" - as dictated by the Second Law of Thermodynamics;
therefore, after the taking of mahasamadhi, the elements will return to the universal pool of elements, the air will return to the universal pool of air, and the conscious-energy will return to the universal pool of energy known as “The Absolute.”]
It is "there" in that absolute (that is "pure" or "unadulterated") field of conscious-energy where there is no longer any manifested consciousness that can be “conscious-of”;
where there is no “one” to know anything or to be aware of anything (including some special self, some Special Self, or some Supreme This or That”);
where awareness might be available to be pulled once more into another sequence of cycling from (a) the unmanifested awareness into (b) the manifested consciousness with a capacity for conscious-of-ness to (c) the awareness that has no capacity to be aware of anything and no capacity to be conscious of anything either;
or, where the awareness-that-is-not-aware-of remains eternally, never again being pulled back into the cycling process which had allowed the originally unmanifested awareness to manifest as consciousness during the first leg of the "journey."
The invitation is to understand THAT for the sole purpose of restoring total freedom and total sanity (which can only result if one is totally free of all of the effects of programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination).
That purging, in turn, will allow the remainder of the AM-ness to happen in a way that is not driven by the hidden agendas of assigned or assumed personalities; in a way that is not marked and marred by what Maharaj called the “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity” that are among the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness; and in a way that unfolds naturally and spontaneously.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
13 July 2014
“It is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality.”
F.: Out of the three hundred or so people that visited this site yesterday, a few submitted queries that asked about the above pointer also from yesterday, so, to clarify:
The summative statement of non-duality is “I AM THAT; I AM.” Just as the composite unity that is typing this post is making use of two arms, those arms are not “separate from” the composite unity as a whole. Were that the case, they would not be available for use during the typing process that is happening.
“Advaita” means “not two,” and such is the case with the summative statement. It might appear to some that “I AM THAT” and “I AM” refer to two separate things, but they do not. They are joined by a semicolon which indicates that whatever appears to the left of the semicolon in a sentence correlates to whatever is to the right of it in a sentence; thus, “I AM THAT; I AM” offers a single expression of the non-dual teachings, not two separate expressions.
(Moses plagiarized almost every word in the Torah / “Old Testament” which he supposedly wrote. In one case, he stole one of the Far Eastern teachings that had found its way to the Middle East via the caravans that was used along the trade route linking the two areas.
He placed into the mouth of a supposed God - who was supposedly appearing as a “burning bush” - the plagiarized and misquoted words I AM THAT I AM, reported to be that “God's” answer to the question, “Who are you?” The omission of the semicolon shows that Moses did not have a clue about the real meaning of the phrase and merely wrote what he had heard without any understanding of what the original “I AM THAT; I AM” referred to; nevertheless, it has sounded good ever since to billions upon billions of Jews and Christians and Muslims whose religions are, ironically, all three rooted in the same teachings of Abraham but who now share little in common except among those who have assumed the dualistic persona of "Judaeo-Christians.")
So in the pointer above - “it is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality” – it could have been phrased just as easily as “It is useless to be in touch with THAT if it results in your being out of touch with the AM-ness” or as “To be in touch with Reality only is to tout the “That”-ness while ignoring or minimizing the “AM-ness” which is given equal billing in the summative statement and which, therefore, misses the point of “advaita” and the non-dual understanding completely.
To be in touch with reality only is to tout the “AM”-ness while ignoring the “THAT”-ness. To be in touch with Reality only is to tout the “THAT”-ness while ignoring the “AM-ness.” That involves a sense of separation, a sense of separation results in dual-mindedness, and “a dual-minded person is unstable in all ways.”
Therefore, both scenarios above assure insanity, whether the case is that one is out of touch with reality or the case is that one is out of touch with Reality.
Here, the “journey” is discussed metaphorically as a three-part or three-leg journey. Maharaj said, “. . . You should go back, reverse to the source” and “Follow the same path by which you came.”
The first leg involved the seven-step movement from the source to the manifestation of the conscious-energy in the frame or space or construct that is called “a composite unity” for the sake of discussion. (Maharaj: “In order to manifest itself, the consciousness needs a frame, a particular construct in which it can appear.”)
The second leg involves going back - reversing to the source - by following the seven-step “path” by which the consciousness originally manifested.
The third leg is the part of the overall “journey” whereby there is a “moving back” to the relative state after having Realized by following the same path by which you came originally (except the return “trip” happens without any blocking of the pure consciousness because there is none of the programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination that the consciousness was subjected to by sleepwalkers and sleeptalkers during the first leg along which the conscious-energy first came).
At that point, Reality is overlaid on reality. The removal via Realization of
(1) the blockages and the removal of
(2) the accumulation of "knowledge" (which is really nothing more than learned ignorance) and the removal of
(3) the accumulation of insane and erroneous beliefs that were stored away in a "mind"
allows the remainder of the manifestation to happen without the burdensome handicaps that were accumulated during the original "coming in" when the first leg of the "journey" happened.
[The fourth leg discussed here is the part of the “journey” that happens after mahasamadhi is taken, allowing the three parts of the composite unity that had "come together" to finally "come apart" - as dictated by the Second Law of Thermodynamics;
therefore, after the taking of mahasamadhi, the elements will return to the universal pool of elements, the air will return to the universal pool of air, and the conscious-energy will return to the universal pool of energy known as “The Absolute.”]
It is "there" in that absolute (that is "pure" or "unadulterated") field of conscious-energy where there is no longer any manifested consciousness that can be “conscious-of”;
where there is no “one” to know anything or to be aware of anything (including some special self, some Special Self, or some Supreme This or That”);
where awareness might be available to be pulled once more into another sequence of cycling from (a) the unmanifested awareness into (b) the manifested consciousness with a capacity for conscious-of-ness to (c) the awareness that has no capacity to be aware of anything and no capacity to be conscious of anything either;
or, where the awareness-that-is-not-aware-of remains eternally, never again being pulled back into the cycling process which had allowed the originally unmanifested awareness to manifest as consciousness during the first leg of the "journey."
The invitation is to understand THAT for the sole purpose of restoring total freedom and total sanity (which can only result if one is totally free of all of the effects of programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination).
That purging, in turn, will allow the remainder of the AM-ness to happen in a way that is not driven by the hidden agendas of assigned or assumed personalities; in a way that is not marked and marred by what Maharaj called the “ignorance, stupidity, and insanity” that are among the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness; and in a way that unfolds naturally and spontaneously.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
13 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
“It is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality.”
All persons among the non-Realized masses, and many who take themselves to be Realized as well, have no clue at all about the trap in which they have been snared.
“It is useless to be in touch with Reality if that results in your being out of touch with reality.”
All persons among the non-Realized masses, and many who take themselves to be Realized as well, have no clue at all about the trap in which they have been snared.
The most commonly-used trap in the history of humankind is the trap that persons set in order to try to control other persons. Once in the snare, most never escape. As a result, some might speak about “the taste of the most special nectar” and about “the essence,” but they actually never taste the nectar and they never really enjoy the essence of the relative existence.
Traps usually have two parts. One part is the trigger. When set off, it activates the second part of the trap that actually does the confining or snaring or trapping.
In terms of the message here, the two-part trap employs one lie and one belief. The lie is the triggering device. The belief – as is the case with all beliefs – is the part that traps persons, that confines them, that restricts them, and that limits them.
The triggering part of the trap is this lie: “There is life after this life.” The confining part of the trap is engaged when a one person’s lie becomes another person’s belief, and that confining, restricting, limiting belief is this: “I will live after this life.”
The consciousness innately desires continuity, so setting the trap and ensnaring the masses has proved to be a very easy task.
At least two hundred generations of persons have now been exposed to the lie since the first self-appointed religious leader began talking about “multiple lives.” The lie has been modified by others who teach that “there are not multiple lives . . . there is just this life and the afterlife.”
Each time one hears that lie and believes it and accepts it as an unquestionable fact based in the blind, no-challenging version of faith that is supposedly required in order to assure that one receives a reward after this life, then the lie triggers the trap and ensnarement is assured as a result of a belief.
The result of multi-generational exposure to the lie is this: not millions and not billions but actually trillions have believed the lie. The result of that? Trillions have been ensnared, and billions are currently ensnared at this very moment all around the globe. They have been trapped, and like anything caught in a trap, the potential for an enjoyable relative existence comes to an abrupt end.
Regular visitors to this site have read about the woman who - in her "mind" - is certain that she has lived multiple lives and who is now assured - in her "mind" - that she has now lived a life of total purity that is, in turn, going to end all of the birth-life-death-rebirth cycles that she thinks she has gone though over the past several hundred years.
Why is she finally – in her beliefs and in her “mind” – pure enough to finally reach her final goal (which is to escape the cycling, to take mahasamadhi, and then to finally enter into a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering nor desire nor a sense of self)? Why does she think that she is finally pure enough to be “released from the effects of karma and the cycles of death and life and rebirth over and over again”?
Because she stopped eating meat or any protein (which her particular body type requires, the absence of which - her doctors have shown her – has resulted in the disabling of her organs which are no longer functioning properly). Because she stopped enjoying the act of sex (though she admits that she still desires it at times). Because she observes all of the ancient Eastern food laws (as well as all of the ancient Jewish food laws).
Because she daily eats all her veggies (as "a good girl" does) and annually eats a Seder meal during which she consumes a plate with three matzos dipped into a bowl of salt water, accompanied by a side dish of bitter herbs and four cups of (in her case) non-alcoholic wine.
(Yummm, huh? So much for tasting the sweet nectar. So much for tasting the essence of enjoyable foods that are available for consumption during the relative existence. Belief in the ancient concept that “it is best to suffer now so you can receive an eternal reward later” is alive and well. Where? In her "mind." The trap has been set for millennia, trillions have been ensnared in the trap via their beliefs, and now billions around the globe are also trapped as well.)
Why else? Because according to her beliefs, her body is now as pure internally as is her “mind” and “spirit.” As with billions of persons all around the globe who have been totally fooled, the storehouse of lies (the mind) and a dreamed up, bogus concept (the “spirit”) results in persons never tasting the nectar and never enjoying the essence of the relative existence.
Were she to grasp the non-dual, Nisargan understanding, then she would understand that the state in which there is neither suffering nor desire nor a sense of self can be reached now, during the manifestation. She would also understand that there will be no one – post-manifestation – to be aware of anything, including being aware of freedom from suffering and desire and a sense of self. She would understand that suffering and desire and a sense of self are the province of ego-states only and that one can be free of all three NOW.
As another example, Protestants and Catholics have all believed the lie. They are both “Christians” but they define differently the way to attain and maintain the “purity” that is required to enjoy the afterlife and to supposedly be rewarded eternally.
The irony? Though all claim to be members of the same religion, the Protestants claim they do not drink alcohol; the Catholics do and use alcohol in their worship services. The Protestants claim they do not gamble but the Catholics have weekly bingo games at their church with monetary payoffs. (Seems Christ once showed his opinion about the moneychangers in the temple, but that is evidently ignored.) The Protestants claim they do not dance, but the Catholics organize dances regularly.
All contradictory nonsense set forth by persons who are all defining themselves as Christians. What is shared in common? The belief that suffering now results in a reward later, and the result of that is that they will insanely normalize suffering now, they will never taste the nectar, and they will never enjoy fully the essence of the relative existence; moreover, they will never received a reward or anything else eternally because there will be no one and nothing personal that survives the taking of mahasamadhi.
Additionally, for 5,000 years the thousands of organized religions and cults and denominations and sects that have come and gone or stayed have told the ensnaring lie and have fostered the beliefs that have prevented trillions of persons from abiding naturally, from behaving normally, and from tasting the nectar and enjoying the essence of the relative existence.
Non-duality and the Nisarga yoga come along and say, “You are invited to be free NOW. You are invited to taste the nectar and enjoy the essence of the relative existence NOW. You need not wait. You need not allows others to tell you what you should and should not eat when there are three different body types which all require three different dietary food plans if the internal organs are to function properly.
“You need not de-accumulate or reject or discard anything natural. Don’t want to enjoy sexual experiences for whatever reason? Fine. Want sex but deny yourself because of some belief about purity and belief in the lies about birth-life-death-rebirth cycles? Fine? No. Insane? Yes.
“There is no personal self, there is no personal Self, and there is no Supreme Self. (How is it that the narcissism that gives a person a sense of being 'supreme' is deemed unacceptable but the sense that one can be a 'Supreme Self' is not only acceptable but is also a near-divine objective?) There is nothing personal that will survive. There is nothing personal that 'made you' or 'created' you."
The Nisarga Yoga invites all to abide naturally rather than unnaturally and rather than trying to live supernaturally (that is, religiously or spiritually or from within a new abode set up in Foo-Foo-Land). Every living thing on the planet does exactly that – abides naturally - except for humans.
You can do that too if you understand that you were not born and that you cannot die. Yes, there are cycles, but what cycles and what does not? Persons do not. Dreamed up "spirits" or "souls" do not.
What does cycle? Elements come together and form a temporarily-manifested composite unity. At the end of the manifestation, the elements will return to the universal pool of elements; the circulating air will return to the universal pool of air; and the circulating conscious-energy will return to the universal pool of conscious-energy. End of story.
[For more on the fact that you were not born and cannot die, you may view the video above to the right that discusses the subject in more detail.]
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
12 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Maharaj on the deceptions around “relationships”: “It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.”
Maharaj’s words that describe the agendas of the love-starved Personality Type Two and the security-seeking Personality Type Six (and all of the other personality types that connect with their agendas): “Your interest in others is egoistic, self-concerned, self- oriented. You are not interested in others as persons, but only as far as they enrich, or ennoble your own image of yourself.”
His words that are relevant to “husbanding” / “wifing,” or not: “There are always moments when one feels empty and estranged. Such moments are most desirable, for it means the soul has cast its moorings and is sailing for distant places. This is detachment - when the old is over and the new has not yet come. If you are afraid, the state may be distressing, but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Remember the instruction: Whatever you come across - go beyond.”
See, the term “couples counseling” is a misnomer, is totally misleading, and is guaranteed to set people up to believe erroneously that the unpleasant interactions which have manifested after shifting their identities from “two separate individuals” to “a couple” should - and can be - addressed as a “couple problem” when, in fact, what is actually at play is this:
There were the separate problems that each individual had all along as a result of being blindly driven by the hidden agendas of the personalities that have been driving them for their entire relative existence. They then brought those personality-driven issues into “their relationship.”
Their belief that “couples counseling” is needed will prevent them from focusing on the real issue which is this: each party has a series of false personality identifications that are subconsciously determining every thought that is thought, every word that is said, every emotion that is felt, and every action that is taken. Neither person is present to the “relationship” because both are already in a committed relationship with all of their false personas that they will, if need be, fight to the death to defend. Yet they believe the answer is to treat them both together to address “couple problems” when there is no such thing. There are only “individual, personal problems.”
It is as if one person has lung cancer and another has a brain tumor but they go to a doctor together and request that their problems be addressed with one surgical procedure rather than two separate operations. It is as if two people were in an auto accident in which one person suffered a broken arm and the other suffered a broken leg but they show up at a hospital emergency room and ask the attending physician to apply one cast to treat them both together.
So that would look something like this:
And the result, if the one working with those two people honored their request for “couples surgery,” would be what? They would both be cramped, restricted, hamstrung, and even crippled. Rather than treating each separately so that each could be liberated, their separate “issues” were not afforded the separate treatment that was called for.
Too often, when “relationships” are entered into or after the words “I do” are said, it is as if the two become conjoined twins who each soon begin blaming the other person – and blaming the other solely and 100% - for all of the uncomfortable aspects of their life together. That mindset and the arrangement it generates are hardly what non-dualists are pointing two with the term “the unicity.”
The solution? The case is the same whether one is a part of “a couple” or not: every non-Realized person who would shift from that which is counterproductive (relatively speaking), and which is usually insane as well, must address his or her own personality issues. Each must find the specific personas that are driving her or him and then each must turn from those false identities, each must seek authenticity, and each must be freed from living under the influence of personality, once and for all.
In the book below entitled FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, there is a reference make to what is called here “Applied Advaita.” What does that refer to? It refers to Realizing and then applying – or overlaying – onto the relative existence the sanity and wisdom that returns with Realization.
Actually, there is no way to Realize and then fail to allow the resultant sanity and wisdom to prevail for the remainder of the AM-ness. If persons do not allow that “overlaying” to happen (or more accurately, when that overlaying does not happen spontaneously) it is because those persons have not truly Realized at all. They think they have come to know “THAT” and then “THAT” is all they care about, using “THAT” as a means to try to escape from reality (from the realities of the relative existence) and to move into a psychotic kind of “Foo-Foo Land.”
Yesterday, this topic for today was announced: Why personality identification makes the concept of “opposites attract” total BS. Now, to that.
An ideal “partnership” or “relationship” would be marked by each member bringing to the “partnership” or “relationship” what the other lacks. In one business that was run here years ago, a partnership happened with a man named Bill. Bill was extremely introverted and could not comfortably or effectively speak to people. He had spent his years working in jobs that could, for the most part, be done by him alone. He had no training in sales.
I, on the other hand, had many years of training in sales and marketing, but I had no interest in installation of products; therefore, I met prospects and potential customers, I presented features and benefits, and I closed deals and got contracts signed. Bill handled the installation of the products that were sold.
We each brought a different skill set to the “partnership” or “relationship” that then allowed a business to function profitably in a way that it could not have otherwise.
But that’s not the way “personal relationships” work. Why not? Because of personality identification (that is ego-state assumption) and because of the egotism that always accompanies personality identification assumption (that is, ego-state assumption).
Because of arrogance, because of the belief that “my views are right and all others are wrong,” and because of the belief that “I’m really quite the catch” and the belief that “anyone should be thrilled to be with me,” then that sort of ego-state sustaining egotism and arrogance and narcissism and false pride and unfounded sense of superiority ends up driving persons in this way:
They do not seek to form healthy “partnerships” or “relationships” that are based in bringing complementary elements and different assets to the arrangement; instead, what arrogant heterosexuals really want is an opposite-sex version of themselves, and what arrogant homosexuals want is a same-sex version of themselves.
The lyrics sung by most persons on the planet are not “To know, know, know you is to love, love, love you, and I do”; instead, the lyrics sung by most persons on the planet are “To know, know, know me is to love, love, love me, and I do.”
No “breakup” or “divorce” has ever happened unless there is one belief in particular, and that particular belief is always, “He / She is not good enough for me.” And that belief always comes after an ego-state has been assumed and after it has then upgraded itself.
All “The Wife” needed to “exist” in her own mind was “A Husband.” Once that false identity self-upgraded (which ego-states always do because of egotism), then she becomes The Super Wife.” After that, what she believes she “needs” to “exist” in her own mind is “A Super Husband.” Because she does not have “A Super Husband,” she must leave.
Same with the husband who self-upgrades, but usually he’ll stay around; however, he may have an extramarital affair (or many such affairs) because he believes that he is super and because he believes that he is not being treated in a super fashion at home and because he believes that he deserves better. Thus he will seek another woman – or many women - who are willing to treat him in the super fashion that he believes he deserves.
Rampart narcissism is the curse of the humanity, and it is rooted in the nonsense of personality identification and in the use of the ego-defense mechanism called “egotism” which accompanies every assigned or assumed personality. And personality will always generate a false set of dreamed up phony “needs” . . . alongside another belief that always eventually comes, namely, the belief that one's phony, dreamed up needs are not being met.
How could they be? They are not real. Hang on to those beliefs – or any other beliefs – and you will be assured a relative existence that is certain to be marked by duality-induced chaos.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
11 July 2014
Should dating and living together “forever” or marrying “forever” be eliminated in all cultures? That’s a different subject. The non-dual take is that "husbanding" can happen without believing the lie that part of one’s actual identity is “The Husband” (who soon self-upgrades to “The Super Husband”) and that "wifing" can happen without believing the lie that part of one’s actual identity is “The Wife” (who soon self-upgrades to “The Super Wife”).
That "husbanding" and "wifing" without personality assumption and upgrading can only happen if (a) one Realizes and if (b) one does not drop the “I AM” part of the non-dual summative statement, “I AM THAT; I AM.” “Husbanding” can happen just fine among the Realized (and no-“husbanding” can happen just fine, too.) Same with “wifing” or no-“wifing.” Yet the AM-ness must be able to unfold naturally without identifying with THAT only.
Remember that, post-Realization among Nisargans, the focus returns to the relative existence and to abiding naturally as the sanity and wisdom which result from Realization are overlaid on the relative. There is “reality” and there is also Reality; there is "I AM THAT" and there is also “I AM.”
Yet personality identification does not allow for a sense of Oneness to be overlaid on the reality of "abiding together under a common roof." Two persons come together with their own (often-subconscious) agendas and belief systems and expectations while thinking that there are no significant differences . . . that they "share so much in common."
(If some differences are detected, those are set aside when the nonsensical belief that “I’ll change him” comes into play or when the nonsensical belief that “she’ll always be just like she is right now while we’re dating” comes into play).
Several friends who are counselors report that the most frequent call they receive nowadays involves a request for “couples counseling.” Here, over the years, much work with couples has also happened, using the wisdom of the enneagram as a tool for understanding exactly what it is that is actually driving everything in their “relationship.”
Persons request “couples counseling” because (1) they think that the problems they are experiencing are a result of being together and interacting with each other or (2) one or the other thinks that she or he can triangulate with the counselor to “fix” the offending partner who is deemed to be solely responsible for the “issues” plaguing their “relationship.”
Of course, that is nonsense. Two persons both have their own issues and then enter into a “relationship” where their individual issues become magnified and thus more observable.
The problems among couples are not rooted in their duality-based “relationship.” They are based in the duality of the multiple personalities which they erroneously believe define their identities and that subconsciously drive their every thought and word and action.
The most effective counselors, therefore, work with one, then the other, then both together. The same approach is used here, limiting the “couple” part of the process to no more than 1/3 of the overall process and allowing for a full focusing on the personality-based issues of each “individual.”
It’s like this: if one person in a “relationship” develops a physical problem - such as cancer, say - it does not mean that the other person has cancer; however, it does mean that both are going to be affected. The same is true when there are mental and emotional problems (a.k.a., personality assumption and identification problems). It can be that one person has a personality-based problem, but – yes – it is going to affect both.
Yet when one partner has cancer, the doctor does not treat both partners for cancer. If the cancer is removed from one, then both will be affected (and affected “positively,” relatively speaking). If one partner has cancer and the other is bi-polar, then each must be treated separately for what ails him or her. If both are treated, then both will be affected (and affected “positively,” relatively speaking).
If only one is treated for what needs to be treated, then that person will be better off (relatively speaking) but it does not address the issue of the other person that is also screaming for treatment. If two sick persons are both healed, the sharing of a common roof can happen more pleasantly. If one only is healed, or neither is healed, then sharing a common roof will set the stage for many nightmarish scenarios as both will be trapped in their "individual, personal dream."
In the end, Realization can remove all personality influence, and two people sharing a common roof who have both been freed from the hidden agendas of personality, well, that can be a rare but joyous happening. Why?
Because no hidden agendas will be driving them and because the understanding of the Oneness – of the Unicity – will manifest, then what will also result will be unimaginable shifts in the way things happen under that common roof.
TOMORROW: Why personality identification makes the concept of “opposites attract” total BS.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
10 July 2014
F.: Maharaj on the deceptions around “relationships”: “It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.”
Maharaj’s words that describe the agendas of the love-starved Personality Type Two and the security-seeking Personality Type Six (and all of the other personality types that connect with their agendas): “Your interest in others is egoistic, self-concerned, self- oriented. You are not interested in others as persons, but only as far as they enrich, or ennoble your own image of yourself.”
His words that are relevant to “husbanding” / “wifing,” or not: “There are always moments when one feels empty and estranged. Such moments are most desirable, for it means the soul has cast its moorings and is sailing for distant places. This is detachment - when the old is over and the new has not yet come. If you are afraid, the state may be distressing, but there is really nothing to be afraid of. Remember the instruction: Whatever you come across - go beyond.”
See, the term “couples counseling” is a misnomer, is totally misleading, and is guaranteed to set people up to believe erroneously that the unpleasant interactions which have manifested after shifting their identities from “two separate individuals” to “a couple” should - and can be - addressed as a “couple problem” when, in fact, what is actually at play is this:
There were the separate problems that each individual had all along as a result of being blindly driven by the hidden agendas of the personalities that have been driving them for their entire relative existence. They then brought those personality-driven issues into “their relationship.”
Their belief that “couples counseling” is needed will prevent them from focusing on the real issue which is this: each party has a series of false personality identifications that are subconsciously determining every thought that is thought, every word that is said, every emotion that is felt, and every action that is taken. Neither person is present to the “relationship” because both are already in a committed relationship with all of their false personas that they will, if need be, fight to the death to defend. Yet they believe the answer is to treat them both together to address “couple problems” when there is no such thing. There are only “individual, personal problems.”
It is as if one person has lung cancer and another has a brain tumor but they go to a doctor together and request that their problems be addressed with one surgical procedure rather than two separate operations. It is as if two people were in an auto accident in which one person suffered a broken arm and the other suffered a broken leg but they show up at a hospital emergency room and ask the attending physician to apply one cast to treat them both together.
So that would look something like this:
And the result, if the one working with those two people honored their request for “couples surgery,” would be what? They would both be cramped, restricted, hamstrung, and even crippled. Rather than treating each separately so that each could be liberated, their separate “issues” were not afforded the separate treatment that was called for.
Too often, when “relationships” are entered into or after the words “I do” are said, it is as if the two become conjoined twins who each soon begin blaming the other person – and blaming the other solely and 100% - for all of the uncomfortable aspects of their life together. That mindset and the arrangement it generates are hardly what non-dualists are pointing two with the term “the unicity.”
The solution? The case is the same whether one is a part of “a couple” or not: every non-Realized person who would shift from that which is counterproductive (relatively speaking), and which is usually insane as well, must address his or her own personality issues. Each must find the specific personas that are driving her or him and then each must turn from those false identities, each must seek authenticity, and each must be freed from living under the influence of personality, once and for all.
In the book below entitled FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, there is a reference make to what is called here “Applied Advaita.” What does that refer to? It refers to Realizing and then applying – or overlaying – onto the relative existence the sanity and wisdom that returns with Realization.
Actually, there is no way to Realize and then fail to allow the resultant sanity and wisdom to prevail for the remainder of the AM-ness. If persons do not allow that “overlaying” to happen (or more accurately, when that overlaying does not happen spontaneously) it is because those persons have not truly Realized at all. They think they have come to know “THAT” and then “THAT” is all they care about, using “THAT” as a means to try to escape from reality (from the realities of the relative existence) and to move into a psychotic kind of “Foo-Foo Land.”
Yesterday, this topic for today was announced: Why personality identification makes the concept of “opposites attract” total BS. Now, to that.
An ideal “partnership” or “relationship” would be marked by each member bringing to the “partnership” or “relationship” what the other lacks. In one business that was run here years ago, a partnership happened with a man named Bill. Bill was extremely introverted and could not comfortably or effectively speak to people. He had spent his years working in jobs that could, for the most part, be done by him alone. He had no training in sales.
I, on the other hand, had many years of training in sales and marketing, but I had no interest in installation of products; therefore, I met prospects and potential customers, I presented features and benefits, and I closed deals and got contracts signed. Bill handled the installation of the products that were sold.
We each brought a different skill set to the “partnership” or “relationship” that then allowed a business to function profitably in a way that it could not have otherwise.
But that’s not the way “personal relationships” work. Why not? Because of personality identification (that is ego-state assumption) and because of the egotism that always accompanies personality identification assumption (that is, ego-state assumption).
Because of arrogance, because of the belief that “my views are right and all others are wrong,” and because of the belief that “I’m really quite the catch” and the belief that “anyone should be thrilled to be with me,” then that sort of ego-state sustaining egotism and arrogance and narcissism and false pride and unfounded sense of superiority ends up driving persons in this way:
They do not seek to form healthy “partnerships” or “relationships” that are based in bringing complementary elements and different assets to the arrangement; instead, what arrogant heterosexuals really want is an opposite-sex version of themselves, and what arrogant homosexuals want is a same-sex version of themselves.
Opposites attract? No way. Egotism will not allow that to happen. The theme song of humanity is not “I’m In The Mood For Love”; it’s really, “I’m In The Mood For Me.”
The lyrics sung by most persons on the planet are not “To know, know, know you is to love, love, love you, and I do”; instead, the lyrics sung by most persons on the planet are “To know, know, know me is to love, love, love me, and I do.”
No “breakup” or “divorce” has ever happened unless there is one belief in particular, and that particular belief is always, “He / She is not good enough for me.” And that belief always comes after an ego-state has been assumed and after it has then upgraded itself.
All “The Wife” needed to “exist” in her own mind was “A Husband.” Once that false identity self-upgraded (which ego-states always do because of egotism), then she becomes The Super Wife.” After that, what she believes she “needs” to “exist” in her own mind is “A Super Husband.” Because she does not have “A Super Husband,” she must leave.
Same with the husband who self-upgrades, but usually he’ll stay around; however, he may have an extramarital affair (or many such affairs) because he believes that he is super and because he believes that he is not being treated in a super fashion at home and because he believes that he deserves better. Thus he will seek another woman – or many women - who are willing to treat him in the super fashion that he believes he deserves.
Rampart narcissism is the curse of the humanity, and it is rooted in the nonsense of personality identification and in the use of the ego-defense mechanism called “egotism” which accompanies every assigned or assumed personality. And personality will always generate a false set of dreamed up phony “needs” . . . alongside another belief that always eventually comes, namely, the belief that one's phony, dreamed up needs are not being met.
How could they be? They are not real. Hang on to those beliefs – or any other beliefs – and you will be assured a relative existence that is certain to be marked by duality-induced chaos.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
11 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: Personality identification also blocks seekers from grasping fully one of the most essential elements of the non-dual understanding, namely, the understanding of the Oneness or the Unicity. The reason? So many personalities are linked to the bogus concept of “relationships” which, in turn, results in the confusion around the bogus concept of “Oneness” vs. “relationships.”
There is no “Oneness” vs. “relationships.” The idea that one can “relate to” is duality. With that concept, there must be an “A” that is relating to a “B” and a “B” that is relating to an “A.”
That dualistic belief is the centerpiece of “relationship-related personalities” which include the continuum that Maharaj discussed and which he noted drives so much of the chaos (and results in the chaos that comes from the desire to control) that marks and mars the relative existence all around the globe:
stranger to acquaintance to friend to lover to fiancé (or fiancée) to wife (or husband) to Super Wife (or Super Husband) to Not Super Wife (or Not Super Husband) to enemy to mortal enemy to “The Ex.”
Recall, to assume a role and believe that it is a real identity requires a co-dependent, counterpart role player. It takes two players for any personality identification to manifest and then continue to be seen as an actual identity. That’s duality. And what drives duality and the belief in “relationships” and the valuing (and over-valuing) of “relationships? Personality.
Return to the science of personality (as Maharaj predicted and advised) and see what an understanding of the personality enneagram can reveal:
Note that the connecting lines indicate the way that different types “relate”:
The 2 and the 6 are the two types that are most preoccupied with “relationships,” though their agendas are different. Recall that the love-starved 2 wants to be loved while the dependent and co-dependent 6 wants security and looks for it from a caretaker.
Next, note that the 2 has both a 1-wing and a 3-wing, so those types can have a piece of the 2’s love-starved agenda. Note that the 6 has both a 5-wing and a 7-wing, so those types can have a piece of the 6’s dependency and co-dependency agenda around “relationships.”
Note also that a 3 and a 9 can shift to the 6’s agenda around "relationships." Too, the 6 and the 8 often misidentify because they share many relationship-driven traits in common. Finally, the 4 and the 6 will connect if the Borderline Personality Disorder develops.
Therefore, in one way or another, there are 8 types that are strongly linked in one way or another to the 2 basic, personality types that are most concerned with “relationships.”
And nothing else drives human thoughts and words and deeds more than a preoccupation with “relationships,” including “finding the right person,” "establishing a relationship with a Higher Power," “hanging on to the right person,” improving “my relationship” with the person I’m with, "improving my relationship with my Higher Power," and maintaining the “relationship”-related roles that have been assigned or assumed (including those in Maharaj’s continuum as well as “The Parent,” “The Homeowner,” “The One Better Off Financially,” “The Lover,” etc.)
F.: Personality identification also blocks seekers from grasping fully one of the most essential elements of the non-dual understanding, namely, the understanding of the Oneness or the Unicity. The reason? So many personalities are linked to the bogus concept of “relationships” which, in turn, results in the confusion around the bogus concept of “Oneness” vs. “relationships.”
There is no “Oneness” vs. “relationships.” The idea that one can “relate to” is duality. With that concept, there must be an “A” that is relating to a “B” and a “B” that is relating to an “A.”
That dualistic belief is the centerpiece of “relationship-related personalities” which include the continuum that Maharaj discussed and which he noted drives so much of the chaos (and results in the chaos that comes from the desire to control) that marks and mars the relative existence all around the globe:
stranger to acquaintance to friend to lover to fiancé (or fiancée) to wife (or husband) to Super Wife (or Super Husband) to Not Super Wife (or Not Super Husband) to enemy to mortal enemy to “The Ex.”
Recall, to assume a role and believe that it is a real identity requires a co-dependent, counterpart role player. It takes two players for any personality identification to manifest and then continue to be seen as an actual identity. That’s duality. And what drives duality and the belief in “relationships” and the valuing (and over-valuing) of “relationships? Personality.
Return to the science of personality (as Maharaj predicted and advised) and see what an understanding of the personality enneagram can reveal:
Note that the connecting lines indicate the way that different types “relate”:
The 2 and the 6 are the two types that are most preoccupied with “relationships,” though their agendas are different. Recall that the love-starved 2 wants to be loved while the dependent and co-dependent 6 wants security and looks for it from a caretaker.
Next, note that the 2 has both a 1-wing and a 3-wing, so those types can have a piece of the 2’s love-starved agenda. Note that the 6 has both a 5-wing and a 7-wing, so those types can have a piece of the 6’s dependency and co-dependency agenda around “relationships.”
Note also that a 3 and a 9 can shift to the 6’s agenda around "relationships." Too, the 6 and the 8 often misidentify because they share many relationship-driven traits in common. Finally, the 4 and the 6 will connect if the Borderline Personality Disorder develops.
Therefore, in one way or another, there are 8 types that are strongly linked in one way or another to the 2 basic, personality types that are most concerned with “relationships.”
And nothing else drives human thoughts and words and deeds more than a preoccupation with “relationships,” including “finding the right person,” "establishing a relationship with a Higher Power," “hanging on to the right person,” improving “my relationship” with the person I’m with, "improving my relationship with my Higher Power," and maintaining the “relationship”-related roles that have been assigned or assumed (including those in Maharaj’s continuum as well as “The Parent,” “The Homeowner,” “The One Better Off Financially,” “The Lover,” etc.)
Should dating and living together “forever” or marrying “forever” be eliminated in all cultures? That’s a different subject. The non-dual take is that "husbanding" can happen without believing the lie that part of one’s actual identity is “The Husband” (who soon self-upgrades to “The Super Husband”) and that "wifing" can happen without believing the lie that part of one’s actual identity is “The Wife” (who soon self-upgrades to “The Super Wife”).
That "husbanding" and "wifing" without personality assumption and upgrading can only happen if (a) one Realizes and if (b) one does not drop the “I AM” part of the non-dual summative statement, “I AM THAT; I AM.” “Husbanding” can happen just fine among the Realized (and no-“husbanding” can happen just fine, too.) Same with “wifing” or no-“wifing.” Yet the AM-ness must be able to unfold naturally without identifying with THAT only.
Remember that, post-Realization among Nisargans, the focus returns to the relative existence and to abiding naturally as the sanity and wisdom which result from Realization are overlaid on the relative. There is “reality” and there is also Reality; there is "I AM THAT" and there is also “I AM.”
Yet personality identification does not allow for a sense of Oneness to be overlaid on the reality of "abiding together under a common roof." Two persons come together with their own (often-subconscious) agendas and belief systems and expectations while thinking that there are no significant differences . . . that they "share so much in common."
(If some differences are detected, those are set aside when the nonsensical belief that “I’ll change him” comes into play or when the nonsensical belief that “she’ll always be just like she is right now while we’re dating” comes into play).
Several friends who are counselors report that the most frequent call they receive nowadays involves a request for “couples counseling.” Here, over the years, much work with couples has also happened, using the wisdom of the enneagram as a tool for understanding exactly what it is that is actually driving everything in their “relationship.”
Persons request “couples counseling” because (1) they think that the problems they are experiencing are a result of being together and interacting with each other or (2) one or the other thinks that she or he can triangulate with the counselor to “fix” the offending partner who is deemed to be solely responsible for the “issues” plaguing their “relationship.”
Of course, that is nonsense. Two persons both have their own issues and then enter into a “relationship” where their individual issues become magnified and thus more observable.
The problems among couples are not rooted in their duality-based “relationship.” They are based in the duality of the multiple personalities which they erroneously believe define their identities and that subconsciously drive their every thought and word and action.
The most effective counselors, therefore, work with one, then the other, then both together. The same approach is used here, limiting the “couple” part of the process to no more than 1/3 of the overall process and allowing for a full focusing on the personality-based issues of each “individual.”
It’s like this: if one person in a “relationship” develops a physical problem - such as cancer, say - it does not mean that the other person has cancer; however, it does mean that both are going to be affected. The same is true when there are mental and emotional problems (a.k.a., personality assumption and identification problems). It can be that one person has a personality-based problem, but – yes – it is going to affect both.
Yet when one partner has cancer, the doctor does not treat both partners for cancer. If the cancer is removed from one, then both will be affected (and affected “positively,” relatively speaking). If one partner has cancer and the other is bi-polar, then each must be treated separately for what ails him or her. If both are treated, then both will be affected (and affected “positively,” relatively speaking).
If only one is treated for what needs to be treated, then that person will be better off (relatively speaking) but it does not address the issue of the other person that is also screaming for treatment. If two sick persons are both healed, the sharing of a common roof can happen more pleasantly. If one only is healed, or neither is healed, then sharing a common roof will set the stage for many nightmarish scenarios as both will be trapped in their "individual, personal dream."
In the end, Realization can remove all personality influence, and two people sharing a common roof who have both been freed from the hidden agendas of personality, well, that can be a rare but joyous happening. Why?
Because no hidden agendas will be driving them and because the understanding of the Oneness – of the Unicity – will manifest, then what will also result will be unimaginable shifts in the way things happen under that common roof.
TOMORROW: Why personality identification makes the concept of “opposites attract” total BS.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
10 July 2014
A DAILY CONSIDERATION FOR YOU
F.: The 8 July 2014 post shared scientific evidence (just as was predicted by Maharaj) that the non-dual pointer that persons can be physically awake but also unconscious at the same time is 100% valid.
How asleep can persons be? That is, how unconscious can persons be even if deemed "physically awake"?
1. As noted yesterday, many persons who were rescued by other persons from the elevators in which they were trapped during the 1977 New York City power outage actually told reporters as they exited the buildings where they had been trapped that "it was God" who had rescued them.
2. A woman whose husband worked 80 hours per week in order to pay for the house she wanted told friends and relatives for weeks as they dropped by for “the tour” of the new homestead that "God had finally blessed her with the beautiful home that she had always dreamed about." The husband heard that comment a dozen times before he asked, “So what am I? Chopped liver? And if my company goes bankrupt and I can no longer pay the house note and the bank forecloses on it and sells it to someone else, would that be God’s doing as well?” From her sleep state, she stared at him as if he were the one who was talking total nonsense.
3. The state of Texas in the U.S. conducts lotteries with prizes in the millions, and millions of people buy their lottery tickets faithfully; however, every year over $800,000,000.00 in unclaimed prizes are transferred from the lottery account into the general state treasury because people buy tickets but then never check to see if they won. That totals almost $18 billion dollars so far that people have won in one state alone but were too asleep to check to see if they won. The same happens all across the nation.
4. Annually in the U.S., the average number of people killed in accidental shooting is 16,500. On average, 16,500 are killed every year by people who did not intend to kill them, including children shooting siblings accidently, parents shooting children accidently, and children accidently shooting a parent
5. Last year, a survey in the U.S. showed that 168 million people admitted that they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy or had fallen asleep at the wheel.
6. Every year in the U.S., more than 100,000 wrecks occur as a result of driving while sleeping. Those are the ones that are known. Far more likely occur without the actual cause being known.
7. Data from Australia, England, Finland, and other European nations indicates that drowsy driving or driving while asleep cause 10 to 30 percent of all crashes annually.
8. In the public health sector in the U.S., 180000 to 360000 deaths occur annually in hospitals because of mistakes made by doctors and nurses who are sleep-deprived at home and are therefore going through their daily routines in a sleep-like state at a hospital.
9. In the nearby city of Houston, a recent report noted that a 65-year-old Houston man lost vision in one eye after a pharmacist mistakenly filled his prescription for eye drops with ear drops. Driving while intoxicated is a major hazard around the globe, but now sleeping while working – and sleeping while filling prescriptions – has presented a new risk.
10. Investigators have ruled that sleep was a significant factor in the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island as well as the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl.
11. Investigations showed that the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, as well as the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, involved sleep issues.
So science has proven Maharaj correct: persons can, and indeed do, walk in their sleep, talk in their sleep, drive in their sleep, work in their sleep, and do almost everything they do from a sleep state. The masses are physically awake yet totally unconscious.
To understand the way that personality drives thoughts and words and actions is to understand that persons think in their sleep, talk in their sleep, and take actions in their sleep . . . all while physically awake but totally unconscious.
That is the curse of personality identification: every assumed role has a hidden agenda. Everything that one does when being driven by the agenda of personality / personalities is done unconsciously, is done subconsciously. It’s all done without any clue at all that mirages are driving persons throughout their entire relative existence, even as they erroneously believe that they are making conscious choices.
And that leaves persons believing that phony “needs” are real needs; drives them to dedicate themselves (their false selves) to a constant quest to satisfy their phony, dreamed-up needs; and traps them in an existence that is marked and marred by personality-generated delusions and illusions.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
F.: The 8 July 2014 post shared scientific evidence (just as was predicted by Maharaj) that the non-dual pointer that persons can be physically awake but also unconscious at the same time is 100% valid.
How asleep can persons be? That is, how unconscious can persons be even if deemed "physically awake"?
1. As noted yesterday, many persons who were rescued by other persons from the elevators in which they were trapped during the 1977 New York City power outage actually told reporters as they exited the buildings where they had been trapped that "it was God" who had rescued them.
2. A woman whose husband worked 80 hours per week in order to pay for the house she wanted told friends and relatives for weeks as they dropped by for “the tour” of the new homestead that "God had finally blessed her with the beautiful home that she had always dreamed about." The husband heard that comment a dozen times before he asked, “So what am I? Chopped liver? And if my company goes bankrupt and I can no longer pay the house note and the bank forecloses on it and sells it to someone else, would that be God’s doing as well?” From her sleep state, she stared at him as if he were the one who was talking total nonsense.
3. The state of Texas in the U.S. conducts lotteries with prizes in the millions, and millions of people buy their lottery tickets faithfully; however, every year over $800,000,000.00 in unclaimed prizes are transferred from the lottery account into the general state treasury because people buy tickets but then never check to see if they won. That totals almost $18 billion dollars so far that people have won in one state alone but were too asleep to check to see if they won. The same happens all across the nation.
4. Annually in the U.S., the average number of people killed in accidental shooting is 16,500. On average, 16,500 are killed every year by people who did not intend to kill them, including children shooting siblings accidently, parents shooting children accidently, and children accidently shooting a parent
5. Last year, a survey in the U.S. showed that 168 million people admitted that they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy or had fallen asleep at the wheel.
6. Every year in the U.S., more than 100,000 wrecks occur as a result of driving while sleeping. Those are the ones that are known. Far more likely occur without the actual cause being known.
7. Data from Australia, England, Finland, and other European nations indicates that drowsy driving or driving while asleep cause 10 to 30 percent of all crashes annually.
8. In the public health sector in the U.S., 180000 to 360000 deaths occur annually in hospitals because of mistakes made by doctors and nurses who are sleep-deprived at home and are therefore going through their daily routines in a sleep-like state at a hospital.
9. In the nearby city of Houston, a recent report noted that a 65-year-old Houston man lost vision in one eye after a pharmacist mistakenly filled his prescription for eye drops with ear drops. Driving while intoxicated is a major hazard around the globe, but now sleeping while working – and sleeping while filling prescriptions – has presented a new risk.
10. Investigators have ruled that sleep was a significant factor in the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island as well as the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl.
11. Investigations showed that the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, as well as the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, involved sleep issues.
So science has proven Maharaj correct: persons can, and indeed do, walk in their sleep, talk in their sleep, drive in their sleep, work in their sleep, and do almost everything they do from a sleep state. The masses are physically awake yet totally unconscious.
To understand the way that personality drives thoughts and words and actions is to understand that persons think in their sleep, talk in their sleep, and take actions in their sleep . . . all while physically awake but totally unconscious.
That is the curse of personality identification: every assumed role has a hidden agenda. Everything that one does when being driven by the agenda of personality / personalities is done unconsciously, is done subconsciously. It’s all done without any clue at all that mirages are driving persons throughout their entire relative existence, even as they erroneously believe that they are making conscious choices.
And that leaves persons believing that phony “needs” are real needs; drives them to dedicate themselves (their false selves) to a constant quest to satisfy their phony, dreamed-up needs; and traps them in an existence that is marked and marred by personality-generated delusions and illusions.
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.
* * * * * * *
Anthology of four books
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SELF-TRANSFORMATION MEDITATION GUIDE (VOLUME ONE)
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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.
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)
(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 Floyd Henderson's Website
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:
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
are available at Floyd Henderson's Website
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
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)
