Today's Considerations
8. Richard finally came to realize, to understand, that this "advaitin / non-duality deal" is not about meditating or about being purified or about replacing old, "bad" identities with "new and improved" identities (the kind exposed in such "specialness"-based proclamations as "I am the Supreme Self" or "I am THAT only," etc.)
Richard said at the end of his account, "Floyd, your pointers,
particularly those that talk about Maharaj's teachings about the mind,
resonated. They reminded me very much of Maharaj's intensity and uncompromising
teachings."
That clarity did finally come to Richard is affirmed by his also focusing in the end on "the mind," understanding that Maharaj's Ultimate attention in the end was on the mental roots of the Ultimate Sickness and on how to treat the mental illnesses which plague the relative existence of the masses.
Maharaj focused all along on the body-identification and mind-identification and personality-identification aspects of the Sickness. The variable over the years was in regards to the treatment plan he recommended as his focus shifted from trying to use a religious / non-dual compound version of the Ultimate Medicine to trying to use a spiritual / non-dual compound version of the Ultimate Medicine to finally focusing on the mental issues alone.
Those who came to his later talks expecting to be inspired by profoundly-lofty spiritual pointers left disappointed. Their assumed ego-states were not affirmed. Even as he invited seekers to function in the manner of their Original Nature, he emphasized above all that they should abide naturally and stop trying to abide "supernaturally" (that is, "spiritually" or driven by magical thinking).
It is shared in the eBook "Your Original Nature" that Maharaj said to those seeking some higher level or plane: "There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding." As a result of not understanding, many seek - or claim to have found - some "lofty" or "superior" or "noble" identity, but Maharaj affirmed that no state with lofty attributes exists.
To point toward that / THAT, he used (in addition to "Your Original Nature" or "Your Original State") such terms as "Your Natural State," "The Original State," "The True State," "The Natural Condition," "The Normal State," "The Formless State," "The Ultimate State," and other similar terms.
In the end, Maharaj's mind-focused talks endorsed all that is "normal" and "natural" rather than what some take to be "lofty" or "special" or "superior," and if the true nature of one's Original Nature is understood, then "the search" will take a totally different (and far more modest and far less pretentious and far more simple and normal and natural) direction.
Maharaj's invitation was to "merge into the Original State," saying, "Our True Nature is perpetually free, peaceful awareness." He explained that, "Once it is known what is temporary and what One's Original State is, no further knowledge is needed."
He taught this as well: "That 'I AM' is a concept to be understood while the concept is there. Once it merges into the Original State, who is there who wants to know? The illusory entity has disappeared." He said, "The Original State is beyond concepts" and "In the Original State there is no sense of consciousness, no awareness of being, but as soon as the I-AMness comes, the entire manifestation is seen at once. This is the expression of the consciousness."
Richard came to understand that the consciousness cannot be impure and therefore does not need to be "purified." He came to understand that the only thing being called for is the removal of the blockages which were set in place via faulty programming, conditioning, etc. and that prevent the consciousness from witnessing clearly and accurately.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
