Today's Considerations
35. During two separate visits to the loft by "richard," Maharaj tried to free him of his attachment to his "spiritual methods and practices" (which were being attached to as a result of "richard's" desire for the "payoffs and benefits" which he believed such practices could produce).
If Maharaj found someone attached only to things "noumenal" or "other-worldly" or "spiritual" or someone who was ignoring "the I AM" and focused solely on "THAT," he would offer pointers to try to "reel them in" - to bring them back into touch with reality as well as the "Reality" which was their singular (and often monomaniacal) preoccupation, only focused as they were on things deemed to be "non-relative" (that is, ignoring all things involved with the "beingness" or the "I AM-ness" or the "IS-ness").
If, on the other hand, he found someone attached only to things "noumenal" or "other-worldly" or "spiritual" (in a quest to achieve phenomenal rewards and benefits), Maharaj offered pointers intended to free them from their excessive attachment to the seeking of "perks of a spiritual origin" which can supposedly come to "the pure" during the relative existence.
Thus, in "richard's" case, Maharaj invited him to understand that which is beyond the beingness and that which is even beyond the non-beingness; to be free of the notion that there is a "one" to benefit from things "spiritual"; and to go forth from the loft and abide naturally rather than unnaturally and / or supernaturally.
Richard would eventually see the distortion of trying to "purify" the consciousness (which is never "pure" or "impure" but can, instead, be blocked from seeing clearly, from seeing truth, from seeing reality and Reality; and from being able to differentiate true from false).
[Far too many religions and spiritual movements and spiritual groups and Eastern philosophies perpetuate a host of myths about "purity" and "purification." The Methodist symbol of a cross surrounded in flames is to remind persons that a flame (of "faith," of "the act of loving god," whatever) can bring purity. Step programs program, and what they program their members to believe is that if they will only become "spiritual" (and thereby heal their impure spirit which is suffering from a "malady") then their bodies and minds will (magically) be made "pure" as well. Many Eastern religions and philosophies teach their followers the means by which the followers can supposedly be made pure. The questions become, "WHO (what ego-state) wants to be 'perfectly pure'"? and "WHO is buying into all those teachings and beliefs about 'purity'?" and "WHO has been deluded into believing that there is a spirit and into believing that a body and a mind and a spirit can all be made "pure"?
Recall the not-so-old woman discussed some time back on this site who had been informed by many doctors and dietitians that (a) she is living a miserable existence which is dominated by a near-endless series of physical problems because of her devotion to a senseless, dreamed up (and inappropriate, in her case) food plan and that (b) she is "slowly committing suicide" by following a vegetables-only food plan (which works for some) although in her case, her particular body type requires a protein plan. Yet I have heard her claim time and again that she has "finally purified" her body and mind and that she is "going to keep it that way in order to break free of the dreaded birth-life-death-rebirth cycles" which she imagines she had been involved in for centuries. The end of all discussion came when she was asked, "Do you really believe that if a coroner were to perform an autopsy on your body someday that he would find inside a totally pure upper digestive tract, a set of all-pure organs, a totally pure set of veins and arteries, and a totally pure lower digestive tract and colon? Or might it be possible that your insides would be as nasty and stinky and vile and clogged up as those of every other human? That is, you know, 'impure.' Would you ask your next-of-kin to inform the doctor that, when working with your body, she or he can save one mask at least because everything that the doctor will find inside you is as pure as the freshly-fallen snow and as pleasant-smelling as the most expensive French perfume?" See, distortion is just another form of insanity.]
[Continuing with excerpts from the eBook "Your Original Nature]
Therefore, the result of Realization is not "Full Consciousness" and it is not "Pure Consciousness." It is Full Awareness. And it was that form of unmanifested energy called "Awareness" or "THAT" or "Your Original Nature" which eventually was pulled into a cycle whereby the awareness manifested as consciousness and whereby the consciousness became blocked from seeing truth and reality as a result of nonsensical programming, conditioning, etc.
"Pure Consciousness," therefore, is not the "end result." Why? Because consciousness involves conscious-of-ness, which involves duality.
If the consciousness (which was blocked by conditioning and programming and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination) is subsequently unblocked by traveling the exact, same, original "path" - except in reverse - that consciousness took when manifesting from the Absolute and eventually being debilitated by all of the blockages that result from conditioning and programming and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing, then only, as a result of Advaita's unblocking process, can Full Awareness happen (even during the manifestation).
When Full Realization happens, then something far more than consciousness being conscious of Self, of the Oneness, and of the unicity will follow. At that point, awareness becomes aware of awareness.
When Awareness become aware of Awareness, then there is also an awareness of One's Original Nature and also an awareness of "the primordial pureness" - that is, the primordial condition of being uncontaminated, unconditional, unconditioned, unqualified, unlimited, unadulterated, and unambiguous (which was the case with Your Original Nature / The Unmanifested Awareness prior to being manifested as consciousness).
Maharaj: "Awareness is primordial; it is the original state, beginningless, endless, uncaused, unsupported, without parts, without change. Consciousness is on contact, a reflection against a surface, a state of duality. There can be no consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without consciousness, as in deep sleep. Awareness is absolute, consciousness is relative to its content; consciousness is always 'of' something. Consciousness is partial and changeful; awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent. It is the common matrix of every experience."
To be aware of that Original Nature is also to be aware of the original traits of natural, relative functioning, including "primordial cooperation."
When aware of One's Original Nature, therefore, then one is in touch with all of the elements of the primordial functioning; that triggers empathy and caring and compassion and concern. It also triggers another aspect of the original manner of functioning:
prior to language (and thus prior to thinking and prior to believing) the natural manner of functioning involved quietness . . . literal quietness and what would be tantamount to "a quiet mind" because there was actually no "mind" at all at that point. Disquieting thoughts happen via mind-speak . . . via mind-words. No language = zero concepts = zero thoughts = zero words = zero talking = zero noise = zero interruptions of the quietness being enjoyed by the few that can enjoy the quiet. Such is the way of abiding as One's Original Nature.
Originally, there was quietness between the ears and quietness regarding the mouth. The manner of functioning was quiet and childlike in the way described earlier by Maharaj.
How far removed are persons from their Original manner of functioning? The noisy woman introduced earlier in this series shows exactly what the masses are like, separated from an awareness of their Original Nature and the original manner of functioning, rendering them:
unawake, unawake and unconscious - moving through the relative existence while being totally asleep but convinced of being totally awake;
moving through the relative existence under the influence of a manifested speck of conscious-energy that has been totally blocked and is therefore driven by that which is blocked, conditional, conditioned, qualified, limited, adulterated, and ambiguous;
and therefore moving through the relative existence in a loud, noisy, intrusive, uncaring, uncooperative, and unconcerned manner with no regard for anything other than self / selves. The result: they lack empathy and care not a whit about being "calm and silent."
That is the typical case with persons, with the non-Realized. They disturb the peace with an excessive use of spoken words. (And be not deceived: talk and noise are the tools of deception, so a "Realized teacher" does not talk. What is really happening? The consciousness speaks.) Most persons, in turn, will never be freed of their word-induced deceptions.
As for word-induced-and-word-circulated deceptions, how successful have the non-Realized been throughout history at identifying instantly all nonsense as nonsense, all lies as lies, certain history as fiction, and certain beliefs as myths and superstition? Nowadays, there is hardly any success at all with seeing through such deceptions.
So it is, but so it need not be.
For example, many who were led to abuse alcohol or drugs as a result of early abuse, trauma, and personality disorders which disintegrated into grave mental and emotional disorders and neuroses and psychoses, believe that they have been restored to sanity simply because they are no longer using what they tried to use to treat their early abuse, trauma, and personality disorders which disintegrated into grave mental and emotional disorders and neuroses and psychoses.
Preposterous. The only thing worst than a drunk being the way he was when he was drunk is still being that way while not drunk. All of the personality disorders remain, and taking away a placebo does not eliminate the original disorders that inspired the insane thinking and behaviors in the first place and which still inspire a continuation of insane thinking and behaving). Now, more than one alcoholic has replied, "You don't get it at all. I am not doing the crazy things I did when under the influence of booze." The reply: "The craziest thing you did around alcohol use was never done when you were under the influence. The craziest thing you ever did was when you were sober. You were sober when you began another round of drinking, even after all of the evidence that you could not drink in the same fashion as non-alcoholics."
And that is just one example of the kind of distortion that exists among those with grave mental and emotional disorders who believe that all of the causes that drove their thinking and behavior are no longer present because they are no longer using what they tried to use to treat what was really ailing them but which - to this day - they still have not yet identified and which they still have not received treatment for.
As for "My Creator has healed me!" the question becomes, "If your 'Creator' is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, why did he allow you to become abused and mentally and emotionally sick in the first place? Second, all is energy / matter and neither of those can be created and neither of those can be destroyed. How, then, could there possibly have been - and how can there possibly be now - any so-called "Creator"?
All is merely cycling. Elements cycle to form a plant food body. Conscious-energy and air are cycling through it. Food is being cycled in order to replace constantly the elemental cells which come and go and to replenish the supply of conscious-energy which comes and goes.
There is no "you" that was created. There is a composite unity that cycled into beingness and which will cycle out of beingness. The energy capable of being conscious-of will return to the universal pool of unmanifested consciousness and will return to its Original State of "awareness-energy which is not aware of anything"; thus, Maharaj's pointer to "richard": understand that which is beyond both beingness and non-beingness and you can then stop all of the nonsense of trying to be a "Spiritual Giant" and trying to be rewarded or blessed or benefited as a result of assuming and playing that phony role.
To be continued.
If Maharaj found someone attached only to things "noumenal" or "other-worldly" or "spiritual" or someone who was ignoring "the I AM" and focused solely on "THAT," he would offer pointers to try to "reel them in" - to bring them back into touch with reality as well as the "Reality" which was their singular (and often monomaniacal) preoccupation, only focused as they were on things deemed to be "non-relative" (that is, ignoring all things involved with the "beingness" or the "I AM-ness" or the "IS-ness").
If, on the other hand, he found someone attached only to things "noumenal" or "other-worldly" or "spiritual" (in a quest to achieve phenomenal rewards and benefits), Maharaj offered pointers intended to free them from their excessive attachment to the seeking of "perks of a spiritual origin" which can supposedly come to "the pure" during the relative existence.
Thus, in "richard's" case, Maharaj invited him to understand that which is beyond the beingness and that which is even beyond the non-beingness; to be free of the notion that there is a "one" to benefit from things "spiritual"; and to go forth from the loft and abide naturally rather than unnaturally and / or supernaturally.
Richard would eventually see the distortion of trying to "purify" the consciousness (which is never "pure" or "impure" but can, instead, be blocked from seeing clearly, from seeing truth, from seeing reality and Reality; and from being able to differentiate true from false).
[Far too many religions and spiritual movements and spiritual groups and Eastern philosophies perpetuate a host of myths about "purity" and "purification." The Methodist symbol of a cross surrounded in flames is to remind persons that a flame (of "faith," of "the act of loving god," whatever) can bring purity. Step programs program, and what they program their members to believe is that if they will only become "spiritual" (and thereby heal their impure spirit which is suffering from a "malady") then their bodies and minds will (magically) be made "pure" as well. Many Eastern religions and philosophies teach their followers the means by which the followers can supposedly be made pure. The questions become, "WHO (what ego-state) wants to be 'perfectly pure'"? and "WHO is buying into all those teachings and beliefs about 'purity'?" and "WHO has been deluded into believing that there is a spirit and into believing that a body and a mind and a spirit can all be made "pure"?
Recall the not-so-old woman discussed some time back on this site who had been informed by many doctors and dietitians that (a) she is living a miserable existence which is dominated by a near-endless series of physical problems because of her devotion to a senseless, dreamed up (and inappropriate, in her case) food plan and that (b) she is "slowly committing suicide" by following a vegetables-only food plan (which works for some) although in her case, her particular body type requires a protein plan. Yet I have heard her claim time and again that she has "finally purified" her body and mind and that she is "going to keep it that way in order to break free of the dreaded birth-life-death-rebirth cycles" which she imagines she had been involved in for centuries. The end of all discussion came when she was asked, "Do you really believe that if a coroner were to perform an autopsy on your body someday that he would find inside a totally pure upper digestive tract, a set of all-pure organs, a totally pure set of veins and arteries, and a totally pure lower digestive tract and colon? Or might it be possible that your insides would be as nasty and stinky and vile and clogged up as those of every other human? That is, you know, 'impure.' Would you ask your next-of-kin to inform the doctor that, when working with your body, she or he can save one mask at least because everything that the doctor will find inside you is as pure as the freshly-fallen snow and as pleasant-smelling as the most expensive French perfume?" See, distortion is just another form of insanity.]
[Continuing with excerpts from the eBook "Your Original Nature]
Therefore, the result of Realization is not "Full Consciousness" and it is not "Pure Consciousness." It is Full Awareness. And it was that form of unmanifested energy called "Awareness" or "THAT" or "Your Original Nature" which eventually was pulled into a cycle whereby the awareness manifested as consciousness and whereby the consciousness became blocked from seeing truth and reality as a result of nonsensical programming, conditioning, etc.
"Pure Consciousness," therefore, is not the "end result." Why? Because consciousness involves conscious-of-ness, which involves duality.
If the consciousness (which was blocked by conditioning and programming and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination) is subsequently unblocked by traveling the exact, same, original "path" - except in reverse - that consciousness took when manifesting from the Absolute and eventually being debilitated by all of the blockages that result from conditioning and programming and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing, then only, as a result of Advaita's unblocking process, can Full Awareness happen (even during the manifestation).
When Full Realization happens, then something far more than consciousness being conscious of Self, of the Oneness, and of the unicity will follow. At that point, awareness becomes aware of awareness.
When Awareness become aware of Awareness, then there is also an awareness of One's Original Nature and also an awareness of "the primordial pureness" - that is, the primordial condition of being uncontaminated, unconditional, unconditioned, unqualified, unlimited, unadulterated, and unambiguous (which was the case with Your Original Nature / The Unmanifested Awareness prior to being manifested as consciousness).
Maharaj: "Awareness is primordial; it is the original state, beginningless, endless, uncaused, unsupported, without parts, without change. Consciousness is on contact, a reflection against a surface, a state of duality. There can be no consciousness without awareness, but there can be awareness without consciousness, as in deep sleep. Awareness is absolute, consciousness is relative to its content; consciousness is always 'of' something. Consciousness is partial and changeful; awareness is total, changeless, calm and silent. It is the common matrix of every experience."
To be aware of that Original Nature is also to be aware of the original traits of natural, relative functioning, including "primordial cooperation."
When aware of One's Original Nature, therefore, then one is in touch with all of the elements of the primordial functioning; that triggers empathy and caring and compassion and concern. It also triggers another aspect of the original manner of functioning:
prior to language (and thus prior to thinking and prior to believing) the natural manner of functioning involved quietness . . . literal quietness and what would be tantamount to "a quiet mind" because there was actually no "mind" at all at that point. Disquieting thoughts happen via mind-speak . . . via mind-words. No language = zero concepts = zero thoughts = zero words = zero talking = zero noise = zero interruptions of the quietness being enjoyed by the few that can enjoy the quiet. Such is the way of abiding as One's Original Nature.
Originally, there was quietness between the ears and quietness regarding the mouth. The manner of functioning was quiet and childlike in the way described earlier by Maharaj.
How far removed are persons from their Original manner of functioning? The noisy woman introduced earlier in this series shows exactly what the masses are like, separated from an awareness of their Original Nature and the original manner of functioning, rendering them:
unawake, unawake and unconscious - moving through the relative existence while being totally asleep but convinced of being totally awake;
moving through the relative existence under the influence of a manifested speck of conscious-energy that has been totally blocked and is therefore driven by that which is blocked, conditional, conditioned, qualified, limited, adulterated, and ambiguous;
and therefore moving through the relative existence in a loud, noisy, intrusive, uncaring, uncooperative, and unconcerned manner with no regard for anything other than self / selves. The result: they lack empathy and care not a whit about being "calm and silent."
That is the typical case with persons, with the non-Realized. They disturb the peace with an excessive use of spoken words. (And be not deceived: talk and noise are the tools of deception, so a "Realized teacher" does not talk. What is really happening? The consciousness speaks.) Most persons, in turn, will never be freed of their word-induced deceptions.
As for word-induced-and-word-circulated deceptions, how successful have the non-Realized been throughout history at identifying instantly all nonsense as nonsense, all lies as lies, certain history as fiction, and certain beliefs as myths and superstition? Nowadays, there is hardly any success at all with seeing through such deceptions.
So it is, but so it need not be.
For example, many who were led to abuse alcohol or drugs as a result of early abuse, trauma, and personality disorders which disintegrated into grave mental and emotional disorders and neuroses and psychoses, believe that they have been restored to sanity simply because they are no longer using what they tried to use to treat their early abuse, trauma, and personality disorders which disintegrated into grave mental and emotional disorders and neuroses and psychoses.
Preposterous. The only thing worst than a drunk being the way he was when he was drunk is still being that way while not drunk. All of the personality disorders remain, and taking away a placebo does not eliminate the original disorders that inspired the insane thinking and behaviors in the first place and which still inspire a continuation of insane thinking and behaving). Now, more than one alcoholic has replied, "You don't get it at all. I am not doing the crazy things I did when under the influence of booze." The reply: "The craziest thing you did around alcohol use was never done when you were under the influence. The craziest thing you ever did was when you were sober. You were sober when you began another round of drinking, even after all of the evidence that you could not drink in the same fashion as non-alcoholics."
And that is just one example of the kind of distortion that exists among those with grave mental and emotional disorders who believe that all of the causes that drove their thinking and behavior are no longer present because they are no longer using what they tried to use to treat what was really ailing them but which - to this day - they still have not yet identified and which they still have not received treatment for.
As for "My Creator has healed me!" the question becomes, "If your 'Creator' is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, why did he allow you to become abused and mentally and emotionally sick in the first place? Second, all is energy / matter and neither of those can be created and neither of those can be destroyed. How, then, could there possibly have been - and how can there possibly be now - any so-called "Creator"?
All is merely cycling. Elements cycle to form a plant food body. Conscious-energy and air are cycling through it. Food is being cycled in order to replace constantly the elemental cells which come and go and to replenish the supply of conscious-energy which comes and goes.
There is no "you" that was created. There is a composite unity that cycled into beingness and which will cycle out of beingness. The energy capable of being conscious-of will return to the universal pool of unmanifested consciousness and will return to its Original State of "awareness-energy which is not aware of anything"; thus, Maharaj's pointer to "richard": understand that which is beyond both beingness and non-beingness and you can then stop all of the nonsense of trying to be a "Spiritual Giant" and trying to be rewarded or blessed or benefited as a result of assuming and playing that phony role.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
