Today's Considerations
In the realm of duality, there are hierarchies. On those hierarchies,
there are some who have consciously worked for and assumed the role of “leaders”;
there are the masses who have unconsciously assumed the roles of “followers” – “sheepersons,”
some call them. In terms of non-duality, there are no “leaders.” Consider the point of this exchange and the other following
quotes by which Maharaj affirmed that point:
Questioner: “What is the basic difference between us?”
Maharaj: “There is no basic difference.”
Also, he said:
“The only difference between us is that I am aware of my
natural state while you are bemused”
and
“I do not claim to know what you do not. In fact, I know
much less than you do”
and
"I take my stand where no difference exists, where things are
not, nor the minds that create them."
Along the way, another non-dualist was heard to say something
about not having a single thing that all seekers don’t also have. The problem,
he said, is that seekers (and all persons) believe something that he did not. Maharaj
made clear, once he switched to a psychological approach which addressed the “learned
ignorance” and the “insanity” associated with the Ultimate Sickness, that this
deal is not about accumulating more knowledge but is about being free of all the knowledge
already acquired.
That is why the talk here is about un-learning rather than learning, about un-teaching rather than teaching.]
While there are no leaders in non-duality, there are what can be called for the sake of discussion “pointers,” those who point out the way along a certain “path.” There are some
that takes the steps necessary to move along that entire path, but most never will. Many
like the supposed “status” of being close to the leader of the pack, so many want
to associate with “the leader,” but even then, the supposed leader of
non-Realized persons is not a leader in the form of a teacher or a preacher or a priest or
a rabbi or an imam or an ayatollah or a Supreme Leader or a parent or a politician, etc.
As cunning as many in those groups might be, the real leader
among the non-Realized masses is far more cunning because each person among the
non-Realized has his / her own little personality cult, worshipping the leader which is actually the self (or, more accurately, the selves). In the end, the
personalities – the many assigned and assumed personas – become that which is really
all-important. Ultimately, only the ideas and notions and concepts (i.e., beliefs) of the leader / the self / the selves are given
any value because the self really only “loves” the self.
What is this self among the non-Realized? It is that which
believes the lies of duality and multiplicity while having no clue at all about the
oneness . . . the unicity.
The self can be said to be an accumulation of all ego-states
which are assumed and employed by persons to identify incorrectly who they think they
are. Those ego-states may also be called personas, roles, facades, masks,
images, false selves, or any number of other words or terms that point toward
the false identities which persons adopt (or unquestioningly accept when they are
assigned by their cultures).
In their always dualistic and unstable character, some identities which are assigned carry
“negative” connotations among those who are into downgrading (“thief,” “bastard,” “whore,” “homewrecker,”
“deserter,” “foreigner,” "immigrant," “insurgent,” "gay," "bi-sexual," "liberal," "progressive," "elites," "an 'aggressive' woman," "an unmarried mother," "a childless woman," "a non-believer," "peace freak," “user,” “heartbreaker,” “sinner,”
“infidel”) while some are assigned “positive” connotations by those who are into upgrading in various cultures
(“priest,” “preacher,” “imam,” “rabbi,” “soldier,” “patriot,” "sniper," “law enforcement
officer,” “mother,” “religious person,” “spiritual person,” “helper,”
“volunteer”).
Whereas early on and for years Maharaj endorsed “Self-Inquiry,” advising seekers to
find out "Who You Are," he later changed his tune, so to speak. Why did Maharaj endorse "self-inquiry" and suggest that “it is enough just to know who you are not?” Because his actions prove that he came to
understand that most approaches used by seekers only add to the accumulation of false selves – only add to
the already-far-too-large body of false identities.
His actions prove that he came to understand that sky cults
(religions) and other cults (including those operating as “ashrams”) and spiritual
movements and ideologies and philosophies did nothing to eliminate belief in
the false self / selves but actually inspired the assumption of additional ego-states
as identities. In some case, new roles can be added to the body of roles which have already been adopted.
In other cases, new roles can be assumed to replace former roles, and the new
ones are always deemed to be better than the old ones . . . until some other
newer and even better ones come along.
If he had seen that any of the various approaches he used
over the years had worked, he would have stuck with that. Yet he abandoned the use of
all of his earliest approaches until he began to address the core of the Ultimate Sickness - the mental aspect. His
actions prove that he came to understand that (A) instead of eliminating the dualistic belief in hierarchies
and allowing persons to come to understand the classless nature of the unicity, he came to see that (B) all of those approaches actually generated and reinforced and perpetuated a dualistic sense of different-from-ment and
better-than-ment.
His actions prove that he came to understand that the
approaches he tried early on, and for decades, were inspiring persons to assume
what they took to be “new and improved” ego-states as identities. His actions also prove that he came to understand that all
of those identities were then inspired endlessly to practice either the upgrading
of themselves and people and places and things they liked and to practice the downgrading
of people and places and things they did not like.
So, to continue with the earlier discussion of the ways that the approaches Maharaj tried early on - as well as all of the teachings in homes
and schools and societies and cultures all around the globe - actually inspire upgrading and
downgrading (and, therefore, dualistic thinking and dualistic beliefs).
An example of an upgrade is when "I am a man"
becomes "I am a good man," "I am a loving husband," "I
am the best boss ever," or "I am a spiritual man," so actually "I am a great man." Another
example is when the belief that "There is this world" is upgraded to
"There is a better world, a heaven, and if you do what I tell you,
you can go to that better world someday”; or, "There is a way to escape an endless series of cyclings over and
over through this world and a way to escape to an existence of eternal
bliss and joy.”
A downgrade can happen when "There is
this world" can be downgraded to "There is a world of pain and
punishment called hell which awaits you"; or, “There are multiple cyclings over and over
through this world which you will have to go through unless you live as I tell
you to live and then finally escape those cycles.”
Some upgrades later become downgrades because ego-states are
like chameleons, never knowing stability and always in a state of flux and
movement. Thus, "He is a man" can be upgraded to "The man
I'm going to marry has a great work ethic," but that can later be downgraded to "The ass I married is a workaholic." And "He is a man" can be upgraded to "The man
I'm going to marry is a great lover," but that can later be downgraded to "The ass I married is a sex
fiend."
In every case, though, one commonality exists: every persona
is driven by a hidden agenda. All are embroiled in (false)-self-service even as
they fabricate and display a façade of altruism; all are bound up in
(false)-self-absorption and (false)-self-delusion; and all desire that their
roles will last and will continue to fulfill perceived needs.
Moreover, all selves form their own mental cult wherein they
are in control, in power, and in charge or wherein they believe that they should be in
control, in power, and in charge or wherein they desire with an obsessive passion to be in control, in
power, and in charge.
Additionally, with all cult leaders, the self that worships itself
usually has a superficial charm, is always manipulative, has a grandiose sense
of itself, and displays no realistic perspective.
The multi-step process of separating from the self, from
being free of the false belief that false selves are real, is the seven-step
“journey” to Reality. Understanding that one is not the false selves which have been assigned and which have been assumed and which subconsciously drive every thought and every word and every action . . . that alone "really would be enough."
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE:
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