Today's Considerations
Though he never enumerated the seven steps which are explained
here when seekers come for a retreat, the steps he used and the steps used here are the same. Included in the seven-step
process is the religious and / or spiritual role-playing step which happens to be the third
step. Among the few who are able to escape the entrapment of
their religious and spiritual identities (and can then forfeit what are usually the final three
identities of “The Super Religious One,” “The Spiritual Giant,” and “The Super
Seeker” which are occasionally abandoned) for them there is an opportunity to return to the stage all persons were
in during the last time that unconditional happiness happened, namely, “The
Child Ignorance Stage” or - as it’s termed here - “The Child No-Knowing State.”
Thus, there is no effort here to suggest that religion should
not be tried or that spirituality should not be tried (or that “Self-Inquiry”
should not be tried). The invitation is to hang out for a spell at the third step where
those identities are played, but to move on . . . ASAP.
Then the next challenge comes as many seekers simply substitute the
last of the phenomenal identities but then assume a “Noumenal Identity” which presents
a whole new set of obstacles which reinforce the mind and mind-play and which prevent
the “Almost-Fully-Realized” from being fully in touch with both “reality” and “Reality.”
Recall from yesterday Maharaj’s pointer about such obstacles:
Yet it has been seen that one cannot (a) leap frog from Step
Two - even if there has occurred an abandonment all of the former “bad” roles -
and (b) skip out on the third step where the (still-nonsensical) assumption of
good roles are played and then (c) jump directly to the step four “Child Ignorance Stage”
/ “Child No-Knowing State."
So far, there has never been a single case witnessed where a
seeker was able to skip the step two mind-entrapment and relative “bad roles” playing
and also skip the step three religious and
spiritual “good roles” playing.
Maharaj played around with religion. Same here. Maharaj
played around with spirituality. Same here. Then, by continuing along the
remaining steps on the “path,” he really got into a “Self” Identity and really
got into “The Self” role-playing (which, as usual, always leads to Self-upgrading
and then believing that one is “A Super Self” or “The Supreme Self” and thereafter engaging in some
really mighty role-playing in a “Super and Supreme Self” fashion). Same here.
Yet that belief was not held onto either, for eventually Maharaj
realized that the process of transitioning all identification includes not only
being free of all personal identifications but also being free of any other Identity as well.
To that end he said: “I got involved in spirituality, in the business of
spirituality; finally, I lost that love of Self also. I have no more love for
the Self."
For those seekers who want “the whole nine yards” (or all seven
steps), that is available. For those who want to transition the third step and
be done with all of their former religious or spiritual or even Vedanta-focused workaholism,
then a plan for that is also available (allowing one to find all she or he is not
and then understanding the wisdom behind Maharaj’s pointer: “that is enough”).
Next, to continue with Andy’s story from yesterday when he
described what had happened throughout his relative existence and how he
arrived at a point where he was moved to come here for a retreat. He, too, had
tried religion. He too had been embroiled in a long and arduous “spiritual journey.”
He too had worked at Self-Inquiry for years.
Yet he knew something was still missing. He wrote in the front
of the anthology which he made possible:
“Now, I look back and laugh. Before the time spent in
Floyd's home, I hated to wake up in the morning. Now, I can't wait to get up
and enjoy every day.
“I was raised to believe that Jesus had the answers that
people need. At Floyd's retreat, I found out that in many cases, he did, but
the answers were not the ones I was taught in church.
“I found that ‘the later Jesus’ who returned to Jerusalem
was sharing the non-dual, Advaita teachings - teachings I had heard on occasion
when I was younger but that no one in the church could or would explain to me
when I asked about those statements.
“I went to Floyd's that first time with a considerable fear
of death (rooted, I would learn, in body and mind and personality
identification). He suggested that if I was so afraid of death that the best
thing I could do would be to ‘go ahead and die now.’
“Of course that was an anger-invoking, shocking comment to
hear, but before I left, I understood that I could not die because I was not
born - that what he was saying is that my ego(s) and my egotism must ‘die.’
“I understood after that retreat that I cannot truly live
until this ego - this illusion - dies. To that point, I was entering Floyd's
house one morning through the door he leaves open while he is preparing
breakfast for participants.
“As I entered, I shouted, ‘Knock knock . . . anybody home?’ He
yelled back, ‘No.’ I got it . . . I knew exactly what he meant, and that
understanding has remained and I have since enjoyed the freedom every day of
knowing I am no body . . . nobody.
“I came to understood that everything merely cycles and that
timelines are a fraud, and Floyd also taught me the meaning of every part of
his vision, and I learned by way of the eagle the difference in Subject-Object
Witnessing and Pure Witnessing.
“Why am I making this anthology available for all seekers to
use now and to be available long after ‘floyd’ and ‘andy’ have taken mahasamadhi
and are ‘gone’? First, because the books in this anthology offer the
step-by-step process by which Realization can happen and, secondly, because the
books helped me in that undertaking.
“I want to preserve Floyd's Vision [see ‘FREEBIES’ at the
top of this page] and his writings for all who are seeking. I decided to support
the printing of this anthology to make his teachings and methods available - to
all that might be interested - because of what happened with me after sitting
with Floyd and receiving the message that came by way of his step-by-step
method which I realized was exactly what I had been seeking all of my life.”
During the early stage of Maharaj’s “journey,” he too had
visions. As the case with the vision
here, it is said of Maharaj at that time that “Something exploded within him,
as it were, giving birth to a cosmic consciousness . . . .”
In that regard, though, Maharaj said: “Trances and visions
induced by words, or drugs, or any other sensory or mental means are temporary
and inconclusive. The truth of what is said here is immovable and everlasting.
And the proof of it is in the listener, in the deep and permanent changes in
his entire being.”
He also made clear, though, that often “your vision is
obstructed by your false ideas about your self.” Later, he would include about
"Your Self" as well.
[Again, “I got involved in spirituality but finally lost
that love of Self also. I have no more love for the Self."]
Even early on, Maharaj was not impressed with those attached to a sense of Self-ness. Who was run out of the loft? Domineering “Spiritual Giants” and those trying to put their grandiose sense of Self on display for all in the room to see.
To review:
Edgar Wallace: “The trouble with you is that you have no
sense of unimportance.”
Maharaj: “Selfishness is the cause of suffering.”
One who studied with Maharaj: “It is not Self-Realisation
that is transmitted, but self-importance” (and “Self-Importance” as well?)
Once an awareness of the unimportance of both “floyd” and “Floyd”
came, it was seen that everything ever involved with either of those amounted to –
as the advaita poet Shakespeare said – “Much ado about nothing.”
Once that sense of unimportance manifested and then fixated, it was possible to share the following review of some
of the "supposedly key" events in the relative existence of ‘floyd’s parents” and in the
relative existence of “floyd” and to offer the following perspective (which was the 180-degree opposite of the perspective held at the time the events were happening):
[From the series first offered nearly seven years ago entitled “SIXTY YEARS OF MUCH ADO ABOUT
NOTHING: See Why Bliss Can Come Only If It Is All Seen to Mean Nothing”]
Ultimately, peace and happiness during the relative
existence cannot happen unless it is first understood that all happenings are “Much
ado about nothing.” Meaning?
Meaning that if you observe all events with a clear perspective, you'll see how the trivial is elevated to the status of “significant” by persons. Then, seeing how trivial it all really is, you might be able to assume a position of neutrality around all happenings. Then, you might at least attain a sense of contentment before pursuing joy and bliss.
If it is understood that the entire manifestation of consciousness is much ado about nothing, then those obstacles which interrupt peace cannot materialize . . . obstacles such as belief in dualistic concepts, attachment, caring, judging, involvement, emotional intoxication, desiring, fearing, needing, etc.
What does much ado about nothing look like? It looks as if important happenings are occurring, happenings that require a dualistic stance, either for or against. But those happenings are really just the various parts of a fable; however, the elements of a fictional story can only be reviewed objectively if one functions as a non-attached witness.
Then, by reviewing the elements of the fiction from a “distance,” one can see clearly how it all amounted to nothing. Here are the elements in one tale that covered a 60-year span. It will show how much ado can be made about nothing when persons think the events in their relative existence amount to something important. This particular fictional tale included such elements as:
A young girl abandoned after her mother died in childbirth; that girl later kidnapped by a relative; a young man watching his brother fall onto railroad tracks and being cut in half by a train; a chance meeting; “love”; a marriage; Germany and Japan are declared “the enemy”; war declared; separation as a result of a war; two bombs dropped; returning home; prosperity; pregnancy; birth; another pregnancy; another birth (and thus "floyd's" arrival);
parents were pleased; parents were angry; teachers were pleased; teachers were angry; children were whipped with paddles; palms were beaten with rulers; national crime rates went down; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Germany and Japan are then declared “our friends” and communists are declared “the enemy”; bomb shelters were built; drills happened in schools, along with crawling under desks and putting books over heads; making friends at school; fighting with friends at school; Cuba was declared “an enemy”; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing;
then, a lack of prosperity; crime went up; a tonsillectomy; an appendectomy; a toe severed by a lawn mower; a rare Southern snow; intense heat; punishment for not being “good”; exposure to religious Occidentals and their nonsensical beliefs; fear when the promise of eternal fire and damnation were introduced; accepting “salvation” in order to please, but knowing it was hogwash (so there is a glimpse of "floyd's" early exposure to fear-generating dogma);
dating; championships won; graduation; college; another graduation; employment; bosses were pleased; bosses were displeased; Vietnam was declared “an enemy”; another war; being drafted; another war ended; graduate school; a Master’s Degree and another graduation; low-paying employment; a meeting; “love”; a marriage; Vietnam was then declared “a friend” and “trading partner”; a divorce; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Then, too many lovers but not any Love; a chance meeting; “love”; a marriage; high-paying employment; a Bush declares an Ortega “a friend”; plaques and certificates of achievement and paid vacations awarded at annual banquets; pregnancy; birth; a healthy child; a sick child; swings in the economy; low income; high income; a Rumsfeld meets a Saddam and declares him “our friend”; an apartment in Tuscany; months at a time in Europe (so "floyd" had made it into the early 80's);
dream jobs that became nightmares; fortunes lost; fortunes earned again; huge homes purchased and filled with “stuff”; friendships with neighbors; fights with neighbors; pets bought; pets buried; pipes broke; repairmen scheduled; pipes OK; pipes burst; again more contractors dealt with; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Next came vast accumulations; wealth; hurricanes came, trees fell, property “destroyed”; property rebuilt; property taxes increased; evaluations protested; fortunes lost; dream relationships became nightmares; hearing the words “colon cancer”; a spouse who got into her car and drove away the day before the scheduled surgery for cancer, never to return; a divorce; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Then arranging a funeral for a parent who preferred burial; Republican rule; nations to the south of the U.S. were declared “the enemy”; glasnost; Communists are then declared “a friend” and “a trading partner”; a parent’s stroke; more invasions and war; a declaration that “We must fight them in Central America or we’ll fight them here”; secret U.S. death squads; meeting a U.S. sniper using drugs to try to suppress the guilt of assassinating 46 innocent civilians in Central America (including a teacher and a priest) who were declared “the enemy” by the U.S. for making anti-U.S. speeches;
illegal arms deals; Democratic rule; huge surplus in national treasury; Republican rule; a Bush declares an Ortega is now “an enemy”; two poorly-designed towers fall; a Rumsfeld and others who had declared a Saddam to be “a friend” said he is “an enemy”; another war; national treasury surplus gone, replaced by huge national debt; a declaration that “We must fight them in the Middle East or we’ll fight them here”; nations to the south again declared “the enemy”; now, the health care providers no longer say “cancer,” but last week one said for the first time, “diabetes”; but ultimately, it’s all much ado about nothing.
Then friends came; friends went; seekers came; some stayed; some fired Floyd as their guru or teacher or guide; fifteen months ago, one doctor said "angina ... six to twenty-four months to live"; another said, "major pulmonary problems, combined with the angina, call for immediate surgery"; rejection of their suggestions; days of strength, days of weakness; and as with the events of the other 63 years, it is all being witnessed without any emotional intoxication or angst or fear. The peace here is unwavering via the no-drama stability of abiding as the Awareness and the Nothingness beyond.
To review those happenings from the perspective of the objective witness is to see the insanity of all of the duality that robbed the players in that “Drama of the Lie” of peace and happiness: good and bad, satisfied and dissatisfied, pleased and displeased, reward and punishment, war and peace, enemy and friend, friend and enemy, rich and poor, sick and well, marriage and divorce, good times and bad times, chaos and stability, knowing who “the enemy” was, then not knowing who “the enemy” was.
Everything thought to be bad would eventually be thought to be good and everything thought to be good would eventually be thought to be bad. In fact, it was all dualistic fiction, all dualistic nonsense, all ego-based silliness, all ego-driven BS. How did the shift from all of that duality happen?
Somewhere along the way, searching began; seeking; doing; going; zooming; next, finding; understanding; awareness; and relaxing; and ultimately, it was Realized that it was, indeed, all much ado about nothing . . . all nothing more than a lot of sound and fury. Only when the addiction to chaos - to the sound and the fury - ends can the joy and bliss of the silence begin.
Those who believe in time lines would say those events covered “six decades in the life of one man.”
The unblocked consciousness sees nothing more than the elements of a fable . . . a series of happenings all based in idiocy. Again, the words of the Advaitin William Shakespeare apply: “Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Signifying . . . nothing. The invitation is to look at all of the elements in that fictional fable and see that they cover only 60 years of happenings on one planet that is spinning away in a universe that has a 14-billion year history. The invitation is too look at all those happenings and to note how “very important” they were all considered to be when they were happening. The invitation is also to see that the happenings amounted only to so much sound and fury . . . with no importance or truth or reality involved at all.
To understand that whatever persons take to be “something” or “something really important” is actually just much ado about nothing will allow the nothingness to be understood. When the nothingness is understood, then That Which Truly Is Everything can be understood. When the functioning of the totality is understood, all things false are abandoned and peace just happens.
Relatedly, the Advaitin poet Shakespeare also wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts,” and “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon a stage.” And then? "Out, out, brief candle."
Enjoy the play, but know that the play is a play.
Meaning that if you observe all events with a clear perspective, you'll see how the trivial is elevated to the status of “significant” by persons. Then, seeing how trivial it all really is, you might be able to assume a position of neutrality around all happenings. Then, you might at least attain a sense of contentment before pursuing joy and bliss.
If it is understood that the entire manifestation of consciousness is much ado about nothing, then those obstacles which interrupt peace cannot materialize . . . obstacles such as belief in dualistic concepts, attachment, caring, judging, involvement, emotional intoxication, desiring, fearing, needing, etc.
What does much ado about nothing look like? It looks as if important happenings are occurring, happenings that require a dualistic stance, either for or against. But those happenings are really just the various parts of a fable; however, the elements of a fictional story can only be reviewed objectively if one functions as a non-attached witness.
Then, by reviewing the elements of the fiction from a “distance,” one can see clearly how it all amounted to nothing. Here are the elements in one tale that covered a 60-year span. It will show how much ado can be made about nothing when persons think the events in their relative existence amount to something important. This particular fictional tale included such elements as:
A young girl abandoned after her mother died in childbirth; that girl later kidnapped by a relative; a young man watching his brother fall onto railroad tracks and being cut in half by a train; a chance meeting; “love”; a marriage; Germany and Japan are declared “the enemy”; war declared; separation as a result of a war; two bombs dropped; returning home; prosperity; pregnancy; birth; another pregnancy; another birth (and thus "floyd's" arrival);
parents were pleased; parents were angry; teachers were pleased; teachers were angry; children were whipped with paddles; palms were beaten with rulers; national crime rates went down; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Germany and Japan are then declared “our friends” and communists are declared “the enemy”; bomb shelters were built; drills happened in schools, along with crawling under desks and putting books over heads; making friends at school; fighting with friends at school; Cuba was declared “an enemy”; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing;
then, a lack of prosperity; crime went up; a tonsillectomy; an appendectomy; a toe severed by a lawn mower; a rare Southern snow; intense heat; punishment for not being “good”; exposure to religious Occidentals and their nonsensical beliefs; fear when the promise of eternal fire and damnation were introduced; accepting “salvation” in order to please, but knowing it was hogwash (so there is a glimpse of "floyd's" early exposure to fear-generating dogma);
dating; championships won; graduation; college; another graduation; employment; bosses were pleased; bosses were displeased; Vietnam was declared “an enemy”; another war; being drafted; another war ended; graduate school; a Master’s Degree and another graduation; low-paying employment; a meeting; “love”; a marriage; Vietnam was then declared “a friend” and “trading partner”; a divorce; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Then, too many lovers but not any Love; a chance meeting; “love”; a marriage; high-paying employment; a Bush declares an Ortega “a friend”; plaques and certificates of achievement and paid vacations awarded at annual banquets; pregnancy; birth; a healthy child; a sick child; swings in the economy; low income; high income; a Rumsfeld meets a Saddam and declares him “our friend”; an apartment in Tuscany; months at a time in Europe (so "floyd" had made it into the early 80's);
dream jobs that became nightmares; fortunes lost; fortunes earned again; huge homes purchased and filled with “stuff”; friendships with neighbors; fights with neighbors; pets bought; pets buried; pipes broke; repairmen scheduled; pipes OK; pipes burst; again more contractors dealt with; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Next came vast accumulations; wealth; hurricanes came, trees fell, property “destroyed”; property rebuilt; property taxes increased; evaluations protested; fortunes lost; dream relationships became nightmares; hearing the words “colon cancer”; a spouse who got into her car and drove away the day before the scheduled surgery for cancer, never to return; a divorce; and ultimately, it was all much ado about nothing.
Then arranging a funeral for a parent who preferred burial; Republican rule; nations to the south of the U.S. were declared “the enemy”; glasnost; Communists are then declared “a friend” and “a trading partner”; a parent’s stroke; more invasions and war; a declaration that “We must fight them in Central America or we’ll fight them here”; secret U.S. death squads; meeting a U.S. sniper using drugs to try to suppress the guilt of assassinating 46 innocent civilians in Central America (including a teacher and a priest) who were declared “the enemy” by the U.S. for making anti-U.S. speeches;
illegal arms deals; Democratic rule; huge surplus in national treasury; Republican rule; a Bush declares an Ortega is now “an enemy”; two poorly-designed towers fall; a Rumsfeld and others who had declared a Saddam to be “a friend” said he is “an enemy”; another war; national treasury surplus gone, replaced by huge national debt; a declaration that “We must fight them in the Middle East or we’ll fight them here”; nations to the south again declared “the enemy”; now, the health care providers no longer say “cancer,” but last week one said for the first time, “diabetes”; but ultimately, it’s all much ado about nothing.
Then friends came; friends went; seekers came; some stayed; some fired Floyd as their guru or teacher or guide; fifteen months ago, one doctor said "angina ... six to twenty-four months to live"; another said, "major pulmonary problems, combined with the angina, call for immediate surgery"; rejection of their suggestions; days of strength, days of weakness; and as with the events of the other 63 years, it is all being witnessed without any emotional intoxication or angst or fear. The peace here is unwavering via the no-drama stability of abiding as the Awareness and the Nothingness beyond.
To review those happenings from the perspective of the objective witness is to see the insanity of all of the duality that robbed the players in that “Drama of the Lie” of peace and happiness: good and bad, satisfied and dissatisfied, pleased and displeased, reward and punishment, war and peace, enemy and friend, friend and enemy, rich and poor, sick and well, marriage and divorce, good times and bad times, chaos and stability, knowing who “the enemy” was, then not knowing who “the enemy” was.
Everything thought to be bad would eventually be thought to be good and everything thought to be good would eventually be thought to be bad. In fact, it was all dualistic fiction, all dualistic nonsense, all ego-based silliness, all ego-driven BS. How did the shift from all of that duality happen?
Somewhere along the way, searching began; seeking; doing; going; zooming; next, finding; understanding; awareness; and relaxing; and ultimately, it was Realized that it was, indeed, all much ado about nothing . . . all nothing more than a lot of sound and fury. Only when the addiction to chaos - to the sound and the fury - ends can the joy and bliss of the silence begin.
Those who believe in time lines would say those events covered “six decades in the life of one man.”
The unblocked consciousness sees nothing more than the elements of a fable . . . a series of happenings all based in idiocy. Again, the words of the Advaitin William Shakespeare apply: “Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Signifying . . . nothing. The invitation is to look at all of the elements in that fictional fable and see that they cover only 60 years of happenings on one planet that is spinning away in a universe that has a 14-billion year history. The invitation is too look at all those happenings and to note how “very important” they were all considered to be when they were happening. The invitation is also to see that the happenings amounted only to so much sound and fury . . . with no importance or truth or reality involved at all.
To understand that whatever persons take to be “something” or “something really important” is actually just much ado about nothing will allow the nothingness to be understood. When the nothingness is understood, then That Which Truly Is Everything can be understood. When the functioning of the totality is understood, all things false are abandoned and peace just happens.
Relatedly, the Advaitin poet Shakespeare also wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts,” and “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon a stage.” And then? "Out, out, brief candle."
Enjoy the play, but know that the play is a play.
Indeed, if there manifests an ability to see that a play really
is nothing more than a play and is not real, and if there manifests an ability to see that all characters
really are nothing more than characters and are not real, that is a sign that ignorance is being
eliminated and that sanity is being restored.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE:
The four most recent posts follow. You may access all of the posts in
this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]
