Tuesday, September 29, 2015

MAHARAJ: “There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind,” Part Y

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks

Today's Considerations

[This exchange followed yesterday's post:

Visitor: "I've been in a twelve step group for 3 years, 2 months, and 11 days as of today, and I want to say that we may not be perfect and we may not have the same rate of success as our founders did, but that's the way it is when there is no cure for the disease or illness you're dealing with but we're still helping people with the problem one day at a time and people who come here do stop drinking even if for a while and that's progress and that's our goal not perfection."

Reply: "Jean Sharon Abbott's doctors told her the same thing for thirty-three years: 'We're helping you. We're giving you the best treatment available for your disease. It's not curable, but if you stick with us, we'll at least keep you alive.' The problem with that: they did not know her real problem so they were treating symptoms instead of cause. And by buying into a treatment plan that was totally inappropriate and by listening to the doctors who were failing to treat her real problem, she was blocked from leaving that group and going somewhere else and finding the real cause and the real solution. That said, you'll continue to do what you do, trying to treat mental illness with spirituality. Been there, tried that. Did not work. Maharaj also, been there, tried that. Did not work. Yet those whom you convince that you know what they need will, as a result of believing you, likely never find the proper treatment for their actual problem which is mental and which involves personality disorders and neuroses and even psychoses. The craziest thing they did was not done while under the influence. The craziest thing they did was - even after their insane, multi-year history with alcohol - they begin drinking again . . . when stone-cold sober. See? There's no truth to your assumption that 'drunk equals crazy but not drunk equals sane.' Simply being 'not drunk' does not equate at all with being 'restored to sanity.' The booze was not the problem. Booze was what your members were using to try to treat their real problems which were totally mental. Treating symptoms rather than cause never helps anyone and cannot be consider real 'progress' by any stretch of the imagination. There is something worst than being the way people were when they were drunk. It is: still being that way but not drunk. Drunkenness might end, but craziness continues without proper treatment."]

To continue:

Though Maharaj came to understand that the main problems of humanity center in the mind - not in “a bad heart” or in “a sick soul” or in a “malady-plagued spirit” – he did not ignore the role played by assigned and / or assumed personality identifications in generating fighting and conflict and chaos (whether in a home, in an office, or on a global scale).

Why? For this simple reason: there can be no acceptance of personalities as actual identifications if there is no mind. If there is a mind, it will accept personalities as identifications. The two go hand-in-hand, so to speak.


In CHAPTER NINE (entitled “MIND” and PERSONALITY: What Cultures Consider “Assets” Are Actually “Liabilities,” Part Two) the mind-personality conundrum is discussed:

The results of a study of global mental illness by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School, as reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association, reveal that from 1% to 5% percent of the populations of most of the countries surveyed were suffering from serious mental illness. By contrast, estimates are that over 99% of the humans on earth suffer from one or more personality disorders.

[When seekers take the personality inventory test offered here in order for them to finally discover exactly what has really been unconsciously driving their thoughts and words and actions all of their lives, we go over the results via Skype or telephone. After that process, they come to understand that all nine of the basic personality types are showing up to one degree or another; then, they find which of the nine basic types specifically are exerting the greatest influence in their case. 

More relevant is the fact that all nine of the basic personality types - which all people have to one degree or another - have the potential to generate a variety of personality disorders. With most humans being highly-influenced by the subconscious agendas of at least five of those nine types, then most people have at least five disorders which they need to be aware of, need to acknowledge the presence and power of, need to discuss, and then need to be freed of by taking the proper steps to find the proper treatment. Sometimes that freedom can come by being guided through all seven steps which Maharaj used and which are now being used here; sometimes, other guidance might be needed.]

Thus, as Advaitin sages have taught for centuries, the relative existence problems of the planet are rooted in the coupling of mind / personality. Realization offers the opportunity to eliminate most of the problems of the planet since, statistically; they are rooted more in personality than in mental illness.

[That said, be aware of the fact that the only difference in personality disorders and insanity - which Maharaj said is a symptom of the Ultimate Sickness which almost all humans are suffering from – is only a matter of degree. All neuroses and psychoses begin as personality disorders which, when ignored, can result in persons disintegrating psychically and then developing grave mental disorders which can eventually disintegrate further into full-blown mental illness / insanity.]

When diagnosable mental health problems reach a level of seriousness that is labeled “clinical,” then a mental illness exists and professional intervention and treatment are indicated. Advaita cannot treat such conditions; however, those mental illnesses are very different from personality disorders, and personality disorders can be addressed and eliminated via the understanding that is attainable by way of the Advaita teachings. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists attempt to treat personality disorders as well as mental illnesses. Realization offers treatment only for personality disorders, serious though they may be.

Since personality disorders are far more common on planet earth than are mental illnesses, then a logical approach would involve this: when insane-type behavior is being observed, look first to determine if personality is inspiring the conduct in an effort to sustain an illusory self. Again, while the effects of personality on behavior often appear to involve some degree of mental illness—with persons certainly seeming to be totally insane at times—mental illness and personality disorders are different (by degree).

Consider: 59% of all women and 41% of all men who are killed in the U.S. annually will die during a "relationship breakup." Some speak of “temporary insanity” as a persona (such as “husband” or “wife” or “lover”) strikes out when a false identity feels threatened. Those crimes appear to be evidence of a mental illness, yet the stage for those murders is always set long before the murders happen. The murders happen as a result of acculturation whereby persons accept a culturally-assigned persona as a true identity, take it to define who they truly are, and are then willing to kill in an effort to protect a fictitious role assigned within their societies whenever that role / persona feels threatened.

That which is labeled “insanity” or “temporary insanity” in such cases is not actually a mental illness at all. The astronomical murder rate across the planet is more often a result of personality, not a result of clinical mental illness. Yet most people on the planet dismiss such conduct as “insane” or caused by "evil forces" while never being aware of the actual role that personality is playing.

Another reason that personality defects and mental illnesses are mistaken (one for the other) is because the same type of destructive or self-destructive tendencies can be triggered by either. It is true that mental illnesses and personality disorders both call for “treatment,” and the call should be an urgent one, but the effective treatments for those two conditions are quite different. Again, psychiatrists and psychotherapists attempt to treat both personality disorders and the mental illnesses which they can disintegrate into. Realization offers a treatment plan for personality disorders which, when serious enough, can generate insane thoughts and words and actions.

All but the truly insane, the too young, or the brain-damaged can Realize, though the power of faulty programming and conditioning etc. will prevent most persons from ever doing so. Most will remain trapped in personality for the entire period of manifestation. 

If Realization is to happen, some questions to be asked include, “What personas have you adopted and how powerful is their influence upon your behavior?" "When angry or hurt, WHO is feeling the anger or hurt?" "What persona is causing you to be miserable or to suffer or to generate conflict?" And "How is ego, and your assumption of ego-states as identities, driving you throughout each and every day, all day long?”
   
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.]

Recent Posts and Archives

Tools Used by Other Seekers of Realization

WATCHING an Advaita Vedanta Retreat: Watch a Downloadable computer file version of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat (Downloadable on PC only, not Apple.)

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

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.

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.

Five Free eBooks

Compliments of Andy Gugar, Jr.,
the following eBooks are available without charge for you or for friends:

I.
"GOOD vs. EVIL?" or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY?"

The content of this eBook deals with one of the most common but erroneous beliefs that the non-Realized masses cling to and which they will fight about (and even kill over), namely, that there is a planet-wide duel going on between “the forces of good and evil” in the universe.

Either (1) the ancient view is spot on: that the "ills of the planet" are rooted in evil people, in people not being religious enough or spiritual enough, and are caused solely by bad morality; or, (2) the "ills of the planet" are rooted in ignorance, stupidity and insanity and "being good" or "being moral" does not put an end to ignorance, does not eliminate stupidity, and does not treat insanity in any way.

II.
"THE VISION"

Comments regarding the free eBook entitled “THE VISION”:

“My thanks to you and Andy.” – Andrew “Mac” McMaster

“Thanks so much for the book! And, by the way, it is brilliant and the most effective pointing that you have done. It has served to help clear the remaining blockages.” – Stan Cross

“Greatly appreciate having “THE VISION” added to my Henderson resource library that is situated on the right side of my bed for easy access! Eternally grateful for what was received and what was given.” – Robert Rigby

“‘THE VISION’ is such a well-written, condensed version of the Nisarga Yoga approach to understanding and enjoying Reality that I feel it can serve as a must-read ‘meditation guide’ for all earnest seekers.” – Andy Gugar, Jr.

III.
"Sapolsky, Maharaj, and the Non-Dual Teachings"

Dr. Robert Maurice 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.

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.

This 152-page eBook catalogues the common, non-dual message shared by Sapolsky and Maharaj and reveals the ways that Sapolsky’s scientific research supports the non-dual pointers offered by Maharaj.

IV.
Seeking

In “PART ONE” it will be seen that most persons on the planet are not seeking, and most will never seek, but for those who are seeking, most will face several obstacles:

In “PART TWO” of this book, it will be seen why many criticized Maharaj for “changing his message in his later talks.” It will be seen that the changes were not about changing the message per se as much as about changing his methodology as he experimented with one version of the Ultimate Medicine after another in order to try to find an effective means for addressing the Ultimate Sickness.

He tried a religious version of the Medicine, a Spiritual version of the Medicine, and finally settled on a version which addressed to Sickness at its core . . . at the mental and emotional level.

V.
"THE MOST DANGEROUS BELIEF OF ALL"

“Dangerous” is a term that can only apply during the relative existence, but of those who do commit suicide, for example, how many shoot themselves in the foot over and over until they “bleed out”? None. They shoot themselves in the head. Why? In order to try to stop the noise - to try to stop the chatter of a thousand monkeys – to stop the noisy mind which is the area that stores the ideas, notions, concepts, mind-stuff, etc. which drives them into the depths of insanity.

And what are those ideas, notions, concepts, etc. called, collectively? "Their beliefs." The irony? They are not their beliefs at all. They are the beliefs of “others” that were set in place via programming, conditioning, etc. and which persons then think are their own.

And what are those beliefs rooted in, and what reinforces those beliefs and convinces persons that they are sacred and worth fighting over and even sometimes worth dying for? Blind faith.

This 337-page eBook discusses those issues in detail.

To read any or all of the free eBooks, please double-click the "FREEBIES" link at the top of this page