Today's Considerations
After years of talks peppered with Hindu dogma and with spiritual
concepts and with Self-Inquiry promotion, Maharaj eventually came to understand
that the problems of humanity are singularly a result of faulty programming,
conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination.
The intelligent think that they have transitioned beyond earlier influences.
The wise along the way come to understand that they have not and then take the actions required in order to be able to do so.
So after Maharaj abandoned the use of Hindu-based pointers; and after he abandoned spirituality
(telling people to stop reading the so-called “spiritual classic” entitled I AM
THAT and to listen to his later talks); and after he abandoned his attachment
to the Self-Inquiry method and to “The Self” (saying he “had been interested
in the Self at one point but now had no more interest in the Self” and saying “You
do not have to find the answer to ‘Who Am I?’” and “It is enough to know
who you are not”; then, what message did he focus on? A mind-focused message.
He came to see that the problems of humankind have no
mystical roots, so there are no mystical solutions. He saw that the problem /
the Ultimate Sickness has nothing to do with too little dogma or with a
spiritual malady. He saw that the Sickness is only psychological in nature.
The invitation, therefore, is to see that the only issues
which need to be addressed are psychological issues, not issues involving too
little dogma or a spiritual malady or not knowing “The Supreme Self.” Self-ness
is as much an illusion as self-ness. See that all of the problems of humankind
are rooted in psychological problems because they allow persons to be driven by
forces that are not even recognized. In the beginning, recognize them as they
manifest. Then, stop. Pause. Turn.
Imagine driving through a hot area along a mountainside road
which drops off on one side into the ocean. Next, imagine seeing a mirage in
the road ahead and thinking that it’s real and then swerving to miss it and
driving off the cliff and crashing into the ocean below. Then imagine the alternative that comes with
clear seeing: if a driver sees a mirage as nothing more than a false image
often enough, he will eventually stop reacting to mirages and will stop letting
them determine what he thinks and what he does and, instead, will automatically
and spontaneously ignore them. At that point he will be free to move on down
the road contentedly and enjoy the rest of the journey.
Maharaj said, "You are not in the world; the world is in
you.” Meaning? Meaning, it is in your mind. If one would be free of all discontentment
about the way things are going in “her or his world” (which is a perception that
only exists in the mind) and if one cannot change one’s mind (because that
which drives everyone’s thoughts and words and actions and feelings and emoting
are subconscious and cannot, therefore, be rooted out voluntarily one-by-one) then the indicated
treatment involves being rid of the mind completely (by casting aside all beliefs).
To that end, some excerpts from the book “There’s No SuchThing As Peace of Mind” (There Is Only Peace If You Are Out Of Your Mind) are
being shared.
So to continue with excerpts from “CHAPTER SIX”, entitled “MIND
and MEMORIES: When Nature’s 'Assets' Become Warped into 'Liabilities,' Part Six.”
This is offered in that chapter:
Thus, memories form the “mind” as they are stored in the
file inside the brain. The memories / “mind” generate body identification,
“mind” identification, and personality identification, all of which are
illusions but which nevertheless generate catastrophic results (relatively
speaking). The memories / “mind” have become the source of “the problem”
because the “mind” interrupts the ability of the brain and the pure
consciousness to function naturally; furthermore, that “mind,” and its belief
in illusions and lies, blocks awareness of that which is true and real (the
Absolute) and which is prior to body, “mind” and memory.
It should be seen, therefore, that neither “the relative
problems of the planet” nor “the problem of being out of touch with reality”
has anything to do with either the brain or with the pure consciousness. The
problems have everything to do with the false, fictitious “mind” which is
nothing more than a body of fallacious information and reasoning fallacies and
lies and distortions that have been filed away in a part of the brain. That
original system of filing facts away in the brain and of compiling a mind (a
storehouse of useful information) which once served humanity so well has now
become the scourge of the planet, relatively speaking. That which was once
totally natural has been warped by supernatural and dualistic teachings which
now drive the unnatural behaviors that plague humanity.
So the “mind” overrides the brain and pure consciousness so
that the natural functions of the brain and pure consciousness are interrupted.
To return to natural functioning (to live naturally and not live unnaturally or
supernaturally) the brain-consciousness balance must be restored. For that to
happen, the “mind” (all of the learned ignorance, concepts, beliefs and ideas)
must go.
Another visitor asked, “Is a teacher always a requirement,
and if so, why?” The answer is, "Yes, with rare exceptions." Why?
Because “minds” are warped and twisted and usually require assistance in
developing an ability to perceive correctly (meaning in a fashion that is
usually 180-degrees opposite of the way that programmed persons perceive
things). It has been seen that “mind” formation nowadays interrupts the natural
process and results in distorted, unnatural, and supernatural thinking. Here’s
another example to illustrate what happens and why a teacher is usually
required:
To understand the metaphor, you must understand a game
played by many young males in east Texas, a game that is called “Riding Pines.”
The game works like this. Boys will go into the woods and find a pine tree
which has a thin trunk and which is about thirty feet high. They climb to
around the twenty-five-foot mark. Because of the depth of the tap root and the
flexibility of the truck of the tree at that point, they can begin shifting
their weight back and forth to the right and then the left and cause the tree
to begin to swing widely from side to side. (You may have seen circus
performers doing something like this on poles.)
As the tree begins to sway more and more, the rider will
eventually cause the tree to sway as far as it can in one direction and then as
it swings in the opposite direction, he’ll hold the thin trunk and toss his
body off the limb he was standing on and then ride the tree down to the ground.
If he ends up two or three feet off the ground, he drops, but the real goal is
to ride it down to the point where the feet end up touching the ground lightly
at the perfect height for letting go and standing up without movement. The one
who ends up hanging the closest to the ground wins.
On release, a tree springs back to no more than a 45-degree
angle, but without intervention the trunk will not straighten back up to its
natural and normal vertical condition after it has been warped. The tree will
never be able to return to its natural state on its own; however, foresters
sometimes find trees that have been ridden and they’ll use ropes to pull a tree
back to its natural, original condition. Now, here’s the Advaitin pointer:
In the forest the life cycle of a pine tree begins when a
mature pine cone releases its seeds and germination happens. The consciousness
manifested in the seed provides all of the awareness that the seed needs to
produce a tree. Soon, a pine tree will begin to grow. At some point, young boys
come along and ride the tree. The tree becomes twisted and warped. It will try
to straighten up on its own, but it cannot. The tip will seek the light, but
the majority of the tree will continue to be bent. The natural functioning, the
natural process, was interrupted. Only if foresters attach tension ropes to the
tree can it eventually be straightened and returned it to its natural, original
condition.
Now, compare that with humans. At maturity, a seed can be
released and a pregnancy can happen. The consciousness manifested in the seed
provides all of the awareness that the seed needs to produce a “child.” Soon,
the child might begin to grow. At some point, parents and other persons come
along and begin teaching the child. The child becomes twisted and warped
because it is being taught lies which adults are claiming to be truth. Later,
usually when the stress of the relative existence makes the child feel as if
the weight of the world is on his shoulder and riding him down, he might try to
straighten up on his own, but he cannot.
The warped tree cannot straighten itself, and the warped
“mind” cannot straighten itself. Children as adults might seek the light, but
the majority will continue to be bent. If their warped mind is pointed out to
them, tension often happens. As with the foresters, a great deal of tension can
be involved in straightening out that which is bent and crooked and unnatural.
That which is natural has been interrupted and abandoned
among persons, and most cultures try to treat that which is warped by
encouraging the accumulation of more knowledge. An Advaita teacher might come
along and reveal the way to straighten that which has been twisted and
distorted and to return it to its natural, original condition by the only
method that works: discarding the content of the warped, illusory,
fiction-filled “mind.”
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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