Today's Considerations
One man who read yesterday’s post sent the following, which
was typical of several emails received:
“Very promising, but this would still be the third
step, no?”
Of course the pastor is still lingering at the third step on
the seven step “path,” as has been the case with most persons on the planet, as was the case with most who now claim to be “enlightened” or “realized,” as is the case with all in "Twelve Step
programs" who proudly proclaim that they are “spiritual rather than religious,” as was
Maharaj, as was Floyd, and as is almost every person on the planet nowadays (97% claiming
a religious affiliation and millions more claiming to be spiritual).
Those who are a part of the “small pockets” referenced yesterday
who are on the vanguard of inviting persons to become free of the rigidity and
narrow-mindedness and closed-mindedness (that is, of all “mindedness”) which
result from all forms of programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation
and indoctrination and brainwashing are
almost all still trapped to one degree or another in the learned ignorance and even insanity
which come when the dualistic nature of consciousness guarantees that dualistic
beliefs will be passed on, learned, and then either clung to or - in a few rare instances - rejected at some
point.
In the meantime, most will fall into the category of those
described by Maharaj who “think they are being bathed in the full light of the
noonday sun when they are actually still standing in the dull light of dawn.”
Yet the witnessing of any shift by any of the billions who
are trapped in dogma or in “spiritual principles” (or in any other set of unquestioned
and blindly-accepted concepts and false identities) is still welcome.
As Maharaj said, “It is enough to know who you are not.” To substitute
one identity for another or to cling to formerly assigned or assumed identities
will still prevent the manifestation of total freedom and peace, but the third
step must be taken along the way. Most will stay there until the end of the manifestation; a
few will transition that step and move on to the understanding; but for those in
the hinterland – in the vicinity or neighborhood or outskirts of The Village of
Seeing Clearly – even if they never see the total truth and never understand
the functioning of the totality, is not their weekend pass from prison better than
their continuing to accept being totally locked away in solitary confinement for 24 / 7?
Until totally freed, even those locked away in a prison who are given
a temporary weekend pass or who are confined to house arrest would likely
appreciate that taste of freedom over the conditions of total incarceration.
Yet those who think that their beliefs define who they are will
most certainly suffer the angst of struggling with identification issues until
they come to understand that what they are is not defined by their belief
systems (which are not their beliefs anyway but are the beliefs of “others”
which have been blindly accepted). Only if that understanding comes
will they finally be able to follow Maharaj’s advice and stop following the
words “I am” with any identifiers.
Then the lies they were told and the lies they continue to believe
might be seen for the lies that they are. Then they will never again say:
“I am a . . . Christian / Hindu / Advaitin / Muslim / Buddhist / Taoist / Sufi / atheist / Knower
/ Jnani / Non-Dualist” . . . whatever. [This would still be the third
step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am an alcoholic.” [This would still be the third
step, no?”] And they will never again say:
“I am a Realized One.” [This would still be the third
step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am the Supreme Self.” [This would still be the third
step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am a member of this group or that group, this congregation
or that congregation, this political party or that political party.” [This
would still be the third step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am a citizen of the greatest country on earth.” [This
would still be the third step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am religious.” [This would still be the third step,
no?] And they will never again say:
“I am spiritual.” [This would still be the third step,
no?] And they will never again say:
“I am enlightened.” [This would still be the third
step, no?] And they will never again say:
“I am . . . Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah.” [This would
still be the third step, no?]
Meanwhile, if there is a speck of consciousness which has
the courage to tell the truth to those who have come her or his way; has the
courage to challenge their belief systems; has the courage to point out their absence
of wisdom which most take to be “their mastery of the conventional wisdom in
their culture”; and has the courage to let the chips fall where they may without
any fear at all, then that is welcomed because it provides a potential for hope
of the kind that refers to “a chance” or “a possibility” of being free of nonsense
and ignorance and insanity.
Here in the U.S., those who demand that the government stop
interfering with their values and stop regulating their businesses (no matter
how much those businesses abuse their workers and no matter how much they
contaminate the environment) are the same ones who want the government to use
its authority to define what kinds of sex are okay and what kinds are not; to
define what women can do with their bodies and what they cannot; to control who can marry
and who cannot; etc.
The contradictory concept that the U.S. can
(a) still claim that it is “a democracy” while
(b) limiting the rights of some citizens
is a belief that is alive and well among many.
And most of those who are fighting for their right to
discriminate are cloaking their justifications in “their faith and beliefs
and values.” That is all mind stuff, all dualistic nonsense, all totally self-contradictory.
Again, though, there are a few voices being raised which inspire the kind of hope as defined above. Christ is reported to have walked into
the temple and run the money changers out with a whip, but Maharaj did not walk
into temples and do that; at the age of six, I was challenging the nonsense
being taught in a Southern Baptist church, but most did not. Outsiders and rebels
and challengers of unnatural and supernatural beliefs are not welcome to speak in any venues,
and if they do get a chance to speak and challenge the beliefs held by the members of their audience,
it is rare that they get a second chance to do the same.Yet that is exactly what Maharaj did.
So it is welcomed when "insiders" take such steps,
for only they have even the slightest chance of being given any credibility. The
pastor yesterday was not being cited as an example of one who had “fully realized,”
yet he is displaying the courage to point out lies and to point toward the
truth. In terms of the on-going “who-can-marry-debate” in the U.S., another man
is trying to do the same. His words will be shared momentarily.
Here, the words of those still identifying themselves as “a
Christian” or “a pastor” are sometimes shared. Why? Because of what Maharaj
modeled: none who came to the loft were “realized”
(there claims notwithstanding); all believed lies to one degree or another; and
all claimed that they were seeking the truth (though, actually, most persons have no tolerance at all for the truth).
Yet they were welcomed by Maharaj anyway.
The same applies to the few who are self-identifying
as “a Christian” or “a pastor” but who have the courage to challenge the belief
systems of those who come their way, belief systems which reinforce a false
sense of different-from-ment and better-than-ment; thus, in addition to Jim Rigby yesterday, meet Adam Phillips today.
He and his wife Sarah moved to Portland in 2013 to open Christ Church, a new
faith community in Rose City. One year into their new church start, they
were kicked out of the Evangelical Covenant Church, Adam's faith family for two
decades, for encouraging the church to include those among the LGBTQ
community.
More recently, Adam Phillips has served in a number of capacities in Christian advocacy and development groups, working with organizations such as The ONE Campaign, such as Bread for the World, such as Micah Challenge, and such as World Vision.
More recently, Adam Phillips has served in a number of capacities in Christian advocacy and development groups, working with organizations such as The ONE Campaign, such as Bread for the World, such as Micah Challenge, and such as World Vision.
As is the case with the current Pope who is sharing in many but not all ways the kind of message that Jesus taught after he began sharing
non-dual pointers and speaking of Real Love and inclusion, Phillips had the
courage to expose the nonsense behind those who are talking about “God’s
definition of marriage being limited to one man and one woman” and are
expressing their willingness to "fight to the end" to uphold the “Biblical
laws regarding marriage.”
A huge number of Christians are vehemently opposed to those whom
they claim are “trying to redefine marriage in ways that are contrary to what
the Bible teaches." What inspired those types to kick Phillips out of the church?
His pointing out that their beliefs about what the Bible has to say about marriage are totally bogus. He lost his job because he offered these kinds of clarifications about what “Biblical marriage” was really like, which is completely contrary
to what they believe:
“Upon closer examination of the Scriptures, the very notion
of ‘Biblical marriage’ becomes a thorny mess. There's the definition of
Biblical marriage in which a man must marry his deceased brother's wife. This
idea of ‘Levirate marriage’ is a strong tradition in ancient tribal family
structures and makes it mark in early Jewish and even Muslim contexts. The
mandate to marry one's dead brother's wife is all about promoting the family
line, love be damned, and is found in Deuteronomy 25:5-6: 'If brothers are
living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry
outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and
fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall
carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out
from Israel'.” (NIV)
“Then there's the Biblical marriage definition that mandates
a raped woman to be wed to her rapist, but only after the rapist pays the raped
woman's father fifty coins: ‘If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged
to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay her father
fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated
her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives’." (Deuteronomy
22:28-29, NIV)
“Then there's the complicated story where Moses and the
Israelites conquer the Midianites and divide the spoils, including property,
livestock and women, marrying conquered Midianite women off to the victorious
soldiers. Sound like Game of Thrones? It's in the Bible (see Numbers 31).
“The Bible also defines marriage and family rules when it
comes to slave ownership: 'The married slaves may eventually go free, but the
children of that union must stay enslaved'." And if you are now holding your
head in your hands and wondering does the Bible really say this, then I invite
you to read the complicated, inspiring and sometimes contradictory story of the
Book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible.”
“The Bible allows for polygamy, too. Many heroes of the
faith like Moses, Solomon, Jacob and David all had more than one wife. Unless
they just had one wife and one concubine, like Abraham.”
[You know Abraham, right? The revered fellow who is called “The Father
of Judaism” and “The Father of Christianity” and “The Father of Islam.”]
Phillips closes with this: “Redefine marriage? People of faith have been wrestling with
this for years in our holy books and in our Spirit-led convictions.”
Again, no pastors or popes are being held up as examples of
those who have reached a state of “Full Realization.” The words of a few of them are
offered because they are at least adhering to some of the basic, foundational
pointers of non-duality, such as "Question it all" and "Stop blindly believing - without any investigation
at all - everything that you have been told" (which Maharaj dismissed as “hearsay”).
These few – at least for the time afforded them - are “insiders” speaking to “insiders.” That is happening in
a way that no “outsider” can.
The levels of “ignorance and stupidity and insanity” which Maharaj
addressed were not set in place in one generation, and they shall not be undone
in the span of a single generation. Additionally, the widespread, pervasive acceptance
of lies as truth will never end as long as humans are walking about on the
planet; however, as was the case with Maharaj, if only a few of the many who have
heard or seen someone pointing toward the truth are freed from their mental
imprisonment, that is quite okay.
It was okay with Maharaj and it is okay here.
Even after he abandoned religion and spirituality, Maharaj
had no fight with religion or spirituality. Same here. His opposition was to
the ignorance and nonsense and insanity which they foster and which they perpetuate, and
that’s something quite different from the charge of “hating religion and
spirituality per se.”
Do you see the chaos and insanity which any and all roles perpetuate?
Do you see that assuming and assigning and adopting false identities first
requires the formation of a mind? Do you see that it also requires that a mind be pumped chock
full of nonsense and lies?
Hence the sages have long invited seekers to be rid
of all identification (rather than just the “bad identifications”), and a few
even invited seekers to be rid of the identities which they deemed to be “good”
or “great” or even “Supreme.”
Both mind and personality identification must end for wisdom and clarity and freedom and peace to come.
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.]
