Today's Considerations
It was recently noted that Maharaj said many times that “this is all so simple.” Sometimes he said that when discussing “realization”;
sometimes, when discussing “enlightenment”; and sometimes, when discussing
“liberation.” Earlier, the actual and simple meaning of “enlightenment,” and the actual and
simple meaning of “liberation,” were both discussed.
Today, the actual and simple meaning of “realization” will
be discussed, and - again - there is another term (just as is the case with the terms
“enlightenment” and “liberation”) which, far too often, comes with connotations
and nuances which suggest that “realization” should be viewed as something that
is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble.
First, to clear up the widespread confusion about what “the
non-dual teachings are about and what they are not about,” it is necessary to
offer an explanation of another relevant term, namely, “the
non-dual teachings.” As explained in previous posts, no one can honestly write
a book and say accurately: “Here are the non-dual teachings.” Why?
The “non-dual teachings” have evolved / devolved into
something that is as misunderstood as the elephant in the story of "The
Blind Men and an Elephant" and as varied as their descriptions of that elephant.
In that story, several blind men are touching an elephant in order to learn what an elephant is like. Because each man touches a different part, and because each man only touches one part rather than all of the parts, then the conclusions that they draw about what an elephant is like are all in error. They learn when they share their finding that they are in complete disagreement, and their disagreements actually generate conflict and even violence. The same applies to "non-duality" nowadays.
In that story, several blind men are touching an elephant in order to learn what an elephant is like. Because each man touches a different part, and because each man only touches one part rather than all of the parts, then the conclusions that they draw about what an elephant is like are all in error. They learn when they share their finding that they are in complete disagreement, and their disagreements actually generate conflict and even violence. The same applies to "non-duality" nowadays.
The impact on "the non-dual message which is being passed along" is comparable
to what happens in the children’s game called “Telephone” in which all of the
children at a party or in a classroom are lined up in a straight
line and a word or phrase is whispered into the ear of the first child in the line, after which each
child whispers to the next child what is thought to have been heard. For example,
the adult might whisper to the first child, "banana."
Each child will then whisper what they think was heard until
the child at the other end of the line receives the given word or phrase. Now,
suppose the second person thought the word heard was "bandana"
instead of "banana"; then, the next might have thought the word heard was
"Band Anna" and so on. By the end, when the last child shares what
was heard, it is usually far different from the word whispered in the
beginning. So it is with non-duality or any other set of teachings, be they academic, political, religious, spiritual, philosophical, etc.
The same kinds of misunderstandings happen in all cases, whether
they involve what Krishna supposedly said and meant, or whether they involve what Christ supposedly said
and meant, or whether they involve what one of those labeled by Maharaj as “The
Big Name Teachers” said or are presently saying.
Additionally, as with politicians who distort facts in order
to advance their own personal agendas, the same has happened with the non-dual teachings.
Moreover, some teachers over the years have change the version of
the message being offered because of additional understandings or clarifications
which have come. That happened with Maharaj and it happened here. In some such cases,
the non-dual teachings can be shown to be a viable organism which is growing
and maturing and changing, such as the case with the English language which is forever adding
some new words while discarding other words which have become archaic.
Some believe that the non-dual teachings should be like Latin, a
dead or static language which is no longer undergoing any changes or additions or subtractions and which should only be presented in the way that the first person presented the teachings (as if the first one to try to teach something had a monopoly on the only right way - and on the very best way - to teach something).
The honest teachers will admit it when their versions of any teachings changed as their understanding evolved. Maharaj in his later talks
advised seekers to “Stop reading I AM THAT and listen to my later talks.” Same
here. Were Maharaj to have explained early on his understanding of what “realization”
involves and then explained later on his understanding of what “realization”
involves, the two would be quite different.
Furthermore, there are five basic methods of teaching non-duality
which use totally different approaches and which offer totally different
messages. Combine those five methods with the additional use of one type of yoga or another and the potential number of permutations in regards to “the non-dual teachings” can combine to reach an
astronomically-large total.
Maharaj's message shifted from one that involved a Hindu /
non-dual combination of the Ultimate Medicine to a spiritual / non-dual
combination of the Ultimate Medicine to a psychology-based version of the
Ultimate Medicine.
Among the Big Name Teachers nowadays, the recipe used to bake
up their message includes one ounce of non-dual pointers all blended together with a pound of not-at-all-non-dual pointers and then topped off with a heavy
sprinkling of flowery phrases intended to incite emotional intoxication and to guarantee mass appeal by the inclusion of relative, self-centered, popular concepts such as:
Finding the 10 Secrets for Success
and
Advancing Your Spirit
and having
Power Now
and having an
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
and attaining
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire
and knowing
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to
the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
and finding out
How to Know God
and
Loving What Is (including being abused or raped or having
your child murdered)
To see what is selling millions of books and what is making
billions of dollars for those putting out their concept-laden and popular versions of the non-dual
teachings is to see why Maharaj advised seekers to "stay away from Big Name
Teachers.”
With that explanation about why there
is no consistency to the teachings nowadays, let it be said that what is
offered here is rooted mainly in the Direct Path Teaching Method which is combined with
the Nisarga Yoga and with an understanding which has evolved and has shifted
over the years since 1989 when non-dual talks were first being offered.
Full disclosure involves the admission that much of the
present understanding came about in the late 1990's by way of “The Vision” which came while resting
in the quiet and subsequently entering into a theta level of consciousness. After that, the approach used here underwent a shift in perspective regarding what “realization” does and
does not involve. It was seen that Maharaj’s later talks made so more sense
than his earlier talks and it was seen that “realization” does not involve
anything that is lofty and soaring and grand and exalted and noble.
[Yes, those words might characterize the view of realization as shared early on in
Maharaj’s loft and during the early satsang sessions and writings which were shared here as well. The view changed later on in both cases. Instead,
“realization” came to be understood - both there and here - to be a process which involves realizing
that the problems of humanity are rooted in the nonsense stored in the human mind;
involves realizing that the nonsense in the human mind was put there by persons passing
along from one generation to the next – in the style of “The Telephone Game” or in the style of “the blind men
touching an elephant” – the nonsense that is presently deeded to be "conventional
wisdom” (though there is no such thing); and involves realizing that the call is not for billions to replace
their false, relative identities with some other lofty and soaring and grand
and exalted and noble “Identity.”]
So, for the next few days, some of the realizations which
came via that vision will be shared (without any suggestion that these
realizations are "the only 'right' non-dual realizations” and without any claim that these understandings provide "the only 'proper' non-dual perspective"). Here are some of the realizations which came:
The vision made clear that there are seven degrees of separation from Reality that come about during the initial "coming in process" (that is, during the process of manifesting-and-being-programmed-conditioned, etc.) and that, therefore, there are seven specific steps during the "reversing" - the "going back" - process which must each be undertaken in a specific order if one is to shift from body identification to "Full Realization."
[That having been said, Maharaj did
promote the Self-Inquiry process early on but said later that “it is enough to
know who you are not.”]
That understanding, in turn, made clear that - as Maharaj often said - attaining Realization really is a fairly simple process. Once "the Absolute" and "Realization" have been stripped of all of the conceptualized and exalted and illustrious and elevating and glorifying acclaim that has been attached to them over the centuries, then the simple process of manifesting and unmanifesting as illustrated in the vision can be seen and understood. There is nothing special about the manifestation, and the vision makes most clear that there is nothing special about unmanifesting.
The vision made clear that if - at the third step - seekers do not stop playing any and all false roles (specifically including their false religious and spiritual roles which are played at that step), then they will never move beyond the third of seven steps and they will never Realize; in fact, when stuck at the third of seven steps, they will obviously never even reach the halfway point to Realization.
(That, in turn, made clear
Maharaj's point that there are those who are standing in the dim light of dawn
but are imagining that they have completed the full journey and are now being
bathed in the bright light of the noonday sun.)
The vision made clear that nothing is born and that nothing dies and that all that is happening is a cycling of the energy-matter that has always existed.
The vision made clear that, because energy-matter can neither be created nor destroyed, there is no creator and there is no destroyer.
The vision made clear that, since there is nothing created or destroyed, it is a fact that there is no "Creator" and no "Destroyer" and, thus most certainly, no need during the relative for a Sustainer.
The vision made clear that manifesting and unmanifesting happen spontaneously and that neither involves any meaning or purpose at all.
The vision made clear that there should be as little focusing on - and being concerned about - one's unmanifesting as there is about one's next breath.
The vision made clear that there is no "one" to benefit from being religious, spiritual, virtuous, or "good" and that it is an understanding of the Oneness and Love that leads the Realized away from any desire to harm anyone.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
[NOTE:
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