Today's Considerations
There is a woman who has been long attached to the teachings of Eastern
religions and philosophies and who has claimed for years that (1) her deeds during her present
reincarnation have been good enough that she has built up an excess of good
karma and that (2) she is convinced that she will "finally escape the cycles of reincarnation." How,
according to her? Through a positive balance in her karmic account combined
with her long-time practice of devotional theism.
have included considerable talk about “nirvana”; have included talk about "being reunited with Brahman completely”; and, at still other times, she has spoken of "Moksha" and about her “released or liberated soul destined to exist on many different planes.”
To be continued.
Now the objects of that devotion have changed over the
years (sometimes being totally devoted to Shiva, at other times to Devi, and at
other times to Vishnu, (the protector god which she says also incarnated as
Rama and Krishna). Other beliefs expressed by her over the years have included, at one point, the assertion that she will be "escaping the reincarnation cycles and functioning forever as a liberated soul
savoring the company of the Supreme Being”;
have included considerable talk about “nirvana”; have included talk about "being reunited with Brahman completely”; and, at still other times, she has spoken of "Moksha" and about her “released or liberated soul destined to exist on many different planes.”
The only consistencies over the last three decades have been her practicing absolute
abstinence and her strict adherence to “a holy and proper and pure dietary regimen.” Those two consistences - when combined with (a) her life-consuming spiritual work which she claims has led to a positive
karmic balance in her karma account and with (b) her being fully realized and enlightened
- supposedly insure now that she is, guaranteed, "on track to escape any more reincarnations."
Yet in a recent conversation, she complained
vehemently about friends who are not treating her properly; about a few people
who deserve to be killed because they are so evil (or at least really aggravating her);
and about one U.S. politician in particular. She became quite disturbed when the name of that politician was
mentioned but confessed that she had voted for him once but did not vote for
him when he ran for a second term, explaining, “I drank the Kool-Aid once, but I'll be damned if I'm going to drink it again.”
The observation offered: "Well of course. The only way one could drink the Kool-Aid again after one drinks it the first time and then dies would be to be reincarnated and then drink it again and die again; but since you're on track to avoid another reincarnation, then there's no chance at all for you to drink it again" (stated with an accompanying big smile).
The look she gave said: "What the heck are you talking about? Are you totally insane?!"
But her words: “What the hell are you smiling about when there is
nothing the least bit funny about the way he has led the nation down a road to disaster?!”
The
reply: “Just trying to figure out the link between devotional theism and nirvana
and moksha and an everlasting, high-plane afterlife on one hand and the emotionalism and anger generated
by the mention of a politician’s name on the other hand.”
[The response to that will have to be censored.]
What was not said was this:
Actually, you have been drinking the Kool-Aid
for thirty years, and so have all of the billions of persons on the planet just like you who
are suffering from entrapment in the delusions and distortions of the warped
perspectives which have been systemically passed down to all. Some drink
the Kool-Aid of misery-invoking relationships which they enter into and stay in
for the sake of a “better lifestyle”;
some drink the Kool-Aid of religion; some
drink the Kool-Aid of spirituality; some drink the Kool-Aid of the convoluted
concepts / beliefs about what should be done “now” in order to guarantee the satisfaction
of a desired outcome “later and for eternity"; and some drink the Kool-Aid
served up by “The Big Three Relative Powerhouses of Money and Control: Big Religion,
Big Business, and Big Government” (which have worked in tandem for millennia in order
to rule the masses and control what they think and say and believe and what they do with their resources).
Yet try to tell the woman above that it is not another
cycle of reincarnation which she had avoided but is, instead, all of the potential joys and pleasures that can
only be enjoyed now which she had avoided. The response to that would also have to be censored.
To the contrary, if one moves off any of the thousands of "paths" being
followed by the masses and takes the fork that leads to a "path" which asks no
one to learn more and read more and become an expert of the content of supposedly
holy texts, then those on that "path" might eventually be able to give up their seeking and spiritual workaholism and then, finally, truly relax.
It is the non-dual / Nisargan "path" which invites seekers to un-learn all of the nonsense that has been passed on, nonsense which can only lead to nonsensical thoughts and nonsensical words and nonsensical
actions. If that "path" is followed to its end, then liberation can manifest now, (which is the only opportunity for
it to do so).
Post-mahasamadhi, there is no one to be blessed with pleasure or
bliss or rewards, and post-mahasamadhi, there is no one who can be subjected to eternal
punishment and misery. There has never been a birth, so there can never be a
re-birth.
So what other, different perspectives can be offered for consideration?
From the eBook A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: Additional Perspectives Which Came
During The Movement Along The Direct "Path" To Realization:
Should you follow the process here to its end, then you will
understand each step of the "way in," all the way from the Absolute
to body identification; then you will understand why the way to "Realization" (that is, to being freed of learned ignorance and being restored to sanity) happens only when each of
those steps is taken again, in reverse order.
Only from the conditioned mind of an assumed "self" can
self-importance come. When the last "who" disappears, the understanding of THAT
appears. The question is not, "Who am I?" The question is, "What am I?"
If it's entropy and chaos and change you find unacceptable,
then understand the only thing that is fixed, immutable, ineradicable,
constant, and invariable. Nothing moves as rapidly, and distorts as frequently,
as a mind packed chock full of nonsense.
All that you perceive as being variable is misperception,
merely fiction imagined via the "variable mind."
You and I - merely energy / matter - are prior to beingness, prior to consciousness,
and even prior to non-beingness.
The energy / matter I am and that you are has been forever,
but for now that just happens to be in movement with other waves and particles
of energy during this present, temporary cycling into manifestation.
This "floyd" or this "you" is nothing
more than the result a cosmic accident, an accident that was facilitated along
the way by an act of friction. Wherefore "pride"?
Egotism - along with programming, conditioning, etc. - block
acceptance of the fact that neither I nor you is anything special now as well as
acceptance of the fact that neither I nor you will ever be anything special or Special
later.
No individual or personal being (of any kind) exists pre-manifestation
or post-manifestation. That includes no True Self, no Supreme Self, no Infinite
Self, no Supreme Being, and no other kind of self / Self / being / Being / or
beingness (other than being the impersonal and Impersonal energy / matter which
always has been).
Nothing remains post-mahasamadhi which can prefer either an
extension of the manifestation or an end to the manifestation. Understand that if freed of learned ignorance and imposed insanity, then one can function from a position of neutrality now, hindered neither
by unmet desires nor dreamed up fears.
Then, enjoyment can certainly happen even though nothing is
desired; moreover, nothing is feared since there is nothing to register fear.
The universal, unblocked consciousness functions from a
position of neutrality and could allow persons who are trapped in seeking the
applause of the village to understand that - with that mindset - they must also be prepared to accept the scorn of the
town as well. What chaos such dualities bring.
No “good” label is being sought and no “bad” label is being
avoided.
Here, all is neutral, and all persons can reach that position of neutrality
via Full Realization (a.k.a., “freedom from ignorance and full restoration to sanity”). In neutral, one can coast along for a while rather than race about constantly at breakneck speeds.
Understanding the unicity reveals that a pile of ashes, a
pile of dust, you, a dog, a tree, a piano, and a plant are no different. All of
those “seemingly different things” are one thing.
Supposed differences (perceived by the human eye and
misunderstood as a result of warped “minds” with their warped perspectives) are
the result of varying vibrational frequencies only. Humanity’s post-programming
propensity for misperceiving everything makes persons believe that differences
are real rather than grasping the truth of the unity beyond the
wrongly-perceived multiplicity.
Abidance as the consciousness guarantees that duality will
never be forfeited completely.
Only the Awareness is “One” without any “one.” Consciousness
can know the "not two." Awareness is the absolute "not
two."
If one stays alert to the reality of "not
two-ness," then for the sake of discussion that one might take
consciousness to be the essence of beingness, the re-purified consciousness to
be the essence of beingness and non-beingness, and awareness to be the essence of the Reality
beyond both.
In the no-concept, non-dual Reality, there is no "one
thing as opposed to some other thing."
The Advaitin understands that the term "I AM THAT; I AM"
can be stated and understood without any sense of implied duality at all. So can
the term "Consciousness / Awareness."
What persons call "love" is the most magnificent
experience of all; it is also the most horrendous experience of all. With such
duality, how can that possibly be taken to be "preferred," much less "the real"? As for feeling or
emotion, if love happens as a feeling, take the ride and watch the feelings
rise and fall; if love happens as an emotion—that is, if it is being
"experienced" by a person trapped in an ego-state—prepare for war.
If there is no "do-er," and if there is no
identity that is real, then there is no "lover" either. If there is
no lover, then find WHO thinks she / he is experiencing anything.
Persons desiring to know what love is (what Real Love is) might
benefit more (relatively speaking, of course) if they were first able to understand
what Real Love is not.
Egotism inspires the belief that there’s a vast multiplicity arranged
in a hierarchy and that the egotistical one is at the pinnacle.
Humility is knowing that we’re nothing, no-thing.
Real Love is knowing that we are everything.
Can you, from the position of “As If Living” which follows
Full Realization, feel and share Unconditional Love? Not only can you, but you
shall. In fact, once again, no choice will be involved. It will just happen . .
. spontaneously and unequivocally.
The Advaita poet William Shakespeare wrote: “The heavens
themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place.
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office, and custom, in all line of
order.” Sane, order can prevail; insane, there can only be disorder and chaos, and they will not manifest in proportion or seasonally but will manifest consistently.
The Nisarga Yoga approach offers a direct route to the
understanding which, in turn, results in a natural way of AS IF living (that
is, a natural way of functioning). That means living / functioning
spontaneously for the remainder of the manifestation, knowing that "the world" is illusory but living as if any of "all this"
matters.
Consider: employment can happen even without the assumption
of an "employee" persona. Similarly, "espousing" can happen
without the assumption of a role, "parenting" can happen without
assuming a role, etc.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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