Today's Considerations
Also from the book entitled A Different Perspective:
Other perspectives which differ from those held by the
masses can manifest if Realization is combined with the yoga that invites
living naturally as opposed to living the way that the masses live, namely,
unnaturally and / or supernaturally.
What does trying to live supernaturally
entail? It entails magical thinking and working constantly to try to live "spiritually" and
"mythically" and "mystically" and "superstitiously" and in an "other-worldly fashion" and it always involves being certain that others see that is the case; moreover, it entails seeing supposed "miracles" around every
corner rather than understanding true, natural cause(s).
That is, efforts to live supernaturally
result in an existence that is characterized by assigning dreamed up,
supernatural causes to totally natural happenings; accepting hearsay as truth;
valuing blind faith over science; accepting imaginings as reality; and
rejecting actuality and evidence.
With the understanding of the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga which came post-Realization, the perspective here now aligns with pointers offered at the end of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's teaching career rather than with his earlier sharings (such as those in the talks that were transcribed and that form the content of the book I AM THAT which he later advised seekers to stop reading). In the eBook "Sri Nisargatta Maharaj and His Evolution," it is explained that "Maharaj never adhered to one type of yoga consistently until he finally settled into what might be called an 'all-nisarga approach' at the end of his teaching career."
[Yes, in some of the talks in I AM THAT, he offered flashes of what was to come later, but he was still "holding back." Initially, his "audience" was local, religious, and interested in bhajans and ritual and traditional Hindu worship practices. Later, as more Westerners began to visit the loft, he was able to begin the shift to offering a less traditional message that would eventually blossom in the end into a message that would earn him the label of "total maverick." Thus, the initial focus of the discussions he offered were aimed at a primarily Hindu, Bombay (Mumbai) local audience, primarily interested only in worship and bhakti yoga; later, his focus shifted to talks that were aimed more and more toward the encouragement of abiding naturally instead of trying to abide supernaturally / "spiritually." Eventually his talks focused on the psychological roots of the Ultimate Sickness.]
During his years of teaching, he shifted from
guru-bhakti yoga to bhakti yoga to a combination of bhakti and jnana yoga to
jnana almost exclusively for awhile and then finally, at the end, to nisarga
yoga.
Here, the Full Understanding and total freedom and peace came not only with Realization but also with an understanding of Nisarga Yoga. With that came other perspectives that many consider to be different from the traditional views they hold, including the following:
Here, there is very little attention paid to the content of I AM THAT (except when sharing the parts of those talks which foreshadowed the message that was to come later which dealt with the mind-source of the Sickness). Why? Because, here, the Full Understanding did not come via guru-bhakti yoga or bhakti yoga or jnana yoga. For those who claim those worked for them, so it is.
Downplaying the overall message of that book aligns with Maharaj's own final appraisal of its content. He said:
"That book [I AM THAT] and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period"
and
I am speaking differently today"
and
"I am emphasizing different aspects" now.
During the final years of his teaching "career," no one who understands the import of his last talks would classify them as being "spiritual" at all; in fact, they were clearly not spiritual. So the fact that I AM THAT is described on the back cover as a "modern spiritual classic" provides a gauge for understanding how far away Maharaj eventually moved from his earlier so-called "spiritual" message as the focus shifted to the mind-root of humanity's problems.
After "The Vision" came here [see “Freebies” above for a copy of that vision] then Maharaj's talks were finally understood more accurately, but with one yoga after another being used in I AM THAT - and with the natural yoga only being advocated solely in the end - it became clear why the content of that book can only move most seekers to the third of the seven steps that are required for the full shift from identification with "the false I" to the Absolute. [The third step is where religious and / or spiritual roles are assumed and played.] Only the later version of his talks can point the way to the final four steps and to the actual end of the "path."
His awareness of that fact inspired Maharaj to recommend that seekers pay no attention at all to the content of that book and to focus on the psychological and natural yoga messages that he offered at the end; otherwise, the content of I AM THAT will reinforce the beliefs of those attached to Eastern religion and / or to the spiritual aspects of the non-duality teachings; will reinforce the concepts of those who believe in some version of an "other-worldly power" with an occasional reference to "God" therein; and will do almost nothing to shift seekers beyond the third of seven steps on the "path."
If one is to complete the entire "journey," then all of that "third step religious and / or spiritual activity and focus" must happen, but it must eventually be transitioned as religious and spiritual identities / ego-states are cast aside in order to complete the remaining steps on the "path," and
if one is to abide naturally - rather than unnaturally and / or supernaturally and / or "spiritually" - then a familiarity such pointers from Maharaj as the following must be the focus:
"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud."
"Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end."
"There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding."
"Both the mantra and the faith in the mantra will get dissolved."
"There is no progress."
"First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
“Whatever you have tried to understand during your spiritual search will prove false.”
“From birth, what has made the body grow? It is no power in the world. It is the power of beingness, the atom, the Self, the consciousness … call it what you will.”
“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”
“If they come face-to-face with that root, they will be stunned into silence.”
“I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”
"I advise you to give up spirituality and follow your vocation."
"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing."
"The sum total of my spirituality now is nothing, even the word 'nothing' is not there, so there is no spirituality left."
"In the true state, nothing is. All this spiritual talk is spiritual jargon. Such concepts are for the ignorant people."
"Ultimately, what are these spiritual talks? They are meant for so long as ignorance prevails."
Here, there is no "one" to be religious or non-religious, no "one" to be spiritual or non-spiritual, and no "one" to assume to be anything else that could follow the term, "I am,” (including, “I am the Supreme Self,” “I Am My True Self,” "I am at one with God" or “I am God”).
Here, the Full Understanding and total freedom and peace came not only with Realization but also with an understanding of Nisarga Yoga. With that came other perspectives that many consider to be different from the traditional views they hold, including the following:
Here, there is very little attention paid to the content of I AM THAT (except when sharing the parts of those talks which foreshadowed the message that was to come later which dealt with the mind-source of the Sickness). Why? Because, here, the Full Understanding did not come via guru-bhakti yoga or bhakti yoga or jnana yoga. For those who claim those worked for them, so it is.
Downplaying the overall message of that book aligns with Maharaj's own final appraisal of its content. He said:
"That book [I AM THAT] and whatever was expounded at that time was only relevant for that period"
and
I am speaking differently today"
and
"I am emphasizing different aspects" now.
During the final years of his teaching "career," no one who understands the import of his last talks would classify them as being "spiritual" at all; in fact, they were clearly not spiritual. So the fact that I AM THAT is described on the back cover as a "modern spiritual classic" provides a gauge for understanding how far away Maharaj eventually moved from his earlier so-called "spiritual" message as the focus shifted to the mind-root of humanity's problems.
After "The Vision" came here [see “Freebies” above for a copy of that vision] then Maharaj's talks were finally understood more accurately, but with one yoga after another being used in I AM THAT - and with the natural yoga only being advocated solely in the end - it became clear why the content of that book can only move most seekers to the third of the seven steps that are required for the full shift from identification with "the false I" to the Absolute. [The third step is where religious and / or spiritual roles are assumed and played.] Only the later version of his talks can point the way to the final four steps and to the actual end of the "path."
His awareness of that fact inspired Maharaj to recommend that seekers pay no attention at all to the content of that book and to focus on the psychological and natural yoga messages that he offered at the end; otherwise, the content of I AM THAT will reinforce the beliefs of those attached to Eastern religion and / or to the spiritual aspects of the non-duality teachings; will reinforce the concepts of those who believe in some version of an "other-worldly power" with an occasional reference to "God" therein; and will do almost nothing to shift seekers beyond the third of seven steps on the "path."
If one is to complete the entire "journey," then all of that "third step religious and / or spiritual activity and focus" must happen, but it must eventually be transitioned as religious and spiritual identities / ego-states are cast aside in order to complete the remaining steps on the "path," and
if one is to abide naturally - rather than unnaturally and / or supernaturally and / or "spiritually" - then a familiarity such pointers from Maharaj as the following must be the focus:
"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud."
"Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to an end."
"There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding."
"Both the mantra and the faith in the mantra will get dissolved."
"There is no progress."
"First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
“Whatever you have tried to understand during your spiritual search will prove false.”
“From birth, what has made the body grow? It is no power in the world. It is the power of beingness, the atom, the Self, the consciousness … call it what you will.”
“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”
“If they come face-to-face with that root, they will be stunned into silence.”
“I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”
"I advise you to give up spirituality and follow your vocation."
"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing."
"The sum total of my spirituality now is nothing, even the word 'nothing' is not there, so there is no spirituality left."
"In the true state, nothing is. All this spiritual talk is spiritual jargon. Such concepts are for the ignorant people."
"Ultimately, what are these spiritual talks? They are meant for so long as ignorance prevails."
Here, there is no "one" to be religious or non-religious, no "one" to be spiritual or non-spiritual, and no "one" to assume to be anything else that could follow the term, "I am,” (including, “I am the Supreme Self,” “I Am My True Self,” "I am at one with God" or “I am God”).
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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