TODAY’S CONSIDERATIONS
Maharaj offered many pointers regarding the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness: he noted that modern-day humans are not usually interested in the least in seeking the Ultimate Medicine because they have been raised with the notion that everything which needs to be understood can be understood by listening to ancient traditions and by learning hand-me-down dogma and by reading supposedly “holy” books (which most persons are introduced to from early on and which they are told contain everything that they will ever need to know).
He spoke of the fact that almost all humans nowadays are conditioned to be obsessive and compulsive and perfectionistic and fanatical, but he also noted that his visitors should be aware of the fact that that almost all seekers at one point or another will also become obsessive and compulsive and perfectionistic and fanatical about their seeking. Thus . . .
** He warned against their obsession with body identification, their obsession with mind identification, and their obsession with personality identifications.
** He warned that the mind should be abandoned because “It is the mind that brought you into bondage” so seekers should “go beyond it altogether.”
** He said, "Distrust your mind, and go beyond." Relatedly, he noted that “perfection is a state of the mind”; ergo, beliefs about perfectionism should go as well.
** As for being fanatical, he pointed out that he was "dispassionate" and advised seekers to “be dispassionate,” that is, not caught up in the emotional intoxication which is generated by false identities and which drives seekers to be excessively passionate.
** He described himself as a “dispassionate witness” and he spoke of seekers being “the dispassionate observer” as he endorsed “dispassionate awareness” - not “zealous awareness” or “fervent witnessing” or "obsessive seeking."
A man shared this recently, his words making clear that these are among his most fervent beliefs and motivators:
His greatest source of pride is his status in an AA group where he is called an "Old-Timer" within their walls.
He is more dedicated than ever to seeking, to being a true “Spiritual Giant” who is raising on a daily basis that state to even greater heights.
Even after decades, he still listens to audio tapes of the “Big Name Teachers and Speakers” every day of his obsessive-mind-driven and compulsive-behavior-dominated life.
One slight hitch: his wife and children are ready to leave him. Wonder why?
Has anything changed since the days when he was out drinking and ignoring his family?
Only what he is obsessing about, namely, “recovery” rather than booze; beyond that, the family members are being ignored now as much as ever.
He is still as unavailable as ever.
He is still as obsessive and as compulsive as ever, but still, not about them.
He is a full-blown fanatic, still being driven by amazingly high levels of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.
Yet he is proud of his multiple decades of “sobriety” so he ignored totally the consideration I offered that his fanaticism likely has an O-CD component and that he needs to address that disorder;
thus, he will likely continue to retreat to his private room nightly to listen to his tapes; he will continue to abandon and ignore his family; and someday he will be shocked and angry and depressed when they ignore him once and for all by finally leaving a home where his passive forms of abuse and neglect continue to occur.
What he has also missed or ignored is this message from the co-founder of his program:
There are four levels of “sobriety,” including not only the physical sobriety which he has maintained but also including three other levels which he has never come even close to, namely, “mental sobriety,” “spiritual sobriety,” and “emotional sobriety.”
Only one out four of the co-founder's defined “goals” has been reached. A score of 25% is usually considered to be a failing score on most any scale.
Moreover,
a. all who are obsessed with anything have been fooled by those who have “hooked” them by implanting emotionally-intoxicating nonsense in their minds; and
b. those whose minds have been filled with baseless beliefs will think foolish thoughts, will say foolish words, and will take foolish actions.
What, specifically, can seekers obsess about which will then drive them to behave compulsively, impulsively, and foolishly?
politics
religion
work
accumulating
finding “love”
being admired
escaping and avoiding
controlling
being dependent and co-dependent and not working and being taken care of for life by a person or an institution
the state of an imaginary “soul” or “spirit”
the highest levels of SELF-IDENTIFICATIONS
the highest levels of SELF-IDENTIFICATIONS
and
their subsequent roles, including:
“The Super Religious One”
“The Spiritual Giant”
“The Wise One”
or
“The Wisest One”
"The Knower”
or
“The Knower of All”
“The Holiest One”
and
“The Supreme One” (to name but a few).
The invitation is to calm down, relax, take it easy, stop with all the spiritual workaholism and religious going and doing and zooming. Yet that is far easier said than done. Why?
Because personality disorders begin in the mind but are often supported and maximized by less-than-healthy body conditions.
A body which is fed vegetables only will function efficiently if that body has a metabolic type geared to function on vegetables alone. But if not, then the body can shift to a super-alkaline state and moodiness and depression can manifest. Those traits are considered by most to be mind problems, but there can also a body component as well.
For example, if someone with a metabolic body type which requires proteins and meat or a combination of meat or fish and vegetables felt great all morning but then eats a lettuce salad for lunch, the subsequent shift to alkalinity can leave that person feeling lethargic or "down" during the afternoon. One can seek all of the counseling imaginable, but if a body issue is present but is not addressed, then the mental / emotional condition will continue.
Similarly, if one is O-CD, that is a mind issue most certainly, but there can be physical component involving a chemical imbalance. In such cases, some naturopathic doctors will prescribe not a synthetic drug but a natural, organic supplement to restore a body's chemicals to a healthy balance and help eliminate the symptoms of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.
Maharaj came to see that trying to compartmentalize treatment of the Ultimate Sickness by addressing a single cause such as a “dogma-deficiency” or a “spiritual malady” / “sick spirit” would be a useless exercise in the end and that it is the mind which is the root of humankind’s problems. Yet the irony is that there is often a physical component as well which can also impact mental and emotional issues.
As early as the 1600’s, information about that problem was offered, but few since then have even read the words of Spinoza, much less understood his message fully. He said:
“Whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action, increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action”
and
“Whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the mind’s power of action, also increases, decreases, limits or extends the body’s power of action.”
The invitation here: be wise enough to understand that the cause of anything can never be compartmentalized and put into one, single “box.”
Maharaj said, “The cause of all is . . . all.” Spot on.
Meanwhile, to be obsessive, compulsive, perfectionistic, and fanatical is to assure that no chance for lightness will exist and that one’s relative existence will be dominated by heaviness instead.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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