TODAY’S CONSIDERATIONS
[The continuation of post #7 in this series]
The reason that Maharaj eventually advised seekers to “Give
up spirituality” and “follow your normal inclinations" and "forget
spirituality” was because he came to understand that the Ultimate Sickness is a
mental sickness, not a too-little-dogma sickness and not a soul sickness or spiritual
malady.
Thus, he said: "All illness begins in the mind"
and "Mind means disturbance” and “Restlessness itself is mind" and “It
is the mind that brought you into bondage” so “Go beyond it altogether” and "Distrust
your mind, and go beyond” and “The death of the mind is the birth of wisdom.”
He also understood that there is nothing that can be either created
or destroyed so there can never have been a “Creator.” He made clear that no
god created mankind but that mankind created the concepts of gods and goddesses
(just as Abraham dreamed up the concept of “the one true God” which is the god worshipped
by Jews and Christians and Muslims, even as they have historically tried to annihilate
each other in the name of that god).
Of the fact that humans “created” the god concept, Maharaj explained:
"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."
Now humans might have pleasant dreams and wake up smiling and
then realize that they were only dreaming. If that is the end of it and they
rise and move sanely and wisely through another day of their relative existences
without being affected by the dream, then the dream will be of no consequence.
The same applies if they have a nightmare but do not allow it to affect how
they think or talk or behave or feel throughout their days.
However, to the misfortune of humanity, persons have not
been able escape the effects of believing in the dreamed up concepts about
gods and goddesses and “The God”; instead, the belief in such concepts stay in
the mind and then control thoughts and words and actions and have led to all of
the mental illnesses which result when distortion-and-illusion-based beliefs control
the masses and what they think and say and do.
In post #7 in this series, Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler pointed out
some of the mental consequences of such beliefs, beginning with religion-inspired psychosis:
“Psychosis” refers to a way of thinking and speaking. It depicts an apparent failure to differentiate between the symbolic and the real. People are labeled psychotic when they refer to mental representations of the world as if they were substantive and real. Another example of confusion is the description of the "voice of conscience" as the literal voice of another being (known as "hearing voices").
The failure to differentiate between the symbolic and the real may be intentional (artistic license) or strategic (lying) or the result of a cognitive inability to differentiate between fantasy and reality.
There are three
ways of using "psychosis" to refer to people speaking and behaving in
certain ways:
(1) Psychosis is used to refer to the state wherein symbolic representations of the world (and metaphors) are confused with the real (literal) things they represent.
(2) Psychosis is an applicable label when one ascribes confused speech to something else.
(3) Finally, the term psychosis is also used to describe abnormal speech and behavior
The schizophrenia referenced earlier is said to be characterized by hallucinations, i.e., self-reported imaginings. Belief in God has become a socially-acceptable, self-reported imagining.
(1) Psychosis is used to refer to the state wherein symbolic representations of the world (and metaphors) are confused with the real (literal) things they represent.
(2) Psychosis is an applicable label when one ascribes confused speech to something else.
(3) Finally, the term psychosis is also used to describe abnormal speech and behavior
The schizophrenia referenced earlier is said to be characterized by hallucinations, i.e., self-reported imaginings. Belief in God has become a socially-acceptable, self-reported imagining.
Presently, how widespread is that socially-acceptable,
self-reported imagining? Ninety-seven percent of programmed and conditioned persons on
the planet now proudly proclaim their belief in gods and goddesses or in "The One True God of Abraham."
Next, to continue with that discussion, the topic offered
for consideration today is also excerpted from the book WHEN ONLY THREE HOURS OF MANIFESTATION REMAIN (The "Final" Talks of Floyd Henderson) and is entitled:
RELIGION / SPIRITUALITY: Try It, But Don't Buy It, Part One
As with Maharaj and many other teachers and sages and
philosophers both past and present, the case here was that religion and
spirituality had to be tried, typically being one part of the overall
"journey." But also, as with those teachers and sages and
philosophers, it was realized here that religion and spirituality are merely
way-stations along the "path," not the final destination.
Maharaj made clear in his final talks that (a) the religious messages that marked the early days of his "teaching career" as well as (b) his focus on things religious and spiritual - such as much of what is shared in the book I AM THAT - did not provide the final Nisargan understanding that he would invite protégés to grasp at the end of his teaching career.
That is why he eventually advised seekers to stop reading the talks in I AM THAT, saying: "That book, and whatever was expounded at that time, was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today" and am "emphasizing different aspects." Therefore he advised seekers to listen to his later talks which were quite different.
What he offered later differed
considerably from his earlier talks, making clear that the pointers in I AM
THAT will take you to the midpoint of "the race" but that his final
talks point the way to "the finish line." Thus, he said:
“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved"
“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved"
and
"Forget spirituality"
and
Follow your "normal inclinations," that is, follow your natural tendencies, abandon all spiritual work, and just abide naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally (i.e., neither "religiously" nor "spiritually" nor "philosophically")
and
"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"
and
He told visitors, "Do your normal duties" and "just give up spirituality."
The final message here on the subject is the same. For most on the planet, the religious and spiritual way-stations located near the midpoint of the "journey" are mistaken for that which awaits at the actual end of the "path." In the seven steps taught here, which can shift seekers beyond their identification with the false i" and to an understanding of the Absolute, the religious and / or the spiritual are included as the third of seven steps.
During the early stages of the "journey," something must shift the focus of a person away from the physical only to a consideration of things metaphysical; that is, there must come at least a glimpse of the noumenal that can shift one's focus beyond the phenomenal alone. If that does not happen, then the 97% on the planet who claim an affiliation with some organized religion will be joined by you in their deception and in their supernatural / religious / spiritual trance.
That trance, in turn, will support the belief in fairy tales
about a highly-contradictory god who purportedly "loves you
unconditionally" but who will, nevertheless, cast you into eternal flames
which will provide physical torture forever and which will also assure that you
will be mentally and emotionally and psychologically miserable forever as well.
The religious / spiritual trance will also result, almost assuredly, in the schizophrenia referenced in the previous chapter, and the relative existence of those assuming the ego-state of "The Wonderful Religious Person" or "The Spiritual Giant" or "The Faithful One" or "The True Believer" will be marked and marred by hallucinations which inspire the "self-reported imaginings" discussed previously. Then, those in their trance will associate only with others who believe in God - or in gods and goddesses - and they will all reinforce each others' tendencies to engage in the socially-acceptable, self-reported imaginings that 97% on the planet practice.
The religious / spiritual trance will also result, almost assuredly, in the schizophrenia referenced in the previous chapter, and the relative existence of those assuming the ego-state of "The Wonderful Religious Person" or "The Spiritual Giant" or "The Faithful One" or "The True Believer" will be marked and marred by hallucinations which inspire the "self-reported imaginings" discussed previously. Then, those in their trance will associate only with others who believe in God - or in gods and goddesses - and they will all reinforce each others' tendencies to engage in the socially-acceptable, self-reported imaginings that 97% on the planet practice.
Next, suppose a seeker asked the following:
"Because only limited opportunity is available for You to give me the key understandings that I must grasp if I am to Realize and be free of all nonsensical beliefs, what are the basic essentials that I must understand?" In addition to the basic essentials - including pointers regarding the personality defects, inanity, learned ignorance, and insanity which are rooted in dualistic beliefs - there would have to be the invitation to see that religion and / or spirituality cannot even take you to the midpoint of the "path" to Full Realization.
Several years ago, the following exchange took place with a woman living in St. Louis, Missouri in the U.S.:
F.: "Cassandra, there is no god that created humans; humans created god (or
gods and goddesses) to alleviate their fears and to fulfill their
desires."
F.: “You’re right. Millions aren’t wrong."
C.: "Exactly."
F.: "Actually, it is billions who are wrong, and it is trillions upon trillions of others who have been wrong in the past.”
Again, Maharaj said, "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."
I was "fired" as "her teacher" immediately. Those trapped
in their attachment to the bogus "conventional wisdom" cannot
tolerate an invitation to consider any other possibilities. The term
"conventional wisdom" mentioned earlier refers to that body of
conventional - but most unwise - beliefs and ideas and concepts that the ignorant
unquestioningly accept as truth. By contrast, the Realized believe nothing and
have the wisdom to understand that they are nothing . . . that they are
identity-less.
Around the planet, some of the myths of the last 5,000 years have been debunked and set aside, though the especially ignorant still cling to their belief in many "old wives' tales" and fiction-based superstitions; in many cases, the roots of such nonsense date back to the days when pagan religious leaders dreamed up nonsensical explanations to try to explain to their followers what they did not have the science or the facts to understand.
(For example, "I'll have sex with a virgin, cut out her heart, eat her body, drink her blood, pass it among the crowd so you can do the same, and in that act of communing with the angry Rain God, we will please Him and our crops will be saved." Last Sunday, two billion Christians around the globe reenacted that barbaric ritual and believed that they were communing with "their one true God" by eating the body and drinking the blood of "His Son."
And their institutionalized normalization of vampirism and
cannibalism are accepted by two billion people who do not raise even one
question about, or the slightest objection to, the practice or its pagan roots;
thus, those disgustingly-barbaric activities live on today via the wacky
programming and weird conditioning that are passed on via the dogma that is
being taught in millions of religious venues.)
For the most part, though, gone is the belief in Zeus and his troop of gods and goddesses, as is the belief in his Roman counterpart Jupiter and his fellow fictional deities. Gone is the notion that the planet is flat. Gone is the widespread consensus that the carrying of a rabbit's foot or the knocking on a piece of wood with one's knuckles can protect a person or bring good luck; gone, too, for the most part is the belief that breaking a mirror or crossing the path of a black cat or the number "13" can bring back luck.
For the most part, though, gone is the belief in Zeus and his troop of gods and goddesses, as is the belief in his Roman counterpart Jupiter and his fellow fictional deities. Gone is the notion that the planet is flat. Gone is the widespread consensus that the carrying of a rabbit's foot or the knocking on a piece of wood with one's knuckles can protect a person or bring good luck; gone, too, for the most part is the belief that breaking a mirror or crossing the path of a black cat or the number "13" can bring back luck.
Yet the most outrageous legends and the silliest fables (as well as symbolic parables and stories that are still taken as fact) are being kept alive by "The Unquestioning Faithful" who take great pride in their refusal to reconsider any of the outlandish tales and silly beliefs that they have been taught. And now, as was the case in the earliest days of the pagan religions which evolved into the modern religions of today, many are willing to die to defend their religion-and-spiritually-based falsehoods and myths and superstitions.
Only is one sees that all dualities are false - and sees that no other source has provided as many dualistic concepts and ideas and beliefs as religion and spirituality - can one ever continue along the "path," understand non-duality completely, and Realized Fully.
Maharaj: "There are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realization, and destroy even the little they gain by excess of pride."
[In that statement, Maharaj was pointing to those who reach the third step on the seven-step "path" where they assume and play the role of the "Super Religious One" and / or "The Spiritual Giant" and then fixate there, never moving on to the 4th step where they return to "The Child Ignorance Stage" or "The Child No-Knowing State" and abandon belief in all concepts.]
For most seekers, the religious and / or spiritual step must be taken, but for most of them, it will often be the last step taken, most believing falsely that they are standing in the full light of the noonday sun though they actually remain in the darkness, most believing that they have reached the mountaintop . . . most believing that they have arrived at their final destination.
They will then remain as deceived and as delusional as ever, or even more so. Only a few will ever hear the invitation to move beyond and Realize Truly. So it is, but so it need not be for you.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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