TODAY’S CONSIDERATIONS
For years, when Maharaj was offering a Hindu / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine and throughout the other years when he was offering a spirituality / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine, he encouraged seekers to conduct a SELF-Inquiry.
Later, he abandoned the use of both of those versions and began offering a psychological / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine because he came to understand that the Ultimate Sickness is a mind / mental sickness.
At that point he said that "it is enough to understand who / what you are not."
Similarly, he said that "all suffering is born of desire" (or fear, both being the product of the personality identification because every assumed personality brings both of those with it).
Here, though, it has been seen that the misery and suffering which plague the lives of the "non-realized" human masses is also a result of what humanity as a whole do not desire.
Yes, Maharaj was spot on when he pointed out that persons disturb their own peace "by being a slave to your desires and fears."
He was spot on to say that all personality identification must end in order for desiring and fearing to end. He reported that once he became free of identification, "I was free from
desire and fear."
Yet during the relative existence, prior to full realization and while dealing with the duality prevalent among humans, he offered this pointer to one seeker: "In your case, desires that lead to sorrow are 'wrong' and those which lead to happiness are 'right.' But you must not forget others. Their sorrow and happiness also count."
That is one of those "along-the-way" points. Just as one moving along the seven-step "path" must play a religious and / or spiritual role at the third step before giving those up completely, so too one moving along the "path" must - at certain points - deal with desires and sorrows and happiness as well before moving beyond all of that.
Thus, at certain points along the way, there is validity to the pointer that "the misery and suffering which plague the lives of those among the 'non-realized' human masses is also a result of what humanity as a whole does not desire."
So what do the "non-realized" human masses NOT desire? In many cases,
STABILITY AND FREEDOM FROM CHAOS
Some warn alcoholics and others with the Addictive Personality Disorder who are trying to be free of the effects of their addictive personalities that they can be driven to drink or use again if they become "restless or irritable or discontent." That list leaves out the most likely motivation of those who drink or use again, namely, becoming bored.
The masses, when bored, will consciously or unconsciously find some way to alleviate boredom, and the most effective way for them to do that is to gin up some excitement . . . some action . . . some chaos.
All humans have two basic addictions. The first is an addiction to control. They want to control the weather, their mates, their neighbors, the people of opposing nations, ad infinitum. The second is an addiction to power to be able to control (or to some "Power" or "Powers" who will give them the ability to control, to get what they want).
But nowadays, a third addiction is manifesting on a global basis because of how widespread the Ultimate Sickness is: the addiction to chaos . . . to instability . . . to anything other than the routine, the usual, the regular and the repetitive elements of their relative existence or to anything other than their monotonous and dull and tedious and everyday activities.
To be free of boredom, they will often succumb to the forces of the Ultimate Sickness and allow their dualistic beliefs to often stir up conflicts, arguments, instability, and chaos. Remember the following from one "non-dualist" who said 2000 years ago,
"A dual-minded person is unstable in all ways."
What else do the "non-realized" human masses NOT desire? In many cases,
PEACE
A woman trapped in an image-based, body-identified, go-do-zoom lifestyle told me in the early 1970's: "I love to fight, to get into a real 'knock-down-drag-out argument' because I also love 'make-up sex'." The reply to her will not be shared, but it involved a suggestion of what she might therefore go do to herself.
So how did that insane plan work for her? According to a friend of hers, at last count the woman's eighth marriage had just ended and she had recently complained to that friend that she is "72 years old and is still having to work and is never going to be able to retire." Why? "Because men have treated her wrong all her life."
What has she NOT desired all her life? PEACE.
And what else do the "non-realized" human masses NOT desire? In many cases,
FREEDOM FROM IGNORANCE
In the U.S., there is among a huge segment of the population a disdain for universities which are deemed by about 50% of the population to be "dens of iniquity, corrupting young minds with liberal, progressive beliefs."
President Obama has been under attack for years by those setting forth the most ignorant claims imaginable in an effort to block and hinder and sabotage any and all of his efforts to address the key issues facing the nations.
Early on he saw what he was up against when dealing with that 50% of the population who said and / or believed the most ignorant beliefs conceivable, saying, "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant."
The fact: they do.
And what else do the "non-realized" human masses NOT desire? In many cases,
FREEDOM FROM INSANITY
Site visitors know that during my early years when I was living with a Cherokee grandmother, one of her daughter's would pick me up and drive me to Rusk, Texas to spend a few nights at her home with her and my Uncle Brooks.
At the time, he was director of the Rusk State Hospital, a mental institution which had originally been a prison but which was converted in 1919 to found a state hospital. In 1919, it was a facility for African-Americans with mental illnesses and it admitted 600 patients in its first year. By the time Uncle Brooks first took me to work with him in the later 1940's and then later in early 1950's, the patient population was over 2,400.
(Later, the population numbers would fall to their lowest point ever when then-Texas-governor George W. Bush stripped away much of the state's funding for mental healthcare. After that, the mentally-impaired began living on the streets, and inpatient care in most instances was no longer available. The financial costs to Texans increased exponentially as a result of increased neglect and the resultant crime and other related expenses associated with not providing care for the mentally ill in the state.)
During my visits, some of the patients (inmates, really) were seen to be sitting quietly in a corner; others were seen to be humming softly; others were seen to be behaving like total maniacs; and others were fighting, beating, kneeing and kicking each others in the most brutal ways possible before guards could arrive and separate them.
For the most part, the place housing those labeled as "the criminally insane" simply did that - just housed them. On the few occasions when social workers or counselors did try to offer some professional, mental healthcare, the people they tried to work with were absentee or unwilling partners in the process.
I asked my uncle why they did not accept the help offered to try to help them with their insane conditions.
He explained, "Because they do not know they have an insane condition."
So it is with many among the masses nowadays: insanity cannot spot insanity; ego-states supported by egotism cannot accept any critique which is less than "positive" and "complimentary"; thus, the "non-realized" human masses do NOT desire to be free of their insanity because they do not know that they are suffering from insanity.
For those who are capable of seeing that certain of the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness have manifested and who are, therefore, ready and willing to try to address those issues, then this series is offering certain considerations about cause of - and treatment for - those symptoms.
The discussion of Assuming the Role of "The Parent" or "The Child," from the book INSTABILITY / INSANITY: What the Advaita Teachings Can (and Cannot Address) continues with Part "C."
Per Maharaj, you must first find all that you are not in order to remove those barriers to clear seeing and full understanding.
Some may read these words regarding personality and the way that the basic personality types reinforce the assumption of "The Parent" role and / or "The Child" role (and the way that those two reinforce the assumption of other assumed personalities) and not be able to relate.
If you are willing to uncover all which can subconsciously drive and control and determine your thoughts and words and deeds, then a thorough and honest self-inquiry - guided by a Realized teacher - must happen.
To that end, you are invited to see if the following might uncover some "Parent" and / or "Child" influences:
Sometimes I am driven in the home and / or in the workplace to play “The Parent” role when I want to control, criticize, judge, evaluate, talk down to or scold others. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Parent” role will activate if it senses that it’s not being shown proper respect. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, I play “The Parent” role, trying to exert control, and that creates problems in my personal relationships. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Parent” role shows up when I’d like to direct traffic; make people drive as they should; correct others; reform everyone; demand perfection from others; and change the world. YES? or NO?
I can see that “The Parent” sometimes shows up when I replay parent or authority figure “recordings” from my childhood (or when I play “tapes” being recorded now as I still allow authority figures to control and direct my thoughts, words, and deeds). YES? or NO?
I can see “The Parent” sometimes shows up when I become angry if people challenge me or “talk back” or offer suggestions that run counter to my desires or try to interfere with the way that I am trying to address my fears. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Parent” shows up in a desire to have power and to control. YES? or NO?
Sometimes I see that much of what I think and say and do is just a replaying of old “Parent tapes.” YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Parent” shows up when I want to exert all necessary force in order to try to get my way or make people do what I want them to do. YES? or NO?
I can see that during my early years, my parents provided less opportunity for me to be a carefree child and instead required that I behave more like a parent far sooner than anyone should. YES? or NO?
I can see that during my early years, my parents required that I behave in a rigid, serious and, often, even humorless fashion, shifting me away from being childlike to behaving more like some stiff and solemn grownups behave. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Child” shows up when I want to. . .
. . . express anger. YES? or NO?
. . . be spoiled. YES? or NO?
. . . receive attention (especially with excessive noise / excessive talk). YES? or NO?
. . . refuse to look at my own shortcomings. YES? or NO?
. . . believe that I have found all of my shortcomings but have not really even scratched the surface. YES? or NO?
. . . throw tantrums rather than remain calm and relaxed. YES? or NO?
. . . express righteous indignation over the way I have been treated or slighted. YES? or NO?
. . . pout or sulk or refuse to discuss issues or merely withdraw and give others the silent treatment rather than communicate. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” appears and complains when he has not received the level of attention he thinks he deserves. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I reject financial sanity and refuse to live within a budget. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I handle money immaturely and / or turn over control of my finances to someone else. YES? or NO?
Sometimes "The Child" shows up when I want to depend on others to take care of me rather than take care of myself. YES? or NO?
I can see that “The Child” sometimes shows up when I do not question the content of early "tapes." YES? or NO?
I can see “The Child” sometimes shows up when I don’t get my way and get angry. YES? or NO?
I can see “The Child” sometimes shows up when I become angry if people challenge me or “talk back” or offer suggestions that run counter to my desires or try to interfere with the way that I am trying to address my fears. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I take the content of those early “tapes” as “truth,” even if evidence to the contrary arises. YES? or NO?
I understand that as “The Child,” I made "recordings" about things that bothered me. I also understand that now - if some emotional trauma or hurt or slight or pain from childhood shows up - those "old tapes" start playing again and I immediately revert to “The Child” and experience the same emotional feelings and reactions that I experienced as a child (causing me to interact with others in a childish fashion rather than in a mature and logical fashion). YES? or NO?
I can see that, when that happens, I sometimes experience emotional intoxication and will react in a childish, illogical, unreasonable fashion. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I do things that are not in the best interest of my health. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I think I’ve improved enough or when I think I don’t need to change or grow anymore than I already have. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child’s” tendency to be dependent or co-dependent has prevented me from being totally free. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up because, even if I gave up certain dependencies, I have now just substituted new dependencies in their place. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, I’ll let people put me into “The Child” role if I think it will provide an “easier way” or “a better lifestyle” for me. YES? or NO?
Sometimes I’ll let people put me in “The Child” role if it results in others meeting my financial needs or providing what I think I am entitled to. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Child” shows up as a result of being frustrated by not having power or control. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Child” shows up when I don’t want to accept the consequences of my own actions. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Child” shows up when I blame others for problems that I caused for myself. YES? or NO?
Sometimes, “The Child” shows up when I don’t want to exercise or be active. YES? or NO?
Sometimes “The Child” shows up because I accept being treated like a child and allowing someone else to control me when she / he comes at me as “The Parent." YES? or NO?
Sometimes I see that much of what I think and say and do is just a "replaying" of “Child tapes.” YES? or NO?
Sometimes I see that much of what I feel is a result of something that triggers my “Child tapes.” YES? or NO?
Sometimes "The Child" shows up when I blame others for the way I feel rather than finding the real cause of my unhappiness. YES? or NO?
So . . .
. . . do you see that, if you continue to allow those "old tapes" to determine what you think, say, feel, and do that you will still be restless and irritable and miserable in spite of all your past work to improve and to be at peace? YES? or NO?
. . . are you seeing how freedom and happiness can be interrupted by all of the beliefs and concepts that are rooted in programming and conditioning? YES? or NO?
. . . are you seeing any effects of your old programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication? YES? or NO?
. . . are you seeing that, no matter how much "personal or religious or spiritual or growth work" you've done in the past to improve, there can still be some hidden things that you need to uncover since they can also make you restless and discontented and even miserable? YES? or NO?
. . . are you seeing why it makes sense to spend time trying to uncover all of those hidden things that still drive your thoughts and feelings and actions and reactions? YES? or NO?
. . . are you seeing how you would be more effective in dealing with people if you uncover these things, stay aware of them, and continue to address them? YES? or NO?
What you do not acknowledge, you will not remove, and those things which you do not remove that are causing misery and pain and suffering will continue to do so. For a time, certain miserable physical symptoms were manifesting here. Finally, the diagnosis was made: cancer of the colon.
Until the cause of misery and pain and suffering was diagnosed, there was no option other than to try to treat the symptoms instead of the cause.
With the masses, certain miserable symptoms manifest as a result of having no ability to choose, even as persons believe that choices are being made.
When personality is subconsciously and unconsciously controlling thoughts and words and actions, no ability to choose exists.
If persons meet a Realized teacher, then the diagnosis will be made and it will often include the fact that the Ultimate Sickness exists. That sickness is rooted in illusions, delusions, and identification with a body and a "mind" and multiple personalities along with the other influences being discussed in this series.
Consider, though, the effects of assuming a variety of personalities / identities.
Professionals consider the "Multiple Personality Disorder" to be one of the more serious mental illnesses that exists, and the masses almost all suffer from that disorder because they have adopted a variety of false identities / personas / personalities. Those can include:
"The Parent," "The Child," "The Perfectionist," "The Helper, Savior, Rescuer," "The Performer," "The Image-Maker," "The Idealizer," "The Individualist," "The Rebel," "The Withdrawer," "The Analyst," "The Avoider," "The Dependent One," "The Loyalist," "The Fearful One," "The Indecisive One" or "The Vacillating One," "The Adventurer,"
"The Gourmet," "The Pleasure Seeker," "The Pain-Avoider," "The Boss,"
"The Aggressive Controller," "The Dominator," "The Enslaver,""The Confrontation / Responsibility Avoider," "The Feeling Eluder," "The Evader of Being Upset," "The Mediator," "The Accommodator," "The Passive Controller," or "The Abdicator."
Add to that list the hundreds of other roles assigned or adopted: "The Good Boy / Girl," "The Bad Boy, / Girl," "The Student," " The Lover," "The Spouse," "The Employee / Employer," "The Neighbor," "The Friend," ad infinitum.
As with the cancer mentioned earlier, if the cause(s) of misery and pain and suffering are not found, then the result will be an effort to try to treat the symptoms instead of the cause(s). Persons try to treat the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness with money or even wealth, with drugs, alcohol, work, working out, sex, "love," accumulation, shopping, going-doing-zooming, generating chaos to get the adrenals pumping . . . ad infinitum as well.
Among humans, the failure to find that which is truly but subconsciously determining their thoughts and words and deeds will assure misery and suffering and pain. The Ultimate Medicine awaits, but few will ever find one that dispenses that treatment. So it is, to the misfortune of the masses, but that need not be your case.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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