THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS: Causes, Symptoms, Aspects, Effects, TREATMENT, Part Seventy-One

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

From yesterday: More on that tomorrow as well as why - of all the different perspectives being called for - a perspective which differs from that which the masses hold in regards to "the purpose of this life" and to "the concepts about an afterlife" might well be the most freeing, liberating, emancipating perspective of all, relatively speaking. 

First, 

"THE PURPOSE OF LIFE" 

Maharaj did not say that nothing has any purpose, relatively speaking. For example, 

1. there was a relative purpose of sorts to the satsanga sessions he offered; 

2. until one reaches the end of "the path" and realizes fully (which is, according to him, nothing more than being "freed of all learned ignorance") there is a relative purpose for meditation, namely, to sit into the quiet - fully awake and aware - and contemplate the pointers offered by "a realized teacher" so that one might become fully conscious of truth. 

(Maharaj, when asked, "What is the purpose of meditation?" replied: "Seeing the false as the false, is meditation. This must go on all the time." Not "stopping the always-overactive mind?" No. Once the mind ends when all beliefs have been discarded and one reaches a state of "zero concepts" as Maharaj recommended, then even that practice ends.)

3. And there was a relative purpose to Yoga. He explained "The unlimited and the limited are confused and taken to be the same. To undo this confusion is the purpose of Yoga." So, Maharaj did not say that nothing has any purpose, relatively speaking, but he did make clear that I do not have a purpose and that you do not have a purpose. 

When asked, "Do you see in the world a direction and a purpose?" he answered, "The world is but a reflection of my imagination," so any "purpose" that persons claim is merely something they have imagined.

"I was put here for a purpose." Really? By whom? 

The fact: This "you" that is spoken of is nothing more than a composite unity triad involving an elemental plant food body which is temporarily circulating air and conscious-energy. 

Contrary to the widely-held belief among "the non-realized masses" who think they "were put here for a purpose," the presence now of an elemental plant food body was not triggered by a "Creator God" because all is energy-matter, because energy-matter cannot be created or destroyed, and because, therefore, nothing was created. 

This "you" is merely present because of the cycling of what has always been, not because something "new" was invented or created. The current cycling of this "you" began because of an act of friction, an exchanging of body fluid, a sperm coming into contact with an egg, and a nine-month process which was not "guided" or "controlled" by anyone or any One but happened automatically and spontaneously. 

To suggest otherwise is to buy into the bogus notion held by the masses who are so driven by ignorance that they do not know how babies are "made"; do not understand that the "making" of a baby is a natural process and not a supernatural process; and do not understand, therefore, that there was no phenomenal-noumenal combo ménage a trois with a woman, a man, and a god who all played a role in an egg being fertilized by a sperm cell. 

Maharaj: "A tremendously complex work is going on all the time in your brain and body, are you conscious of it? Not at all. Yet for an outsider all seems to be going on intelligently and purposefully. Why not admit that one’s entire personal life may sink largely below the threshold of consciousness and yet proceed sanely and smoothly?" 

The masses are not "conscious" of the "tremendously complex work going on" inside them because - as noted yesterday - healthy, normal humans arrive with an operating system, specifically, a brain stem which controls breathing, the heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, defecation, reproduction, etc.

And in healthy, normal humans, breathing, the heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, defecation, reproduction, etc. are all natural processes. 

Ninety-seven percent of the humans on planet earth claim to be affiliated with one organized religion or another; millions more brag, "I am not religious! I am spiritual." The result: the masses - almost in toto - assign supernatural cause to events which are simply natural.

Yet humans are not even consistent as they announce to one and all who will listen that they are really hooked up with their god, really working in tandem with "Him" (or "Her" or "Them"). Thus, they ignore everything that happens solely as a result of the functioning of a brain stem, so they credit god with "having blessed them with a perfect baby" but they never report that "God me gave a perfect BM this morning." If "He's" in charge of one bodily function, he's in charge of all bodily functions, so don't pick and choose. Express gratitude to Him for every bodily function He's supposedly in charge of.

[A couple bragged recently that they had been unable to conceive so they decided "to turn it over to God." They reported that they prayed for a pregnancy every day for 952 in a row. After 952 days of praying, the wife became pregnant. Some might have asked, "Why do you think He ignored your prayers for over two and a half years?" For those who believe that God is personally in charge of everything, including breathing and conception and BM's, it's clear: He had His hands full, what with having to control the breathing and conceiving and defecating of seven billion people. So of course it took 951 days to finally get around to answering that particular prayer. See what drives persons when the Ultimate Sickness is at play? "Ignorance, stupidity, and insanity," according to Maharaj.]

So, either (A) the brain stem is in charge of all bodily processes - including conception as well as defecation - or (B) some other-worldly God is in charge of all bodily functions. The invitation here: give credit where credit is due. The wise give credit to the naturally-functioning brain stem rather than to some supernaturally-functioning entity.

So if all of those bodily functions are happening naturally and automatically and spontaneously, then there is no one or "One" who is making anything happen, and if no one or "One" is making anything happen, then nothing involving a human life can have any "purpose" being determined and controlled by someone / Someone. 

Of course these pointers will all be anathema to the egomaniacs who think that are they "are changing the world, "are saving people," and "are making people better"; these pointers will also be anathema to the delusional persons who believe that they are here and operating under the auspices of a "Sacred Contract" entered into during their "pre-conception, pre-birth" life; 

and these pointers will also be anathema to "The Super Religious Ones" and "The Spiritual Giants" who believe that they "have found God's will for all people" and who claim that they are now "God's representative on earth" and who are explaining to all who will listen exactly what God's will is for all persons and what purpose he has assigned for each.

That was the same claim made by the earliest priests who dreamed up the concept of "Communion with God" and who had sex with virgins (to appease the angry God who was withholding the rain from the crops in need of water), who cut out a virgin's beating heart, who ate the body and drank the blood, and who then passed the through the crowd for all to eat the body and drink the blood and enter into communion with god to please him.

Next, 

"THE AFTERLIFE" 

Most religious and spiritual persons also believe, among other things, that a key purpose of this life is to prepare oneself and others for "the afterlife." The questions asked here are these: 

What part of the composite unity could be available for an afterlife? The elements forming a temporary plant body will eventually return to the universal pool of elements; the final quantity of air inhaled into the temporary plant body will eventually be exhaled and will return to the universal pool of air; and the conscious-energy within the temporary plant body will eventually be released and will return to the universal pool of conscious-energy. 

That is what happens instantaneously with an insect that splats against a windshield / windscreen; that is also what happens instantaneously with humans when they take mahasamadhi. There is no heaven or hell awaiting the insects that were either "good" or "bad" during the relative existence; there is no heaven or hell awaiting humans that were either "good" or "bad" during the relative existence. How can that be understood?

The brain, being elemental, will return to the universal pool of elements, so for the millions of years that human or human-like beings have walked the earth, the part of the brain where information was stored - the mind part - also returned to the universal pool of elements and those particles were scattered about by the wind. 

How could the scattered earth / dust / ashes which formed the mind part of the brain be magically retrieved and combined again and restocked with all that had been stored therein and then once more be intact and capable of functioning forevermore as such, only in a gauzy, ghostly, half-human, half-bird entity? It could not. 

No part of any composite unity can remain intact and stay together forever, so without that original "mind," who could recognize their former family members? Who could know that they are in heaven and are supposed to praise a god for eternity? Or who could know that they are in hell and should be screaming at the top of their lungs as god's tormenting flames lick at their asses?

The "original" mouth returned to the earth / ashes / dust, so there can be no mouth to sing praises to a god who loves praise and there can be no mouth to scream because god  decided to punish some for eternity. And who could scream at the top of one's lungs if the "original" lungs have already returned to the universal pool of elements / earth / ashes / dust and if the brain stem which controlled those "original" lungs also returned to the universal pool of elements / earth / ashes / dust?

So what, according to Maharaj, is the closest thing to a human having "a purpose"? 

First, his warning: "You are using things and people for purposes alien to them and you play havoc with the world and yourself." Who is so arrogant as to believe that he or she knows exactly what any persons "needs" at any given moment? 

I (meaning the super religious, spiritual giant ego-states which I once played) spearheaded for many years a winter coat drive, collecting donated coats and then distributing them to the homeless in downtown Houston. 

One unusually cold December, when the temperature had dropped into the upper 20's, I found a fellow living in a discarded refrigerator box. It took some time to wake him (or help him "come to," considering the number of empty wine bottles scattered about inside his box.). 

I bent down and looked inside his box and asked if he was cold. He explained that he was. (Actually, he did not explain anything. He actually asked, "Well what do you think, whitey? Ignorant asshole.") I told him if he'd come out of his box, I'd fit him with a coat. That made him a bit more cooperative. He slid out of the box.

After trying on several coats, we finally found one that fit fairly well. At that point, he expressed his excitement about having that coat and then said something to the effect, 

"You a real lifesaver, mister! I told my pardner last night that I was tired of freezin' my ass off and I was gonna go to the shelter and clean up and then go to McDonald's and get me a damn job. But now, thanks to you, I don't gotta go flip burgers for a livin'." With that, he climbed back into his box, pulled the coat up snug around him, and prepared to go back to sleep (both literally and figuratively).

I was stunned into silence, as I should have been all along. Those on the trip with me that day later laughed as they described the way my mouth was literally hanging open when he said that..

Did I help him? He had a possible shot at independence, a possible shot at moving out of a cardboard box and finding a home of some kind. What the hell did I know about him and what he needed? Nothing. 

Why had I not investigated first to try to determine what he might really "need"? Because I was not concerned with his agenda; instead, I was concerned with - that is, being driven by - the agenda of my phony ego-states. They gave "me" a purpose (so it was believed) and - better yet - a "noble purpose" at that.

I never headed up a coat drive again, and others playing the same roles that I had played would criticize me for that decision. So it was. 

What Maharaj understood was this: 

"Results do not affect me. I do not even care, whether they are 'good' or 'bad.' Whatever they are, they are — if they come back to me, I deal with them afresh. Or, rather, I happen to deal with them afresh. There is no sense of purpose in my doing anything. Things happens as they happen — not because I make them happen." 

So it can be asked again, "What, according to Maharaj, is the closest thing to a human having 'a purpose'?" 

He said: "Living is life’s only purpose." 

Maharaj: "The world is but a show, glittering and empty. It is, and yet is not. It is there as long as I want to see it and take part in it. When I cease caring, it dissolves. It has no cause and serves no purpose" 

and 

"Whatever is conceived by the mind must be false, for it is bound to be relative and limited. The real is inconceivable and cannot be harnessed to a purpose" 

and 

"In reality, there is no need of purpose." 

Now all of the above offers many different perspectives from those held by the masses in general.

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

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