TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
THE RATIONALE FOR UNDERSTANDING "THE REASONS" AND BEING FREED FROM THEIR INFLUENCE, PART FIVE
To try to paraphrase a pointer offered by Reverend Jim Rigby, when persons surrender to a text rather than seek the wisdom being offered in the deeper meanings behind the made up, fictional stories in the text, then the justification for making whatever "medicine" persons are trying to offer is lost because of the far-worse poison which comes out of the process.
Maharaj: “I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”
After being introduced to the non-dual teachings, Yeshu'a ("Jesus") turned his back on the content of the Jewish texts which he once revered and from which he had once taught. The new focus was on offering such pointers as, "A dual-minded person is unstable in all ways" and "No one will see the kingdom of heaven; it is within."
The first of those pointers tries to focus attention on humankind's main problem: the corrupted, nonsense-filled mind and the resulting instability it generates.
The second of those pointers tries to move persons away from the nonsensical beliefs which have resulted because made up, fictional stories have been taken literally and have therefore generated untold levels of ignorance and distortions and deceptions and delusion.
The first of those pointers tries to focus attention on humankind's main problem: the corrupted, nonsense-filled mind and the resulting instability it generates.
The second of those pointers tries to move persons away from the nonsensical beliefs which have resulted because made up, fictional stories have been taken literally and have therefore generated untold levels of ignorance and distortions and deceptions and delusion.
Thomas Jefferson said (as he discouraged persons from believing in dualities such as good vs. bad and right vs. wrong): "He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
The same applies to the content in all supposedly "holy" or "special" texts which are inundated with dualistic concepts.
As Jim Rigby said, finding wisdom in a holy text "is like finding diamonds in a dumpster."
Meaning? The take here on that is this: there is going to be far more trash in there than actual gems of wisdom.
Meaning? The take here on that is this: there is going to be far more trash in there than actual gems of wisdom.
He referenced what Jefferson had to say about seeking diamonds in such texts when Jefferson wrote to Adams on the content of the supposedly holy Bible:
"The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts as to pick out diamonds from dunghills."
The problem with persons reading fiction and missing the wisdom being alluded to behind the fiction? Persons hear the nonsensical misinterpretations which they are told, believe them, and then repeat them as truth, for generation after generation.
That inspires them to behave like parrots, and parrots have very small brains and grasp nothing about reality. Additionally, parrots come up with nothing that is inspired from within. They merely repeat what they hear from without. When humans behave like that, they will form religions and repeat their false beliefs, will form spiritual groups and then parrot the false beliefs which they take to be true, and will form organizations like Parrots Anonymous and repeat over and over and over the trite and illusion-based expressions which they have heard.
(What follows? Day one: hear phrases which are spoken with great authority and conviction but which actually lack effectiveness and are used so constantly and excessively that they become hackneyed and stale but are nonetheless believed to be wise. Day two: repeat those phrases and speak them with great authority and conviction even though they actually lack effectiveness; then, continue to parrot them constantly and excessively even though they are hackneyed and stale while you believe both those words - as well as your new and improved self - are both amazingly wise.)
That inspires them to behave like parrots, and parrots have very small brains and grasp nothing about reality. Additionally, parrots come up with nothing that is inspired from within. They merely repeat what they hear from without. When humans behave like that, they will form religions and repeat their false beliefs, will form spiritual groups and then parrot the false beliefs which they take to be true, and will form organizations like Parrots Anonymous and repeat over and over and over the trite and illusion-based expressions which they have heard.
(What follows? Day one: hear phrases which are spoken with great authority and conviction but which actually lack effectiveness and are used so constantly and excessively that they become hackneyed and stale but are nonetheless believed to be wise. Day two: repeat those phrases and speak them with great authority and conviction even though they actually lack effectiveness; then, continue to parrot them constantly and excessively even though they are hackneyed and stale while you believe both those words - as well as your new and improved self - are both amazingly wise.)
The result of parroting: garbage in, garbage out.
Maharaj advised seekers to stop quoting texts and "others" and instead to "tell me what you know." Are you tapping into the inner resource, the inner guru, or are you trying to sound wise by parroting what you have heard?
The focus here is to get back to an unadulterated and simple version of the non-dual message and to forsake all of the "additives" which have been tossed into the mix along the way.
If one were to grasp the simple, basic, and core pointers, that would be enough.
In the end, Maharaj returned to the basics of non-duality which had nothing to do with religion or spirituality until the supposed "message" was codified and put into a "special text."
That codification guaranteed that a simple nugget of wisdom would become so distorted and complicated that it would be lost. To try to undo that, and to undo the part he played in complicating the simple message, he abandoned the complex and offered a simpler version of the teachings / unteachings.
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, ONE: ABANDON THE CONVOLUTED SEARCH FOR "WHO" YOU ARE AND SEE THAT THERE IS NO "WHO-NESS" INVOLVED AT ALL, NO "SPECIAL YOU" INVOLVED AT ALL, AND NO "INFINITE OR SUPREME SELF" AT ALL
Maharaj advised: "Be free from the mental patterns of name and shape."
Thus, Maharaj would eventually encourage seekers (and “super seekers”) to (1) set aside their SELF-Inquiry efforts, their efforts to find and be a “Supreme Self,” and / or their efforts to “be at one with god” or to even to “be god” and (2) to grasp this: "You need not find the answer to 'What am I?' It is enough to know what you are not.”
And relatedly . . .
Thus, Maharaj would eventually encourage seekers (and “super seekers”) to (1) set aside their SELF-Inquiry efforts, their efforts to find and be a “Supreme Self,” and / or their efforts to “be at one with god” or to even to “be god” and (2) to grasp this: "You need not find the answer to 'What am I?' It is enough to know what you are not.”
And relatedly . . .
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, TWO: ABANDON ALL TEACHINGS WHICH TRY TO BLEND RELIGION AND / OR SPIRITUALITY WITH THE BASIC NON-DUAL MESSAGE
He said: “I got involved in spirituality, in the business of spirituality; finally, I lost that love of Self also. I have no more love for the Self."
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, THREE: FOR ALL OF THE TALK OF "UNDERSTANDING," EVEN THAT IS NOT REQUIRED
Maharaj: “Don’t try to understand! It’s enough if you do not misunderstand.”
Again, Jefferson: "He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
Why was Maharaj spot on to suggest that only a tiny group on the planet at any given time will realize (that is, be freed from "learned ignorance")?
The key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity") have no way of being spread more than when a person who is trapped in ignorance and stupidity and insanity passes along her or his beliefs to others. Why? Because persons are convinced that their beliefs are unequivocally "right" and "true," and when such types present their beliefs, they do so in a fashion which convinces others to believe them too, based in blind faith and without any questioning at all.
Here, there is no one that believes anything, so there is certainly no one that would have you believe anything, either. The process here is about being un-taught, not about being taught more . . . is about un-learning, not about learning more.
The key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness (which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity") have no way of being spread more than when a person who is trapped in ignorance and stupidity and insanity passes along her or his beliefs to others. Why? Because persons are convinced that their beliefs are unequivocally "right" and "true," and when such types present their beliefs, they do so in a fashion which convinces others to believe them too, based in blind faith and without any questioning at all.
Here, there is no one that believes anything, so there is certainly no one that would have you believe anything, either. The process here is about being un-taught, not about being taught more . . . is about un-learning, not about learning more.
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, FOUR: ONE NEED NOT FIND "THE TRUTH" - ONE NEED BUT BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE FALSE
The problem with humankind is that the masses have completely lost the ability to differentiate the true from the false. Relatedly . . .
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, FIVE: ALLOW SOMEONE TO LEAD YOU TO THE ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THAT WHICH IS AUTHENTIC AND REAL AS OPPOSED TO THAT WHICH INVOLVES APPEARANCE AND FALSE IMAGING
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, SIX: FIND THAT WHICH LEADS TO MORE PEACE AND LESS BS
In the U.S., the concept of "freedom of speech" receives on-going tribute and considerable praise and continuous acclaim. The invitation to consider the alternate possibly of "freedom from speech" was a part of the original message. "No speech" guarantees no BS'ing.
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, SEVEN: CONSIDER THE MANNER OF ABIDANCE WHICH BEST INOCULATES ONE FROM THE KEY SYMPTOMS OF THE ULTIMATE SICKNESS
One can abide naturally, as does every living thing on planet earth except humans. Or, one can try to abide supernaturally (that is, in a religious or spiritual or otherworldly fashion), trapped in magical thinking and focusing on the irrelevant in an effort to avoid or escape or dissociate from the challenges of the relative existence; or one can abide unnaturally (ignorantly, obsessively, fanatically, zealously, and fervently while being in one or all of these conditions: physically intoxicated, mentally intoxicated, emotionally intoxicated, or religiously / spiritually intoxicated)
Maharaj: "By knowing what you are not, you are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens quite spontaneously and effortlessly."
Maharaj: "By knowing what you are not, you are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens quite spontaneously and effortlessly."
THE SIMPLER MESSAGE, EIGHT: BE INDEPENDENT AND FREE
Maharaj: " What is supremely important is to be free from contradictions"
and
"Attachment is bondage; detachment is freedom. To crave is to slave"
and
"The only help worth giving is freeing from the need for further help. Repeated help is no help at all. Do not talk of helping another, unless you can put him beyond all reed of help."
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
and
"Attachment is bondage; detachment is freedom. To crave is to slave"
and
"The only help worth giving is freeing from the need for further help. Repeated help is no help at all. Do not talk of helping another, unless you can put him beyond all reed of help."
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
[To hear Jim Rigby's messages directly and more accurately and more completely rather than via paraphrasings, you're invited to listen to this non-duality-based message and others].
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