Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Ten

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

To review: 

That which is natural is rooted in non-duality; all which involves unnatural thinking and / or supernatural thinking is rooted in duality. 

Whether speaking of Maharaj's lesser focus on the Nisarga Yoga in the beginning or discussing his near-total focus on abiding naturally in the end (as opposed to trying to live supernaturally and / or unnaturally), it is granted that all of that is relevant only to the AM-ness, but presently, what happens in the AM-ness impacts every person far more than anything to do with the THAT-ness. 

So, to continue with excerpts from the book Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings? as considerations about the nisarga (natural) fashion of abidance are offered:

Being More in Touch with the Relative Existence, Not Less 

The understanding puts the realized (per Maharaj, "those freed of learned ignorance") more in touch with "relative realities," not less; post-realization, relative happenings will still happen, but they can happen without being coated in a thick layer of ideological dreaminess or alternating dollops of positivity and negativity. 

The understanding of the THAT-ness is 100% useless unless it is overlaid on the AM-ness and allowed to guide all relative happenings, so the understanding is 100% useless unless it is "applied" . . . now. With the coming of the understanding also comes wisdom and sanity, but understanding and wisdom and sanity can only come when all of what Maharaj called "learned ignorance" and "stupidity, verging on insanity" first go. 

That is another of the "borderlines" that can be discussed during the teachings. 

Some time ago, there was a U.S.-Russian spy swap involving 14 spies that was handled at an airport by using two airplanes; however, throughout the "Cold War" years, the exchanges often took place at bridges which crossed borderlines. 

For example, between 1962 and 1986, Berlin's Glienicke Bridge was used four times as the site for a Soviet-U.S. spy swap. The bridge at the time was located at an isolated point where US-occupied West Berlin met Soviet-occupied Potsdam in East Germany. 

Those "Iron Curtain" crossings, which were usually preceded by months of meetings between negotiators, were as orchestrated as any dance: usually taking place at night, the bridge would be floodlit and guarded by heavily-armed Soviet and U.S. soldiers with dogs, all standing at opposite ends of the bridge. As the U.S. spy or spies on one end of the bridge began walking, the Russian spies on the opposite end did the same. 

All of those spies knew that guns were aimed at their backs and that they would be shot if either side tried to trick the other. The spies all met at the halfway point as they walked toward freedom, and as one spy or group of spies crossed the midway point headed to liberation, the other spy or spies did the same. The same scenario plays out during the dance of realization: 

as the "learned ignorance" and the "stupidity, verging on insanity" which Maharaj spoke of cross the borderline between the relative and the understanding of the Absolute, the departing ignorance and stupidity and insanity meet and pass the arriving understanding and wisdom and sanity as the latter move across the borderline and allow the seeker, finally, to be totally free. 

It is one thing to know only the AM-ness and to be imprisoned as a result, and it is one thing to be shackled to the AM-ness alone; it is another thing to know THAT but to claim to have abandoned the AM-ness and all that it will bring or toss your way. That is just another form of imprisonment. 

The prison of the "mind" is a prison where each belief and concept and idea and desire and fear becomes one of the bars of that jail. Such a limited, no-understanding prison is the fertile ground where ignorance and insanity are conceived and will give birth to what will eventually become the guards that incarcerate, in the absence of "full realization," you and all among the masses. 

The "realized teacher" is a negotiator as well, working for your freedom, arranging the means by which you can be freed from prison and can cross the borderline to logic and reason and clear-seeing and sanity, all of which come when the hidden agendas of personality's desires and fears go. 

The Advaita "swap" comes when ignorance is seen to be ignorance, when one finally wakes up enough to say, "My history shows that I am insane, in terms of so-called spiritual or religious concepts that have been accepted without question; 

"in terms of my beliefs about relationships and what makes them healthy or unhealthy; in terms of having a "broken picker" when it comes to choosing partners in business or in "personal relations"; in terms of my going through the existence with my head in the clouds and being a 'deep philosopher' and being overly-serious and boring and not enjoying what the relative has to offer; 

"in terms of every decision made during the relative that reveals a deep-seated, self-defeating, self-destructive tendency; in terms of being in a prison but believing that I have been free; and in terms of every aspect of my relative existence, in fact." 

You have likely seen film of some of the instances where people at a beach see the waters suddenly recede. Many rush forward to collect fish or shells. Some move to the newly-exposed wet sand in order to have a close-up view of this strange phenomenon playing out before their very eyes. 

Standing there in their ignorance, witnessing without having a clue about what they are really seeing, a "Forewarner," unlike them, understands that the waters of a tsunami are about to engulf eveything and everyone on that beach.

That Forewarner might run along the beach shouting, "Get out of here! Run to higher ground. The waters will soon be coming back as a destructive force that will assure eventual suffering! You are putting yourself in a position to undergo great pain and misery!" Why is a Forewarner / Teacher required? 

How can you know what you do not know, especially when that which you believe with such assurance is seen through a distorting lens which appears to normalize the abnormal? How can you know if your culture is among those that make people into cold and distant and unavailable persons if you have never interacted with anyone from a culture where children are raised to be adults that are warm and close and available? 

Canadian physician William Osler wrote, "The physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient." That is why almost all persons require a teacher to break through the protective shield which has been set in place - a plastic, artificial shield that is distorting the view of those persons and preventing them from seeing Reality and Truth and rendering them "fools" instead. 

The Teacher / Forewarner will say to those who will listen, "You are putting yourself in a position to suffer great pain and misery! You do not have a clue that you are being deceived by what looks to be safe and interesting and rewarding. You are going to pay a very high price in the end for the few fish and shells you're receiving now!" The Teacher might offer for consideration the following: 

"Your history shows that you are insane. that you are attached to so-called spiritual or religious concepts that have been accepted without question and that you are believing lies which will block you from seeing Truth"; or 

"you missed along the way the means by which you should know early on if a relationship that you are contemplating is going to have any chance of being healthy or if it is most assuredly going to be quite unhealthy, but your fears and desires are inspiring you to ignore the facts laid out before your very eyes"; or 

"can you not see that your history shows that you are using a "broken picker" to select partners in business and / or in "personal relations?"; or 

"can you not see that going through the existence with your head in the clouds and being a 'deep philosopher' and being overly-serious and not enjoying what the relative has to offer has rendered you an out-of-touch, overly-serious person who is robbing yourself and those around you of enjoyment?"; or 

"can you not see how unstable and unpredictable you are and how maddening that is for you and all those trying to deal with you?"; or 

"have you not seen, in terms of almost every decision that you have made during the relative existence, that your history reveals a deep-seated, self-defeating, self-destructive tendency?"; or 

"can you not see that you are imprisoned by your false beliefs, twisted views, faulty concepts, and senseless ideas while believing that you are actually wise and brilliant and free?" 

But the typical reaction to the teacher's invitation to undertake a fearless, teacher-guided inventory and a truly thorough self-examination is not unlike that of a petulant, rebellious teen: "What do you know? You're the one who is stupid!" 

To come to a supposed understanding of THAT and to allow the supposed understanding to result in dissociation or in escape or in avoidance or in an imagined separation from the relative existence is no understanding at all. That result is as useless as being in touch with the AM-ness only. 

The Direct Path Method and the Nisarga Yoga are about being in full contact with the I AM as much as with the I AM THAT. When the name of a teaching literally means "not two," then how can anyone claiming to understand the teachings attach to THAT only and ignore the AM-ness, seeing them as two and then supposedly choosing only one? 

Again, the understanding of the THAT-ness is 100% useless unless it is overlaid on the AM-ness and onto all relative happenings; thus, the understanding is 100% useless unless it is "applied" now (even in the absence of a belief in any "applier"). 

All of that is another part of what the teachings and the Nisarga Yoga are about. 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Ten

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

THE RATIONALE FOR REALIZING AND THEN ABIDING NATURALLY

"Realization is nothing more than being free of all "learned ignorance."

--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

As a child, clean and efficient mass transportation in the form of electric buses (short for "omnibuses") prevailed in many urban areas all across the U.S. The routes where I lived even extended many miles from downtown in every direction so service even reached the slum area where two parents and my sister and I shared the limited space in a 600' square-foot frame house sitting up on cinder blocks. 

The nearest stop for electric trolleys was a half block from that house, so moving about the city was cheap and easy. A common sight was electric wires overhead and buses connected to them with two extensions which angled back from the top of the bus to the power source above. 

The same is true over much of Europe and in many other parts of the planet: there is available for the citizenry an efficient, cheap, and clean mass transportation system.  

So why did "the powers that be" in the U.S. go a different route and eliminate rather than expand the electric, mass transportation system being used when I was a child and move to the use of the internal combustion engine with all of its pollution of the environment? 

In our neighborhood, most families did not own cars, so when the mass transportation system was dismantled, we asked, "Why was our means of transportation taken from us? And why would we shift from the use of clean transportation to the use of filthy transportation, environmentally speaking?" We eventually found the answer: 

Back in "The Dawn of the Automobile Age," General Motors began systematically buying streetcar lines and then shutting them down, leaving millions of Americans without viable public transportation options. Its motive? To ensure a market for its still-novel personal transportation technology. Rather than ride buses or walk, the idea was that people would buy Buicks. 

There is no question that a GM-controlled entity called National City Lines did buy a number of municipal trolley car systems. And it's beyond doubt that, before too many years went by, those street car operations were closed down. 

So this common sight . . .

Was replaced with these common sights: 

and this

Eventually, the oil and tires industries and many others joined to form a consortium with General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone Tire and Rubber, Phillips Petroleum and Mack Truck Manufacturing Co. and they all began pumping money into their destroy-the-mass-transportation-system venture. 

It's also true that GM and others were convicted in a post-war trial of conspiring to monopolize the market for transportation equipment and supplies sold in the U.S. (In the end, a federal court found all of the parties guilty of conspiring and colluding to destroy the U.S. public transportation system. The fine imposed by the federal judge? $1.00) 

For the price of one U.S. dollar, that consortium of profit-inspired companies was able to destroy the viable and environmentally-friendly public transportation system in the U.S. and left the nation decades behind the rest of the developed nations which improved - rather than destroyed - their public transportation systems after WWII.

What does that have to do with non-duality? Everything. 

Whereas the non-dual message encourages de-accumulation, the attitude of the persons running General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone Tire and Rubber, Phillips Petroleum and Mack Truck Manufacturing Co. back then, and the attitude of persons running most of the major corporations and larger businesses in the U.S. is still, "There's never enough." 

That is also the dominant and dominating attitude of those among the non-realized masses: in their view, there is never enough, be it money, the size of one's house, the amount of food consumed, the amount of talking done - you name it. There is never enough. 

Is that natural? Far from it. It is most unnatural. 

The naturally-abiding deer in this neighborhood are all lean and trim. The occasional coyote trotting across open areas through the woods or running quickly across the streets and across the surrounding roads are lean and trim. But many of their relatives, the domesticated dogs in the area, often mirror the shape of their owners: far from lean, far from trim. 

Those life-forms abiding in nature in their natural way do not overeat, over-drink, race about, or accumulate anything. For anything or anyone abiding naturally, enough really is . . . enough. 

The family renting the house next door brought with them not a pet dog, and not two pet dogs, and not three pet dogs, and not four pet dogs but five pet dogs, all living in a moderate-sized, residential home in a residential neighborhood. 

See? Never enough. Five dogs. Five bourbon and waters. Five cars. Five whatevers. It matters not what is being accumulated in high quantities. It will all take a toll, and the maintenance of whatever is accumulated will eventually exact a far-higher toll than what is accumulated. Yet a belief in the need for "more and more and more" has become the guiding light, uh, guiding darkness, among the non-realized masses all around the globe. 

So the persons next door have turned what was intended to be a residential home for humans into what amounts to a commercial enterprise, a kennel, a dog pound, a dog shelter, a residential home for dogs. With four humans inside but with five dogs inside, the humans are not living in a human house but are living in a flea-infested, poop-contaminated doghouse instead. 

All five of their dogs are large hunting dogs, but they never hunt. They sit in the house all day, are never taken for a walk, eat most of the day, and then defecate. Their backyard might be the most noxious in the neighborhood, but it is also likely the best-fertilized lawn in the neighborhood (and most likely has the best-fertilized carpeting throughout the interior of the house as well).

The dogs' lifestyle mirrors exactly their masters' lifestyle. One of the dogs is so obese that it can barely walk. If about to go somewhere in the master's car, it cannot jump the 10" to get inside but must be picked up (by one of the adults because the children cannot lift it) and placed inside. 

See? Unnatural. 

Moreover, the deer in this area do not stuff themselves with fermented berries, get drunk, race down a trail in the woods, veer off track, crash into a tree, and kill themselves in such crashes. 

No, it's only humans who do that: 

Why? Because the typical human mind has been programmed and conditioned to race unnaturally; thus, the body will also be driven to race about unnaturally as well since persons subconsciously try to end the unnatural sense of feeling torn, disunited, split, disconnected, disjointed, out of tune, contorted, jumbled, disorganized, unstable, and out of alignment. And indeed, almost all humans are, internally, out of alignment.

After Yeshu'a (Jesus) was exposed to the non-dual message, he said: "Dual-minded persons are unstable in all ways." 

Persons racing along a 40 m.p.h. road at 80 m.p.h. are trying, in their insane fashion, to attain a sense of harmony within. They are seeking a sense of unity. They want the speed of the body and the speed of the mind to align, but in cultures where persons are programmed, conditioned, etc. to go and do and zoom, then the possibly of slowing the mind and then slowing the body and relaxing in order to attain that sense of oneness and unity and harmony is not even considered. 

Thus, the plan in most cultures is to go and do and zoom in order to raise the speed of the body until it aligns with the speed of the mind in an unconscious effort to avoid feeling torn and disjointed and unstable and out of tune because the parts of the composite unity are totally out of alignment. 

And that is totally unnatural. For those who can finally see that the actual manner in which they are moving through the relative existence is exactly as described above, the invitation here for them is to turn to "Plan B," which most among the masses will never consider. 

So consider: 

The mind prevails. Among humans, it is all-powerful, all-controlling, all-dominating, and totally but subconsciously in charge of all words spoken (or tweeted) and all actions taken. Thus, for the body to take actions which evidence the "ignorance and stupidity and insanity" which Maharaj said are markers of the presence of the Ultimate Sickness, it is useless to try to make the body stop occasionally; 

or to try to "meditate" the body into a state of calmness when it feels so much pressure that it seems as if one is a piece of fragile glass in the hands of some mighty force which is bending it out of shape to such a degree that if anyone were to touch it - and put even the slightest additional pressure upon it - it would shatter into a million pieces. 

Yet that "meditative" method will prove to be a totally useless exercise because the body never controls the mind as much as the mind will control the body. Body slowed first and then the mind will surely follow? No. The mind issues addressed first and then the body can follow? Yes.

[True, body issues which arise from not following the proper food plan for a particular metabolic body type can generate psychosomatic problems such as depression, anxiety, obsessing, stress, etc., but the end result is still a psychological problem, its root notwithstanding. 

For example, Maharaj said that "Once obsession with the body goes, you will revert to your natural state, spontaneously and effortlessly" 

and added, 

"The only difference between us is that I am aware of my natural state, while you are bemused." 

Once the mind stops its incessant and constant grinding away, then the Pure Witnessing can manifest. Only then, Maharaj said, can you "live your life as it comes, but alertly, watchfully, allowing everything to happen as it happens, doing the natural things the natural way, suffering, rejoicing — as life brings." 

Maharaj said: " When you lose sight of mental states, pure being emerges as the natural state."] 

I have known of so many over the years who race about in the morning before leaving for a job so that they have time to sit still for five or ten minutes of "meditation" to prepare them for the day, only to find that their meditative exercise did not prepare them for even the first few minutes of the day because they join the stream of traffic leaving their homes and shortly join in with their fellow travelers as they all rage like maniacs at each other for slowing down the pace of those bent on racing about and on going and doing and zooming.

They become so insane that they want to ram your car from behind, or drive alongside you and force you off the road, or engage in a road rage shooting and killing. And that is all caused by the unnatural thoughts which are is going on inside their minds.

The purpose of meditation is not to reach some "higher state of consciousness" or to reach some "temporary no-mind state." Instead, the end game involves being rid of the mind - that is, all ideas, concepts, notions, a.k.a., "beliefs" - and to reach what Maharaj called a "no-mind, zero-concepts state"; therefore, trying to calm the mind for a brief period is useless. 

Until realization, "meditation" is actually intended to offer a chance to take pointers into quiet consideration, to become aware of the inner workings of the mind and body which feed the Ultimate Sickness, and then purge from both the body and the mind all of the contaminates which are preventing any chance of abiding naturally. 

And all of that is the rationale which justifies the effort to become free of the beliefs which inspire unnatural and supposedly supernatural living. Why? Because both of those lifestyles take such a heavy toll, relatively speaking. 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Nine

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

[Continued from yesterday]

What Can Happen When One Uses A Teaching Method

and

The Nisarga Yoga 

Pre-"Journey" Considerations, Part Two 

Furthermore, neither the Direct Path to realization nor the Nisarga Yoga are "about" adopting any roles, including "new and improved ones" to replace "the old bad ones." 

Initially, to assume the role or the task of being "The Seeker of the Authentic Self" can and likely will happen, but even that role can reinforce the liabilities of the personality type that pursues authenticity (a pursuit which in itself can generate a sense of separation if the "not authentic" are focused on and judged by "The Seeker"); 

thus, those beginning the "journey" must remain vigilant in order to avoid the following which the adoption of the role of "The Seeker of Authenticity" can spawn: 

1. a tendency to be rebellious and obstinate for the sake of being rebellious and obstinate; 

 2. normalizing depression; 

3. being excessively self-focused, self-absorbed, narcissistic; 

4. being moralistic; 

5. being excessively philosophical and rejecting contact with the "realities" of the relative existence; 

6. being withdrawn; 

7. isolating rather than enjoying the solitude; 

8. being stubborn; 

9. being moody; 

10. having to be different for the sake of being different; 

11. being excessively conscious of one's feelings but unaware of the effects one has on the feelings of others; 

12. being excessively preoccupied with finding the meaning of life or one's own meaning; 

13. adopting the persona of "The Individualist"; 

14. adopting the persona of "The Romanticist"; 

15. adopting the persona of "The Dramatic, Histrionic One"; 

16. adopting the role of "the Temperamental One"; 

17. adopting the role of "The Perfectionist"; 

18. adopting the role of "The Reformer of the World"; 

19. adopting the role of "The Super Helper," "The Savior," "The Rescuer"; 

20. giving lip service to seeking the lightness while remaining unnaturally "heavy"; 

21. focusing less on reality and more on theory; 

22. taking a philosophical view of most everything; 

23. becoming, as a result, totally stiff and rigid and boring and, therefore, missing out on opportunities to brighten and lighten the relative existence each day for oneself and for those about you; 

[The quick test for that condition? Ask the question and answer it honestly and objectively: "How much fun are you to be around, really?"] 

24. dreaming up scenarios involving ideals only; 

25. looking for should-be / could-be utopian possibilities; 

26. failing to understand AS IF living; 

27. engaging in the futility of replacing The Dream of the Planet with The Dream of a Philosophy; 

28. practicing escapism; 

29. not seeing how argumentative monologues and dialogues and critical diatribes are as silly as what is being criticized via those monologues and dialogues and diatribes; 

and 

30. a desire to be understood rather than to understand only. 

To that end, know first that the realized will never be understood except by the small number of those among the also-realized; yet the realized can and do understand readily. 

[To clarify those terms as Maharaj used them, "the realized" are merely those who have been freed from living under the influence and control of the learned ignorance which they were taught via the ignorant programming, conditioning, etc. which is administered to almost all children by adults who were taught and learned the ignorance which they were taught via the ignorant programming, conditioning, etc. when they were children, ad infinitum. 

"The non-realized" are merely those still living under the influence of the learned ignorance which now drives their every thought, their every word, and their every action.] 

The realized can know within an instant which persona they hear speaking when the non-realized talk; the realized can identify instantly which ego-state is sharing its thoughts and words; 

the realized can know exactly WHO is expressing anger or directing judgments at the realized; the realized can know instantly which hidden agendas and which personality liabilities are being evidenced by a person's words and actions. 

To what end can such understanding be of "practical use" during the relative? If one is coughing and sick and spraying germs about, the action here is to move away; however, if you cannot spot those about you who are sick, then you might dally about and be exposed to their sickness (or even to the Ultimate Sickness). 

Or, if one is spraying words about that could be demeaning, critical, or even hate-filled but you spot the persona doing the talking and understand that the cold and mean words are actually about them - about their false self or selves and not about you at all - then it is not necessary for you to try to explain or to defend or to feel anything "negative" or to emote or to react at all. 

What is pointed to with the term "The True Self" is nothing more than the Pure Witnessing as happens among the realized, so it cannot be defended; therefore, there need never be any attempt to do so.

(WHO - what ego-state) - would try to defend a speck of energy that is capable of witnessing only?)

No, to the contrary, any defensive actions will only occur when there is an effort to shield a false self or selves. 

"You" (the so-called "Real You") need not be understood in order to be freed via an ability to understand. 

There are people who are are sane and reasonable - though a small minority they might be - who are sane and reasonable while never having heard the word "advaita" or the term "non-duality." 

It is via the understanding which allow persons to be freed from the ignorance of body and mind and personality identification - even if "the You" is never understood - that nothing again can ever be taken PERSONAlly. 

And that, most certainly, is part of what the Direct Path and Nisarga understandings are "about." 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Eight

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

What Can Happen When One Uses A Teaching Method 

and 

The Nisarga Yoga 

Pre-"Journey" Considerations, Part One 

To review: 

Alexander Pope observation has been noted: "A little learning is a dangerous thing." 

Here, the pointer is, "A little un-learning can be a far-more-dangerous thing." 

Often when the work with a seeker begins, an intuitive sense here makes it apparent that - before the Direct Path, Nisarga teachings / un-teachings are offered - a need for the laying of a foundation is indicated. 

In such cases, some prior-to-beginning-the-"journey"-insights must be grasped if the seeker is to have any chance at all of being led to the end of the "path" where freedom and happiness and stability and a complete restoration of sanity await. 

If the Ultimate Sickness is consider "monstrous," then the monster must be wiped out; the last thing that should happen afterwards is that a new or different kind of monster is created - which is exactly what happens with most persons who become fascinated with (or engrossed in, or captivated by) any of the hundreds and thousands of philosophies, ideologies, religions, and spiritual movements that have come and gone or that have come and stayed over the centuries. 

With the Direct Path Teaching Method used here - in conjunction with the Nisarga Yoga - the first understanding required is that anything considered a "teaching" or a "concept" is actually a thorn being used to remove thorns . . . to be tossed when the understanding is firm. 

Some, however, cling to the thorns and use them to prick themselves or others, so this explanation is intended to prevent that from happening. 

Of all of the pre-"Journey" understandings that are necessary, next is the summative statement of the Advaita teachings, specifically, "I AM THAT; I AM." Direct Path realization and the Nisarga Yoga are not "about" being THAT alone, are not about detaching from the AM-ness, and are not about asserting that "nothing in the relative is real." 

Everything in the present reality (i.e., all which composite unities encounter in the relative) is energy / matter, and energy / matter is real; the key point is that nothing is as non-realized persons perceive it to be. It is the perceptions / misperceptions which are not real, which are not based in fact. 

Next, why realize if what is realized is not "applied" in the relative (even in the absence of any "applier") so that freedom and peace and happiness can manifest and be enjoyed at the only time those can be enjoyed, specifically, NOW (for there is no "after-NOW" for anyone, for any composite unity). 

Nisarga living is "about" living naturally now, freely now, sanely now, and happily and blissfully now. 

So the seeker beginning the "journey" should understand that while the word "advaita" means "not two" (that is, "non-duality") the summative statement seems to some novices to suggest two-ness. 

That is not the case. Just as frosting can be placed atop a cake but the end product is still a cake - is still just one single treat - so it is when THAT ("Reality") is overlaid on the AM-ness: a far sweeter but singular treat is the result. 

Note, therefore, that only the Oneness is being pointed to with the summative statement, even though some might erroneously conclude that there are two aspects to the One. 

(Simply because a human body might have a torso and two arms and two legs does not mean that a person has multiple bodies. There is only one body in spite of what appears to be some sort of multiplicity at work.) 

Other additional points to be understood include the following: 

1. The intent is not to generate a new, false identity of "The Philosopher" (which would soon be ungraded by the ego-defense mechanism of egotism to "The Super Philosopher"). There are more than enough (or even far too many) philosophers running about; 

and most so designated are unemployed, a college degree in philosophy presently heading the list of the most useless degrees of all (per research and facts, not per opinion).

Transforming the non-realized masses from sleepwalkers and sleep-talkers into deep thinking and pensive and overly-serious and instructive (and really boring) philosopher-types is not what these teachings are "about." 

The intent, as far as "the realized Nisargan" is concerned, is not to inspire seekers to eat, drink and sleep these teachings after "full realization" happens. These points were offered in the book Dancing Lightly:

"The 'end game' with Advaita is not to be able to eat, drink, breathe, talk, dissect, and analyze Advaita; nor is the 'end game' to spend all of one's waking hours pontificating about Advaita. The 'end game' is to reach an understanding which results in a love of silence and solitude; 

which allows Reality to be overlaid upon the relative so that a Nisarga (natural) manner of abidance happens; which allows all to happen spontaneously while, ironically, also happening deliberately; and which allows whatever happens - or whatever does not happen - to be enjoyed fully. 

With the sense of limitlessness which manifests post-realization, then all can be relished: namely, the working required to assure independence, the walking, the eating, the looking at what nature has to offer, the sitting, the sharing, and, yes, the dancing. Dancing? Absolutely.

Moving through the relative existence post-realization is like moving smoothly across a dance floor (not in some helter-skelter, jerky fashion and not in some roller coaster fashion with excessive up's and down's but in a slow, deliberate, even, level, steady, flexible, and effortless manner).

2. The intent is not to generate a new, false identity of "The All-Knowing One" (which would soon be ungraded to "The Super Sage"). That is not what Direct Path realization and Nisarga living are "about," either. 

3. The intent is not to generate new, false identities which fall at various points along any spectrum, including such dualistic extremes as: 

a. totally stoic at one extreme to totally uncaring at the other extreme; 

b. totally nihilistic at one extreme to excessively concerned at the other extreme; 

c. totally in touch with THAT but not at all in touch with "this," or preoccupied with the THAT-ness while ignoring or devaluing the AM-ness; 

d. forfeiting the ability to feel while seeking freedom from excessive emoting; 

e. not caring at all to caring about everything; 

f. reducing all things relative at one extreme to exaggerating all things relative at the other extreme; 

g. giving great value to the fact that one has his / her head in the clouds and giving no value to having one's feet planted firmly on the ground; 

h. debating and arguing for the sake of debating and arguing rather than enjoying the freedom of witnessing and the accompanying position of neutrality; 

and 

abusing the right of freedom of speech while ignoring the pleasure of freedom from speech. 

None of that occurs if both realization and Nisarga / natural living are happening together.

The dualistic extremes above are most assuredly not what Direct Path realization and Nisarga living are "about." 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Seven

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS

When Maharaj's Nisarga Message Became His Primary Message 

Yesterday, the shifts in the focus of Maharaj's message laid out how the message changed and why the message changed. Consider: 

More than a year ago, the results of another study regarding the impact that payoffs have on the behavior of doctors reinforced what has been shown via prior research time and again, and the headline of the article discussing the latest research - written by Charles Ornstein, Ryann Grochowski Jones and Mike Tigas - explained what the wise have long known about medical care in the U.S.: 

Drug-Company Payments Mirror Doctors' Brand-Name Prescribing 

The key points: "A ProPublica analysis has found that doctors who receive payments from the medical industry do indeed prescribe drugs differently on average than their colleagues who don't. And the more money they receive, the more brand-name medications they tend to prescribe" 

and 

"Even those who simply got meals from companies prescribed more brand-name drugs, on average." 

While some are aware that doctors credentialed by hospitals push their patients to have more tests than do doctors who are not credentialed or affiliated with a particular hospital because the affiliated doctors will be compensated for doing so; however, fewer have known that the brands of the meds which their doctors recommend are also influenced by how much money the doctors can make by prescribing one drug over another. 

Now, more persons than ever have begun asking their pharmacists if there is a genetic form of a med that is cheaper than the one prescribed. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there is not, but I have never had a doctor prescribe a genetic. I have to request the substitute from the pharmacist. Sometimes, even when a less expensive generic was available, the pharmacist has told me that my doctor will not allow the substitution of a generic for a particular prescription.

The report revealed that "doctors who received more than $5,000.00 from drug companies in 2014 typically had the highest brand-name prescribing percentages." By contrast, "among internists who received no payments, for example, the average brand-name prescribing rate was more than 30% lower" than among doctors who were receiving payments from drug companies.

Whether ProPublica's research proves or does not prove this or that, their research did show that "payments are associated with an approach to prescribing that, writ large, benefits drug companies' bottom line" and which benefit many doctors' bottom line as well. 

Now, to Maharaj: 

Maharaj could have been compared to many modern-day doctors in a few ways: the people who came to him were seeking relief from pain or misery or suffering or a particular sickness; in his case, that was the Ultimate Sickness, and yes, sometimes, he did receive meals from those who came to the loft seeking relief from their Sickness. 

[Admittedly, for many decades, most of the food needs of Maharaj and his four children were met by his guests. By the way, did Maharaj try to push specific food plans on anyone? No. He pointed out the insanity of allowing religious or spiritual beliefs to determine what one does or does not eat, saying, "If one type of food can restrict your spiritual progress, it would mean some other type of food can accelerate it". See? Nonsense. 

It would be just as nonsensical as telling persons whom they should be attracted to and whom they should not be attracted to; whom they should marry or live with and whom they should not marry or live with; whose rights and very lives among a citizenry the government should protect, and whose rights and very lives among a citizenry the government should choose not to protect; who should love whom, and who should not love whom; or who among a nation's population deserves medical care and who does not. 

As for Maharaj's take on telling people what to eat and what not eat, his children ate meat in their home and he had no issue with that. WHO, what person being driven by what ego-state, gives a damn? 

Note: Regular visitors to this site do understand that there are three metabolic body types, and roughly 1/3 of the planet's population have one type, 1/3 have the second type, and 1/3 have the third type. Those among the first group can function well on a vegetarian food plan; those with the second body type require a high meat, high protein food plan; and those with the third metabolic body type function most efficiently on a combination food plan. Ignorantly, the U.S. Government has long recommended a "balanced food plan" for all types, so when that advice is followed, only 1/3 of the people are actually taking advantage of the food plan which would be best for them. 

Yet even after all that, the information about different metabolic body types is shared and that's the end of it. There is no drive here to tell any individual what she or he should eat and what he or she should not eat; no campaign is under way here to tell any individual whom they should love or should marry or how to dress; 

no movement is under way here to try to change anyone's preference from being attracted to, for example, blondes and to only be attracted in the future to brunettes or redheads; and there is no crusade here to convince others that my race is a superior race and that the members of any other race are inferior. 

What arrogance and conceit and superciliousness and condescension that would be. What stupidity that would be. What ignorance that would be. How unimportant that would be. WHO cares? WHO wants that kind of influence and control?] 

Moreover, some did occasionally give gifts of greater monetary value to Maharaj, though he did not request them. One provided an expensive rug which Maharaj did not want but finally took anyway. During the painful days when his cancer and its effects had advanced, he was more comfortable in a semi-erect position, so a man gave him a recliner. (When Maharaj took mahasamadhi, that recliner was hoisted onto the back of a truck and Maharaj's body was set up in it so that persons could see him as his body was being driven to the funeral pyre.) 

One visitor even offered a monetary fortune in order to build "the most magnificent ashram ever" for Maharaj and his guests. He refused. 

But the gifts of flowers and food and a rug and a recliner and certain other presents notwithstanding, the similarities between Maharaj and modern-day physicians end there. Why? Because unlike doctors who take money for ordering excessive testing and who take money for prescribing one drug over another which would be less costly, Maharaj's prescriptions were consistently the same for all who came his way. 

Did his counsel vary from one seeker to the next? Of course. The advice offered was solely dependent upon where on the path the seeker's words indicated that the seeker was at that point. Once determined, the advice Maharaj offered to each was advice which was intended to move each to the next step on the path. Move on. Stop fixating. Always move on. 

Did the version of the Ultimate Medicine which he prescribed also change? Yes, definitely, but not because of payoffs. It changed because he saw what was not working so he abandoned that form of the Medicine and tried something else. His loft would eventually evolve into something more like a lab, even as he was offering during certain periods what he thought at the time was a viable treatment plan. 

In fact, the end result was that he was conducting experiments over the years, coming to see later on that the plans he had tried were not accomplishing the results which he had anticipated. Thus, his search for a more effective version of the Medicine happened more spontaneously than in a planned out fashion over the years.

A Hindu / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine did not work. Tossed. Check. A spirituality / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine did not work. Tossed. Check. 

A psychology / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine showed some effect; thus, he stayed with that to end, addressing the issues of the mind which prevent persons from abiding naturally and which drive persons to try to live supernaturally or which result in their abiding unnaturally. 

For those of you who have read the book Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and His Evolution, you know that he tried many different types of yoga from the beginning of his teaching career to the end. It was only near the end of his years of teaching that he became totally dedicated to his namesake, the Nisarga Yoga, which he taught alongside the Direct Path Method. Why? 

He saw all along that persons were too-often fixating at the religious or spiritual step (the third of seven steps on the path), attaching to their "new and improved personas," mistaking "the dawn for the noonday sun," and never "realizing fully" (meaning, they were never freed from living under the influence of the learned ignorance which had been stored in their minds). 

He saw others feeling superior, claiming that they had reached THAT state and were abiding there alone. He saw that the summative statement I AM THAT; I AM" was often misunderstood and that the statement was taken by many to give THAT a superior role and to discount the AM-ness completely. 

He understood that persons could abide naturally, supernaturally or unnaturally but that only natural abidance was sane. He saw that nisarga living was "the [natural] law of the land" around the globe, except among humans. He understood that there is "Reality" and "reality" and that the sane are in touch with both; therefore, the Nisarga Yoga is also offered here in conjunction with The Direct Path Method of teaching Advaita / Non-Duality.

This is what came to be understood as far as the post-"journey," post-realization existence is concerned: 

The "realized" can enjoy the remainder of the relative existence as a result of all which is understood on the "journey" (and all which is discarded along the way) but afterwards, the "journey" to THAT is over and it is time to relish the freedom which allows for the enjoyment of the remainder of the manifestation. 

It must be asked, "What good is it, if you are hungry, to go to the grocery store and buy food but then stay in the store forever, never returning home, never undertaking the relative existence task of preparing the food, and never enjoying the relative tasting of the relative meal?" The one who stays in the store can claim, "I have arrived," but that one will be totally insane to stay in the store and not enjoy the sweet taste of the nectar which the relative existence can offer those who have been freed of the three key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity."

For those that want to enjoy the remainder of the manifestation, then both the "I AM THAT" and the "I AM" are to be understood. If the "Reality" of I AM THAT is overlaid on the "reality" of I AM - of the manifested consciousness and the remainder of the relative existence - then only will the "journey" make sense. 

If that does not happen, then what "justification" can be offered for following the entire "path" and completing the entire "journey"?

It is the Nisarga Yoga which allows for both Reality and reality to be understood, and it is the understanding of the Nisarga Yoga that 

a. brings to an end unnatural living; and 

b. brings to an end all efforts to live supernaturally; and 

c. brings to an end all efforts to try to live magically, mythically, mystically, superstitiously; and 

d. brings to an end living "paranormally" rather than normally; and 

e. brings to an end living in a fairy-tale-like fashion; and 

f. brings to an end all efforts - period - because natural, spontaneous, no-drama, no-histrionic, no-concept, no-duality, no-identity abidance becomes the only mode of abidance. 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Six

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS

THE RATIONALE FOR UNDERSTANDING AND MAKING USE OF THE NISARGAN UNDERSTANDING 

That which is natural is rooted in non-duality; all which involves unnatural thinking and / or supernatural thinking is rooted in duality. 

Whether speaking of Maharaj's lesser focus on the Nisarga Yoga in the beginning or discussing his near-total focus on abiding naturally in the end (as opposed to trying to live supernaturally and / or unnaturally), it is granted that all of that is relevant only to the AM-ness, but presently, what happens in the AM-ness impacts every person far more than anything to do with the THAT-ness. 

So, to continue with excerpts from the book Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings? as considerations about the nisarga (natural) fashion of abidance are offered:

Why "Advertise" a Method or a Yoga? 

In Shakespeare's London when the theaters moved across the Thames from London proper to Southwark in order to escape harassment by puritanical magistrates, flagpoles were erected atop the theater turrets for purposes of advertising: if people in the city saw a white flag flying atop a playhouse, they knew that a comedy was playing there; if they saw a black flag flying, they knew that a tragedy was playing. 

In Bombay (Mumbai) in the days of Maharaj, he also "advertised" what was "being shown" in the loft. How? The "Nisarga" in "Nisargadatta" was also like a modern-day movie poster, "Nisarga" meaning "natural" and making clear that the Nisarga, Natural Yoga was being offered in the loft. Infatuated with any other yoga? Then probably best not to come in. 

Here, a disclaimer is offered to any that consider seeking in the venue of this author: 

"For those who have developed a preference for any non-Nisargan yoga or who prefer Traditional Advaita Vedanta, Neo-Advaita, Neo-Vedanta, or Pseudo Advaita: here you will only find the use of the Direct Path Method of teaching along with pointers based in the Nisarga (Natural) Yoga." 

[Conversations over the years with both novice seekers and with so-called "seasoned seekers" who claim that "they understand a lot" (and with some who claim to have "understood it all") actually haven't the slightest clue about which of the basic methods is being used by the guru or the Big Name Teacher they are following, if - indeed - any actual method is being used by their guru or teacher at all. Moreover, die-hard, long-time Maharaj fans have admitted that - until they read a few of the books or series offered here - they also had not been conscious of the particulars of his "evolution" and the changes in his message over the years. Of course the ones who did note his shift away from the use of Hindu dogma were his first critics and the Westerners who noted his shift away from spirituality were a second, much-larger. much-more vocal wave of detractors.] 

To disclose that the Natural Yoga is used is to disclose right up front to any and all seekers that there is no "goal" here other than to 

1. remove the ignorance which inspires attachment to religious or spiritual or philosophical or ideological concepts and exercises and accoutrements 

and to 

2. bring to an end all thoughts and words and deeds which support unnatural / supernatural living, 

giving way to 

3. living in an all-natural fashion. 

The "later Maharaj" or "Pure Maharaj," therefore, offered less and less tolerance for those "hanging out" at the third of seven steps to realization where they were playing the role of "The Spiritual Giant" and / or "The Super Religious One." 

Yes, for most, the religious or spiritual or philosophical roles have to be played for a time, it seems, but the longer Maharaj taught, the less tolerant he was of those fixating at a place on the "path" that is not even the halfway point of the "journey." 

Thus, he spoke of their "kindergarten spirituality." 

He noted that "there are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realisation . . . . " 

For all the spiritual and religious and philosophical talk in I AM THAT, his later talks contained less and less of the earlier "spirituality" and "beating around the bush"; thus, he said to two visitors, "Forget spirituality." 

He encouraged seekers to follow "their normal inclinations," that is, to follow their natural tendencies, to abandon all of their spiritual work and just abide naturally - not unnaturally and not supernaturally (i.e., neither "religiously" nor "spiritually" nor "philosophically"). 

He told visitors, "Do your normal duties" 

and 

"just give up spirituality." 

And thus the pointer that his message did evolve and even change over the decades to the degree that he became more and more direct, wasting less time with "foundational and preparatory pointers" that would 

(a) tolerate for a time the assumption of seekers' "new and improved and good" religious or spiritual or philosophical personas and that would sometimes gently guide seekers beyond their obsession with the religious or spiritual or philosophical step 

and instead 

admonishing them, in a far more direct manner than earlier, to 

(b) be free of all that drives them to live unnaturally and to 

(c) abandon their efforts to live supernaturally 

and to 

(d) get on with the process of merely living naturally. He admitted later on that he, too, had been bogged down at the third step of seven steps and he made clear that he was trying to spare seekers from the years or decades of being similarly bogged down. 

He said: "I got involved in spirituality, in the business of spirituality, [but] finally I lost that love of the Self also. I have no more love for the Self." 

He said that “When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.” 

When a visitor said, "The scriptures say that we have our karma and our sins and that is why we are here," Maharaj answered: 

"That is for the ignorant masses. One who has realized the Self-Knowledge 'I Am,' for him these stories are of no use." 

[Later, he would endorse only the seeking of "self-knowledge" ("false-self"-knowledge) which allows seekers to "find all that they are not," saying to them, "that is enough."

Again, recall that he said, “I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.” 

A seeker once asked this question: 

"So beyond all that talk of the varied phases of 'the Absolute' or 'Brahman,' the question is, 'Once that 'Cosmic Self' is found, what is one to do with it'?" Again, one should be reminded of the dog chasing a car: once it catches up with the car, what is it to do with it? 

If seekers love their religious or spiritual or philosophical role-playing, then "early Maharaj" is more likely to appeal to them, but religious or spiritual or philosophical pointers will only trap seekers at a point that is not even halfway to "full realization" (that is, to full freedom from learned ignorance) while deluding them into believing that they have "realized fully." 

[To abide at the third of seven steps but to believe that one has completed an entire journey is like a father traveling with his spouse and young children from Paris to Nice, reaching Geneva, telling the family members to grab their suitcases and leave the train, and then telling them they have reached their destination. That would be totally delusional, but as is the case with all children who listen to the nonsense been taught to them by their delusional parents, those children will believe that they are in Nice, France rather than in Geneva, Switzerland and will never have a clue about where they are or what Nice is really like or how very different Nice is from Geneva.]

If seekers would actually realize fully and thus be free of being driven by the body of learned ignorance stored in "the mind part" of their brains, then all religious or spiritual or philosophical concepts and beliefs and ideas and teachings must eventually be abandoned, and the sooner the better for those who would be totally free of delusions and distortions and ignorance and who would abide in the freedom and peace and ease and simplicity and relaxation of Nisarga, natural living. 

So, there are three ways in which the relative existence can happen: unnaturally, supernaturally, or naturally (meaning, in a "Nisarga" fashion). 

To fail to seek is to live unnaturally. To seek realization via only the Traditional Method, the Neo-Advaita Method, the Neo-Vedanta Method, the Direct Path Method (or one of the spin-offs of those four) is to be left in a position where one tries to live supernaturally . . . becoming a "Spiritual Giant" or something "Supreme." 

Only if the Nisarga Yoga (the "Natural Yoga") is also offered can living naturally and spontaneously happen. When that is the case, all religious and / or spiritual work finally ends, all seeking finally ends, and ordinary, normal, effortless, relaxed living begins. 

All “journeys” undertaken by seekers have goals—save one. For some, the goal is “salvation” or “eternal bliss” in some version of heaven or the completion of one level of development on what is believed to be one “journey” of many that must be completed. 

All—save one—involve the assumption of new personas, being better, gaining power, enjoying rewards now and forevermore, finding a way to live a religious life or a spiritual life, or living in some similar supernatural fashion. 

And while all such “journeys” can at certain junctures involve the above, here, seekers are invited to move beyond personality and the assumption of all roles, including religious roles and spiritual roles. Here, persons are invited to consider: is it possible that no matter how certain you are that you have reached the end of the “path,” is it possible that you have not even reached the midway point? 

Is it possible that Maharaj’s pointer may have been accurate when he said, 

“There are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realisation, and destroy even the little they gain by excess of pride”? 

Are you proud of how spiritual you are? If it is understood that the assumption of any ego-state triggers the use of egotism and other ego-defense mechanisms, then can it not also be understood that the assumption of a spiritual ego-state will always result in spiritual arrogance? 

Yes, the “path” from identification with the false “I” to the Absolute has steps involving religion or spirituality or the supernatural; however, those all inspire the assumption of roles; they all require doingness; and they all have goals which fixate persons in the goal-seeker stage and in a seeker mode that will prevent the reaching of full realization and understanding the Noneness as well as the Oneness. 

The question offered for consideration, therefore, is this: WHO—what persona, what personality type—thinks that he / she is now "better" for having become religious or spiritual? WHO believes that she / he is "made better"—or even made "better than"—because living is happening in a supernatural fashion? 

WHO is being led—often subconsciously—to believe that life is made better when one knells, rises, and knells some more? Rings a bell? Puts a bowl on a pillow and strikes it with a special stick? Wears a special robe or cross? Commits suicide while killing members of other religions? Hums and chants or shouts and screams? Asks favors of some external power? Arbitrarily follows holy diets rather than the food plan indicated for one's metabolic body type? WHO waves arms in the air? WHO rolls on the floor? 

And WHO . . . 

Speaks in unknown tongues? Cries as a result of being emotionally intoxicated? Sings praises? Faints? Gives away possessions or money to a supposedly-holy institution? Continues to give money to an institution even though they know their money is being used as hush money to cover up the sexual abuse of children by people in charge of that institution, thus enabling the molestation to continue? Is struck on the forehead and then swoons? Fights with others who have different beliefs? Allows religious or spiritual leaders to dictate what should or should not be eaten? 

 Allows "religious men" to determine how many children you have? Questions nothing and believes all they hear with unwavering "faith"? And works, works, works at living—especially at living in the “right” way or in a “better way”? 

Of all the “paths” that have been dreamed up by persons over the ages, it is the Direct Path Method - presented in conjunction with the Nisarga, Natural Yoga - which has clear-cut steps to be completed in a specific order but has no goals in the end; 

that eliminates the assumption of personas; that makes no promises about being “better than” someday; that offers no superpower or super beings to be at your disposal; that does not promise that you will become a Supreme Being; 

that does not claim you are superior now; and that invites persons to take religious or spiritual or supernatural steps not as an end but as a means to move beyond that and then realize fully and thereafter to abide naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally. 

Of all of the types of yoga available for study or guidance, the least popular is likely the Nisarga Yoga. Of all the types of yoga, this is the one which invites seekers to engage in whatever exercises they deem necessary but to eventually move beyond all of the effort and work and toil involved in assuming and maintaining their spiritual roles and to abide in a totally natural fashion. 

Consider all the work that goes into blocking the consciousness enough for it to believe that such identities as these are real: “The Religious One”; “The Spiritual One” or “The Spiritual Giant”; “The Good Catholic”; 

 “The Good Baptist”; “The Good Presbyterian”; “The Good Anglican”; The Good Pentecostal”; “The Good Episcopalian”; “The Good Cultist”; “The Good Evangelical”; “The Good Muslim”; 

“The Good Shiite”; “The Good Sunni”; “The Good Jew”; “The Good Hindu”; “The Good Taoist”; “The Good Advaitin”; “The Good Vedantin”; “The Native American Spiritualist,” ad infinitum. 

Consider all of the work and sacrifice and energy and effort that goes into maintaining those images, and consider the levels of nonsense which persons must believe in order to play all of those roles and engage in all of the phoniness that accompanies role-playing.

You are invited to consider this as well:

"Is it possible that the remainder of the manifestation could unfold with considerably more freedom if it were to happen spontaneously and naturally rather than in a planned, prescribed, and artificially-supernatural manner?" 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

 In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.

Whether Living Spirituality (Supernaturally), Asleep (Unnaturally), Religiously (Unnaturally), Naturally, Philosophically, Ideologically, or otherwise, WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? Part Five

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS 

THE RATIONALE FOR UNDERSTANDING AND MAKING USE OF THE NISARGAN UNDERSTANDING 

That which is natural is rooted in non-duality; all which involves unnatural thinking and / or supernatural thinking is rooted in duality. 

Whether speaking of (a) Maharaj's lesser focus on the Nisarga Yoga in the beginning or discussing (b) his near-total focus on abiding naturally in the end (as opposed to trying to live supernaturally and / or unnaturally) . . .

then granted - in both cases - all of that is relevant only to the AM-ness, but presently, what happens in the AM-ness impacts every person far more than anything to do with the THAT-ness. 

So, to continue with excerpts from the book Why NISARGA YOGA in addition to the Advaita Teachings? as considerations about the nisarga (natural) fashion of abidance are offered:

A LITTLE LEARNING IS A DANGEROUS THING, BUT A LITTLE UN-LEARNING CAN BE EVEN MORE DANGEROUS 

(Why the Teachings Offered by Use of Any of the Major Methods of Teaching Non-Duality Do Not Present the Total Picture) 

The Spring of 2017 marked the twenty-eighth year that the teachings here have been offered as a "package" including the Direct Path Method in combination with the Nisarga Yoga. 

[As with Maharaj, there has been an "evolution" in the message offered. In both cases, it involved an end to blending dogma or spiritual messages and exercises into the Ultimate Medicine mix and concentrating instead on the mental / psychological aspects of the Ultimate Sickness which are its actual basis and singularly form its core. ] 

But why both a "path" and a yoga for a time? Why the Nisarga Yoga in addition to the Advaita / Non-Dual Teachings? 

First, it should be said that nothing herein should be interpreted as a criticism of any of the other methods of teachings or any other yoga method which some use. The content herein is based on seeing what finally "worked" after decades of fruitless seeking in dozens of other venues, including religion, spiritual programs, ideologies, Eastern and Western philosophies as well as trying other methods of non-dual teachings. 

"Realization" for the sake of "Realization" - or for the sake of bragging about "being Realized" and "better" and "Supreme" and "special" - is useless. 

If the understandings which come via realization are not overlaid on the relative existence (that is, "applied" in the absence of belief in an "applier") and if a natural and spontaneous manner of abiding does not end all unnatural living and all efforts to live supernaturally and magically, then realization has not happened and all effort to that point has been a waste of time and effort and energy; furthermore, "full realization" never causes the "fully realized" to dissociate, to be out of touch with the relative existence, to disconnect, or to detach (which is not to be confused with non-attachment). 

[So in the end, Maharaj made clear that realization has nothing to do with most of what dominated his talks for years, including the talks transcribed in the book I AM THAT, and that is why he eventually told seekers to stop reading the talks in that book and to heed what he was sharing in his later talks. Why? 

Because he came to realize that "realization is simply about being free from the effects that learned ignorance have on the relative existence." Realization, he finally concluded, is not about finding some "True Self" (which is merely Pure Witnessing") and is not about finding some Supreme Self, Infinite Self, etc. but is about being freed of the ignorance which all persons are taught. 

And that understanding is what led Maharaj to start advising seekers to abandon SELF-Inquiry and the search for some "Real Identity" (or whatever) and to focus instead on conducting a thorough self-inquiry - actually "a false self  inquiry" - and to understand that "it is enough to know who / what you are not."] 

"Full realization" ends all distancing and all sense of separation, so the summative statement "I AM THAT; I AM" is not re-written post-realization to "I AM THAT ONLY; FORGET I AM." It remains "I AM THAT; I AM" and the "not-two-ness" of the statement is clearly understood. 

 [It is also understood post-realization that anything involved with THAT is guaranteed to function automatically and spontaneously per the laws of nature and that there is nothing that any human can do, or not do, that can affect THAT in the slightest; thus, it is sane - for those that would bring about some change, such as a change which might end their misery and suffering and distortion and delusion - to focus for now on the AM-ness alone, realizing that 

(a) THAT is going to function as it does 

and that 

(b) no human or dreamed up Power is going to affect its functioning, either. It does not change and it cannot be changed. What does change and what can be changed? The way that the AM-ness unfolds during the temporary manifestation.] 

The non-dual teachings, if combined with the understanding that the "end game" is about Nisargan (natural) living 

and 

if both are properly presented,

then it will also be seen that all "teachings" actually have no significance at all and that a viable approach will focus on un-learning what has already been taught. 

[Again, that is why at the beginning of this blog and throughout the years when satsanga sessions were being offered prior to posting here, it was explained to seekers that they need not even begin this "journey" if it is not clear to them that "the understanding" and "realization" and "enlightenment" and finding some "Supreme Self" or "True Self" etc. are not "the goal" or "the objective" but are merely tools used along the way to reach a point where what was referred to as "Applied Advaita" could happen. What does that term point to? 

It points toward the fact that "the end game" is this: even in the absence of "an applier," the understanding should provide an ability to be able to differentiate 

(1) between true and false 

and 

(2) between what is natural vs. what is thought to be supernatural - or what is thought to be natural when it is really unnatural - 

and, thereafter,

provide an ability to abide naturally, free of being driven by any of the keys symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity and insanity."] 

Yet consider the following from Alexander Pope which many take as "a guide for life" rather than totally ignoring what sounds, at first glance, to be sage advice when he said: "A little learning is a dangerous thing." 

Here, the pointer is, "A little un-learning can be a far-more-dangerous thing." 

It has also been seen that, far-too-often, a little un-learning or a little understanding can be dangerous, relatively speaking, when the influence of the fallacious content of the mind is not totally rejected and when nothing more than a new mindset is adopted. 

That "new mindset" might cause some to conclude 

a. if THAT is what it's all about and the relative is useless, then why not kill myself or others? 

b. that a new identity is to be adopted, namely, that of "The Deep Philosopher" or "The All-Knowing One" or "The Super Sage"; 

c. that caring about anything or anyone in the relative should end; 

d. that one should no longer feel; 

e. that one should live with his / her head in the clouds; 

f. that one must withdraw and isolate and extend "The Forest Dweller Stage" for the remainder of the manifestation; 

g. that one should focus less on reality and more on theory; 

h. and that one must take a philosophical view of everything. 

In upcoming posts, these points will be discussed in detail: 

The understanding puts us more in touch with reality throughout the AM-ness, not less. 

To be free of attachment to the AM-ness is not to be free of the basic responsibilities of the AM-ness: providing food, clothing, shelter, etc. 

The "goal" here, with the Nisarga Yoga, is to live naturally. 

The way that deer live, not the way that most humans live, would provide a saner model. 

To develop a position of neutrality around all things does not mean you will not care about anything, for not-caring is one extreme while excessive caring is the other extreme . . . just more duality. 

Yet any prior disposition toward conflict gives way to pure witnessing rather than confronting and engaging other humans. To "realize fully" is . . . 

1. to overlay Reality on the relative (that is, to overlay Reality on reality and then be done with it); 

2. to use the understanding of THAT as nothing more than a tool to enhance the enjoyment of the "this," the Am-ness; 

and 

3. to plant one's feet firmly on the ground for as long as the manifestation continues. 

Additionally, realization ends all competition because it ends all Subject-Object Witnessing. post-realization. There will be no effort to show "others that what you "have" or "understand" has provided you with a far better life than they have. 

Were that the case, the Advaita teachings could be abandoned and persons could be sent off to their nearest church or synagogue or temple or ideological camp or spiritual group where they can find the 97% of the planet's population who claim to be religious or spiritual and who believe deep inside that they are better than others as a result of following the dogma or spiritual principles which they follow. 

Living naturally rather than supernaturally, there can be among "the realized" (i.e., among those freed of ignorance) no notions about "better-than-ness" and "different from-ness," so there can be no beliefs about "my philosophy is better" or beliefs about "I'm going to show you that since I got rid of you, my life is far better . . . and far better than yours." 

There can be no "look how well I'm doing as a result of what I know"; there can be no "look how much better my relationship is than yours"; and there can be no "look how much happier I am that you are." 

The naturally-abiding, ego-less deer, as is the case with all life-forms on the planet which all abide naturally except for humans, engage in no such competitive one-up-man-ship. (Okay, the mating season behaviors of deer notwithstanding, but even taking that into account, what the deer can do when trying to "hook up" is nothing compared to the insane behavior of humans when they are trying to do the same). 

To be continued. 

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. 

[NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the posts in this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.] 

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,100+ posts for any topics of interest to you.