TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
That which is natural is rooted in non-duality; all which involves unnatural thinking and / or supernatural thinking is rooted in duality.
Once more, this natural vs. supernatural and / or unnatural subject is all a part of the AM-ness, but presently, what happens in the AM-ness impacts the masses 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:
What Exactly Does "Nisarga" Mean? Part One
First, review and consider in depth this point offered occasionally on this site: Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute. The brain is rooted in the elements. "The mind" is rooted in wrong programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
Then, revisit this point and consider it thoroughly:
“ . . . There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," indicating that the brain can continued to function and the consciousness can continue to be manifest but that if belief in duality is to end, then the “mind” must end.
The “mind” ends when belief in the content of that storehouse of fiction is seen to be nothing more than an accumulation of ideas and concepts, etc. (a.k.a., "beliefs") that were dreamed up by “others,” taught to you, and then accepted by you as truth without any questioning at all.
Some pointers regarding the mind shall be reviewed, therefore, and the process of eliminating belief in unquestioned nonsense can begin and nisarga living can eventually manifest:
Efforts to quiet the mind or to ignore thoughts cannot succeed with any consistency. Only when full realization (i.e., total freedom from learned ignorance) strikes, only when the "Oh my gosh!" moment happens—only then does the mind dissolve. What to consider meanwhile?
It is true that, if you are instructed to "avoid thinking about an elephant," the only thing that you can think about is an elephant. So, what is the answer? The answer is not to try to be rid of a disturbing thought. The answer is to ask when a thought is interrupting the peace, “WHO is thinking that thought?” Only by relinquishing belief in the false identities that inspire thoughts can the thoughts come to an end. Only by abandoning the "this" and "that" in such beliefs as "I am this" (role) or "I am that" (role) can the peace and quiet of Nisarga's "I Am, only" manner of functioning happen.
The "mind" is the instrument that supports your personality with thoughts, and those thoughts are the instruments that will forever prevent "peace of mind"; in fact, there is no such thing as "peace of mind." There is only peace if freed of the "mind."
You are in a play, playing a role, and believing that the role and the play are both real. Why would you believe such nonsense?
Because "your mind" is the playwright, the author of every scene. Yet there is no "your mind" really. There is only "their mind" which you have adopted and now believe is your own.
When Maharaj said, "You are not in the world . . . the world is in you," what did he mean? He meant, "You are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" and is nothing more than a figment of your programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings.
Everything that is offered here is to be used to be rid of another false belief until all ideas and emotional intoxication and beliefs are gone and nothing remains but the unstated understanding. Only then can the constant churning and re-churning of the false beliefs of the corrupted "mind" finally cease.
What Exactly Does "Nisarga" Mean? Part Two
The term "Nisarga" points to a way of functioning throughout the manifestation that is natural rather than unnatural or supernatural.
It is natural when earth elements combine to form a space—a body-cum-consciousness—and as air circulates into and out of an elemental plant-food body throughout the period that the consciousness remains manifest.
It is unnatural to believe that that there is anything more at play than a temporary manifestation of an elements-air-energy triad.
It is natural throughout nature for elemental bodies to form brains that function in tandem with the manifest consciousness, be the elemental body called "bird" or "fish" or "fowl" or "deer"; it is unnatural, however, if a brain-consciousness-“mind” triad happens, as is the case among non-realized persons.
It is unnatural for a “mind” to form and to use its false content to conclude that one’s identity is a body-mind-personality triad.
It is supernatural for a “mind” to form and to believe that an element-air-energy triad is something “special,” “holy,” “godly,” “religious,” “spiritual,” or “other-worldly” as opposed to “worldly.”
It is unnatural and nonsensical to believe that naturally-occurring events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, etc., have an origin that is supernatural and to believe that they are set into motion by some "supreme being" in another world in order to "send a signal" or "a message" or "a punishment" to persons residing on this planet who have offended a god living in some other world.
No nonsense can be believed - and no unnatural / supernatural living can happen - without the formation, first, of a “mind.” Thus, considerations regarding freedom from living under the influence of the fiction-filled mind continue:
What is that inner resource, that inner guru? It is the vestige of pure consciousness that remains, deeply buried beneath the waste called “your mind.” “Your mind” obscures the consciousness because that "mind" is so marred with its belief in lies and superstitions and all of its "knowledge," all that learned ignorance, that it leaves you insane … so insane that you don’t know yourself (or, "your selves") or the True Self, which is merely the Pure Witnessing) and so insane that you believe that the lies you've been told are true and that the dreams of the planet are real.
If your body has disappeared, how can any person remain? And if no person remains, how can a mind remain?
In order to know both reality and Reality, you must be sane. In order to be sane, you must be out of your mind.
For their suffering to end, persons must understand the functioning of the totality; must see that all suffering is rooted in the assumption of ego-states as false identities;
must realize that they have no “mind” but instead are being driven by the “minds” of others (which they now think is their own "mind"); must be aware of the fact that a “mind” is nothing more than the storehouse of all the lies and beliefs and ideas and concepts that must be cast aside in order to end human suffering; and must see not only
(a) the limitations of doingness
but also
(b) the timelessness and limitless nature of beingness . . . and non-beingness as well.
In this relative existence, nothing is going on but a breeziness of play, but persons are caught up in a tornado of work, in a storm of seriousness, and in a tempest of drama. So-called “life” in this sphere of consciousness is just a process of functioning, and while the “mind” of a person will dream up notions about separation or differentiation, none exists. The process just keeps on happening.
A religion or a philosophy, a state or a nation, a hero or a villain . . . all are just part of the process of functioning that has been marred by the adoption of dualistic beliefs and concepts which are stored in the mind. All those are just dreamed up names, and all such dreamed up labels (dreamed up and then stored in that accumulation of corruptions called "the mind") generate a false sense of reality.
The "journey" aims to put you fully in touch with reality. To be out of touch with reality is to be insane. This "journey" is about once again being in touch with reality in order to be free of the bondage of the illusions and the effects of the falsehoods of “a mind” exposed to years of acculturation.
Among religions and philosophies, there is no other means that can produce the necessary brain-flush save completion of the entire Advaita “journey” which invites the dissolution of all of the contamination that is “the mind.”
Ultimately, the Direct Path Method is the method of teaching that has the "goal" of becoming the non-teaching by way of un-teaching.
Natural (Nisarga) living happens when the brain and consciousness and intuitive sense inspire self-constructive behavior (relatively speaking); unnatural and supernatural living happen when the brain and blocked consciousness and fiction-filled “mind” drive self-destructive behaviors (relatively speaking) or nonsensical behavior.
Nisarga functioning is naturally simple, naturally light; unnatural and supernatural living are complex and burdensome and weighty.
The Nisarga Yoga, used here in combination with the Direct Path Method of teaching the Advaita understanding, invites seekers to be aware of the way that
(1) programming and conditioning and acculturation and domestication and indoctrination and brainwashing have inspired the drive to live unnaturally and induced efforts to live supernaturally;
and to be aware that
(2) there is an alternate means of abidance throughout the manifestation that allows for movement through the relative existence with a natural ease and grace and calmness and freedom and peace.
Living in the Nisarga Fashion
The Nisarga Yoga, in conjunction with the Direct Path Teaching Method that can lead to Full Realization, offers a direct but very specific route to an understanding that results in a natural way of AS IF living (that is, to a natural way of functioning).
That leads to living / functioning spontaneously for the remainder of the manifestation,
(1) knowing that the “world” is illusory
but
(2) living as if any of “all this” matters.
(Thus, employment can happen even without the assumption of an "employee" persona.)
To further understand the Nisarga Yoga, consider what the Advaita poet William Shakespeare wrote:
“The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre observe degree, priority, and place. Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, office, and custom, in all line of order.”
Natural living recognizes that the laws of nature have the right of "insisture":
either
(a) life is lived naturally according to the “customs” of the universe
or
(b) persons violating the natural “order” will collapse and self-destruct.
The realized move through the relative existence in a manner that is fixed by nature even though they appear to be moving as they please.
Rather than trying to exert any force, they accept that happenings happen. Among the realized, nature has “priority” over efforts to control or manipulate.
The realized abide within the framework of the natural laws that have “insisture,” understanding that all is to happen per the natural order and also understanding that all is to happen in “proportion.”
Persons (the non-realized, attached to what they have learned and attached to a host of personal identifications), on the other hand, seek to control and manipulate so they will not have to accept “proportion.” They work to accumulate and to have more and to appear to be greater than what is proportional. They imagine that they have an actual need for more than is proportional or necessary.
The realized move along lines that are “customary” rather than along paths that are unnatural or supernatural. To think supernaturally is to think magically, and magical thinking is delusional.
The Advaitin Shakespeare also said: “ . . . There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Understand the implications of that pointer via syllogistic reasoning:
“Good vs. bad” duality can only happen via thinking.
If there is no thinking, then there can be no (belief in) duality.
Thinking is of the “mind.”
The presence and use of “the mind” leads to thinking which, in turn, leads to dualistic beliefs.
If the intent is to end belief in duality, then thinking must end.
If thinking is to end, then “the mind” must end.
To put to an end "the mind"—that is, and end to believing the false content which has been stored in a portion of the brain—does not end the brain; nor must the brain's functioning end. To put an end to "the mind" does not mean that the consciousness must un-manifest.
The understanding in this regard is this:
Consciousness is rooted in the Absolute (at that point, as unmanifested Awareness with the potential to be aware of). The brain is rooted in the elements. The "mind" is rooted in faulty programming and faulty conditioning and lies and concepts and ideas and superstitions and falsehoods.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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