TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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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:
Why, Even After Everything Else, "The Vision" Was Still Required for AS IF Living to Manifest
The point was offered that it took a vision which came one afternoon while in the theta state of consciousness to finally "break the code" being used by so many teachers.
Maharaj asked: "Are you talking from your own experience or from books only? Your book knowledge is useful to begin with, but soon it must be given up for direct experience."
"The Vision," provided the first-hand, direct "experience" which was required.
What is offered here is based in direct experience. No one need read and master the content of anything erroneously called "a holy text." In an age when travel has become so expensive that seekers cannot always sit with a teacher face-to-face, might certain books as mentioned by Maharaj help uncover that which is being sought? A few can.
But here, it was - in the end - that direct experience via a vision which allowed for the understanding that did not come from reading scores of books by those Maharaj dismissed as "the big name teachers." That direct experience understanding is what is being shared here.
As noted, the content of the vision allowed for an understanding of the fact that "the journey" has three parts or legs; and, an understanding of exactly how that "journey" must happen; and, an understanding of what happens after "the journey" is completed so that the remainder of the relative existence can happen in a not-insane, non-stupid, not-ignorant, non-fluctuating, non-chaotic, not-unstable fashion and in a totally AS IF manner.
[How widespread is the present need for an effective treatment plan for the Ultimate Sickness which is marked by "insanity, stupidity, ignorance" (per Maharaj) and by psychological and mental fluctuations, chaos, and instability?
Artist and political illustrator Jon Berkeley of Dublin, Ireland summed up the current global "mindset" when he observed, "The supply of weapons-grade lunacy in every corner of the globe seems to have ramped up."
Yes, just "ramped up" because the lunacy among humans on the planet has already long been present; however, rarely in the modern history of humanity on planet earth have there been so many national leaders who have come into power at the same time and who are
(1) all modeling through-the-roof levels of the key symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity" and whose followers are
(2) relating to and embracing and espousing their leaders' through-the-roof levels of "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity" and then increasing and amplifying that "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity" into even higher levels.
If there happened to be intelligent beings presently exploring the planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, those in their Mission Control Center will have surely already coded into their guidance systems a message which pops up anytime the space travelers are on a course to intercept planet earth which would warn: "Detour! Detour! Current heading will lead you into a Totally Batshit Crazy Zone of Abject Darkness Where You Will Be Hated and Slaughtered Because You Appear to Be Different! You must take evasive action! Detour now!"
And that is the message which "realized teachers" have been offering for centuries:
Abandon the path you have been on and re-route onto a path which will allow you to avoid the ignorance which you have been taught and the insanity which has been forced upon you.
In addition to Berkeley, another Dublin, Ireland political activist and playwright named George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) also saw the mental condition of the masses on planet earth long before Berkeley saw it.
When Shaw was asked if he believed that there was intelligent life on other planets, his answer went something like this:
Of course there is - and they are using earth as their insane asylum.
One of G.B. Shaw's older covers:
One of Jon Berkeley's newest covers:
And of course the consciousness is registering another linkage with Dublin because that is where my Grandfather's relatives sailed from in the late 1840's to reach the U.S. As with Shaw and Berkeley, my Irish-heritage Grandfather was not one who ever suffered fools gladly because he never arrogantly saw himself as being exceptionally wise, though by many accounts he seemed to relish the specks of wisdom which Grandmother received via her Cherokee elders and shared with him.
He, too, marched to the beat of a different drummer, rebelling against those who were among the white, anti-indigenous-peoples and marrying a woman of Native American heritage.
Some of those who were starving during the Irish potato famine were able to book steerage class passage on an ocean liner and find their way to the U.S. Many of them seemed to share with the indigenous peoples the ability to see farther and to see more clearly than most of the other typical white, European occupiers of this land. Why?
It was explained to me that by the time Grandmother and Grandfather met, both the Irish and the Native Americans had been exposed to the Ultimate Sickness which the British had been spreading around the globe throughout their "Age of Colonialism" as they invaded and occupied foreign lands and controlled some 25% of the people on the planet.
That left both grandparents with first-hand experiences with duality and insane and arrogant leaders which allowed those grandparents to understand the curse of duality and the effects which nations can exert when they and their leaders display the kind of ruthlessness which all sociopathic and psychopathic leaders - and their followers - display.]
To continue:
What happens after the third leg of the "the journey" is completed is . . . AS IF living, living AS IF anything in the relative matters but knowing via a new perspective that it is all really just much ado about nothing; however, that point must be clarified so that nihilism and numbness do not manifest. Dancing is much ado about nothing as well, but it can nevertheless be quite entertaining.
After the third leg of "the journey" is complete, the "fully realized" do not miss out on entertainment. They relish it. They share it. Lightness replaces heaviness, and fun replaces drabness, and the Fully Realized invite all to join them in dancing lightly and having fun.
The understanding of the functioning of the totality comes when seekers "go back" and revisit the Absolute by following the exact steps by which they came in, but in reverse order, of course. And it is the subsequent understanding of the functioning of the totality that puts all in perspective, including THAT and "this" as well, "this" being the relative existence . . . this AM-ness . . . this beingness.
After that, then a natural mode of living replaces the former unnatural and supernatural modes of living. Consider the 14 million-year history of human-like or human beings on the planet: was it natural for those early humans to burn incense, or hum or chant, or knell and rise and knell, or bang on special bowls on special pillows with special sticks to "help them make it through the night" (as so many nowadays are not able to do at all in a natural manner - most among the masses instead being unable to sleep, unable to rest, unable to stop the noisy "mind," unable to be at peace at all)?
Or did they simply live? They lived, and according to anthropological research, they lived in a simple and natural manner: they slept, they awoke, they spent approximately 2.5 hours per day involved with "the necessities" of food hunting or food gathering (according to anthropologists); also, they had sex and procreated, and they faced what had to be faced when relative events became challenging events. And through it all, they had no "holy texts" to guide them, and they needed none.
And because you are now sitting before a screen and reading this, you are evidence of the fact that millions of years of living naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally actually worked. They "made it," and they made it without any of the drama of unnatural living and without the needless effort and unnatural restrictions of trying to live supernaturally.
Yes, early on, Maharaj did reference certain points from certain texts, but in the end he only shared by way of what he called his "own experience."
"I am telling you from experience," he said.
The same is the case here, even though it is known, paradoxically, that there is no "experiencer" at all except to this degree:
Maharaj: "Behold, the real 'experiencer' is not the mind, but myself, the Light in which everything appears. [The True] Self is the common factor at the root of all experience, the awareness in which everything happens," (that "True Self" being nothing more than the Pure Witnessing).
Consider as well:
Maharaj: "Can you truly say you were not before you were born, and can you possibly say when dead ‘Now I am no more’? You cannot say from your own experience that you are not. You can only say ‘I am’."
That is a marker of the AS IF living that happens when the Nisarga Yoga's core message is understood. You can only say (or know) "I am." The deer know that same "I am"; the birds know that same "I am"; the fish know that same "I am." And how simply and naturally do the deer and birds and fish live? Totally.
And how simply and naturally do the non-realized masses live? Not simply or naturally at all. Now, one seeker asked this: "You and Maharaj share non-duality teachings. Cavemen did not do that. How can you say you are living naturally?" The most basic and relevant fact is this: no "one" is sharing or teaching.
Post-realization, Pure Wisdom and Pure Love manifest. It is natural for Wisdom (via the True Self, that is, via the Pure Witnessing) to witness what is happening and to recognize words and thoughts and behaviors which are evidence of nonsense and self-deception and ignorance and distortion.
That happens even as those being driven by such thoughts and words and deeds are sure that their thoughts are right and their beliefs are right and what they are saying is sensible and not at all self-deceiving and not ignorant but wise and free of any distortion at all.
It is wisdom alone which provides the ability to differentiate the true from the false, so that happens when the consciousness detects falsehoods. Then, True Love takes over and the consciousness - not a teacher and not a guru and not a person - might speak (and if it does, then it speaks from the platform of Pure Awareness).
It is True Love, speaking in that fashion, which accounts for the sharing of these teachings, and what is seen or heard is what inspires the various pointers offered.
For example, some person might have been heard saying something that evidenced such a level of narcissism and arrogance that it shocked the unblocked consciousness into offering a pointer toward the humble truth; or some person might have spoken of "their lover" or "their spouse" with unbelievably glowing words (words that showed such delusion, words that revealed so many outlandish misperceptions, and words that exposed such a denial of the facts before one's very eyes) that the unblocked consciousness here will speak and try to point to the truth that is actually 180-degrees opposite of what is being stated;
or some person might have been making statements that amounted to such a blatant distorting of the facts and such a desire to put a spin on reality that the consciousness spontaneously and automatically attempts to redirect the speaker toward the truth. (In almost all cases, though, the hidden fears and desires of their personalities will block persons from hearing pointers to truth that run contrary to their motives and agendas.)
But note: as that which is rooted in Pure Wisdom and True Love is happening spontaneously on one front, on another front this composite unity called "floyd" - functioning in an AS IF manner - eats and sleeps and laughs and plays and enjoys conversation on occasion and loves the silence on occasion and delights in sex-that-expresses-the-shared-sense-of-Oneness on occasion; it is also via that composite unity that a few jokes or some humorous observations are shared in order to lighten the day of other composite unities that might be encountered.
And that is all totally natural. It is all a part of the AS IS mode of living that follows the completion of all three legs of "the journey." So, what is to be understood at this point about AS IF living?
In the glossary of terms in the back of the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, the following is offered in regards to AS IF Living:
AS IF Living: The style of living that the Realized exhibit, seemingly living like persons but without persons’ attachments, delusions, and emotional intoxication; the manner in which the Realized “finish out” the manifestation, meeting “responsibilities” and providing for the space while knowing full well that “this world” is nothing more than an imagining in the distorted perceptions of persons;
AS IF Living: a lifestyle that is unencumbered with detachment and emotional intoxication and belief in the lies of the culture; a lifestyle free of game playing and image perpetuation; a lifestyle unmarred by the emotions and emotional intoxication experienced by persons; a lifestyle during which the Realized can witness feelings rise and fall without any emotional intoxication, without reacting, without over-reacting, and without setting off a chain of reactions (as happens with persons);
AS IF Living: a lifestyle free of the misery that is generated by the desires / fears of personas.
While functioning in an “AS IF fashion,” the consciousness can register feelings but will not register emotions and emotional intoxication (such intoxication being limited to the domain of ego-states).
Consider: Maharaj, though abiding in an AS IF fashion, might appear to have been emotionally-intoxicated when he threw out of his loft those who showed up as an ego-state and who were trapped in egotism and wanted to show off their spiritual knowledge (a.k.a., learned ignorance). He was not emotional. That speck of consciousness knew that an arrogance-free, ego-free environment was required for the other visitors to receive a message about being arrogant-free and ego-free.
So, the pointers offered here are rooted in Nisarga Yoga—the teachings which invite persons to be rid of their belief in the fallacious body-mind-personality triad and to then live naturally, to take it easy, to relax, to just BE and to forget the illusion of DOING or needing to DO or the existence and experiences of a DO-ER.
(By the way: such pointers will appear to be very strange to those who are trying to follow a knowledge path, a worship path, an action path, or a service path. So it is. Those paths are available for discussion elsewhere.)
To be continued.
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