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:
The Multiple Legs of "The Journey," Part One
[Be it seekers who are seeking via religion or seekers who are seeking via some spiritual program or spiritual methodology or spiritual path or via some "Advaita Vedantin path" or "Advaitin path" or "Vedantin path," most all of those see "the journey" as a single, linear track to follow from Point "A" to Point "B" with "B" being a destination to be reached at the end of the route.
The conceptualized "Point A to B journey" in some cases involves moving from a "sinful state" to a "moral state"; in others' perception, the journey involves moving from "being separated from God" to "being in contact with God"; per some notions, it involves moving away from "the dark night of the soul" and "into the light";
other theories suggest that it involves a shift from "the phenomenal" to "the Noumenal"; some suggest it's about moving away from "the self" (the false self) and to "The Self," "The Supreme Self," "The Infinite Self," ad infinitum; for some, the journey is about moving "away from the relative, from reality" and "to experiencing the Ultimate Reality" instead;
other theories suggest that it involves a shift from "the phenomenal" to "the Noumenal"; some suggest it's about moving away from "the self" (the false self) and to "The Self," "The Supreme Self," "The Infinite Self," ad infinitum; for some, the journey is about moving "away from the relative, from reality" and "to experiencing the Ultimate Reality" instead;
for others, the journey refers to moving "post-death" from "this world" to "another better, heavenly, glorious world" where persons spend eternity with a male God and a male Savior and a Holy Spirit - all in one? - where they can give to the Father and the Son and the Spirit the adoration and worship and admiration and veneration which is supposedly wanted and deserved;
for others, their supposition is that the journey is about moving from "a state of one or another kind of captivity which is being caused by a lack of Realization" to "a State of Liberation through Self-Realization"; for others, it involves moving away from being in "a 24 / 7 sleep state" and moving into "A State of Full and Constant Awakening"; etc., etc., etc.
The exception: The view of those who accept the teachings of Hinduism or who accept the Hindu-like teachings of other religions or movements or philosophies which is that "the journey" in not a singular, linear, one-time journey but is a series of journeys through a series of incarnations which can involve efforts to achieve Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha / Eternal Moksha / Eternal Release by cycling through a finite world and then eventually earn the right to abide in an infinite world. (And, yes, there are hundreds of other variations on those concepts and "goals.")
As for Maharaj's take, he spoke early on about a two-phase journey:
phase one involved the "coming in" journey from that field of specialized energy when conscious-energy manifested within a confined space, a manifestation which was triggered, among humans and other such life-forms, by an act of friction;
regarding phase two, he spoke of "the reverse" journey and "going back out" in "the exact reverse order" of the steps which brought one "in."
Here, there are discussed four phases overall with the coming-in journey involving the movement of energy into manifestation; then the reverse, going-back phase which allows for "realization"; the coming-back-in phase, where one takes the clear perspectives received in phase two and overlays them on the remainder of the relative existence;
then the third phase involves a movement through the rest of the manifestation without the encumbrances of learned ignorance and imposed insanity; and then comes the fourth phase during which the conscious-energy which was being circulated through a space returns to the universal pool of energy; during which the elements which were being circulated through a space return to the universal pool of elements; and during which the oxygen which was being circulated through a space returns to the universal pool of oxygen.
To believe that there is a journey which involves a single, linear track to follow in order to move from Point "A" to Point "B" is to miss out on the only "justification" for taking the journey at all, namely, (1) to be able to abide NOW in a sane and reasonable and logical manner for the remainder of the manifestation and for (2) the remainder of the manifestation to be devoid of constant chaos and instability and stress and misery and suffering.
And, in the case of the Hindu or Hindu-style exception, to abide in a manner which is freed of the delusion that there is some Celestial Bookkeeper In the Sky Who Is Logging Your Positive Karma and Negative Karma Totals Which Shall, In Turn, Govern Your Movement Through Supposedly Upcoming Cycles."
When his initial talks included elements to attract Hindus, and when his later talks included elements to attract Spiritual Giants from the West, Maharaj spoke of karma; eventually, he rejected all concepts, including religious-based concepts such as those regarding births and rebirths and reincarnations and multiple lives and karma and retribution, etc.
Even during his early days, he offered a glimpse into what he really understood:
Questioner: “Is it destiny that ordains?”
Maharaj: “Calling it destiny explains little. When it happens you cannot say why it happens and you merely cover up your ignorance by calling it ‘karma’ or ‘grace’ or ‘God's will’.”
Maharaj would identify karma as "a drug" and he said, “Only those who think themselves born can think themselves re-born.”
His contemporary Ramana Maharshi would also reached the same understanding. At that point, Ramana said, “Reincarnation exists only so long as there is ignorance. There is really no reincarnation at all, either now or before.”
Thus, Maharaj said: "A drop of water when it evaporates has become infinite. There is no death for anything. Everything finishes to become infinite. The idea of rebirth is a concept, because for something to be reborn something has to die. What is dead? Nothing is dead. Who is there to be reborn? No one was born." Do not allow that pointer to mislead you to believe that there is an "Infinite Self." What is infinite is energy-matter. What is not infinite is any self or Self.
So much for endless cycles or for a series of cycles or for advancing through cyclings or for declining through cyclings.]
To continue:
Are you beginning to understand why, here, the Direct Path Advaita teachings are not taught alone but are offered in conjunction with the Nisarga Yoga? So many seemingly arrive at the Absolute and claim identification with THAT, not at all free of identity, not overlaying Reality on the relative, and not living naturally in an AS IF fashion after having completed the "journey."
Fixating "there," they actually assume a new identity, such as "The Philosophical Giant," "The One Who Understands What Most Do Not," or "The One Who Is Different" (which indicates there is really no understanding at all).
For those who claim to have completed the seven step "journey" and arrived "there," many of those have been heard to claim that they are now abiding only "there" or "only as THAT."
Reaching those conclusions, they render the entire "journey" useless.
To go back - to reverse the way that one "came in" and then claim to stay "there" - then their having traveled the "path" is rendered worthless. For the supposedly realized to deny the AM-ness is just as delusional as it is for the non-realized to identify solely with the Am-ness.
Note these stages which explain the way this entire process is supposed to unfold:
PHASE ONE: THE "COMING IN"
There is first the "coming in" from that field of energy, manifesting, just being for a short period as a no-knowing child, then being assigned identities, then given a mind that is filled with nonsense, and then ultimately being reduced to body-mind-personality identification alone.
PHASE TWO: "THE REVERSE 'JOURNEY' GOING BACK OUT"
For the few that seek and find, there is "the going back," in the exact reverse order of the steps which brought one "in" initially and which eventually resulted in body-mind-personality identification.
PHASE THREE: "THE 'COMING BACK IN' FOR THE SECOND TIME"
Having returned "there" and having understood the functioning of the totality as a result of having seen the total cycle, one does not stay "there" (for that could only happen mentally, indicating that even the second step of the "journey" - the step which allows for transitioning beyond the influence of the fiction-filled "mind" - has not happened).
It was explained this way in one discussion of "The Vision" (which brought here the final clarity and that "Eureka! . . . Aha! moment" that opened the door to Full Realization):
After having returned to the Absolute, and then seen the perfect peace of the Void - of the Nothingness - which was even prior to THAT, one can (in the PHASE THREE: "THE 'COMING BACK IN' FOR THE SECOND TIME") bring that perfect peace back to the relative existence and overlay it on the remainder of the manifestation.
Having been beyond knowing and having enjoyed the no-knowing, no-knower state, then the unblocked consciousness can begin its second "journey" from THAT to "this," but nothing will be the same after having been "there" consciously and now returning in awareness rather than in ignorance (as was the case during the first "coming in" that resulted in identifying with the body and mind and personality).
Now, the "second trip in" happens with clarity as clear, pure witnessing takes place, allowing all to be understood; as the movement into the peaceful child-that-knows-not stage happens; as You see the way religious or spiritual roles were assigned to the child;
as you see the way a "mind" filled with nonsense came about; as you see exactly the way that you ended up identifying with a plant food, elemental body the first time "in."
Now, having seen all of that, nothing is perceived as it was before: You know that you are no persona, that you are neither good nor bad, that you are neither black nor white nor any color, that you are neither evil nor noble.
You can look back over your shoulder, so to speak, and see All and understand All. Then, you will live AS IF, as if any of this matters, as if any of "this" is important, while knowing that it is not, even as you move through the remainder of the relative existence in a sane, non-destructive, Loving fashion (for True Love, too, will have been overlaid upon the relative as a result of the Oneness having been understood).
You will then enjoy the remainder of the relative existence as a result of all that you came to understand on the "journey," but now, the "journey" to THAT is over and it is time to relish the freedom that allows for the enjoyment of the remainder of the manifestation.
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 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 what the relative existence can offer.
If the seven-step "journey back in - now for the second time - is not undertaken, allowing an entirely new experience to happen in the relative, then why go "there" in the first place?
Only HERE and NOW can the bliss be known. Only during the AM-ness can the bliss happen. Only the relative existence can provide an opportunity for the fruits of the "journey" to be enjoyed.
When the consciousness finally unmanifests as mahasamadhi is taken - and when it "returns there" and is reunited with that universal pool of specialized energy known as "awareness" or the Absolute - then at that point there will be no "one" to know that or to know THAT or to experience the bliss or to experience anything else.
The only purpose of the "journey" to understanding THAT is to "return" to the AM-ness and to abide for the remainder of the relative existence in an AS IF fashion.
Otherwise, one will be as trapped in her or his "Philosophical Character" or in "The Knower Character" or in "The Different From Others Who Don't Understand What I Understand Character." Playing any of those roles, one will be as separated from "others" and as bound up in Subject-Object Witnessing as was the case prior to undertaking the "journey."
Finally, the fourth and final phase involves the phase governed by "The Second Law of Thermodynamics": "All that comes together will eventually come apart"; thus, the three parts of the composite unity will "journey" back into the pools from which they came before manifesting in - and cycling through - an elemental plant food body.
The invitation: Come home. Enjoy the freedom and independence. Enjoy the remainder of the relative by functioning spontaneously in an AS IF manner.
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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