TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
[See the offer following this post for details on how you can watch on a video of a retreat the discussion of all seven of the steps on the path used by Maharaj]
To continue with the reply to the question, "So what else is this deal all about?" some additional answers have been offered in the ebook WHEN ONLY THREE HOURS OF MANIFESTATION REMAIN (The "Final" Talks Of Floyd Henderson)
and will be included in this current series because they also answer the question being addressed.
Before moving to answer #7 in the discussion regarding "what this deal is really all about," there is a "back story" behind that book from which excerpts will be shared. There were some events which inspired the sharing of the pointers in that book - discussed in some detail, later - but for now, the way that book came into being will be shared:
In October of 2011, there was a problem with this plant food body that involved a combination of (1) a 95% blockage in the left anterior descending artery and (2) internal hemorrhaging that had lowered the hemoglobin rate from its preferred range of 12-16 for a male to a rate near 7.0.
The doctors completed two exploratory surgeries seeking (unsuccessfully) the origin of the bleeding, along with the transfusion of many units of plasma, along with angioplasty, and along with the placement of a stent in the LAD. Then, claiming that "bleeding often stop on its own" (and my insurance having reached its maximum coverage for this event), they sent me home.
It only took four days of using the blood thinners which they ignorantly prescribed out of habit to aggravate the undiscovered wound where the internal hemorrhaging had originated and where it continued to bleed in order to send this plant food body staggering back into the office of the cardiologist in an even-worse condition than before.
A speedy processing of a blood sample revealed that the red blood cell rate had dropped from 7.0 to 4.7 as a result of the increased flow of blood which the blood thinners caused.
(Two nurses explained that it was impossible that I had walked into their office with a 4.7 red blood cell rate, especially after having surgeries and after the placement of a stent that could include complications triggered by the need to stop the use of blood thinners. The reply: "Don't know what to tell you, ladies, except that my best recollection is that I did walk in here on my own.")
The doctor called for a wheelchair and gave the nurses instructions to bypass the admissions office of the adjacent hospital and to take me directly to ICU and to have a nurse begin an IV and administer what would become a total of seven more units of blood.
In a discussion with my daughter and friends who had come to check on the body's condition, the doctor's prognosis that night was not positive. It was learned later that the doctor was seemingly very concerned and was also mystified when he was told by my one of my friends that he could relax in the fact that "if floyd makes it, that will be okay with him, and if he does not make it, that will be okay with him as well."
Yes, the doctor was taken aback, but he asserted that his intentions did not parallel that sentiment. The next two days were described by those tending to this plant food body to be "touch-and-go," especially after the doctors diagnosed an additional complication as a result of anemia, namely, damage to the left ventricular valve that has already been generating a heart murmur since the age of fifteen.
Some five so-called "critical" weeks after completion of the procedures on the heart and on internal organs, the doctors were still nervously monitoring the state of the stent and watching to see whether or not blood clots would form in the absence of blood thinners and baby aspirins which could not be used. Meanwhile, the condition of the body as it was being witnessed in "my way" was still being viewed with the attitude that "whatever unfolds in whatever way it unfolds is merely how it's going to unfold." But what do those hospitalizations have to do with this book being written?
During that stay, a call came from a man who engaged is certain pleasantries and some inquiries about the condition of the body and the prognosis for what he termed "my survival"; however, it soon became clear that there was more that he wanted to discuss (though he was being sheepish about revealing the actual motive behind his call).
Recognizing that there was some embarrassment or awkwardness around what he wanted, it was suggested that he say what he wanted to say. He continued to hesitate as he tried to find a way to ask delicately and tactfully what he felt was going to be clumsy at best and possibly insensitive or unfeeling or rude at the worst. Finally, with additional encouragement, he said it:
"I was wondering if there might be something that you would be willing to say to those who have been following your blog or reading your books or coming to you for satsang or retreats over the years. I don't want you to think I want to profit from the sale of a video or tape recording or book of transcripts of what you might be willing to share, but it seems that maybe there might be some . . . "
As his paused, it seemed as if it might not end his statement. Then he was asked: "You mean, maybe there might be some 'last words' or some remaining elements of the teachings that have not yet been shared which you could compile in a book and publish after I take mahasamadhi?"
That question was followed by boisterous laughter (with which he did not join). Then, “You prompted a recollection of an old cartoon image of vultures circling above a fellow who was crawling across a desert with only minutes to live.”
His reply was something to this effect: "It's just that - considering all of the talks and writings that have provided so many in-depth explanations and discussions - maybe there might be a call to give 'the short version' . . . kind of a 'one-two punch' to all relative falsehoods, and a succinct pointing to the Real."
“In other words,” he continued, “what would you say if you knew for a fact that only three hours of the manifestation remained? I mean, what would you say if you knew you were offering your final talks? For those of us that you've invited to continue sharing the non-duality message but who cannot possibly offer the detailed explanations you do, what can we say that will get to the heart of things in a way that we can provide after you're gone?”
The reply: "So after all of the conversations we're shared about non-duality, the best you can come up with right now is the notion that it has been 'I' - rather than the consciousness - that has been speaking or writing or sharing? And you think that you need to be able to tell any seekers who might come to you something that 'I' said that they need to hear, rather than you sharing your own 'experience' and understanding?
"The fact is, if only three hours of the manifestation remained, the case here would be the same as the case was with Maharaj at the end of the manifestation of that speck: he entered into the silence, not into more talking."
He: "What I'm asking for is some sort of condensation. You tell 'this' to a seeker at one point on the 'path,' but you tell 'that' to a different seeker at a different point on the 'path.' All I'm asking for is what you would tell those who have taken all seven steps on the 'path' but who still need to hear something more in order to get the total message."
The reply: "Maharaj shared at the end many pointers that differed from what he had told seekers all along the way as he shifted from emphasizing one yoga after another." Silence. Then, "Arrangements have been made with a company in Houston to cremate this body after the manifestation ends. If I walk out of this hospital instead of being transported by an employee of that company, then I'll take your request under advisement."
The result of that exchange is this book. The word "final" is in quote marks because the discussions herein might not be the actual final talks at all; however, if it were determined that any such final talks should happen at this point, the content of this book would be the subject matter of those talks.
So, there you have it. The points offered in this book also help answer the question, "What is this non-dual deal really all about anyway?"
Tomorrow the discussion will continue with answer #7 to the question, "What is this non-duality deal all about anyway?" Answer number 7: "This deal is about sharing a simple treatment plan for a far-from-simple global Sickness which has become quite complex in its nature."
To be continued.
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