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 answers have been already been offered in the ebook WHEN ONLY THREE HOURS OF MANIFESTATION REMAIN (The "Final" Talks Of Floyd Henderson)
Today's post will offer answer #8 to the question, "What is this non-duality deal all about anyway?" Answer #8: "This deal is about understanding what you are not."
Understand What You Are Not
[When Maharaj was using a religious / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine, and when he was using a spirituality / non-dual compounded version of the Ultimate Medicine, he followed the trend at the time in the Far East and recommended that seekers engage in "SELF-Enquiry," turning their focus from things relative and phenomenal and focusing only on things spiritual and Noumenal.
When he came to understand that the Ultimate Sickness is neither a "too-little-dogma illness" nor a "spiritual malady" and when he came to see that the Sickness is totally centered in the mind, then he began offering a psychology / non-dual compounded version of the Medicine and began recommending that seekers engage in a "self-enquiry" (that is, in a "false-self enquiry") and find out what they are not.
In other words, he recommended that seekers shift beyond the playing of the "good roles" at the third step on the "path" - namely, "The Super Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," and "The Super Seeker" - and move to the next step where one is merely being without any beliefs about "being this" or "being that."
In the Far East, that next step has long been called "The Child Ignorance Stage." Here, it is referred to as "The Child No-Knowing State."
While Maharaj continued to offer pointers from all seven steps on "the path," he made this clear to those who could not - for one reason or another - complete all of those steps: "It is enough to know who you are not."]
Earlier, this consideration was offered:
If the end of the search for labeling comes with the understanding that you are nothing, what is to seek? The only thing to seek is that understanding. Then, being label-free and identity free, the remainder of the abidance can happen naturally, simply, sanely, and rationally . . . without the burden of the egotism and conceit that accompany the assumption of "noble" identities.
With nothing more to do, the illusion of the "do-er" can end and what then begins is the mere beingness - marked not by anything unnatural and not by anything thought to be supernatural but only by that which is nisargan / natural. Most will never seek the answer to the question "Who Am I, Really?"
Among the few who do seek, few will ever find the answer . . . for a host of reasons. Primary among those reasons is the fact that they are asking the wrong question to begin with: There is no "WHO" and there is no "WHO-ness." The legitimate question to ask is, "WHAT Am I, Really?" The answer, mentioned earlier, is a "composite unity of elements, air, and -conscious-energy."
Of course that has to do with the relative. What of those seekers that might complete the seven steps to that allows the identification to shift from the false "I" to the Absolute? I have been here for the coming together of all universes, and so have You. If you choose to identify with the Absolute in this particular universe - that field of energy / Awareness from which all specks of consciousness manifest - with what can you identify prior to the field manifesting? You Were even prior to that. And what was prior to that? The Void, then some other universe, then some other Void, then some other universe, ad infinitum.
Because all is energy, matter, energy / matter, and since neither of those can be created nor destroyed, they have always been, even prior to the formation of this universe. Where were you prior? What were you prior? The answer: Merely matter / energy that has been cycling eternally. So you were, possibly; then you were not; then you were possibly; then you were not, maybe, ad infinitum, as one temporary speck of Am-ness manifested (or not) during an interim that temporarily intervened upon the THAT-ness.
Because Reality is a no concept, no-identity, non-dual Reality, then what is with all of this identity-seeking? [That will be a far-too-radical pointer for most seekers, wanting as they do to define and re-define their self-ness (or supposed "Self-ness." So it is.] To find That which one is, one must find that which "one" has always been. And to find That which "one" has always been, You must first find all that you are not because it is all that you are not which blocks the seeing of that which has always been.
Next, because all of those not-you's are the present source of all misery and suffering, there is only one logical conclusion that can be drawn: if you would be free of misery and suffering, then you must know those not-you's and end once and for all their influence over your thoughts and words and deeds. To be influenced and driven and controlled by the not-you's would be no different from being influenced and driven and controlled by a mirage in the road ahead while driving through the desert. Consider this illustration:
As mentioned here on occasion, 59% of all women murdered annually in the U.S. are killed by one claiming at some point to have "loved" them: "The Lover" or "The Boyfriend" or "The Husband" or "The Common Law Husband," etc. When are those women killed 59% of the time? When they try to leave their "Lover" or "Boyfriend" or "Husband" or "Common Law Husband," etc. (By the way, the women are "catching up" nowadays: 41% of all males killed in the U.S. are killed by a woman during a breakup.) Why do such murders happen?
Because in the example above, the male involved really believes that the not-him is Him, and all not-him's (and not-you's) require a codependent counterpart, a person willing to play the other part in any dualistic pairing. "The Husband" can only "exist" (in his "mind") if that role has one willing to play "The Wife." If "The Wife" determines that she is no longer willing to play the role that reinforces the illusion of "Husband-ness" in the "mind" of the male involved with her, then all "Husband" role-playing will end. He can no longer be a "Husband"; he can only be an "Ex-Husband," in his "mind."
Identified with that role, the one playing "The Husband" will believe that he is actually being attacked and will believe that he is about to be destroyed. In the warped game of role-assumption, insanity can reach such a level of severity that one mirage can come to believe that it can be assailed and annihilated by another mirage. Talk about the insanity of duality and the insanity of believing in dualistic concepts and ideas and identities.
So consider: if the one playing "The Husband" in that example were to come to understand that He is not a "Husband," then he would not feel threatened and would not feel driven to lash out in defense of a culturally-assigned and culturally-encouraged mirage. If none of the people in relationships in the U.S. ever Realized Fully but were at least to understand what they are not, then 59% of all women killed annually would not be killed, and 41% of all men killed annually would not be killed. And none of those people would have to understand anything about Realization for that to happen.
Consider also the impact on the relative existence if only persons were at least to understand what they are not, even if they never find the answer to "Who - or What - Am I, Really?"
To be continued.
NEW OFFER:
Watch an updated seven-hour streaming video of a retreat with Floyd Henderson which can be viewed by anyone with internet access. (In this video, all seven of the steps on "the path" as taught by Maharaj are explained and discussed.)
If interested, click the button below to pay the fee via PayPal. You will then receive an email which includes the link for you to view the private, unlisted video via an arrangement we have made with YouTube, Inc. You do not have to have a YouTube account to watch this privately streamed video.
(If you do not receive the link promptly, your computer or email provider may have high filter settings. Check your spam and trash folders because some providers automatically transfer emails containing links to those folders.)
To access the seven-hour streaming video of a retreat and begin watching right away, click this "Buy Now" button:
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 3,200+ posts for any topics of interest to you.
