TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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To continue with the reply to the question, "So what else is this deal all about?" some answers have already been offered in the eBook WHEN ONLY THREE HOURS OF MANIFESTATION REMAIN (The "Final" Talks Of Floyd Henderson) .
Today, answer #12 to the question "What is this non-duality deal all about anyway?" is this:
It is about coming to realize that on the "journey" away from body and mind and personality identification to reaching a state of full realization (which Maharaj said is "nothing more than being freed of all learned ignorance") that
a. most seekers seem to need to play for a time the supposedly "good" personas associated with the religion of their parents and need to play for a time the supposedly "good" personas associated with whatever they take "spirituality" to be but that
b. in the end, all personalities / roles / false identities / false "Identities,' etc. must be abandoned in order to be freed of all ignorance and distortion and delusion.
RELIGION / SPIRITUALITY: Try It, But Don't Buy It, Part One
As with Maharaj and many other teachers and sages and philosophers both past and present, the case here was that religion and spirituality had to be tried, typically being one part of the overall "journey." But also, as with those teachers and sages and philosophers, it was realized here that religion and spirituality are merely way-stations along the "path," not the final destination.
Maharaj made clear in his final talks that (a) the religious messages that marked the early days of his "teaching career" as well as (b) his focus on things religious and spiritual - such as much of what is shared in the book I AM THAT - did not provide the restoration to sanity and the total Nisargan understanding which at the end of his "teaching days" he was inviting protégés to grasp.
He said of I AM THAT: "That book, and whatever was expounded at that time, was only relevant for that period. I am speaking differently today" and am "emphasizing different aspects." What he offered later differed considerably from his earlier talks, making clear that the pointers in I AM THAT will take you to the midpoint of "the race" but that his final talks point the way to "the finish line."
Thus, he said:
“When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved"
and
"Forget spirituality"
and
Follow your "normal inclinations," that is, follow your natural tendencies, abandon all spiritual work, and just abide naturally rather than unnaturally or supernaturally (i.e., neither "religiously" nor "spiritually" nor "philosophically")
and
"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud"
and
He told visitors, "Do your normal duties"
and
"just give up spirituality."
The final message here on the subject is the same. For most on the planet, the religious and spiritual way-stations located near the midpoint of the "journey" are mistaken for that which awaits at the actual end of the "path."
In the seven steps which Maharaj discussed and which are discussed here, the steps required to shift seekers beyond their identification with the false i" and to an understanding of the Absolute, the religious and / or the spiritual step is included as the third of seven steps.
During the early stages of the "journey," something must shift the focus of a person away from the physical only to a consideration of things metaphysical; that is, there must come at least a glimpse of the noumenal that can shift one's focus beyond the phenomenal alone.
If that does not happen, then the 97% on the planet who claim an affiliation with some organized religion will be joined by you in their deception and in their supernatural / religious / spiritual trance.
That trance, in turn, will support the belief in fairy tales about a highly-contradictory god who purportedly "loves you unconditionally" but who will, nevertheless, cast you into eternal flames which will provide physical torture forever and which will also assure that you will be mentally and emotionally and psychologically miserable forever as well
or
will force you to endure additional miserable manifestations until you work off your "negative karma."
The religious / spiritual trance will also result, almost assuredly, in the schizophrenia referenced in the previous chapter, and the relative existence of those assuming the ego-state of "The Wonderful Religious Person" or "The Spiritual Giant" or "The Faithful One" or "The True Believer" will be marked and marred by hallucinations which inspire the "self-reported imaginings" discussed previously.
Then, those in their trance will associate only with others who believe in God - or in gods and goddesses - and they will all reinforce each others' tendencies to engage in the socially-acceptable, self-reported imaginings that 97% on the planet practice.
Next, suppose a seeker asked the following:
"Because only limited opportunity is available for You to give me the key understandings that I must grasp if I am to Realize and be free of all nonsensical beliefs, what are the basic essentials that I must understand?"
In addition to the basic essentials - including pointers regarding the personality defects, inanity, learned ignorance, and insanity which are rooted in dualistic beliefs - there would have to be the invitation to see that religion and / or spirituality cannot even take you to the midpoint of the "path" to Full Realization.
Several years ago, the following pointer was offered to a woman from St. Louis, Missouri in the U.S.:
"Cassandra, there is no god that created humans; humans created god (or gods and goddesses) to alleviate their fears and to fulfill their desires."
(Maharaj said, "First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you.")
Her reply:
C.: "Floyd, millions of people cannot be wrong about their belief in God."
F.: “You’re right. Millions aren’t wrong."
C.: "Exactly."
F.: "Actually, it is billions who are wrong, and it is trillions upon trillions of others who have been wrong in the past.”
I was "fired" as "her teacher" immediately. Those trapped in their attachment to the bogus "conventional wisdom" cannot tolerate an invitation to consider any other possibilities.
The term "conventional wisdom" mentioned earlier refers to that body of conventional - but most unwise - beliefs and ideas and concepts that the ignorant unquestioningly accept as truth; therefore, there really is no such thing as "conventional wisdom." There is only a collection of conventionally-accepted beliefs which are false but are accepted as truth by 99.99% of the planet's population.
By contrast, the realized believe nothing and have the wisdom to understand that they are nothing . . . that they are identity-less.
Around the planet, some of the myths of the last 5,000 years have been debunked and set aside, though the especially ignorant still cling to their belief in many "old wives' tales" and fiction-based superstitions;
in many cases, the roots of such nonsense date back to the days when pagan religious leaders dreamed up nonsensical explanations to try to explain to their followers what they did not have the science or the facts to understand.
(For example, "I'll have sex with a virgin, cut out her heart, eat her body, drink her blood, pass it among the crowd so you can do the same, and in that act of communing with the angry Rain God, we will please Him and our crops will be saved."
Last Sunday, two billion Christians around the globe reenacted that barbaric ritual and believed that they were communing with "their one true God" by eating the body and drinking the blood of "His Son." And their institutionalized normalization of vampirism and cannibalism are accepted by two billion people who do not raise even one question about, or the slightest objection to, the practice or its pagan roots;
thus, those disgustingly-barbaric drink-blood and eat-flesh activities live on today via the wacky programming and weird conditioning which are passed on via the dogma that is being taught in millions of religious venues.)
For the most part, though, gone is the belief in Zeus and his troop of gods and goddesses, as is the belief in his Roman counterpart Jupiter and his fellow fictional deities. Gone is the notion that the planet is flat.
Gone is the widespread consensus that the carrying of a rabbit's foot or the knocking on a piece of wood with one's knuckles can protect a person or bring good luck; gone, too, for the most part is the belief that breaking a mirror or crossing the path of a black cat or the number "13" can bring back luck.
Yet the most outrageous legends and the silliest fables (as well as symbolic parables and stories that are still taken as fact) are being kept alive by "The Unquestioning Faithful" and "The Insanely Fanatical" who take great pride in their refusal to reconsider any of the outlandish tales and silly beliefs that they have been taught.
And now, as was the case in the earliest days of the pagan religions which evolved into the modern religions of today, many are willing to die to defend their religion-and-spiritually-based falsehoods and myths and superstitions.
Only is one sees that all dualities are false - and sees that no other source has provided as many dualistic concepts and ideas and beliefs as religion and spirituality - can one ever continue along the "path," understand non-duality completely, and realize fully.
Maharaj: "There are so many who take the dawn for the noon, a momentary experience for full realization, and destroy even the little they gain by excess of pride."
For most seekers, the religious and / or spiritual step must be taken, but for most of them, it will often be the last step taken, most believing falsely that they are standing in the full light of the noonday sun though they actually remain in the darkness, most believing that they have reached the mountaintop . . . most believing that they have arrived at their final destination.
They will then remain as deceived and as delusional as ever, or become even more so. Only a few will ever hear the invitation to move beyond and realize truly. So it is, but so it need not be for you.
To be continued.
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