TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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"In the realm of permanence, there is no WHO-ness, no personhood, and nothing personal. There is only WHAT-ness or THAT-ness, and all else remains imagined and dreamed up and illusory beliefs. Moreover, it is science which can not only make that clear but can also prove it is fact."
--Floyd Henderson
"Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is just opinion."
--Democritus
("Yes, "opinion" or ideas, concepts, imaginings, misperceptions, notions, distortions, delusions, thoughts, theories, and views, a.k.a., 'bogus beliefs'.")
--Floyd Henderson
The series will continue with a discussion of the way that personality-invoking "-ism's" are another source which generates a plethora of distortion-riddled beliefs:
Two Other Major Sources of False Beliefs
Again . . .
From the song, "Give Peace A Chance"
"This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m."
--John Lennon / Yoko Ono
". . . Stop imagining yourself to be 'this' or 'that.' Just be."
--Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
"Neti-Neti"
(Non-Duality Pointer to Identity-Less-Ness)
"Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period."
--Floyd Henderson
To review, these pointers were offered in the previous post:
1. The discussion of false beliefs is focusing on the two sources that presently result in more distortion and illusion and deception (and self-deception) than any others.
2. One source is the attachment of person's to their culture's "-ism's," and none have spawned more false beliefs and concepts and dualities during the last 5000 years than these and / or other "ism's" that are similar:
Judaism; Protestantism or Catholicism ; Islamism; Mormonism; Buddhism; Hinduism; Sikhism; Shintoism; Taoism; theism; montheism; polytheism; dogmatism; fundamentalism; paganism; puritanism; spiritualism; supernaturalism; mysticism; salvationism; separatism; etc.
3. The second source of a near-countless multiplicity of false beliefs is the source that involves one's "personal" beliefs, and little can better illustrate the toll of "personal" beliefs than an objective study of the state of what culture's call "personal relationships."
The beliefs associated with religious dogma or spiritual movement or philosophies or ideologies are - and always have been - "their" beliefs, not "your" beliefs. "They" passed them on, and the common practice around the globe is to demand that children accept all of "their" beliefs on faith alone, without questioning those beliefs at all.
As for one's "personal beliefs," those are beliefs that are also rooted in "their" beliefs but that are then expanded upon by one's own misperceptions and erroneous conclusions as images are believed to be real.
In either case, the beliefs rooted in those two sources are some of the most difficult to dislodge because they are always accompanied by an imaginary "payoff." Consider:
A. The belief in a "payoff" from a "personal god" (or gods and goddesses) triggers a near-infinite conglomeration of other beliefs about gaining power both now and later; about being "blessed" now and attaining life forever;
about the alleviation of personal fears and personal desires (that is, persona-based fears and desires); about receiving rewards now and forevermore while providing the means to avoid eternal punishment;
about the nobility of suffering; about a "payoff / payback" for donating money to the leaders of whatever "-ism's" are being attached to; about an entity that supposedly loves unconditionally but that will toss one into flames for eternity;
and about bogus timelines that ignore the scientific facts about the cycling of elements and energy and oxygen and, instead, speak of "birth (and / or 're-birth'), life, death, judgment, rewards or punishment now, and rewards or punishment forevermore." Then, consider:
B. The belief in "persons" (personas, false identities, roles, ego-states, etc.) and in "things personal," and the subsequent belief in a "payoff" for "a person" from "others persons" also triggers a near-infinite conglomeration of other beliefs and assumed personas including "The One Who Has Found Someone To Make Me Happy";
including "The Ones Who Are Going To Beat The Odds and Be Happy Together Forever"; including "The One Who Has Finally Found the Ideal Mate"; including "The One Who Is Finally Going To Be Loved In The Manner That Has Always Been Desired"; including "The One That Will Be Taken Care Of";
including "The One Who Is Finally Free As A Result Of Not Having To Work Because Another Has Been Found Who Is Willing To Provide The Lavish Lifestyle That Has Always Been Sought (And, By The Way, Deserved)"; or including "The One Whose Financial Woes Have Been Solved Because There Will Now Be Two Incomes To Cover Expenses";
including "The One Who Finally Has An Arrangement That Will Assure That My Physical Needs And Sexual Desires Will Finally Be Met On A Regular, Daily Basis; including beliefs about "The One Who Will Be Involved In Procreation And Creating Life And Being A Proud Parent And Making A Happy Family"; etc., etc., etc.
All of those "personal beliefs" take root in acculturation - in what one is led to believe not only can happen but also in what should happen in any given culture; yet such distorted beliefs flourish when bogus-and-misperception-based concepts manifest as a result of taking images for reality.
In the book Going Crazy, Going Sane, these pointers were offered regarding this topic: "In the 'early days' of a relationship and / or marriage, . . . the manifestations of the effects of personality disorders and / or mental illness [can be denied and taken] to be the exception rather than the rule," so conclusions such as this might be reached:
"My spouse (or parent or lover or friend) is not crazy - there are just some times every now and then when things build up and something snaps on occasion. And the same applies to me."
The point was made that, in a relationship or marriage, there will be a point at which images that had been taken to be reality will be seen to have been false images only, based in false conclusions and beliefs. At that point when such awareness occurs, the moment is pointed to with the expression, "The honeymoon is over."
"That expression points to the first moment when the phony images which (1) were being displayed when dating and which (2) were maintained during the days (or months, or years) following the wedding are seen to have been nothing more than phony images. The-honeymoon-is-over-moment happens when the formerly-hidden personality defects and the dark mental liabilities finally surface from behind the facade that had been maintained."
One's beliefs about another "person" might finally be seen to have been false; in some cases, the misperceptions and false beliefs can continue for decades; and in other cases, it is noted in that same book that " . . . the subtle degrees of mental and emotional illnesses will assure that they will often go undetected until all of the image-making and image-sustaining games can no longer be played."
What sets persons up for such deception? Personality-assumption. All personas have their basic fears and desires, and they will distort the ability to see accurately and will allow images to be mistaken for the real. In that book, the pointer is offered that "love is not blind; the case is that 'love' is color blind, unable to see red flags when they are being waved before one's very eyes; thus, the realized Advaitin's warning about . . . 'appearances'."
Again, the beliefs that are the least likely to ever be abandoned are those which involve imaginary payoffs for a "personal self" and those which involve imaginary payoffs from a "personal god" (or gods or goddesses) for a "personal self."
One key prerequisite for the freedom of belief-less-ness to manifest is the prior manifestation of desirelessness, and the prerequisite for desirelessness to manifest is an abandonment of personality . . . a discarding of all assumed identities which generate all false beliefs about "fear" and "desire" and "need."
To be continued.
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