TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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Of the non-dual understanding which Maharaj offered, what might explain why he initially estimated that "only 1 out of 100,000 will ever get this" but later said that "only 1 out of 1,000,000 will ever get this" and eventually - after decades of working with seekers - modified that guesstimate to "1 out of 10,000,000"?
Consider the enormity of the obstacles which one who works for 20 or 40 or 80 years with seekers of the non-dual understanding will witness:
Obstacle #13: THE MOST INFLUENTIAL OBSTACLE OF ALL: Myths, Superstitions, Thoughts, Ideas, Concepts, Notions, Views, Theories, Inklings, Perceptions, A.K.A., "Beliefs," Part A
For 1300+ years, Jews and Christian and Muslims have been killing each other by the millions, continuing right up to today.
500 or so years ago there began the slaughter by Christian invaders of 150 million Native Americans "spiritualists" in the areas now called North, Central, and South America.
Around 75 years ago a war was started which resulted in eighty-five million people dying when Catholic and Lutheran Christians in Germany began "purging their culture of undesirables" (that is, the killing of Jews, gays, and the physically and mentally handicapped).
In the U.S. in 2017, far more people were killed by white supremacists than by so-called "terrorists."
The stats: "White supremacists in the United States killed more than twice as many people in 2017 as they did the year before, and were responsible for far more murders than domestic Islamic extremists, helping make 2017 the fifth deadliest year on record for extremist violence in America."
Wonder why?
Of course, first and foremost in all of the cases above - and in the millions of other cases like those throughout human history - are the invaders' and killers' beliefs, especially in regards to the dualistic notions about "the other" and in terms of their entitlement and arrogance and their beliefs about "what they deserve" and "what they are due" and "what their unlimited rights are."
Below there will be a listing and discussion of the four sets of belief systems which keep alive the duality-based fear and / or hatred of all "others" and which support the entitlement and arrogance which are typical of those with the Goldilocks Syndrome mentioned yesterday and which are guaranteed to generate and perpetuate a belief in "the other" and, therefore, guaranteed to generate and perpetuate constant conflict.
A couple of characters in a Noah Gordon novel touch on the way that the Goldilocks Syndrome has helped shape the U.S. - and many nations - in ways which have always given the U.S. and those nations a dark, prejudicial underbelly which has usually been hidden in recent years until the present.
One man in Gordon's novel named Jay is bemoaning the fact that his neighbors regularly display their xenophobic and atavistic attitudes toward him. He complained about his neighbors in Illinois:
"It's because the ignorant bastards consider me a foreigner, even though I was born in South Carolina and some of them were born in Europe. They don't trust me."
They hate the Irish and the Jews and the Chinese and the Italians, and God knows who all, for coming to America too late."
They hate the French and the Mormons on general principles."
"And they hate the Indians for being in America too early. Who the hell do they like?"
His friend Rob grinned at him and said, "Why Jay . . . they like themselves! The think they are just right, having had the sensibility to arrive at exactly the correct time."
Nowadays, that same evidence of the Goldilocks Syndrome which inspires notions about what is "just right" and what is not is alive and well:
Some are thought to be too dark; some are thought to be too light and need to tan. And others think that it is their skin color which is just right.
No relationships on any level have ever come to a nasty end, and no marriages have ever ended in divorce, except where beliefs were the driving force.
Nothing has contributed more to humankind's chaos and arguing and fighting and killing and mass killings than . . . beliefs, and the types of beliefs which are most prevalent and therefore most influential are:
#4: Beliefs about relationships and how those whom one is in relationship with should think and talk and behave.
#3: Beliefs of a xenophobic nature about how fellow citizens should think and talk and behave and how others should recognize that "we are the greatest nation on earth" and that "we are exceptional."
#2: Beliefs about politics, political parties, political leaders, and how "all others should believe what I and my political fellows believe and should accept the agenda of our political party as being the only right one."
And #1:
Beliefs about "God" or "gods and goddesses" and "what is right and what is wrong" and "what is moral vs. what is immoral" and "which religion is the single right one and why all of the other religions are wrong."
With 97% of all persons on the planet claiming a religious affiliation, of course religious beliefs are the most predominant.
To be continued.
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