TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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That which one searches for - often wholeheartedly - is most often determined by one's perceptions and beliefs regarding "the benefits" which can be derived from finding that which they seek and "the value" which they and / or their cultures' place on that which is sought.
Those who sought the "Holy Grail" were certain it would earn them the admiration of Christians all around the globe as well as unimaginable wealth. They and their culture valued respect and money, a trait which still exists among those types today.
The Spaniards who sought "El Dorado" (El Hombre Dorado . . . The Golden Man or El Rey Dorado . . . The Golden King) were certain that finding him would lead them to unimaginable stores of gold and wealth. They and their culture valued gold and the material possessions which it could provide.
Those who rushed to California between 1848 and 1855, seeking to duplicate James W. Marshall's finding of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California were also seeking gold, unlimited wealth, and all of the materials things which that could buy. The news of the discovery of gold there inspired 300,000 people to move to California in an eight-year period, all of whom valued gold and the material possessions it could provide.
Those who seek a spouse believe that the finding of a mate, a perfect mate, Mr. Right or Ms. Right might bring a variety of benefits and provide need-fulfillment:
some want to avoid loneliness;
some want to find a caretaker, a bill-payer, a personal banker;
some want to find someone to mother them;
some want to find love in order to relieve the nagging sense that they never received enough love from a father who was absent during their childhood as a result of willful abandonment, divorce, death, etc.;
some are driven to seek a mate because of family pressure, cultural pressures, acculturation-based pressures, or culture programming and conditioning;
some are driven to find a mate in order to have the co-dependent counterpart player who is required for them to assume the role of "Spouse" and / or "Parent," etc.;
and the rest are driven by a combination of the above and a host of other drivers, both conscious and subconscious.
Religious seekers for thousands of years have sought
(1) to have their wishes and prayers answered and their fears allayed in this life; and
(2) the chance to spend eternity with their gods / goddesses / God who would offer up endless rewards and eternal life to them; or
(3) if male and willing to kill and die for God, eternal life with a host of virgins and wives and whores to satisfy their every prurient fantasy; or
(4) a chance to escape an otherwise endless series of trying incarnations; or
(5) whatever other promises and benefits their leaders have been able to dream up over the last 5,000 years or longer.
Many spiritual seekers are certain that they can attain (A) a host of relative existence payoffs now, including all sorts of perks or benefits (or even "a happy and joyous and free state of sobriety which lasts until their die"); others want to eventually (B) reach a "higher level of consciousness" or some magnificent state of beingness involving a Higher Level of This or a Higher Level of That; others want to (C) find their purpose in life; others want to (D) be "blessed with abundance"; and a few want to (E) be free of the mind and able to view reality (and Reality?) clearly rather than through the lens of mind-and-culture-generated distortions and illusions and mind constructs which are marked by being totally delusional.
Just as varied as the "goals" or "desires" of the religious or spiritual persons above are the "goals" or "desires" of those who are seeking via one of the many different versions of "non-dual paths / journeys" which might lead to the attainment or achievement of . . .
1. "purpose" identification;
2. a replacement of old, bad identities with new and improved identities;
3. liberation;
4. enlightenment;
5. realization;
6. Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha (the Hindu version)
or
7. Nirvana (the Buddhist version);
8. the reunification of the soul with Brahman;
9. an end to cycles of reincarnation;
10. the cessation of suffering;
etc., etc., etc.
The seeking of 1-10 above or anything else being sought is driven mostly by two key definitions, the first being "what your problem is" and secondly "what the solution to your problem is," the second of which is often sought wholeheartedly or obsessively or compulsively or fanatically.
And who passes along that diagnosis and who defines what the supposedly-exact solution is which is to be sought until found? Parents or relatives or friends or teachers or gurus or cult leaders or sky cult leaders such as priests or preachers or rabbis or ayatollahs or other influential persons who define whatever specific "goals," "objectives," "aims," "ambitions," "purposes," "aspirations," "states" or "levels" are to be sought.
The view here is that "liberation" is not the "endgame" because that merely refers to being liberated from belief in false identifications such as the personalities assigned by and assumed in all cultures;
as for "Enlightenment," that is the act or means of enlightening, but the obstacles to clear seeing - to clear perceiving - require being "repositioned, mentally" in order to see accurately that which has had light cast upon it (such as referred to in "the rope and snake" pointer);
and many seekers identify that which is to sought as "realization."
The latter is what Maharaj most often referenced and the case is the same here, but the way that realization is defined varies considerably, often touching on 1-10 above or on any one of a number of other concepts.
If a seeker would be guided to that which awaits at the end of a "path" or "journey," then one must understand exactly how the guide perceives "the main problem" (as in, "humankind's problems which are all rooted in the Ultimate Sickness," for example) and then understand how the guide defines "the solution" (or the "Ultimate Medicine").
Maharaj's definition of realization varied as it shifted away from discussing problems which were supposedly rooted in understanding too little dogma and from discussing problems which were supposedly rooted in not being spiritual enough to heal a sick spirit or a spiritual malady and to understand that realization instead involves nothing more than this:
He said that realization is simply the condition of being free from functioning under the influence of learned ignorance. He said: "Realization is but the opposite of ignorance."
Wow. How bold, especially considering the environment in which he was offering that definition. so much for purpose; for replacing old, bad identities with new and improved identities; for achieving Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha or Nirvana; for the reunification of the soul with Brahman; or for an end to cycles of reincarnation, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum.
If that definition points to humankind's problems and the solution, then indeed Maharaj was spot on: the version of the Ultimate Medicine required to address the issue pointed to in that definition really is simple, if one can find a guide that is offering pointers based in understanding that definition.
Note that a limitless accumulation of knowledge is not being called for there. As noted yesterday, one need not earn Master's Degrees or Doctorates. One need not accumulate more learning. One need but see that the problem involves all which has been taught and learned in cultures which pass along ignorant and insane programming and conditioning and domestication and acculturation and brainwashing and indoctrination.
To understand that point makes clear that one need not become a Biblical scholar because no single volume contains more nonsense and ignorance and ill-advice than that, unless - that is - one considers the content in all other supposedly-holy texts as well.
If the problem of humanity centers in the mind, as Maharaj finally concluded, then more need not be added to the mind. The mind is calling for a purging, A Great Flush, if you will. it is calling for un-learning, not more learning. It is calling for all which has been taught to be un-taught.
Now we're getting somewhere. Now we're simplifying the process. Accept Maharaj's definition of what realization is (and therefore what it also is not) and a lifetime of religious and / or spiritual work and knowledge accumulation can end and clarity and then relaxing can begin.
If the problem is the vast store of learned ignorance which has been taught and accumulated within a mind, then how could the seeking of other-worldly-noumenal-based religious fitness or other-worldly-noumenal-based spiritual fitness possibly address the mental problems which are manifesting right here and right now in the relative existence?
How can going to meeting and listening to insane talk possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can traveling the globe in order to stand in a hundred supposedly-holy spots possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can wailing at a wall possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can striking a special bowl with a special stick possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can special garments possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can endless seeking and "sharing" and hearing and going and doing and zooming possibly help one become able to be still and quiet?
How can the killing of non-believers and infidels possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can speaking in foreign tongues and rolling around on a church floor or handling rattlesnakes possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can a planet wide tolerance of, and the providing of continuous financial support for, a supposedly holy place which has long tolerated the physical and sexual abuse of children possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
How can judging and punishing others possibly help address problems rooted in learned ignorance and imposed insanity?
The answer: it cannot. None of that can address the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which Maharaj identified as "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity."
In fact, all of the above can only reinforce and add to the already-accumulated "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity."
Maharaj's approach: sit with someone that has transitioned beyond the ignorance, stupidity, and insanity which they were taught and with someone that can shine light on the symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness which have manifested and accept the invitation to see all of the learned ignorance which has been accepted and then be willing to cast it all aside.
How? All of the accumulated ideas, concepts, notions, thoughts, views, etc. which have been accumulated and stored in the mind collectively form your "belief systems." They are all just beliefs, and they are not even "your beliefs." They are "their" beliefs.
Want to purge the mind? Want to give yourself the required Great Flush required to be rid of the cesspool called "the mind"?
Again, easy peasy. Just admit it's all nonsense and cast it out, the same way you treat the other garbage which accumulates in your domicile between the days that the garbage is picked up and hauled off for disposal. It makes no more sense to cling to the garbage stored in a mind than it would make to cling to the garbage which accumulates in a home.
Dispose of the content of the mind in order to be free of the problem which centers in the mind. Then only can you relax and take it easy because - as Maharaj said - "There is no such thing as peace of mind" and as added here, "There is only peace if you are out of your mind."
To be continued.
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