TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS

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Rather than being "pro-" or "anti-" religion or "pro-" or "anti-" spirituality, the invitation here is to consider becoming doggedly “anti-ignorance” and tenaciously "anti-stupidity" and staunchly “pro-sanity.” 

--fh 

To review: 

The discussion at this point in the series is now focusing on "The Most Influential Obstacles Of All" which have come via dreamed up myths and superstitions and via "religious" and / or "spiritual" sources, including religious and / or spiritual thoughts, ideas, concepts, notions, views, theories, inklings, perceptions, a.k.a., "beliefs." 

Recall the man who approached me after a talk and said, "I was abused as a child by a priest. I've done years of work to try to get beyond that, but where I am today is, I still cringe when people start talking religion to me. So my question is, have you found a way to guide people to realization and freedom without their having to buy into the dogma you talk about?" 

Thus, this: 

REALIZING WITHOUT DOGMA, WITHOUT CONTINUOUS SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND WITHOUT A PREOCCUPATION WITH “THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THINGS NOUMENAL” 

Next, this “you,” which is a total misperception, is actually nothing more than what can be called a “composite unity” for the sake of discussion, a composite unity which is made of - and which is circulating - plant food elements, air, and conscious-energy. And science affirms that non-dual pointer, just as Maharaj predicted. 

And when mahasamadhi is taken, what happens? Science explains that as well:

The elements return to the universal pool of elements; the air returns to the universal pool of air; and the conscious-energy returns to the universal pool of conscious-energy which will not be "conscious of" because it must be manifested within a space for conscious-of-ness to happen. 

(Maharaj: “Consciousness is present everywhere, but knowledge of that consciousness is dependent on the form.” See? That's another pointer which is validated by the scientific understanding of the functioning of the universe.) 

So if there is "no form" - that is, no space or elemental plant food body in which the consciousness can manifest - then there can be no "consciousness of" anything. Want to be free of misery and suffering which can only register while the conscious-energy is manifested? Wait not. Take the steps to reach that condition at the only point when it can be reached: right now. 

How else does the abidance unfold here, and how can it also unfold for you if the understanding comes? 

Here, there is no man or men who are feared; there is no woman or women who are feared; there is no devil that is feared or god that is adored; there is no sin that is hated and there is no virtue that is admired; here, there is nobody trying to be somebody, much less trying to be Somebody; 

here, there is neither a believer nor a non-believer, and as the No Belief-er eBook below explains, the closest such term that could be used to point to the condition here, just for the sake of discussion and clarification, would be a "no-belief-er," so to speak. 

Here, there is no “one,” so there is certainly no one with any delusions about power (or Power) or control; abiding spontaneously, there is no “one” here that is deluded into believing that firm plans can be made for any given day, much less for a week or for a month or for a year, much less for years. Nothing except humans believe that they can plan and that events will roll out as planned. 

Here, there has never been the slightest sense that anyone should ever be told to “love what is, including an assault, a beating, a stabbing, a mugging, a battering, or a rape." 

Here, there is neither upgrading nor downgrading, including upgrading or downgrading persons based on race or sexual preference or social position; here, there is no upgrading of "this world" to a grand next world such as “heaven”; there is no upgrading of "this world" to a “higher plane” in “the next life"; 

and there is no downgrading of "this world" to a horrible next world such as “hell” or to a “lower plane” in "the next life.” (Maharaj: "There is no question of elevating to a higher level. Here it is only a question of understanding" and, again, "Both experience and experiencer will disappear.") 

Here, there is no “search for meaning” or for “my life’s purpose.” (Maharaj: “From the Absolute no-knowing state, spontaneously, this consciousness ‘I am’ has appeared. There is no reason, no cause.”) 

Here, too, there are no efforts to meet anyone’s or any culture’s definition of “success.” (Maharaj: “There is no progress," and that includes "now" and "later.") 

Here, therefore, there is no paying of any attention at all to one who talks about “The Spiritual Laws of Success” and about “fulfilling dreams.” (Persons might as well try to fulfill their desire to catch a mirage and keep it in their home for the remainder of the relative existence). 

Here, there are also no "intentions" because the abidance happens spontaneously; there is no effort to “advance a spirit or soul” because there is no spirit or soul and because trying to advance anything involves duality and upgrading. (Again, Maharaj: "There is no progress.") 

Here, there is no effort to find the “Infinite Self” because the only thing infinite is energy-matter and neither energy nor matter involves any Self-ness. (Maharaj said, “Trace the world to its source and you will find that before the world was, you were, and when the world is no longer, you remain.” Was he talking about a literal “you”? No. He made clear that “What begins and ends is mere appearance” and “When you are thoroughly knowledgeable, you will come to the conclusion that this beingness is also an illusion.” Was he talking about a literal “You”? No. Again: He was not identified with a self or with a Self and he remained forever undefined.) 

Also here, there is no effort to find power or a Power, including "Power Now" or a Power to be met later because there is no longer any addiction to the desire for power (or for a Power) in order to be able to control. 

Similarly, being freed from the delusion that humans can control anything eliminates praying because what praying is really about is trying to access a Power which will allow one to avoid whatever one fears and to obtain whatever one desires. 

(Again, Maharaj: “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.") 

Because all fears and desires are rooted in personal identification, neither fear nor desire manifests since belief in all identifications (including self, selves, and a Self) have been discarded; thus, there is no desire to have an "ageless body" or a "timeless mind," the mind having come to an end when the last concept, idea, notion, a.k.a., "belief,” was discarded. 

Next, understand that there is no eternal benefit or reward as a result of being free of personality identifications; nor is there an eternal punishment. Whatever the result of freedom from identifications and from Identification, such freedom can only happen now, can only be known now, and can only be enjoyed now. 

(Maharaj: “You have some experiences and you try to benefit from them, but remember that whatever is going to be of use to you ultimately is going to harm you” 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.") 

To have been fooled into believing that a fraud is not a fraud involves what Maharaj called “learned ignorance” and “insanity.” To be free of those symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness, one must question all objectively with a fearless willingness to doubt anything and everything which has long been believed in order to determine if what has been unquestioningly accepted as the truth might be fraudulent. 

To be free of those symptoms of the Ultimate Sickness, one must also see that a lie is a lie and see, ultimately, that all lies are lies. And one must see that Maharaj was spot on when he said that all accumulated knowledge amounts to nothing more than "learned ignorance." 

If whatever spiritual things you know are all part of the illusion and part of the fraud (which they are) 

and if 

religions generate false identities (which they do) 

and if 

Self-Inquiry can generate a singular false identity (which it can) 

then is it not obvious why an effective means of seeking must be of a type – as Maharaj ultimately concluded - which involves 

(1) something other than spiritual concepts, religious concepts, and concepts about a “Supreme Self” 

and which, in fact, involves 

(2) no concepts at all? 

To be continued.

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