TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "God," the "Son of God," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns. See the end of the post for the full meaning and implications of that.
CONFUSIONS AND DISAGREEMENTS AND INCONSISTENCIES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT "ADVAITA VEDANTA" AND "NON-DUALITY" AND "THE MESSAGE" AND "THE MESSENGERS"
Such misunderstandings about Advaita Vedanta and non-duality have long existed and absolutely proliferate nowadays. For example, it has been written that "Advaita Vedanta is an Indian philosophical system mainly associated with some early Upanishads and the works of Adi Shankara."
While the notion had been referenced here early on that Advaita Vedanta might be at least one-part philosophical, even that notion was set aside long ago and replaced with a focus on non-duality and the view that non-duality is a means or a process by which an understanding (or "freedom from ignorance") can manifest; thus, Advaita Vedanta might be considered to be "a philosophy," but non-duality is seen as something quite different.
As for Shankara, while the dates of his "birth" and "death" are disputed, the most commonly accepted dates are around the 780's and 820, respectively, though many claim he was "born" much earlier.
OTHER MISUNDERSTANDINGS
Some, too, dispute the significance of the notion that Shankara played the role of "The Consolidator" of Advaita Vedanta - praised as "the one who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta." To "consolidate" means to "merge, combine, and unite many things as one." That might apply to his writings about "Advaita Vedanta" and other "philosophies and systems" but that makes no sense at all if one is speaking specifically of a "non-dual" understanding.
To illustrate, he did try to explain a key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists" while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no Self"; however, that point would involve de-consolidating rather than consolidating (accurate though it was and certainly in alignment with Maharaj's later message which endorsed a "no Self" understanding and which endorsed self-inquiry over Self-Inquiry, saying that "it is enough to know who you are not").
ADVAITA VEDANTA VS. NON-DUALITY
Taft points out accurately that "the first Indian scriptures, the Vedas (roughly 1000 BCE), are completely dualistic in their outlook; these Ur-texts of human spirituality consist mainly of poems of praise to nature deities, magical spells, and ritual invocations."
In fact, a non-dual message was being circulated long before any "consolidated Advaita Vedanta" writings came into being and long before any so-called "consolidation" of a doctrine referred to as "Advaita Vedanta."
OTHER DISPUTES REGARDING THE NON-DUAL MESSAGE
Disputed are (1) the existence of "Moses" and (2) the suggestion that he wrote "the Torah" (a.k.a., "Genesis" and other of the first books in what Judaeo-Christians call "The Old Testament") and even (3) the date of such writings. If those writings occurred in the early 1300's B.C., then by the early 1300's the summative statement of non-duality had reached the Middle East from the Far East, likely carried by people in the caravans which traveled between the two regions.
So if the Torah was written shortly after 1300 B.C., then the non-dual message was already being discussed in the Middle East though the writer of The Torah left out the semi-colon between the two when he used it as one of the names for "God" ("I AM THAT I AM" rather than I AM THAT; I AM. Another misunderstanding).
Around two thousand years ago, Yeshu'a (Jesus) had modeled abandoning organized religion and was offering non-dual pointers in his later talks either out-of-doors or in private homes. The result: he was killed, so for at least 2,000 years, we have evidence of the fact that those involved in organized religion (and those involved in governments which have long aligned themselves with religion or religious leaders in order to expand their power base) have been opposed to the non-dual message which is totally incompatible with the dualistic dogma which organized religions rely on.
For another example of what can happen to "The Messenger of the actual non-dual message," look to Maharaj:
First he attracted Hindu visitors to his bidi shop which some visited in order to discuss his non-duality / Hinduism combination message; for a time, others came to his loft to be exposed to the same message where he used religion to attract the religious and then added in more non-dual and sometimes Nisargan messages during the two sessions a day he conducted. The result: many worshipped and lauded and idolized him.
After the publication of the transcripts of some of his talks in the book entitled I AM THAT, Westerners came who deemed themselves to be "spiritual rather than religious." The result: Maharaj allowed them to influence his message and led him to offer more non-dual pointers and less Hindu dogma. The result: many more worshipped and lauded and idolized him though some locals criticized his "shift."
Eventually, he would abandon both religious-and-spirituality-based pointers after he came to see that the Ultimate Sickness was a mind-based sickness, not a sickness based in too-little-religion and not a sickness involving a sick spirit or a "spiritual malady." When he began offering a psychological / non-dual message as a form of the Ultimate Medicine, the critics came forth in significant numbers.
Some among the formerly-idolizing mob became anti-Maharaj, just as happened with Yeshu'a nearly 2,000 years earlier when he shifted away from organized religion and toward a non-dual message.
IT IS NOT NEW FOR PRO-RELIGION, PRO-SPIRITUALITY PERSONS TO HATE THE NON-DUAL MESSAGE
There is nothing new about the fact that the offering of non-dual pointers very often inspires abhorrence and outrage over the message as well as hatred of "the messenger."
To challenge their false identities - such as "The Super Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," "The Super Seeker," "The Super Sponsor," or the role which Maharaj warned seekers to avoid, namely, those playing the role of "The Big Name Teacher" - is to incur the wrath of all of those role-players.
One might as well advise the person who is attached to the role of "The Spouse" - and who believes that he or she has a "perfect marriage" - to leave the one playing the co-dependent, counterpart player to that role.
And far more threatening than that would be an invitation to one playing the role of "The Super Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," "The Super Seeker," "The Super Sponsor," etc. to give up playing the false identities which rob them of authenticity. A typical reaction: "I'm not "The Super Religious One," "The Spiritual Giant," "The Super Seeker," and / or "The Super Sponsor" The hell you say! And to hell with you!"
And far more irritating among many playing the role of a spiritual or religious giant is the suggestion that realization can happen without dogma and without continuous spiritual practices. ("How dare you!")
or
the suggestion that it is more rational to choose scientific facts over the emotional intoxication generated by religious / spiritual fanaticism (How dare you!)
or
the suggestion that while religion and science are not always incompatible, logic and reason and wisdom make clear that if a choice between the two is to be made, only one choice is the sane option.
Again, the point offered here is that realization does not require a mastery of dogma or an attachment to spiritual roles and does not require fanaticism, obsessions or compulsions; thus it should be clear why Maharaj eventually advised seekers to avoid those and then offered a totally different option, namely, to seek a means by which their warped, nonsense-filled mind can be effectively treated.
Meanwhile, if non-dual pointers happen to be heard, the "get-thee-away-from-me-Satan" notion will prevail among the masses far more than the "Hummm-you-might-be-onto-something-there-tell-me-more" notion.
The former is the far-more-prevalent belief and attitude.
Hence, Maharaj's advice:
This message is not for the public at large. Share it with them at your own risk.
So it is.
As for those who say, "You must crawl before you walk, so religion or spirituality or holy books or the Big Book etc., etc., etc. are required," the reply is:
"Fine, go with that for a spell. It is, in fact, the third step on 'the path' used here; but are you sure you'll ever be allowed to walk independently, on your own, as long as you fixate at the midpoint of 'the path' and continue to associate with those who want you to stay dependent and to settle for crawling with them forever?"
To be continued.
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Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "God," the "Son of God," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns.
THE EXPLANATION
If looked at as nouns, they point to illusions and are, therefore, a total waste of time to even discuss; if looked at as verbs which are resulting in certain sane but rare behaviors among humanity, then they are worthy of some attention during the relative existence.
Meaning? There are members of certain groups who say things such as "My concept of God in the past was of a weak God, an absentee God, A Santa Claus-type God, a mean, punishing, vindictive God, etc. Today, I am in close contact with a loving and caring God whom I worship and praise and glorify and give thanks to."
The reply to that usually goes like this: "If you are in contact with a God that wants to be worshipped and praised and glorified, then you're dealing with someone like yourself - a narcissist - and hanging out with narcissists will never bring an end to your narcissism (that narcissism evidenced by the fact that you think you are "godly").
Next, in the phrase 'loving and caring God,' any supposed God that truly had her or his act together would tell you that the totally irrelevant part of that phrase is 'God' and that the only part
"That is, a non-narcissistic god / goddess would say, "I care not an iota about being worshipped and praised and glorified by you or anyone else. How arrogant and insecure and needy would I have to be to want that? Forget the man-made, dreamed up noun 'God' and focus on the 'God as a verb' understanding and then go forth and let loving and caring be verbs - not adjectives - and let them generate the act of love and the act of caring and let those actions manifest through you."
Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:
"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
and
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places but are states of mind, nothing more than concepts dreamed up by men"
and
"There is no hell."
