TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
[See the offer following this post for details on how you can watch a video which includes a discussion of all seven of the steps on the path as used by Maharaj]
[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.]
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places but are states of mind, nothing more than concepts dreamed up by men."
--Pope John Paul II
"There is no hell."
--Pope Francis, the current pope
[in an interview with journalist Eugenio Scalfari]
"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
REALIZING WITHOUT DOGMA, WITHOUT CONTINUOUS SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND WITHOUT A PREOCCUPATION WITH “THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THINGS NOUMENAL":
No you-ness, no YOU-NESS, No identity, and no IDENTITY
The “alternative Medicine” which Maharaj eventually prescribed after he abandoned the use of a religion / non-duality combination that did not work; after he abandoned the use of a spiritual / non-duality combination that did not work; and after he told seekers to “give up spirituality”;
and after he told them that finding out who they are not is enough (that is, finding all of the “not-you’s" which can be uncovered by conducting a “self” inventory) would be enough rather than being bogged down in years of “SELF”-Inquiry.”
Yes, some seekers are more than happy to let their fanaticism run wild and send a thousand examples of cases where Maharaj offered religious pointers, spiritual pointers, and pointers about the “Self.” Yet he abandoned all of those by the end, and that is why he told seekers to stop reading the book I AM THAT - called “a spiritual classic” – and to listen to his final talks only.
So what of the something / Something vs. nothing duality?
One person said, “Floyd, nothing is real.” That is not the teaching. The teaching is that everything is real (being energy / matter) but that nothing in this realm is as it appears. Appearance is mistaken for the real / Real. Look at any object via the use of an electron microscope and the object if viewed through the use of that instrument looks nothing like what it appears to be to the naked eye.
Rather than seeing yourself as Something (and Something Special and Some Supreme Self or even concluding that “I Am God"), Maharaj recommended seeing “yourself” simply as . . . “nothing”:
"Love says 'I am everything'. Wisdom says 'I am nothing'."
and
"There is nothing but the Absolute."
And what is the Absolute? Simply a field of energy in which there is no awareness of anything and no one to be aware of anything and which has the potential to manifest as conscious-energy and – if “Realized” – can then be aware of itself, of the Absolute. Then only can awareness be aware of awareness.
He said: “The hearsay goes . . . ‘I am’. ‘I am’ means the flow of the mind has started. Now whatever you say with that ‘I AM-ness’ through the mind about ‘you’, you have represented as yourself. But that is not so.”
Once he switched to the use of a psychological / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine, he made clear that the mind must end; that he had become mindless instead of mindful; that seekers should give up all ideas about identity and Identity; that seekers should reach a state of “zero concepts” by purging the mind of all of concept / beliefs; and that they should thereafter simply enjoy being free and abiding naturally in the awareness of the nothingness.
A seeker once asked, “So, Floyd, which is the real focus? Concentrating on the message in ‘From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)’ or the message in ‘From the Absolute to the Nothingness’?”
The reply: “Both, and in that order. The messages in the first four books on the author’s website provide a progression in messages, each level-appropriate, offered in the same way that Maharaj modeled. Each builds on previous understandings.
In the end, the process involves being free of all identity and Identity. Why? Because the process is about eliminating all identification and Identification because any ego-state (or Ego-State) will trigger the use of ego-defense mechanisms (such as egotism and arrogance and entitlement and amazing levels of a sense of importance) which perpetuate identity and / or identity assumption and distortion and delusion.
What "benefit" can come from being “in touch with Reality” if it renders one "out of touch with reality” . . . with the present manifestation and relative existence?
What "benefit" can come if the one uses a process which is intended to eliminate all false sense of “importance” if it only reinforces a sense of importance by generating Identification with “Things” or “A Thing” or “One” or “Something” that is supposedly all-important?
Here, daily activities never involve reading about non-duality. Since 1989, if reading happens, it usually involves mysteries or detective novels. Many modern novelists are among the favorites, but one British author who wrote during the early 1900’s – Edgar Wallace by name – is especially enjoyed. (That is not a recommendation.) In one of his novels, one character says to another:
“The trouble with you is that you have no sense of unimportance.”
That adumbrates to the invitation here, to see that such is the problem with all humanity if trapped in identities or an “Identity”: they have no "sense of unimportance."
Consider the methods which Maharaj tried but abandoned before offering an alternative:
First, “Religion.” Why must that be abandoned if the intent is to reach an awareness of being nothing? If the intent is to “have a sense of unimportance”? Because of this:
The persons considered the most important on this planet are religious people, especially religious leaders. Look at Iran. The elected officials can agree to whatever they want, but the most powerful one of all is the country’s religious leader, “The Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the U.S., religious persons are the most powerful and most respected. They even control the U.S. Congress and they determine what elected officials can do and cannot do and what officials say and do not say. Five thousand years ago, cultures all around the globe were convinced by their religious leaders to allow those religious leaders to fornicate with parents' virgin daughters and then cut out their beating hearts while those females were still alive and then pass their hearts among the crowd so all could share eating the body and the blood in an act of "communion with the gods or with God."
Imagine how important the masses involved in an act of “atonement” (of “at-one-ment” with God) must have considered themselves then and how important they consider themselves right up until today.
[Next, “Selfness.” Let that previous pointer move the discussion to those who are concerned with “Self” and “The Supreme Self.” Compare that with “The Supreme Leader” referenced above. Not must difference in a “Supreme Leader” and a “Supreme Self,” is there, really? And imagine how important “Hindus” or “non-dualists” must consider themselves if they believe they are “A Supreme Self” or even “God.”]
Finally, “Spirituality.” Consider “The Spiritual Ones” who brag “We are not religious! We are spiritual!” or “This is not a religious group! This is a spiritual group!” How very "different from" and "better than" they are than people who are merely religious. How important "Spiritual Giant" role-players consider themselves, even as they give lip service to their "high level of humility.”
Maharaj endorsed identitylessness and Identitylessness and nothingness because he witnessed first-hand the ways that religion and spirituality and being Supreme foster a mind; the way they assure that a mind shall be filled with concepts and ideas and notions and perceptions / misperceptions (a.k.a., “beliefs”);
and the way that had fostered a global sense of “different-from-ment” and “better-than-ment” - perceptions which lead to the duality and ignorance and insanity and instability and chaos which plague the existence of the masses all around the globe.
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 relevant is the "loving and caring" 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."
