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.
REALIZING WITHOUT DOGMA, WITHOUT CONTINUOUS SPIRITUAL PRACTICES, AND WITHOUT A PREOCCUPATION WITH “THE NATURE OF REALITY AND THINGS NOUMENAL":
The bondage of world concern, self-concern, material concern, religious concerns, and spiritual concerns
"The Bondage of Spiritual Concerns," Part Three
I have had persons tell me about their financial problems because of the money they have borrowed or charged to a credit card in their search for . . . whatever.
Others who said they had plenty of money shared that they spent small fortunes traveling to the River Jordan because Yeshu'a (Jesus) was reportedly baptized there and, in pre-war days, to Syria to visit a cave where John the Baptist supposedly dwelled and to visit the Sea of Galilee and to visit Jerusalem, all because those places were mentioned in their supposedly holy text and would allow them "to feel closer to Christ." Really?
Some have spent money to visit Mecca and Medina and Quba and Hira and, also, Jerusalem.
Others have spent money to travel to "incredibly spiritual sites" and "places of great peace and special power" such as India and Angkor Wat and the Wudang Mountains and Arsha Vidya Gurukulam and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Mount Athos and aboriginal sites all across Australia and "Taoist and Buddhist Mountains in China" and "pilgrimage churches" in France and Spain
as well as
"sacred" Celtic and Roman sites and the temples and shrines scattered all across the Far East and cathedrals scattered all across Western Europe and "sacred sites of Native Americans" scattered all across the U.S. and spiritual places in Arizona. Why? Because of "the special spiritual energy which can only be found at those sites and which can only be absorbed by visitors standing in those special sites."
Now here, where anyone goes or does not go matters not in the least. The only goal here is to leave a light on in the window for those who have stumbled about long enough and have become tired enough and sick enough that they are ready to seek true freedom and real independence and are ready to be free of all of the darkness of deception, of delusion, of self-deception, of being conned, and then being to abide steadily in the light.
(Ironically, most believe that is exactly where they are, but Maharaj made clear when he spoke of kindergarten-level spirituality that most are so delusional that they "believe that they are standing in the full light of the noonday sun when, in fact, they are actually standing in the dull light of dawn," at best.
As for traveling, rock and roll. I owned a travel company and led tours which took visitors to lovely squares in the capitals of Europe where people were dining alfresco and enjoying some of the great foods and live music on the planet; to some fabulous cafes and attractions in Amsterdam; to some away-from-the-crowd trattorias or parks in the residential sections of Venice;
to some out-of-the-way places in Rome which provide locals with quiet sitting areas or inexpensive five-course gourmet meals a mere ten blocks away from the masses crowded into the Ancient Forum and Coliseum area; to out-of-the-way wooded areas in the hills surrounding Florence; and, yes, to the so-called "big sites" all across Europe.
The point: it matters not where one goes; it matters that they remain awake, aware, and conscious wherever they might be, remaining free of emotional intoxication and free of becoming emotionally-charged as a result of believing that some geographic places are different and have special power and provide special levels of peace which can only come via the special spiritual energy being emitted at those sites.
If a seeker would be free of delusion and free from abiding in the darkness, all notions and beliefs about there being special places with special energy and special power must go.
Maharaj: A gnani does not "claim to be something special. All those who proclaim their own greatness and uniqueness are not gnanis. They are mistaking some unusual development for realization."
That applies as well to any who believe that certain places are special and are just oozing with special energy and special power.
In warning about "imagination," Maharaj said: "In the light of consciousness, all sorts of things happen; one need not give special importance to
any."
The same advice applies to not assigning special importance to places and sites and lands and cities and mountain ranges and valleys, etc.
The Holy Land is deemed to be "different" because Yeshu'a walked there and because Abraham laid the foundations for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam there.
What has been the result of thinking that some land is different from other land ("different" being the actual meaning of the word "holy")? Centuries of fighting for control of that land, centuries of war, centuries of killing, and centuries during which people knew no peace at all. So much for special.
Instead of buying into the concept of "specialness," Maharaj suggested: " Keep the ‘I am’ in the focus of awareness, remember that you are, watch yourself ceaselessly, and the unconscious will flow into the conscious without any special effort on your part."
As for all of the millennia of chaos and murder and wars which have come about because persons divided the lands into different countries, the non-dualists John Lennon and Yoko Ono invited people to . . .
Imagine there's no countries.
It isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for.
Imagine all the people
sharing all the world.
Of course it would have to be imagined because that bird has flown and is not going to come back.
Yet for you, the proper perspective which could have manifested if you had not being programmed, conditioned, domesticated, acculturated, indoctrinated, and brainwashed can manifest now.
Spend thousands of dollars to go to Florence, Italy or spend thousands to go to Mecca or to the "holy land." It matters not, but the invitation is - wherever you go or wherever you stay and wherever you are at any given second, be awake, aware and conscious.
Be free of having your mind filled with nonsense about special energy and special power.
The desire to have unlimited power or a special Power or special Powers at your beck and call and special knowledge and special status will generate more needless and doomed seeking than anything else. To seek a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or to seek a special place on earth where you can stand and absorb spiritual energy and power will both lead to a waste of energy and resources.
The excellent news is that . . .
no one needs anything of special importance;
no one needs special garments or special accoutrements;
no one needs a special, supposedly spiritual diet;
no one needs a special haircut or no haircut at all;
no one needs special power or a Special Power or Special Powers;
no one needs to visit special places where special spiritual energy is being emitted;
no one needs to find a special place where special knowledge can be offered and gathered and stored in an already over-packed mind;
and
no one needs to spend a fortune to go to supposedly holy lands and supposedly holy spots to have some kind of supposedly holy, supposedly empowering, and supposedly energizing experience which will only result in one being emotionally-intoxicated.
Why is that "excellent news"?
Because . . .
there is nothing of special importance;
there is no one of special importance;
there are no special garments or special accoutrements;
there are no special, supposedly spiritual diets;
there are no special haircuts;
there are no special powers or Special Powers;
there are no special places emitting special spiritual energy;
there is no special knowledge;
there are no holy lands;
and
there are no "holy spots."
Thus Maharaj eventually advised:
“Give up spirituality”
and
“Follow your normal (that is, natural, not supposedly supernatural) inclinations"
and
"Forget spirituality."
And in its place, do what?
"Simply abide naturally"
and
"Relax as do the deer in the cool blue shade"
So go where you want or go nowhere at all, but wherever you are, be awake and aware so you cannot be fooled anymore.
Spiritual workaholism and spiritual going and doing and zooming can be debilitating.
Spiritual workaholism and spiritual going and doing and zooming can be used an as excuse to continue to avoid one's spouse and children. (What's the difference in going to a bar and getting drunk and coming home late at night after having ignored one's family vs. going to a special spiritual place and going on special spiritual retreats and "serving others" but not being at home with one's family? What's the difference? The appearance. Only the image. Getting drunk and ignoring one's responsibilities and family. "Bad." Getting sober and ignoring one's responsibilities and family? "Good. No problem.")
Spiritual workaholism and spiritual going and doing and zooming can be used to escape from reality even as the claim is being made that it is what puts one in touch reality.
Spiritual workaholism and spiritual going and doing and zooming are just more of what manifests when one is being driven by fanaticism and by the agenda of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.
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."
--Yeshu'a (Jesus)
and
"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,
a writer used by the Pope to issue off the record
teachings
which are part of the Papal Magisterium]
